Origins of Olympus S2 One-Shots

Trickery

(still sailing this ship into Helheim-

also I can't write fight scenes very well, my apologies)

Simple mission, they said. Just there and back, retrieval of hardly a magical item, they said. Not even any monsters in between for sure. They lied.

Nad knelt beside the boulder placed precariously in the open field, watching as Magnus stabbed and swiped at a monster similar to the guardian they'd already faced. Only much bigger and stronger, judging by how dodgy they had to be to even get close to the thing.

He winced as they barely missed getting whacked with its horns. Logically, he knew he had nothing to worry about; Magnus could handle it on their own. And he didn't feel (much) any guilt staying out of it, but seeing them dart away from the deadly monster was nerve wracking.

Magnus suddenly stopped and turned to face the monster head on. They stared it down and Nad scratched his head, confused. What were they doing? The monster faltered, as if wondering that itself, but hastened and charged right towards them.

"Magnus, move!" He yelled.

But in a flash, the monster face to face with them. Nad could only watch in horror as it reared its horns and tossed Magnus like a beachball. They flew straight up, body not unlike a ragdoll, until they were merely a speck in the air...then fell. Fell fast.

Thump

The sound rumbled and churned like grated metal shards in Nad's chest as Magnus landed in the grass, limp and unmoving.

Red. Red. R e d. Only searing, hazy color filled his vision as something clawed at his chest. His arms moved on their own, grabbing his axe and swinging it out in a flurry. He vaguely felt his legs push him up from the ground and ran at the monster, now pacing towards Magnus.

Nad cut it off, sweeping its legs out from underneath it with the axe. It toppled over but only briefly disheveled from the sudden attack. It wasted no time in rolling back up and leaping at him, claws bared and teeth gnarling.

Ice ran through Nad's blood, freezing his nerves until his whole body was numb. Darkness flooded the edges of the field until his vision tunneled. Focused solely on the monster in front of him. He drew his axe straight back and thrusted it forward, ramming the head right in between the monster's eyes.

An unholy roared sounded and it resonated through him. Like a drum beat pounding in his very flesh. Nad followed the beat and rushed the monster. It recovered quickly and met the metal handle with a clang.

It pushed against the axe, hot breath on Nad's arms as the two dug their feet into the field's ground. The drum beat picked up and he bit his tongue clenching his jaw, pulling his shoulders back and giving a hard shove. The monster went flying back and crashed into the grass.

Nad's arms shook as he gripped the axe, his fingers turning rigid and unfeeling the tighter his hold became. He swung it in a low arc, curving it sharply up under the monster's jaw. It connected and it went flying up. Up, and up, and up...

Until it was a mere speck just like Magnus.

Nad gritted his teeth. The monster came hurtling back down and he raised his axe. It came fully into view and he slammed the blade onto its head. Its horns sliced into the dirt, cementing themselves and keeping it captive. It wiggled a bit, realizing it was stuck and roared. Nad rammed it again on the side and a loud crack split the open air.

The monster was flung sideways, two bone nubs protruding from its head. Its horns poked out from their new home in the field, facing straight up. It got up and tried to walk towards Nad, wobbled on its legs, and collapsed to the ground in a daze.

The ice in his bones melted from the sight. Relief mixed with sheer guilt and worry; the rush of battle overwhelming it all. Heart wrenching familiarity.

'Not again.'

Something warm touched his arm and he jumped. Magnus stood behind him, completely calm and mostly unharmed. Nad eased up his hold on his axe and the tension in his shoulders disappeared.

"Are you alright?"

Magnus rolled their eyes and Nad's stomach flipped. "I'm fiiiiine."

"That thing threw you in the air and fifty yards! I thought you were part dog not cat, what do- no way you didn't break a bone falling from that height."

They glanced down at their only slightly scratched arms. "I didn't break anything, and what do cats have to do with this?"

"Cats land on their feet while you landed on your back. And why did you stop so- so suddenly in the fight? You just stopped moving and let it hit you- wait," Nad narrowed his eyes. "...Did you trick me?"

Magnus looked away, leaning around aimlessly and pretending to be interested in the grass. ".....Nooooo," they drew out.

Nad blinked, staring at them in unbelief. "You did. You actually tricked me into getting angry. You let yourself get hit just so that- just so I would go berserk and fight?"

"I didn't get hurt," Magnus said simply, face still passive while Nad mulled over the... the what? Betrayal? Deceit? Whatever it was, it hurt more than it should. That it was so easy for them to do and the fact that they would do it at all cut right through him.

"You're getting angry now," Magnus pointed out.

"I'm not angry, I'm upset," he bit out. "There's a difference! It takes a lot to make me angry, why would you- how could you use that against me like that?"

"To beat the monster. It worked didn't it?"

"I thought you had it handled, what happened to that huh?"

"I didn't want to drag it out and waste daylight. At that rate, it would've taken all day to get back to camp." They said it so rationally, Nad would've taken it if not for the blood still pounding in his head.

"You had no other better ideas than to literally trick me into doing something I hate?"

Magnus' mouth twisted, almost pouting. "But it's so cool!"

"You may think it is, but I don't!"

"Why not?"

"I told you," Nad said, forcing his voice to quiet down. He searched Magnus' too calm expression but found nothing but confusion and their normal slight annoyance. He sighed. "I don't like getting like that. Getting- going that far with my anger."

"You keep saaaying that, but why?"

"Because I can't control it most of the time. I could punch a monster through a mountain if I wanted to, that's terrifying!" Shaking inched its way into his voice. "What if I can't turn it off? What if I get so angry, I hurt somebody- I hurt an innocent person? Or someone I care about? What if I hurt you?"

Magnus shrugged, unperturbed by Nad's internal and external panic. "You won't."

"You can't know that for sure!"

They paused then stepped into his personal bubble. They stared right into his soul and Nad wondered if the tossing and turning of cold rocks in his stomach was a death kid side effect thing. "Would you hit me? Or put me in danger?"

"Of course not!"

"Then you have nothing to worry about.."

"Consciously I wouldn't."

"I trust you."

It was like an arrow was shot right through Nad's chest. Magnus turned away and started off towards the mountain, leaving him gaping after them. "You coming?"

"Yeah...yeah I'm- I'll be right behind you."