Heroes.

Such a term became popular these days.

In the past, only Gilgamesh called himself such a thing and then called himself King of Heroes.

Now I understand what he meant.

But, being called a hero and being worthy of such a name are two different things.

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Atalante sighed as she continued to watch over from the front of the Argonaut. Jason had told her to make sure if anything showed up on the horizon. Though she doubted anything would appear since she doesn't remember there being any islands anywhere in this part of the sea.

The skies were clear for miles, the water was calm, and the air was gentle and calm. She didn't believe that they would encounter anything, despite the fact she wanted to.

"Getting bored?" Atalante turned around and looked to see a young handsome man wearing royal robes looking at her with an amused smile and crossed arms.

"You have no idea, Theseus," the huntress sighed and turned back towards the ocean. "Honestly, I miss solid ground. I certainly hope we reach dry land soon."

Theseus chuckled. "If it makes you feel any better, Asclepius has been complaining Jason's ears off about how we're starting to run out of herbs."

That did manage to draw a chuckle from the huntress. Asclepius can be as persistent as Hercules when it comes to medicine and herbs, something they were truthfully grateful for. If it was not for his medical knowledge, most of the Argonauts would have died long ago.

Medea's healing can only go so far sometimes.

Suddenly, Atalante tensed and narrowed her eyes to the distance. Theseus looked in the direction she was looking at and didn't see anything, but he still trusted Atalante's skills as a huntress to locate things from a great distance.

"Hey, everyone!" Atalante called out to those on the ship, drawing their attention. "What do you make out of a floating throne?"

The question seemed to only cause confusion in the members of the crew. "Are you asking us if that's possible?" Medea asked, tilting her head. She supposed that such a thing could exist with the right mystic.

"If something like that exists, I want one," Jason added, causing Medea to chuckle with an awkward smile.

Soon enough, what Atalante saw came into view for everyone else, and the first to see it after the huntress was Theseus. "What in the..."

True to Atalante's words, what appeared was a floating throne, simply levitating above the water on level with the ship's deck. The throne was silver in color with a black line running through the middle and grey armrests.

Sitting on the throne was a young man wearing robes that covered his body except for his arms and a hood that covered their head. He was resting his head on one hand and appeared as if he was waiting for something.

"Who is that?" Atalante asked no one in particular.

No answer came. The ship continued to sail, getting closer and closer to the throne. When they were close enough that it appeared they would collide, the throne suddenly got higher in altitude, causing it to float over the boat instead of the sea now.

"Who are you?" Atalante demanded from the stranger.

The stranger ignored her entirely, and the throne kept floating over the ship as it slowly passed below it, all while remaining in the same position, not even opening his eyes to acknowledge the ship being there.

"Hey! Who do you think you are floating over my ship!" Jason yelled from his position in the middle of the ship.

"Jason, be careful," Medea whispered behind him, looking at the stranger fearfully. He was setting off all her magical senses in a way she couldn't understand.

The stranger finally opened his eyes and looked at Jason with unnaturally dark irises and unnaturally white-glowing pupils. The unnatural gaze caused Jason to freeze in his place, while Medea's senses started going haywire.

"You should leave this place. Turn your ship around," the stranger said suddenly and firmly, catching them off guard.

"Are you threatening us?" Hercules asked as he walked up beside Jason, who immediately stepped back so the large man could protect him.

The stranger shook his head. "No, I am warning you. These waters are dangerous," he explained, causing further confusion, for no one on the ship heard anything was in these waters.

Suddenly, dark clouds covered the sky at an unbelievable rate. Lightning cracked and thunder echoed. The once calm waves now began to rage, causing the ship to start rocking back and forth.

"So, it has finally appeared," the stranger commented with a sigh.

"What's going on?" Asclepius walked up from the stairs leading the ship's lower deck and looked at the sky. "Oh for the love of... Jason, did you anger Zeus somehow?"

"Why did you immediately go for me!?" their captain yelled, looking betrayed. "I didn't do anything! This guy showed up and then the sky turned black!" he said pointing at the stranger.

Asclepius looked at the stranger with a raised eyebrow, as if just noticing him for the first time. "Your God of thunder has nothing to do with this," the stranger said, which truthfully agitated the crew from the confusion. "I apologize, but it seems you were caught in the middle of my conflict."

Just as he said that, a mixture of an inhuman screech and roar filled the entire sea, even managing to quiet the thunder. The sound was strong enough to cause the members of the crew to immediately cover their ears from pain.

When the sound finally stopped, the crew of the ship looked up again... only for all of them to stare in shock.

The sky was still covered in dark clouds. They could not see the sky. Yet, there were stars in the air. Tiny glowing sparks covered the entire area with dark green dust in the air. It almost appeared like space itself was brought to the sea.

"What in the..." Hercules could not even finish his question from the mere shock. Despite the various adventures he went through, what was happening now was stranger than them all.

Suddenly, something large began rising from the sea. It kept getting larger and larger as it came out. When it finally appeared to have emerged fully, it revealed something that truly frightened the Argonauts.

A colossal creature with a humanoid body stood in the ocean. On its back were a pair of fleshy wings, not unlike the ones on a dragon. A squid-like head with four, soul-piercing eyes that glowed an unnatural yellow color, similar to the glow from the stranger's pupils but different in color.

"So, you finally appeared," the stranger got off his throne, which vanished into nothing as soon as it left his touch, and floated in the air on his own. "I apologize again, for you have been caught in my conflict," he said, giving the Argonauts one last look before he shot forward towards the creature at great speed.

"What is that!?" Atalante asked as she tightly held on to the ship's side, the creature's appearance creating huge waves.

"I don't care as long as we're away from it!" Jason cried out, tightly holding to Hercules while Medea held on to him. "Turn the ship around and get us out of here!" he yelled and the crew immediately moved to follow the order.

At the same time, the stranger finally reached the creature, floating in front of its squid-like head. "I have been waiting for you to appear for some time, though a concept like time should matter very little to your kind I suppose."

Nerval had sensed that this creature would appear in this location. As such, he spent a long period of time waiting here patiently. Always keeping his senses up in order to make sure when it was going to appear.

He did regret that the ship and its crew had to appear now, for they were simply caught in the crossfire between him and this being from beyond. But, he could not change that now, and he had more pressing matters.

Such as the glaring eyes of the creature in front of him. Nerval raised his hand in the air, and an orb of energy formed in his palm before it suddenly exploded and sent a wave to the surrounding area, soon enough covering this entire part of the ocean in a dark silver dome of energy.

"I have completely sealed off this area from the world and cut off all existing ties to the outside," Nerval explained, lowering his hand to his side. He knew that he was trapping that ship and its crew here as well, but he could not afford to take chances with this creature's kind. "You may have managed to pass through, but you will not roam freely as I live."

The creature roared in obvious anger. Swinging its arm at an unbelievable speed for its size, it attempted to swat away Nerval like he was a fly.

Nerval immediately moved away to avoid the colossal arm. Opening his arm at the side, a spear was created in his palm that he gripped tightly. The spear was silver in color, with the blade being made out of a blue crystal.

Reeling back his arm, Nerval threw the spear at the otherworldly being. The weapon hit the forehead of the creature but did little beyond forcing its head to tilt backwards while the spear simply flew behind it.

Despite the failed attack, Nerval did not seem bothered. "That's one," he mumbled quietly before creating another spear, similar to the previous one while the creature lowered its head to glare at him.

Meanwhile, back with Argonauts, Atalante glared at the field surrounding the area. "Now what?" she asked, everyone else turned to their captain.

"Medea!?" Jason called out to the young witch, who was looking through a circle of runes directed at the barrier.
Medea kept looking at the barrier for a few more seconds before shaking her head.

"It's no use. Whatever this barrier is, there's no way out. I can't even understand what it's made of to break it," she informed them, which only caused the crew to start worrying even further.

Jason bit his nails as he kept thinking. His mind was going into overdrive as he kept analyzing the situation and trying to come up with a solution to leave this place with their lives intact. Almost everything he came up with always turned blank.

Until an idea finally appeared in his head. "Turn the ship around again!" he yelled, gaining nothing but confused looks from his crew. "That guy made that barrier, he can obviously unmake it! If he dies, then that thing is gonna turn to us before the barrier vanishes. So, let's help the side that we can actually cooperate with! If we help him, then he has to let us go!"

While most had their doubts, they all knew that Jason's leadership shines the most in dire situations, especially when their lives are on the line. And so, the crew immediately began moving again to follow their captain's orders.

Back in the middle of battle, Nerval moved back further from the creature to avoid another arm swing. The creature moved its hands again, but instead of swinging, it spread them around.

Some of the floating stars around glowed brightly before shooting at Nerval at great speed. The Void God groaned and started spinning his spear around, blocking the shooting stars while being pushed back.

When the onslaught stopped, Nerval looked... and his eyes widened at seeing the creature had vanished. A shadow covered his form and he turned around to find the large monster behind him.

With its hand raised in the air, the creature swung down and smacked Nerval with great strength, causing him to be sent down towards the raging ocean with a large splash.

The creature stood still for a few seconds. But then an invisible force slashed upwards from the ocean, striking the large monster's side up to his shoulder. While no wounds appeared, the creature was obviously in pain if its roar is any indication.

Glaring at where Nerval fell, the creature was getting ready to strike again, only to be struck itself with a spear from the side. The spear flew away after causing its head to turn.

The creature glared at its side, which is where Nerval was now floating in the air. "Two," he mumbled while creating another spear.

"Is anyone else hearing voices?" Theseus asked as he double-checked the life robes of the crew. Every member tied one around their waist to ensure they don't fall off.

"No, I hear them, too," Hercules replied as he pulled a bow, the only long-range weapon he has, from the variety of weapons he kept around.

"It's telepathy!" Medea cried out, preparing magical circles all around the ship for protection. "Whatever you do, don't listen to the voices! That monster is obviously trying to get into your minds! There's no telling what it'll do if you give it the chance!"

"That shouldn't be a problem since I have no idea what the voices are trying to say in the first place," Atalante commented, preparing her bow and arrows.

Her statement was shared by the rest of the Argonauts. None of them can understand what the voices were saying for they were obviously speaking in a language they had never heard before.

Hercules and Atalante stood at the side of the ship and both pulled back the string of their respective bows before shooting at the creature. Medea was at their side, blasting with several magical circles.

However, the creature did not even notice their attacks as it kept using the stars around to attack Nerval, who was blocking them with his spear the best he could while being attacked from all sides.

"Well, that did a big load of nothing," Atalante commented as she lowered her bow, seeing her arrow and Hercules' simply bounce off while Medea's blasts were practically non-existent.

"Whatever that creature may be, it obviously has a very powerful layer of skin to not even notice," Asclepius commented while clinging to one of the ship's deck. "We need something incredibly strong or incredibly sharp to actually harm it."

"Medea," Hercules suddenly turned to the young witch. The hero held up one of his largest arrows. "Can you make it stronger?" Medea immediately nodded and started waving her staff over the arrow while chanting.

Meanwhile, Nerval blocked another onslaught of stars before reeling back his arm and throwing his spear at the creature. Similarly to the first two, the spear struck the creature's head making it move back, obviously hurting it, but not piercing the skin.

"Three," Nerval said as he prepared to create another spear.

However, before he got the chance, the creature vanished again, appearing behind Nerval, this time swinging both its arms and clapping its palms on the void god. An explosion of mystical energy happened in the palms of the creature, increasing the damage dealt by the strike.

Suddenly, a glowing large arrow struck the creature in the side of the head, creating a large magical explosion that covered its head in smoke.

"Alright! You got it!" Jason cheered, thinking that Hercules finished off the creature.

"No..." Hercules, however, shook his head with a serious look. "Nothing we did work on it, we're nothing but flies to it," the smoke vanished to show that the hero was current, and that the creature was unharmed as it turned its head to look at the Argonauts. "All we did... was buzz loud enough for it to bother swatting us away."

Lighting flashed through the sky and in an instant, the creature appeared in front of the ship of Heroes. The Argonauts looked in fear and shock at the giant shadow that was cast over their ship and the soulless eyes that stared at them.

The creature's eyes glowed brighter.

"AAAAAHHH!"

And Medea began screaming in pain while desperately clutching her head as voices assaulted her. The others all held a hand or both to their heads, but it was obvious that Medea was receiving a worse dose of pain through her magical senses.

"M-Medea!" Jason groaned out, trying to ignore the pain and voices to think of a plan.

The creature did not give them enough time to come up with a plan as it raised one of its arms, ready to bring it down and crush the ship along with its crew.

However, an attack of invisible force struck the creature from above. Nerval flew down until he was between the Argonauts and the large creature, a new spear at hand.

Nerval glared at the creature as he spun his spear. "And this is the fourth one," Nerval reeled back his hand and threw his spear at the sea, not the creature.

Suddenly, all the previous spears Nerval threw started glowing along with the one he just discarded, forming a square around the creature. The square suddenly was void of water and filled with a dark hole that seemed to suck everything in.

The creature began sinking into the hole, raising its arms in a desperate attempt to escape. It glared at Nerval, letting out a loud roar filled with anger.

"Betrayal? Is that what you think I'm doing?" Nerval asked, seemingly understanding the creature. "Perhaps you are right. Perhaps I am betraying my own kind. I do not know. But, I do know you do not belong here, and should be sent back!"

Nerval raised his hand, causing another square with a similar hole to appear above the first one just as the creature fully sunk in, lowering his hand, the second square slowly covered the first one, and they both slowly vanished, causing the sea to return.

The void god floated down till he reached the deck of the ship. Once his feet touched the wood, he fell to his knees while breathing heavily in relief.

He was glad he managed to avoid a full-blown battle. The barrier most likely could not have stayed even if it was made by him during a full out battle between the Eldritch.

"Alright, buddy!" Jason yelled causing him to look around to see the occupants of the ship aim their weapons at him, though the captain himself was hiding behind Hercules with Medea at his side, still recovering. "Take down that barrier and let us out!"

Nerval's eyes landed on Jason, who hid further behind Hercules. However, Nerval simply waved his hand, and the barrier slowly vanished away, revealing the sky had returned to its clear state.

"I apologize again for having you caught in my battle," Nerval said, as he slowly stood up while the crew still had their weapons drawn.

"From what you said earlier and now, I assume us being here when that thing appeared was merely coincidence and that neither of you was targeting us?" Theseus asked, trying to assess the situation based on the information he has. Nerval nodded, causing him to lower his weapon. "That means you have no desire to harm us?"

When the void god nodded again, most of the Argonauts put their weapons away and allowed themselves to relax after the latest endeavour. Many of them sat down or simply laid back on the deck of the ship.

"Here, these will put her to sleep and help her heal before waking up," Asclepius gave Jason a few herbs for Medea's pain. The captain nodded and turned to the young witch while the doctor turned to their new arrival. "Now, I have a few questions for you," Nerval turned to Asclepius as he walked up to him. "Who are you? What was that thing? Is there more of it? Does it cause any sort of special infection? And did you get one during the battle?"

Nerval raised an eyebrow at the rapid questions, but he still answered. "My name is Nerval. That thing was a creature from beyond. There are more of its species. If it does, I am not aware of them. And no, I don't believe I received such a thing during the battle," he replied.

"Is that thing gone for good?" Atalante asked as she walked up, her bow still close by as she didn't trust Nerval. "You said there was more of it?"

Nerval shook his head. "Do not worry. They never appear in the same location. And I made sure that thing will not appear again here," he explained.

Truthfully, Nerval couldn't fully destroy the entrance, so he at least made sure it could not be used. He covered it with a mirror portal, making sure that the one that sleeps would continually go in circles rather than reach this realm again.

"You said your name is Nerval, right?" Hercules walked closer while crossing his arms. "You... you're a god, aren't you?" Nerval looked at the hero with a raised eyebrow while the other Argonauts looked at him in surprise. "None of us managed to harm that thing, and we have several demigods here, but you managed to hold your own. Only a god could have been able to do that," Hercules explained, showing that strength is not his only virtue.

Nerval nodded, approval showing in his eyes. "That is correct, and who might you be?"

"I-"

"How can you not know who Hercules is?!" Jason cried out, coming back from giving Medea her medicine. "He's the greatest Hero in Greek! You might want a god, but you'll have to be an idiot too to not know who he is!"

The Argonauts looked at Jason in horror, thinking that he enraged a deity, while Hercules simply sighed with a hand on his head at his friend's behaviour.

Nerval, much to the joy of the Argonauts, did not appear offended. "I do not come from any branch of the Greek Pantheon, as such I would not know who any of you are," he explained, which caused Jason to flinch while piquing the interest of several people around.

"Oh, so you're a god from a foreign land?" Asclepius commented with a hand on his chin. "Hmm, tell me, which Pantheon do you come from?"

"None," the answer received surprised looks from those around. "I was born in the middle of nowhere with nothing. I have no origin," he quickly explained and looked back at Hercules. "Do you mind if I stay on your ship for a while? Making sure that thing will not come back took quite the toll on me."

"Jason is the captain," Hercules replied, motioning to his friend and making it obvious that the choice was his.

"He is?" Nerval questioned, surprise notable in his voice.

"What's that supposed to mean!?" Jason asked and all the Argonauts around looked away, preferring to not comment in the particular situation. "Urgh... fine! You can stay since you saved us, but only until the next island, and you have to pull your own weight around her, which includes protecting the ship."

To most, it would sound that Jason is repaying a debt, but the Argonauts new their captain and knew that he was just getting more protection for the ship and especially himself.

Whether Nerval knew or didn't know of Jason's true feelings wasn't appearance as he simply nodded his head. "Those terms are acceptable."

Jason just clicked his tongue and turned around to go look over Medea. Nerval found a barrel that he sat on, having nothing to do beyond waiting for the next island.

Though, he suddenly found several of the Argonauts surrounding him. Mainly Theseus, Hercules, and Asclepius.

"Do you need something?" The void god asked.

"We're just curious," Theseus replied, causing Nerval to raise a questionable eyebrow.

"To make it simple," Asclepius began speaking. "Here in Olympas, meeting a god is a rare chance, and it is usually a good sign or a terrible one. I don't think I even heard of any mortal having a civil conversation with any of our gods," he explained.

"We just want to ask some questions," Hercules explained while crossing his arms. He couldn't help but think on his shared teacher with Asclepius, Chiron, and how he would have loved to meet a god from a foreign land.

Nerval sighed and nodded. "Very well, whatever questions you ask, I will answer to the best of my abilities. But, you should be aware that I will not answer any question I deem dangerous to answer."

With that, the three members of the Argonauts began asking questions while Nerval answered, simply as a means to spend time until they reach the next island.

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Heroes are odd.

They stand out the most amongst humans and their history, but they are not fundamentally different than normal people.

They have desires, goals, and ambitions

They all seem very... 'human' to me.