Kronos (Book One)

Reset Pt 1

Odysseus nudges Takashi awake. He covers his eyes as daylight shines on him. He adjusts his eyes to see the rest of the crew are getting up to leave shortly. King Aeolus is wrapping the winds into a closable bag with a silver cord before handing it to Odysseus.

"What's very important is that you need to be careful in using this. They are so powerful that a misstep can be dangerous. Don't release it all at one time. Point in the direction you want to go and release little by little. Best to tie it to your mast", he advises.

The king of Ithaca bows to him. "I thank you for your hospitality and help." The men do the same to show their respect.

The king's servants hand out bags of fruit and bread to the men for their journey. The men eat as they leave. They enter the courtyard and are walking to the main gate.

"Hello!", Karisa yells out from the balcony. The men turn to find her in green pajamas with her parents. She clutches tightly the plush bunny Takashi gave her last night.

"Thank you for the fun! Be safe!", she waves at them. The men wave back at her.

Takashi sticks out his pinky finger as a wave goodbye and Karisa does the same. "Continue to be a good girl for your parents!"

"I will! Tell your daughter that Aeolia welcomes her!"

Takashi is touched by her sentiment. It's sad that she doesn't know the truth of where he comes from. That this will be the last time they will see each other again. Still, he smiles at her and walks out the gate with the crew. He wonders if his daughter is going to be like her.

I wouldn't mind either way because I would still love her.

They head back down to the ship and tie the bag of winds to the mast. Odysseus makes sure to inform the crew to avoid a big mistake that Takashi had mentioned. The rest of the crew takes him seriously as he also nails a note on the mast as a reminder. They open the sails and get ready to leave.

"A final parting gift!", King Aeolus' booming voice is heard.

A large cloud of his face appears behind the ship and blows gently, pushing the ship out towards the sea. Takashi helps row the boat to get more speed. He later checks his watch and it's Oct 10th, 12pm in his world. He makes a voice message on his phone and finds he has made several over the past week.

He checks them and finds that he was recounting what happened before they reached Aeolia.

     "Penny, I found out that I'm in this world called Gaia. And you wouldn't believe this, but I'm here with Odysseus. The man you mentioned in your paper about Greek myths. He's real! He and his crew have taught me how to work on the ship and how to defend myself. They are going to get me to the Oracle of Delphi so I can be home again. I miss you, my bronze goddess. I hope you forgive me."

He "sends" a new message.

     "Hey, Penny. We just left Aeolia and we got the bag of winds needed to get to Ithaca. Home is not too far away. Just know that I will make up for the time I lost for you and our little girl. I love you."

After he's done, he walks over to Odysseus with a burning question. Odysseus tilts his head to the side to talk.

"Last night, you lied to King Aeolus about who I really was. Why did you do it?"

"You mentioned being dragged to our world, right? Who or whatever did that is unknown. It could be a creature or worse....a god. Aeolus is friendly with the gods and this might cause one of them to act if he mentions us."

Takashi considers that possibility and he might be right. The king and his family seem to be on good speaking terms with the gods with all the art he received from them.

"But why did I get pulled here? I didn't do anything wrong."

"I don't know. But the Oracle might. It's best that others know you as a student instead of being from another world. You will blend in easily that way."