Fate/Broken Sky

I hadn't realized it at first, but it turns out that the floating displays could be dismissed by just wanting them gone, and then summoning them back again by merely thinking of them.

It was incredibly convenient considering that I didn't have to manually swipe it away or say anything out loud.

However, this had the unintended side effect of accidental summonings, which might be really bad in the future since the displays actually blocked a significant portion of my vision...

But it wasn't really a major problem currently, so I still had a lot of time to ponder on it.

Anyway, it didn't take long for us to eventually reach our home.

The walk there was far from treacherous. In fact, there was little to no interruption as we gradually entered a higher district with a significantly thinner population.

Now the roads were barely occupied by the footsteps of men and women, a sharp contrast to the crowded markets below that seemed to have an endless supply of people.

On the other hand, the streets were cleaner up here. Not just that, the architecture was visibly more robust, and the stench of filth was much less noticeable.

But of course, that was to he expected given the location of my home.

We lived in our own little corner of Athens... well, not so much 'little' as it was a rather large estate by mundane standards.

A few guards flanked us at the gates, spears held firmly in their hands as we walked closer. Yet the moment our identities became clear enough for them, the caution left their gaze.

"Welcome back, young masters..." One of the greeted with us a servile nod. "Did your trip go well? Were there any problems?"

"Not at all," I shook my head, deciding not to mention anything about Theonidas like we had previously agreed. "...Well, Talos did trip when we hiked up here."

"I did not!" My cousin refuted that claim as if I had accused him of treachery.

The guard nodded, appearing pleased by my answer. "I see, it's good that you both are safe."

There was a pause as he glanced over at our groceries.

"...Would you like us to carry those bags, young master?" The guard suggested with a smile.

"Ah, thank you, Tim." I said and shook my head afterwards. "But there's no need, we can carry this ourselves."

It might be irrational considering I trusted these guards with my life, but there was always a slim chance that one of them randomly decides to desert and steal our food.

I didn't want to waste my time going up and down the city again just to buy more.

After all, it was only a bit more before I could drop these bags off at the pantry and be done with it...

The guard nodded his head in understanding as he let us past through.

He was Timokretes, though I'd long since shortened it to Tim.

Tim was the guard captain of our family's estate and the one responsible for managing our general security. Incidentally, he also happens to have the most seniority amongst the guards.

Granted, 'guard captain' was a generous title considering Father never quite employed more than half a dozen guards at a time.

Hm... wait a second.

That's right, I'm supposed to be some kind of Hero now, personally chosen by Gods due to reasons beyond my understanding.

Heroes wouldn't be greedy with such a mundane thing as food, right? And I was just thinking about them deserting...

Which probably wouldn't happen if they got paid well.

It wasn't my responsibility to pay them. That duty would belong to my Father, but it certainly wouldn't hurt to strengthen their loyalties...

"Actually," I said with a pause. "Talos, give me your bag."

"...Why?" He asked with a tilted head. "Do you want to carry them both?"

"No, just give me the bag."

There was obviously no worry about me stealing the food or anything like that, so Talos merely shrugged and followed my instructions, placing his bag at my feet.

Quickly, I dug through the groceries and retrieved a couple loaves of bread, enough to grant a couple for each guard at the gate.

"Come on, men!" I called out to them. "Three for each of you, don't make me wait all day."

Tim and the other two guards at the gate looked stunned.

Reluctantly, one of the other guards held out his hand as he received my bread and widened his eyes.

"Young master, this is fine white bread!" He shouted with a surprise. "A-Are you sure you want us to have this, Master Daedalus wouldn't—"

"Don't make such a fuss about it." I said with a smirk. "You guys guard my home, so you naturally need strong bodies. I can't have you eating clay year-round."

Although I inadvertently mocked their financial situation, none of them took offense in the slightest. In fact, they looked so grateful that I might as well have been giving them gold.

I sighed. "Here, have some fish too. For your wives and children."

Now they were even more shocked.

High-quality meat and white bread. These were luxuries the common man could only afford to buy for special events like festivals and weddings.

Shellfish and small, cheap fish like sardines or anchovies weren't particularly expensive, especially when salted or pickled, but what I gave them instead was tuna. Large, fatty fish that could feed an entire family.

As for the white bread, it was made from semidalis, a kind of sifted, white wheat flour. Soft, refined, and expensive to produce. It was certainly a different experience than the course, often stale black breads that they were more accustomed to.

And I was handing them out willy nilly.

"T-Thank you, young master!"

Timokretes bowed along with the rest of the guards as they received my gift with deep gratitude in their eyes.

Particularly, another guard named Kleon who happened to be the youngest among them looked like he was about to jump in joy.

"...My mother has fallen ill recently, I know this will cheer her up!" He explained in a giddy tone.

"We won't forget your generosity, young master!"

I seriously doubt that, but I guess it's the thought that counts... I mused internally as I gave a neutral smile to them.

"Yeah, yeah." I said in a dissmive wave of my hand as I picked up my own bag and gave Talos' bag back to him.

The guards quickly let us through without any more pause as my cousin glanced at me curiously.

"Why'd you bribe them for?" He wondered. "Are you planning a mutiny or something?"

"Hah, I wish...!" I remarked with a snort. "Just wanted to feel nice and all."

"Hmm..." Talos just hummed as he heard my words. "Nice, huh? You're acting weird today."

"Fuck off."

With all said and done, we made our way inside.

The estate we lived in was quite extravagant, but that was simply to be expected given the identity of my Father.

My family was part of the Eupatridae, high-ranking nobles of Athenian society that could trace their lineage back to the original kings. [1]

That being said, we were far too removed from the line of succession to be considered actual royalty.

And it certainly didn't help that these large halls bore no servants to show our noble status.

Father's paranoia was so abundant that he would only allow his own family and a few guards on the outskirts of the estate as permanent residents.

Guests were permitted, but you would find no work as a servant here with how secretive Father was with his projects.

We didn't even have any slaves to speak of.

Because of this, Talos and I have learned to be significantly more self-reliant than the other Noble scions around the city.

Father certainly hadn't raised no bitch.

This was why we were the ones delegated to buying groceries from the market instead of the usual servants that any other Eupatrid family would have hired.

We passed through a line of exquisite marble statues as we walked through the halls of the estate. There were depictions of famous kings and heroes, some realistic, others surreal, but all were undeniably beautiful in structure and appearance.

There was even a sculpture of me.

Passing by a replica of your own face every day wasn't as unsettling as it sounded. It was weird only for the first ten times. After that, it just became routine, especially considering Father also made a statue of Talos.

I glanced at him as I thought of this...

...Yeah.

The statue was definitely better looking than the real deal.

Talos narrowed his eyes at my gaze. "You're thinking of something bad, aren't you?"

"Come on, cousin. You really jump to conclusions way too quickly." I said in a helpless tone.

Of course, the most impressive statue Father had created was one made in the image of our patron deity.

The Goddess of Wisdom, Athena.

'She' was the lady of knowledge, and the keeper of all things within reason. 'Her' patronage over our city was what originally gave it its name of Athens.

Being a Genius Inventor, Goddess Athena's domain was omniprescent in my Father's daily life, and by extension, mine as well. Naturally, 'Her' statue was extremely life-like.

Goddess Athena's face was the kind of beauty one could only ever find in a man's fantasy. 'Her' long hair made of marble and stone was do delicately carved that it could have been confused for real silk, not to mention 'Her' clothes, which depicted each individual crease on an unimaginable level.

And the most striking part of 'Her' design were the pair of wings attached to 'Her' back, apparently modelled from the wings of 'Her' symbolic animal, the owl.

Father took liberties with this choice considering there were no temples that depicted 'Her' with such wings, but I think it was a good choice.

After all, it just showed how good he was at sculpting. It took real skill to carve our stone into the shape of such realistic feathers.

A comely woman came into view as she sifted through some clothing and arranged it neatly. Upon noticing our return, a smile graced her cheeks.

"Attalus, welcome back!" She greeted with a wave. "...Did you get the eggs like I told you to?"

Talos nodded as he dropped his bag at a nearby counter, I did the same, placing mine beside his.

"Sure did, Mother." My cousin nodded in confirmation.

"We still have some silver left," I kindly informed the woman as I tapped the pouch of silver she had given me earlier that day to buy the groceries.

She smiled. "Oh, you can just keep the rest, Icarus."

Damn... was this Fate rewarding me for my gift to those soldiers? I grinned as I nodded eagerly. "I'll spend it well, Auntie!"

That woman was naturally my Aunt, Perdix. She's been in my life longer than I've had the ability to think, and she was more or less the woman who had filled the role of my Mother.

Aunt Perdix glanced at her son as she walked closer.

"Attalus, you stink like a rat!" She chastised him with a pout.

My cousin blinked.

"At this rate, you'll have to abduct your suitors when you enter marrying age!" She said as she sniffed his clothes. "Go take a wash!"

"But, Mother... I just took one this morning," He complained with a look of disbelief. "And I don't stink!"

Talos glanced at me. "...I don't stink, right?"

"You do, I almost collapsed on the way here from your gunk."

He didn't smell at all.

...But of course, why would I tell him that?

Talos gaped at my betrayal but couldn't say anything after being ganged up like this, so he merely sighed and nodded. "Okay, Mother... I'll take another bath."

"But what about Icarus!? He must stink as much as I do, right?" He accused me with a glare.

"No, I don't."

"No, he doesn't."

There was indeed, absolutely nothing he could say to that.

Sucks to be you, I guess... I thought as I gave a smirk to my cousin.

"Go wash up now, Attalus!" Aunt Perdix demanded without pause as Talos relented.

His real name was actually Attalus. However, he deemed it too old-fashioned for some reason and had started calling himself Talos a few years back.

Of course, such things would naturally not matter to his own mother who gave the name in the first place.

As for his dad...?

We were both in a similar boat, being half-orphans.

What I meant by 'half-orphan' was that one of our parents remained, but the other had vanished from our lives from one reason or the other.

Talos' father was a renowed musician that played the harp and lyre. However, he was a scoundrel that seduced Aunt Perdix and laid with her with promises of love and marriage.

In the end though, after he received his dowry, the man had fled from Athens and was never to be seen again by our family, leaving my aunt with a pregnant belly and nothing to show for it.

Fortunately, her younger brother, that being my Father, had been considerate enough to take her in to his own household. He had even taken her son as his own apprentice after he noticed Talos' potential.

As for my Mother, she's dead. Her body had been ravaged by the terrible disease of consumption, and she passed away before I could even get to know her, around when I was 3 or 4 summers old.

I was no longer particularly saddened by her death at this point. It had been years now, and I barely even remember the time I had spent with her.

The only thing I did vividly recall about her was her face and name, which was Naucrate...

My Father always said that I inherited her beauty, but I think that remark was mostly because we had the same dark brown, somewhat wavy hair, and smooth ivory skin.

After all, I didn't really consider myself to be that good looking. My point of pride was being smart, not being pleasing to the eye.

But I digress...

After Talos left to take a bath, Aunt Perdix turned to me with a gentle smile.

"Icarus..." She paused in consideration for her next words.

"Your Father wanted you to meet him after this, at his workshop."

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(A/N)

Sorry for the late update! I fell asleep when making this chapter last night... ):

If you appreciate my work and want to give me more motivation, please comment, review, and give me your dang Power Stones!

[1] Eupatridae, literally translating to "good fathered" are the noble-class of ancient Athens. Daedalus is explicitly stated to have been a Metionid, making him a Eupatridae by process of elimination.