BRIAN GOES BYE-BYE

After we had rested for three days, Circle saw us off. She had packed us much more food than we started with, and we were grateful, for we lost much of our supply to the water. Circe pecked Vittoria. "Take care, Vitti. Hopefully, we can cross paths again."

"I told you not to call me that embarrassing nickname," Vittoria blushed. "Especially not in front of them."

"Is it that much of a deal? Oh...you mean Yi-"

"No, I most certainly don't!" Vittoria covered Circe's mouth, and the sorceress giggled. "It's a good nickname. I'm sure it will stick with him as well. Or, perhaps you would prefer to be called Vi?"

"Well, no. You called me that when I was a toddler, but I can see you're not backing down, are you, mamma?"

"No," she smiled. "It's one or the other." Circe handed out a parchment, which I later realized was a map. Then she gave me a compass. "Make sure not to lose it. That compass has been imbued with magic. It will lead one to where they desire to be." Basically, it's a GPS. Circe glided her fingers across the map, tapping on the location marked "Colchis."

"The golden fleece lies where it originally belonged before being taken by the Argonauts: in the land of Colchis, where King Aeetes once ruled. The place is a host to many dangers, such as the Colchis Bulls, undead warriors, and of course, the sleepless dragon that guards the fleece."

I took uneasiness to the last two. "Undead warriors? Such a thing exists?"

"Yes," Circe answered, somewhat confused. "Being a child of Hades, I thought you of all people would know of such things. After all, necromancy is one of your father's most beloved arts."

"Well, I tend to stick to the living. But, if I can control the dead, won't that mean that these undead warriors pose no threat?"

"Correct. The three of you should mainly concern yourself with the Bulls and the dragon. There are numerous other threats, but these two will be the grandest obstacles to overcome. I've included items in your bags that will help you counter them." Circe hugged Vittoria once more. "I'm overjoyed I got to speak with you after so long." Then she smiled at Brian and me. "The two of you: I expect Vittoria to still be alive and well when you return with the fleece. If not, well, you're going to have a wonderful experience indeed. Even turning you into a swine won't satisfy me. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes!" We both nodded. I certainly did not want to become a pig, or even worse, her dinner.

"One more thing. Vittoria, the sirens should not be far from here." Circe snapped her fingers, and three pairs of earbuds materialized. "Under any circumstances, do not take these off. The siren's song will drive you mad with lust, and once you start swimming to them, they'll pluck you back into their nest. The same goes if you're foolish enough to take a glimpse of them after they've used a bewitchment spell. If their skin turns the faintest shade of black, look away, or all hope will be lost. They will appear as a goddess to you, and as men, you'll have lost all sense of humanity save the irresistible urge to be seduced by the sirens. After they've taken their time with you, they'll begin to devour you from head to toe. Also, Yiannis, mind I ask something?"

"Not at all, ma'am."

"Are you really the son of Lord Kronos?" I knew she didn't mean it negatively, but it still rubbed me the wrong way. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh, never mind. It's but a trivial thought."

"Oh, right, about our sailboat...the hull was wrecked."

"Yes, Vittoria took it upon herself to fix it, as did I. What do you think?"

Forget about the hull. Vittoria and Circe decided, for some reason, a remake of our little boat was necessary. The craft was now three times larger, with five masts instead of one. In all honesty, it looked like Jack Sparrow's ship in Pirates of the Caribbean. My jaw hung loose. "I'm utterly amazed you two managed to build such a magnificent ship in such a short time. But did you guys really need to make this behemoth?"

"Why, yes. If Vittoria sleeps sitting on the old sailboat as you described, her beautiful face will be subject to all sorts of germs!"

"Right..."

"Moreover, your pathetic old log was too small to even hold all the supplies I've given you. This improved version has a storage room big enough for the task. You will also find three bedrooms, one for each of you. The only things in those rooms are a bed and a lantern. While the boat is made of wood, I've applied both a booster spell and an elemental resistance spell, making the ship more durable and resistant to fire. Well, that's about it. Yiannis, Brian, come with me. I'll give you what else you may need. Vittoria will put up the sails and get the ship ready."

Vittoria nodded. "Yes, momma."

After we parted ways, my comrades and I sat down by each other and ate our breakfast. Vittoria munched on a bagel filled with cream cheese while Brian chugged down two loaves of olive bread. I simply ate two packages of greek yogurt with a plastic spoon, and my mood was greatly improved. I made a mental note to somehow thank Circe for making our almost unbearable journey more enjoyable with the great food, among other things. The three of us hadn't showered before we entered Circe's home(there were a few exceptions). Neither did we get much sleep, and sometimes we stayed awake for a whole day. It made me much more refreshed and able to focus on our task at hand.

After we were done, Vittoria handed Brian and me the earbuds we had received from the sorceress. "According to both the map and the compass, we should be within ear range of the sirens' song soon."

Brian nodded. "Thanks, Vitti."

"Don't call me that," she spurned. "We're not that close, you know."

"Well, alright. If you say so. Do we mute our ears now?"

"No, not yet. There's something I would like the two of you to do for me."

Interestingly, Vittoria's request was to tie her with rope to one of the masts. "I know this seems counterintuitive and is risky, but I would like to listen to the sirens' song." Brian nudged me on the shoulder. "She used to be so clever before. What happened?"

"I think we're going to find out. Vittoria, is there any particular reason you're asking this? If you survive listening to the sirens' song, does something special happen?"

"Other than them dying, I learn something important about myself, as well as see a glimmer of my future."

"Are you sure about this? I can tell that you're determined to do this even if it costs your life, and you probably have your reasons. But there's still a chance that you'll die, and I can't have that. I need you for this quest, Vittoria." I'm not sure why, but her cheeks reddened slightly, and she started squirming. "Did I say something wrong?"

"No," she shook her head. "I appreciate your faith in me, Yiannis. But I have no doubt you can handle the quest without me. Even more so, I know you won't let me die."

"That's why I'm telling you not to do this, you silly girl." Vittoria smiled. "Well, this silly girl has no intentions of dying on you yet."

Brian coughed. "Well, you and Yiannis are the leaders here. I won't stop you if this is what both of you decide on, but realize I don't want Circe transforming me again."

"Oh, right," Vittoria smirked. "If I do die, tell her everything I said just now. It would be most unfair if the two of you were blamed for what I told you to do. Anyway, Yiannis, we don't have much time. The sirens' cliff is just coming into view. Are you in or not?"

After disarming her, I bound Vittoria to one of the masts. I coiled a thick red rope around her waist and arms. For her legs, I tied her feet together, just in case. "Now, hopefully, you're not a disciple of Houdini, or this setup will be useless."

"I do wish I was, but sadly I have not been taught his legendary black arts, so do not fret," Vittoria giggled. "In case you're wondering, I won't be able to use any spells. Using magic requires a decent amount of concentration, and I'll be completely insane after hearing the music of the sirens, so don't worry. I will survive."

"I believe you." I plugged on the earbuds in my hand, as did Brian. I could tell from Vittoria's wide grin she was throwing insults our way, laughing because we couldn't even hear her. I smiled, hoping for both our sakes she knew what she was doing.

With our ears muzzled, there was no point in talking. Thankfully, the three of us prepared for this scenario beforehand by hastily creating our own sign language. Communication was still possible, albeit somewhat challenging. We didn't spend enough time developing, and while I still remembered what all the signs meant, I'm not sure Brian did, and that was just one problem. We intended to make the language more intricate. But, thanks to a time restraint, we only ended up creating twenty-six signs, one for each letter. The problem with this is that it will take a while to say long sentences, so we have decided to keep them short. Luckily, as teenagers living in the digital age, we have an arsenal of experience in talking slang(and not actual English). As such, we've created new slang words for the current dilemma. Now, whether Brian remembers that too(we should have memorized all this together) is up to him, and, hopefully, he cared enough.

Since the sirens weren't showing themselves(or I just didn't notice them), I decided to play with the new language. I, er, chatted with Brian most unconventionally, and he seems to have gotten the hang of it for the most part. That eliminated two worries that clouded my mind with unease. He even remembered the new slang words we made!

And my happy meter plummeted. I noticed something was wrong when the air around me began flowing unnaturally. Instead of whizzing past me, it rammed my right side, and I collapsed to the floor of the ship. With the way our craft is moving, the air should hum southwards relative to my beautiful face. Yet an abnormal concentration(by this, I meant nearly all the wind I felt) came at me from the west. Was there a monstrous hurricane close by? I would have seen it if so. However, the cause of this event didn't have to be a natural one, and Vittoria's face confirmed this. Her eyes burned with anger as tears dripped from them. She opened her mouth, and although I couldn't hear her, I was fluent in silent talk. "Why?" She cried. "Why are you doing this to me? I thought you were my friend! I thought you cared about me! Let me go this instant, Yiannis!" Vittoria's ears had caught the sweet temptation that was the sirens' lullaby. It was so compelling I actually felt a little guilty. But I wasn't stupid enough to let my emotions get the better of me - then that would be the biggest regret I would ever have.

I didn't bother to look for the sirens(Circe said to avoid doing so anyway) and passed the time with Brian. I notified him the sirens were nearby and to be on high alert, as well as what Circe said. We changed course to Destiny 2 and Pyre(It was now clear why Vittoria was so upset. She wanted in on this passionate, vigorous, and intellectual discussion between two great men of culture. However, she only had herself to blame for deciding to tune in on the song of a bird-woman.) As for why Brian and I debated on such things, it was necessary, ok?

Even in such intense debate, the sirens never left my mind. They had one option left to them: if they didn't want to die, they would come to get us directly, meaning we could not look at them; otherwise, we would lose our minds. As for that bewitchment spell, well, Vittoria had already gone insane, so we wouldn't be able to counter it(I needed to learn a negation spell from her). Fighting them head-on would be a futile endeavor, but if they tried to attack us or the ship, we would have difficulty responding. The only feasible solution would be to have Brian erect a water barrier around the ship or use my powers. Recently, after a series of experiments on Vittoria(I got her consent to do this), I learned I could influence someone's perception of time. I could even go so far as to erase it (by that, I mean I can make others unable to discern changes in time frames). That may sound insignificant, but it's monumental. Think about it like this: let's say there's a train moving at four hundred miles per hour. In this reference frame, one way to tell whether time has passed would be to see the train moving as it takes time for the train to move. Of course, time is independent of the train and will go by regardless of whether the train moves or not, but that's not important right now. When I use my powers on someone, however, they'll be stuck in one frame. Time, to them, is stationary and doesn't move forward like it's supposed to. Everything around them will appear still(like the ship I'm on). So, if the vessel I'm on cruises along the waters for an hour, the sirens will only see it at one moment in time, which will not reflect reality. My buddies and I will be elsewhere, likely a safe distance away from where they think we're at. So, while they get frustrated wondering why the hell nothing is happening, my beautiful ship, which I've named the "Black Pearl" as tribute, will meander along unharmed. I guess it can be thought of as a bootleg illusion.

Anyways, as expected, the Sirens showed themselves. In my opinion, they did not need to use magic to appear seductive. They already were if you ignored their inhuman features, like their claws or wings. The sirens had the upper half of human women but the bottom half of a bird, and that is all I can say about how they looked because a second after I saw them, I turned away. Oh right, they were also scowling at us, probably because we made life difficult for them. Brian immediately set up a barrier, protecting the Black Pearl and us from harm. I bet the sirens were raging right about now and with good cause. There was literally nothing they could do. To make sure it would stay that way for a while longer, I used my powers and altered their sense of time.

After a while, I told Brian he could relax, and the guy dropped to his knees. He was way too exhausted, and I don't think he'll be able to set up another barrier any time soon. On the other hand, I could use my abilities once more without pause.

But since I stopped using my powers, the sirens had to have noticed us because I heard them screeching. Vittoria called out to them, and I had to clamp her mouth shut with my hands. She was going to be a nuisance now that she had listened to the sirens' song. But that was just the beginning of my problems.

Unfortunately, one of the sirens threw a rock at Brian. He then made the mistake of glancing at them(I thought it was a siren because he lost his mind as well, as he attempted to use his powers to get a foothold into the sky). Obviously, going to the enemy with hands outstretched is not normal. Before he got out of the ship, I used my powers to alter his sense of time, which stopped him temporarily, long enough for me to tie him up with lovely red rope. While doing so, I stripped him of anything with a sharp edge so he wouldn't be able to cut himself free. Well, that's what I thought, anyway. Sadly, it turned out Brian was the Hulk, and only flexing his muscles was adequate to shred the rope. I locked on to Brian and tried to constrain him. Even more sadly, I was weak compared to the guy with bulging biceps I was trying to hold down, and so I was tossed away like a bug, which dealt a big blow to my self-esteem.

I had one route left to explore. As the sone of Hades, I could fasten someone's shadow to a specific location, much like an anchor does to a ship. So, I fashioned a coil of chain using my shadow as material and wrapped it around Brian's foot. I fastened the shadow of the chain to my own, meaning it was glued to my shadow. No matter how hard Brian tugged and pulled, he wouldn't be gaining an inch.

Now, onto the second reason why umbrakinesis is so handy. Everything in the way of the sun casts a shadow, and I can sense all of them and their respective locations, even if the cause was all the way in, say, India. This gave me an idea of where the actual object or person was, so my eyes were not needed. It was perfect for times like these.

Of course, knowing their location is devoid of value if I can't hit the sirens. But remember when I said I could fasten anything to any shadow. What would happen if I created a giant spike in the shadow world and connected it to another shadow such that the latter is impaled by the former? Would the root of the shadow be altered in any way? You bet it would.

The sirens wailed in pain, and one by one, the wretched monsters fell into the sea, causing a series of splashes. Brian was becoming more docile as I eliminated more of the beasts. The sirens were screaming frantically, for they had no clue what I was doing. However, even when I had turned the situation around, and my triumph seemed a given, the result was very different from the expectation. Despair looped itself around me as I soon moped hopelessly on the ground, unable to do anything.

Even though I had Brian stuck to me, what I should have anticipated was for him to attack me. This oversight cost me everything. Brian drove his fist into my chest, and my back hit one of the masts. I reached the limit of my endurance, and the cable suspending him in place dissolved. Too weak to move, I watched as he made a staircase of water, at the top of which was the one siren I didn't kill. Adding insult to injury and misery to frustration, I watched the siren accept him with a smug sneer, gripping his shoulders as she kissed him. I gazed hopelessly into the sky, focusing my eyes on a depressing scene: the siren lifted Brian onto her arms and carried him as she flew. She licked all parts of his body like she was savoring her meal, and that was the last I saw of a friend as I wept. I may have disliked him initially, but I grew to like him after his turnaround.

The failure drove multiple points home. First, that I was weak and pathetic, nowhere near as strong as I thought. I had the gall to be arrogant enough and boast about killing the gods when I couldn't even deal with a pack of meager monsters! How was I supposed to protect Helen from anything? If I had at least learned the negation spell from Vittoria, I could've saved Brian! If I survived this quest, I would beg Vittoria to teach me everything she knew. I can only get so far with cunning and knowledge alone. I couldn't stay awake for much longer. Before I passed out, I saw Vittoria peering down at me, sympathy plastered on her face. "I'm so sorry, Yiannis. If I hadn't been so selfish, Brian could have still lived. If I didn't ask for that request..." Vittoria carried me into her arms. "I love booster spells. Now you weigh no more than a feather to me. Rest now, Yiannis. I'll handle the rest, and I promise not to let you die as well." She closed my eyes as I lost consciousness, wanting to say that it wasn't her fault, not entirely. I was the one who miscalculated, and thanks to that blunder, Brian became bird food. If Helen was the one the Sirens were trying to seduce, would I have tried harder to keep her from falling into their clutches? I doubted it. It wasn't a question of favoritism or loyalty. In the end, I was just too weak to protect the ones I cared about, and that hurt me more than anything.