RESCUING A VAMPIRE

It had been two weeks since we burned down that Gegenies village, according to myself. It was a rough estimate since I manually counted, but I could trust in the number. Vittoria napped for hours, so I usually ate alone and spent most of my time reading the books I brought or musing while staring at the clouds. Or, when I felt like it, I got some z's as well. I didn't get a tip from my father, Kronos, nor did I get any significant dreams, so it was a dull experience.

I saw another island, and right away, I went to Vittoria's room and patted her. "Hey, we're at our next stopping point." When she didn't wake, I took her pillow, and now she was resisting me. "No. A bad man you are. Why you take my pillow?" She weakly smirked as she hauled her pillow back. "I know I've been sleeping more, as in I've slept for the past two days, but I still would really like some additional hours. It would invigorate me and help me concentrate more. Sorry, but would you mind a minor delay?"

"Alright. Have it your way, Vittoria. I will be needing you at your best anyway. Good dreams."

"Thanks. By the way, have you heard from your father recently, Yiannis?"

"Nope."

"Has he contacted you once?"

"No, not at all. Why do you ask?"

"I just thought he would have. I was going to ask something if he did but never mind that now. You should get some rest too."

"I think I'll pass. I've slept enough as it is."

"Well, more can't hurt, can it?"

"Meh, perhaps. Enjoy slumbering, Vittoria."

"Sure. See you later."

"Ditto."

I woke Vittoria up two hours after we reached the island, and she groggily got up as she walked to the bathroom. After she was done with potty business, we sat down and ate. As usual, we were running out of food, but we always came to some island full of it whenever we did. Could this be considered divine intervention? Well, it didn't matter. I hoped our fortune would last until Atlas was revived. Failing a quest because you starved to death sounded really sad and pretty disappointing. I don't want Kronos berating Vittoria and blaming her for my death, either(if she miraculously survived whatever killed me). And I've missed Helen's face. I wanted to be with my little sister again, to play with her. I couldn't accept my death, not this early. I'll bring Atlas back to life and see Helen again.

Today's menu consisted of fruits, a few vegetables, and some herbs. We had a bit of candy left for dessert, and there went our food rations. I couldn't actually check the island for food since I'm not on it, but hopefully, it would be gracious hosts to us. Otherwise, Vittoria and I will face a torturous death within a month. On that note, I remembered Vittoria's friend would be joining us at some point. Did she die?

Thankfully, the island proved to be a good host. Fruits, vegetables, and tasty rabbits were ample. There were even some cows, although both Vittoria and I chose to avoid them. The cows could belong to some village or monster tribe, and I do not want to meet another pack of Gegenies. Sure, it could be another pack of women like Hypisple and her followers or even the Amazons, but I queried it. After Vittoria revealed the existence of anima and taught me how to use it, I had awakened more powers. Considering my lineage, it would make sense if I had them, but I missed these abilities somehow. For example, I could sense the souls of living beings around me. Well, that excluded plants, monsters, and demi-humans(elves, nymphs, mermaids, etc.), but it worked one-hundred percent of the time on humans and demigods. It was a comforting ability, as it let me know I wasn't alone and that I may have potential allies near me. Even better, if I've been exposed to the soul before, I'll know whose it is. I also could see someone's lifespan if I really tried. But, I found it a wee disturbing, and it was sort of useless unless I was somehow able to absorb it. I did spend time wondering if taking someone's life force for myself was a possibility. However, the only person I could test it on was Vittoria, and that was a giant no-no.

The cows worried us. Vittoria proposed scouting the area, and I agreed. If there were multiple Gegenies villages, then we'd need to prepare for them. There could also be other strong monsters, and we'd need to consider them as well. After finding(and maybe dealing with imminent threats), we'd continue our tradition of snatching yummies.

It didn't take long for us to find a looming menace. I found a pack of sheep and something very unusual about these weird creatures. The sheep had sharp fangs, akin to vampires, as well as pointy canines. Last I checked, sheep were herbivores, feeding only on grass, in which case they would have big molars. They also had horns on their head, another observation that was not typical of sheep. As curious as I was, I figured the sheep had to be monsters. They were munching on a carcass of a deer, meaning they were carnivorous beings. They didn't look strong, but they could eat me, and they may have belonged to a Gegenies tribe.

I notified Vittoria of the sheep, who took a look at them. I recalled all the Greek myths I knew of in my head, trying to find one that described meat-eating sheep. I found one and became gloomy. These sheep had an owner, a famous monster that even a great hero couldn't subdue. He had managed to trick this monster and elude him, but he couldn't physically take him down or slaughter him. Vittoria and I were clever enough to play tricks on this particular beast. However, if the monster forced us into a confrontation where we would have to fight, we'd be screwed. It being the beast it is, running would be difficult, much less beating him. If worst came to worst, I would have to halt time and cut his throat. That wouldn't be a problem if it was the only powerful monster in the area, but I had no clue whether that was the case. My powers drain a lot of my energy, and it would suck if I couldn't use them later, although I could slow time down for quite a while. However, that would not be a silver bullet, while caution was.

Vittoria faced me. "Those are man-eating sheep, pets of the famous cyclops Polyphemus. We should avoid them as best as possible."

I nodded. "Yes, but if those sheep see us, they may report us to their master. Then there's the problem of us colliding into Polyphemus. Ideally, it would be best to eliminate him. Is it possible?"

"What do you think, Yiannis?"

"Why do you ask as if the answer is obvious?"

"Because it is obvious. Of course, we can take Polyphemus down. You have the blood of two powerful deities in your veins and some of their incredible powers. It might actually be possible for you to physically overpower him if you went all out. You can also simply freeze time and cut the monster's head off. The chances are high and even higher if I'm fighting with you."

"Sure, but I don't want to go all out. There could be other powerful monsters lurking on this island."

"Which is why we're surveilling the place, silly. Based on the Odessey and some conjecture, Polyphemus should be the only powerful monster here. Even if there were others, the cyclops should be the most powerful of them all. That's IF we find any other noteworthy creatures besides him and the sheep."

"Well, perhaps. Even if I went out, I doubt I could win."

"Why's that?"

"Remember the time we fought with Ares? You don't have the blood of two gods, and yet you kept up with him better than me. Even Ares had to acknowledge your swordsmanship."

"Have more faith in your skills, Yiannis. I was taught swordsmanship and magic the second I learned how to walk. I'm a true Spartan. A pleb like you could never compare to me. Jokes aside, your default weapon is the scythe, something you can't use prematurely, lest you want everyone up there to know who you are. But even with a sword, you managed to push Ares back. That's quite an impressive feat."

"Well, if you say so. Then let's look around a bit and take down anything that could prove a hindrance to us before attempting to murder Polyphemus."

"A good plan." Suddenly, Vittoria dropped to her knees, like she was assaulted. She placed her hand on her temples, and the assuring confidence she radiated vanished. "Huh? What's going on? Where are you right now?" She sounded like a confused child who had just lost their mother. "Mei? Mei? Where are you? Mei?" Because she was shouting, the sheep overheard us. I grabbed Vittoria's hand and made a run for it, dragging her with me. "I don't know what's going on, but you need to lower your voice. The sheep have noticed us."

"Change of plans, Yiannis. We're slaying Polyphemus first."

"What? But-"

"I know why you'd object, but the cyclops has Mei in his grasp."

"You mean that close friend of yours?"

"Yes. Apparently, Mei told me that Polyphemus plans on eating her for dinner. He's already started boiling ingredients in a pot."

"How exactly did she communicate with you? Telepathy?"

"Yeah, there's a spell that allows people to bridge their consciousness."

"So we don't have much time left before he puts her in his belly, do we?"

"No. Sorry for before. My outburst may be the reason Polyphemus will come for us."

"Yeah, your yelling has compromised our position. But this may be a boon. If those sheep do report us to Polyphemus, we can bait him."

"How?"

"Simple, Vittoria. Polyphemus seems to have a fancy for humans. What do you think he'd do if he learned there were more tasty snacks in the area?"

"He'd want to add us to his stew. But we can't be sure the sheep will report us or if they even saw us clearly enough to discern us as humans."

"Yeah, that's true. Wait, aren't you a monster? I don't mean this offensively, but you are Lamia's daughter, correct?"

"Yes, and I had wished you didn't realize that. I have no trust issues with you, but I was still worried."

"That I'd reject and feel contempt for you?"

"Yes," she smiled broadly, and I blushed. "I'm sorry for doubting you, and I'm grateful you took the opposite stance from Brian even after realizing."

"You're the only person aside from Helen I can truly trust. Aside from that, you're perhaps the only real and close friend I have at the moment. I'm not stupid enough to ruin my relationship with you, and I would never want to. I enjoy the time I spend with you, Vittoria."

"As do I, Yiannis. I remember when I almost killed you. I'm so glad you told me who you were."

"Naturally, so do I," I laughed. "That attempted assassination was brilliant, by the way. You really had me there."

"Yes, I know. If only you weren't the son of Kronos, my plan wouldn't have been foiled!"

"Hopefully, that's a joke."

"It is," she smirked. "Anyway, back to business. If you think Polyphemus will listen to me because I have monster blood, he won't. I am part monster and part god, but I do have mortal blood in me as well. My body still possesses a uniquely human scent, one that attracts monsters who eat us. I'm afraid Polyphemus will still view me as food, so diplomacy is out of the table."

"That's fine. I was never counting on that anyway. So, our best course of action then would be to make our existence known to the sheep if we want Polyphemus to chase us."

"It's not guaranteed Polyphemus would come after you, though."

"Oh, he will," I slyly smiled. "Well, if the sheep can understand human speech, he most certainly will. Do you have your bracelets with you?"

"Yes. I'm assuming you want me to infiltrate into Polyphemus's lair?"

"It helps we're usually on the same wavelength. Once you get in there, and Polyphemus bolts for me, kill the sheep. I don't want them to report that there's another human and that he's been tricked. In the legends, Polyphemus was a loner. There shouldn't be other monsters in his cave. You should be able to rescue your friend without a hassle." Vittoria nodded and offered me one of her bracelets. "In case Polyphemus turns out to be stronger than I anticipated, use this and run. There's no way in hell I'm letting you get killed as bait, and after you volunteered your life to help me save Mei."

"Thanks, Vitti. Oh, one more thing: let's use that telepathy spell of yours. Once you do rescue your friend, it would be helpful for you to know where I am if you don't plan on abandoning me."

"I would never. However, the spell you're referring to takes a long time to cast. I can partially link our minds, and that way, I'll at least be able to sense where you are. It's a lot quicker to initiate, and time is important right now." Vittoria laid her hand on my chest as she began chanting. I sighed. "Do we always have to make physical contact like this for you to use a spell on me?"

"I can move away, but spells are more powerful the closer you are to the target. They won't become weaker if I go farther, but potency matters. It also increases casting speed if there's physical contact with the target as the spell is utilized. You can think of my hand as a wire that connects my body to yours. When I cast the spell, the anima I use will enter your body more efficiently. This shouldn't take long, so bear with me for a bit."

After Vittoria cast her spell, I fell on my behind. For a second, my head was overwhelmed with immense pain. After it subsided, I wanted to ask Vittoria if she cast the wrong spell, but she was in pain as well. "Is this a side effect? It felt like my brain was about to crack open."

Vittoria helped me up. "Yeah, sorry for not giving a heads-up. But the discomfort is swift. If I had fully linked our minds, you could have died from shock."

"Jesus. That is one risky spell. Wait, could you sense Mei's location?"

"No, that's the problem. It's a trade-off of either location or telepathy. Our minds are not capable of handling both when linked, which is only possible for gods. Anyways, the sheep are moving. We should follow them."

"Yeah. Give me an audience with the sheep first. Once we reach the cave, I'll draw Polyphemus out with a taunt. Good luck saving your friend."

After bragging about my fake identity("Nobody" - I'll explain later) and how cool I was to the sheep, they skittered away. Vittoria(who became invisible right before I contacted the sheep) and I trailed behind them. We reached Polyphemus's cave(entrance covered by boulder) and watched the sheep go into a hole that allowed them to the other side. Now, I just needed to wait until Polyphemus got angry and started raging like a nine-year-old after failing miserably in a video game. Sure enough, I heard a boisterous shout.

"Arrrgh! Nobody is here, is he? Excellent! I'll add him to my stew!" Polyphemus tossed the boulder blocking the entrance, and I nervously grinned. "Long time, no see. You smell like rotten garbage, by the way."

"Shut up, Nobody! I'll be sure to torture you mercilessly as I boil you!" Vittoria, as planned, killed all the sheep behind his back. Polyphemus didn't notice it because his focus was on me, and I needed to keep it that way. To give Vittoria some space, I sprinted as fast as I could. I can't have Polyphemus turn around and notice Mei was freed. Our fight would happen at least twenty meters away from that cave.

Now to explain the "Nobody" part. When Odysseus was cornered in the cyclops's cave, he came up with an ingenious plan. The dude agreed to be food for the monster but said he would taste better tomorrow, but secretly planned to attack him(he doubted he could kill him, even in his sleep). So, before the beast awoke, Odysseus thrust a giant spear into his eye. Now blind, Polyphemus couldn't see and balanced himself on the boulder sealing his cave. Odysseus said an enigmatic man named Nobody had attacked him during his sleep, and he had somehow escaped the cave. Polyphemus, enraged, threw the boulder aside as he looked for "Nobody" while Odysseus and his men fleed to their ship. I knew Polyphemus would follow me like a madman after that incident, and I was right.

Once I decided I was far enough, I engaged Polyphemus. The cyclops swung his fist, and I rolled away. His punch packed enough force to cause a crater. One hit from him, and I'd be a goner. Dodging him was easy, though. I shoved a sword into his ankle and slashed furiously at his right leg, but that only annoyed Polyphemus. He was too big, and I was only giving him tiny cuts relative to his body size.

I created giant spikes out of shadow beneath Polyphemus's feet, and the beast roared in pain. I was hesitant to use my time powers and decided to save them for when they were needed. However, the abilities I inherited from Hades sufficed. I chained Polyphemus's shadow to a tree, keeping him stuck to one point. Then, when he heaved his fist to the ground, I chained its shadow to another nearby tree. I scrambled up its arm as quickly as I could, jumping in the air as the cyclops jabbed at me with his other arm. I made a new sword, one three times my height, and managed to slash his head off with it, despite how heavy it was. Polyphemus's body toppled to the ground as I landed on top of it.

Vittoria was right - I was one solid powerhouse - because of my lineage. The ability to control time alone was frightening, but Hades's powers made me a whole other ballgame. Then, there's the physical boost I get for free for being the child of two deities. It restored some part of me - a bit of the faith I had in my skills before Brian died. If I could just master these abilities, then perhaps I could become even more powerful. If so, I could save a friend in the future rather than watch them go to their death. It gave me some relief and hope, as now I can see myself protecting Helen again.

I hopped off Polyphemus's abdomen. Vittoria ran in my direction with a girl our age behind her, who had to be Mei. She was taller than Vittoria, slim, with curly brown hair tied in a ponytail. Her forehead was covered in bangs, and she had light brown eyes. For a teenager, Mei was rather curvaceous. Taken together, she was very alluring. But what caught my attention were her eyes and hair. Mei had nearly the same hair and eyes as Vittoria, so much so that I somewhat felt it had to be more than coincidence, if only for a second.

I brushed my thoughts to the back of my mind and greeted Vittoria with a smile. "Well, it seems you've saved your friend. What took the two of you so long?"

"And it seems you've beaten the great monster. Aside from running here, Mei's chains were hard to break. It was more laborious than expected, and my knife broke in the process."

"I see. I'll make a new knife for you if you want with umbrakinesis. Would you like me to do it right now?"

"I'd appreciate it." I solidified part of my shadow into a small, curved dagger and handed it to Vittoria. "Try to take care of this one, although if you do break it, I'll make a better one in no time."

"Thanks, Yiannis."

I could tell at a glance Mei was skeptical of me. I offered my hand to her. "Pleasure to meet you. I'm Yiannis Cirillo, a close friend of Vittoria's." Mei hastily shook it. "I'm Mei Zhong, Vittoria's maid."

"Wait, WHAAT?" Vittoria giggled. "I'm pretty sure you know how rich Circe is. As such, it's only natural she'd have many servants. Mei was one of them, and her duty was to tend to me."

"That's interesting. Why didn't you tell me? Also, considering Mei is your maid, why didn't she stay with you in DGH?"

"Like me, Mei is also the child of a monster. However, unlike me, Mei has no mortal blood in her veins. She is half monster and half god."

"So what's the problem? As of right now, she looks one hundred percent human to me."

Mei's brown hair was engulfed in flames. Her eyes became more piercing, and her right leg morphed into that of a donkey's, though it was made of copper and had the foot of a horse. Her front incisors had grown into developed fangs.

"I see. Your friend is what an Empusa. But, she can hide how she actually looks, so I'm still confused."

"Yiannis, remember when I said I emit a uniquely human scent? Monsters have their own odors, and demigods can notice them."

"You should have just said that then, rather than having her transform. But I see your point. It would be dangerous for your maid to accompany you in DGH. But how did she assume a human form? Are Empusa shapeshifters?"

"Yes," Vittoria nodded. "They can change their appearance at will to suit their needs. Oh, and Mei, unlike her kin, does not feast on human flesh, nor does she try to seduce them to do so. So you needn't worry about dying at night."

"Why is that? Isn't she basically a vampire?"

"Well, Mei recognizes me as her master, so I can tell her to back off. Also, as Mei is part god and not a full Empusa, her desire for mortal blood and flesh has been reduced to near zero, as she doesn't need them to survive thanks to the ichor in her veins."

"Cool. Well, with Polyphemus dead, we should collect all the food we can before another powerful monster becomes aware of our presence." Before we did, I addressed Mei, who was glaring at me. "Um, did I do something wrong? You're frowning at me."

Mei shook her head. "No. Your name sounds familiar. I feel as if I've heard it before."

"Ah. If I said I was the son of Kronos, would that jog your memory a bit?" I found the look of shock on Mei's face a little amusing, but I was annoyed with her bowing to me. "Please forgive my rude behavior! I should have addressed you as my Lord! If you wish to punish me, I beg you to be lenient."

"Ok, then I won't punish you, but I will order you to stop bowing to me. And just call me Yiannis. I hate being spoken to like I'm some almighty prince." Mei looked up at me. I could still see the mistrust in her eyes, but she didn't act on her feelings. She merely nodded and agreed to my simple terms. Vittoria took her hand and quelled her doubts, saying I was alright. "Yiannis is a decent person, I promise. You don't have to fear him, Mei. I've already informed him not to hit on you as well." That last part reminded me Mei was lesbian, which was fine. I had no interest in her, to begin with, and it's her life, after all. She could do what she wants, and, out of respect, I won't make any attempts to woo her anytime soon. "Well, we should get moving. Noon is around the corner, so we have plenty of time before nightfall. I want to collect as much food as we can until then because I'm getting tired of running out of rations every few weeks."

Vittoria nodded. "Yeah, it's getting annoying. I'd rather not be at the mercy of an island." Thus, the three of us ransacked the island and hauled enough food to sustain a family of elephants for a month before departing and continuing our journey.