[Third Person's PoV]
"Just what the hell are you planning?" Annabeth asked with anger in her tone.
"Didn't I say I can't tell you about it?" Lucian retorted. Before they could ask any more questions, Lucian decided to move things along.
"Come on, we don't have all day. Who knows when the sisters may return? We still have a while since Thalia injured it heavily, but we don't know how long that'll last."
Annabeth wanted to argue some more, but Lucian just grabbed her wrist, making her release him. She started grumbling before deciding to leave it with a glare, knowing they would talk about it later.
"Now then, where was I… oh right!" Lucian reached into his shadow and pulled out a saw made out of his shadows. "Harvest!"
"Woah! Woah! Woah!" They all shouted, stopping Lucian in his tracks.
"Are you seriously planning on sawing down the entire tree? Picking the apples is one thing, but taking down the entire tree is another," Luke stated, taking hold of Lucian's wrist that was holding the saw.
Lucian just looked at Luke and the others like they were idiots. "Do you really think I'm that stupid–"
"YES!" They all shouted at the same time, not letting Lucian finish speaking.
"I wouldn't put it past you to rip the tree from its roots and plant it in your backyard just because it would look nice and not for any other reason," Thalia sighed.
Lucian put a hand on his chin. "The tree would look nice next to the cabin, with the golden apples and the black of the cabin mixing well together. You have a good eye for design," he nodded towards Thalia, impressed.
"Seriously…" She said with a deadpan expression.
"Yeah, I'm serious. I didn't know you had it in you," Lucian continued nodding.
"That's not what I meant and you know it," Thalia growled.
Lucian just raised his hands in a low surrendering manner. "Anyways… I wasn't planning on destroying the tree, even I know that's a death sentence. I was planning on collecting a piece of its roots, a few pieces of its bark, a couple of its leaves. All of these items are very useful in making potions, especially health potions, especially the leaves… Oh shit, look at this, there are even Ladon's shedded scales. Mine now."
Lucian then snapped his fingers, remembering something. "Quick, hand me your spear!"
"What? Why?" Thalia asked suspiciously.
"The blood, your spear has dragon blood on it. Let me collect it before it dries off," Lucian said hastily.
Thalia raised a brow and handed him her bloody spear, which she used to pierce Ladon.
Lucian reached into his shadow and pulled out a glass vial with some symbol on it. He closed his eyes as he obtained the spear before concentrating deeply and slowly on the blood. Sweat started dripping down his forehead as the blood started to shake slightly. They stood there in surprise as they saw the blood start flowing off the spear in a very shaky manner before it slowly went inside the vial. Lucian closed it, causing the letters to glow slightly from the enchantment of preservation.
"Since when can you control blood?" Luke asked with a look of disgust towards the blood.
"I can't… I'm controlling the iron in the blood, which is why I was having difficulty. It felt like I was lifting weights when I tried that," Lucian explained, wiping off his sweat.
"Do you mind if I keep this? I'll pay you back for it," Lucian asked, waving the vial.
Thalia just sighed. "Just keep it. I have no need for it anyways, and I wouldn't even know what to do with it."
"Thanks," Lucian said with a smile before looking at them in confusion. "What are you guys waiting for, pick your golden apples. I ain't sharing."
They all scoffed before looking at each other and went up to pluck an apple each.
"Now then, to check something off my bucket list… to meet Atlas!" Lucian happily declared after he finished collecting all the items he previously stated.
"What!" They asked in surprise, as they expected to just hurry back to camp now that their mission was done.
"I dare you all to look me in the eyes and tell me that none of you are interested in meeting the bearer of Heavens right this instance, now that we have a chance." Lucian said with narrow eyes.
They all looked at each other before looking away shyly. Now that Lucian mentioned it, the idea of meeting Atlas was very enticing, and they all soon agreed with his idea.
"Thought so, anyways, let's go!"
Along the way to Atlas, Lucian would occasionally find flowers filled with magical power, which surprised him as he picked them up along the way.
'Of course there would be other ingredients and plants here. It's called the Garden of Hesperides, not the single apple tree of the Hesperides. It would have been weirder if the tree was the only thing in this place.'
They soon went over a hill on the mountaintop and saw him, Atlas himself, with the sky on his shoulder and a pained expression.
Atlas looked like a living statue, with dark slicked-back hair, grey eyes like stone, light brown skin, and a very muscular build. He was very tall and extremely muscular, with a brutal face, huge shoulders, and hands that could snap a flagpole in half.
"Yo! If it isn't that man, the myth, the legend himself!" Lucian said in excitement.
Atlas pretended they weren't even there, while Thalia and the others were embarrassed to be associated with Lucian due to the way he was acting.
Lucian took out a piece of paper and a pen from his shadow and presented it to him with a small bow. "Can you please sign this? I'm a very big fan… oh wait…"
Lucian started rubbing the back of his head, while nervously chuckling, "Right… your hands seem to be busy at the moment. Maybe another time?"
Tick marks started appearing over his head at Lucian's obvious teasing. Lucian then crouched down and started picking blades of grass from around Atlas' feet.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!!" They all shouted in embarrassment.
Lucian just looked at them in confusion, "Isn't it obvious? I'm collecting ingredients, duh."
"Just what type of ingredients are those?" Annabeth asked in pure confusion.
Lucian sighed as he answered, pointing towards the sky, the ground, and the grass between Atlas' feet.
"Blade grass grown from between the Heavens and the Earth. Very good ingredients."
They were surprised to find that was an ingredient, but after thinking about it, it did make sense. They nodded their heads in understanding, but that didn't mean they didn't feel embarrassed by what Lucian was doing.
After he was done, he sat cross-legged in front of Atlas. "So tell me, bro, do you even lift?"
"Phtttt" Thalia covered her mouth and turned to look away. Even though she knew it was coming, she still found it funny.
"LEAVE ME ALONE, YOU STUPID BRAT! GO BOTHER SOMEONE ELSE!!" Atlas snapped.
"Nah."
"So tell me a little about yourself. How's the wife and family? Do they come to visit you often? Are they disappointed in you and don't come to visit because they view you as an embarrassment? Damn, I'm starting to feel bad. What if one of your daughters got married? Dude, you wouldn't be able to walk her down the aisle. You're going to be stuck in here forever while the rest of the world moves on. Your daughters are going to be starting their own family, getting pregnant, having your grandkids, but you will be missing it all because you're stuck in here forever. You have my sympathy. You are going to be missing out on their first steps, their first words, growing up, and repeating the cycle until they completely forget about you and stop visiting, leaving only your husk to bear the weight of the world–"
"Shut up, I beg of you, please just stop talking!" Atlas sobbed.
'He broke easier than I thought. I didn't need to use magic. Look at me go,' Lucian thought proudly.
Meanwhile, Luke, Thalia, and Annabeth stared with their mouths agape, unbelieving the verbal beatdown Lucian just brought upon Atlas.
"Was that really necessary, Lucian?" Thalia asked, feeling bad seeing the way Atlas was sobbing. "Why did you have to do that to him? Isn't he already suffering enough?"
Lucian pulled out two vials and held them before Atlas' eyes as he cried, unable to do anything.
After he was done, he presented the vials to the others with a smile. "There, I collected all I came here for; we can now leave."
They didn't say anything and just looked at Lucian with disgust. Even Annabeth had a look of complete disappointment.
"What?"
"You went too far, dude. I think we're all ready to go back to camp now," Luke said, shaking his head, while Thalia nodded in agreement.
Annabeth just looked at Lucian for a bit. "I don't think I can defend you this time, Lucian."
Lucian looked confused and lost. 'The heck? Since when did they grow all sentimental and stuff... Oh right, they don't know what he will do in the future. We have different perspectives on this. On my end, I just see him as someone who will bring harm and put us in danger in the future, but to them, I look like a psychopath tormenting a man who's already suffering without any remorse.'
Lucian let out a sigh of annoyance before ruffling his hair. 'What a pain in the ass, the curse of meta-knowledge... Sigh, it doesn't matter much now; I already have all the ingredients I need to create the potion I need.'
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A/N: imma be honest, I'm a little surprised no one found out where I was going with this, I thought at least 1 person would have gotten it 😅🤷♂️