Rostris: The Hunting Demigod

Unfinished Business

     "Rostris. Rostris wake up. It's your mother."
     "Hm? Ok, I'm up." I don't struggle as much to lift myself up on the couch to see my mother standing over me. Hmm. I wonder why I don't feel as in much pain as I was yesterday. "How come I don't feel the crazy amount of pain anymore? Did Crius tell you about the incident yesterday?"
     "Yesterday? You were asleep yesterday. What are you talking about?
     "What are you talking about? How long have I been asleep for?"
     "Rostris, you've been asleep for a whole week."
     "What! But I need to get back out to defeat Ekho! Are you crazy!? How could you have let me sleep for that long?"
     "Because you have severe injuries. I also don't want you going back out. Or at least until you've fully healed. Your body has shown tremendous progress this week on its own because of you being the daughter of a goddess. Your wounds are almost closed all the way. I don't want you to risk anything."
     "Please, mom. The longer I wait, the more forests Ekho will burn down. She needs to be stopped as soon as possible."
     "No! And that's an order. You are going to wait at least another week before going out. You are going to stay on this couch unless you have to use the bathroom or need to walk around the living room a little bit. Crius can keep you company."
     "You are so unfair. I am an adult. I can make my own choices. Where is Crius by the way?"
     "I swear on the gods Rostris! If I suspect that you're leaving before the end of next week, I will bind you here with a spell until you've learned your lesson. I'm only thinking of you and your health. And Crius is in the kitchen. He's making you breakfast. His injuries have fully healed since his body took in the antidote that healed his burns and his arrow wound from Lynx."
     "Oh. Well that's good for him. Fine, I'll stay another week. But once that week is over, I'm outta here to finish off Ekho."
     "That's all I ask."
     "Good."
     "Good." Once we finished our brutal conversation, my mother left because of her other duties back at Mount Olympus and Crius walks in, perfectly healthy and fine looking, carrying a tray of fried eggs, toast, and turkey bacon. "You really shouldn't have."
     "Well, I need you to get back into a healthy state and heal faster if we want to take down Ekho. Plus, it kind of comes with the whole dating package."
     "Listen, I'm grateful for all that you've done, but you can't come with me."
     "I'm sorry I don't think I heard you correctly. Did you say that I can't come with you?"
     "Yes. You've already been hurt enough because of me. This is my fight."
     "This is ridiculous. Of course, I'm coming with you. And you can't change my mind. End of discussion."
Since when did I get to deserve such a loyal guy like Crius? I take him all in: he's wearing a grey long sleeve and navy blue jeans. He's shaved recently and combed his hair, so that his brown locks kind of sway around the eyes. Those forest eyes. I'm really going to miss him. The reason why is because I don't think I'm coming back when I finish off Ekho. "Hey, Crius?"
     "Yeah?"
     He starts to pick and eat at my food. "Excuse me but I thought those were made for me?"
     "Hey, you didn't take it. Here." He chuckles as he passes me my plate.
     I start to eat the turkey bacon and continue what I had meant to say, "Did you hear me and my mother's conversation a few minutes ago?"
     "Yeah. That was a pretty tough convo. I can tell that you're about to come up with a plan that doesn't involve listening to your mother. You're not that kind of person to be bossed around."
     "You are one hundred percent right. I was thinking we leave in a few days instead of wait a whole week, just so she gets the idea that she thinks I'm going to actually listen to her. And then we'll leave and get rid of Ekho."
     "But what about your injuries? Your mother was right about you needing to heal."
     "They should be better by then. Not fully healed, but at least it's something. Please, Crius. Trust me on this. You do trust me, don't you?" I look him straight into the eyes, so that he gets that I'm doing this for the right intentions and that I'm not worried about myself.
     "Of course I trust you Rostris." He takes my plate and sets it down, and then takes my hands, "Do you trust me?"
     "Is that a rhetorical question? It took me almost a week with you to trust you. Of course I trust you."
     "Then trust me when I say that I am never going to leave your side, through the thick and thin."
     "Thank you. Now give me back my breakfast." We laugh and talk for the rest of the morning. "Hey, I'm going to go to sleep again. Can you take Laelap out for a walk and hunt? Just don't take too long."
     "Sure thing." He kisses my forehead and calls Laelap. She runs up to him and they leave through the back door. I'm not really going to take a nap. I'm going to try to get back into shape so that I'm ready for Ekho. When I hear that they're all the way in the woods, I try to lift myself up from the couch, grateful that I'm a little better at that now than before. I pull one leg out and then the other and my feet touch the ground. Touching the furry carpet again brings back warm memories of walking on it. I move one foot in front of the other and am surprised at how much progress I've made with my body healing. I can walk a whole hundred feet distance without getting tired. Happy with that, I go to the kitchen to get a glass of water. I'm planning on having Crius take Laelap out over the next few days so that on the day we leave, I can surprise him with what I've been doing. After I drink a nice cool glass of water, I go back to the couch and actually go to sleep. I deserve it after all.
I wake up to the sound of Laelap bursting through the door and running to me. She's wagging her tail all the way to Canada, her excitement is so big. "What do we have here?" I smile as I see that Laelap is holding the fur of a Lynx in her mouth. "What would a Lynx be doing out in Foloi Oak?" I look up to see Crius carrying the dead Lynx, as well as a note. Of course. Ekho's annoying daughter Lynx. I can't believe she really sent a warning to us. She really thinks that a silly note is going to scare me? Make me quit? "What does the note say?" I ask Crius, since he doesn't really seem comfortable with it.
     "It says, 'You couldn't have just finished the job, could you Rostris. Well, that's bad news for you because I now know where you live. By the way, watching Hera try to kill you was the best thing I've seen in my life. It was hilarious when you were begging for your mother. I can't believe you had actually thought I'd give you the real location of my mother. If you don't stop trying to kill my mom, I will come to you and finish you off myself. Enjoy the Lynx.'"
     "I can't believe she tried to scare me out of this. Who does she think I am? I don't back down from fights. I'm usually the one to start them."
     "So what do we do?
     "We continue on with the plan. Hopefully all goes well and we won't have to deal with Lynx. But I'm also kind of hoping we do encounter her so I can finish her off too. Unless, you want to for that arrow she put in you?"
     "Leave her to me."
     I don't bring up that I'm also hoping to see Hera too. She needs to pay for what she did to Crius. I don't care about myself. Tomorrow we'll come up with ways on how we can defeat Hera and Ekho and locating Ekho. The day after will be preparation day. And then we leave to the end of new beginnings. We stop this mess once and for all.