Chapter 10:

As the sun flitted through the gaps and worn holes in the curtain to the balcony, lighting the apartment, Perseus was awoken to the sounds of hustle and bustle, already filling the city so early in the morning.

After getting up and folding up his blanket before placing it against the wall with the pillow on top neatly, Perseus neatened out his clothes and summoned a small bit of water from the air, hardening it to form ice and using the smooth circle as a mirror, attempting and only succeeding very slightly to tame the rats next that was his hair. Despite the messy look, after running his hand through it his hair had a natural windswept look to it that would have women swooning.

After quickly dispersing the ice back into water vapour Perseus didn't have to wait long before Arthos emerged from his room already dressed for the day, seeing him he spoke in a quiet voice, "How did you sleep Perseus?"

"Very comfortably thanks to you sir, thank you." Perseus answered with a slight nod of his head.

"Ahh, none of that. Call me Arthos, and you more than earnt your stay. I'm going to wake Callie as she will be needed at the palace to serve as well as explain her absence soon. Cynthia is up and will be out shortly to get some bread and cheese for breakfast."

Perseus nodded to him before Arthos walked over and knocked loudly on Callie's door calling out for her to wake up in a kind yet stern voice, whilst he did this Perseus busied himself by putting out the bowls that had been returned to one of the shelves last night after their dinner.

As he was finishing putting the last of the cups and bowls on the table Cynthia emerged from her room also looking ready for the day, as she noticed him there she bid him good morning as she went over and grabbed the food for breakfast, bringing it to the table.

'So, how did you sleep Perseus?" Cynthia inquired.

"Very well, thank you." Perseus answered simply as they sat and waited for the other two to come to the table before they began.

Arthos returned shortly after they sat down at the table with Callie being not far behind. As they ate, they didn't talk of anything important, Arthos told them a few different things he was tasked to make for a travelling merchant whilst Cynthia told them how there was a new delivery of cloths for her to sell in the agora for the next week.

Once breakfast was finished Perseus helped Cynthia and Callie put the bowls and cups away whilst Arthos rushed out the door for his work bidding the three farewell. After he left and they had put away the items from breakfast, Cynthia went back to her room to collect a shawl to cover herself from the sun that day whilst Callie announced that she needed to head off to the palace.

"I can take you; I need to explore the city and find a job either way so it wouldn't be any trouble." Perseus offered.

"There's no need, I will be fine and have been there many times." Callie said with a chuckle.

"I can help you explain what took you so long, and I'm not taking no for an answer by the way." Perseus answered. Callie simply chuckled again and said that they better be going in that case.

Following her out, Perseus grabbed his cloak on the way out, having returned the knives into the cloak sheathes as he was grabbing it. Throwing the cloak on he jogged down the stairs and slipped out of the alley onto the street where Callie was. Perseus followed her through the city whilst observing all the things around him, making a metal image of the layout of the city so that he could learn where everything is.

After around 10 minutes the two had arrived at an average looking door on one of the side streets running next to the palace. As they arrived Callie knocked on the door and it was opened shortly after by a largish, short, balding man with a face that looked to be set in a permanent scowl.

As he noticed who it was, he didn't remain quiet about it, "Girl" he growled, "Your late, I sent you for herbs two days ago and here I see you with no herbs and having missed a day of work. Do you have anything to say for yourself?"

"No sir, I'm sorry, it won't happen again." Callie mumbled in a small voice.

"Look at me when you speak girl. And it sure as Hades won't happen again. You'll see me after sundown in the servant quarter for a beating and make sure to learn your lesson, you hear me?"

"Y-yes si-." Before she could finish, Perseus gave up restraining himself. He reached out and grabbed the scruff of his neck before yanking him out of the doorway then lifting the small man up and pinning him to the wall with ease, despite his obvious weight, with a single hand. As the man was thrust against the wall, he let out a pig like squeal before realising what was happening.

"Unhand me vermin. Do you know who I am? I am the head servant of this palace and if you don't let me down this instant, I will have you executed for this assault." The man spoke in a voice filled with false confidence.

Getting up close Perseus responded in a cold, menacing voice, "Listen here scum, if I ever hear that you lay a hand on this girl or any other, I will show you painful horrors worse than what the fields of punishment have to offer, and you can try to have me executed for this but we'll see who ends up 6 feet under first shall we?"

The man quivered at his words and his false bravado immediately dissipated. "Y-yes s-sir, I understand, I won't d-do anything, I-I promise." The man spoke in a pathetic squealy voice.

Perseus dropped the man and he fell to his butt as his legs gave out due to their quivering although he soon scrambled to his feet and ducked into the doorway with only his face left showing. "Y-your p-presence was r-requested by the p-princess m-miss." The man spoke in a quivering yet respectful voice before ducking back into the room he came from.

Turning to him Callie spoke up, "You didn't have to do that, he could have you executed you know, if he tells the prince then he wouldn't hesitate to act.".

"I believe I know men like that. He will be to scared to do anything and if he does then it will be a pathetic dead man's word against my own. Besides he had no right or reason to speak to you the way he did."

"Thank you" Callie said giving him a quick hug before announcing that she was needed by the princess and darting into the doorway.

Perseus stood there for a minute after the door closed, calming he anger that rose in him when he faced that man. He couldn't believe of the few people he had met so far, how many were so vile. After calming himself and pushing down the anger that made him want to burst the man into flames right then and there, Perseus went back out of the street and began his own exploration of the city.

Over the day Perseus had covered almost all of the city, memorising every inch. A couple hours after midday he had decided that the best place for him to get a job would be at the warehouses where he could be paid to move things. That way he wouldn't be able to train his strength as him lifting ridiculous weight would raise questions although he could still easily move things of a normal weight so the task would be a breeze and it paid well. Plus, he wouldn't have to directly deal with too many people so he would happily stick to just knowing the few decent people he had been able to find, his current experiences weren't too inspiring for mortals to be such great people.

That brought him to where he was now, down by the city docks. Whilst the city didn't lie on the coast there was still a huge lake that was on one edge of the city allowing for things and people to be transported long distances whilst avoiding the roads, plus the waters were most often very calm. Perseus was also thankful for how the water wasn't part of the sea and therefore Poseidon's power and presence here was diminished to what it would be on the coast.

Perseus noticed the person that was most likely in charge of the processes down there on the docks as he was telling people where to go and what to do. Approaching him, Perseus waited until he wasn't occupied to approach, "Excuse me sir? I was wondering if you had a job down here available? For moving the cargo." He added the last bit for clarification.

"Are you sure a job down here is right for you sir? It doesn't pay that much." He said, obviously judging him by his clothing as so many others had.

"I assure you; it should be fine." The man huffed in response to this before looking him over.

"Consider this your test. You see those barrels over there, they're full of wine from across the water, expensive wine. Move them to that shed before shift is up and you have the job, starting tomorrow morning, an hour before daybreak." The man said, pointing towards 16 barrels that were sitting atop a docked ship.

Perseus refrained the scoff that he almost made at how easy the task was for him and simply nodded and went over to do what was asked. Despite the dockmasters rough attitude he actually seemed like a nice guy, definitely nicer than most he'd met, so he decided that this job would be good so long as his attitude stayed true to what it was now.

The day had around an hour and 40 minutes to go, he could tell given he was connected to the cycling of night and day, and he only had to move 16 barrels, but he decided if he'd do this he wouldn't slack and just do what everyone else was. A show of slightly abnormal strength should raise too many questions.

The dockmasters face was a perfect image of shock when he checked up on him 10 minutes later to see him carrying the last two barrels, one over each shoulder, into the warehouse 200 meters from the ship, looking like it was nothing to have done that 8 times. Perseus approached the man and inquired as to whether he had the job.

"Hades, only an idiot would turn you down lad. Where did a young kid like you get that kind of strength." Perseus simply answered with a shrug before the man continued, "Well you have the job. My name is Thaddeus and I look forward to seeing you tomorrow kid." He spoke gruffly as the two shook hands before Perseus spent the next few hours helping out even though Thaddeus said it wasn't necessary. As he arrived back at the apartment that night as the sun was setting and he was completely restored of any energy he lost, which was practically nothing given how much training he had done compared to the simple walking and lightweight carrying he did today. Despite not having eaten, as a godling Perseus didn't need food or water to sustain he but it was instead more something of enjoyment, and he therefore wasn't hungry. Upon entering the apartment, he found the three other residents sitting at the table waiting, for what appeared to be him, the table had cups of wine and bowls out with a large pot of stew in the middle.

As he entered, he quickly discarded his cloak against the wall and joined them at the table, "Is there an occasion that I am not aware of?" he asked, unaware of why they were waiting for him.

"Well of course." Cynthia replied, "two in fact; firstly, we must celebrate your arrival as we didn't last night and second, we heard how you defended Callie from Crysar, the head servant, and protected her from punishment at your own risk, we must thank you for that." Callie smiled at him as her mother explained why they had this dinner.

"Well thank you, but it wasn't necessary, I guess if we are celebrating, I should also tell you that I got a job transporting goods down at the docks starting tomorrow, this afternoon."

"Good on you, I couldn't see them turning back someone as strong as you clearly are anyway." Arthos replied. Perseus smiled in response; Thaddeus wouldn't have been able to tell completely with his cloak on but Arthos could see as at home when he wasn't wearing them his strength was obvious due to the tightness of his clothes around his muscular frame despite them being quite large already.

And so, they ate the stew and shared each of their stories of the day, the stew was quite nice even though Perseus knew both he and Hestia could cook better it was still a delicious meal, as he told Cynthia appreciatively. Perseus had found out that Arthos had quite a regular day with making weapons and armour throughout the day without anything out of the ordinary. Cynthia also had a similarly normal day, selling different sorts of cloth to people from across the city and travelling from afar from the agora before returning and preparing dinner shortly before sunset. Callie's day was somewhat more interesting, as with her job as a palace servant her tasks were often interesting as she served the lives of the city's royal family.

In the morning she had gone to see the princess, Ariadne, who had been concerned, not having seen her the day beforehand, she had explained what had happened and they talked about Perseus, the princess wanting all the details which Callie shared as they were less like princess and servant and more like close friends who could share anything together. Obviously she hadn't shared this information with her parents and Perseus though, not wanting them to know she was talking about Perseus, what she did share was how the princess had foreseen that she may be punished by Crysar and had offered to make sure she wouldn't be but she had told her how it had already been dealt with, much to the Ariadne's surprise and appreciation, both at what had happened and how.

She had then served the princess and gone to lessons with her until midday, from then her day was less interesting, simply helping the cooks in the kitchens with different small tasks. She had also expressed, once again, to Perseus how thankful she was for what he had done protecting her that morning.

Along with the discussion Perseus also explained how he travelled throughout Tegea in order to figure out the place in which he was staying before he had gotten his job.

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For the next month or so the events that took place within Perseus' life and his stay at Tegea were relatively uneventful, he had been down at the docks, working just before sunrise to sunset 6 times a week. He would then return to the apartment and eat dinner with Cynthia, Callie and Arthos whilst sharing stories of their days and pasts. By now Perseus could confidently say that he knew the three others he lived with very well and as for them, they had come to see Perseus as more of a permanent resident within their lives than a guest.

Despite protests, Perseus had been giving most of his earnings to the family to pay for his stay, even if he could have stayed elsewhere for less the company, they gave him was more than worth it and a pleasant change from what had been a lonely past decade and a half.

He had spoken to Hestia through their minds, as gods can do, about once a fortnight where they would catch up on what each had done since they last spoke and though both wished to see each other and spend more time together, Hestia had said that Zeus' recent tyranny hadn't toned down much.

This morning had started like any other with him waking up early and grabbing a piece of bread on his way down to the docks. On the way to the docks, he had been passing many poor people who lived on the streets and were scarcely avoiding starvation, that along with the fact that Cynthia began to question if he ate any breakfast led him to give bread to someone each morning on his way, given he didn't need any.

Once he had arrived at the docks, he had given a greeting to Thaddeus and moved off to help with the first shipping that had arrived for the day. He had become a close friend to Thaddeus although given his strength and not wanting to work with the others there who many weren't such good people, he had often worked shipments alone. Despite his separation to the rest of the workers, they were all aware of his presence as he hauled at least 5 times the cargo that each of them did on their best days, in an almost inhuman show of strength and endurance each day.

It was currently approaching midday as Perseus was offloading yet another load and was returning to the ship after carrying two barrels filled with fish caught fresh that morning, each weighing enough for two strong men to struggle carrying each. As he was returning to the ship for the last barrel Perseus looked out across the dock, enjoying watching the bustling life that filled the city most hours. As he observed the crowds interact, from friendly conversations to heated arguments, he noticed a young man and his young daughter, the man looked to be about 24 years old and the young girl couldn't be older than 5, the man was walking the girl around the docks as she pulled his hand every which way possible trying to take in the fascinating experience. As they were exploring the docks, he saw one of the other dock workers bump the young man out of his way and due to his distraction and unbalance the man let go of his daughters' hand not wanting to pull her over.

After the man let his daughters hand go the young blonde ran towards one of the larger ships coming in, watching the boat come in with curiosity and awe. It all went downhill as her father looked for her and saw her by the edge of the dock and heading over to her as she ran further out on the dock and tripping on a rope, falling into the water and quickly sinking with the rope that was laying on the dock. Her father was shocked at what had happened and yelled out for help.

Seeing the girl fall Perseus had immediately run toward the edge of the dock and cast his cloak aside and pulling his shirt off, throwing it next to his cloak. Running off the edge of the dock Perseus dived into the water with little over a minute until the ship would crush them into the dock, killing the girl and giving away his inhuman nature entirely. Before entering the water, Perseus could see that no one else was going to try except the father who looked unaware how to swim. Diving down Perseus could clearly make out the young girl through the pristine waters, getting to her he could see her panicking and thrashing, quickly noticing the heavy rope that was stuck around her ankle. Reaching down Perseus simply ripped the rope apart freeing her and grabbing her in his arms. As he swam at a very fast speed, unbelievable for almost all people, he found that the young girl had passed out and knew time was running low. Bursting from the water Perseus flung himself over the edge of the dock with one hand, the girl held securely in his arms.

There was a large crowd surrounding them that had all believed that they would be crushed, as he emerged, they gasped and swarmed around him with the ship finishing entering the dock a few seconds later. As Perseus was out of the water, he set the girl down and found that she wasn't breathing, using his powers he began withdrawing the water from her lungs whilst pumping down on her chest to make it believable how the water was being pushed from her. The crowd stood shocked before one of the other dock workers spoke out.

"What is he doing? Get him away from the poor girl!" The man shouted in a rough voice.

As he moved forward to stop him the father got in the way, "He's trying to save her, he did something whilst all you did is watch. Back off and let him try." He said pushing the larger man back.

After the argument was finished the crowd turned back to what he was doing and saw him pump one more time, water being expelled from her lungs out her mouth as she coughed and opened her eyes, revealing scared, ice like blue, eyes. Her father then dropped down next to her, embracing her in a hard embrace. The crowd had gone up in applause, many shouting out things like that he was sent by the gods to protect their people, others calling him out as a hero.

The father soon turned to him still hugging his clearly shaken daughter to his chest, "Thank you so much for saving her, she is all I have after her mother passed when she was born. I am forever in your debt." The man said, looking at him with awe and appreciation.

"I just did what I could, I am glad I could save your daughter. You owe me nothing" Perseus responded, the man simply shaking his head as he rubbed the tears from his eyes on the sleeve of his tunic.

After they had finished talking Perseus moved over and threw on his tunic and cloak before turning to tell the crowd to disperse and give the traumatised family some space. Many of the people left although there were a few young women who approached him asking for him to come with them or to join them for dinner. Perseus simply told them no and moved over to the family who were still kneeling, embracing each other on the dock.

Perseus got to them and got the fathers attention, helping him to his feet, his daughter having fallen asleep in his arms. Perseus then offered to take him back to wherever he was staying, and the man quietly accepted, not quite understanding all that had happened. As they left the docks Perseus nodded towards Thaddeus who nodded back, perfectly fine with him leaving early given all the work he does, as he had said to him many times despite his continuous refusal to leave early.

He made his way back through the bustling city, following the now quiet man who was clutching his sleeping daughter tightly before they reached an inn and went upstairs, into a small room that had two beds and a small table filling a large portion of the space. He waited on a seat by the table as the father carefully tucked his daughter into her bed before turning to face him.

"There must be something I can do for you; I know my daughter and I are poor people and you must be quite wealthy, but I have an unrepayable debt to you." The man plead to him.

"I'm not so wealthy, I work on the docks where we met, even if my clothing is of high quality. And as for your debt, enjoy your life with your daughter and make sure she is happy, and you can consider it repaid in full." Perseus answered, only to be met by a hug from the father. He was a man of average height at 5'6" even if he was far shorter than Perseus and had close shaven stubble matching the dark brown colour of his hair which clashed with his light brown eyes.

Once they broke apart, they began conversing and Perseus informed the man, now known to be Jason, of how he had travelled here from afar and was staying with a family he met when he got here a little over a month ago. Jason similarly gave his story as a cloth trader from one of the smaller towns that was on the other side of the lake, he had travelled here searching for business with his daughter as he couldn't find work in his home town. He told Perseus how he was a successful and growing trader in fine cloths before his wife got sick and passed in childbirth and that since then after not working for a while and having his daughter, Antheia, meaning flower, to take care of. Since he greatly needed money to support himself and his daughter, he had come here looking to start again in cloth trading.

Hearing this Perseus offered to see if he could try and find someone that he could get cloth to trade from, thinking of the large wealthy business man he had met that had a large supply of cloth he wanted to unload quickly, despite many of his status being rough people this man was a humorous and kind one that Perseus enjoyed conversing with. Jason had accepted the offer, thanking him for his assistance and so Perseus had set out to get in touch with Macedon, the merchant he mentioned.

As it had turned out Macedon was happy to do the business after Perseus explained the situation and gave him a little persuasion to trust Jason and that he would do well. As Perseus returned back to the apartment that day at the usual time, he had been able to aid in the finalisation of the deal between Jason and Macedon, whilst providing some of his saved money to cover for what Jason couldn't afford with Jason's promise to pay him back extra for all his help.

As he had returned to the inn with Jason, he had met the now awake Antheia who had been left down with the barmaid downstairs by Jason whilst he had been out. Antheia had been very thankful of him saving her, calling him her hero and giving him plenty of hugs before they spent a while playing together at the young girl's insistence. Perseus had enjoyed the time he spent with her and as he was returning home, he found himself wondering if he'd ever have his own children one day, settling that he probably would given he had so much time to do so given his immortality.

The night was alike to any other, sharing stories of the day with the family he was now considered a part of, he was congratulated for what he had done at the docks after informing them, and found that Cynthia had been at the forge today and helped to create a leather breastplate, learning to weave together hard, boiled leather for her first time.

When he went to sleep, he bid his usual goodnight to his mother through the flames which was returned with a similar sentiment said in his head by Hestia before drifting off. Not knowing the events that were about to arise that would make a lot more people notice him then they had the past month.