Danae's Complex
Perseus 2 woke from his slumber unaware that a lioness mark now adorned his back. Perhaps because of yesterday’s events, his fatigue had melted away, leaving him feeling twice as vigorous and healthy as before.
“Did a bug bite me?” he wondered, scratching the persistent itch as he rose. From the corridor linking the house to the temple came the patter of running feet, and a girl burst into view—his younger sister, Atalante, with her striking blonde hair and sharp, cat-like green eyes.
“Perseus, big brother!”
“Atalante. Did you sleep well? Nothing bothering you?”
“Yes! I’m perfectly healthy! Ah, I was going to ask you first! You beat me to it again today, didn’t you?!”
“First come, first served, as they say.”
Perseus, who had risen later than his sister, praised Atalante’s diligence in handling the morning chores and walked with her toward the temple. He had not overslept, yet the women of this era possessed an almost excessive sturdiness, and nowhere was that more evident than in their work. As the eldest son and pillar of the household, he disliked how they finished the temple duties in a flash—led by his little sister and the servants—without ever waking him.
“I keep telling you, stop sneaking around and doing everything without me. I have hands and feet too; I can handle chores or cooking just fine.”
“And I keep telling you that the eldest son should stay put. If you poke your head into a place full of women, people will gossip about Mother and me.”
“………Tch.”
Men and women had their separate spheres. Atalante pointed this out sharply, and the morning argument ended in her brother’s defeat. After all, even well-meant words left him with nothing to say once they were turned back on him.
Perseus 2 scratched his black hair vigorously and glanced around awkwardly. Finding nothing more to say to Atalante, he looked for her to change the subject, but the temple’s greatest beauty was nowhere in sight, and a dull feeling crept over him.
“Where’s Mother? She’s not in the temple today.”
“Well, Mother is…”
Atalante’s lively face tightened. Perseus did not understand at first, but the raised voices drifting in from outside made him frown as well. That single clamor soured what had promised to be a pleasant morning.
“You understand now?”
“I understand all too well.”
“As usual, she’ll send them away quickly, so she asked me again and again to keep you from coming outside…”
“Hmph, I can’t do that. My adorable little sister treats me like the pillar of the house, yet you expect me to sit still for something like this? You have your own duties as a woman, and I have mine as a man. If that’s the case, then handling this is only proper, isn’t it?”
“Aaaah—!”
Atalante was left speechless when her own words were thrown back at her. A ten-year-old could hardly outwit the clever tongue that had won the favor of the Twelve Gods, so she trailed after Perseus toward the rear garden, unable to find a retort.
The rear garden, normally lined with tables for receiving guests, also served visitors of Acrisius III, the current king of Argos. The temple the Perseus family used had been lent to them along with the land by their royal relative, so there was nothing strange about it. The tables and decorations were accordingly splendid, and Perseus often came here to catch his breath. Today, however, the pleasant spot was marred by something deeply unpleasant.
First, men had entered with muddy feet, trespassing on land lent by the king.
Second, those men were raising their voices at his own kin.
Third, their expressions were utterly base.
Fourth, they demanded food without so much as a prayer, let alone any show of faith.
They had slipped in through the rear garden because the front entrance would have turned them away. Without the soldiers Acrisius had posted, one could easily imagine what might have happened to Danae. The sight alone was enough to bring raw anger to Perseus 2’s normally gentle face.
“I’ve come all the way from Crete! Please, at least hear me out!”
“I’m from Naxos—!”
“Hey, get lost, you foreigners! Courtship like this is for the locals!”
“I’m from Ithaca! I have a child too, so please!”
“Come with me to Thera!”
Perseus and Atalante stepped into the garden to find the usual crowd of suitors pressing their proposals on Danae, paying the siblings no mind. The most outrageous among them was the man who had brought his own child and suggested they raise it together.
‘Children… this is not the sight I want my beloved Perseus to see. Things had been quiet lately, but rumors about the temple must be spreading. Already it’s come to this… how troublesome…’
For Danae, today had begun as a joyful day. She had planned to glimpse the miracle the household god had left on Perseus’s body. She had risen before dawn, rested just enough to avoid fatigue, and dressed herself more beautifully than necessary. The result was radiant—yet all of it was for Perseus, not the fools before her.
“How many times must I say it before you understand?”
Danae was accustomed to such encounters and kept her anger tightly leashed. Sunlight caught her golden hair, and even her effort to remain calm made a striking picture.
“I am grateful you have come so far, but I have no intention of taking a new husband. I have always said so, and I will continue to say so. I do not know how the rumor started that I am seeking a new husband, but it is troublesome. Please return home.”
“But—”
“I will not be rude even to those who have traveled from afar. If you are weary, I will prepare a day’s lodging and meals. And if you have the time, a brief prayer would make me happier than anything.”
“Kh…”
She spoke her piece cleanly and bowed her head. The suitors looked away, swallowing their frustration; soldiers stood on either side of Danae, so none dared lay a hand on her.
“………? Oh—!”
At that moment one suitor’s eyes fell on Perseus 2. The fool who had brought his child to argue that he and Danae were both widowed pushed the boy toward Perseus and approached.
“Where are you going?! Do not lay a hand on my child!”
“N-no, I would never!”
Even at Danae’s sharp rebuke, the vile suitor compared his son to Perseus and spoke as he pleased.
“I-I’ve heard the rumors about Perseus 2! They say he’s remarkably clever and intelligent for his age. But even such a child is only two in number, and one of them is a daughter. No matter how bright he is, a boy his age must feel lonely without a male playmate. Why not take this opportunity…?”
Ahaha.
The man laughed awkwardly and pushed his son to stand beside Perseus. The boy was roughly the same age yet cowed, glancing nervously at his father before forcing a smile. He had clearly been warned in advance that such a scene might occur during the courtship. Perseus’s fury finally neared its breaking point.
“Stop forcing marriage talk on a child!”
“Shouldn’t we ask the child as well? You, what do you think? Hm? It must be hard for a boy to be alone in such a big place, right? Listen, if you accept me, you’ll have a friend your own age…”
The suitor reached for Perseus’s shoulder, attempting a friendly smile.
Smack—!
The man’s thick hand was slapped away by the boy’s palm. Danae’s breath caught in her throat; she knew Perseus’s temperament well enough to foresee the coming storm.
“H-huh?”
“You insolent wretch! You call me clever, yet you treat me like a wild beast that has only just learned to eat! Your words are polished but empty, like the forgeries peddled by swindlers!”
“Ah!”
At the same time he shoved the boy beside him aside and pointed accusingly at the adult.
“I do not know who you are or what you do, but you dare soil my mother’s firmly resolved heart with your urine and try to soften it! Then you puff up your chest and prattle as if you have a reason?! You are nothing but a beast that only remembers how to defecate on a flowerbed and cover it with dirt! If you wish to spread manure, find soil worthy of your level! How dare you cause trouble in a place like this!”
“W-what?!”
The man had been scolded and pointed at by a child, yet his face showed only confusion. Perseus’s eyes flashed with rage that this creature had come to court his mother, and he pointed again, shouting louder.
“You enter another’s home with muddy feet and try to lay hands on its greatest treasure! At least those thieves over there are better—they know their shame and keep their mouths shut, proving they are still human! But you? What are you?!”
Press!
Perseus jabbed his index finger against the man’s nose and shoved it rudely.
“Ugh?!”
The man’s face flushed crimson; he had never imagined suffering such humiliation at the hands of a child. He looked ready to strike, yet Perseus’s tirade did not stop.
“You tried to sell your own child like a beast to win a woman’s favor?! You disgusting piece of trash! And then you dream of building a happy family all by yourself?! Are you not ashamed as an adult raising a child? Can you still call yourself a parent your child would be proud of? Of course you are not ashamed—that is why you do such things! I will make sure every thief here carries the tale of your shameful face across the land! Whenever you hear your own rumors on the roadside, writhe in shame, you worthless fool!”
“Nngh?! This brat—! All that smooth talk—!”
“That is what I would say about your beard-covered snout! Every time it opens, it spews filth like the wanton lower holes of the women of Cyprus who have mated with thousands!”
“You—! To insult me to the very end! Fine! Let us see if that clever tongue still mocks me after every drop of blood has been drained from it!”
Whoosh—!
The enraged man raised his fist. He was no hero, but he had survived this harsh age. A thick adult fist that could easily kill if it landed wrong came crashing down toward the child without hesitation.
“Kyaaaaaaaah!!!”
No matter how adult Perseus’s mouth might be, his body was still that of a boy. The soldier at Danae’s side moved too late, and her piercing scream drowned out the wind of the descending fist.
To Atalante, watching from beside them, the scene unfolded like a nightmare. She feared her brother would be gravely injured once more. She wanted to leap like a hero from the epics and save him, but she was only a child; all she could do was flinch, crouch, and squeeze her eyes shut with all her might.
In that brief moment of stillness—
Light rippled.
“Mmph?!”
The first to utter a short groan was none other than the man who had swung the blow. At the sound of his voice, Atalante cautiously straightened and opened her eyes.
“Ah…?”
She saw that the shadow Perseus cast over her had grown enormously large—large enough to block the sun—yet it was accompanied by a light so bright it hurt the eyes, scattering around them.
Atalante would never forget this sight for the rest of her life…
A tall, handsome youth in black, grown to full adulthood, the lioness mark on his back glowing brilliantly…
The image of him gripping the attacker’s hand was the very picture of the hero she had always dreamed of…
‘Big brother?’
Even though the black-clad hero had appeared so suddenly, his little sister recognized him at once. The glowing lioness mark soon faded. The briefly adult Perseus showed no surprise at his own transformation. Instead, he faced the man whose face had gone slack with shock and roared with heroic force.
“Who—who are you?! Where did you come from?!”
“If you are so curious, listen well with those filthy ears! My name is Perseus 2! I am the descendant of a great hero who carries the blood of my illustrious ancestor! And from this moment on, I am the man who will pound the words ‘humility’ and ‘courtesy’ deep into your bones!”
“Hrk!”
Perseus’s fist swung. The beast in human skin let out a startled cry and staggered backward, but the hero’s thick fist—worthy of the title—struck his face far faster.
“Hrrruuuaaah?!?!”
Crunch-crunch-crunch! Thud!
With the satisfying sound of teeth shattering, the man flew over the rear garden, soared above the acropolis, and vanished from sight. His son ran after him, calling his father’s name in a young voice. The suitors who had witnessed the miracle could not close their mouths. Seeing a grown man sent flying made it clear none of them could possibly win against this opponent.
““““…………””””
A long silence fell as they wondered what to do next, until Perseus spoke again.
“Is there anyone else?! If there is anyone who wishes to learn manners from me, step forward! I will gladly beat the lesson into your very bones!”
Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud!!!!
The final threat shattered the silence, and the sound of fleeing footsteps erupted all at once. The suitors scattered from the garden faster than the wind—an undeniably wise decision.
*1) The women of Cyprus were harlots cursed by Aphrodite to sell their bodies to travelers. It was also the hometown of the sculptor Pygmalion. He disliked how promiscuous the women of his hometown were, and as the myth everyone knows goes, he ended up marrying the statue he loved.
*2) Temples are built atop hills called acropolises in the center of each city. The man struck by Perseus flew over the hill into the sky and plummeted to the ground, meeting his end without question.