Octavius and the Unicorn
By Marcus Gibson
Thousands of years ago, in the gleaming city of Athens, lived a mortal named Octavius. Octavius lived in a small meadow outside of the glorious city of Athens. He and his father were simple farmers, but Octavius had always been amazing at hunting. It is said that once, he had killed a bear with a hoe from his farm. Octavius was very handsome, he had sky blue eyes that shone with pride, long blonde hair, and was very muscular. He had already married a beautiful young lady named Helen. Octavius was terrified of dying because he had the highest opinion of himself. He believed that he was more important than anyone.
One day, the god of bananas, the glorious Bananase, decided to stir up some trouble between the young mortal and the gods. Bananase was terribly jealous of Octavius’s great looks, so he created a banana like no other, the eternal youth banana. He put the banana inside Hornicu’s, god of the unicorns, son. Hornicu’s only son was a unicorn named Onceus. Bananase told the young mortal of the banana, and offered him a golden blade, so powerful that it was able to pierce an immortal’s skin. Octavius considered the idea of tracking down the unicorn to retrieve the banana. He accepted the offer of this quest. He gathered supplies for his journey.
“Helen,” he called,” I am leaving to retrieve the magical banana of youth.”
Helen replied to him, “You know that this unicorn you are going to track down is Hornicu’s only son.”
Staring at his wife’s concerned eyes, Octavius decided that he was too good for her warnings answered,” You live in fear of the gods. But I, mighty Octavius of Athens, have no fear of those pitiful beings!” he said jabbing his thumb at his chest. And with that, he left his wife, who wept for his terrible fate.
Octavius travelled for several weeks, meeting cyclops and other magical creatures that he killed with his skills in combat and blade that was bestowed upon him. Some creatures he had to face were the potatoes, like tiny cyclopes. Vicious creatures with one eye that were small but had inch long teeth that were covered in blood. He ran into a tribe of them. The potatoes captured him and took him to their camp. The camp was horrifying, there were human skulls everywhere, and there were people hung by ropes and chains from trees. There were screaming people being cooked over a fire. Just as they were going to cook Octavius over a fire, he cut through the rope and started killing them. He pounced on top of their tribe leader and threatened to kill him.
“Have you seen the unicorn, Onceus,” he asked. The potato replied, but he had a strange way of speaking.
“Yess,” he cried, kicking his legs,”Weess havess!” He told him to travel north of the camp. Octavius the cut the potato king in half and walked away from the gruesome camp of potatoes.
He finally came upon a small valley where he was gazing at the most beautiful unicorn he had ever seen. It was grazing in a field full of gold, and Octavius recognized it instantly as Hornicu’s son, Onceus. It smelled like honey in the meadow, and it urged him to fall asleep, as it has always had so that Onceus could kill his victims while they slept, but he knew this and fought against it. Octavius snuck through the tall grass and gold studded ground, and when he was only feet away from the unicorn, he jumped up and slammed into it. The horse hit the ground with a thud. But Onceus had nimble feet and was up again in an instant. Then he hit the mortal in the chest with a sharp kick. Octavius flew back and hit the ground on a piece of gold, leaving a huge cut in his back. The feeling of pain was unbearable, but the horse had come to trample him, so Octavius sprung up and ran. The horse was slowly gaining on him when he reached a cliff face. He ran to it, jumped and kicked off it and landed on the oncoming unicorns back. Onceus desperately tried to fling him off, but Octavius’s sword was already deep in the unicorn’s neck. The horse turned into a pile of gold dust. Octavius had found the eternal life banana. He could finally live without fear of death. He began his long journey home to regale the story to his wife.
Meanwhile, on Olympus, Hornicu was dining with her brother, Poseidon. They were tasting sweet flavored foods that had recently been made by the cook. But when Hornicu was in the middle of an unnaturally large and sweet strawberry, Bananase came sprinting into the hall. “Hornicu,” he gasped, “Your son, he is dead.” Hornicu’s face turned grim.
“Excuse me?” she asked.
“Onceus is dead.” said Bananase, still gasping for breath. Hornicu turned from him to Poseidon, who just shook his head.
“W-well I must bring him back then.”
“Well, you can’t.” said Bananase.
“W-why not?” said Hornicu.
“He is in Tartarus, Hornicu, you have no power over the ancient god Tartarus, and besides he has killed multiple mortal men, it is for the best” said Bananase, then he snickered, “I mean, haven’t you noticed?”
“H-he was just defending himself!” she screamed.
“They were trying to tame him!” he snapped back, putting the goddess on the verge of tears.
“I-I, but-”
At that moment, Nemesis, the god of revenge popped into the room as if she had a teleporter.
“So”, she said, “I hear Onceus is dead,” Hornicu was at loss for words. “You know, it was the fault of a pitiful mortal,” she said calmly.
Hornicu’s face became twisted with anger, “What!” she screamed.
“Yes,” Nemesis replied in a calm voice, “He was in search of something of great power.”
Hornicu turned to Bananase, “Is this the truth?” she questioned.
“Ay”, Bananase replied, “It is the truth.” Hornicu looked at the ground with hatred in her eyes.
“You know,” Nemesis said quietly, “I could help you have revenge upon the mortal, would you enjoy that?”
Hornicu’s face became a twisted smile, “Yes,” she answered coldly, giving Nemesis her hand, Nemesis took it and shook, “I would.”
Nemesis scaled up the massive Olympus on the next day and found Zeus on his throne. “Oh mighty Zeus,” she said with a bow, “There are some very lovely nymphs in the meadows that wish to speak with you.”
Zeus smiled. “Ah, whom do they serve.” he said.
Nemesis replied, “You oh mighty King of Olympus.”
Zeus got up. “Very well.” And in an instant, Zeus was gone. Hornicu zapped into the throne room.
“Thank you Nemesis,” she said devilishly. She walked toward the throne quietly. In a case made of gold next to the throne sat the lightning bolts. Hornicu quickly grabbed one and teleported herself back to her realm.
Hornicu glided through the air watching Octavius walk home. He walked with such an arrogant attitude it made Hornicu twice as angry. After two days of following him, she saw the city of Athens on the horizon. He held the banana in one hand, and in the other, the blood covered sword, like a hero. Hornicu was appalled he left the blood of a gods son on the blade. She flew in front of him, but still in the clouds. She hurdled the lightning bolt to the Earth, and it hit the ground with a tremendous crack. Octavius flew back like a ragdoll and hit the Earth with a thud. He did not move an inch. The god hovered down and flipped him over. There was a horrible burn on his chest and face, and his clothes were in shreds.
“You do not deserve this,” she spat in his face as she took the banana. “You do not even deserve this life, you belong in Tartarus.” she thundered. She made a noose out of thin air, and hung the mortal’s body by his neck with a chain made of steel. She left all the burns and the blood on his body as a sign that you should never defy the gods.
The news spread through Athens that Octavius had been killed by Hornicu. When his wife, Helen, heard of the tragic news she grieved. She did not eat for days and spent all of her time weeping at his grave. She never found happiness in anything ever again.
After weeks without eating, she grew pale and thin. Every time she fell asleep she dreamed of Octavius, every time she awoke, she hoped he would be there, but he never was. She died one day when she passed o
ut at Octavius’s grave.
The news in Olympus spread even faster. Every god was afraid of Hornicu. She walked around with an evil smile and looked at all the gods whispering nervously. Then one day she heard she had caused the death of Octavius’s wife, but when she killed him she had not known he had a wife. She felt horrible for killing two mortals. She went to her brother, Poseidon, and begged him to help him fix her wrong. “Please,” she said, “You need to help me bring this mortal back to life.”
“I thought you sent him to Tartarus.” he said
“Uh, well, he kind of is a hero, he has done too many good deeds.”
“Seriously?”
“Uh, yeah, he actually is a son of Athena, and he has lead multiple quests.”
“Wow”, said Poseidon, “That was a mistake.”
“Ok, jeez!” Hornicu yelled, “Just help me out, alright?”
“Yeah, fine.”
She and Poseidon went to the graves of Octavius and Helen. They were to bring the humans back to life with their powers. But that came with a catch. Since Octavius thought he was so good looking, they turned them into the strangest creatures that still lives on Earth today. The two gods each played equal roles in doing it. Poseidon transformed them into a type of fish. But Hornicu, to remind Octavius forever of her son, Onceus, gave him an enormous horn on his forehead. And from that day forward the creature was known as the narwhal. The two narwhals lived for a long time and it is said they still roam the ocean today, as a sign of Hornicu’s wrath.
Kinard Mythology Anthology Page 4
