How This Happened?!

Chapter 29 - Swap Back

Hecate didn't expect Athena to come back with that bad mood.

He had left him alone for several hours, probably to blow some anger and pressure. Not that Hecate minded much, he was used to the solitude and stuff, though having company once in a while was something that he enjoyed. At the moment, the silence was necessary, as he was trying to brew the 'antidote' that everyone was dying to have.

Hecate didn't know if to congratulate his child for writing a famous book about wizards or to scold her for revealing secrets that should had been kept, well... secrets. Obviously, he couldn't completely blame the girl, as her imagination and family influence helped a little. Otherwise, if she was a bad writer, she'd not had been successful.

"Why this has to be the most difficult brewing ever...?" he moaned, watching the pieces of the ingredients. They made him look so mean and bad! "Hears of a red panda..." he winced when he dropped the ears into the cauldron "What else? Oh, whiskers of a harp seal... Spikes of a African Pygmy hedgehog... They're are soooo cute!" he squeaked, before stopping and looking around. Good, no one heard that "Um, tusk of a baby elephant... Tiny and wet nose of a koala... Oh! And what more cute and adorable than eyes of a puppy!" he squealed, again.

This time, he was heard.

"Why are you squeaking and squealing about?" Athena's voice came from behind, surprising Hecate, who dropped the rabbit's paws that he was holding inside the cauldron.

"Athena! Have mercy!" Hecate complained, placing a hand over his heart. It was a habit he got while spending time with mortals "Don't scare people like that!"

"That doesn't answer my question" Athena pointed out, serious. Though, if Hecate had paid a little more attention, he would had seen that his face also had a little of disgust and discomfort.

"I know that doesn't answer your question. I'm just scolding you about surprising people who are working" Hecate continued, trying to distract him from asking why he was behaving the way he was "Why the sour face? Training wasn't enough?" Athena stared at him, like if he was insane, making Hecate roll his eyes "You left your research, remember? I assumed you were in the arena, venting your troubles away..."

"Th- The arena?" Athena stuttered, gaining the attention of Hecate, who raised an eyebrow "It was fine..." he finished. Hecate kept his eyebrow up, but that didn't mean he was satisfied with that answer. He let it slide for this time, as he had more important things to take care of "Stop distracting me!" Athena suddenly shouted at him.

"Me? Distracting you? Distracting you from what?" Hecate wondered, not understanding his sudden outburst.

"The cauldron. The rabbit's paws"

Busted...

"Well, you see-"

"No, I don't" Hecate looked at him, serious. Athena simply smirked back.

"I was thinking what I did in the beginning to create this mess and, I assume that that someone would learn the lesson behind the mess..." Hecate started, taking a deep breath. Giving away his target would not do any good, even though everyone knew exactly who his target had been in the beginning "So, I began thinking, 'what if I do the opposite method...?'" Athena gasped, immediately understanding his train of thought.

"Reverse mechanics..." he mumbled, earning a smirk from Hecate as reward "Was it that simple?" At that point, Hecate shrugged.

"I was adding parts of animals that were cute... I felt so bad about it! That's why you heard me squeak and squeal around... I was disappointed at myself..." Hecate admitted, slumping his shoulders down. Athena sighed and patted one of them.

"So, everything is ready for the change? All we have to do is wait?"

"Not quite... I still have to say the incantation..." he informed him, scratching his chin "I made it up last time, so I guess I should find an appropriate one this time around..."

"What are you suppose to say?"

"I don't know, maybe something like... Oh! I know!" Hecate turned towards the cauldron and began to stir the mix, smiling "Make my mistake go away, the lesson has been learnt... Show us the power behind forgiveness and that everyone mind its own business..."

Athena watched how the mix inside the cauldron turned into a different color that previously was. He assumed that the incantation had worked, that was making effect, at least in the mix inside the cauldron. He was ignorant of how long would it take to make effect or if the results would be permanent or not.

Unknown to both Hecate and Athena, in that same that Hecate had come up with the incantation, someone else had began to realize what was the lesson behind the accidental and monumental swapping.

In other words, Hecate and Athena made the mix in vain, unknown to them.

"How long would you think it will take before making effect?" Athena whispered at Hecate, looking over his shoulder.

"Hard to say... Could it be immediately, or could take a few hours... Either way, we should keep this quiet, just in case doesn't work right away..." Hecate decided, sitting down to wait. Athena saw what he was doing and joined him.

Now, all they had to do was wait.

~oOo~

Question of the Day: I wanna apologize for the day delay, but my brother had left this morning to another city for a college trip and needed help...

Question of the Chapter: the Swap begins!! Who would you like to see switching first??