CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED THIRTEEN

The Golden Fleece

Ridding Thunder of the blight was easier said than done. Mostly because Sam didn’t know what to do after he’d retrieved the Golden Fleece.

Am I supposed to wear it? he wondered.

Sam wished Chiron was here to help him, but his master had been silent since they left him behind in the forests of Oregon. Sam had the next best thing though. The repository of knowledge Chiron had given him.

Triple-A, a little help here, please…

Lay [Thunder] on the ground and then place the Golden Fleece over her body to maximize the effectiveness of the healing process.

Sam and Thunder did as the system instructed. She lay on her back and then he lay the fleece over her, covering her from neck to just below her legs.

“Feels like Deja Vu,” Thunder said.

“What does?” Sam asked.

“This,” she answered. “Just like the first time we met.”

Sam recalled their first meeting where Thunder lay dying on the ground and he was powerless to help her. He remembered the desperation in her voice when she spoke the Argonaut’s oath and passed Triple-A’s system to him. He remembered that he wasn’t sure how to feel about making a blood pact with one of America’s top heroes. Now, however, as Thunder’s eyes gazed up at Sam with pride, he was glad that she’d chosen him. He was thankful for all the things that had happened between them since their fateful encounter that night in the Bronx. And today, Sam would prove that Thunder made the right choice in believing in him even when he held no belief in himself.

“Relax, I’ve got this,” Sam promised. Although he looked very anxious and needed to repeat his favorite mantra. “I’ve got this.”

“I know,” Thunder said right before she shut her eyes. “You’ve got this.”

Blessed Aphrodite, she’s so beautiful…

It is recommended that the hero remain focused on the task at hand.

I know, I know… sheesh, it’s like I’ve got Ash in my head now. Sam sighed. By the way, what’s our percentage of success here?

Fifty-fifty...

Great… another gamble.

Life is a gamble.

Where in Hades did you hear that?

The creator often expresses this particular quote whenever he goes all-in on a high-stakes poker game. Incidentally, his success rate in poker is below fifty percent. This makes [Herculean] a more able gambler than the creator as you are often putting your life on the line in schemes with low success rates and yet still manage to accomplish your goals without suffering death.

I…thanks, I guess? Sam raised an eyebrow at the floating notification. Wait… you don’t help?

The creator does not like to cheat…unless he bets one of his mint condition Basketball cards out of desperation, and then all thought of honor is lost in the shuffle.

Sounds like Chiron alright, Sam sighed. Okay, enough about the centaur… What do I do now?

Lay your hands on the Golden Fleece.

Sam placed both his hands over the fleece. Now what?

Activate [Healing Hand (Γ)] and weave your life force into the Golden Fleece. Let your life force combine with the celestial energies abundant within the relic to ignite a powerful wave of healing energy that you can use to cure Thunder of the Blight.

Okay… Here goes nothing. Sam squeezed his eyes shut and began to cast his primary gift. “Healing Hand.”

He pushed his life force into the tips of his fingers and weaved this energy into the Golden Fleece—and that’s when he felt the fleece’s energies pull against him. The pain was immediate and violent. As if a black hole had sprung to life before Sam and was sucking the lifeblood from his veins.

“Ugh,” Sam gasped.

He struggled against the Golden Fleece’s gravitational force only to feel himself being smashed into the ground by a tidal wave of celestial energy threatening to drown him in its depths.

ALERT! Celestial life force energy has entered your body and is now attempting to devour you.

“No,” Sam gritted his teeth. “I won’t—”

Tendrils of celestial energy latched onto Sam’s inner self, pulling him into a glowing golden ocean that stretched out from one end of the horizon to the other.

Oh, gods! Sam could feel himself drowning within the Golden Fleece’s power. Wasn’t this supposed to go the other way around?

ALERT! The system is attempting to transfigure the celestial energy into a more refined state suitable to the task the hero requires.

Hurry, Triple-A! I don’t know how much longer I can last…

It was subtle at first, but the tug against his back gradually got stronger. Slowly, Sam was pulled up to the surface of that golden ocean, allowing his head to clear the water so that he could gulp down that much-needed breath of fresh air.

ALERT! The system has managed to restrain the celestial life force from threatening the hero’s life but is unable to refine the energy of the Golden Fleece into a more suitable wavelength. Perhaps this is a task only the healer can achieve.

Thanks for the assist… I’ll take care of the rest.

Will you be able to do it this time?

“Yeah,” Sam promised. “I can do this.”

With the thought of rescuing Thunder driving him onward, Sam sent his inner self plunging back into that golden ocean of swirling celestial life force so that he might smash the Golden Fleece into submission. Thus began a tug-of-war between himself and the Golden Fleece that seemed to last days inside his mindscape, although only seconds would pass in reality.

Come on, you piece of satyr-shit! Give up and lend me your power already!

Inch by inch, Sam pulled and pulled, struggling against a mountain that seemed unwilling to bend to his will. But then, just as his mind began to grow weary, he felt the rebellious energies of the fleece begin to give way to his resolve. Until at last, the Golden Fleece acknowledged Sam’s inner strength to be worthy of its gift, and power like Sam had never felt before surged into him. It was nothing like the fiery strength of Herculean exploding across his body. This new energy surging into Sam was comforting like the warmth of a hearth on a chilly night.

CONGRATULATIONS! You’ve assimilated the celestial life force within the Golden Fleece with your own, temporarily boosting the potential of [Healing Hand (Γ)] into [Healing Hand (Ω)].

H-holy Zeus… Sam’s eyes flew open and within the depths of his teal irises were two points of softly glowing golden light. I’m…I’m…I’m an Omega now?!

Emphasis on temporary.

I know, I know, but…seriously?

An aura wrapped around his body, bathing his surroundings in golden light.

You can now use this power to heal Thunder of her [Blight] condition.

“About damn time.” Sam’s grin was as wide as it’s ever been. “Let’s do this.”

***

Back in his mindscape, Sam could finally see the hated Blight. Its coils of smoky black tendrils snaking across Thunder’s body, wrapping tightly around her limbs, waist, and neck. These tendrils anchored her to an inky ground and kept her away from the storm cloud high above them which Sam guessed was his mind’s representation of her gift.

When Sam raised his arms, golden light, bright and warm like the afternoon sun, blazed out of his palms. They lit up the darkness surrounding Thunder, spearing the black tendrils that clung to her body and weakening their hold on her.

Meanwhile, in reality, Sam could feel Thunder’s body convulsing underneath his palms. His left eye blinked open just in time to watch as black veins spread across the skin of Thunder’s neck. These black veins crept up the side of her face, and the longer they grew, the more Thunder’s body shuddered.

“Hold on,” Sam begged. He shut his eye and yelled inside his mind, I need more power!

The Golden Fleece—which within Sam’s mindscape hung over his shoulders like a cape with its ram’s skull hood up over his head—heard Sam’s plea and offered more of its energies to him so that the golden light flaring from his palms shone even more brilliantly.

More!

Teal-colored sparks exploded out of Sam while he drew on more of his life force to supplement the Golden Fleece’s power.

Give her back! Sam screamed.

He shoved his arms forward as if he were pushing against a heavy door, and slowly, the darkness began to give way to his strength. Bathed in such bright light, many of the black tendrils around Thunder’s body slackened and then dissipated like ash in the wind. Sam pushed forward, forward, ever forward, until he found himself standing before Thunder.

She was standing now while bathed in the golden light emanating from Sam’s palms.

“About time, lame-brain,” she said in a playful tone.

A flash of memory struck Sam; one where he’d promised a bunch of young, inexperienced heroes that he would heal them. It was guilt born of this unfulfilled oath that had forced Sam into early retirement. But now, with his promise to Thunder moments away from being fulfilled, Sam could feel a part of that guilt disappear. As if the ghosts who haunted him approved of his growth.

“A hero’s never late.” Sam reached out for her, and with a strength reinforced by the Golden Fleece, he ripped off that last wispy black tendril clinging to her neck. “We arrive precisely when we mean to.”

***

As Thunder opened her eyes, she found Sam’s face inching closer toward her.

“Sam?” she called uncertainly.

He probably didn’t mean to do it. It was more of an instinct that drove Sam to lean down—and with Thunder’s eyes widening in surprise—he pressed his lips against hers. To the surprise of their unseen spectators, Thunder gave into him, opening her mouth so she could kiss him back.

Now, this wasn’t Sam’s first kiss—that was a hilarious tale of middle school foolhardiness that deserved its own telling—but this kiss was unlike any that had come before it. It wasn’t just butterflies in his stomach or rainbows and sunshine in his heart. This was poetry seared into his brain. This was possibility exploding into infinity. This was the big bang of big bangs. And, with the way she kissed him back, Sam guessed that Thunder was feeling the very same things he did.

He wasn’t sure how long they’d locked lips. Only that he felt disappointed that their kiss didn’t last forever. Soon enough, Sam felt Thunder’s hands on his shoulders. She pushed him off her, and he didn’t resist.

I guess now’s still not the right time, he thought. Thank gods Chiron wasn’t here to see me fumble…

It was a thought that ruined this thrilling moment, and Sam found himself suddenly embarrassed by what he’d done. He sat up quickly with cheeks that were even redder than an apple’s skin.

“S-sorry,” he stammered. “I…I was caught up in the m-moment.”

Thunder also sat up in a hurry, and her face was just as red as his when she admitted, “I…I was too.”

They stole glances at each other, neither of them catching the other’s eye for a while. But when their eyes finally met, it was like a dam had cracked open and they laughed and laughed and laughed until embarrassment washed away from them and they were smiling widely at each other.

“O-okay, I take it back…” Sam’s hand reached out for Thunder’s hand. “I…I’m not sorry I kissed you.”

Thunder intertwined her fingers around Sam’s. “It’s about time you show initiative, lame-brain.”

Sam imagined that they might have kissed a second time if only he wasn’t suddenly waylaid by several notifications popping up between them. The one that caught his eye first was the golden pop-up that usually meant a god was DM-ing him.

[Aphrodite, the Goddess of Love and Friendship, rejoices in seeing the hero finally succeed in romancing his lady fair. The goddess now looks upon you with favor and urges you not to waste the opportunity you’ve been given.] Fame with the Greek Pantheon increased by 300. Current fame: [Olympian: 2,800] [Norse: 300]

“Um, apparently, Aphrodite liked our kiss,” Sam revealed. “And…she thinks we should do it more.”

“Uhuh.” Thunder raised an eyebrow at Sam. “You realize it’s blasphemy to put words in a god’s mouth?”

“No, I’m being serious here.” Sam pointed to the smaller golden notification that only he could see which he read out loud, “Don’t be like your foolish ancestor and waste this opportunity, scion of Apollo.”

“You’re an idiot, Sam,” Thunder said, laughing afterward.

Another notification popped up, one Sam was glad to finally see as it meant his mission was a success.

CONGRATULATIONS! You have completed the special mission [A CURE FOR THE BLIGHT]. Your fellow Argonaut [Thunder] is now back to full power, allowing her to return to the duty that cannot be forsworn. REWARD ONE: 1x Thunder Heroic Age action figure (12in) OTC exclusive item.

The figure of a longer-haired Thunder in her first costume which sported a miniskirt instead of the pants she now wore appeared in his mind’s eye.

Holy Zeus, it’s almost as beautiful as the real thing, he thought. I can’t wait for the OTC to deliver it to me.

“What’s with that dopey grin?” Thunder asked.

“Nothing!” Sam waved away the floating window. “And, um, I just cleared your special mission…”

REWARD TWO: [CAPRICORN] Bond has leveled up! Tier 2 [ELEMENTALIST] Tree is now available. You now have an increased affinity for the lightning element.

“Hey, our bond’s gotten stronger, too,” Sam grinned.

Thunder was giving him a look that clearly said, “Duh.”

BONUS REWARD ONE: You have received 10 attribute points. BONUS REWARD TWO: The companion mission [THE LOST THUNDERBOLT] is now available!

“By Apollo, I think we’ve got a new mission too,” Sam revealed.

Thunder raised an eyebrow at him. “We?”

“I’m not sure,” Sam had tapped the quest details, but most of it was redacted save for a single line, “Although it remains lost to the eyes of the King of Olympus, the bolt that slew the titans still exists…waiting for one blessed by the storm to claim it for themselves.”

“Seriously?” Excitement flitted across Thunder’s face. “You’ve got a mission to search for the first lightning bolt?”

“We’ve got a mission,” Sam corrected. “It’s a companion quest so I probably can’t complete it without you.”

“Or”—Thunder glanced at the spark dancing across her palm—“it might be our next big adventure.”

“Um”—Sam pointed at the fleece in Thunder’s lap—“you know we’re not done with this adventure, right?”

Yes, healing Thunder had been a success, but their mission had evolved to include keeping the Golden Fleece out of the clutches of Chimera’s goons.

“We can’t let Medea or Apex steal this,” Sam said.

“Don’t worry, Sam.” Blue sparks came to life inside the depths of Thunder’s eyes, hinting at power Sam had never seen before. “We’ve got this.”

Strangely enough, this was the moment the Fates decided to put her words to the test. A roar, one they’d heard many times before, assaulted their ears. Moments later, a great, golden dragon descended from the sky.