POINT OF VIEW: DYLAN
Thursday, November 3, 2028.
Carlasco = Around 11.15 A.M
Greece = Around 08.15 P.M
"Dylan," Mr. Konishi called. "You may have an earlier break if you've finished storing the new bentos on the shelves."
"Noted, Konishi-San," Dylan replied. He then finished stacking the cup noodles on the shelf, before he went straight to the storage room to take the bentos.
When Dylan started to arrange the bentos on the shelves, suddenly a large hand grabbed out one of them. "Hi, Dylan," the man greeted, making Dylan turn to him.
"Hephaestus, what are you doing here?" Dylan asked as he rose to his feet.
"What am I doing here?" Hephaestus raised his eyebrows. "Of course I'm buying food for my lunch break."
"Aren't you supposed to be ...," Dylan left his words hanging and took in his surroundings. Convinced no one was close enough to hear him, by whispering he said, "At Olympus?"
"This is my working hour. Of course I cannot be at Olympus at all time. Furthermore, I have asked for one day off last week. Surely it's irresponsible if I ask for another day off today."
"But aren't you supposed to take care of Apollo and Artemis?"
"Nike, Heracles and Nemesis have taken care of both of them. Athena also helped after you left for work."
"I see."
"I also have asked Voulos to update Apollo and Artemis' brain with English. After they woke up, with some assistance from the others, they would be able to quickly adapt to the new situation."
"That's great," Dylan said. "Anyway, I have to finish my job first. Wouldn't want my boss to scold me," he said as he scoffed.
"Okay, I'm going to pay for my bento first," Hephaestus said; immediately he left and walked to the cashier. However, just when Dylan finished arranging all the bentos, Hephaestus went back to him.
"Do you still want to take other bentos?"
Hephaestus shook his head. "Dylan, are you okay?"
"Am I ... ?" Dylan raised his eyebrows. "Okay?"
"Yes," Hephaestus nodded. "Yesterday night at the park, your gesture was strange."
At that very moment, Dylan felt his chest was hit by something.
"I understand that if we did not stop the drunks and deleted the videos and photos, there would be an unnecessary commotion. However, I sense something was wrong with you. Not only are you so eager to delete everything, you really want to ensure that the witnesses forget everything. Your reaction, according to me and Heracles, was completely exaggerating and strange."
"I have to get back to work now," Dylan immediately said as he walked past Hephaestus.
"I clearly hear what your boss said to you," Hephaestus said, causing Dylan to stop walking. "He said you can take an earlier lunch break after finishing all these bentos arrangements."
"Something just came to my mind. Better to finish it first before taking a lunch break," he said as he walked again towards the cashier table.
Suddenly, a woman blocked Dylan's way, startling him. Quickly he stepped back and bowed down his head. "I'm sorry miss, I don't know you're going this way."
"I purposely intend to stand before you."
Recognizing the voice, Dylan raised his head. "Medusa?"
"Hi, Dylan," Medusa said as a thin smile spread on her face. "Well, I think I haven't properly thanked you for the last time. Thanks to you, my life here now is far much better. I almost forgot I ever had such a nice life."
"You're ... welcome," Dylan nodded awkwardly.
"Medusa?" Hephaestus rushed towards Dylan and her.
Medusa shifted her attention to Hephaestus. "Are you Hephaestus?" she asked incredulously.
"Yes, of course," Hephaestus said. "We finally met again."
"So Athena has told you about me," Medusa said. She then looked back at Dylan. "Anyway, I'm actually here not to just thank you. I have something important to tell you."
"What is it?"
Medusa's smile reduced; the friendliness in her eyes also vanished. "Well ... actually I want to talk about it with Athena first. But after the recent tension between us, I think it's better to talk to you first."
"Sounds really important," Dylan said.
"It IS important. That's why it's better to talk about it in the back alley of this store," Medusa said; she then turned to Hephaestus. "As you're also here, I think it might be better for you to also know what I'm going to say."
"Okay then," Hephaestus said.
"I'll wait at the alley now," Medusa said, before she walked towards the front door.
After Medusa exited the mini market, Dylan said, "Do you think this serious matter has something to do with whatever we're dealing with?"
"It could be," Hephaestus responded. "Better we go there and figure it out now."
"Yes," Dylan nodded. "I'm going to grab my lunch first. Feel free to go before me."
"I'll wait for you."
"Okay," Dylan responded, before he walked back to the storage room.
*****
Konishi Convenience Store was attached to the food processing plant and a personal house also owned by Mr. Konishi. The alley where Medusa was waiting was just beside these two buildings. Mr. Konishi lived alone, and the plant also had noisy sounds almost all the time. Therefore if what Medusa wanted to talk about was something serious and definitely not for anyone to consume, then the alley would surely be the perfect place to do it.
"Yesterday I was attacked by something," Medusa said as soon as Dylan and Hephaestus stood in front of her. "It was a corpse-like warrior with a horned helmet."
"A corpse-like warrior?" Dylan and Hephaestus responded simultaneously.
"Does the corpse look like a dried mummy?" Dylan asked a follow-up question.
"Yes," Medusa nodded. "How do ...," she paused. "Wait, don't say you were also attacked by it?"
"Yes, we were also attacked by it," Dylan confirmed. "Heracles and Athena successfully handled them, while Hephaestus stood by to keep Apollo and Artemis safe."
"Heracles and the twin siblings were out too?" Medusa responded.
"Heracles was never dumped into Kolaseos," Dylan said. "It's because some people keep believing that he was real."
"How about the twin siblings?"
"Remember the device I once invented to pull out the dumped gods?"
"I do," Medusa said. "But the device always broke in the process, right?"
"Long story short, thanks to Dylan, I finally succeeded. That's why despite the long process, I managed to pull out Apollo and Artemis."
"You REALLY are something," Medusa said to Dylan. He responded with only a nod, as he had no idea whether he should be proud or burdened with his unique ability.
"I would like to ask more about the upgraded device," Medusa said to Hephaestus. "But for now, let's get back to this mummy. Do you know anything about it?"
"I do," Hephaestus nodded. "This mummy was from a Scandinavian folktale. The name was Draugr."
"Draugr?" Medusa responded confusedly. "I really never heard about it."
"That's because we were never allowed to cross to their lands," Hephaestus said. "Anyway, what did you do to this Draugr?"
"I tried to petrify it, but I failed," Medusa said. "Probably because the dried skin and flesh could not be changed into a rock."
"How did you handle it then?" Dylan asked.
"I beheaded it," Medusa said. "But this mummy didn't die. The eyes and the jaw were still moving, even after a few minutes had passed."
"Draugr is the type of an undead warrior. But that does not mean it cannot be stopped permanently. Once we disable them from attacking us, we need to locate some kind of flesh inside their body."
"Some kind of flesh?" Medusa responded confusedly.
"I can't really say I recognize the flesh. But one thing for sure, once we locate it, we need to crush it. That way, the Draugr will no longer be an undead."
"Where is this flesh?" Medusa asked. "I stepped onto the head, but the body was still moving."
"The location is random. Probably the creator didn't want Draugrs to be easily defeated."
"That is surely troublesome," Medusa said as she shook her head.
"Medusa ...," Dylan said. "You didn't manage to kill the Draugr. What did you do with the remains then?"
"They disintegrated into sands."
"Disintegrated into sands?" Dylan responded confusedly.
"Not something strange, but it sure takes me by surprise," Hephaestus said as he nodded a few times. "What happened after that?"
"The piled sands moved by its own into an alley not far from me. I followed them, and they unexpectedly entered a car's exhaust."
"A car's exhaust? Do you recall what the car is?"
"A red BMW sedan," Medusa said. She then proceeded by telling the numbers carved on the car plate.
Hephaestus nodded a few times. "It's now 100% confirmed that William Philips sent the Draugrs," he said as he rubbed his chin. "I couldn't be wrong because this car is the one he drove when he first came to my shop."