Struck by Lightning

XX

In the darkened room, Perseus sat alone on his throne. Moonlight crept in through the open main doors, but there were no guards, courtesans, or advisors around the King of Mycenae. His right elbow rested on the armrest of his seat, and his fingers curled around his cheek as he leaned on his right side, deep in thought.

The boy – a son of Poseidon with his own name – was an enigma. Even the manner of his arrival was strange...

Earlier

"My lord!" the captain yelled, holding tightly onto the wooden bannister of the ship. "The storm shows no sign of abating! It cannot be natural."

Perseus nodded, looking grimly at the violent waves and torrential downpour. "It can only be Charybdis and Scylla," the demigod replied, his stormy gray eyes scouring the terrain in front of him. "Advance forward at half-speed and keep us far from Pityoussa – we don't want to run afoul of Charybdis."

"Why Pityoussa?" the captain asked, looking around. Perseus pointed to their left, the captain following his king's lead and widening his eyes when he saw what Perseus saw. In the distance, the shadow of Scylla's many heads could be seen against the clouds, exposing the massive size of the monster that lay in front.

"As bad as Scylla is," Perseus continued, "I'd rather take it and its many heads in a fight rather than a whirlpool."

"Right, my lord," the captain replied, swallowing heavily as he looked at the behemoth of a monster the shadows promised in the distance. He turned to a messenger boy on the deck. "Tell the helmsman to slow to half-speed." The messenger boy quickly nodded and ran below deck.

Perseus could feel the ship becoming slower, but he paid it little heed as he stared at the threat in front of him. He narrowed his eyes as he saw a small boat riding among the rough waves, a single person onboard. Somehow, the little craft was surviving amidst an unnatural storm and ancient monsters. Behind the boat, there was a larger ship – though not as large Perseus' own trireme – following closely behind, the occasional arrow flying towards the boat it was chasing.

"My lord, what should we do?" the captain asked, his voice nervous in the face of fear. No captain wanted to wade into horrendous weather or into a battle, and it seemed that they were on the cusp of entering both at the same time.

"Hold position here," Perseus ordered, walking past the captain. Faintly, the captain smelled the distinctive odor of ozone, and just as he turned to see his king, he saw the demigod's body crackle with electricity, the bolts playing dangerously around him.

Perseus focused on the large monster known as Scylla, which had just finished destroying the pursuing galley. Now, all that was left against the ancient monster's might was the little boat that only had one person onboard. A head of Scylla pushed through the cloud to smash the small boat, but its occupant stood up and – to Perseus' amazement – an immense wall of water surged upwards, protecting the boat and its occupant from the head smash.

Without any further thought, Perseus willed lightning into existence, casting down one of the most powerful bolts he could summon. The lightning bolt split the sky, smashing into the impromptu water wall and conducting itself through the liquid medium into the monster. Scylla roared in pain as it fell into the water, while the water wall that the boat's occupant had hastily erected was blown apart from the sheer amount of energy that had coursed through it. The resulting shockwave created a massive wave that pushed even Perseus' trireme away, and by the time it was over, the storm was gone, and the sea was calm again.

"Do you see the small boat?" Perseus asked the captain. The other man shook his head, before a cry from the other side of the deck yelled out.