POINT OF VIEW: DYLAN
Tuesday, November 1, 2028.
Carlasco = Around 03.00 A.M
Greece = Around 12.30 P.M
It never came to Dylan's mind that there would be witnesses. What's worse was they most likely had recorded everything, judging from how they held up their phones. Seeing them suddenly run away, Dylan raised his right arm, frantically muttering 'no' at the same time. Good thing Athena pursued and eventually managed to stop them. Afraid they might get the chance to run away again, he sprinted towards them.
"They're just drunks passing through here," Athena explained as soon as Dylan reached her.
"Did they ever run on the main path there?" Dylan asked as he pointed at the road connecting the two entrance/exit gates.
"No, they just ran here."
"Good. It means the CCTV would not record them escaping," Dylan looked back at the two drunks, simultaneously readjusting his breathing rhythm. "Now we have to check their phones."
"Why should we check their phones?" Athena asked as she raised her eyebrows.
"Because they possibly have recorded us."
"Hey, who are they?" Heracles asked after he and Hephaestus arrived.
"Some random drunks," Athena said.
"We really have to check their phones now!"
"Check their phones?" Hephaestus responded confusedly.
"Dylan is worried they have recorded us."
"Ah, I get it," Hephaestus said. "It will cause unnecessary commotion if we don't handle it."
Athena shifted her attention back to the two men. "Hand over your phones," she said as she placed her sword between them again. Having knelt down since Athena stopped them, the sword was right beside the two men's ears. Without hesitation, they unlocked and handed their phones.
Like Dylan had expected, there were several videos capturing the battle between Athena, Heracles and the Draugrs. After he permanently deleted them, he checked the notification list, searching for any videos or photos uploaded. Once he was convinced there were no uploads at all, he handed the phones back to the two men.
"We're safe now," Heracles said.
"Not yet," Dylan shook his head. "We now have to make them forget everything they see."
"Dylan," Heracles said. "No one will believe their story."
"Furthermore, they're half-drunks," Hephaestus added. "Without evidence, everyone won't take them seriously."
"It's still not enough. We really have to ensure they forget everything."
"How, Dylan?" Heracles asked. "You're not suggesting we kill them, aren't you?"
"Please! Please don't kill us!" One of them suddenly begged. "We won't tell anyone about it."
"We're not murderers," Hephaestus said to the two men. "So don't worry, we won't kill you."
"Do you have anything that can make people forget?" Dylan asked. "I mean ... back in Olympus? Something like a drug or Hephaestus' device?"
"I never created such a device. And as far as I know, we don't have such a drug in Olympus."
"I have something that can make them forget," Athena suddenly said. She then opened her left palm, a ball the size of a ping-pong ball then materialized and floated above it. Immediately Dylan realized that it was the sphere of Lethe, extracted by Voulos from Hera's head. He wondered how he could forget that the very thing he needed was in Athena's possession.
"We can use this to make them forget everything."
"That won't work, Athena," Hephaestus said. "This whole sphere will make someone forget everything about himself, just like what happened to Hera. Furthermore, there's only one sphere, while we currently have two witnesses."
"We won't use one sphere for one person. We can use Voulos to scrape two tiny pieces. Probably the size of an ant. It will make everyone forget the event for the past five or six hours."
Hephaestus rubbed his chin and nodded a few times. "That can work," he said, before he took out Voulos' box from his satchel. When the automaton was activated, the two men were surprised. They even opened their eyes wider when it was scraping the sphere. However, when it jumped to one man's forehead, he and his friends turned pale.
"Don't worry," Hephaestus said. "It won't even tickle."
Voulos put one piece into the forehead and it was absorbed. The man suddenly stopped shuddering; his stare turned blank. Looking at him, the friend became terrified and dropped his bottom to the ground. He then attempted to drag himself away. However, Heracles blocked his way by quickly standing on his path. The man raised his head, looking at Heracles who was smiling at him. At that moment, Voulos managed to land on his forehead.
The man showed the same reaction after the tiny piece sunk into his forehead. Voulos then jumped back to Hephaestus' palm, and the Smith god stored it back into the box. Turning to Dylan, he said, "Now everything's been handled."
"It will surely work, right?"
"You've seen what the sphere can do to Hera, haven't you?" Hephaestus asked confusedly.
"I have," Dylan nodded. "I just want to ensure that they will completely forget everything."
"They will forget everything," Hephaestus said. "We guarantee it."
Dylan sighed in relief.
"Let's clean the Draugrs' remains now," Athena said. "After that, we should immediately go home. If not, we might have to scrape more pieces from the sphere."
"I agree," Heracles nodded. "Let's do it now."