𝐀 𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐎 𝐑𝐄𝐁𝐎𝐑𝐍

𝐢. 𝐘𝐎𝐔'𝐑𝐄 𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐖𝐈𝐍𝐃 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐈'𝐌 𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐖𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐑

They sent forth men to battle, but no such men return; and home, to claim their welcome, come ashes in an urn.

——— Aeschylus, Agamemnon

Death was not a foreign notion to Andromeda. She plowed through countless battlefields day after day, night after night. Her ledger overflowed with red, and she left corpses and bones behind in her wake. Death was not to be a foreign notion to Andromeda, for she was destined to die today. Dying at the peak of the war that had loomed over the horizon the moment she had stepped inside the Greek Pantheon. The Pantheon she was never supposed to be in. She took charge of a prophecy that was never meant to be hers, but she twisted it to be, knowing the consequences that would follow. The Prophecy had foretold that the child of the eldest gods would be sixteen, but she was fifteen. Consequences be damned, the air trembled in outrage as she brandished Tidal Wave in front of her while she stared down the King of the Titans——her Grandfather. Despite the belief that his body had been destroyed in the First Titanomachy, there he stood in his full glory.

(You've tried to prevent this very moment from the moment you discovered the truth. You have attempted to stop this, but you inevitably caved in surrender. Why? Do you fear Death, daughter of Neptune?)

(No. From this moment on, not anymore. There's only a few moments before my death arrives, if I can delay it, then so be it.)

Saturn——no, Kronos——was an imposing figure, his golden eyes bore down at her as he observed her quickly. "Andromeda Jackson," he rumbled, and she could not manage to hide her flinch. He sounded cold and powerful, like knives scraping against stone. Was this how the Poet of History felt when she came face to face with Achilles's mother? "My granddaughter, to finally see you in the flesh. I have heard of your many feats and so I ask of you this: Why fight? I see your potential, unlike my children and their spawns. Let the gods crumble and I will let your brother live. Your friends. Your mother."

"You spout out lies!"

With no more needing to be said, Andromeda charged into battle with her Grandfather. Her biggest disadvantage was her short stature, but she was nimble, able to evade the harsh blows. At every moment, with each miss, Saturn's frustration grew.

At last, she was smacked away, slamming against the ground as her sword clattered from her grasp, a few feet away from her. Without a thought, she held out her hand; the ground rumbled before cracking open, fissures appearing from the cracks, and water spurred forth. She moved her hand in a quick motion and a torrent of water crashed onto the Titan.

Her allies surged forward as she got to her feet and plunged once more into her battle against her Grandfather, who was bellowing in anger.

(From the distance, she thought she heard a quiet snip of a Thread and the laughter of the Fates.)

Then all she felt was pain, a scream erupting from her throat as she felt the sharp blade of a sword being plunged into the side of her abdomen. Another scream choked her at the feeling of her insides shifting as the blade was ripped from her body; blood spurted from the wound and her mouth as she coughed violently.

(The moment had arrived, but she still was needed. She would not die here——not yet. She had to fight until her body gave out.)

Grasping the side of her abdomen with a weak pressure did nothing to stop the flow of crimson that gushed out of the wound that would mark her death. Her breaths rattled against her chest, one slower than the next, her movement sluggish. With her free hand, she clutched her sword tighter as she stared down the grotesque monster who sneered before her feeble figure. It wasn't long before she charged, releasing her red-stained hand to get a better grip on her sword, slicing horizontally and watching the golden dust explode around her. Andromeda exhaled sharply as a jab of pain jolted through her entire body.