Kronos (Book One)

Relief

Nov 16th, 6am Gaia

A pillar whooshes through the air. A jab of green energy breaks it into chunks. The mountain textured hands touch the ground for a pillar to hit Takashi in the gut. He stops himself from coughing to fire off an aura beam. Echo deflects it into the air. Heavy breaths are exchanged between the two followed by the nymph's clapping.

"Great job!"

Takashi smiles from the progress of his energized form. After an intense workout with Heracles, he skips his recovery period and eats a nutritious breakfast. The strong demigod brings up a reasonable question.

"There has to be a faster way for you to say that. What if you get cut off mid-sentence?"

Taki nods his head, realizing he's right. "Fast forward" can be interrupted before the last syllable leaves his lips.

"Maybe a shorter word? Like skip?" Echo suggests.

"I tried that, but it didn't work.... Hmmm. Let's try this." He places his hand over his chest. "Zone. FF."

His watch clicks and his body vibrates like last time. They all smile from the shortcut.

"Play." Taki's body and heart settle down. "To think I have gotten this far. I could master this ability to defeat Poseidon."

"Now, now. Let's run before we sprint into bad decisions," Echo wags her rocky finger.

Taki laughs. "Right. Has there been any word from Artemis?"

"Not yet. But I wonder who else will be in the tournament. Do you think Narcissus would be there?" Echo brings up.

"I would think so to get his wish," Heracles answers.

She remembers that Narcissus would marry her after reaching his goal. If he wins, then he will obtain his dream wish. However, she believes that he can reach his goal without winning the tournament. Takashi being home is her top priority.

Bark! Bark!

One of Artemis' dogs, a black and brown Greek harehound, jumps out of the bushes towards Echo. She gives him a belly rub before taking the note with Hephaestus' totem.

According to Artemis' scroll, Athena hasn't told her what kind of games will be played. And also that there are two unfilled seats as judges with the identities unknown.  Hephaestus' totem is there so Takashi can request a special made weapon or armor. The next section grabs their attention: the team of Narcissus, Bellerophon, and Theseus headed by Medea.

Echo is mostly happy that her future husband is in good hands. However, Heracles' face twitches upon hearing the witch's name. A name he wanted to forget.

"There's also a long list of demigods, but one name popped out to me. Orpheus. Ask uncle if he knows his story. He's not known as a fighter, but Apollo taught him. His music is said to affect the environment around him."

"So that means his music is a literal weapon. Penelope would love to have that kind of power," Takashi muses.

"To scream at people?" Echo jokes from watching one of her videos.

He snaps his fingers. "Exactly."

 After finishing the scroll, Echo writes back to keep her in the loop. The information settles in Takashi's mind, but some questions remain.

"...I think Penelope told me about Orpheus. It was one of the saddest stories I heard from her."

"What do you remember?" Heracles ponders.

He recalls that Orpheus unjustly lost his wife and went to the Underworld to retrieve her. Hades had challenged him to escort her past the entrance without taking a single look behind him. Unfortunately, due to doubt he took a look and failed.