章 186: Chapter 186: Suicidal Branding
[Third Person's PoV]
"LUCIAAAAAN!" Annabeth screeched as she ran toward him. She slid on her knees across the sand and appeared beside Lucian.
Thalia turned into a streak of lightning as she rushed to them, her expression unreadable as she knelt beside Lucian.
Annabeth didn't hesitate to flip him over, staining her hands with his blood. She glared at Lucian's bloodied and broken form as she said, "You better not die on me… It's far too early for you to die," she whispered as she reached into her pouch and pulled out a vial of nectar, meant to help demigods recover quickly.
She held Lucian with one hand and uncorked the potion with her mouth. She tried feeding Lucian the nectar, but he only sputtered and choked slightly.
"Give it here!" Thalia said, snatching the nectar from Annabeth's hand and taking a sip herself.
She grabbed Lucian's head and began feeding him the nectar mouth-to-mouth. As Thalia administered the nectar, Grover, Percy, Clarisse, Bianca, and Nico all came running toward Lucian with tears in their eyes.
Nico sniffled and said, "I just gained the coolest big brother ever. Please don't let me lose you… You said you would teach me how to use my powers."
Bianca's lips quivered upon hearing Nico's words. They all surrounded Lucian as Thalia finished giving him the nectar, her mouth stained red with his blood.
Lucian's wounds began to close slowly, giving everyone a flicker of hope. However, the cracks in his body burst open even further, revealing the true severity of his injuries. Through the entire ordeal, Lucian remained conscious due to his curse, which forced him to stay awake even when he lacked the strength to blink.
Heracles frowned as he watched the scene unfold. Before he could offer assistance as the God of Fertility and Health (A/N: It's in the wiki, look it up), Lucian's shadow expanded, and a figure emerged from it—Beatrice.
"Beatrice!?" Annabeth exclaimed in surprise. She was supposed to be away on a mission, so everyone looked at her sudden appearance with shock.
"I felt our lord dying and couldn't just stand by and watch," Beatrice said, kneeling beside him and reaching into his shadow. Her hands moved rapidly, her expression shifting into one of deep concentration. Slowly, she pulled out a round vial filled with glowing golden liquid.
Beatrice opened the vial and applied a single drop to Lucian's forehead. As it touched his skin, the wounds on his body began to close, and he started glowing faintly with a golden hue.
"What did you just give him?" Heracles asked with a frown, narrowing his eyes as he sniffed the air. "And why does it smell familiar?"
Noting Annabeth and Thalia's curious expressions, Beatrice explained, "It's one of the most potent healing potions my lord and I created together using seeds from a golden apple, said to be filled with immense vitality."
"Though I remember him mentioning the golden apple for a potion, I don't recall him saying he was working on it," Annabeth said with a slight frown.
"That's because we weren't sure it worked. We hadn't tested it yet—it was still in the experimental stage. You could say this is our first trial," Beatrice said, her expression shadowed with worry. 'We were going to use it to create miracles to spread his name as a god and further the cult… He didn't want to reveal it, but we had no choice. Forgive me, my lord.'
Lucian groaned as he pushed himself up, shaking his head and letting his hair fall over his eyes. "Good work, B," he sighed.
Beatrice bowed graciously. "Happy to help, my lord."
"LUCIAN!!!" they all shouted happily, with Annabeth and Thalia tackling him back to the ground.
"Oof! Ladies, I'm feeling the love~" Lucian teased. Just then, he heard Hecate's voice in his mind.
'You wanted a name for your technique, right? How does Suicidal Branding sound, you idiot?' she scoffed in annoyance.
'Is someone worried about me?' Lucian teased.
Hecate huffed. 'You'd bring me nothing but shame if you, my student, died early. I can't have people thinking I'm a lousy teacher.'
'Don't worry, senses. After all, the Fates are on my side,' Lucian's thought then moved privately, 'Quite literally'
Heracles looked at Lucian questioningly. "I have a few questions for you, Lucian, and I hope you can answer them honestly."
Lucian patted Annabeth and Thalia to let him stand up. "Sure, big guy… but before that," he said, pulling out his phone and snapping a picture of Heracles.
"Was that really necessary?" Heracles asked with a straight face.
"Was that one of your questions? Because if so, then yes. No one would believe me if I said I made the great Heracles bleed," Lucian said proudly. "Don't worry about the picture—I'll hang it on my fridge so I can always remember."
Heracles shook his head as he moved on with the topic. "Say, did you actually manage to steal one of the Golden Apples?"
"One? I took a bunch. You should have seen her face when she couldn't take them back from me," Lucian scoffed. "You can even ask Ares over here, he was there."
"Ha! You actually managed to steal from her precious tree. Good on you, kid! I knew I liked you for a reason!" Heracles exclaimed.
"Actually… now that I think about it, we both have a strong dislike for her, don't we?" Lucian said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.
"We do? What did she do to you?" Heracles asked, curious.
"It's not towards me specifically, but towards my mother. She used my mother like one of her pawns and discarded her once she was no longer useful," Lucian said, his voice laced with disgust and hatred.
"Heh, sounds like her," Heracles scoffed, sharing Lucian's disdain.
"HOLD ON!" Lucian suddenly shouted, spreading his arms wide and drawing puzzled looks from everyone. He turned to Heracles, excitement flashing in his eyes. "I just remembered! You've met my mother before, haven't you?"
"What? I have?" Heracles asked, surprised.
Annabeth's eyes widened as she made the connection. She slapped her palm against her forehead. "Of course! He was an Argonaut!"
Percy turned to Grover with a puzzled expression. "Huh? He went to space before?"
Grover facepalmed. "Argonaut, Percy, not astronaut."
"Huh? What does—" Heracles' eyes suddenly widened as he looked closely at Lucian's face. He burst into laughter, throwing his head back and clutching his stomach. "HAHAHAHA! YOU'RE HER KID! HAHAHAHAHA! NO WONDER YOU'RE CRAZY AND DEMENTED!"
"Oi," Lucian said, offended.
Heracles wiped tears from his eyes as his laughter subsided. "I haven't laughed that hard in ages. But I have one last question, and though I think I already know the answer, I need to ask." His face turned serious. "Why didn't you use the army in your shadows? If you had, I'm sure you would have made me bleed faster and accomplished your goal."
"And where would the honor in that be?" Lucian raised an eyebrow. "My shadow soldiers are a part of me and could have helped overwhelm you. But I wouldn't be satisfied with that kind of victory. You may not have taken me seriously, but you still fought me with honor and respect. I couldn't do any less."
"Even if it meant losing because you stuck to this so-called honor?" Heracles pressed.
Lucian nodded. "If you had fought dishonorably, I would have returned the favor tenfold. But you didn't, so I would rather face defeat due to my own limitations than dishonor the sanctity of our duel."
Heracles chuckled and placed his club on Lucian's head. "Boy, you have my respect. You not only faced me head-on with bravery and courage, but you did so with the honor that all heroes should embody. And you managed to make me bleed at such a young age. Such feats deserve a reward."
Heracles then turned to everyone and frowned. "Close your eyes and don't open them until I say so."
"You're joking, right?" Ares asked, knowing exactly what was about to happen.
Lucian's shadow tendrils reached behind him, covering everyone's eyes as he closed his own with a faint smile.
With that, Heracles shed his mortal shell and became a being of pure divine energy. The overwhelming power emanating from him made everyone feel weak at the knees, even though they couldn't see him.
His voice, filled with divine authority, echoed:
"Lucian Blackheart, for your recent achievements and virtues, I, Heracles, God of Strength and Patron of Heroes, deem you worthy of my blessing. The blessing of permanent enhanced strength. Once given, not even I can take it back. I trust you to wield this strength wisely and for the benefit of others, as I once did. Do you accept this blessing?"
Lucian placed a fist over his heart and said, "I do."
"Then so it shall be!" Heracles proclaimed.
A golden light enveloped Lucian, causing his muscles to swell and contract. His physique grew more defined, and he gained a bit of height as his muscles adapted to the new power.
Heracles slowly returned to his mortal form. Lucian opened his eyes and withdrew the shadow tendrils from everyone's faces, who now stared at him and Heracles in disbelief.
Heracles rested his club on his shoulder. "Use it wisely, so that next time, you'll give me more of a challenge," he teased.
Lucian glanced at his hands, squeezing them into fists and hearing the tension in his new muscles. He smirked. "I already have a new goal for our next fight: making you use your god form."
Heracles merely scoffed and shook his head.
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