Kronos (Book Two)

Oneira

A peaceful night passes through Gaia as the group sleeps in Demeter's home.

Although Hippolyta is snoring similar to a bear, she doesn't disturb the others. Echo had prepared herself for that sound by covering her ears with the dirt of her grandmother's floor. She dreams of the possible future with an adult Chrysaor. Feeling his touch again on her body excites the flowers of her crown to bloom and cover her face.

The snoring Amazonian dreams of her and Heracles meeting each other again. In her mind, the pair are having dinner to wish each other well for their lives. The hero's smile captivates her, but she imagines him leaving to be reunited with his family. With a beating heart of a drum, she lets him go. She never wants to see that smile vanish again.

Cadmus and Harmonia's arms are wrapped around each other, refusing to leave each other from their close experiences with death. Her blonde hair is draped over the torso of her dragon husband to serve as his blanket.

Scylla taps Charybdis' arm to let her know it's her turn to keep watch. The taller of the nymphs nods and sleeps near the wooden table of the kitchen. Scylla observes Cadmus and Harmonia's love. Her heart and mind are happy for something she wished she hadn't lost. The memory of being in that same embrace by Glaucus.

The immortal merman had visited Circe's island after discovering Scylla's beauty. The gills on his neck and a tail of a fish made Scylla mistaken him for an Atlantean until they spoke to each other. He recounted how eating a magical herb transformed him into an immortal that can only live in the waters.

Talking led to her fingers stroking through the sea of his brown beard. His muscular arms from swimming wrapping around her body.

His glassy hazel eyes peered into her cerulean irises. Lips looking to unite, but Scylla stopped him.

"I can't right now. My teacher wouldn't approve of this while I'm learning from her," her voice flowed like a pleasant stream.

Glaucus lifted her hand and kissed it. "I will wait forever if it means being with you."

The merman kept seeing her in secret when she was done with Circe's lessons for the day. She would tell him the magic she had mastered with glee. He wished to embrace her for her progress, but kept his hands at his side to respect her wish.

Unfortunately, Circe had peeped on their conversations. She wanted Glaucus all to herself, despite knowing his heart longed for her student. A wicked smile formed on her face from the plan in her head.

Dropping a horrible potion into Scylla's bathing spring is all she would have to do to ruin their love. Scylla's painful screams led Glaucus to the edge of it. His jaw dropped upon seeing his beloved. The nymph took note of the reflection and wished she was dead instead of being seen by her love. Her lips opened, but nothing came out. Her aura channels were severed to prevent any communication.

He sprung onto land to close the distance between them, but her new serpents lashed out in hunger. This single act lead her to run away from his voice that kept calling out to her. She kept running until dropping into a tight passage where Charybdis was active. Thinking she had no place to go to, she stayed with the whirlpool for all those years.

Some nights she would hear Glaucus calling out her name. But she never responded....

With Demeter's help, that could all change. Maybe I can be with him now.

A wisp of aura catches her attention while it startles the others out of their sleep. Takashi squirms while gripping the dirt with white knuckles. Black aura envelops his whole body. It isn't his pain they were feeling, but of someone else. Harmonia and Cadmus hold each other from the familiarity of it. Losing a child.