บท 176: Daylight has returned...
Some time later,
Promise walked out of the temple, holding the small hand of the petite Goddess of Fate, Clotho.
Although she had resisted for a moment, in the end, she allowed him to lead her out.
Hecate tilted her head to look at the two of them, her expression changing as she quickly covered her face with a veil and and ran into the night as fast as she could before hugging the goddess of night, Nyx.
Clinging tightly to the ancient primordial goddess, searching for the warmth and comfort only she could provide.
She knew that Zeus was about to emerge from the temple, and in the presence of the King of the Gods, Hecate needed to feel that tiny shred of security.
And the goddess of night, Nyx, also touched her head lovingly.
It was mainly because Hecate really tried very hard this time.
In fact, it was probably more effort than she'd put in over the past few hundred years.
At the same time, Pegasus, who had already recovered, flew back and landed beside Promise.
The winged horse cast an accusing, almost resentful look at him.
Even Pegasus had been worn out by the power of that arrow, and it wasn't going to forget it anytime soon.
But before the horse could voice its complaints with a few annoyed whinnies, Zeus stepped out of the temple, following closely behind them.
As Zeus stepped out and looked at those people in front of him, who were still acting...ah, no, it was not really acting.
After all, it's revenge when there is revenge, and grievances when there are grievances.
Whatever...looking at the scene Zeus couldn't help but hum softly.
Soon after, thunder rumbled through the night as the king of gods Zeus unleashed his power and began to clear the field.
Promise, watching as Zeus strode away, felt more like an observer at that moment.
He found a spot on the steps of the temple, sitting down as if he were merely a spectator.
He sat down on the steps of the temple nearby and pulled the goddess Clotho to sit with him.
"So, Goddess Clotho, did you really see that future you spoke of?"
Promise was a little curious,
After all, hadn't it always been said that his fate was unpredictable?
Moreover, with great self-awareness, if she did see anything anything, he felt that it would be more like him accomplishing nothing and dying tragically.
"I did," Clotho answered softly but firmly, holding her crystal ball tightly in her lap. "Because I know that you will make sure I see that future."
'Whether he want to create miracles or to end his journey in the most gorgeous way,'
'Whether he wished to survive against all odds or to face death head-on,'
Clotho believed it completely.
Because he was Promise—the one who vowed to show her the most beautiful future.
Promise was stunned at first, but after he understood what she meant, he started laughing again.
"So… we're finally reaching that moment, aren't we?"
He spoke softly as he looked at the bustling Olympus realm in front of him, which was submerged by the sea, with thunder surging and the gods in chaos.
Looking at the scene, he couldn't help but be absent-minded for a moment.
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"Promise." After a long pause, Clotho broke the silence with a soft question, "Knowing everything that lies ahead… what are you thinking right now?"
Promise noticed that as she said this her hand had tightened slightly around his.
Even though she knew deep down that Promise wouldn't be angry or blame her for revealing his fate, Clotho was still anxious.
After all, no one enjoys the thought of knowing their moment of death.
Promise came back to his senses, looked back at her, and then chuckled and replied,
"I was thinking… I might be running out of time.
Without realizing it, I've found that I suddenly have a lot of things I still need to do. I need to see through the journey to retrieve the Golden Fleece with everyone.
I need to change my teacher's fate.
And there are still so many paintings left to complete… I wonder if I'll have time to finish them all."
Knowing his own fate, Promise was filled with both anticipation and a bit of nervousness.
As soon as Promise finished speaking, Clotho looked at him with a firm resolution and said, "You will accomplish it all. After all… I've been watching over you this entire time."
And so, the chaotic battle among the Olympian gods finally came to an end.
Zeus suppressed everything with thunder, and what made him speechless was that these guys actually got angry while fighting and making noise.
Apollo was chasing Hermes all over the place, Hades and Poseidon both had bruises and swollen eyes, and Queen Hera was tied up again with a look of despair on her face.
No matter how hard she struggled, Hera was bound to the chair, completely immobile.
Not only did Hestia not help... No, she was helping, but she was helping the goddess of beauty and Hephaestus.
She helped to hold Hera down and even blocked her mouth.
She just stood there watching Hera, who couldn't even scream, and was laughing so hard that her body was shaking.
As the chaos settled, the final moment of this divine drama was marked by Promise, who, floating in the sky, took out his paintbrush.
Under the gaze of the gods, he began to paint the scene that had unfolded before them.
In the painting,
Poseidon, the god of sea, stood tall with his trident, commanding the sea to flood the entire realm of Olympus.
.
.
.
The gods were in disarray, caught up in their personal quarrels, while the night sky loomed overhead. Yet, in the sky, both the sun and the moon coexisted, their overlapping light casting a strange and beautiful glow over the chaotic scene.
However, the flawless Goddess of Wisdom, Athena, was absent from the painting.
So, when the sea water receded from the realm of gods, the goddess of night Nyx finally left with Hecate contentedly, and the sun rose again.
The sun god, Helios, appeared, looking confused as he replaced the night with daylight, bathing the world in sunlight once more.
Nearby, Athena, having thoroughly beaten Ares into unconsciousness and vented her frustrations, returned to Promise's side.
She glanced at Clotho, who sat beside Promise, cradling her crystal ball, but said nothing.
Instead, Athena quietly sat on the other side of him.
"It's time for you to leave," she said softly. "Now that Hecate has gone, the blessings she placed on you will soon fade."
"Yes," Promise nodded in agreement. "And please, don't do something like this again."
"...Alas."
Athena sighed deeply at his words.
Her expression shifted between exasperation, amusement, and a hint of irritation as she responded in a soft voice, "Alright, I understand, you reckless fool."
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.
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"Daylight has returned."
Standing on the deck of the Argo, the ship that symbolized the glory and adventures of heroes, the beautiful huntress Atalanta gazed at the rising sun, her saintly green eyes reflecting its light as the sea breeze blew through her hair.
Before Promise and the gods embarked on their journey to the Olympus realm, Nyx, the Goddess of Night, had made a declaration: until the king of gods, Zeus was rescued and the goddess of wisdom was Athena defeated, the sun would not rise.
And when the divine realm was in chaos, the Goddess of Night had covered the entire divine kingdom with her power, thus preventing the destructive divine from spilling into the entire world.
However, because of all this, the mortals on Earth had no idea what had happened over the past few days.
Many speculated whether the sun god, Helios, had simply dozed off and forgotten his duty.
Countless people had prayed to the sun god, urging him to return and shine upon the world once more.
In fact, the sun god Helios had been listening to the prayers of these creatures, but there was nothing he could do, so he just lowered his head and pretended not to hear.
This was all the reason why, when the chariot of the goddess of night, Nyx, briefly passed by during the transition between day and night, the look cast by the sun god was full of resentment.
But of course the goddess of night didn't care about such a small matter. Even after she took Hecate back to the underworld, the corners of her mouth were still upturned.
After everything that had transpired, particularly with Hecate's involvement, the ancient goddess's fondness for Promise had increased considerably.
"Yes, it has finally returned,"
The great hero Heracles spoke, joining Atalanta at the bow of the ship, his gaze fixed on the horizon.
There, two steep cliffs loomed over the sea—a massive strait, split in two by the force of the ocean.
"That must be the Xenos Strait, the one the old seer spoke of, right?" Looking at the mountain that seemed to be cut in the middle, his expression became serious and he said. "It's said that the passage is cursed by a sea god, and when anything tries to pass through, the rocks will crash together, crushing all who enter…"
Though Promise had left temporarily, the adventures of the Argo's heroes continued.
After departing from the island of women, the heroes had quickly found themselves embroiled in another adventure, this time, saving an old seer.
The seer's name was Phineus.
Once a handsome young man, he had only recently become so frail and aged.
A few years prior, he had met one of the Fates and, through their encounter, gained the ability to see the future.
However, overuse and pride in his newfound power had led to a curse.
Not only did he become blind and age rapidly, he was also targeted by a group of ugly monsters with women's heads and bird-like bodies.
Although the monsters would not kill him, they would not allow him to eat.
Whenever he wanted to eat something, they would appear and take away his food.
When the heroes of the Argo found him, Phineus was nothing more than a skeletal figure, a shadow of his former self, starving and weak.
It turned out that those strange birds were actually summoned by Zeus to punish him.
He had already foreseen their arrival, knowing that only these heroes could break his curse.
Heracles, with his incredible skill in archery, shot down the monstrous harpies that tormented Phineus.
In gratitude, the old seer shared with them the last prophecy he had seen before losing his sight, one that foretold the challenges the heroes would face and the path they must take.
Now, before them, was the first of those challenges—the clashing rocks that threatened to crush any who tried to pass.
Only by navigating through this perilous strait could the heroes venture further into the open sea and reach the land where the Golden Fleece awaited them.
"Good thing the sun has risen again,"
Jason also came over at this time, looking at the strait that was about to arrive in the distance, and said with some fear, "If we had been any later, we would have unknowingly entered the strait and been crushed to pieces when the two cliffs slammed shut!"
As he spoke, Jason also praised the greatness of Helios, the sun god.
Then all the heroes followed suit and praised him.
Who knew that their voices this time would actually summon the sun god Helios, himself.
Maybe it was because the heroes gathered together were important enough, or maybe it was because this incident was so inexplicable that he really wanted to share and talk about it with others.
"You don't need to praise me," Helios said as he appeared. "To be honest, I have no idea what really happened either. The primordial Goddess of Night, Nyx, suddenly cast the world into darkness and flew off with the gods to Olympus."
"There were several major gods among them, including goddess of beauty, Aphrodite, the moon goddess, Artemis, Hermes, and Ares… and the god of war Ares... and when they arrived, the goddess of night Nyx completely shrouded the kingdom of God."
"For days, something terrible seemed to be happening in the realm of the gods. It wasn't until just recently that things finally settled down…"
After saying this, without waiting for anyone to ask, Helios ascended back into the sky, feeling much better, leaving behind the heroes who were looking at each other in bewilderment after hearing such shocking news.
Atalanta, standing off to the side, raised her eyebrows slightly, deep in thought.
She bowed her head, her saintly green eyes flashing with a mixture of hesitation and surprise, as if she had just realized something.
"Atalanta, what are you thinking about?"
At this moment, Heracles, noticing her expression, suddenly asked.
The latter lifted her head and met his furrowed gaze, responding calmly, "What are you thinking after hearing all this?"
"Uh… it probably has nothing to do with him, right?" Heracles hesitated, unsure of his own words. "After all, that's the realm of the gods we're talking about."
"Hard to say," Atalanta replied, crossing her arms. "Since he descended from the mountain, has anything that's stirred up trouble not been connected to him? Especially with those gods—don't they seem familiar to you?"
"Besides, how could it be such a coincidence? He leaves, and all of a sudden, things start happening!" Her voice carried a hint of suspicion, and Heracles couldn't help but waver after hearing it.
"What what?" Jason came over at this moment, and asked curiously and puzzledly: "What are you talking about?"
Atalanta shot a quick glance at him, then turned and walked away without a word.
Jason, left staring at her departing figure, felt dejected as turned to Heracles and said, "Heracles, am I imagining things, or does she really seem to dislike me?"
Hercules thought about it for a moment, then replied, "You're not imagining it. She really does dislike you. Remember who led Promise down from the mountain?"
Jason's memory instantly flashed back to when the heroes took turns beating him after he brought Promise down from the mountain, and he became even more sullen.
"But it was that guy who wanted to go down the mountain! Why does everyone blame me for it?"
"Because you were the one who actually brought him down," Heracles replied with a chuckle as he said. "Even though we all know it wasn't really your fault, you made it too easy for us to take out our frustration on you. Hahaha!"
Heracles laughed heartily as he walked away.
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