POINT OF VIEW: DYLAN
Monday, October 24, 2028, around 07.30 P.M
Dylan ran towards the door to the receptionist. However, when he was about to grab the handle, something was suddenly tossed into the surface, instantly astonishing Dylan and causing him to fall on his bottom. That something was a black glutinous object, and it seemed to be alive with its continuous throb. Swiftly it grew wider, blanketing the entire surface in less than ten seconds. Being aware that he would not be able to tear this object, Dylan promptly hid under the table closest to the door. Not the safest place to hide, he fully realized it. Nevertheless, seeing the giant dog had blocked the way to the second floor and it was even more risky to go to the toilet, hiding under the table was the best option in his hand.
The dog leaped towards Hephaestus. He jumped to the right, but the dog's right claws managed to tear his sleeve. The dog landed near the door, its huge feet wrecked the wooden floor in one step. Afraid the beast would duck down and smash the table, Dylan crouched out of his hiding place.
Hephaestus was placing his hand on the upper sleeve; blood soaked the torn area and his fingers. He looked at Dylan as he rose to his feet, and he mouthed, "Go away!". As the dog was now far from the stairs, Dylan sprinted towards it. Unfortunately, something hit his back hard; he squealed in pain. He felt something was glued on his back, and sensed that something was quickly making movement to every direction on his back. When he was able to see what that something was, he was made aware that it was the same glutinous object that had covered the door to the receptionist room.
"Dylan!" Hephaestus exclaimed. At the same time Dylan struggled as the glutinous object swiftly blanketed his torso. Eventually he lost his balance and slipped from the second staircases.
Dylan's panic intensified as the glutinous object kept moving like snakes on his body. He deeply wished Hephaestus would hurry to help him, but unfortunately the Smith god was blocking the sharp teeths of the dog with his sledgehammer. Dylan had no choice but to depend on his own strength to extricate himself from the entanglement. Unfortunately, he failed. The glutinous object eventually managed to cover his mouth and eyes.
Staring at pitch dark, Dylan still attempted to free himself. He could feel the hardship of breathing, as the glutinous object pressed his chest tightly. He then began to feel lightheaded, and keeping his eyes peeled felt so heavy.
At that moment when he almost lost his consciousness, something suddenly ripped the bind around his chest, allowing his system to breathe properly again. When he was wondering whether Hephaestus was the one who helped him, the object covering his eyes were also torn, making him realize that it was Athena who had just helped him.
"It's still throbbing, Athena!" Dylan heard the voice of Hera, showing that Voulos did manage to help her speak English.
"Use your dagger, Hera!" Athena exclaimed. She then sprinted towards the dog and somersaulted onto its back.
"Don't move, Dylan," Hera said as a dagger materialized in her grasp. "This is the first time I communicate with you as my true self. Cutting you accidentally is the last thing I want to do."
Dylan nodded, but the movement was limited due to the glutinous object also wrapped around his neck. Hera pierced the part below his neck. The attempt proved successful as not only it stopped throbbing, it also no longer grew. Hera grabbed the part above Dylan's stomach, attempting to rip it. However, all of a sudden the sound of something smashing a surface loudly distracted them. When Dylan looked at where the sound originated, he was made aware that it was Athena who was laying near the blanketed door.
"Athena!" Hephaestus exclaimed. At that time, he was still blocking the beast' jaw using his sledgehammer.
Athena groaned in pain as she tried to rise on her feet. It made Dylan wonder how big the strength of the dog was, that not only its toss wrecked the shelves heavily, the goddess' super endurance also did not fully protect her. Athena finally managed to stand up, and she grabbed her sword and staggered towards the dog. Dylan quickly shifted his focus to Hera and said, "goddess Hera, please just help them."
Hera stared deeply at Dylan. She then got up and turned to the dog. A lot of daggers materialized behind her; they were almost like a blanket with the shape of half a circle. Hera then spoke a few foreign words, instantly all those daggers lurched towards the dog, stabbing the beast in many spots. As black liquid started flowing from the wounds, one of the dog's eyes trailed over to Hera. The yellow iris and the black pupil turned pitch black, it might make anyone assume the animal was blind if they see it from a far distance. The beast suddenly threw its head to the right, dragging along Hephaestus who was still holding on to his sledgehammer. It then threw the head back to the original position, this time it managed to toss Hephaestus away to the shelves near the toilet. Hephaestus was more than twice larger than Athena and Hera. Seeing the beast was able to throw him away, Dylan could only stare with his jaw dropped.
Hera looked at Hephaestus for a moment, before she put her focus back on the beast. All the daggers piercing the beast body were pulled out and returned to Hera, automatically they formed the same formation as when they were first summoned by her. Again The goddess of Marriage spoke foreign words, making the daggers lurched and pierced the beast again. This time, the beast threw its head back and growled in pain. But then it looked back at Hera and snapped Hephaestus' sledgehammer into two with its sharp fangs. The shattered pieces of the weapon wounded the beast even more, but it seemed to not bother the beast at all. Growling once, the beast ran and bumped Hera to the stairs. Like what happened to the shelves when Athena was slammed against it, the stairs also wrecked, making Hera fall to the floor beneath the stairs.
Athena suddenly swung her sword to the beast' leg. Unfortunately, instead of chopping it, the sword was held probably by the muscles or the bone. The beast looked over its shoulder and growled at Athena. She grabbed the sword handle and pulled it out, before she somersaulted back. She then picked up a damaged table surface and manipulated it into some kind of steel shield. Raising up her shield and peeking over from the right side of the shield, she held up her sword.
Something suddenly smashed the jaw of the beast, making it fall to the ground. Turns out it was a ball resembling a bowling ball, with the size twice larger than it. The one who threw it was Hephaestus, and Dylan was convinced it was another mere object manipulated by the god. The ball hit the neck area, but it seemed the beast did not suffer any pain. It shifted its focus to Hephaestus and continued to growl; slowly it moved towards Hephaestus. The god immediately grabbed a torn book and manipulated it into another bowling ball. He was about to toss it to the beast again, when suddenly Athena distracted both of them.
"Hera! Summon back your daggers!" Athena exclaimed. "Hephaestus! Keep smashing the dog with whatever you can use!"
"What are you trying to do, Athena?!" Hephaestus exclaimed, his eyes still glued on the beast.
"We have to hurt the internal organs of the body!" Athena exclaimed back. "That might be the only way to bring down the enemy!"
Right after Athena finished her sentence, Hephaestus was stunned, similar to someone who had just received an enlightenment. He then nodded a few times and manipulated a shred of wood into another bowling ball. Immediately he tossed the two balls towards the beast, causing it to lose balance and fall to the floor again.
"Hera! You have to direct the dagger into the beast' mouth!" Hephaestus exclaimed as he ran towards the beast, something materialized in his grip at the same time. When he got closer to the beast, the object was revealed to be a beam that seemed to be made from iron, its size was similar to any common traveler's suitcase. Immediately Hephaestus slammed the object onto the beast' back, pinning it down and preventing it from getting back up.
"Hera! Summon your daggers now!" Hephaestus exclaimed again as the beast's struggle got even more ferocious. Athena promptly leaped to the beast and stabbed her sword near its belly. Gradually the sword became bigger, making the beast's growl of pain even louder.
Suddenly, all of the daggers were pulled out and hovered above the holes on the stairs. For the third time, they formed the shale of half of a circle. Hephaestus grabbed the beast' snout and pulled it up, as if he wanted to tear it. Grunting, he yelled, "Now! Hera!"
The daggers lurched into the beast' mouth. It growled in pain again; this time the growl was even longer than before. The beast then dropped its head onto the floor, before its body finally stopped showing throbbing movement.
Hephaestus knelt and placed his hand on the beast's neck. He then moved his hand to the chest area. A couple of seconds later, he looked at Athena, and then his eyes trailed over to Dylan. Standing up and attempting to catch his breath, he said, "We have finally killed the beast."
*****
"Urrgh," Hera groaned as Dylan and Athena helped her descend down the stairs. They then helped her sit at one of the chairs Athena had previously fixed with her manipulation magic. "What on Gaia's name is this creature?" Hera said as she rested her head on the chair backrest.
"I cannot say anything about it," Athena said as she sat beside Hera, on another chair she had just fixed. "Unless Artemis is here, it might take a few days if we want to figure it out."
"Is this beast not Cerberus?" Dylan asked.
"Definitely not," Hephaestus said as he sat on the floor after clearing the rubble and the wood pieces in front of a shelf. "Not just because the head is only one instead of three, the blood flowing inside the body does not have a single matter related to any Greek deities."
"And the real Cerberus must still be in Kolaseos," Athena added. "If the beast has gone out too, then the catastrophe would be more terrible."
"This beast already made enough trouble," Hera said as her eyes trailed over to the carcass. "Let's just hope Cerberus won't get out of Kolaseos."
"Could this dog come from Kolaseos too?"
"Most likely yes," Hephaestus said. "And I am convinced it was somehow related to William Philips."
"William Phillips?" Athena and Hera responded at the same time. "Who is he?"
"He is a mortal like me who has managed to build a multi-billion company in the world," Dylan explained. His eyes then trailed over to Hephaestus. "I know we've got the proof that Talaria is in his hands, but –"
"Wait, what did you just say?" Athena interrupted Dylan.
"Talaria," Hephaestus said. "William Phillips has it in his house."
"How did he have it?" Athena raised her eyebrow. "And why are you so convinced about it?"
"Because as the maker of the sandals, when I touched the wing, I immediately knew it's the real one," Hephaestus said. He then went on elaborating the details, starting from this piece of wing that fell from William's pocket, to his weird reaction when Hephaestus recognized the object, and finally to everything Voulos had reported to him. He also told Athena and Hera about the conversation overheard by the automaton, which concluded in the sentence 'More has appeared'. Instantly, Athena turned bewildered. "What did this message mean?"
"I haven't figured it out yet," Hephaestus shook his head. "But I and Dylan's first assumption was this 'More' referred to other gods or other magical objects like Talaria. However, after the appearance of this beast ... ," Hephaestus paused as he looked temporarily at the beast carcass. "It could be that more of this beast has appeared from Kolaseos."
"This is what I am going to ask you earlier, Hephaestus," Dylan said. "I know William is suspicious. However, we cannot just conclude that this beast was sent by him, right?"
"Dylan, after I noticed the wing of Talaria and William was stunned with that fact, we got attacked by a giant beastly dog that I am sure the modern common fauna book has never recorded. I am pretty convinced it will not just be a coincidence."
"I now agree with Hephaestus," Athena said. "I admit everything he said is still an assumption. Furthermore, it's still a big question on how this William can be related to Kolaseos. However, in any war we should always keep our eyes peeled on every small unusual thing. That of course includes the sentence 'More has appeared'."
"Correct," Hephaestus said. "We have to figure out this entire mystery, as it is related to all of us. We also have to anticipate if more of these beasts come for us again."
"Yes," Athena said. "When this beast kicked me to the wall with its right rear leg, I can assure you the strength of this beast must not be underestimated."
"I agree," Hera said, she was still weak but she was no longer pale. "The hit from this beast is so massive. The last time I received such a brutal attack was from Titan Hyperion."
"Titan Hyperion?" Dylan tilted his head.
"Still remember The Great War Titanomachy?" Athena asked. "Titan Hyperion was one of the strong Titans anticipated by the gods. In case you might have forgotten, Hera was one of the First Generation of Olympian gods. So for sure she was in the great war and was on the front line when the Titans were charging them."
"That is surely a long time ago. After marrying Zeus, I rarely went to any battlefield. Therefore receiving a brutal attack like that is surely painful for me."
"Your strength is not yet fully restored. Once you regain your full strength, an injury like this would not be a big matter anymore."
"Yes, hopefully it won't take long."
"We also have to be careful with its jaw," Hephaestus added. "And also that black object that covered the door and almost fully wrapped Dylan. If only I did not put my sledgehammer into its mouth, it might shoot more black objects to weaken us."
Suddenly, Hera groaned again. This time, she was holding the right side of her head.
"I'll get her a soda and a warm cloth," Dylan instinctively said. "I think a cold and sweet drink will be able to ease her pain."
"I will fix the stairs for you then," Hephaestus said as he rose to his feet and walked towards the stairs. After the stairs were fixed, Dylan sprinted to his room.
Five minutes later, Dylan came back with a can of Cola and a warm wet cloth. He first handed the Cola to Hera, and the goddess' reaction after sipping it was similar to what Athena expressed when she had her first Cola. He then handed the cloth and said, "You can press your wound with it."
"Thank you, Dylan," Hera said as she took the cloth. After rubbing it to her entire face, she took and released a deep breath. "I feel slightly comfortable now."
"Once your power has fully restored, then your recovery process will not take this long," Athena said. Her eyes then trailed over to Hephaestus. "We now have to fix everything here first. I wouldn't want Dylan being jailed or sent to police for this mess."
Hephaestus took in his surroundings. "Indeed we have to fix it now."
"Thank you, Athena, Hephaestus," Dylan said as he nodded.
"No worries, Dylan," Hephaestus said as he began fixing the wrecked shelf behind him.
Approximately ten minutes later, Athena and Hephaestus managed to restore every damaged object in the library. Hephaestus then approached the beast carcass and manipulated it into a small rock. "I will burn it before tossing it away," he said as he slipped the rock into the pocket.
"May I ask something?" Dylan suddenly raised his hand.
"What is it?" Hephaestus asked.
"This just came to my mind," Dylan said. "Is the fight going to be easier if you just manipulate the beast from the beginning?"
"It is going to be easier," Hephaestus confirmed. "The thing is, we need to fully concentrate when we're manipulating something. As the beast ferociously attacked us, then there's now way to do it."
"Ah, I see," Dylan nodded.
"This beast cannot be underestimated," Athena said. "If there are indeed more of these beasts, then we must make thorough preparations."
"We'll need more powers and weapons," Hephaestus said. "It's time we realize my plan."
"Your plan?" Dylan confusedly responded.
"We're going home to Olympus."