❝ Does being a Child of Hermes automatically make you good at flirting? Or was that just a skill you picked up? ❞
Andromeda Jackson knew she was not cut out for the demigod life, and that was before she heard about her death from the creepy oracle i...
─── let's get this party started (kronos' words, honest)
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ℭerberus is the one who drops me at the River Styx. He's nice enough to give me a lift from the palace and I can tell, without needing to look that Mrs O'Leary is following along behind us, trying to catch up.
The river is just as polluted as it previously was, filled with broken toys, ripped up diplomas, rings, corsages, dreams that people have thrown away as they'd passed from life into death. The dogs and I look at the black water, and I pull a face.
I might be the daughter of the god of the sea, and you know, swimming was sort of my speciality, but this was making me wish that I didn't know how to swim.
"Do you think I just jump in?" The dogs and I tilted our heads, cocking an eyebrow. "It looks pretty grim."
Cerberus turns, growling and glaring behind me, and I find myself face to face with a Greek warrior. He's in armor, like he died fighting, a plumed war helm under his arm, but his eyes are human like, not god. There's an arrow sticking out of his left leg, just above the ankle, and I know who this man is in an instance.
"Achilles?" The ghost nods.
"I warned the other one not to follow my path. Now I will warn you."
"Puck? You spoke with Puck?" I imagine the small sixteen year old in my place.
"Do not do this." Achilles warns, as Mrs O'Leary grows closer to me, hackles raised. "It will make you powerful. But it will also make you weak. Your prowess in combat will be beyond any mortals, but your weaknesses, your failings will increase as well."
"So, I'll have a bad ankle. No issue, I'll wear boots." I shrug as Achilles looks at his bloody foot.
"The heel is only my physical weakness, demigod. What truly killed me was my own arrogance. Beware! Turn back!" He cries, the regret and bitterness clear in his voice. I knew he was honestly trying to save me, but I had to do it. I had to bathe in the River Styx and take on this power because otherwise, everyone I loved would die.
"I have to." I tell him. "Otherwise, I don't stand a chance."
Achilles dropped his head.
"Let the gods witness I tried. Heroine, if you must do this, concentrate on your mortal point. Imagine one spot of your body that will remain vulnerable. This is the point where your soul will anchor your body to the world. It will be your greatest weakness, but also your only hope." Achilles tells me. "No many may be completely invulnerable. Lose sight of what keeps your mortal, and the River Styx will burn you to ashes. You will cease to exist."
