Menelaus
"Alright," you say, "I'll run your errand." You then ask what perhaps you should have asked before agreeing: "What do you want me to do?" Persephone merely points to one of the posters on her wall, which you approach.
The poster depicts an anthropomorphic lion named Menelaus. As Greek heroes go, he's not much to look at. His mane is tangled and graying, and his layers upon layers of armor can't hide his potbelly. Even his stance betrays his vanity; he's flexing what little muscle he has. There's an informational blurb below his picture. Most of it looks to be useless information that could only appeal to fangirls. You scan past his favorite color (red), favorite food (steak), and favorite band (Telemachia), until something important actually catches your eye: he's currently fighting the Trojan war. Persephone, behind you, seems to have sensed that you've finished the blurb.
"I want you to help him," she says. "You'll be spending the next three days carrying messages and supplies for the Greek army on the beaches of Troy." She makes it sound pretty simple, but you're worried.
"What if I get, you know, shot?" you ask. Persephone smiles.
"Not to worry," she says, as she pulls something out of her desk. It's a medallion, a silver cross-section of a pomegranite with three seeds missing. "So long as you wear my mark..." she gently places the strap over your neck, "you will be protected from mortal attacks." The medallion is strangely warm against your chest. "Be warned, though, not all revere my sign." The medallion is getting hotter. "Priests of Persephone will, of course, give you all the aid you need. But followers of Ares will shy away from you." The medallion is unbearably hot, and starting to glow. "It is the priestesses of Hades you must stay away from. They see themselves as the only women fit to contact the god of the dead, so they see me as a usurper to their position. They'll kill anything sacred to me." The medallion gives off a white-hot flash. You're sure it's burning a hole straight to your heart. There's just so...much...pain...
It subsides, and you look at the medallion. The metal appears to have melted into you--the pomegranite is still there, but it's a part of you now, and even stretches with your skin when you breathe. "Sorry I had to do that," Persephone says meekly. "But you need the medallion to return to me after your three days, and this is the only way I can make sure it stays on you. The only way to remove it is to renounce your loyalty to me aloud, and I'm sure you won't be doing that anytime soon. Now," she goes on, businesslike, "you aren't allowed to do any fighting, because the actual war can't be fought by anybody with a specific allegience to any particular god. You'll only be a courior, but I think it'll still give the Greeks enough of an advantage to turn the tide. The Greek cats and Trojan dogs have been earthbound for the whole war, so you'll be the only flier."
"Wait," you say, "the Trojan war in this world is between anthro cats and dogs?"
"Yeah," Persephone giggles, "the makers have sort of a goofy sense of humor sometimes. I'm sure you'll see a lot of that if you're going for the gold. But we don't have time for that, you've gotta get to Troy!" As if on cue, the pomegranite glows a blinding white, but there's no pain this time. Instead you feel a lurching, like the medallion is pulling you someplace. That someplace is the beaches of Troy..
In an instant, you arrive at Troy. Having been out of sunlight for almost a week, you find that you can't see, but you can feel the wind in your outstretched wings...wait a minute...you're flying! Your clearing vision confirms this, you're up in the air. Persephone must have chosen to teleport you to the sky to give you a literal crash course in flight. But now, you need to find a spot to land. You could land right at the beach, where the soft sand could cushion what will probably be a bumpy landing. You could also head for the Greek camp, which is directly below you, further uphill from the beach. Behind the city is a small temple. That might be a good spot to land, and it'd probably be a good idea to get another god on your side besides Persephone who, helpful as she was, is a pretty minor goddess. Although...Persephone did say that nobody else in the war could fly...maybe you could land behind Trojan lines and do a little sleuthing before you report to Menelaus. Heck, why even land at all? You could stay in the air for a while and see what happens. Careful, though...you'll get tired sooner or later...
Written by Zodiac on 05 August 2007