Lykos Redemption

\\\\\\\\\\ACT II//////////

Ch. 1: Serena Wird Voller Licht Sein

The next week had gone by
quickly. With Nyctimus being taken in as a physician’s assistant he was busy
nearly all day long and only was able to feel Apollo’s presence in the sun
overhead. He was quite worried about his brothers. The full moon was coming soon.
He remembered what Artemis had told him about the full moon. That his brothers
would change back into the monsters that Zeus had turned them into as
punishment. His mind often worked itself into overdrive as to what the
ramifications of this change could be.

He came back up to the house the
day before the full moon. Still, worry permeated his thoughts. He was unsure
what would happen to his brothers and that more than anything was what caused
him angst. When he entered the wooden building he looked for his brothers.
There was no sign of his brothers in the house so he sighed. “This is not
helping me.”

“Oh, but I know what will, my
love,” Apollo said sensually. He walked up behind Nyctimus before wrapping the
shorter human in a sort of hug. His arms wrapped around Nyctimus under his
armpits and came to rest just above his hipline. Apollo kissed Nyctimus on the
top of the human’s head before the god turned him around.

Nyctimus leaned back away from
the god’s chest and looked upon his unblemished face. He looked there for a
short while before breaking down into tears in Apollo’s chest, “I am so
worried, Apollo. What if they cannot turn back? What if they hurt someone?”
Nyctimus sobbed while Apollo rubbed his back and cradled the human’s head
soothingly.

“Shh…shh. Oh, my dear, you should
not worry about things over which you have no control. Can I tell you
something?” Apollo soothed. When he received a slow nod in response, he slowly
lifted Nyctimus’ head in return. He kissed him lovingly before continuing,
“Tomorrow night, you will not worry about your brothers. Artemis’ wolves will
look after them, if you wish. Make sure they do not try and harm the
Athenians.”

“That would make me feel more
comfortable. I guess.” Nyctimus replied with a cautious air.

“Apollo, what in Hades do you
think you are doing offering up
my
wolves?” Lysaea appeared beside Artemis.

“Sister, do you not see how
distraught my love is? I was hoping that you could ease his worries by guiding
his brothers tomorrow during their change. It would allow me to have a proper
night with him.”

Lysaea huffed annoyed, “The young
shepherd was given that staff of his for more than just a walking stick. It has
been blessed by Hecate. Whoever wields this staff has control over the four
elements and can twist the Mist in order to allow the wielder to accomplish
feats that previously were thought impossible. Nyctimus must actively involve
himself in tomorrow’s activities if he wishes to continue to call himself the
‘Shepherd of Wolves.’”

“So you will not guide my brothers,
Lysaea? They are still new to their lives between the world of wolves and
humans.” Nyctimus sneaked in a comment still with his head buried in Apollo’s
chest.

“No, I shall not. They have you
to protect them. With little help you will become a competent and frightful
magician. Your knowledge of rudimentary alchemy will also be a valued resource.”

***

Melaeneus and Demeas walked along
the
drómo* gathering supplies that
they were told by Hecate earlier in the day that Nyctimus would need. They
walked to the market district to a small shop with tiny windows, fading,
crumbling masonry, and vines growing up its façade. They needed one more supply
for Nyctimus to be prepared and this was the only shop that contained the item
they needed. The sign above them said “
Apothíke
Athenás
**”. They walked into the building and started searching for what
they needed. Mel and Demi were wearing modified
himantes*** because many of the items Hecate had told them would be
dangerous to them. They greeted the store-owner.

She eyed them suspiciously, “What
are a couple of boxers doing in my store?”

“Pardon, madam?” Demeas asked,
forcing politeness.

“The himantes, why are you wearing these?”

“We have been handling
particularly dangerous items and have been trying to keep them off of our skin
as much as is possible,” Melaeneus replied in a placating tone.

“Alright…what do you need? I do
not have all day.” The shopkeeper asked.

“30 drachmae**** of powdered Aconite root.” Demeas replied gruffly. He
was slowly losing his patience for the rude, woman.

The shopkeeper eyed them
suspiciously again, maybe with even more suspicion pouring from her eyes than
before, “I have that item. It will cost you a
talent^.”

Melaeneus looked at his brother,
then to the shopkeeper, “It will cost us no such thing. 40
drachmae is all we will pay. No more.”

“30 minae^*.”

“40 drachmae.”

“10 minae”

“40 drachmae. As I have said, no
more.”

The shopkeeper let out an
exasperated sigh. “I can only come down to a single
mina.”

“You can do more than that,
woman. You are the only person in town that sells Aconite powder.” Demeas
practically shouted the first sentence before reining himself in.

“Why do you need so much?”

“It is not your business to
know.” Again, Demeas struggled to contain his anger.

“Well then I cannot drop below a
single
mina. You understand, do you
not?”

Melaeneus’ hand settled on
Demeas’ shoulder. Demeas looked back to his brother. Their eyes both flashed
gold. Demeas lowered his eyes quickly. He left the small shop to wait outside.

Melaeneus apologized for his
brother and then continued bargaining. After several minutes Melaeneus walked
out of the store, bag in hand. “Let us go home, brother.”

“Yes alpha.”

***

Nyctimus lay in bed with Apollo,
cuddling. The god was saying sweet nothings into his ear as he helped him de-stress.
The god kissed Nyk’s neck every couple of seconds. “You are my whole world,
Apollo,” Nyctimus whispered truthfully.

Nyk maneuvered so that Apollo
could kiss him and then initiated a deep, passionate one just as his brothers,
Demeas and Melaeneus, walked into the room. As he came up for air, Apollo
smiled and chuckled, “Enjoy the show, boys?”

They all chuckled as Nyk flushed
a bright red. Timidly Nyktimus greeted his brothers before rolling over in
Apollo’s grasp. He buried his head in Apollo’s chest trying to hide his
embarrassment. “Care to explain why you smell like you have stressed out all
day? Is it tomorrow? Nyk, we will change back.” Demeas stated plainly.

“Know that your brother speaks
the truth, my love.” Apollo assured. The god lifted up Nyk’s head to kiss him
on the lips once more. “You have nothing to be embarrassed about; they’ve known
for a while. They care not.”

“It is not that, Apollo. I just
feel sometimes that you like to joke with them too much. I worry where you draw
the line. By the Twelve, I am worrying about everything it seems like.”

Melaeneus looked at Demeas, who
smirked in response. Melaeneus’ smile grew. His eyes sparkled with mischief as
he and Demeas transformed into their half-wolf, half-man form. Mel started a
howl from deep within himself. It was low, ethereal, and as always lonesome.
Rather unfitting of what they had planned, but it was required for summoning the
rest of the brothers from their errands. Within seconds Demeas joined his alpha
in the same howl. For around five minutes the howls lasted before the two
wolf-men ended them. Their ears were perked, waiting for a response.

“What are you doing, you two?”
Nyctimus asked them.

“You need not know brother,”
Melaeneus replied showing for the first time in this long journey of reunion a
smile. The toothy expression lent an added layer of discomfort for the youngest
brother.

***

Phineus and Harpalykos were in
the
agora^** looking for something to
gift their youngest brother, Nyctimus. After all it is through his relationship
with the god, Apollo that they were united and given the gift that was their
current form. He deserved something special in response to his gift to them and
they were going to show him. At least that was what Melaeneus, their
newly-appointed alpha, told them. The Athenian
agora was marvelous to behold. It was a large paved plaza where all
manner of merchants sold their wares. The smells of cooking, exotic foods met
the noses of the two
proto-lykánthropous^***.
Those aromas were not alone however, the odorous, musky smells of the hundreds
of Athenians that inhabited the packed mercantile plaza as well as the fruity,
smell of wine, and the distinct smell of woolen fabrics assaulted them.

The two proto-werewolves were
haggling a price with one of the merchants on some trinket or other that
Melaeneus had suggested for their brother when they heard a very distant howl.
Harpalykos looked at Phineus. Then they looked at the merchant. They dropped
their
drachmae and left.

As soon as they were beyond city lines
they let up howls of their own. Instantly they changed and started running
towards the house.

***

Nyctimus heard twenty-four howls let up
in the distance. Again he looked nervously at Melaeneus and Demeas. They both
sported lupine, knowing grins. “Tell me what is happening, brothers. I would
like to know.”

“It is something that you will learn very
soon.” Melaeneus replied with a flicker of mischief underlying his tone.

“You are rolling into your old routines,
brothers. I do not like it. Please will you tell me what you are planning?”
Nyctimus now pleaded with his brothers truly fearing for his wellbeing.

“Nyctimus, we want you to see the full
moon as a time for celebration and elation not worry and fear. That is what we
see it as, and it is what you should see it as, as well.” Demeas consoled his
youngest brother.

“That doesn’t answer my…wait a symposion^****? Really? Tonight?”

“Yes. Of course. That is perfect. We have
all been working hard over the last week in order to get what money we could to
celebrate for you.”

“That sounds wonderful, love. They really
are just hoping to show how much they appreciate what you have done for them.”
Apollo interjected.

“Alright, Alright.” Nyctimus relented. He
reached up and kissed Apollo. “Let us move to the bedroom, Apollo.”

***

The brothers came in fairly soon after
Nyctimus and Apollo retreated to the bedroom. Each of them had picked up
supplies for their youngest brother. Supplies that were dictated to them by
Lysaea. Supplies that were necessary for the following night. Tomorrow night
came with a lot of unknowns and they wanted to be prepared for any possibility.
A few of the items that they had purchased were also gifts; little trinkets to
show Nyctimus their appreciation for what he’d already done for the pack.

Melaeneus appraised the collection of
herbs, unnoticeable spices and small trinkets which they acquired for their
brother. “Is everything here, brother?” He asked Demeas.

Demeas looked from the pile to his
brother with an expression of finality upon his half wolfish visage. “Yes,
Alpha. Tomorrow we will show Zeus the glory of Lycaon’s
reformed children!”

Melaeneus nodded and made an affirmative
noise in his throat before turning to his brother and gripped his shoulder to
show how proud he was, “Well done, brother. Well done,
all of you. Tomorrow will go much more smoothly because of the work
that you have done today. Right now our brother is being given a quick tutorial
on the Staff of the Wolven Shepherd. Hephaestus’ gift to our family and our
kind. Let us have tonight to celebrate our brother and his connection with
Olympus. That which has saved us all may be given glory tonight.”

***

“So now, Nyk, all there is to do is
practice concentrating upon what you want to do and the staff will do it if it
is within its capabilities.” Apollo Instructed Nyctimus, “With this staff, you
practically have the power of a lesser god. Now take the stance I showed you.
We are going to practice your defensive magicks.”

Nyctimus took his stance as his lover
brought forth in his hands his Bow. As Apollo drew his first arrow Nyctimus
concentrated hard to erect a barrier that could withstand Apollo’s Arrows. As
he did so he saw the air in front of him shimmer and before he knew it in front
of him was a solid stone wall that wasn’t there before.

A muffled sound of approval reached Nyk
from the other side of the wall. However, the wall flickered a moment later and
disappeared just as an arrow shot into the other side of the room. Nyctimus
ducked just in time for the arrow to whiz over his head and singe his hair.
Soon the wall was on fire and Nyctimus was about to scream. In an instant the
fire disappeared and in its place stood a perfect wall of wooden panels.

Apollo approached the dumbstruck Nyctimus
from behind and grasped his shoulder. Nyk jumped slightly in response. “You
need to keep your concentration up as long as you want the object which you are
creating to stay in existence.” Apollo chuckled.

“That arrow could have killed me,
Apollo.” *
And the entire family, too*
Nyk berated Apollo. His only response was another chuckle.

“It would have passed right through you,
my love.” Apollo assured his young lover.

“Exactly! And I would have been consumed
by flame.”

“No, that’s not what I meant. I mean that
it would have done you no harm.”

“How can you be so sure, Apollo?”

“Because, they are my arrows. I would
have extinguished it before it caused you any real harm.”

Nyctimus sighed, “I hope that is the
truth.”

“No more of this, Nyk. We still have much
to do before tomorrow evening.”

***

“Is this right, Alpha?” One of Melaeneus’
brothers presented him a small novelty item that he had been assigned to buy as
a gift for Nyctimus.

“It is, my brother. Now go put it with
the other treasures for our brother.” Melaeneus replied. The pavilion in which
the family had celebrated their reunion still existed and as such Mel and his
charges were preparing a
symposion
for their brother inside of it. It was the perfect size the family needed to
celebrate in such a way.

With the moon the next day being full,
Melaeneus allowed his brothers to allow themselves to show their wolf as much
as they currently could. It was only natural that they should want to portray
that side of themselves this close to the full moon. There was much chatter as
the wolf-men were preparing the feast for their brother.

As Lysaea had instructed Melaeneus when
she spoke to them earlier that morning, Demeas was going around to everyone and
pricking their fingers with the tip of his old spearhead. A relic from their
father’s past. Everyone’s wounds healed inhumanly quickly. So it wasn’t that
painful of an experience. As the cup with which Demeas gathered their blood
came to Melaeneus, Demeas looked at his brother’s chin and asked, “Alpha, may
I?”

The wolf-man held out his handpaw and
Demeas gingerly cut the tip of his Index finger. Once he had removed the cup
from under his brother’s finger he put the cup of blood at the head of the
table. The group of males held their collective breath as Nyctimus came out of
the house.

He was wearing a brand new himation^# that was a sea
green in color with rose gold filigree accents along the border. His hair had
been shaved short and the smell of burnt hair assaulted all of their noses as
Nyctimus walked into the pavilion. He walked with Hephaestus’ Shepherd’s crook
in one hand and held Apollo’s hand in the other. He walked up to the head table
where the chalice—one of the items the brother’s had picked up in the city—sat.
He looked at its contents and then to his brothers. He cleared his throat not
once, but three times before he spoke.

“Tomorrow is a new adventure for all of
us. This evening I take upon myself a title which I feel I do not quite
deserve. Tonight I take upon myself the title of the Shepherd of Wolves. I sit
before this cup and I see that each of you has given a part of himself in order
that I may truly understand the burden which I am about to bear. I will bear it
to the best of my ability and will do so as long as I may live.

“Tonight we celebrate the eve before the
full moon. Tonight we celebrate what we have become as a family. Tonight we
celebrate the gods’ gifts to us. Tonight we share in the glory of our
reformation!” Nyctimus paused here as his brothers howled in agreement.

“I take it upon myself tonight to protect
you from all harm. To do so to the best of my ability and I establish the
position of Shepherd of wolves. I will not be your only shepherd and I surely
will not be your last. You as a species are just starting out and I will not
let you die out so quickly. As it is obvious that the people of Greece see you
as a threat and therefore we must do our best to hide you. Tomorrow will make
that more difficult. As Zeus reminds us of our curse and Artemis grants us her
gift of strength we must remember that we do not know much of this curse and if
it can be spread to others. So I implore you all be careful tomorrow night. I do
not want to have to deal with explaining to the Athenian council why there is
an increase in death in their city. So please try as hard as you can to stay
within the mountains and their forests.”

Here
Nyctimus used his knowledge of alchemy and magicks and took a small drawstring
bag from his satchel and opened it up. He poured the contents of it into the
cup of blood. He then reached down to grab some of the gravelly dirt from the
ground around him and poured that into the cup. As he did so Apollo came up to
him and handed him a large glowing bronze pestle. Using the cup as his mortar
Nyctimus ground the mixture until it was the consistency of clay. Then he
turned to the god and said, “Will you do the honors, God of the Sun?”

“I will, my love.” Apollo grabbed the cup
and dipped his finger in the mixture. He drew a symbol looking much like the
letter ‘
chi^#*’ and half a
crescent moon drawn into the top half of the crossing lines. “This symbol I
draw now is the symbol one must draw when they have been assigned shepherd and
they have failed their duties. This is also a promise to not do so again.
Memorize it well young shepherd. For it is this mark which you must use upon
every full moon. This mark I give to you, Nyctimus because you have failed more
than half of your brothers. Half of your family is dead. You have failed them.
And I know for a fact you will not do so again.”

Nyctimus nodded. “I ask you, now
Nyctimus, First Shepherd of Lycaon, to repeat the oath which you gave to
Melaeneus upon taking the role of Redeemer.”

“And with
solemn Heart

I swear to protect and keep

My family no longer apart

In human form again shall weep.

"Love of a brother, love of family

To those in wolf's clothing shall I give,

With honor and truth I take this duty

And I will die that they may live.”

Nyctimus
finished his oath and Apollo looked pleased. “Now tap The Lycaonid Shepherd’s
Crook three times. This will seal the oath within you.”

Nyctimus did
as he was told. He tapped the butt of the shepherd’s crook on the ground three
times. Upon the third strike the sound reverberated throughout the valley in
which they stood and the symbol upon Nyctimus’ forhead started glowing a deep
ominous sapphire blue. The floor upon which his brothers stood, also began to
glow. But instead of the symbol, the words of Nyctimus’ oath seared themselves
into the floor of the pavilion. “Whoa!” Was all the group could say.

“Nyctimus,
son of Lycaon, lover of Apollo, I give you yet another title! Take upon you the
title of Shepherd of Lycaon. May it be a mark of honor not of shame.” Apoollo
finished, before whispering in Nyctimus’ ear, “Do not forget these proceedings.
You will not be the only Shepherd of Lycaon. Nor will your brothers be the only
wolf-men.”

Nyctimus
nodded his head. Then he looked to his brothers and shouted, “Let us begin the
symposion.”

***

 ~~~