[Third Person Pov]
"You're welcome, by the way," Luke scoffed as they stepped into the Garden of the Hesperides.
The air was thick with the scent of golden apples and eternal twilight. Soft light filtered through the leaves of the sacred trees, painting everything in warm amber and deep shadow.
Lucian's expression twisted into an immediate snarl. "Huh? What the hell are you talking about?"
He raised both hands to his face and began undoing the curse that had blinded him. One by one the milky-white film peeled away, restoring the sharp, luminous crimson of his natural eyes.
"For saving your ass," Luke replied, clearly trying to needle him the same way Lucian had needled him earlier. "If I hadn't shown up when I did, Atlas here would have finished the job. The least you can do is show a little gratitude. You owe me now."
Lucian spat to the side in pure disgust. "The only thing I owe you is a punch straight to the face, you troll-faced iguana. Atlas is a pussy. I would have found a way out. He wasn't going to do shit."
Atlas turned slowly toward him. Both fists clenched so tightly the knuckles cracked. Unfathomable rage radiated from the Titan in almost visible waves. It took every last shred of his self-control not to close the distance and wring Lucian's neck right there among the golden apples.
Luke let out an exasperated scoff. "I'm pretty sure he was beating your ass from where I was standing. Have you learned nothing?"
"Have you?" Lucian asked quietly.
The two simple words carried enough weight to turn the air between them heavy once more. Luke's expression flickered.
'He's changed,' Lucian noted, keeping a suspicious eye on his former friend. Something was different—something had shifted since the last time they had spoken. He just couldn't place what it was.
'Tsk. Not that I care either way.'
"It's you!!"
The sharp cry came from Aegle, one of the Hesperides. She thrust an accusing finger toward Lucian, face twisted with pure hatred.
"You have the nerve to come back here after what you did!" Erytheia hissed, stepping up beside her sister.
There were seven of them in total. Every single one fixed Lucian with the same burning, murderous glare the moment they recognized him. They glanced at Luke with equal displeasure, but years of his presence in their garden had forced them into a grudging tolerance. Lucian received no such mercy.
"Do you have any understanding of the trouble you've caused us?!" Lipara bared her teeth, grinding them together in open wrath.
Each sister carried the same mark of old hatred, the same desire to tear the demigod apart for the chaos he had left behind years ago when he was still young and even more reckless.
Luke watched the verbal assault with a faint gleam of glee in his eyes. He had endured the exact same treatment—worse, actually. The sisters had attacked him outright, and he had been forced to prove they could do nothing more than glare and curse. Now he fully expected to watch Lucian, still half-broken from the fight with Atlas, struggle under the same pressure.
Lucian's face remained partially hidden behind the curtain of his blood-matted hair. Then, slowly, he grinned.
In the space of a heartbeat he appeared directly in front of Aegle. One hand closed gently around her wrist; the other settled at her waist, drawing her close against him.
"I'm sorry," he said, voice soft and earnest. "I never intended to cause any of you trouble." His crimson eyes held what looked like genuine regret. "I was young. I was foolish. I thought the entire world revolved around me… but I was wrong."
Aegle blinked, suddenly paralyzed. One of her hands had landed against the hard, still-bloodied planes of his chest. He was rugged from battle, yet the way he held her was surprisingly tender.
"W-Well… you did cause a lot of trouble, just so you know," she managed, voice smaller than before.
"Can you ever find it in your heart to forgive a bastard like me?" Lucian asked, tilting his head slightly. "You're far too beautiful to carry something as ugly as a grudge."
Aegle's face flooded with color. She looked down, suddenly meek. "I-I… okay. Just this once. You were young, after all, and you seem to have learned your lesson. I'll overlook it… just this once. But don't you dare repeat it, okay?"
"I knew it," Lucian murmured, offering her a warm, almost radiant smile. "To be able to forgive me even after all the pain I caused… your soul must be every bit as beautiful as your natural appearance."
Aegle's blush deepened. She turned her face away with a shy little huff and gave his chest a playful, half-hearted push. "Oh, stop it, you~"
Luke's eyebrows twitched violently.
'…What the actual fuck.'
If Lucian had managed to charm only one of them, Luke would have rolled his eyes and written it off as typical. But he could only watch in mounting disbelief as Lucian moved from sister to sister with the same effortless grace—apologizing, complimenting, holding each one just long enough to melt years of hatred into flustered giggles and reluctant forgiveness. One by one, every single Hesperide fell under the same spell, and he did it without appearing to expend any real effort at all.
What annoyed Luke the most was how completely uncreative Lucian was being. He simply repeated the same core idea over and over, only changing the wording enough to make each line sound fresh.
"I thought the golden apples were the greatest treasure in this garden," Lucian murmured to one sister, voice low and sincere. "I was clearly too young to understand what was standing right in front of me."
To the next: "I could never forgive myself if a woman as beautiful as you continued to hate me. Someone as lovely as you shouldn't waste such a face on anger."
And to another: "The apples may have been golden, but even gold loses its luster beside a smile like yours."
When he reached the last of the Hesperides he took her hand with deliberate care and pressed a soft kiss to the back of it.
"A single golden apple isn't even worth a fraction of your smile," he said. "I was too immature back then to realize it, but I see it clearly now. If I could turn back time, I would much rather steal your smile than any fruit."
The final sister fanned her flushed face with her free hand, still leaving her fingers resting in his. "Stop… you're too much…"
'I remember now why I hate this fucking bastard,' Luke thought, irritation burning behind his eyes.
Atlas, for his part, wore an expression of pure visceral disappointment. Every one of those young women was his daughter.
"Bye, ladies~" Lucian called with a confident grin and a wink as he finally stepped away.
"Bye, Lucian~" they chorused in overlapping, charmed tones, giggling among themselves. A few even blew him kisses.
"Don't be a stranger~"
"Send an Iris-message when you can~"
"You'll visit again, won't you?"
Lucian strolled into the middle of the path, hands laced behind his head, whistling a light, carefree tune.
The moment Luke leaned forward to follow, the Hesperides' expressions did a complete one-eighty. One clicked her tongue in disgust. Another spat at the ground near his feet. A third raised both middle fingers without the slightest hesitation.
Luke's mood soured further. A heavy, solemn air settled over him. He sucked his teeth and kicked a small rock out of his path.
'Who cares what they think,' he told himself. 'None of them hold a candle to Calypso anyway.'
He sighed inwardly, forced the irritation down, and refocused on the task ahead.
Then Lucian's voice cut through the garden—cold, quiet, and completely stripped of its earlier charm.
"You know, people call me insane… but you two are the real monsters here."
The playful mask melted away. Darkness settled over his features. The air around him turned sharp and oppressive.
He looked straight at Atlas, crimson eyes heavy with judgment.
"I once sympathized with your burden. In fact, there was a time I might even have helped you."
"What are you—" Atlas began.
"Zip it." Lucian's voice cracked like a whip. "This is the part where you listen." His face was half-hidden by the fall of his hair, expression carved from shadow. "You know better than anyone what it feels like to hold up the sky. And knowing that—knowing exactly what that weight does to a person—you willingly subjected your own daughter to the same torture. That tells me everything I need to know about you."
He stepped away from them, voice dropping into a promise colder than any blade.
"When this is over, I'll personally make sure you're chained to that position for the rest of eternity."
Without waiting for a reply, Lucian continued forwards and walked away from them both.
The reason for his sudden, explosive wrath lay only a short distance ahead.
Zoe Nightshade was pressed into the earth, knees driven inward at unnatural angles, her entire body covered in blood that had soaked into the ground in a wide, gruesome circle. Stress had turned every strand of her hair stark white down to the roots. But what truly ignited Lucian's fury were the sounds leaving her throat.
She was crying—broken, continuous sobs that cracked on every breath. Tears streaked through the blood on her face as she pleaded, arms trembling so violently they looked ready to snap.
"I'm sorry… I'm sorry, Daddy… I promise I'll be good… please forgive me…"
"I can't take it anymore… please help me…"
"I won't make the same mistakes… I promise! Please!"
"It hurts… it hurts… I don't know how much more of this I can take…"
Her desperate words fell on empty air. Her vision had already gone blurry; she could feel herself slipping toward unconsciousness and knew with terrifying clarity that if she blacked out it would be the end of her.
One last broken cry tore from her throat.
"Lady Artemis… please save me…"
Lucian appeared in front of her without a sound. He reached out and carefully began to lift the crushing weight from her arms and shoulders.
Zoe's unfocused eyes found the blurry shape of him. The pressure lessened. Hope flickered.
"L-Lady Artemis…?" she gasped weakly.
"Not quite," Lucian answered, voice gentle even as his features contorted under the sudden burden. He settled the sky's weight onto his own shoulders with a grimace. "I'm afraid you're stuck with me for the time being. I hope you don't mind."
"L-Lucian…"
That was all she managed before her eyes rolled back and her body went limp.
Lucian caught her as she fell, one arm securing her against him while the other kept the unbearable weight of the heavens balanced across his back. Her newly white hair swayed with the motion of her lolling head.
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