Hero Page 7

  Spiros raised his hands wide, “My humble abode, “he exclaimed. Giorgos, who had run ahead, was disappearing into the larger building. After a brief minute, a dark-haired woman appeared, with Giorgos tugging on her hand, pulling her outside. Her protests died when she saw Jaxx, and she looked questioningly at Spiros.

  Spiros introduced her, “Jaxx, this is Agariste, my wife.”

  Jaxx smiled. “Pleased to meet you, Agariste.”

  Agariste, still looking at Jaxx, replied, “Welcome to our home. Would you please excuse me and my husband?” She turned and re-entered the home. Spiros winced. “I’ll be back, my friend” he said. Please avail yourself of some water and take a seat. He waved at the well, a small stone circle with a crude rope leading down into it. With that, he entered the abode to speak with his wife.

  Jaxx walked over to the well and looked down. It was about 20ft deep with a pool of water at the bottom – when he pulled up the rope, a crude wooden bucket smeared with pitch on the outside came up. Jaxx pulled up the bucket and, as there was a lack of a ladle or cup, scooped some water with his hand and drank a few mouthfuls. The water was cold and pure, and tasted great. Jaxx realized that everything he had eaten or drank in the game since he appeared had all tasted good – more game magic, he supposed. It made sense – why would gamers wish to eat bad tasting food?

  The door of the home opened and Spiros exited, followed by his wife. They came over to Jaxx and this time Agariste smiled at him, saying “Please be welcome here. Spiros has explained your origin and we of course will help he who was foretold by the Gods.”

  Jaxx suspected that in order to make his presence easier to explain, that Spiros had played up that part of his story. Playing along, he nodded solemnly and said, “I appreciate the support of the people of the Gods until I can find my purpose.” He noticed a wink from Spiros.

  The afternoon passed quickly, with Spiros showing Jaxx an area inside the lean-to where he could sleep. When Spiros attempted to apologize for not having Jaxx inside the house, Jaxx reassured him. “This is far better than I could find by myself, friend. I shall have the warmth of the animals and protection from the sky – the weather is not harsh. Besides, I am sure you fair wife would prefer me outside, away from her child.”

  Spiros laughed. “You have obviously dealt with women before, my friend!”

  After a simple dinner of stew that was mostly vegetables, with a bit of mutton for flavor, Spiros motioned for Jaxx to accompany him. “Come, we must meet with the Village Council. Everyone will want to see you and talk to you, an Avatar of the Gods.” Jaxx agreed, and they headed back to the Village center.

  Upon arriving, he noticed a large crown milling about, shouting and talking that died when they were spotted. As they threaded through the crown, Jaxx noted a variety of reactions – some were in awe, obviously putting credence in the “Avatar of the Gods” rumor. Others glared, distrusting a stranger no matter his origin. But the vast majority showed curiosity, mostly.

  Jaxx noted that Hwiksos was present in his armor and sword uniform. Seated in three wooden chairs were elderly men, each wearing a robe of linen with subtle decorations.

  The first man was named Battus, with dark colored skin and hair that fell to his shoulders. He sat ramrod straight in his chair, and his eyes were piercing in their intensity. His robes were clean and a faintly military air surrounded him.

  The second man was named Duris, and he was the opposite of Battus’ appearance. Fat, with stains on his robe and a sneer on his face, he sat slouched, with an air of superiority despite his appearance. He leaned back with his shoulders hunched, his belly pushing his robe out. He rested his hands on his stomach. Jaxx could see his thick legs and feet, with sandals wrapped around tightly. A staff of some sort leaned against his chair. “Perhaps a sign of office?” Jaxx wondered.

  The third man was shorter, with tightly curled hair and a lighter-skinned face. A short beard was carefully trimmed and his brown eyes were live with excitement upon seeing Jax. His robe was white, and a yellow circle with lines coming from it was present on his chest. He had two boys standing behind his chair. “Servants? Slaves?” Jaxx wondered? His name was Acron, which sparked a memory. “Aha,” Jaxx thought. “This is the priest of Apollo!”

  As Jaxx and Spiros stepped forward, Hwiksos stepped to meet them. Raising his voice, he shouted for quiet. In the lull, his gravelly voice boomed, “I recognize you, Spiros! Thank you for bringing us your new friend to meet with the Council.” Chatter rose again as the identify of Jaxx was confirmed by Hwiksos, causing the guard to boom again “Quiet, I say!”

  After the quiet again came across the crowd, Duros leaned forward, his chin wobbling as he spoke, “Hello, stranger! What is your name and purpose here in Triada?”

  Since Jaxx was sure this information had already been provided to the Council by the redoubtable Hwiksos, he assumed this was a show put on for the crowd. He responded in kind, “My name is Jaxx, and I am an Avatar sent here by the Gods for an unknown purpose.”

  This announcement was met with excitement by the crowd, and Jaxx noticed that Acron sat up straighter, leaning forward while his eyes devoured Jaxx. Jaxx could almost feel his surge of excitement.

  With a gesture, Duros quieted the crowd once again and asked, “Do you have proof of this?”

  A good question. How, other than his obvious presence, was he supposed to prove it, Jaxx wondered.

  As he thought of how he could answer, the third counselor, Acron, cleared his throat. At a glance and a nod from Duros, he spoke. “I could perhaps help with that. A prayer to Apollo could help to gauge this man’s truthfulness.”

  As Acron leaned back, a whisper of excitement ran through the crowd. Jaxx figured there hadn’t been this much excitement in this small village in years. He spoke, “I would be honored to have my words judged by the Chosen of Apollo.” He figured flattery couldn’t hurt. Seeing small nods coming from the Council, along with Hwiksos and even Spiros, he knew he had said the right thing.

  Acron bounded to his feet and stepped in front of Jaxx. He raised his hands and gaze to the heavens, intoning, “O bright Apollo, bringer of the Sun and Warmth to the World, hear my request. Judge this man’s words as true or false, and indicate to your servants the validity of his words.” While he was speaking, the two boys that were standing behind his chair came forward, and quickly produced a pair of doves and a stone knife. With quick, practiced gestures the birds were sacrificed and the blood splashed around, before the birds were taken to a nearby fire and thrown in.

  Jaxx was distracted from this part because at the moment of the priest’s words ending and the killing of the doves, a light shot down from above and illuminated Jaxx, briefly. He was left with a glowing outline that faded a bit but was still evident.

  “Apollo answers!” Acron announced. “Speak truly, Jaxx, and only fear if you utter a falsehood. The God of the Sun will judge your answers!”

  This development shocked Jaxx for a moment. He knew that in this game, the Gods were present and controlled by different AIs, but this was the first sign of direct involvement that he had witnessed in his short time in the game. He shrugged mentally. He had intended to speak truthfully, anyway.

  Jaxx said, “My name is Jaxx, and I am an Avatar. I appeared two days ago in a clearing in the Forest to the west, and was discovered this morning by Spiros.” His words were listened to carefully, and he was watched like a hawk by the Council and especially by Hwiksos, whose hand never left his sword.

  Duros leaned forward, “What is your purpose here?”

  Jaxx answered, “I am here to discover what the Gods will of me.” His aura glittered a bit.

  Acron said, “That is true, but not the whole truth. Speak truly, from your heart: why are you here?”

  Jaxx thought hard. It was apparent that Apollo’s truth indicator was more subtle than he thought. Although he truly didn’t have anything else to say, it indicated that there was more to his presence here, that he perhaps uncons
ciously had another goal? As he thought, he noticed the crowd stirring with the length of his silence. The Councilors still regarded him silently.

  Finally, he spoke without really thinking. “I am here to discover who I truly am.” This admission brightened the aura, and Acron nodded. “That is true.”

  For the first time, the first councilor, Battus, spoke: “What do you wish to become?” He seemed intent, paying the most attention since the meeting had begun. His body betrayed his tension: hands holding tightly to the arms of his chair, forearms tense and showing tendons, feet close together and near each other. He seemed almost ready to leap out of his chair.

  Another great question. Jaxx thought about his life to this point. The apathy, the utter dreariness of his current life outside this game. The hopeless feeling. Then he thought of the times that feeling faded, when he was deep in a game, playing at being a champion and a vanquisher of evil, a fighter for the weak and seeking justice in the form of video game rewards. It all swirled in his mind until one thing came to the forefront of his thoughts, the one thing that he held up as his dream, the thing that he imagined himself to be and chased it by playing online games instead of simply accepting his life and his place in the wider world as someone unimportant, as simply a cog in the vast social machine that was life on Earth now.

  He spoke from the heart, “I want to be a Hero.” And with this admission, his aura of truthfulness shown bright and radiant.

  Chapter 8

  The next day Jaxx awoke inside the livestock building at Spiros’ home. He laid there, unmoving, as once again he had to consciously remember where he was. It was pleasant. He came aware of the straw he was lying on, the coarse individual strands poking him in his back and legs. Individually coarse, but together the straw formed a comfortable sleeping pad that had allowed him to fall asleep quickly. Perhaps the incredible day he’d had also made that a certainty, he reflected.

  The sounds of a working farm filled the air – livestock calling for their morning feed, the slamming of doors at the main house as Spiros and his son entered and left, the sound of the well bucket being dropped and pulled up several times.

  He emerged into the bright sunlight, conscious of the small stones on his feet and the dirt between his toes. The morning sun illuminated the fields of crops and the small clouds of insects that seemed to be everywhere. It was not hot, yet, but he felt the sun-warmed stones on his feet as he stepped over to the well and drew a bucket to wash his face and mouth out.

  “Morning Hero!” exclaimed Spiros. The man had been very excited after Jaxx’s admission of his true goal last night, and treated him even more like something out of a story. His deference definitely made Jaxx uncomfortable, and he waved away the title.

  “Please just call me Jaxx, Spiros. I have not done anything worthy of that title.”

  “Ah, but you will. It is why the Gods have sent you to Triada.” Spiros’ eyes gleamed with fervor.

  “I’ll settle for breakfast, and then it is past time I find myself something constructive to do,” Jaxx said. He smiled ruefully. “After all, I can’t be a Hero without some Heroic tasks.”

  “Yes, yes, come into the house. We have the morning meal ready.” Spiros led him into the main house, where Agariste and Giorgos were already eating. “We have porridge and some goat’s milk.” Spiros seemed a bit embarrassed at the simple fare, and his tone earned a sharp glance from Agariste. She turned, somewhat definitely, and said, “It is all we have, Hero.” Agariste, it was obvious, had not taken the events of the previous evening in the same way her husband had.

  “That sounds great,” Jaxx said, taking as seat. Truthfully, he didn’t think he’d ever had porridge and goat’s milk, but it was his fervent wish to avoid upsetting the woman. It seemed that in this world, just like Earth, women truly did have the final say in the households and he didn’t want to irritate her.

  The meal passed mostly in silence, with Jaxx eating his surprisingly (to him) good food. “I should have remembered the way the game makes food taste,” he thought. So many things were happening so fast that the little details were coming and going.

  “So, what are your plans for today, Jaxx?” asked Agariste. His enthusiastic consumption of her food seemed to have placated her mood a bit.

  “I believe I will go into the village and see what I can do to help, start earning my keep a little bit. You all have been so welcoming, and I feel like I need to repay your kindness.” These words earned a sniff. Okay, perhaps not all that placated.

  “Excellent idea!” Spiros said. “I shall take you….” At this, Agariste let out a loud “Humph!” and started at Spiros. Spiros wound down, looking at his wife. At her angry shake of the head, he said, “Well, perhaps you know the way by now?” Spiros looked unhappy at the idea of not accompanying Jaxx.

  “I do know the way,” Jaxx said. “I don’t wish to take you from your duties here anymore than you already have. You have much to do.” Agariste looked satisfied and obviously considered the matter over, as she collected the simple wooden bowls and spoons they had been eating with.

  After a few more minutes of small talk, Jaxx left the Spiros house and headed into Triada. Along the way, he exchanged greetings and smiles with the majority of those he met. His announcement at the meeting had impressed most of the villagers, and they seemed eager to find out what heroic deeds he would be doing.

  Jaxx himself was still a bit unsure of what had happened. He had spoken from his heart, true, but he still wasn’t sure what being a Hero in Olympus Online meant. He had his own ideas, of course. Slaying monsters, fulfilling quests, rescuing maidens, conquering evil. All of the things he had done for years in other games. But something nagging him in his mind told him that being a Hero in this game was different, somehow more than what he was expecting.

  There was also the manner of the truth spell, and the way it had differentiated between his conscious admission of truth and his deeper reflection: that argued that somehow, the game and/or AI was able to read his mind at a deeper level. This was something new, and unadvertised in the literature about Olympus Online. Why would the game AI care about his deeper, almost unconscious feelings? It all argued for the presence of a deeper purpose.

  As he arrived in the village center, Jaxx spotted Hwiksos striding towards him. He was dressed in his normal sword and armor uniform, and the bearded man stopped several feet away. Hwiksos’ attitude had changed a bit after the truth-revelation. The man was focused on one thing – defending Triada from threats. Jaxx seemed to no longer be in the “potential threat” category and thus the man’s wariness had retreated.

  “Ho, Jaxx! How did you sleep?”

  “Well, Spiros has been very kind.”

  “Not kind enough to let you sleep inside their house, unless I misjudge Agariste.” Hwiksos had a knowing grin on his face.

  “You are correct, I slept in the animal pen. But it was fine: soft straw, the subtle perfume of the goats….” Jaxx grinned back.

  “Ha! You are more addled than I thought if you feel that goats smell like perfume!”

  He turned serious. “I am to bring you to Battus this morning when you appear.”

  Jaxx thought hard. “Battus…. the councilor? What would he want with me?”

  “The same thing that everyone wants: to find out why you are here.”

  Hwiksos motioned for Jaxx to follow and set off down one of the side streets. Near the end at the edge of the village, they came to a sturdy log and stone house that had the first tile roof that Jaxx had seen in the village. The front was open with a wide porch, with the typical shuttered windows. A wooden fence made of split logs that were sat upright in the earth extended from both ends of the house and continued back to make an enclosure behind the house that was hidden from view. A “clack-clack” sound came from within.

  Motioning for Jaxx to stay put, Hwiksos entered the house and emerged a moment later with Battus, the first councilor from the meeting the night before. Jaxx remembered the dark
skin and hair, and the intense gray eyes. He was clean shaven, and his face showed a lifetime of exposure to sun and weather. He was as upright as ever, but his garb had changed. The night before, he had worn robes befitting his status as a Councilor. Now, he wore a short tunic and sandals, with a skirt or kilt of leather strips that hung down from a leather belt. He had a short, bronze-hilted sword with a wrapped leather grip sheathed at his waist. He was sweaty but not dirty.

  “Greetings, Jaxx.” His voice was even and deep, and his eyes probed Jaxx.

  Meeting Battus’ eyes, Jaxx answered back. “Greetings, Councilor. It is an honor to meet you again.”

  “Pah! Enough of that formality. My name is Battus, please call me so.” He motioned for Jaxx to follow him into the house. Jaxx followed, noting Hwiksos falling in behind him.

  The room they entered was broad and took up most of the house. Jaxx noted a simple kitchen with a couple of women bustling around – from their garb, he assumed they were house slaves. Another door, closed, announced another room in the side of the house that Jaxx assumed was a private area. The floor was split log, and sanded smooth that felt cool on his bare feet. A trio of chairs was present, and at a wave Jaxx sat down in one of them. Battus and Hwiksos claimed the other two, and Battus clapped his hands twice.