The Hunt

It was nearing dawn as the two brothers traveled through the overgrowth of the woods near town. Chrestos noticed the intensity seeping from his older sibling, so he decided to speak with him to quell a potential feud. "Acacius, are you good? I couldn't help but notice the anger on your face." Acacius ignored his younger brother's question as he continued to use saber to cut through the overgrowth. The intensity with each slash only made Chrestos flinch as his attempt to defuse the situation failed. "Listen, I'm just concerned because you seemed frustrated ever since dad chose the Sovereign Blade's keeper. I just wanted to say that it won't stop me from loving you though!" Acacius turned swiftly to face his brother angrily. "You speak like this right now!? A man was just murdered by a monster! Our priority right now is to bring this blight to justice!" He shouted with a burning rage as he continued to cut a path.

"Acacius, wait," Chrestos said with concern. "Father said that he did not want us to bring Eleni back to the village dead. He knows her far better than we do. We can fix this without having to shed blood!" Annoyed, Acacius turned once more to face his brother before ending the conversation. "That's your flaw, Chrestos..." Acacius said with silent rage, "Your compassion makes you think that everyone is capable of changing for the better. It was Zeus's shattered trust that led him to smite Ares, along with Sparta's vast army! That is why I should be the keeper of that blade and not you. An enemy is willing to take advantage of you when you least expect it. You are only burying yourself further in the ruts with more empathy..."

Chrestos, unable to find a counterargument, chose to remain silent. That is, until he noticed a falcon, morphing into a wolf. Without warning, he moved past Acacius and broke into a sprint. "Chrestos, what the hell are you doing!?" He did not respond as he pursued the animal, trying to maintain his stamina as he did so. The wolf continued to sprint, until stopping at a lake to dive forth into it. The young hunter stopped to process what he just saw. "How is that possible? I know a wolf is capable of swimming, but not dive straight into water without resurfacing." His thoughts were interrupted as he saw what looked like a cavernous opening on the other side of the water. He noticed a brief flash of light in its darkness as he saw a canine form morphing into a more humanoid one with long, flowing hair.

"That must be her..." Chrestos thought as he found his target. Acacius caught up with his brother to notice him jump into the water. "Dammit, Chrestos! Now is not the time to play in the water like a fucking kid!" The youngest sibling did not pay attention to his brother's comment, however, as he began to swim towards the cave without pausing for a rest. Upon reaching the other side, he took note of his surroundings.

He was quite unnerved after noticing the sharp stalactites hanging above his head, threatening to impale him of they were to fall. The light of the slowly rising sun did little to bring light into the cave as Acacius's shouting grew distant. However, he noticed the shape of a skull on the ground as his eyes were acclimating to the darkness. Upon closer inspection, Chrestos noticed that it was that of a Gorgon. Regardless, it was enough to make the hunter flinch. Looking above it, he noticed an opening ahead of him, which was slightly larger than that of an average door. His vision did little to help as he went further into the opening as he kept his armored hand on the wall to know where he was going.

It took a few more steps for Chrestos notice faint blue light on the path straight ahead of him. He let go of the wall and moved slowly as not to attract any attention. Upon approaching another opening, he witnessed a nymph coming out of a pool. The water was illuminated, likely due to an unknown force. This nymph looked different than what he heard about. She did not have a body that bore an appearance of liquid like scholar's findings said. She looked human, with dark brown skin and hair of dark blue. Chrestos would have founder attractive if not given the status of the situation. Not wanting to scare her, hecalled out to her sheeepishly. "H-Hello...?"

Instantly, the nymph pulled out a knife and threw it at him. Instinctively, Chrestos leaped over to the left to avoid being impaled. "What do you think you're doing here!?" The nymph shouted in an alluring, yet fierce, voice as she was defending her territory. The hunter could only stammer as he narrowly avoided getting hit by the knife. He inquired, "A-Are you the one who murdered our town's scholar?" The nymph let out an angered groan as she continued to speak. "You men make me sick! Once a villager is murdered, we seem to be the first to blame!" Despite her anger, Chrestos chose not to attack in efforts to diffuse the situation. "So you have no knowledge of the murder?"

The nymph slowly approached Chrestos as he slowly set his blade down to provide a signal. "My mother and I would never do anything to harm your village's residents. My father was a human being just like you. However, after he was killed by a group of hunters to protect us, we were forced to seek refuge in this cave to save ourselves." Chrestos took a moment to process what he had just heard before speaking. "Who were these people?"

The nymph sat down before she spoke. "These were former residents of Sparta who followed Ares in his attempt to conquer Olympus. They were people who believed in supremacy over thousands of enemy nations, believing that overthrowing a god could be a reminder of power. Upon hearing about Ares's downfall, they sought to hunt my father and his partner for turning against them. Five evil gods have made a bargain with these acolytes to murder the traitors so that no mortal will interfere with Ares's return from the dark seal." Chrestos listened to her story, highlighting one crucial detail.

"You... Are you the daughter of Kallisto?" The nymph raised her eyebrows, seemingly shocked by the question that Chrestos asked her. "How the hell did you know who my father was!?" she asked out of surprise. Chrestos responded, "My father... He's Dra-" He was cut off as the nymph's mother, Eleni, arose from the pool. Helios was caught off guard.

"Amaya! Stay away from that human, he's here to collect a bounty on you!" The mother's hands started to emit an aura, as if she was ready to unleash a spell upon Chrestos. "No wait" he shouted. "I was sent by my father, Drakos, to talk!" Eleni's pale eyes widened as the hunter spoke the name of his father. She remembered that her partner was a fellow soldier who fought alongside Drakos and helped in putting a stop to Ares's rage. "You... That blade... You're the son of Drakos?"

Before Chrestos could respond, he noticed a silhouette appearing from behind the elder nymph. "ACACIUS, NO!!!" He was too late. His older brother impaled Eleni from behind, his saber striking the solid heart within her liquid body. The daughter unleashed an anguished scream as her mother's body dematerialized into a lifeless puddle. Chrestos turned as she dove straight into the pool, vanishing from sight. "Why didn't you stop her?" Acacius inquired. Enraged, Chrestos shouted back, "She did nothing wrong! She was never a murderer, her husband was Kallisto! He died, and you killed the only family she had left!" Acacius, without a word, took his target's heart and sheathed his saber. Chrestos could only follow him from a distance as they made the journey back to town.

Upon return, Drakos looked at the heart and reprimanded his eldest son. "I told you not to kill her." Acacius only spoke back with a sarcastic remark. "Hey, she murdered the scholar. She's better off dead anyways. Her heart of stone is sitting in my trophy room now." Drakos looked over at Chrestos and turned back to dismiss his brother. "Leave," he said rather coldly. Acacius tried reasoning with his father, only to repeat himself much louder and angrier. The eldest son did as he was told, looking at his younger sibling with a silent rage.

"Chrestos," continued Drakos. "There's something that I want to talk to you about." "Y-Yes, father," Chrestos responded, sounding timid. Although he did not kill Eleni, he still felt guilty that he did not save her in time. His father walked stood from his chair and walked forward. "The reason I gave you that blade..." He was unable to finish as Chrestos responded while looking down, "I'm just as surprised as Acacius, he bested me in training and was far better than me by a mile! I have no idea as to why I was chosen to wield it." Drakos stopped in front of his younger son and placed his hand upon his plated shoulder before speaking.

"The main reason as to why Acacius was not given the Sovereign Blade was due to his pride. He focused more on becoming a warrior for the sake of obtaining wealth and women as rewards. You, however, chose to fight for the sake of protecting humanity." Chrestos let out an exhale before looking up at his father. "Despite losing in combat, I watched you take notes in the study hall. You saw your mistakes as opportunities for learning and improvement. Acacius was too blinded by the spoils to acknowledge the true gift of becoming a fighter." Chrestos nodded as he thought back to his brother's temperament during the hunt. Drakos continued, "Though I have never told you both, you chose to defuse the situation by learning more about your target. Kallisto would have admired you for your compassion."

Chrestos smiled as his father helped him remember his duty as a guardian of humanity. Before leaving to his room, he said three words that made Drakos smile. "Thank you, father." He then walked down the hall and looked through the window to find the vast landscape illuminated by the sun in the sky. He knew that the perpetrator was still out there, aiming to do more harm if left unwatched. That was when Chrestos made the decision to leave his home the next day so that he can put his knowledge to the test, wishing to illuminate the dark once more.