A recurring enemy

*Author Note: I won't be able to upload for the next four days since I have exams, sorry for the inconvenience but hey we'll get back to chapters after the four days.*

{Cicones Chamber, Unknown Time}

"ODYSSEUS IT HAS BEEN TOO LONG!!"

As I looked toward the person whom the thundering voice belonged to, one single sentence espaces my mouth.

"Who are you?"

"OH ODYSSEUS IT PAINS ME THAT YOU NO LONGER REMEMBER US!!"

Looking at the people surrounding Swiper, Lailaps and me, I noticed something from each of them, they were missing a part of their body, one had a missing finger, another had no nose, yet whatever thing they no longer had didn't seem to stop them from functioning like normal, they were undead.

I signed to Lailaps and Swiper to enter my shadow after all in a battle like this they would be more of a nuisance than anything else. As they both sunk into my shadow which elongated under their own I replied at the no eyed man.

"Dude I don't know who you are."

An undead with no tongue came closer to the no eyed man whispering something into his ear through babbles I couldn't understand. The man's expression changed at his subordinate's clattering jaw.

The notongued man then retreated back letting a space for the man.

"KOFF,KOFF I HAVE BEEN INFORMED THAT YOU ARE NOT ODYSSEUS BUT THE LABYRINTH TOLD US A MAN NAMED ODYSSEUS SO I SEEM TO SIMPLY HAVE CONFUSED YOU, EITHER WAY YOU BEAR THE NAME OF THE KING OF ITHACA SO YOU MUST DIE!!" The man continued yelling, my ears honestly couldn't ta'w much more of his irritable voice.

"And who are you?" I asked again "After all it's best to know the identity of the man that is going to kill me."

"WE ARE THE CICONES! I AM THEIR LEADER ORFEO!"

"Oreo?" I questioned back, "NO NOT OREO, ORFEO THOSE BLASTED COOKIES TAKE EVERYTHING FROM ME!"

A stifle escaped my mouth and I couldn't contain myself "Sorry Oreo I can't seem to hear you well."

"I AM NOT OREO!"

"Yeah whatever you say Oreo."

The man couldn't seem to take much more of my provocations as he grit his teeth and simply yelled "ENOUGH OF THIS, CICONES ATTACK!"

Arrows flew from the undead men's bows, the cannibal horses and their riders charged at me, yet I simply grinned at thief clumsy attention of a first attack, sinking into my shadow and reappearing behind one of the archer's on a rooftop.

Summoning Pelian into my hand, I pierced through the undead's skull, yet unlike what I was expecting which was a puff of smoke, the man tried grabbing at my spear still in his skull almost as if he was trying to take it from me.

"Interesting," I muttered as another rain of arrows fell on me, yet I paid them no heed simply controlling the shadows around me, creating a makeshift barrier that shielded both me and the undead I had pierced.

"If celestial bronze can't kill you what can." I wondered summoning 6 spear shaped tendrils piercing through the entirety of the man's body.

"Hmm this may be more difficult than I had thought" I murmured reciting the divine incantation in my head giving myself more power maybe wondering if that was enough still no matter what I did to the undeda's body from decapitation, to slashing off all its limbs it always seems to try and mend back together.

After my experimentation the house where my barrier had been erected had been torn down by the rest of the Cicones and Oreo himself was wielding a sword that seems to cut anything.

"Welp if I can't kill your at least I'll dismember me best way to get rid of you for now." I said mostly to myself before tendrils shot out from my barrier piercing every cicone that was surrounding me.

Little by little I dismembered each kne until I had only a head of Oreo in my hand.

"So big Oreo you know the way to Hephaestus' forge"

"I AM NOT OREO I AM THE GEAT ORFEO!!"

"Yeah okay, Oreo you keep saying that-" as I was trying to get if he knew any information on the forge a dismembered arm seemed t have crawled toward me, now grabbing my leg, I spun my spear before impaling it to the ground the hand writhing in pain.

"So as I was saying have any clue of where the forge is."

"I'LL NEVER TELL YOU! NAME CARRIER!"

"So you do know something or at least there is something here that can help me." I replied knowing that Oreo had let something slip, two figures appeared from my shadow Lailaps and Swiper.

"Lailaps, Swiper could you please try to find anything that could be useful in this place."

"At your service sir." They said in unison before scattering across the makeshift village.

— —

A few minutes later Swiper rushed back to me, jumping on my neck "Sir I've found something in a house a few meters that way."

"Good job Swiper." I replied scratching the foxes chin, Lailaps ran soon after a huge drool hanging from her mouth.

"NO YOU HAVE IT ALL WRONG THER ISN'T ANYTHING THERE!" Oreo yelled.

"Dude you're working against yourself here, better if you stay quiet." I replied as Swiper whispered the direction in my ear and Lailaps followed at my side.

Finally I made it to a small cabin mostly made out of wood, it seemed to be the least well cared of the structures, dust and splinters almost seemed to mock the structure.

In the middle of the home upon a table was a cage and in the cage was a spider, its metallic noise permeating across the room.

'Is that what I think it is.' I thought approaching the spider noticing the intricacies of its design, 'Yeah this is definitely Hephaestus' spider but did it have a name I mean I can't remember it having any name I wonder if Hepahuestus gave one to the little critter in the cage.'

I could see no latch or anything that would allow me to open the cage, so I just decided to brute force my way through it, summoning shadows into me, infusing me with strength, I locked my fingers against some of the cage's bars before…

-CRACK-

The cage broke under the simplest of pressure, the spider seemed to recognize that it had been freed as as soon as I had opened the cage it kept toward the ground scattering away.

I wasn't really worried that it would escape me, and if the creaking was any indication it probably needed a bit of fixing by its owner.

"Lailaps did you catch its scent."

"Yes, master." She woofed.

"Good." I replied climbing onto her back once more, I walked back towards where Oreo's head continued on yelling and yelling, I saw the weird sword which had been able to cut through thing like paper, grabbing it and throwing it into my shadow.

"Come on Lailaps, Swiper let's go, we have a spider to catch and a god to visit." I murmured wanting to be done with this labor as soon as possible.

[Greek Myth Fact: Nyx was the goddess of the night, one of the primordial gods (protogenoi) who emerged as the dawn of creation.

She was a child of Khaos, and coupling with Erebus (Darkness) she produced Aither (Aether, Light) and Hemera (Day). Alone she spawned a brood of dark spirits including the three Fates, Sleep, Death, Strife and Pain.

Nyx was an ancient deity usually envisaged as the very substance of the night--a veil of dark mists drawn across the sky to obscure the light of Aither, the shining blue of the heavens. Her opposite number was Hemera (Day) who scattered the mists of night at dawn.

In ancient art Nyx was depicted as an either a winged goddess or charioteer, sometimes crowned with an aureole of dark mists.]

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