Aphrodite's Daughter

Chapter 1

Above the Hamlet of Hayshire, Equestria

All those years spent plotting, scheming, and draining countless beings of their energy were about to pay off. My sisters and—well, I should point out that I was the leader and hence, the brains behind the entire operation—had become powerful enough to rival the pony princesses. Sonata & Aria helped me achieve that goal… somewhat. Credit where credit is due, I suppose.

I won’t deny that we worked well together as a team but—ah—let’s not kid ourselves. I wasn’t about to share MY EMPIRE with the likes of those two bumbling buffoons. Hmm. I should point out that Aria wasn’t too bad but she still got on my nerves for being so angsty all the time. Seriously! She complained about EVERYTHING! Sonata was, unfortunately, a dimwit. If she wasn’t fawning over some cute, furry creature, she was content to devour her own bodyweight in greasy slabs of mutton. Mutton Mondays is what she called it. Ugh…

However, I digress. In order to attract Celestia & Luna’s attention, I thought it best to destroy a settlement filled with their precious pony subjects. Those soft-hearted fools wouldn’t stand for such an egregious slight, even though we had a numerical and mystical advantage over them. With a wicked grin, I savored the fear I felt radiating from the townsfolk. It made my entire body quiver in ecstasy. What an exquisite flavor! Just like the sweetest ambrosia~

Sonata looked over at me with a puzzled frown. “Hey, Dagi. How’s come the princesses haven’t shown up yet? We’ve practically leveled this entire village and… nothing. What gives?”

Aria rolled her eyes and snorted. “Yeah! I like mayhem as much as the next siren but this is starting to get old. Like, real fast. Why aren’t they fighting back? Do we have to eat some—”

I let out a long, suffering sigh. “Patience, sisters. Celestia and Luna are busy trying to rule a newly formed, and dare I say, still-dysfunctional principality. In all likelihood, their advisors are still debating what course of action to take. You know, the joys of bureaucracy and all that.”

“Just like ponies to bicker amongst themselves over stupid crap like politics,” Aria scoffed, “is it any wonder that the windigos almost managed to wipe them out?”

“Be that as it may, we can’t afford to underestimate them.”

Sonata clapped her hooves together. “OOH! Lookie there, Dagi! We’ve got company!”

Sure enough, a team of notorious do-gooders swaggered into town (or what was left of it) while my obnoxious sister squealed with excitement. I wouldn’t go so far as to call them proper knights, but they had a reputation amongst the ponies as an elite band of warriors capable of defeating Equestria’s foes. They were known as “The Pillars” because they represented the greatest virtues of ponykind or some nonsense like that. Quite pretentious, if you ask me.

We’d run into them before, so it’s not like this scenario was entirely unexpected. However, I was disappointed that Celestia & Luna hadn’t bothered to get off of their fat, lazy plots and face us themselves. Oh well. I guess we’ll just have to make do with vaporizing these whelps into dust before assaulting the Castle of the Two Sisters. The three of us began charging our gems for a beam attack, until I noticed that something was off. My hackles were raised even further when Flash Magnus decided to fly directly in front of me. All he did was hover in place. How odd.

“What is the meaning of this?” I asked.

Flash rubbed his hooves together and smiled. “We’d like to parley with you if possible.”

Aria looked like she was about to have an aneurism. “Parley?! UGH! I hate parley. Why is that even a rule? C’mon, Dagi! Let’s just fry these little shits and get on with our day.”

Sonata raised her hoof. “Technically, it’s part of the siren code. That’s why we gotta follow it.”

I growled in annoyance. “As much as I hate to admit it, Sonata is correct. I am honor bound to hear any requests made during a parley. What say you, Flash Magnus? Have you come to beg for the lives of your comrades and fellow Equestrians before we destroy them?”

“Nope. I was just distracting you. Thanks for the chat, though.”

Before I could so much as ask what in the name of the Mother Kraken was going on, a black hole materialized behind us. Or more accurately, a magic portal created by none other than Starswirl the Bearded. That smug bastard had the UNMITIGATED gall to laugh at us while he cast the spell. I fired a red-hot beam of pure energy at him in an attempt to stop the portal from staying open, but it was no use. He’d already had more than enough time to stabilize the damned thing.

“To be honest, I expected more of you, Adagio Dazzle. But it seems that you aren’t quite as clever and deadly a foe as you make yourself out to be. Pillars! To me! We shall vanquish these wretched creatures by ridding them from Equestria forevermore. Heed my words, sirens! Never again shall you set hoof in these lands. I BANISH YOU!”

Anger and bitter hatred clouded my mind. I wanted nothing more than to snap Starswirl’s horn clean off and watch him squirm in agony before me, powerless and helpless, begging to end his miserable life. Yet, it was not to be. We fired a barrage of sonic attacks and beams at the ponies, but they managed to evade them all somehow.

What happened next would haunt my dreams for many years to come. I was sucked into the magical, swirling vortex against my will. I could no more resist its pull than I could stop the ocean’s crushing depths. In a mere instant, Sonata & Aria disappeared into the void and all I knew was searing pain and darkness. Shortly thereafter, I lost consciousness.

Silence fell upon the hamlet of Ponyville. Though the buildings were reduced to rubble, and the ponies who lived there were shaken with fear, they let out a cry of celebration. The Pillars had managed to get rid of the evil sirens once and for all. A tired sigh escaped Starswirl’s lips. It had taken every shred of magical power that he possessed to create the highly dangerous trans-dimensional portal. Such magic should only be practiced by the most powerful and wizened spellcasters, on pain of disaster. He decided that the notes he’d written for the spell matrix would be locked away in the restricted section of the library as soon as they returned to the castle.

Flash rubbed his hoof along Starswirl’s back. “Are you ok, buddy? You look really worn out.”

“Indeed. The spell was very… taxing on my mana reserves. Worry not, though. For I shall be fine. Given some time to rest and nourish myself, of course.”

Rockhoof whistled softly. “A damn impressive spell if I’ve ever seen one, Starswirl. Where do you suppose it sent the buggers?”

“Faust only knows. That was the first time I’ve ever opened a portal to another universe.”

Everything was a muddled blur while I slowly regained consciousness. The mother of all hangovers assaulted my poor brain when I tried to get up, and to be quite honest, it made me just want to give up and assume the fetal position. So, I did. At least for a little while. When the headache finally began to dull, I immediately realized something was off. What you may ask? Oh, only that my ENTIRE being had been transformed from how I’d known it for centuries.

I wiggled my new digits experimentally. They resembled a minotaur’s fingers but were far slenderer and more delicate looking than was typical of their race. I’d apparently become bipedal like them too but instead of hard hooves, my legs ended in soft, squishy feet that, for the life of me, looked completely impractical for walking anywhere. What in Tartarus had I become?!

A quick look down at my chest revealed a pair of protruding breasts that were roughly in the shape of a teardrop. I gave them an experimental squeeze and determined that yes, they were indeed quite sensitive to the touch. Just like the female minotaurs claimed. To me, it seemed like an absurd place to put them as it would have left both the nursing young and mother vulnerable to attack. In any case, I should count myself lucky that the blasted things were relatively compact and didn’t jiggle around much while I moved. Otherwise, they would have caused me a great deal of discomfort and impeded my dexterity.

After falling flat on my ass more times than I’d care to admit, I managed to stand up, albeit in a shaky manner. It finally occurred to me that my beautiful golden scales had been replaced by a thin layer of skin (at least it was of similar complexion to my scales). My entire body appeared to be hairless, save for the amber-gold locks that flowed from my head down to my lower back. Oh and—erm—a curious little tuft of the same color was nestled between my legs. Why these creatures would have hair covering their genitals was beyond me. It didn’t make much sense from a practical standpoint. Then again, nothing about their physiology did.

I rubbed my temples and sighed. “My gem’s gone too. How could this possibly get any worse?!”

The one pleasant thing about my banishment was that the portal had managed to drop me off on a beach. And a beautiful one at that. The air was warm, pleasant, and tickled my skin whenever the sea breeze came drifting on by. As for the water itself, the ocean looked like one, giant topaz that stretched across the horizon. I desperately wanted to dive in but I just couldn’t risk it. I had no idea how to swim in my new body and didn’t want to risk drowning. Ironic for a siren, I know, but it was apparent to me that the form I now possessed was not built for the sea.

Instead, I settled for wading in the shallows. It was just enough to get wet and wash off all of the gritty sand that covered my skin. Before the transformation, sand hadn’t bothered me too much, but now it was just coarse and irritating. Again, it only served to further the notion that these strange creatures were ill-suited to live anywhere near the ocean. I’m not even sure how they even managed to survive at all, given their weak physical attributes.

I crossed my arms underneath my breasts and looked around once more. “Still no sign of Aria or Sonata. As much as they can get on my nerves sometimes, I… I’m rather fond of them. Oceans, it really sucks being all alone. Especially in an alien world…”

Ok, so maybe “fond” wasn’t the best term to describe how I felt about those two. They were my sisters and it wouldn’t be unusual at all for a siren to admit that she loved her kin. Nope! Not at all! I just… preferred not to express such sentiments aloud. I’m sure they knew I loved them… right? UGH! Fine. Maybe I wasn’t the most affectionate big sister around, but I’ve always provided for them without a shred of hesitation. That counts as love in my book!

My reverie was rudely interrupted by a loud gurgling sound, followed by a sharp pang deep within the pit of my stomach. Oh great! Now, I’m hungry too! This day just keeps getting better and better. Next thing you know, I’ll accidentally break my ankle, bleed out waiting for help that will never arrive, and die all alone in an alien world. Seriously, fuck my life!

I took in a deep breath to try and calm myself. It worked to a certain extent. “Get it together, Dagi. Focus on surviving, not cursing the unicorn bastard that put you in this shitty situation. Fishing in the ocean is a no go, so I guess I should try to find some shellfish along the rocks. But I’d better be careful. Wouldn’t want to get cut up by them.”

As luck would have it, I managed to find some clams in the shallow pools of water that had collected atop a rocky crag. With no tools or magic at my disposal to start a fire, I gambled on eating them raw and hoped that this new body would be able to digest them properly. After carefully slurping down two globs of clam meat, I decided that they were ok. The clams didn’t taste bad, per say, but I had a difficult time getting over the snotty texture. As a siren, this wouldn’t have bothered me, but my current palate didn’t seem to like them very much.

I soon discovered that consuming clams may have sated my hunger, but it also made me terribly thirsty. The great irony was that I was surrounded by water, however none of it was drinkable to me. Had I still been a siren, my scales would have filtered the salty seawater and taken care of this problem. Now… not so much. I smacked my parched lips a few times, trying to wet my mouth with saliva. It didn’t do me any good. My mouth still felt like a giant ball of cotton. After letting out an irritated sigh, I dragged my weary carcass along the shoreline to try and find a suitable source of hydration.

Imagine my surprise when I happened upon a recently wrecked ship. I’d seen enough of them in my long lifetime to recognize that it had once been a trireme. Or, at least, the shattered remains of one. If I had to guess, it had gotten caught in a nasty storm and broke up on the rocks. I looked around and spotted a few bodies sprawled out along the sand. They were creatures like me, except they were dressed in what looked like bed linens. Poor bastards. They’d probably drowned.

One of them had a wineskin attached to his belt. Seeing as how he had no use for it anymore, I ripped it off and shook the thing. Thank the oceans, it seemed full! I tore off the cap and guzzled down the wine, its tangy flavor hitting the back of my mouth as I did so. Alcohol wasn’t the best thing to keep hydrated with but it was better than nothing at all. Besides, the stuff seemed watered down anyway so I wasn’t too worried about getting drunk off of it.

Then it hit me. I could sense the faint whisper of a being’s emotions. What it implied was mind boggling! Perhaps, by some quirk of fate, I had not lost my magic after all. I concentrated hard and followed the trail of greenish, magic vapor. It led me to the most intact portion of the upper deck where I found another creature surrounded by bronze scroll tubes and scattered writing implements. However, this one was still alive.

To say that he (I assumed he was a male) was alive was a generous definition. More like he was barely clinging on and struggling to even draw breath. Unlike the rest of the creatures, his features were softer and less weather beaten. A clear sign that he was not a sailor. It was at that moment; I noticed his badly mangled legs. They were bent at unnatural angles and his blood soaked the wooden deck planks beneath him. Given that the mast of the ship was lying just a few paces away, I deduced that it must have fallen on him at some point. A pang of sadness and pity filled my heart. No creature deserved such a fate. Well, an innocent creature like him, anyway.

I knelt beside him and held his hand. “I’ll make sure you don’t die alone.”

“Η θεά Αφροδίτη μου χαμογελά.” He rasped.

I simply nodded because I had no clue what he was saying. Then an errant thought occurred to me. What if I could use my magic to absorb all of his knowledge? That way, it would give me a better understanding of how this world worked and, by extension, increase my chances of survival. Because let’s be honest, I had no idea how long I was going to be stuck here.

The process began slowly. I didn’t want to overexert myself and compound the problems I was already facing. I closed my eyes and searched for my mana pool and after a few moments, I finally found it, albeit in a decreased state. Not surprising, given what I’d been through. I placed the palm of my hand on his forehead and began to sing a soft lullaby. Was it necessary to implement the spell? No, but it went a long way calming the man down. Judging by the serene smile on his lips, I’d say he enjoyed every second of my song.

My mind reeled at the sudden intake of information. Thousands of images flashed before me and at one point, I felt like I was going to throw up due to how overwhelming it all was. But I grit my teeth and carried on. This was the price of survival and I would gladly pay it. Before long, the man’s eyes glowed green, indicating that he was completely under my thrall. However, I did not rob him of his free will. I did it to dull the excruciating level of pain he was in.

I ran my fingers through his hair and spoke to him in his native tongue. “Rest now, brave scholar. Know that your knowledge will be put to good use. The gods will see to it.”

He smiled at me one last time and closed his eyes. I’m not sure why but I wept at his passing. Perhaps it was because the reality of my situation had finally caught up with me. I felt exhausted, terrified, and ashamed that Starswirl had gotten the better of me and my sisters. A significant amount of time passed before I stopped crying and was able to pull myself together again. I needed to focus on creating a new life for myself in this strange world. Feeling sorry for myself and the poor creatures that died would not benefit me in the slightest.

I confiscated any items of value from the dead. Like coins, provisions, those sorts of things. I bundled them together in an impromptu sack and slung it over my shoulder. While I walked further inland to find a “human” settlement (that’s what the creatures called themselves), it occurred to me that I was still nude. Quite frankly, I detested covering myself up. Why would I need to? Sirens are a proud and noble race. Even transformed ones. We do not wear clothing!

From what I gathered from the scholar’s mind; most humans tended to cover their bodies from head to toe. It made a certain amount of sense, given that they were practically hairless. I, of course, saw no pressing need for them myself. Magic would keep my body warm should it get too cold and the same applied to physical protection. Problem solved! Well, for the most part.

I got the impression that nudity in human culture wasn’t outright taboo (in fact, they seemed to revere the body in its natural state), however it would be seen as unusual for a woman such as myself to just show up naked. At least… without a good reason. I thought back to what the scholar had called me and came up with a brilliant plan. I could pose as a child of the Goddess Aphrodite and a mortal. A demi-goddess, if you will. It would also help explain my magic, abilities, and physical attributes without arousing suspicion. A solid plan, indeed.

Apparently, I am what many humans consider an exceptionally attractive female. Their alien physiology and bizarre body proportions still eluded my understanding, but I wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth. You’d be surprised at how much one can accomplish with raw sex appeal alone. No magic or coin required! Just a wink and a wiggle of what you’ve got and bam! Instant persuasion. I intended to take FULL advantage of my feminine physique. Oh yes~

Before I got too far into my journey, I took a moment to open up one of the wineskins I’d confiscated and filled it to the brim with fresh water. Given that it had come straight out of the stream and there were no animals nearby, I figured it was safe enough to drink without further treatment… but I sterilized it with my magic anyway. Better safe than shitting your guts out.

While I was using the spell on the wineskin, it made me realize that I ought to take stock of what I was and was not capable of with my new body. Both in the physical and magical sense. Any sort of emotion-based spells would have to wait until I had a willing (or unwilling) sapient subject to test them on, so I decided to focus on my physical prowess instead. I happened to notice that the land immediately inland from the coast was hilly, covered in long grass, and full of craggy rocks. The perfect inanimate object for me to test my strength on!

I picked up a manticore-sized boulder and hefted it around with relative ease. “Huh. I guess I’m not exactly one-hundred percent human, then. Must have kept some of my siren strength.”

I tossed it up into the air and waited until the right moment. With a somewhat awkward kick (cut me a little slack, I was still getting used to this whole bipedal thing), I managed to pulverize the boulder into dust without breaking any bones. I’d call that a success, wouldn’t you?

Granted, it still stung a bit but I wasn’t much worse for wear. Next, I tried a similar experiment but with my fist instead. The result was consistent with my first test. Since no one else was around, I allowed myself to squeal with girlish glee and dance around. Which resulted in me falling flat on my ass again. I’m sure I looked ridiculous but it was totally worth it.

I got up and dusted myself off. “Perhaps this whole demi-goddess act won’t really be an act. I got the whole ‘enhanced strength’ part down to a science. Well, except for the fact that Aphrodite isn’t technically my biological mother. BUT! I’ll cross that bridge when I get there. Besides, I don’t imagine any of these humans would have the balls to call me out on it.”

The tests served as a much-needed ego boost in an otherwise, uncertain situation. Had I truly been as weak and feeble as those sailors from the shipwreck, I would have been ki—ehem—it’s probably for the best not to dwell on such dark, depressing thoughts. After freshening up a bit, I continued walking through the countryside in search of a town.

At some point I would need to find more supplies, more money, and maybe even a place to live. I guess I could even try to find employment. A woman of my distinguished talents was always on the prowl for an easy way to make coin. HEY! No judging. Prostitution wasn’t the most glamorous profession but at least it was honest work and there was always a demand for it. Paid well too if you got the right clients. Look… let’s just say that I had to do some pretty terrible shit just to get by during the days of my youth. I wasn’t always the alpha bitch I am today.

With my rucksack in tow, I continued along a rough dirt path that appeared to have wheel ruts gouged into it. My guess is that it was some sort of primitive road used by humans to transport goods between towns and villages. Still, I hadn’t seen another living soul since the shipwreck and it didn’t look like there was anybody around for miles. My gut instincts screamed at me that there was something strange about that but I kept moving along the road anyway.

I began to sing, for no other reason than to pass the time.

♪ ‘Twas a monster, so big and bold ♪

♪ He lurked in caverns, dark and cold ♪

♪ By light of day, oft he kept hidden away ♪

♪ But in the moonlight, he stalked his hapless prey ♪

I was just about to start the next verse when I spotted something or rather, someone in the distance. Mind you, I’m not an expert when it comes to the beings that inhabit the world of men, but I’d wager an entire basket full of black pearls that this… creature was not commonplace. No, I got the distinct impression that he was an alpha predator that preyed upon the humans.

It was a grotesque looking thing. The creature was extremely tall, grey-skinned, muscular, had sharp claws, and a set of pointed fangs that jutted out from underneath its jaw. Oh, and it only had a single eyeball for some reason. I’m not sure why. Whatever the reason was, it didn’t seem to have any trouble lumbering over to where I was standing. As it drew closer, I swear it leered at me with the most lascivious grin I’d ever seen in my entire life. Eww… it just slobbered.

The one-eyed monster reached down, scratched his crotch and snorted. Ugh. I guess that settles what gender he is. “What do we have here? A pretty little human bitch, lost on the road, naked and alone? HA! How very considerate of you. Saved me the trouble of having to rip off your dress before I drag you back to my cave. I’m gonna enjoy spreading your legs apart and—”

“Fat chance of that happening, you smelly oaf.”

The monster waved his massive wooden club at me threateningly. “Watch your tongue, wench! Do you know who I am? I could flatten your puny little human body with a single swing of my club. That’s all it’d take. SPLAT! Then you’d be nothing but a red smear. You stand before the mighty cyclops, Euandros! By right of might, I always take what I want. So, prepare yourself.”

I put my hands on my hips. “First of all, if you want to win the affection of a woman, you should start by bathing. By the oceans! You smell like a whale’s asshole after an all you can eat squid buffet. Second of all, I’m new around here and I don’t give a fuck about who you are. If you get in my way, I won't hesitate to kill you. And trust me, it won’t be quick or painless.”

Euandros bellowed with laughter. “Feisty! I like that. Very well then. Let’s make this interesting, little bitch. I’ll let you take a free shot.”

I cracked my knuckles and grinned like a shark. “With pleasure~”

The sense of satisfaction I got from slamming my fist into the dopey bastard’s testicles was indescribable. Watching him double over in pain, clutching his manhood—erm—cyclopshood just made me laugh. In fact, I didn’t even bother doing anything else to him for a few moments. I wanted him to understand who was the real alpha and I was not to be underestimated. On shaky feet, he stood at full height once again and let out a tremendous roar. I guess it was supposed to be intimidating but I honestly didn’t care. It was all macho bluster as far as I was concerned.

“YOU’LL PAY FOR THAT, LITTLE BITCH!!”

Considering how big Euandros was, it wasn’t difficult to predict where he would strike next. Had I squared off against a human-sized opponent, I don’t think I would have lasted very long. Was I strong? Yeah. Could I take a few hits? Sure. But the fact remained that I was still getting used to my new body and it would take some time before I truly mastered my reflexes. In any case, I decided that it would be foolish to drag out the fight, so I resorted to what I do best: fighting dirty. While he was distracted, I grabbed a clump of sandy soil and threw it at his eye.

All I had to do was step out of the way while he stumbled on some craggy rocks and proceeded to hit the ground with a resounding thump. See? I let my surroundings do all the work for me. No sense in exerting myself or risking injury. I casually walked over to the cyclops and kicked his ribs a few times just to drive the point home. He moaned but otherwise did not attempt to get up.

“It’s been a long time since you’ve had a real challenge, huh?”

The cyclops growled at me. “There’s no way you should be that strong!”

“If I were a regular human, I’d be inclined to agree with you.”

Euandros swung his club at me and, with a fair amount of effort, I managed to block it with both of my arms. I wrenched the club out of his hand, threw it away, and proceeded to kick him in the stomach as punishment. “I would’ve let you live had you let me go in peace. But now… I’m REALLY pissed off. And I’m not feeling particularly merciful today.”

I didn’t even give the oaf a chance to retort. Instead, I concentrated on summoning the nastiest drain spell I knew and blasted it straight at his eye. In a matter of seconds, images flashed in my mind, the knowledge he’d accrued became my own, and… the power. Oh, yes. Such great power! My entire body quivered with excitement as an orgasm blossomed in my loins. The electric thrill shot up my spine and clouded my mind with thoughts of lustful violence.

When it was all said and done, the cyclops was nothing more than a drooling husk of flesh and bone. Technically, he was still alive, but for all intents and purposes, he could no longer be considered a sapient being. My mind finally returned to normal after a few moments and I couldn’t help but notice that my crotch felt breezier all of the sudden. I reached down, and sure enough, my fingers came back wet and sticky. Had I really just cum from draining a cyclops?

I let out an irritated sigh. “This is why I miss living in the ocean and not having to deal with hair. Whatever. I’ll just head back to that little stream I found earlier and wash up.”

With all of the excitement going on, I’d failed to notice a human hiding behind one of the rocks. I wasn’t in the mood for socializing but he looked frightened and in need of someone to talk to. I tried to make myself look as unthreatening as possible… which was damn near impossible given the disheveled state I was in but it’s all I could do. He approached me with cautious, hesitant steps and the expression on his face was somewhere between awe and sheer terror.

By human standards, I suppose he would have been considered a handsome specimen. Not too tall, well built with plenty of muscle, scruffy red hair, and bronze skin. He was bare chested and wore some sort of armored kilt, sandals, and a helmet that he held in the crook of his arm. Along his back, held in place by a leather strap, was a copper-hued shield. The only weapon he carried was a large dagger equipped to his belt. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say he bore a striking resemblance to Flash Magnus had he been a human instead of a pony. How bizarre.

“Hey there. I was just about to go wash off in the stream. You can come join me if you’d like. You know, we can schmooze, chat, carry on. Typical human activities! If not, that’s alright too. My name’s Adagio, by the way. In case you were wondering…”

Oceans below. I know that look. Did he just blush too? By the Mother Kraken, he did! “Hello, Adagio. I’m Flash Magnus and—uh—well, I was sent out here by the villagers to take care of the cyclops. But seeing as how you did that already… I guess I don’t have to?”

“Huh. Is that so? Do I get some kind of reward for slaying him?”

Flash rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah. There is a bounty.”

“How about this: we can split the bounty 50/50.” I proposed.

Flash scrunched his brow in confusion. “But why? I didn’t do anything…”

“Because I need a guide. Somebody who knows the area. Let’s just say that I’m new around these parts and haven’t gotten around to familiarizing myself with them yet. You can cut off his head and I’ll give you half of the proceeds to be my guide. Sound fair?”

Flash let out an adorably awkward chuckle. “Sure. I’m ok with that.”

I clapped my hands together. “It’s settled then! Come along, Flash. There’s no time to waste.”

All things considered, I felt proud of myself for not punching Flash Magnus into a nearby cliff. The more rational side of my brain argued that this world’s Flash was a completely different being, and thus, had done nothing to invite my ire. Other than the fact that he’d been ogling my naked body non-stop ever since the fight with the cyclops concluded. This despite me not looking my best in terms of personal hygiene. Boys will be boys, I suppose…

To be fair, it was partially my fault. I’d chosen to remain unclothed and his less-than-considerate behavior was the inevitable consequence of my decision. Even so, I felt that it would do us both a world of good to have a little chat regarding boundaries. He seemed like a good kid and I didn’t want him to get the wrong impression about my intentions. Don’t get me wrong; I wasn’t completely opposed to the idea of having sex in this body. Just… not yet. I was tired, dirty, sweaty, and covered in dried up cum. A girl’s gotta have her priorities set straight, after all.

I made the process of cleaning up brief. Seeing as how I didn’t have anything like soap or scented oils at my disposal, I hoped that I didn’t smell too bad until I got the opportunity to take a proper bath. While we walked along the road, Flash kept trying not to glance over at me to be polite but failed miserably at doing so. I closed my eyes and sighed. We were going to have that conversation about boundaries sooner rather than later, it seemed.

“Flash. I know you’re just trying to be polite but it’s not working.”

His cheeks became rosy in an instant. “What? I’m not—”

“Yes, you are. You’ve been staring at me for a while now. Look, there’s no shame in it. I know you’re a young man with needs. Really. I don’t mind.”

“You… don’t?”

I flipped my hair in an attempt at being sexy. It must have worked because Flash’s eyes widened to a significant degree. “Of course not. I am a child of the Goddess Aphrodite. My body is meant to be seen (worshiped too) and I’m damned proud of it! However, I should point out that while I am fine with people looking at me, touching is a no go. So, don’t get any funny ideas because I will strangle you with your own innards if you so much THINK about grabbing my ass.”

Flash let out a hissing squeak. I had to practically bite down on my own tongue to hold back from laughing. He knew damn well that I could follow up on my threats. “Can I be honest with you, Adagio?”

“I don’t see why not. Go ahead, Flash.” I encouraged.

Flash rubbed his hands together. “I’m a demi-god too. The son of Zeus to be more specific. But—erm—I wasn’t raised on Olympus or anything like that. Just by my adoptive parents. They’ve got a nice pottery shop in town! Best amphora you can buy, hands down. So... yeah.”

“Hmm. Interesting~ Very interesting indeed. I have to ask, what in the world were you doing out here if your parents are potters? Killing a cyclops doesn’t seem like a great career choice for you. Not unless you had a decent amount of training first. Strength isn’t everything, you know.”

Flash blushed furiously and sighed. “I know. Everyone keeps telling me that I’m a terrible hero. Because of my strength, I have trouble making pottery too. I can’t seem to do anything right.”

Shit. In a single sentence I managed to shatter this poor kid’s self-esteem into a thousand tiny pieces. Way to be friendly and supportive, Adagio. “It can’t be all bad, right? I think you just need someone to show you the ropes. Practice makes perfect and… all that.”

“Exactly! But how do I find someone like that to help me? Hero trainers aren’t in great supply if you haven’t noticed. Besides, what would I use to pay for the lessons? I’ve only saved up a little bit of money from all of the odd jobs I’ve done around town.”

I placed my hand on his shoulder. “Well, maybe we could become partners. You know, travel together, fight monsters, that kind of stuff. Does that sound like a good idea to you?”

“Yeah. I think… I’d like that, Adagio. Could you maybe even teach me how to fight?”

I shrugged. “I suppose I could teach you what I know. Mind you, I’ve never been much of a warrior. I’m just good at fighting dirty, taking advantage of terrain, and being crafty. Sometimes, you have to know how to outwit your opponents instead of overpowering them. Tactics 101.”

“That doesn’t sound very honorable…”

I laughed. “Hate to break it to you kid, but honor can get you killed.”

Flash scowled at me. “I’m not a child! I reached my eighteenth season last summer.”

“Sure, kid. Whatever you say.”

Flash grumbled underneath his breath but I didn’t hear him complain about my offer for the remainder of our journey. At least I’d managed to find a kindred spirit in this strange world. For whatever that was worth. Who knows? Perhaps, this partnership would prove fruitful. I mean, it’s not like I had anything better to do or anywhere else to go. My first priority was to get some decent food in my belly, drink a shitload of wine, and sleep for however long I pleased. Training a demi-god could wait a few days. I needed some Adagio-time first.