26 [Impossibility]

Fate/Defiance

Chapter 25 [Impossibility]

By theMadLad

Beta: Old man of the mountain

Chiron sighed as he quickly approached his downed student and downed not-yet student before quickly performing healing arts he had learned from his teacher, the Sun God Apollo.

A simple look over already gave him a well of information towards their injuries. Icarus had the visibly worst of the duo, as anything visible about his body that wasn't blood had turned black from the intensity of his injuries, with the vessels of his blood shredded from the fight leaving his body one big bruise. His rib cage was also compromised, with it shattered in pieces that had pierced into his organs like shrapnel.

Heracles was also in horrible condition, with the repeated endurance of Icarus' arrows leaving his organs bloated and torn from the blunt force trauma. The explosions he had taken had also taken their toll, leaving him littered with internal injuries that turned his innards into bloody soup.

Although Chiron had been observing them using his connection to the forest along with his divinity, he still felt a bit ashamed that he had allowed things to progress this far, but he couldn't help but be a bit happy for them after watching the events play out.

Heracles had finally met his match.

The large boy was always a bit of a soft spot for the centaur, as he could relate to being discriminated against for his lineage or appearance.

Maybe now he could find someone to strive and support alongside with, as a rivalry would be a much better focus and outlet to his bouts of rage than just destroying and killing everything in sight.

That thought brought his mind over to the other boy.

Icarus.

He remembered that he had been approached by Athena months earlier, which was nothing unusual, as the Patron of Heroes would often send those that caught her eye to him, the Trainer of Heroes.

But this boy was different.

He had made his debut with an audacious bang, one which marked him not as a prospective hero—but a hero already in the eyes of the world.

His name already rang throughout the lands, as the boy genius Icarus, or the miracle boy who flew, etc. Chiron was surprised at the immensity of his impact. He had even heard that mothers refer to their children as 'little Icarus's' when performing noticeable feats of intelligence.

To say Chiron was curious to meet the boy was an understatement.

…But he never showed up.

Months passed and Chiron could feel his curiosity wane, he was simply waiting for information on the boy's death to arrive so he could hurry up and leave already—he had other students to train as well after all.

But then news did arrive, and against all expectations, the boy wasn't dead—no, he was more than alive… he had accomplished another impossibility.

He had slayed the Stymphalian Birds, the personal familiars of the God of War, Ares… using nothing but his cunning and wit.

Now Chiron was excited to see the boy. That excitement only continued to grow more than ever after hearing about the boy's reasoning.

To help people, without the need for a god given quest or glory bound promise of riches. A noble sentiment, one which Chiron couldn't help but stand behind.

Then news arrived once more, but this time it only left him with mixed feelings. The boy had slain a group of Centaurs to save a little girl. Chiron felt pride for the boy's feat, but also disappointment and sadness for the actions and death of those he called his own.

But that news also came with an order from the Gods above, one which he had no choice to abide by.

To test the boy.

Perhaps the Gods wanted to truly see if Icarus could hold his own against their children, or maybe even fulfill some internal bet—Chiron didn't truly know, but it coincidentally aligned perfectly with Jason's schemes, so Chiron made no actions against it.

Finally, the boy arrived and Chiron watched as he matched his students blow for blow. Icarus had used all of his strengths to protect and cover for all of his own weaknesses while exploiting theirs… and succeeded.

Even clipped of his wings he still managed to win a cadmean victory against all his students. The boy was a diamond that shined through the rough, Chiron couldn't wait to see what he would be when polished.[1]

…He only needed to make sure to keep the boy's hubris in check.

Chiron shook his head and he couldn't help but mutter as he gazed towards Heracles, "One who refuses to allow another to be better than him…" His head then panned over towards Icarus, "…and one who refuses to allow himself to be worse than another." He finished with a weary smile, "What troublesome students I've picked up."

He quickly moved over to heal Icarus first, as he knew that Heracles could take a beating much better than probably any mortal should possibly be able to.

His scratched up arm darted to a satchel at his side, pulling out resin from a Mastic tree, a tree that is found exclusively on the Island of Chios.

It was only due to his immense connections and respect throughout the world—as well as his divine nature, that Chiron could get such a rare and enviable item without issue.

While Mastic Trees could be stolen and grown elsewhere… the only place in the world where they could produce their resin was Chios, and as such, the resin droplets were dubbed as the Tears of Chios, which have some of the greatest healing properties in the world.

Chiron quickly brought the resin to Icarus, who was literally moments from joining Hades and smeared it into his inmards while speaking Divine Words, "επουλώνει πληγές (Mend Wounds)."

A faint green glow overtook Icarus' wounds as they quickly mended together, ending their bleeding as his broken body healed. The Tears of Chios also aided in the endeavor, replacing the lost blood and giving his body a healthy glow.

Chiron then took some wrappings which held a faint pungent smell and a glossy wet texture from his satchel. He applied the wrappings to Icarus' broken bones, tightening them in place while the wrappings magically brought Icarus' bone fragments together before setting them right.

As he finished, a blond boy next to him glanced over to the side and spoke with an exasperated tone, "See, I told you he would be fine."

The girl bound in ropes next to her unconscious bird merely hissed at him with a vicious, hate-filled glare.

Then she spit on his face.

"—Ahk!" Jason cried out as he fell to the floor in disgust.

While Chiron merely gave a remorseful smile, then got to work healing up Heracles while remembering what transgressed only minutes prior…

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"…Fuck Fuck Fuck Fuck Fuck!" Jason sprinted as fast as possible through the forest, ducking and weaving between trees and shrubs with desperate maneuvers. His tricks had run out, and the stupid little girl seemed to learn from his feints!

He could feel the eerie fluttering of metallic wings beat from right behind him while the mewling screams and yowls of the feral girl marked the shortening distance between them.

He was fucked.

He flinched as another foot hit the ground, carrying his body through the pain of his wounds.

Yes, wounds!

He had tried to trick the girl again just moments prior, but instead of turning around in confusion like she always did—she viciously clawed him instead! Her sharp nails pierced his skin, drawing blood and forcing a yelp of pain from his mouth.

…But thankfully he could still escape with his life, as the bird, unlike the girl, had actually still been fooled! This had bought him enough time to momentarily escape!

But alas, time was running out.

He clasped his fingers together and looked to the sky while screaming out in desperation as he ran, "Someone please save me! Anyone!! I know I might not be the most poious of children—but I swear, when I return to Iolcus I will definitely put hundreds of statues up in your honor!!"

But, his prayers went unanswered.

Jason tripped, missing a particularly stuck up root as he shouted into the sky above. He hit the floor, slamming his face into the dirt below as he slowly turned to his chasers with fear, hearing their mocking laughter as they approached.

"Hurr Hurr Hurrrr." The girl croaked with amused laughter as the bird attempted to mimic her with its metallic vocals.

Jason's heart stopped as he finally forced himself to look at the bird's visage, staring straight into its eyes with fear. He had his pride, as little as it may be—if he was going to die, he would do it looking his killer in the eye!

Then he looked the bird in the eye.

—and immediately looked somewhere else as he flinched.

S-scary!

He didn't dare to look any further, Paimon was simply too frightening to stare at.

…I-I'm sorry mom, it looks like I won't be able to succeed.

Jason lamented with shame, realizing that he had only one last option.

To accept his death with dignity.

"Teeeaaaccchhheeerrrrr!! Save me! I don't want to die!"

…Or call for Chiron.

Jason heard a subtle sigh by his ear before he was pulled by the scruff of his neck and thrown onto Chiron's back. He yelped as he landed on the Centaur's horse-half, feeling an immense sense of safety and relief.

He would live another day.

Jason then turned to his opponents, confused by the sheer anger and astonishment on the little girl's face. The girl was growling on all fours, staring at Chiron as if he had killed her closest family.

W-what's going on?

He felt his heart pick up pace as he watched the bronze bird start to bristle at the girl's agitated state.

"Hold tight Jason." He heard his teacher whisper in his ear.

"W-wh—?!" He reflexively did as Chiron asked while he tried to respond in confusion, but was unable to get the words out of his mouth as Chiron moved.

Jason screamed as they suddenly disappeared, it was only after he shook off his disorientation did he realize that they had moved and… that all the trees behind their previous position had been eviscerated.

He froze in fear.

I-Impossible.

He finally realized that the bird had been going easy on him the whole time.

…That it never even registered him as a threat. Merely chasing him on the whims of the little girl.

"…Jason." He heard his teacher ask in an odd tone.

"Y-yes?" He spoke through senses dazed with fear.

"…Why do I feel something running down my back?"

"…" He neglected to respond.

"…We're going to have some words after this."

"O-ok." Jason stuttered out in a mix of embarrassment and fear.

Then they started moving again. Jason held on tightly to his teacher's back as the centaur moved through the heavy forest with an ease impossible for his horse appendages.

He could hear the girl scream in fury as she chased them with the bronze bird alongside her. He turned his head to see her aiming arrows at them before firing with unexpected precision, only for his teacher to instantly shoot them out of the air with his own arrows in response.

"T-Teacher, what in Hades' name kind of bird is that?!" Jason cried out, finally voicing his deepest grievance.

"Watch your words Jason." Chiron remarked with a chastising tone, before drawing his bow once more and answering Jason's previous question.

"It is called a Stymphalian Bird, named after the region they terrorized…" Chiron paused his explanation, while carefully gaining distance from the rampaging Paimon and unloading a few more arrows to deflect the sharpened bronze feathers headed straight towards him, "…They were originally familiars raised by Lord Ares."

Jason gulped at the information, and then did it again as he witnessed the bird slice a tree in three with its talons.

"H-How does that girl have such a bird?!" Jason cried out in a mixture of curiosity and pure fear.

"It is Icarus' bird, he probably left it to watch over her in case someone had any funny ideas." Chiron spoke as he gave Jason a dirty look while he launched another arrow that sent the bird momentarily spinning into a tree, before it quickly shook off the damage and attacked once more, "…Anyways, he had gotten it as a reward from Lord Ares."

Jason had given a weary smile as he meekly absorbed himself into his body at Chiron's initial words, before his eyes widened at the rest of his words.

While he had overheard about Icarus heading to join them, he had never heard about the girl or the bird. He was almost hesitant to ask, "…A reward for doing what?"

Chiron couldn't help but give him a cheeky smirk as he responded, "Killing the rest of the flock."

Jason gulped.

W-Who was he fucking with?!

…And more importantly, why did he provoke them?!

He then heard a growl from above, and flinched as he gazed at the previously foolish and simple girl glaring down on him with feral hatred and killing intent.

—Also, who the hell was this crazy animal girl in the first place?!

The girl then pounced!

Thankfully for Jason, Chiron, who was as steady as always, intercepted her with ease, grabbing the jumping girl with a single hand while displaying a strained smile as he spoke, "Sorry about this."

The next thing Jason knew, the girl was suddenly bound in ropes and thrown onto Chiron's back beside him in an instant. He even had to blink rapidly to make sure his eyes weren't fooling him.

They weren't, it really was that simple.

But Paimon had gone insane in response. The bird screeched, with the sound bringing pain to Jason's ears as he quickly covered them with his hands in an attempt to spare himself from the agony.

Then to his absolute shock… the bird squatted down and shit on the floor! But it didn't stop there—no, the bird then slathered its wings and talons in its own feces right on the spot.

And to top it all off, he noticed his teacher tense from the action, as if seriously considering it a threat.

W-what the fuck is going on?!

He looked toward the bound up girl at his side for answers, only to deadpan as she seemed to be completely oblivious to what was going on, instead choosing to try and bite into Chiron's hide with her teeth while growling!

Jason felt as if he was the only sane person in a world of crazies… including his teacher, which he would have never thought possible—after all, how could the famed Chiron be scared of poop?!

He could feel the tension in the air grow as he watched his teacher pull back his bow while the bird tucked in its shit covered wings.

Before Chiron suddenly lowered his bow as his ear twitched.

—Then an explosion suddenly rocked out from next to them. Both of them paused at the sudden intrusion, along with Jason and the girl after they got eyes on the cause.

Icarus.

They missed the object that went flying in the distance as they gazed at the boy that was lying on the ground like a pummeled bag of flesh. Jason cringed as he heard the boy's bones snap as he settled onto the ground.

"…Looks like that battle is over." Chiron spoke with a faint sigh, taking the opportunity to blitz the distracted Paimon, kicking his divine horse legs straight at the bird's head before quickly pummeling it into unconsciousness.

Jason sighed in relief as the bird went down, before the girl bound beside him suddenly started to scream her lungs out in a hoarse yell of both fear and anger, "Iccarus! P-Piemun!"

Tears streamed from the little girl's eyes as she kicked and screamed to no avail, it was as if she was an entirely different person than the feral girl that tried to kill him moments prior.

…Sheesh, now Jason kind of felt like shit. While he may have started things with a bit of malicious intent, it wasn't to be evil. He just wanted to rough up the newcomer as both a bit of vindication and somewhat of an icebreaker.

But, clearly things had gotten out of hand.

Jason laid a hand on the girl's shoulder before flinching as she looked at him with a glare of hatred, clear to see even behind a fountain of tears, "H-hey…" He scratched the back of his neck as he paused, struggling to come up with comforting words, "Icarus and… P-Paimon, will be alright."

He gave the enraged girl a strained smile as he patted Chiron's back, "He may not look it, by my teacher here is one of the best healers in the world. He was even taught by a God!"

Atalanta seemed to not believe a single word he said, or possibly… "Can you even understand me?" Jason asked while scratching his head.

Atalanta just growled in response. But then Chiron seemed to reach over and give her a pat on the head, one which she vehemently hissed against as he spoke, "Don't worry little one, he will be alright—I'll make sure of it."

Atalanta only seemed to become angrier at his words, but Chiron didn't flinch back, he only kept the same calm reassuring smile through it all.

Even though there was an apologetic tinge to it.

Then it hit Jason—if Icarus lost, then that meant they won!

His eyes quickly darted back to the clearing that Icarus had been launched from, only for his draw to drop as he got a look at the bodies unmoving on the floor.

The first to enter his vision was a white robed boy motionless within a crater in the ground, he recognized him as Asclepius.

Next was the only female in their group, Pollox, who was bent over as if clutching her belly, her fallen state only seemed to give a greater impact in Jason's psyche as he eyed her sword lying on the ground beside her.

Jason could remember the hours she poured into training with that sword, to the point where she could slice boulders with a slight motion. Yet there she was on the ground, bloodied and broken.

Then there was Castor, the proud Prince of Sparta, who was collapsed on the ground with the most reluctant face imaginable, so much so that it even made Jason snort… much to his shame.

Then there was the final person, Jason could still see the smoke radiating from their fallen form. He couldn't believe his eyes as he gazed at the most likely result of the explosion.

A defeated Heracles…?!

W-were they dead?! Jason felt his throat tighten at the thought, because if it were true… then it would be all his fault. It was already impossible in his mind to even fathom the thought of Heracles losing.

But the evidence was right there.

Jason stood, dumbfounded and frozen as his mind's very own concept of strength was on the floor, unmoving. He almost fell to his knees at the act before Chiron grasped his head and spoke, "Watch."

Then to Jason's excitement he watched the fallen form of his companion twitch, then move… before he slowly got up. He couldn't control his smile as the boy whose body radiated strength stood tall and proud once more.

So what if Icarus already became a hero? So what if he defeated a flock of those crazy birds?

It didn't matter.

Because Heracles was the strongest there ever was or would be, and Jason believed that for a fact.

…Then to his eyes something impossible happened, something that he couldn't even register in his mind—Icarus stood up.

…and now the new embodiment of a concept became rooted in his mind—one of impossibility… or maybe defiance?

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Author's Notes

Hey everyone, sorry for the delay and I just wanted to say thanks for all the support as well.

This chapter ended up taking longer than expected but I hope you enjoyed regardless. I wanted to highlight Paimon a bit more so he wasn't just the but of a joke, as well as show off some of Chiron's abilities.

He was mostly taking things casually and using it as a learning opportunity for Jason, while also getting some insight on Atalanta.

He could still sense Icarus' battle without issue, and would have continued watching from the shadows if not for Jason.

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Glossary

[1] Cadmean victory

A Cadmean victory is a reference to a victory involving one's own ruin, from Cadmus, the legendary founder of Thebes in Boeotia and the mythic bringer of script to Greece. On seeking to establish the city, Cadmus required water from a spring guarded by a water-dragon similar to the Lernaean Hydra. He sent his companions to slay the dragon, but they all perished. Although Cadmus eventually proved victorious, the victory cost the lives of those who were to benefit from the new settlement.