Dylan King and His New Roommate Called Goddess Athena [1st Book]

CHAPTER 33

POINT OF VIEW: DYLAN

Tuesday, November 1, 2028.

Carlasco = Around 12.23 A.M

Greece = Around 10.00 A.M

On Sunday afternoon, the machine to pull out the others had finished, just like what Hephaestus had promised earlier. Dylan never planned to join the mission, but later he grew curious about the process. Plus there would be Ambrosia and Nectar, so he would not have to worry about getting tired the next day. In a few minutes only after he got the news, he informed Hephaestus that he would like to join the extraction process.

When Tuesday finally came, Heracles and Hephaestus went to Dylan's room, both were carrying a travel suitcase. The time displayed on the phone was 12.23 A.M when Hephaestus successfully opened the path to Carlasco Park. Stepping into the other side, there was no one anymore. The local government had forbidden anyone to sleep on the benches, plus the public toilets would be locked after 8 P.M. Therefore when Dylan and the others arrived at Carlasco Park, the area was practically empty of human presence. Filled only with sounds of wind, blown leaves, night insects, and the Halloween decorations that were still hanging there, he felt he was at a scene for a horror movie. Nevertheless, having encountered a giant monstrous dog that almost killed him, he wondered whether there would be any ghosts able to scare him to death.

Hephaestus led Dylan, Athena and Heracles to a tree, approximately three meters away from the door. Using the flashlight feature on his phone, he revealed a hole slightly larger than the size of a fist located at the lower part of the tree. After telling everyone that the portal was inside the hole, he placed the suitcase on the ground, followed by Heracles. Inside the suitcase carried by Heracles was the machine to pull out the other gods, clearly it had been fixed and covered with the material manipulated from Dylan's hairs. It seemed sturdy enough, hence Dylan hoped that Hephaestus' proposed theory would perfectly work.

Inside Hephaestus' suitcase was a different set of things. One was a metal staff with a golden pinecone as the tip, and some kind of ribbon tied below the pinecone. The other one was a harp covered with silver in the entire surface. Pointing at the staff, Heracles said, "This is Thrysus, Dionysus' weapon to attack his enemy, but mostly for growing grapes."

"While this one is the music instrument that belonged to Apollo," Heracles said as he pointed at the harp. "He's the god of music, healing, and archery."

Dylan nodded a few times. "So, we're trying to pull out Apollo and Dionysus?" he asked. "And if we succeed, we will hand over these objects to them. Am I correct?"

"Partially correct," Hephaestus said. "We won't just deliver these two objects to Apollo and Dionysus once they get out. We will use them to attract Dionysus and Apollo."

"I'm not following."

"The previous version would just search for the gods inside Kolaseos," Hephaestus said. "But as you've known, Kolaseos has no corner at all. Therefore if we just let the machine search on its own, then it will be extremely difficult."

"Okay, I started to follow."

"With the new version, the search attempt will be made slightly easier. By taking these two precious objects into Kolaseos, each of them will output the signal that the owner will recognize it. Therefore the search attempt would no longer be one way, but two way."

"Ah! That could be effective," Dylan said. "But why did you only take two things? I mean .. isn't it better to pull out even more gods?"

"First, this is still a test," Hephaestus said as he took out the machine from the suitcase. "Secondly, other gods might not be pleased if I touch their belongings. Just imagine what will happen if I grab Zeus' bolt to pull him out."

Athena and Heracles nodded a few times, but said nothing. It made Dylan realize that Hephaestus was not bluffing or exaggerating. He then promised himself to often keep a safe distance with Zeus, if Hephaestus' machine finally managed to pull him out. At the same time, he also wondered whether Zeus' wrath would be as terrifying as Athena's, or whether it would be even worse.

"Now let us start the trial," Hephaestus said as he knelt on one knee and began pressing buttons on his machine. Before long, Dylan started hearing complicated machinery works coming from inside the metallic box. Followed by it were two metallic arms coming out from the muzzles at one surface; each had the thickness of a mere rope. There seemed to be some kind of hooks at the limbs, as Hephaestus could easily attach the harp and the staff on them. Dylan suspected that the limbs would tear the tree, as the two objects obviously could not fit the hole.

Unexpectedly, the objects became small, so small that they now looked like a keychain. After the limbs brought them into the hole, Hephaestus sat and crossed his legs on the ground. "Now we just have to wait," he said as he leaned forward and observed whatever was installed on the box surface.

Mere moments later, there were suddenly sparks coming out from the hole. They instantly blanketed the entire machine. Dylan was worried about the phenomena, but Hephaestus raised his hand when he intended to ask the god what it was. The electric blanket stayed for quite some time, until it was slowly absorbed by the machine. Throwing a victorious smile, Hephaestus said, "The manipulated material works perfectly."

"What do you mean, Hephaestus?" Dylan asked.

"In the previous version, when the spark came out and blanketed the machine, the machine would break in just a few seconds. Using the material manipulated from your hairs, it proves my theory to be working. Instead of the sparks wrecking my machine, my machine successfully absorbed them completely."

"Ah, I see," Dylan said. "Now we really just have to wait until your machine finds Apollo or Dionysus."

"Correct," Hephaestus said; he then shifted his attention back to the machine.

The clock was 02.13 A.M when suddenly Hephaestus exclaimed, "Smokes!". Immediately, everyone shifted their attention to the Smith god.

Red smoke flowed out from the hole. Moving to the left of everyone, it was solidifying into two figures. Everyone thought that they would be Apollo and Dionysus, just like what they had originally planned. Unexpectedly, it turned out that one of them was a woman. Dylan wondered who the woman was, and Hephaestus gave the answer without being asked.

"Artemis," Hephaestus said. "It seems she and Apollo were always together ever since they were in Kolaseos."

"Apollo was the one to be sucked," Heracles said. "But Artemis immediately grabbed his leg. Therefore she was also sucked into Kolaseos."

"We should bring them back to Olympus," Heracles said as he lifted Apollo and carried him over his shoulder.

"I agree," Athena said as she lifted up Artemis and bridal-carried her. "They look terrible."

"But what about Dionysus?" Hephaestus asked as he rose to his feet. "We haven't found him,".

"We could do it later. Right now our priority is to bring Apollo and Artemis back to Olympus."

"Mmm ... ," Hephaestus seemed to disagree. "How if I stay here, while you two bring them back?"

"It's up to you," Athena said as she turned around and started walking. However, halfway towards the door, some kind of mini tornado suddenly emerged from the ground. The dust carried by the swirling wind then solidified into the figure of a human, making Dylan, Athena and Heracles step back. Before long, a mummy-like figure had been standing before them.