Kronos (Book One)

Reset Pt 3

Takashi is wailing from his failures. Odysseus and the others check on him.

"Are you alright?!"

Takashi doesn't turn his eyes to them. He failed twice to save their lives and that thought keeps replaying in his head. Tears hit the deck like a downpour.

The crew murmurs what could be wrong with Takashi that he's crying like this. There's a feeling that something bad had happened, but they don't know what it is.

Eventually, Takashi calms down and he tells them everything: his time powers, the choices they made, and how Poseidon killed them all in both choices. The crew feels he was telling the truth as depression falls upon them. Will they ever make it back home?

"I failed to save you twice. I thought I could do something to change our futures, but something goes wrong! It's like Poseidon knows where we are at all times", he finishes.

Odysseus is quiet as he processes his words. He breaks the silence.

"Takashi, look at me. Look at me", he urges the second time.

Takashi looks up reluctantly thinking Odysseus is mad at him. To his surprise, Odysseus isn't angry. He looks at him the same way a father would comfort his child.

"I can only imagine the pain of what you're feeling reliving these moments. To see us die. But, don't think of yourself as a failure!"

"Why not?!"

"This information you told us is helpful. Isn't your job about analyzing data to prevent losses?"

A piece of a memory in Takashi's mind plays in which he told Odysseus his occupation and how it works. "But this is different! These are life or death decisions I'm dealing with. This is beyond my job."

"Even then, maybe we can make use of this data and make a different choice. You can do it."

The crew members join in. "We can't make it back home without you! We trust your decision! Let us know how we can help you!"

Takashi feels the encouragement and his attitude is more hopeful. It is a little bit of hope, but he will take it. "I need a map and something to write with."

Galen runs to get that for him. Takashi takes out his necklace and looks at the charm. He grips it tightly. Baby, please guide me. I need your help.

Galen returns with the map and a writing tool with ink. An idea pops into Taki's mind and he writes it all out. This flash of inspiration has him drawing things out so the crew could visualize what he's planning. It's not perfect since he's not an artist at all, but he doesn't care. The more he drew, things started looking better. This might work. He finishes and goes over the plan.

"This might be our best option. We will avoid the narrow passage and go into the open seas. I know that Poseidon is waiting out there, but what if we did this?"

He shows them all the pages and explains. The attitude of the Greek men changes with confidence in this plan. Odysseus, however, questions one aspect of the plan.

"But what about the bag?"

"You actually told me about that before. You can give me whatever you want as a gift when we get to Ithaca. Let's just get home."

"Alright, men! We have work to do. Let's put this plan into action!"

The men scramble and take down the sails to prepare them for the plan.

This will work. It has to.

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Back in California, during the two-day skip.....

Penelope tries to think positive while feeding her daughter. She hasn't been taking care of her hair so she puts it in a bonnet. Dark circles are under her eyes from the lack of sleep from the baby and the stress of her husband's disappearance. There haven't been any calls from her husband nor the police. Sgt Garcia and Gonzalez are helpful, but nothing has turned up from their search.