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Cold hard ground. Grass gently rubbing on my legs. I think I'm cold. No, that's not it. I remember… not feeling anything. No warmth of the sun on my face. No chilling breeze embracing my frail body. Just… endless void.
How am I back in Asphodel? Did I… win? Did I lose? Where are my allies? Where's Apo?
Distant echoes permeate throughout the endless fields. Voices that seem like they're lifetimes away. Do I… recognize these people? Have I met them before? Or will I still meet them?
Suddenly, those echoes turn louder, until I'm surrounded by them fully. I hear carriages and carts wheeled around, people whispering and murmuring to eachother about their lives. I feel something round in my hand. Nothing heavy, but it jingles when I shake it. Then footsteps. Another jingle, like something metallic fell onto a pile of it.
I was a beggar… right. Or, I am… still a beggar...?
Did I even die? Were the God Games even real?
No, I… I remember walking the fields of Asphodel. I remember meeting Chronos himself… do I?
I remember meeting all these people, I remember being in this giant cave…
I remember the champion of Nyx taking down the champion of Artemis. What was her name… Pearl? Something united us… something important…
Haah, if the people could hear what I was thinking they'd call me insane. I mean… me, a lowly beggar at the streets of Ithaca, a champion of Chronos in a Gods' feud? I could be hung for daring to fantasize about something like this. And yet… I remember how Ithaca's sun felt on my face and this… is not it.
Something stood out among this noisy crowd. Faint footsteps, seemingly unremarkable, but something about them emanated an aura of trustworthiness and familiarity. Like I knew I could trust and rely on this person no matter what. The perky footsteps quickly breezed past me, seemingly in a hurry, and before I could stop them, I noticed the noises disappearing.
No, it wasn't just the noises. It was everything. All sounds and smells, even whatever vision I was gifted with, all was dulled in an instant, as I could only hear cold and sharp laugh fill the arena.
Arena? Right, I was running in the arena. They voted for me and the champion of Nyx to fight to the death.
Why are we fighting though? I thought we were allies? I thought-
"Argh!"
Sharp pain reverberated through my entire body, as Pearl's blade pierced my abdomen.
At that moment, all I could think about was how I wasn't ready yet. Not after everything I went through. I couldn’t leave the Feather Holders like that. I couldn't leave Apo like that. And yet… what could I do against the inevitability of my demise? All this power, all this foresight. Past my own death, could I really see anything? Did I survive this? Is this how I ended up in Asphodel? Or was it something else?
My mind is racing to find answers. All those memories Chronos had given me, surely there's one that shows me I survive. Surely there's one that shows me all will be well, that it doesn't have to end like this. I can't end like this! Please!
…
Cold hard ground. Grass gently rubbing on my legs. I think I'm cold…
It is cold…!
"Owen."
Sharp, piercing voice rended the space between me and the mysterious figure.
"Who is it? Where am I?"
"You walk the Fields of Asphodel. You have died, Owen."
"I… died?"
The figure emanates a freezing aura. His voice grinds my ears with its metallic melody. My mind screams at me to run, but my body isn't listening. So all I can do is stand humbly before the presence of what I can only assume is a God.
"Hades?" I sheepishly ask, trying to even slightly understand my current situation.
"No. I am Chronos, the God Of Time. And you have been chosen to be my Champion."
"Champion?" confused, I ask.
"You will fight against champions of other Gods. If you succeed, I shall grant you whatever you desire. If you fail, you shall be walking these fields for the rest of the eternity."
"Fight?" even more confused, I reply, "But, how would I fare in such a fight, if I can't even gaze upon the God of Time whom I stand before?"
"You shall have sight. More, you shall have my gift of foresight. You shall see all, the past and the future, running free. You shall see the thread of Fate that binds you to this world and to me. Time shall be unlocked for you. Use my blessings and win."
I felt the freezing cold slowly approach me until I couldn't feel my limbs anymore. The source of it made its way from below up to my head.
"Open your eyes."
Something happened. I could… hear things… people... I could feel things I've never felt before. What… is happening?
"Open your eyes, Owen."
I heeded the God's command without question… what a foolish mistake that was.
I don't… remember much after. Just bits and pieces of meaningless information. I remember feeling intense pain in my head. Or was it my stomach? I remember arrows in my body. The feeling of a boar dragging me through the skies. Hard ground of Ithaca. Hard ground of the bridge we stayed at. Sounds. Voices. Sun on my face. Evening wind in my hair. Excitement. Awe. Happiness. Hatred. Despair. Pain. Disgust.
My world turned into a whirlwind of emotions and feelings, memories and experiences. I could hardly keep up with its currents, as it dragged me all the way to the bottom of the Underworld. I thought I would drown…
But then, another feeling washed away everything else. The ground felt real again. I could hear voices of people, but now they weren't ethereal or just echoes, they were… real. And I was holding something soft in my hand, something comforting to touch. Like a feather.
And then…
The same perky footsteps that rushed past me appeared again.
"Where are you going?" I asked.
"You didn't hear the announcement?" the person replied.
That voice… why do I know it? Why do I trust it so much if we just met? Wait, no, we have met before, haven't we?
"You're Apo, right?"
"How did you know?"
Ah, maybe not.