11 [Offering]

Fate/Defiance

Chapter 10 [Offering]

By theMadLad

Icarus gulped as the eagle eyed him.

Fuck he was panicking, Icarus' chest became so tight it was as if a serpent coiled around his heart and squeezed.

He could physically feel his blood pressure rise and constrict his veins as the eagle seemed to briefly dissect his floating form—only to instantly dismiss him and switch its attention towards the balloon on his back instead.

Icarus could tell the eagle's attention lingered on the balloon, staring at it intensely as it analyzed the materials and spells contained within. Icarus could only float awkwardly as he waited in anxiousness.

The eagle began to glare, one which steadily built as time passed, until it was so heated—it seemed to burn through the balloon entirely, causing Icarus to only grow increasingly nervous.

Then it happened.

The sky itself seemed to move.

Shivers went up his spine as the heaviness of the heavens seemed to surround the area, condensing around Icarus and his balloon with unimaginable power.

As if the entirety of the sky, clouds, air, and all, were coalescing their incalculable weight on one tiny little boy who dared to encroach on their might.

He never felt so small.

His brain turned to mush from the pressure, constantly blurring between the lines of consciousness and unconsciousness, until after what felt like hours condensed into meager seconds… it dissipated.

The pressure was almost entirely gone.

—Then the bounded field trapping the balloon in a thin layer of water popped. it was gone, and any water remaining was left to freefall into the ground.

…and with nothing to force the air to lift.

he fell.

—Until he wasn't.

One moment his heart leaped out of his chest as he began to plummet to the ground, and the next—everything was back to normal.

The bounded field was gone, but the balloon was still floating regardless. Icarus wasn't ashamed to admit that he yelped a bit when he briefly began falling to his death.

As he caught his breath, he once again glanced towards the eagle, which seemed to eye his—somehow, still floating—balloon with both discontent and amusement.

As if its creation both satisfied and offended it.

The eagle's attention soon shifted back to Icarus, making intense eye contact with him, briefly raking its eyes over Icarus in evaluation before snorting, then dismissively turning as it began to fly away.

Icarus watched on in silence as the eagle's distance steadily grew before disappearing into the horizon entirely.

"Haaa…" He sighed as he finally pulled his head up in frustration, even after the sky and that overwhelming power had dissipated… he hadn't been able to lift his head.

When the absurd weight lying over himself and surroundings left, it stayed in one area—his head.

He had been forced to lower it in an act of subservience.

He hated it.

Although Zeus was simply demonstrating his authority over Icarus, not only as a God, but as the King of Gods—it didn't matter to him. To be under the control of others was a feeling he would never appreciate.

He wasn't sure if it was some strange sort of pride within him, or him simply being spiteful, but that feeling pooled up something rotten inside of him. Having his freedom restricted, in a way where his submission was not even a choice… was not just an unintentional taunt by Zeus towards him, but something that offended him to his very core.

But, that was all.

—He had no choice but to be offended.

Because, he could do nothing about it.

He was too weak, his freedom was nothing but an illusion. It was something that could be taken at any time, not to mention likely being puppeted by the Fates

Did he really even have freedom in the first place?

No, he shook his head as he thought, it didn't matter in the end. He had escaped Athens already hadn't he? His first victory had already arrived. He would just have to make sure to keep winning from here on out.

But although he should be celebrating his recent successes, why did he feel so empty instead?

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It seemed Zeus wasn't there just to flex on him, but also to guide him to his next destination.

While the balloon was no longer under his purview, the heavy breeze that arrived shortly after the eagle left carried him outwards from there on, quickly whisking him west of Athens.

While his interaction with Zeus had put a damper on his mood, the feeling of the breeze whisking through his hair and the warmth of the sun had done wonders for it.

Watching the land passby from up high and spotting all the different types of birds and animals, as well as the occasional magic creature also helped to uplift his thoughts.

This was something he could never quite experience in his past life. Looking down on a beautiful, unpolluted, un-industrialized, and unexplored world from the sky was indescribable. This is what he valued above all else, loved above all else—that undeniable feeling of freedom.

That he could do anything, whether it be holding himself up in a workshop and uncovering the wonders of magic, meeting magical creatures that leaped straight out of legend, or exploring an unfamiliar world teeming with wonder and mystery.

This is what he wanted to fight so desperately for, a life not binded by fate, one where he could wake up each day in excitement and ask himself, what came next?

Icarus also watched as Athens disappeared into the horizon as he continued to float on throughout the day, steadily arriving at his destination shortly into the afternoon.

It was at the foot of a forest entrance, where a small path was tread that when followed would head deeper inside. As his feet hit the ground right outside of it, he instantly toppled over from the weight of the balloon, with it dragging him to the floor.

It seems after he arrived, whatever force Zeus used to guide the balloon dissipated, leaving only a useless clump of heavy materials.

Icarus was sad that his invention that he took some pride in was so thoughtlessly destroyed, but moved on regardless.

That was life, he supposed.

He unlatched the balloon from his backpack, which was luckily untouched throughout the day's ordeals and promptly stuffed the balloon's materials inside as he was not one to waste things.

Expanded storage was extremely convenient for a reason. It added plenty of weight to the backpack, but thankfully there were some spells in place to help lighten the load. Magic was also extremely convenient for a reason.

"The journey of a thousand miles, begins with a single step… or so they say." He murmured to himself in anticipation of the journey ahead.

After getting everything in place and double checking them, he looked towards the forest's entrance and walked inside.

It was later into the afternoon that Icarus decided to stop and set up camp, he had walked a decent distance that he was satisfied with for the day and the forest was dangerous, so he had to build up a shelter before the sun went down.

But, in the end, he decided not to do so—at least in that way. While building a shelter would have given him safety from the elements, and a nice spot to rest that wasn't the ground, it wasn't necessary for him and was actually more of an inconvenience at that—he had magic as an option instead after all.

Reaching into his bag, and briefly wading through the unorganized mess that it was, he eventually pulled out a familiar book about Bounded Fields that he had taken with him when he left Daedalus' workshop. It had a multitude of notes and descriptions about different Bounded Fields and how to differentiate between them.

The most powerful ones were those that would borrow power from the Gods as protection—which made sense, it was the Age of the Gods after all.

While it may have irked his pride a bit, it was much easier and safer to use one of these Bounded Fields. But, it wasn't without respite, as the one he decided on was one made with the help of a Goddess he had no issues with.

Hestia.

The Virgin Goddess of the Hearth, Sacred Fire, Hospitality, and Family.

…and the only Olympian who isn't fucked in the head—at least in Icarus' opinion. But, that was from the biased standpoint of the mythology he knew, and not the Nasuverse's mythology, which may differ in that regard.

But, Hestia seemed fairly similar from what he had observed in this life so far. Maintaining the Hearth throughout the city-states that would become Greece in the distant future, while also staying out of the affairs of he fellow Olympians.

She also didn't mettle like the other Gods, was believed to be kind-hearted, and protected the home…?

Icarus easily had the highest opinion towards her in comparison to all the other Gods.

No debate.

But first, he had to set up the ritual.

The ritual itself was pretty simple, which consisted of the creation of a bounded field centering around the hearth's innate protective nature from its conceptual ties to Hestia.

Upon the ritual's completion, a field of protection would be laid upon the area dictated beforehand by the magian performing it. Which made sense as well, the hearth was essential for warmth, food preparation, and the completion of sacrificial offerings to deities.

While the field would not be anything near extremely powerful, it was sufficiently strong and more than enough to ward away animals from approaching, along with some esoteric effects such as an expanded sense of warmth that would prevent sickness, better effects from rest, and things of that nature.

Although quite good, it still wasn't enough for Icarus, who was still wary of more intelligent or magical creatures that could randomly stumble upon him.

Luckily, there were ways to easily improve the Bounded Field's abilities—through offerings.

With the Bounded Field's ties to the hearth and the Goddess Hestia, who all offerings usually go through, the offerings could be used to draw the Gods' attention and aid in strengthening it.

But, this is entirely dependent on their favor.

Icarus usually wouldn't want to rely on any of the Gods, and instead set up his own Bounded Field—but, his knowledge on them was still too small, and was without much practice, so he was unwilling to take such an unnecessary risk on his safety. There was also one more reason as well.

He had to give the Gods an offering. Zeus himself not only aided him in his journey to this forest, but also allowed him to travel by the skies—this could be considered a massive favor on his part. While Icarus may not like the Gods and their influence on him, he was not so idiotic to needlessly antagonize them.

If there was an easy option that was superior to other, more difficult options, and provided no discernible loss, of course he would use it.

While the Gods may be temperamental and dangerous to interact with, it wasn't without respite—today made him realize that from his interactions with Zeus. Although it may be risky, the favor of the Gods could be invaluable as well.

Without being carried to this forest by Zeus' winds, he would be rather clueless on where to go. While he may have gone searching for Chiron after his escape, he didn't actually know where he was. His planning was rushed, and the best clue he had were rumors that Chiron took two twins from Sparta some while back.

But now, while unsure if he was heading to Chiron for sure, could at least take comfort in the thought that the Gods brought him here for a reason—he would just have to keep traveling and find out what that reason was eventually.

Regardless, it was time to get to work.

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He had finished setting up everything shortly before sunset.

It was exhausting work, but work that needed to be done. In the end, he was satisfied with his makeshift camp. He had repurposed his destroyed balloon into a nice hammock, although a bit larger than necessary and easy to get trapped in, it was rather comfortable.

He had also set up the hearth where the bounded field would be centered, as well as the various magical markers that would mark the bounded field's perimeter. The hearth was similar to a campfire but much larger, with big smooth stones setup in preparation for the offering.

He also had to of course light the fire, thankfully he could use magic to light a flame and quickly get the fire going without rubbing sticks together.

Then afterwards, he had to sing the hymn used to call upon the Goddess' attention. Icarus held the book out in his hands as he spoke the words inside aloud, while committing them to memory, "…Hestia, in the high dwellings of all, both deathless gods and men who walk on earth, you have gained an everlasting abode and highest honor: glorious is your portion and your right. For without you mortals hold no banquet—Hestia, the worshipful and dear. Come and dwell in this glorious house in friendship together; for you, well knowing the noble actions of men, aid on their wisdom and their strength. Hail, Daughter of Kronos! Now I will remember you!"[1]

As the hymn was completed, he felt the bounded field's activation wash over him, leaving a sense of nostalgia and warmth in its wake throughout the slowly darkening forest, lighting up the trees around him in a familial heat.

The fire had also doubled in size while gaining a golden hue, Icarus felt comfort the closer he was near it and instinctively knew he was under Hestia's protection at the moment.

Feeling relief at his success, he moved on to the final preparation, the offering itself.

A boar.

He had lucked out and managed to find one while out on the hunt, and shot it down with his bow… but not without difficulty. He had missed multiple shots, and was forced to chase the boar throughout the forest until he managed to wound it enough to finish it off, before finally dragging it back to his camp in exhaustion.

Then he had to skin and butcher it, separating the hide from the body after hanging the boar's body from a tree by the legs before skinning it with one of the knives he took from Daedalus' workshop.

It was a very unenjoyable time for Icarus, as his knowledge on butchering was pretty half-assed and ignorant.

Thankfully, he was at least self-aware about this and was extra careful in the process, but he still had to discard a decent portion of the meat simply because he was unsure and unwilling to take an unnecessary risk of sickness.

Though it was still a complete mess in the end, with blood everywhere alongside shit, piss, and guts discarded to the side as waste.

"Damn, this fucking sucks… but, I'm so hungry." Icarus spoke to himself with a grimace as he rapidly flicked his hand in an attempt to get some of the blood off.

He wanted some water to help wash it off, but he was unable to find any nearby, only having the choice to wait and finish before using magic to do it instead.

He put the useful parts of the boar off to the side, while using magic to turn the waste to ashes. He left the larger portions of meat, like the legs, strung up and ready to smoke after he finished his meal.

Finally he began to cook the meal—with the darkness of night already long overtaken the light of day, and only the brightness of the moon above and the fire itself provided a means of vision.

After some more time, he finally finished. With only his starvation keeping his exhaustion at bay. The part he had cooked was the tenderloin, it seemed a bit charred on the side, but definitely edible.

He took out a separate knife as the one from before, before using it to divide the meat into different parts. Icarus was in pain from the raw hunger in his belly… but he was still unable to eat.

It was tradition for Hestia to get the first and last libations of wine, but without any to offer—Icarus had to use his meal, which was regarded as an acceptable substitute.

So he set aside the first bite, before respectfully tossing it over into the fire, which gave a golden flicker in acknowledgement before disappearing.

But, not without leaving something in its disappearance.

Icarus felt that aura of protection and warmth around his camp grow heavier, signifying an increase in his bounded field's strength.

"Thank you for your protection, Lady Hestia." Icarus prayed earnestly in response.

His stomach continued to roar in hunger, but… he still wasn't finished, there were more offerings to get to and him eating before completing them was very disrespectful towards the Gods.

He walked over towards the side of the hearth, where resting on one of the smooth stones were the boar's bones wrapped in a layer of fat.

It was the traditional sacrificial meal given to the Gods, but especially prevalent in regard to Zeus.

It became the precedent after Prometheus played a trick against Zeus, in which he placed two sacrificial offerings before the King of the Gods: a selection of beef hidden inside an ox's stomach, which was regarded as foul, and the bull's bones wrapped completely in glistening fat, a delicacy. Zeus was fooled a chose the latter, which left Humanity with the beef free to themselves.

Icarus put much effort into preparing it, especially after he was lucky enough to hunt a boar. He pushed the fat enclosed bones towards the fire in envy—those bones could have been useful to him, and he also wanted the fat to eat due to his current survival situation.

But it was much wiser to settle accounts than to let momentary greed cloud his judgement.

"Thank you for your guidance, Lord Zeus." Icarus spoke in respect as the fire encaptured his offering, causing the flames to flicker a light blue as they devoured it.

The flames came and went with no change to the Bounded Field, while Icarus prepared the final offering before he could eat. Once more respectfully giving a slice of his meat to the fire as he prayed in thanks, "Thank you for your assistance, Lady Athena."

Although he did not see Athena during his escape, he was sure she was watching due to her intervention when naming his bow and as the patron of Heroes and Zeus' favored daughter, Icarus thought it likely that she was the one who asked for Zeus' aid on his behalf.

The flame glowed a bright green in acknowledgment before briefly filling the bounded field with a foreign presence before quickly dissipating. Icarus felt his fatigue abate in response as the presence disappeared, seemingly giving him a bolster to his recovery.

He sighed in relief as he returned to his meal, finally ready to eat and rid himself of his gnawing hunger.

Pleasure filled his instincts as he bit into the meat, only for his face to darken as he realized… "…It tastes like shit."

He glanced over for some water to help wash the gamey meat down, just to realize once again, that he had no water.

"…Damnit."

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Author's Notes

Chapter done! Hope you enjoyed it, please leave feedback whether it be comments, suggestions, or reviews!

DROP SOME POWERSTONES!!!!

A bit more filler-y but I wanted to expand on the world building a bit and show how people used magic in tandem with the Gods. Next chapter Icarus will be going over some discoveries he made before we get into a new major character introduction!

Join the discord at, https://discord.gg/AMyqBN2

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Glossary

[1] Hymn to Hestia

Homeric Hymn 24 to Hestia (trans. Evelyn-White) (Greek epic C7th - 4th B.C.)

A Homeric and Religious Hymn that invokes the presence of both the Goddess Hestia and the God of Travelers, Hermes. Although, I adjusted it a bit to only include Hestia instead. Here is the original:

"Hestia, in the high dwellings of all, both deathless gods and men who walk on earth, you have gained an everlasting abode and highest honor: glorious is your portion and your right. For without you mortals hold no banquet, -- where one does not duly pour sweet wine in offering to Hestia both first and last.

And you, slayer of Argus (an epithet of Hermes), Son of Zeus and Maia, the messenger of the blessed gods, bearer of the goldenrod, the giver of good, be favorable and help us, you and Hestia, the worshipful and dear. Come and dwell in this glorious house in friendship together; for you two, well knowing the noble actions of men, aid on their wisdom and their strength.

Hail, Daughter of Cronos, and you also, Hermes, bearer of the goldenrod! Now I will remember you and another song also."