27 [Olympus]

Fate/Defiance

Chapter 26 [Olympus]

By theMadLad

Beta: Old man of the mountain

Icarus felt his body flinch as he tried to move, only to have his entire mind blank out from the rods of sheer pain shooting up his spine, "Ahk—!"

Then a finger tapped his forehead and he felt all that pain fade away. Although, his mind was still in a state of befuddlement as he looked towards the owner of the offending appendage.

"C-Chiron…?" He whispered through his hoarse throat.

The centaur gave him an apologetic smile that held a hint of surprise as he spoke, "I didn't expect you to wake so soon, the pain should be gone now."

Icarus calmed down at Chiron's words, he felt as his mind cleared of any remaining pain, with it vanishing from his body like an illusion. He then glanced down at himself, remembering how he should have been dead from the state he was left in. His gaze quickly trailed down to his torso, where he noticed the wrappings covering his chest and arms in a makeshift cast holding his bones magically in place.

He blinked in surprise before looking at Chiron with a quip leaving his strained lips, "P-Pain is just w-weakness leaving the body."

Chiron tilted his head at his words, then nodded while thinking that it was a pretty cool saying, before he shook his head while looking towards Icarus with clear eyes, "Icarus of Athens." Then Chiron bowed, "I sincerely apologize for the events that transpired earlier, along with my students' behavior. I take full responsibility for your injuries, and will compensate you to the best of my ability."

Icarus was momentarily stunned at his words, and admittedly a bit distracted by how strange it looked for a man with a horse's body to bow. But then he tried to respond, and found that he couldn't. His usual decisiveness was absent as he looked at one of the most famous mythological beings in history bowing to him in apology.

He had mixed feelings on the encounter, on one hand he was glad to have tested himself against some of the greatest and most iconic heroes in history… while even coming out on top, but on the other hand—he was fucking pissed.

They had not only sneak attacked him for no reason, but also severely injured him as well—not to mention the risks they had put Atalanta and Paimon under! Chiron was supposed to be the greatest teacher in the world, yet he allowed it to happen, but that wasn't even the greatest disappointment…

No, that was the heroes-in-training.

Icarus expected disciplined and at least somewhat honorable people who were raised in royalty and knew how to behave. Yet instead he got a bunch of bratty children eager to fight him, with the exception of Heracles.

…and maybe Asclepius.

Honestly his anger towards Castor was making him a bit biased.

He felt his body ache as he sat up, even through the apparent magic that Chiron used on him. But with some effort, Icarus finally sat straight as he looked over the bowing centaur and made a decision.

Although he wanted to yell at him for his grievances… he knew that it would be a mistake.

This wasn't the time to dwell on grievances, as not only may it sour his early relationship with Chiron, but it may also destroy any future relations as well. Icarus needed Chiron… but Chiron did not need Icarus. He also had Atalanta and Paimon to keep in mind, he couldn't take care of both of them alone and keep up his training at the same time.

Not to mention how some of the future's most influential people in the world are here as well.

3 maybe 4 Princes, 1 Princess, 4 Future Divine Spirits–with them being the future Gods of Strength and Medicine, along with the Gemini Constellation.

Fuck, just Heracles or Asclepius alone were friends he was completely unwilling to pass up on! Not to mention both of them!

Icarus would have to have had his head kicked in as a baby to let go of such an opportunity—and he wouldn't just be fucking over himself, but Atalanta as well! Giving up such an opportunity was like winning the lottery yet never cashing in the ticket! It simply went completely against his 21st Century pragmatism!

…and he could tell that Chiron was sincere in his apology. Even now after being lost in his thoughts for minutes, Chiron had not moved an inch during his bow. Chiron didn't owe him anything, not truly, yet he did so anyway.

And that was worthy of respect, and consideration.

Well, he could at least ask for some compensation like Chiron said.

"Well, I-I accept your apology." Icarus spoke with difficulty.

Chiron stood straight, leaving his strange horse bodied bow while looking towards Icarus with a smile.

"...A-Are Atalanta and Paimon alright?" Icarus finally asked the first question that had been poised on his lips.

Chiron nodded in thought, "So Atalanta was her name, huh?" Then he answered in affirmation, "Yes, the girl is resting in one of the cabins with… Paimon, although your bird is unconscious." He looked towards Icarus with a smile as he continued, "You know, she wouldn't leave your side even when I tried to check on you. It was only after she fell asleep from exhaustion that I was able to get a good look… I just didn't expect you to wake up so quickly."

While Chiron could have made Atalanta fall asleep with a simple tap, he felt it would be a poor move to antagonize her any further. She already seemed to heavily dislike him, destroying any little trust he gained by helping Icarus wasn't something he was willing to do. He already felt guilty enough, and although he could tell Icarus was recovering fine, he still wanted to make sure to check carefully just in case.

"How long have I been out?" Icarus asked as he laid back down, feeling much better at the information that Atalanta and his silly bird were alright.

"A couple days. Heracles woke up only a day prior and we will be leaving the area as soon as you are recovered." Chiron informed, smirking a bit as he noticed Icarus' lip twitch with the mention of Heracles waking earlier than himself.

There they lapsed into a momentary silence.

"My flight." Icarus suddenly spoke up, drawing Chiron's attention, "…Is my flight truly gone?"

Chiron frowned before he nodded, drawing an adjacent frown from Icarus as he quickly became lost in his thoughts.

"You said you would compensate me right? …Then could you appeal to the gods to grant me back my flight?" Icarus asked while turning towards Chiron with a pleading expression.

Icarus was pissed at himself for losing control during the fight and although his slight towards Castor was extremely satisfying, it was ultimately a stupid mistake. It was one of the reasons he made sure not to be impulsive when Chiron apologized.

He needed to learn from his mistakes and overcome them, not repeat them. Otherwise… he would never improve.

Chiron hesitated for a moment before nodding in affirmation. He said he would compensate Icarus, and he would not go back on his word—he felt responsible for it after all, "It may be difficult… but I will try my best."

Icarus smiled at his words, "Then, thank you."

Chiron gave a kind grin in response, "It's the least I could do."

From there, Chiron proceeded to check over Icarus' injuries, checking the wrappings covering his bones while making sure his body, especially his internal organs, were recovering well. It was only after he finished, that he spoke again. "You are recovering better than expected. I'll let you rest your body for some time before I give you more medicine."

Icarus nodded before he slowly started to doze off, feeling his body's desperation for rest start to overcome his ability to retain consciousness.

Chiron silently brought him back to the cabin where he had originally been left in before setting him at the sleeping Atalanta's side as an untied Paimon watched him from the corner with narrowed eyes.

Then Chiron left, with determination filling his being as he prepared himself for his next conversation… one many times more difficult than the last.

Meanwhile a blonde boy watched from the side, with tears flowing out from his eyes as he glanced at the cabin Chiron had placed Icarus inside of from under a crude makeshift tent that he had been forced to live in for several days by now, "M-My cabin…"

Poor Jason.

———————————

"...that's why I request to grant Icarus the permission to fly once more." Chiron spoke, finishing his detailed request toward the oracle he used to communicate with the Gods while he waited in silence as it took in his words.

He was extremely unconfident that his appeal would be accepted… after all, he was essentially requesting for Zeus, the King of Gods, to change his mind.

But for Icarus… he did so anyways, as he had promised.

———————————

Far away from the forests of Arcadia, in a place that seemed illusionary, yet grounded.

Fake, yet real.

There was a mountain, one which could reasonably be called the throat of the world itself, after all, it is where only those who had the authority to truly speak resided.

It was divided into two sections, a lower one, where a sprawling city of palaces and riches hid within the clouds that covered the skies. Clouds that lacked the height to reach the mountaintop… a place where it was as if an invisible layer of something prevented them from doing so. A transition of sorts.

A transition to the higher section, where countless stars lit the sky as heavenly bodies seemed close enough to be touched. It was only when one reached that point, that height—the peak, that they could feel it… the change in the air, the realization that such a place was truly sacred, divine.

It was here where the top of Mount Olympus, the abode of the Twelve Olympic Gods, and the place where their King's Throne truly resided was.

At the peak was a peerless acropolis, one which was made of pristine white marble and divine metals. There, just below it, were three massive doors residing over golden pavement, with each door corresponding to a different location, namely the entrance to the lower section, the entrance to the divine stables where all the Olympians' immortal horses resided, and finally a personal door for Zeus' palace.

A palace grander and larger than any other.

Within Zeus' palace was a hall at the center, which was held up by walls made of marble columns that allowed the inhabitants to look down on all of creation.

Inside that central hall were twelve seats, with one in particular standing out. It was a throne, one which was laid out at the center of the room.

The throne was made of the finest godly ore, divine metals which gave a silver glint that seemed to forcefully draw the sight and envy of whoever so much as gazed at it. The throne was exquisite, as if designed by an artisan of unequal skill, who went so far as to adorn it with the most expensive jewelry in existence.

It was a throne without equal.

Sitting on the lone throne, was the visage of a man—no, a God. The God was muscular, impossibly so, with his stoic face being complimented by electric blue eyes and wild, flowing, long white hair that transitioned into an equally profound beard.

He seemed aged, yet that did nothing to reduce the imposing figure his form left within the psyche of anyone who so happened to catch a glimpse of him.

For he was The King of Gods, Zeus.

…And he was not alone.

There in the room with him were a few other Gods residing in their own chairs, although some were noticeably missing as well, with one noticeably empty chair being made up of green streaked marble that beautifully mixed with ocean corals whose luster seemed to bring a collage of colors under its adornments of priceless gold chips and massive pearls.

It sat towards the center of the circle of chairs, noticeable higher than most others except for Zeus' throne which was higher still and one other chair that was equal to it, with that one's ebony black obsidian make and splendors of gold and jeweled adornments seeming to be empty as well.

Then the king spoke, slamming his fist lightly on his throne as the words responding to the oracle sent by Chiron left his mouth, "I refuse."

Then the hall erupted with voices.

"But father! Can't you see what the boy has accomplished so far?! Imagine what he could do with your support—with your endorsement! His accomplishments would be just as much yours as they would be his own, as they would be impossible to accomplish otherwise!" One voice yelled out the loudest, speaking desperately to the king while appealing to his own ego to persuade him.

A few looked towards the voice with undisguised surprise, not expecting her outburst in the slightest. While Zeus merely gave her a brief glance before refusing with a decisive edge, "I have already given my decision, there is no use trying to change it."

The woman who had spoken out deflated, with her soft long green hair covering her eyes as she looked down with dejection, biting her lips at the thought of her failure.

"Hahaha!" Another voice interrupted, crying out in laughter before mocking his father without hesitation, "You're just pissed he called indirectly you out—while beating your bastard's asses at the same time!"

The room went silent, without only the faint whisper of a blunt voice echoing throughout the empty room, "…Dumbass."

"ARES!" Zeus yelled out in anger, narrowing his gaze to the offending figure. "Speak such words once more and I will throw you off of this mountain!"

This time Ares didn't speak—no, he laughed instead.

A shockwave hit the surroundings immediately after, with only the flash of lightning and the boom of thunder marking its entrance. The surrounding Gods closed their eyes as their vision was momentarily filled with nothing but blue light. After they had reopened them, they all gazed at the chair where Ares sat prior… only to find it now empty.

…Also some of the hall's columns seemed to have taken damage, with faint scorch marks now burnt into the previously pristine white marble.

The King of Gods' power was not one to be trifled with.

"..." Apollo shook his head as he could hear the faint shouts of pain echoing out from below as well as some words like, '...You're just pussying out of the bet…!' as Ares plummeted down the mountain.

"Like I said, a dumbass." He then beckoned his hand over and moments later a golden automaton appeared. It was one of many built by Hephaestus that resided within the palace.

It trundled into the hall with its sleek golden design as its eyes glowed a bright orange, with lines of light lighting up across its body adjacent to its movements towards Apollo. As it arrived, the automaton held up a hand as a golden apple picked straight from the Garden of Hera appeared before it was placed in Apollo's palm.

The light blonde, almost white-haired man then dismissed it with a casual wave of his hand before turning to his side and speaking to the person sitting at his neighboring chair, "…So, what are your thoughts of this sister?"

The ditzy white-haired woman beside him put a finger to her lips while tilting her head in thought. Then a moment later she slapped her fist onto her palm as she came to a decision, causing her… more voluptuous parts to bounce with the movement before she spoke, "Ah! The little boy with wings seemed so strong for his age, I just wish he was a little nicer to the girl—!"

Apollo rolled his eyes as he realized the mistake of his words. Once Artemis thought of something… it would quickly bounce around in her empty head until she then thought of something else, something completely strange.

"—that way maybe they could fall in love! Oh my! Just imagine Apollo, the little genius from Athens melting the cold heart of the Spartan Princess!" She then brought her hands to her cheeks as she gained a faint blush, "T-then maybe they could unite their two kingdoms with their love, and even have their c-children take over as they slowly got older together…"

Apollo took a bite of the Golden Apple, feeling its divine texture and taste grip his tongue, only barely distracting himself from his sister's fantasies as he felt the lines of age marking his face quickly fade away into baby smooth skin.

Then she continued to go on… and on, and on, "…Then their next daughter could maybe fall in love with a foreign Prince and have them unite, only for it to be revealed that the Prince's father, the King, was an enemy of her father, a-and even her mother's twin the whole time! N-no, not just an enemy—an unrequited love as well—!"

"—Y-y-you! Be quiet!" A voice shouted, interrupting Artemis' delusions with anger.

Apollo turned to the voice, only to be surprised as he realized it belonged to Athena! His brows raised as he contemplated her recent strangeness. Her shy demeanor seemed to vanish when it came to the boy… to the point where he had even noticed her often disappearing at times.

Artemis tilted her head in confusion as she addressed her green-haired half-sister sister, "What's wrong Thena… did you not like how it didn't happen that way? Don't worry I'm sure if we give them a push it will work out that way!"

Athena merely continued to point at Artemis with a trembling finger as her face contorted with a variety of emotions that Aphrodite would have called 'spicy!'

"Y-you think I would allow my city-state's genius to be with some h-harlot princess from that fool's kingdom of crazies?!" Athena roared with flushed skin.

Meanwhile Zeus sighed, he was starting to understand why his brothers always skipped these meetings…

Artemis' eyes popped out of her skull as years of experience as a virgin fangirl of love brought her to a startling conclusion, "T-Thena d-don't tell me—!"

Athena, the dignified Goddess of War, then tackled Artemis from her seat, absolutely determined to not allow her to speak another word—no, a single syllable!

"Alright that's enough!" Zeus yelled out, tired of their behavior, "Behave yourselves!"

The two women slowly got up, with Athena glaring harshly at Artemis' teasing grin.

Then someone else spoke up for the first time, "Now, now, things have gotten out of hand, right dear?"

The woman put a hand on Zeus' shoulder, stroking his muscles as she spoke with a sensual tone, "How about we return to the previous discussion. Is it really so bad to let him fly? It's not like you can't just take it away again at any time."

She ran a hand through her long braided purple hair as she seduced her husband, slowly bringing him to the direction she wanted with her honeyed words.

Quite honestly, she didn't mind helping Icarus, actually she actively wanted too as well. There was nothing more joyful than watching a mortal boy beat her husband's little bastards into unconsciousness.

She sighed, lamenting that if only Icarus had just killed them as well.

She would gladly aid the boy, if only to watch him beat her… step-children once more. She could barely even restrain herself from snarling at the thought of referring to them as such.

But perhaps this could be a good way to vent in-between her attempts to rid herself of them entirely.

"But how about this time… you make the boy earn it." She spoke in Zeus' ear, while sending incentives to follow her request, "…And I'll even throw in a reward for you as well, my dear husband~."

"…I'll consider it." Zeus spoke hesitantly, waning in his previously decisive decision.

She knew she had him. While all those other harlots may have momentarily seduced her man, she was the only one who could bring him to his knees.

…She was the Goddess of Marriage, Family, and Women after all.

"Artemis." She spoke, glancing at the airhead bastard child with a held back glare.

"Y-yes." Artemis spoke hesitantly, nervous at drawing her crazy step-mother's attention.

"How about… when the boy finishes his training with Chiron, you send down one of those monstrous boars to test him." She commanded, leveling a glare that was daring Artemis to rebuke her.

She then turned to her husband, "…And if he succeeds he shall not only bring glory in your name by being granted the ability to fly once more, fulfilling a heroic quest and feat—but must also sacrifice the boar itself to you…my, King~."

Zeus barely held back a shiver at her tone, as crazy of a bitch his wife was… she definitely could fuck like no other, e-excluding Aphrodite.

Because that just wasn't fair.

"…And if he fails, well then that's that. No use worrying for a dead man is there?" She finished with a flourish, sitting back onto her chair beside the throne as she tucked Zeus' arm between her breasts.

Then she noticed Athena about to speak up, but Hera quickly shut her down before she could get a word in, "What? Don't believe in your… hero, Athena?"

Athena pouted.

Zeus carefully weighed Hera's words in his mind, as while he was all for a good fuck… he wouldn't let it completely destroy his judgement. He knew her mood was likely foul due to Ares' previous words, but thankfully he had managed to cast him out before he revealed the details of their bet.

…A wager for a night with the Goddess of Love was really not something he wanted Hera to know.

So it was such a bad thing to consider her opinion, and in the end, he also didn't think it was such a poor deal. He could also see that it would heavily motivate his children after their embarrassing display against the boy, and he was someone intrigued by what a mortal could accomplish… not that he really expected much.

He could still remember the boy's words when he had disguised himself in the village of Stymphalia, 'a hero who saves for no reason other than to help.' It was a noble sentiment, one which he even doubted enough to make sure to confirm using his Authority of Justice… only to be surprised that the boy's words held true. It had brought him enough favor to turn a blind eye to the boy's exploit of his domain.

Though that was all.

But then again, he also felt Athena's pout that was now directed towards him start to burn him up inside. It truly was hard for him to resist the requests of his favorite daughter.

It definitely had nothing to do with any other kind of… incentive.

"…Very well." He spoke with a sigh, before standing up with a regality so grand, that it was foreign to any other king in the world.

Thunder seemed to boom from his mouth as he declared his decision to the all the Gods within the hall, carefully making sure the Oracles caught it as well, "Inform Chiron that I will command Artemis to release a Demon Boar into the forests of Arcadia after Icarus of Athens finishes his training under him, and if the boy manages to succeed and slay the beast… and then sacrifice it in my name, the power to fly will be his once again."

…By the next day, all of Greece had heard his declaration.

———————————

"C-Could you repeat that for me please?!" Icarus yelled out after he heard what Chiron just relayed to him.

Chiron coughed into his fist as most of his other students gathered around as well, curious after hearing Icarus' outburst.

"…Lord Zeus had decreed that once you finish your training under me, Artemis will release a boar the size of a mountain into this forest… and if you kill it then sacrifice it to him, he will allow you to fly again." Chiron spoke hesitantly as the surrounding students felt their collective jaws drop.

Mountainous Boar, huh… could it be the Calydonian Boar, or even the one from Heracles' Labors?!

Fuck.

Icarus then turned to the gaping Castor, who still had visible bruises from their fight, and spoke up, "Castor, when I'm all healed up… I'm going to beat the bitch out of you, and then—I'm going to kill that fucking boar!"

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Author's Notes

Phew, finally finished it.

Hope you liked it, had to put in a bit of research towards Mount Olympus and the Gods. Tell me if you enjoyed their interactions as I tried my best to expand on the little info I could get from the Fate Series.

Keep in mind their characterizations may seem a bit strange, but they are the Nasuverse versions, which are a bit different from their mythological counterparts. Like Artemis, who is a happy-go-lucky airhead that is extremely passionate about love stories.

Some people may be confused why Zeus said Icarus wasn't lying back when they met, while in the actual chapter from Icarus' perspective he seemed to be. A lot of people seemed to miss that point, which was that Icarus wasn't lying to the Gods, no… he was lying to himself.

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Character Images:

Zeus

Athena

Ares

Apollo

Artemis

Hera