Kara's POV
I tried my best not to look uncomfortable.
Nakasuot kami ni Dio ng terrarian uniform of some sort...
after that old oracle adviced us to.
Kanina lang, naghanap kami ng dalawang gigantes at pinatay sila. Saka namin ibinabad ang aming mga katawan sa kanilang dugo.
Kidding aside.
That would never happen and I would not want to experience the feeling of being soaked in monsters' blood. That's just plain weird and underworldly gross.
Honestly speaking, Trophonius made us rub ourselves with red berries from Themiscyra, the home of the Amazons. Ayon sa kanya, nakuha niya ang berries bago pa nawala ang isla sapagkat nagkaroon daw siya ng vision galing kay Mnemosyne na kakailanganin namin ang mga ito.
"Look." itinuro ni Dio ang direksyon ng iba pang mga terrarians na nagtitipon-tipon.
"You think we should go with them?" tanong niya.
Sumingkit ang aking mga mata habang nakatingin sa kanila. "No." sagot ko. "They're going to sense us."
"Let's just follow them from afar. Trophonius said they're heading to Olympus." suhestyon ko na tinanguan niya.
And so, we waited.
Pagkaraan ng ilang minuto, gumalaw na ang grupo ng mga terrarians at nagsimulang maglakbay patungo sa Mount Olympus.
We passed by a few giants.
So far, wala pa namang nakakapansin sa dalawang demigods na nagbabalat-kayo. Nilagpasan nga lang kami ng mga gigantes na nakasalubong namin.
Nagtaka kami ni Dio nang makitang tumigil sila at nanatiling nakatayo sa gitna ng dalawang malalaking bato.
After a few seconds, I came to realize that it was a portal. A kind of teleportation device that teleports you to the top of the mountain, I suppose.
"We should go." hinatak ko si Dio at tumungo sa mga terrarians.
Nakipagsiksikan kami sa likod para mapasama sa kanila. Because first of all, we don't know how this portal thing works and it's a good idea to blend in with them before others find us suspicious.
All of us started glowing and I felt my body catapult towards the sky.
Panandaliang nandilim ang aking paningin kaya napapikit ako.
The moment I opened my eyes, I saw huge buildings made out of carved marble and gold. Kumikinang ang mga istraktura kahit kakaunti lang ang liwanag.
Mount Olympus.
My eyes stopped at the huge temple-like building at the middle, surrounded by other pearly white structures. Kapansin-pansin ang kakaibang disenyo ng mga gusali dahil pinaghalo itong roman at greek style ng arkitektura.
The home of the Olympians.
Kasunod na bumaba ang aking tingin at napansin ang mga patay na halaman sa aming paanan.
The buildings are still majestic to look at but the surrounding air speaks for itself.
That for now, this is the home of the rebels.
"You okay?" tanong ni Dio sa'kin.
I gave him a smile and nodded. "I am. You?"
Napatingin siya sa mga gusali ng Olympus at umiling. "To be honest, I'm not."
He grabbed my hand and squeezed it gently. "But I will be.. dahil ikaw ang kasama ko." dugtong niya.
I leaned my head to stare at him. It wasn't an awkward stare, really.
Whenever he says something that makes my heart flutter, I am always reminded how special I am because of him. Nakangiti nga ako habang nakatitig sa kanya dahil sa tuwing nakikita ko siya, naaalala kong hindi ako mag-isa at hindi niya ako iiwang mag-isa.
If ever he does, then I'm going to simply throw my shield straight to his neck.
•••
Lumapit ako sa terrarian na nagbabantay sa labas ng silid kung saan nakabihag ang apat na Olympians. Takang-taka siya pagkatapos makita ako.
Without making any sound, I grabbed his spear and twisted it including his arm. He tried to scream but I tore a part of his cloth, inserted it in his mouth and used his own spear to stab him in the chest.
Sinenyasan ko si Dio na katatapos lang rin mapatahimik ang isa pang terrarian na nakakita sa ginawa ko.
"Bilisan natin." aniya.
It was easy for us to look for the room where the four Olympians are jailed. We just had to... interrogate one of the terrarians.
We pushed the door and saw only an empty space. No god or goddess. No furniture or anything.
We were greeted by nothing.
I blinked my eyes and revealed its golden tint.
Afterwards, nakita ko na ang apat na deities na hinahanap namin. Saktong nakatayo silang apat sa harap namin, all with confused looks.
"Oh. I remember her." the woman wearing a floral dress spoke, "she's the daughter of Athena-wait what."
"What are you doing here?" tanong ng isa pang babae. She was wearing a gold robe, diamonds and pearls encircling her waist. Her dark hair was tied in a bun with a crown of peacock feathers locking it in place.
I already knew who they were just by their looks.
"They will find out about you." sabi ng lalaking nakaupo sa sahig at nakasandal habang pinapatunog ang kanyang golden lyre and when he stopped playing it to stand up, he looked pretty much like how the myths describes him: athletic, young, beardless and golden-haired.
Tinignan ko ang lalaking nakaupo sa pinakalikurang bahagi ng silid. Nakapako ang kanyang tingin sa sahig.
"Zeus." I leaned closer and slightly bowed my head.
Inangat niya ang kanyang mga mata.
He looked at me with his eyes that had the same color as the sky. He had curly hair and a beard as pale as his skin. His clothes were torn exposing his muscular physique.
"Go back to where you came from." utos niya.
"You mean when we came from?" ani Dio. "We came from the time before the war and we have no time left to tell you the whole story so please, sumama muna kayo sa'min."
"Why would we?" kumunot ang noo ni Demeter.
"Because we're going to prevent all of this from happening." sagot ko. "We were sent to the future to erase it."
Natawa si Hera. "What joy do you bring us, demigods?" she asked with a hint of sarcasm, "What you see here is the truth, you cannot erase it."
I bit my inner cheek. I am getting very frustrated now. Baka kasi mahuli na kami ng mga rebels dito.
"We're not going to erase it literally... just.." I paused to think. "alter it a little bit."
Nabalot ng katahimikan ang buong lugar hanggang sa magsalita si Apollo. "Tignan niyo. Bukas ang pinto. We can go out! Finally-"
"No." tumayo si Zeus. "I will not allow this. This is against the law of destiny-"
"Destiny is at the pits of Tartarus." sambit ni Apollo. "Zeus, the fates are dead. Don't you remember?"
"I will stand for the fates." galit na tugon ni Zeus. "Death do not come to any god."
"But if we stay here.." nagsalita si Hera at halatang malalim ang iniisip. "then we are going to repeatedly kill ourselves."
"This is worse than death, Zeus." napatingin siya kay Zeus. "I have come to know that what they're saying is genuine and sincere."
"And besides.." lumipat ang kanyang tingin sa'min. "I can sense the presence of another oracle helping them."
Her gaze pierced through my soul and it actually...
hurts.
She can stab me just by looking and it's the first time I experienced this kind of power.
"Let us go then, Hera, Apollo.." sambit ni Demeter. "Let them lead us.. for once."
Napangiti ako at tinanguan si Demeter bilang pagsang-ayon at pasalamat na rin dahil sa kanyang paniniwala sa'min.
Napasinghap si Apollo habang nakatuon sa pinto kaya napalingon din ako at nakita si Eris na nakatayo sa labas.
"Escaping? Really?" humalakhak siya. "Aren't you too old and tired for that?"
Nabaling ang aking atensyon kay Zeus na tumayo. He stood with his head high, looking down to the rest of us.
Pati ba naman sa panahon na'to, nagawa niya pa ring iparamdam kung sino ang totoong naghahari ng Olympus.
"Let us go, other deities of gold, and you Eris.." he said without breaking eye contact with Eris. "Prepare for another revolution for I, the righteous ruler, am going to meet you..."
"in the battlefield." dugtong niya.
Dio and I exchanged looks after hearing what the god had to say.
Tugmang-tugma kasi ang sinabi niya sa sinabi ng kanyang anak noon.
But honestly, I hope there's no revolution happening again like how Zeus said it.
We just have no time left in this timeline.
If a battle ever happens, it should not be in this time and place.
And it should be a war we were destined to win.