Kronos (Book One)

Dancing 101

People hustle and bustle through a clothing shop in Athens. Drachma passes hands while mutters fill the air of Theseus' presence. A little boy waves at him which he returns.

Theseus picks up a dark blue dress that is backless. "I think this one will go great with your eyes," he tells Ariadne.

She shoots him a playful look. "And you want to look at my back as well."

"That's just a bonus," he smirks.

He looks over at Medea to make sure she doesn't try anything to Bellero. So far so good.

"They don't have anything that I like. I will go next door," the witch tells them.

Bellero looks over the many designed tunics and pinches a light blue one with golden vertical stripes. Yet, he can't hide the sadness in his darkened eyes. Would anything actually-

"Brother, do you need help?" Theseus interrupts his thoughts.

Bellero drops the cloth. "I-I'm always used to wearing my regular clothes. What are you going to wear?"

"A dark blue tunic and Ariadne will match me color wise. Tell me what you're thinking."

"I like blue, but...I think that no matter what I wear, things won't change."

"What do you mean?"

He then notices one of the staff members has removed the cloth that Bellero just touched.

"Excuse me, ma'am. You can leave that here," Theseus clearly announces.

"I'm so sorry. I will leave it here then."

She gives the cloth to him. Theseus sees a tailor and waves to him for help.

The man smiles after recognizing him. "Hello, Prince Theseus! Have you picked out an outfit?"

"I'm good. My brother needs help with picking a color that suits him."

Bellero turns his face away, knowing what to expect.

"I'm so sorry, sir. I'm quite busy at the moment."

"Stop lying. There's only a few people here. Why won't you serve my brother?" The demigod raises his voice.

Ariadne comes out of the changing area after hearing her husband's voice. "What's wrong?"

"L-Let me get the manager. He will explain why."

"No need. I know why. Is it because of what he is?"

The manager is heard from a distance because he's afraid of Theseus."I-It's not our fault he leaves a fishy smell on everything he touches."

Theseus holds back his aura from the lie. "Ariadne, Bellero. We can forget about this place."

"Don't let me stop you from getting clothes. I can just wait-"

"No. If they won't serve you, then I'm not buying. We're leaving."

Ariadne throws the dress on the table to leave with them.

Theseus points to another store. "Let's try-"

Bellero grabs his wrist. "Stop, brother! Just......stop. I won't be accepted anywhere. I'm used to it."

He leads them to an alley where he can show them something. His aura comes out to reveal to Theseus and Ariadne a glimpse of what he had to grow up through. 13 years old, when he first manifested his fish-like body.

A girl around his age jumped into a deep river to escape the wild boar. The young Bellero trapped the creature with some fishing line but didn't see his friend. Parts of her fingers above the surface had him dive right in.