Chapter 110: Perseus (2)
Hearing the dreadful prophecy at the Temple of Delphi, King Acrisius was gripped by shock and terror.
The irony was that, after the oracle, even those who had previously fawned and flattered him at his side began to avoid him.
“Ioseph, what am I to do about this? Those who once schemed to wring even a grain of profit from me now shun me and whisper behind my back.”
Acrisius felt it deeply: from the moment the prophecy was uttered, his authority and power had begun to erode bit by bit.
At least he was still young and personally strong in arms, so he was recognized as king. But the instant he showed the slightest weakness, those traitors would hang him long before the prophecy could come true.
Ioseph, who understood the king’s mind and the situation, fell silent for a moment before carefully suggesting one difficult solution.
“Your Majesty… this humble servant Ioseph has one idea. However, this method…”
“What?! Tell me at once. I will hear it and decide. If it is fitting, Ioseph, I will reward you greatly.”
“…It concerns Lady Danaë.”
“…”
Acrisius could guess what Ioseph would say next. In this situation, mentioning his daughter left only a few possibilities.
King Acrisius remained silent for a long while.
But soon, his face twisted with a hint of madness as he spoke to Ioseph.
“…Explain the plan in detail.”
***
“And so Father imprisoned me in a bronze tower, allowing no one to see me.”
“And Zeus came to you as a shower of gold, and you became pregnant?”
“Yes. No one believes me, but this child is definitely Lord Zeus’s.”
Poseidon, the sea spirits, and even the onlookers who had gathered upon hearing the news could only fall silent.
Argos being part of Poseidon’s domain was secondary. The real issue was… what would happen if Hera found out?
“That idiot Zeus really has no sense of moderation. The goddesses—led by Hera—are probably the busiest right now.”
—More importantly, Argos is Lord Poseidon’s territory, yet Lord Zeus went and impregnated a woman there without permission—isn’t that the problem?
Well… one could see it that way. But after destroying Argos once, I stopped paying much attention.
Danaë, inside the chest, grew anxious hearing the otter and spirits whispering about her circumstances.
She had survived so far on the food placed in the chest, but at this rate, she and her child would surely starve to death on the open sea.
‘I don’t know who they are, but I must survive. I cannot let my child die.’
Just as Danaë resolved to beg the otter—who seemed the highest in status—for help,
Poseidon was feeling annoyed.
“Cleaning up after that fool Zeus once or twice is one thing, but this is too much trouble.”
—Then why not hide the woman without Zeus knowing?
—Yeah. It’d be a shame to just let her die like this…
Poseidon glanced at Danaë, then at the sky, then back at Danaë and the child, and sighed.
This damn Greece had far too many soap-opera types—he often ended up looking like the sucker.
But what could he do? Even after living as a god for so long, adapting to Greece’s end-of-the-world drama vibe was tough.
“You there, Danaë.”
“Yes!”
Danaë responded like a disciplined soldier when the otter called her name.
She instinctively knew this question would decide her and her child’s fate.
“I really don’t feel like helping that moron Zeus. That’s why I’m wondering what to do with you.”
“That’s…”
Danaë was flustered by the otter’s blunt words.
She never imagined any mortal on earth would openly call a god a moron.
‘Could it be… a god? Or a madman…?’
Of course, from Danaë’s current position, it didn’t matter whether the otter before her was a god or a lunatic.
The only important thing was that she saw a glimmer of hope for her and her son to survive.
In her present circumstances, a madman might even be better than a god.
As royalty, she knew well that gods rarely helped humans out of pure mercy.
‘So what if he’s mad? It might even be better. I must convince him—for my son Perseus!’
“Hmm… It’s not like you have anything to offer me either.”
At the otter’s indifferent response, Danaë desperately shouted,
“My son Perseus and I will always revere you, Lord Otter! We’ll live in hiding from Lord Zeus and surely be of help to you someday!!”
““…””
Danaë’s cry sounded like an empty promise to most of the fantastical creatures and spirits around.
It couldn’t even be called compensation.
But.
“Perseus, you say?”
To one being—Poseidon—the name struck a chord.
“Yes! My son Perseus and I, Danaë, will always honor you and strive to be of service.”
Poseidon flinched slightly at the name Perseus.
He hadn’t recognized Danaë’s name alone, but Perseus—he remembered clearly.
The first true hero of Greece, the one who ushered in the Age of Heroes. When asked who the greatest heroes were, Perseus was always among the top.
Moreover, he was essentially the ancestor of all heroes.
‘A name worth remembering even after becoming a god—Perseus.’
“Fine. I’ll test you and your son’s potential. I’ll personally transport you both to the island of Seriphos.”
“Ah!”
Danaë’s face finally lit up at the otter’s declaration.
***
A luxurious chest sped across the Aegean Sea toward the island of Seriphos, west of the Cyclades, as swiftly as a mermaid.
“Here! Show this token to a fisherman named Dictys, a devotee of Poseidon on the island. He will care for you both.”
Danaë bowed deeply in gratitude to the otter who had personally brought them to Seriphos and even found someone to look after them.
“Thank you truly. Without you, Lord Otter, my son and I would not have escaped death.”
“Yes, don’t forget the favor. Ah! And my name is Neptune. Remember that.”
With those words, Neptune vanished into the sea in an instant. Danaë bowed deeply until he was completely out of sight.
***
The fisherman Dictys, introduced by Neptune, cared for Danaë and Perseus with utmost devotion.
He was one of Poseidon’s rare earthly devotees and priests.
To him, the token Danaë showed was nothing less than the god’s will.
Priest Dictys tended to mother and son with all his heart.
He raised Perseus as if he were his own son and successor, teaching him everything he knew.
“Now, Perseus. Feeling the flow of the waves is key. If you wish to become a priest of Lord Poseidon, you must learn to read the currents.”
“Yes, Priest Dictys. But it’s so hard. I’ve met the other priest candidates—they say at my age they could already mimic divine powers.”
“Hahaha, that’s natural.”
Priest Dictys smiled fondly at Perseus’s grumbling.
It had been his greatest difficulty in childhood when he decided to become Poseidon’s priest.
“Perseus, don’t rush—take it slowly. Who is the god we serve?”
“Uh… Lord Poseidon, of course.”
“Yes. And what kind of god is he?”
“Um… Ruler of the Great Ocean, Tyrant of the Seas, Father of Monsters, Terror of the Gods, Fair Magistrate, and many other titles. Priest Dictys told me.”
Dictys looked fondly at Perseus, who seemed to be struggling but had clearly studied hard, and added,
“Yes, He bears all those epithets. And to show you one…”
Dictys placed his hand in the seawater.
At the harbor, where the flowing waves and salty sea breeze could be felt, Dictys kept his hand submerged for a long while.
“Uh… Priest Dictys, what are you d—?”
At that moment, the salty wind stopped blowing, and the air began to feel cold. Then, the sea around Dictys’s hand instantly froze.
Crack!
The entire visible horizon froze solid. The churning sea halted in place, and fish leaping across the surface were encased in ice, unaware of what had happened to them.
“No way…!”
Perseus gaped in astonishment at the sight.
***
After witnessing Dictys’s power, Perseus began following his teachings even more diligently.
Every day, he took a boat out to sea to sense the currents and went fishing with Dictys without missing a single day.
Time passed.
The young man Perseus had become could now nearly match Dictys’s abilities.
Freezing the entire sea as Dictys had shown was still impossible, but creating large orbs of water from the air had become easy for him.
“Oh my. You’ve already mastered imitating Dictys so perfectly. When you were little, all you did was complain.”
“M-Mother!”
“Hahaha. Lady Danaë, don’t tease him too much. He’s the most popular young man in the village now.”
“Are you teasing me too, Priest Dictys…?”
Hahahaha.
On a day that seemed filled only with happiness,
“Dictys, how long do you plan to hide her? Word has spread far and wide that you’re keeping a beautiful woman.”
“…”
***
The rumor began with the respected Dictys taking in a woman and child.
As a priest of Poseidon, anything about Dictys naturally became the island’s talk, spreading across Seriphos in no time.
The rumor eventually reached the ears of King Polydectes, ruler of Seriphos.
“What? That blockhead Dictys has taken a beautiful woman as his wife?”
“We don’t know if he’s married her, but it’s true he’s caring for the mother and child.”
“Is that so? If even that fool is tending to her, she must be something special.”
“Not exactly, but they say the woman’s beauty rivals that of the sea goddesses.”
“Hmm. Now I’m curious. What kind of woman could move a stone like him?”
“…”
In the end, unable to contain his curiosity about the woman kept by Dictys—whom he had always kept in check—King Polydectes personally went to see her, bringing soldiers.
“Dictys, how long will you hide her? The rumors of you concealing a beautiful woman have spread far.”
“…”
“What’s with that face? I’m the king of this island. Enough—show me this hidden woman quickly. I’m curious what kind of woman a blockhead like you chose.”
Polydectes, arriving with soldiers, pressured Dictys.
If the woman suited his tastes, he intended to take her by force as king.
As the standoff between Dictys and Polydectes dragged on,
Danaë, sensing something odd inside the house, opened the door and stepped out.
“Priest Dictys, what’s going on? You said it was nothing serious.”
Emerging from the door, Danaë—thanks to Dictys’s devoted care—shone even more brightly than when Poseidon first found her in the chest.
Her already lustrous red hair flowed like silk, her lips were as red as her hair, and her black eyes gleamed like obsidian.
At Danaë’s appearance, the surrounding soldiers let out involuntary gasps of “Wow.”
And Polydectes experienced love at first sight for the first time in his life.
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