Curious About Lieutenant Perseus

When the whole world made their daughters wear skirts and stay inside the four walls of the houses, the two beautiful souls through whom God decided to give me an entry into this world, decided to let me free of all the unnecessary shackles. They suggested to wear the bangles of kindness, wreath of wisdom and necklace of love.

- Diary Of Ophelia

" Jason, shouldn't you take care of your wounds first? You are bleeding, for your information." Lieutenant Andreas whispered in an angry tone.

" Calm down, Lieutenant Andreas. Am I that weak?" Jason said with a laugh.

"Oh no, your highness. I was under the impression that you are immortal." Andreas' words were filled with sarcasm.

"Glad to know that you have such an impression about me." Jason was openly laughing now.

Andreas snorted. "You better be prepared for the berating from your father, because I'm going to sell you out for sure."

"Heartless guy! You call yourself my friend?" Jason said in a mock hurt voice holding the left side of his chest as if he had been stabbed.

Andreas couldn't help but roll his eyes.

"Well, on a serious note, we've been delaying that birthday banquet for long enough. I know that my wounds are a bit serious. But duty comes first. We just have to reach the palace in one piece and give the youngest princess her gifts, wish her many more happy returns of the day and we are done. Then we'll tend to my wounds." Jason explained with a calm face.

"As you say, Crown Prince." Andreas was back in his Lieutenant mode.

"Let's join the king in the frontlines." Jason said while urging his horse to move faster. Andreas followed him close behind.

"Ah, Crown Prince Jason. Hope you are alright?" Zeus asked with words laced with concern and courtesy.

"Yes, Your Majesty. I'm alright." Jason replied in a polite tone.

"Glad to know that." Zeus said with a smile.

"Your Lieutenant is a fierce young lad. It's a commendable feat; becoming Lieutenant of a mighty army at such a young age."

"Ha ha." Zeus let out a small laugh and said in an amused tone: "And your achievements are nothing small, I believe. Weren't you made the Lieutenant of the army of isles of Apollo at the age of 14? And the story goes on like you found the Falcon Army at the age of 17. Coming from such a man, the praise for my Lieutenant is sure noteworthy."

Jason smiled in a modest manner and his soldiers were beaming with pride, Zeus had said that with no low volume.

" I noticed that he doesn't carry a spear with him, but two swords." Jason couldn't help but ask about the youth who had fought with such a grace.

' You are not going to let that matter at rest, huh? Why so much interest in my daughter, young man?' Zeus thought to himself.

" I can see that you are curious about him ." He said outwardly.

" Oh no, Your Majesty. It's not me. Andreas was wondering about Lieutenant Perseus since the battle had come to an end that I had no choice but to help him quench his curiosity." Jason was quick to pass the whole responsibility to his most beloved friend.

' Huh? Why would I be curious about that young lad? Jason!! I'm not letting you go without telling me why YOU are so interested in him.' Andreas swore to himself.

"Is that so, Lieutenant Andreas?" Zeus asked.

"I was impressed with his skills your majesty." Andreas had no other choice. He had to go along with the story that his Crown Prince had concocted up.

" Then it would be my pleasure to tell you more about him." Zeus said magnanimously with a straight face.

" The story sure is an interesting one."

Zeus went on to explain how his daughter came to be the Lieutenant of the army of the Isles of Athena:

" Years ago when he was two years old, he went missing. Everybody was in a state of panic searching for the little Perseus. After a while they found him in the martial arts training room, trying to take a sword that had been kept at one end of the room in a place of importance. He was so delighted with the designs etched on the base of the sword that he was laughing with glee. Seeing that he was unable to even hold that shiny thing, he let out a wail all of a sudden; bringing everyone out of their shocked state. His mother rushed in and took him away from the dangerous weapon. He stopped his shrill cries once his mama held him against her. But then he started to try to get away from her to the sword that had caught his interest. To say that everyone was amazed would have been an understatement. His father decided to make a small wooden sword, with blunt edges, for him to play with. He thought that would provide a solution for his affinity to that particular weapon.

The toddler was so happy with the wooden sword that he forgot about the other one for a while. But then he started to trail behind his elder brother to the training room. There he made friends with the Major General. It was a remarkable feat (laughs). Major General was known for his hot temper. He was akin to a war machine. And the little Perseus did have a taste of his temper on the very first day.

He followed his elder brother who had started his basic training in martial arts to the training room. This time he had taken his wooden sword with him. The little Perseus stood there in a daze observing the older men do mock battle, for a while. Then he took his own weapon and tried his best to imitate the way the soldiers walked to reach the side of the 'big tall dada with a beard' and a beautiful sword. He has been calling the men of his father's age 'dada' because he couldn't pronounce uncle yet.

He stopped near the 'big tall dada with a beard' and nudged his leg with the wooden sword. Major General found something nudging his calf and looked down to see a chubby toddler trying his best to strike a fighting stance. He stood stock-still for a while and then picked up the little one who had been trying to imitate the 'big brothers with the beautiful shiny things like the one he saw when he came in here for the first time' , and dropped him out of the training room. The little Perseus stood there in dismay for a while staring at the 'big tall dada with a beard'. Major General stared back with an angry air about him till the baby decided to give up and walk away, holding his sword high. Even then he was imitating the gait of the soldiers. Major General looked on with a confused gaze.

This string of incidents took place daily for two weeks. Major General had started to thaw. He no longer looked at the toddler with a stern face, but simply took him out and gestured him to go. One fine day, the daily routine was changed. As usual, little Perseus came in and nudged Major General with his sword. Major General was no longer able to suppress his fond smile on seeing the toddler trying to get into the fighting stance using his chubby legs. The soldiers in the training room was used to the daily ritual that they didn't pay much attention to it. But they were shocked when Major General picked up the toddler and went to a less crowded corner of the room. The little Perseus looked up at the 'big tall dada' in confusion. He adopted the fighting stance thinking that 'dada' was ready to play with him. Major General took the sword out of the toddler's hands and got down to his knees to squat.

'You want to play with it?' He asked.

'Yes dada.' little Perseus replied in his baby voice.

'Come with me, little one.' Major General took him out of the training room and walked to the garden. They walked around the garden in a companiable silence for long. Sensing that the little one was getting tired, Major General picked him up and took him to his parents.

'Papa, dada took me to see the flowers.' Little Perseus was in a happy mood.

'So I see dearest.' his father said with a fond smile and took him from the Major General.

'Stay with your mom. I'll see you later, sweetheart.' He kissed his forehead and gave him to his mother.

He went out of the chambers and Major General followed him.

'Now tell me Chiron, what made you change your decision to make my son stay away from the training room because he's too young?' He asked.

'The little one is so persistent in his actions, just like someone I know.' Major General said with a laugh.

'So what's your decision?"

'I've decided to take him under my wing, with your permission of course.'

'Isn't he too young to start training under you? Even my eldest has not reached that level.'

' Don't worry. I'll be considerate of his age. But yes, training under me is hard. But starting his training this early is not so bad.'

' I'll leave it to you then. Take care of my son.'

' With my life. I promise.'

And that day marked the start of the close bond between the Major General Chiron and Perseus. They trained with wooden swords for a whole year. The whole army was surprised when Major General made a wooden sword and polished it himself to train with his 'little friend'. Under the fond gazes of the fellow soldiers, little Perseus started his training the very next day. Everyone assumed that he'll get tired of swords soon. But they were proved wrong. And when he was old enough, he was given the two swords that he had admired long ago when he was a two years old toddler. That single action created a fresh stream of gossip, but that's a story for another day I guess." Zeus stopped the narration with a laugh. "We've reached the palace. Welcome, Crown Prince Jason."

Copyright 2020 by Mila Alaia

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Mila Alaia