2 [Legacy]

Fate/Defiance

Chapter 2 [Legacy]

By theMadLad

"Icarus, one more time." Daedalus spoke with exasperation before letting off a sigh.

"λάμ—Owch! I bith mah tonge!" Icarus shouted in pain as he botched his attempted tongue twister of a spell by accidentally biting his tongue, again.

…He was really starting to sympathize with Merlin now, it really is hard to cast spells without doing it!

"I know you have some difficulties with pronouncing Divine Words, but you have to just keep practicing." Daedalus reassured him.

Divine Words were very hard to pronounce, to the point where Icarus would have to practice for hours at a time to even articulate a single word correctly.

Divine Words allowed their users to order the mana of the world to do their bidding, and play a heavy role in casting spells. Humans of the modern era were incapable of pronouncing them; it was fundamentally a language belonging to the Age of the Gods.

This strangeness made it hard for Icarus to articulate such alien-like sounds. But, practice makes perfect after all, and he would keep trying until he got it—even if his tongue was too scarred to continue, as this was not an opportunity Icarus was willing to pass up.

His past life memories may have been his greatest cheat, but his next greatest cheat was definitely his adult-like mindset during childhood.

Unlike other children, he could focus on topics he wanted to learn and dedicate himself to them with a diligence impossible for those his age.

Being from a mundane and normal world in his past life made the wonders and capabilities of this world so much more exciting.

Magic was real, how cool was that?

As much as he loved being from his original time period, free from the stress of past generations, he couldn't deny how boring it was.

There was no longer any adventure or wonder left in it.

No new lands to scour or discoveries to be made.

Not without throwing yourself into further building up a path that has already been tread, only expanding on it for the next generation.

Space may been the next frontier, but not in his lifetime.

But, with this new life that childlike inner excitement for adventure was reawakened, which helped motivate him greatly.

As the pain from his tongue was slowly starting to subside, Daedalus stole back the attention from his thoughts as he spoke.

"Alright, since you are unable to talk, then I'll explain to you some things. Let's start with the Gods, there are twelve main gods that are collectively known as the Twelve Olympians. The Gods have something called an Authority, which is something you could describe as their divine right. The Gods are capable of doing anything within the domain of their Authority simply because they have the right to do so."

"For example, the Lord of the Seas, Poseidon, has—among others—the Authority of the Seas, Earthquakes, and Horses. Anything that falls under these domains is under his complete control, if he one day decided to flood all of Greece with a wave that eclipsed the horizon, then he could do so as easily as we could move an arm. He is the Sea as much as the Sea is him."

Icarus' face had turned pale as Daedalus continued to inform him about the might of the Gods with the utmost seriousness.

Although he vaguely knew these things, it was one thing to know of it from a wiki page and another for it to be real.

His mouth had barely recovered enough for him to ask a question, "…and he could do this anytime he wanted? With no one to stop him?" He spoke as he nervously rolled his tongue over his chapped lips in an attempt to moisturize them.

Daedalus shook his head towards him alongside a warning glare, "Do not question the Gods, Icarus. They exist far above us in both power and wisdom, it is simply not our place to either question or attempt to understand them. We are simply not even near the same level of existence as them—nothing but ants in comparison."

Daedalus' glare eased as he continued speaking, "As for your other question, it is unlikely for Posiedon to flood all of Greece, I only spoke of it as an example. But, if he were to do so, it is likely he would be obstructed by The King of the Gods. Then again, who are we to ponder and judge their hypothetical actions? We mortals are simply not privy to the minds of the divine." He finished with an amused expression that was tinged with both an edge of earnestness as well as helplessness.

To Icarus, the implications of such a powerful being existing without restriction was frightening. No matter what he would do or how much he might try, something as simple as slighting this being—even unintentionally, was enough for him to not even know how he died.

…That feeling of powerlessness was only compounded by the fact that there were much more Gods than just Poseidon.

To not even be able to control his own life or death in the face of such overwhelming power was an extremely uncomfortable thought.

And to make things just that much worse, they were the greek Gods.

He sighed as he once again adjusted his mentality, it seemed he still subconsciously thought with the privileged mentality belonging to someone of the 21st Century. He was used to being at the top of the food chain, where the world's greatest danger was another human being.

This kind of subconscious arrogance was a ticking time bomb, and he was glad to have caught it before it resulted in a catastrophe.

Still, that uncomfortable feeling never left, the thought of his life or death being dependent on another's mercy grated at something deep inside him.

…He truly despised such a thought.

As much as he may hate to admit it, that dangerous inner arrogance was still there, only suppressed by the powerlessness he felt overwhelming it.

Though in the end, he dismissed his thoughts with a mirthful chuckle, …of the people he could have become, it was rather fitting to become the one known as Icarus.

He then turned to his father with another question poised at his lips, "How did you learn all of this father? Who taught you?"

This question had been on his mind for some time, and he was rather curious towards the answer.

Daedalus closed his eyes for a bit as he took a pondering pose whole locked in thought.

After some time, he eventually opened his eyes and spoke, "To tell you of this, first I must explain to you the origins of our family. We are descendants of the legendary king of Athens, Erichthonius, who was birthed by Gaia from the discarded seed of Hephaestus after being wiped from Athena's thigh."[1]

Icarus' eyes twitched.

"I am the great-grandson of Erechtheus, who himself was the grandson of Erichthonius. My parents—your grandparents—are Metion, Erechtheus' grandson by Eupalamus, and Iphinoe, my father's lover."

He took a more somber tone as he spoke to me with a pointed look, "To tell the truth, any divine lineage by my generation has become diluted, while you—Icarus—could be considered a normal mortal." Daedalus took a moment to gauge Icarus' expression after his words.

Seeing Icarus unfazed and seemingly satisfied with the result, he continued, "But, you are not without respite. Your capability to freely wield the power of divine words is your only inheritance from our bloodline, nothing less nothing more. The Goddess of Magic's blessing will not neglect you."

As he finished Icarus was confused, "The Goddess of Magic's blessing?"

Daedalus gave an amused chuckle, "Indeed, did you believe mortals could wield magic so freely without permission? Man has no magic it can wield alone, only through the Gods can we perform such feats that allow us to become more. The capability to use divine words is one inherited from the Gods, only exceptions that are granted the ability from them directly can do so otherwise."

"There is of course more to the subject, but that is not something you need to worry for right now." Daedalus finished before taking a deep breath.

"As for who taught me magic? When I was still a young boy, I had resolved myself to stand out amongst those around me and pleaded out to our ancestor's foster mother, Athens' patron, the Goddess of Wisdom Athena… and she answered." Daedalus spoke with both nostalgia and… something else in his voice as he neared the end.

"Perhaps, she held nostalgia for her sole child's descendant and for whatever reason, bestowed upon me a small crystallization of her wisdom."

"This wisdom is what gives me the foundations to make my crafts—but make no mistake—my creations are my own and not the result of my blessing." He made sure to clarify to Icarus with a raised voice.

Icarus thanked him for the information before leaving.

While Daedalus momentarily glanced toward the direction where the temple of the city-state's patron was worshipped before stepping inside.

…Clenching his fist tightly on the way in.

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It was a few days later when things for Icarus would begin to take a massive shift. He had felt that things had been slowing down lately, and had the eerie feeling that the next big event may occur at any time.

He trusted his gut instinct.

Icarus was outside and on his yard practicing his swings with a wooden sword, both tempering his persistence while exercising his arms at the same time.

'...4996,' He thought as he heard the dull wooden edge cut the air from the speed and strength of his swing.

'...4997'

Footsteps began to head in his direction as he ignored them and continued to absorb himself in practice.

'...4998'

'...4999'

"Icarus!" His father's shout came from nearby.

He sighed as he completed the final swing of his sword, exhaling a large breath tinged with exhaustion and giving out a slight stretch to relax his sore muscles.

He shifted his attention over towards the rapidly approaching Daedalus who had been yelling out towards him while just entering into the yard after a short trip away from the home and further into Athens.

"Yes, father?" Icarus asked hesitantly after noticing an unusually crazed look in his father's eyes.

But as Daedalus was about to reply, Icarus watched as his attention then rapidly shifted towards the wooden sword in his hands before speaking with a tone containing an unexpected edge, "What are you doing with that stick? Icarus! Haven't I told you before we are inventors, innovators! Not crude barbarians!"

Icarus, who was unsure where this strange rant came from, decided to just avoid the pointless argument and attempted to stroke his father's ego instead, as sometimes, it was just easier to go along with what someone else wants than to pointlessly fight them on it.

…especially when he didn't care in the first place.

"I just wanted to feel how to wield a sword so I could better know how to forge one, like the ones you do." Icarus replied, which wasn't actually a lie.

He did indeed want to know how his father did so, afterall he wanted to learn as much as he possibly could from Daedalus and learning how to forge such high quality swords was exceptionally useful, especially during this time period.

Money had to come from somewhere.

With Icarus' reply, Daedalus' eyes softened as a faint pride seeped into his voice, "...I see."

But it only lasted momentarily as suddenly the crazed look in his eyes from before returned, causing Icarus to sweatdrop from his rapid mood changes.

"Ah, yes! Icarus. Come with me, I heard that the bastard offspring of my sister—Perdix—made some genius invention!" Daedalus began fuming in rage as Icarus cringed at the blatant envy dripping from his voice, "He dare have the audacity to try and surpass me, Daedalus?! The greatest mortal inventor alive!"

As he continued to rant, Icarus slowly started to wonder if Athens had any therapists available…

"Come, we must go and see this 'genius' invention of his ourselves." Daedalus spoke with seething anger.

Icarus sighed before dropping the crude wooden sword from his hands and responding with a concealed amusement, "Alright, and what if his inventions prove themselves superior?"

He glared at Icarus with unconcealed fury, "Impossible!"

"And if it is...?"

Daedalus' eyes turned cold as his glare seeped into Icarus with fury while giving off a soft voice that sent chills down his spine, "...then I'll kill him."

"Father…" Icarus spoke with an edge in his voice, slowly dismissing the dread from Daedalus' prior words and mustering his courage into a reply, "Calm down."

He was usually willing to humor Daedalus with his flights of fantasy, but this was a couple steps too far. Perdix was his cousin, someone who had once mentored under Daedalus alongside him.

It was also due to the past interactions between Perdix and his father that would eventually lead to Icarus deliberately concealing his talents from Daedalus.

Feigning incompetence, while biding his time to learn as much as possible instead.

Because sometimes, his father would suddenly shift and his personality would take an unexpected edge that would lead him into often taking things too far… and while Icarus was usually up to the task of reining him back down, occasionally he would fail.

"…Sorry." Daedalus replied in shame as he seemed to become aware of his sudden shift, staring down at his hands in grief before turning towards Icarus, "Thank you, Icarus."

His father rarely ever apologized or thanked him, it was only on occasions like this, after he would suddenly shift that he would.

"Just—try to keep it in control." Icarus replied with a soft smile, he didn't know why his father would act like this, but he was unable to do anything but sigh while hoping things wouldn't go too badly.

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Author's Notes

Thanks for reading, suggestions and ideas appreciated!

Special thanks to Old man of the mountain, drasombo, ONEPUNCH, and Revanrex on discord for Beta Reading!

Join here, at https://discord.gg/AMyqBN2

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Glossary

[1] The Gaia referred to is the Earth Mother Goddess Gaia from the Greek Pantheon, not the Gaia which is also known as the 'World' and is the will of the Planet.