Echo returns to the others through a love portal. She can't help but do multiple cartwheels as they ate leftovers from breakfast. Flowers decorate the blades of green on the ground.

"Ask me! Ask me how it went!", she baits with a wide smile on her face.

Artemis smiles with amusement. "How did it go?"

"It was more than I ever imagined! We had such a great time. We talked about our futures together and he's serious about us. We are going on another date tomorrow! He also gave me a gift before I left. Look at it!", she rambles with joy.

She spins and her purple cloak flows around.

"How beautiful. May I touch it?", Helena asks. Echo nods.

She feels it between her fingers. "It is made so well."

"He must have spent a good fortune on this. This is what my best friend deserves. To be treated like a queen", Artemis praises.

"I like the sound of that. Queen to his king."

"I'm glad you both had a good time", Taki chimes in.

"What happened on the date?", Helena asks.

"Where to start? Oh, we had a good lunch and he asked about everyone here."

Artemis' suspicion is written on her face. Helena and Taki are taken aback that he would ask about them.

"Artemis, he was sincere and I didn't tell him anything about Takashi's condition. He apologized for how he treated him and that he wants to do better since he sees me as his future wife."

The trio are astounded.

"Future wife?"

"I even called him my future husband. Ah, I can only imagine our wedding. The sound of romantic music as we dance. We even talked about children."

"I didn't think he was the parenting type", Taki hides his doubt.

"He says he's open to adopting children. He doesn't want biological children because....he had an abusive childhood."

"Oh, I didn't know."

"His past is probably why he puts up a front. But he told me that seeing me is helping him open up more. I can see what makes him so beautiful."

"And what happened next? Did you...kiss?", Helena wants to know.

She sighs happily. "He sure did!"

"What's a kiss like?"

"A warm blanket on top of you after being out in the cold. That you would like to stay forever, if forever was an option."

"That sounds nice."

Takashi senses some sadness from Helena's words. "You will be kissed by the man of your dreams one day. Maybe you will find him along the way", he encourages.

Helena turns away to hide her crimson face. She reminds herself that he was just being helpful.

Artemis shifts the focus away from her. "Echo, I'm so proud of you. You are getting the treatment you deserve. I wish you both many years of love and health."

Echo is touched and hugs her. "Thank you, bestie! Could you be my maid of honor when it happens?"

"Definitely."

"Yay!"

Artemis turns to Helena. "In fact, Helena, I would like to walk you to the altar on your wedding day."

Her eyes well up. "You would really do that?"

"I am your mother, after all."

The two embrace. "I would love that."

"It doesn't matter who your husband will be, as long as he makes you happy", the huntress whispers.

Helena feels comforted by her words. Her "mom" opened a door to a future without Taki in the picture.

Takashi shoots a look at Artemis to resume their session.

"You can do it, Taki. Beat her!", before Helena covers her mouth in shame.

The deity laughs to her relief. "Come on and beat me, Takashi!"

"Get to the next level!", Echo encourages.

Dark clouds start to form with rushing winds. He directs green aura to his eyes again. Artemis runs towards him. 

Thunder rumbling followed by a flash of lightning---

Artemis stops her attack as Takashi's sword has dropped to the ground. His green wisps smothered by the overwhelming fear. Wrapping his arms around his torso to try and settle through the torment. His heart wanting to leap out of his chest.

From the Trojan War, Artemis knows what this is.

Helena runs over to him. "Taki?"

"S-STAY BACK!", he yells at her to stop. Erratic breaths push out as the tragic nights flood his mind. Killing Stavros and when he was a child. His body doesn't know whether to run, fight, or hide. The thunder continues to rumble to their continued worry. 

A glimpse of Ismene on fire due to his failure makes him scream. Artemis quickly knocks him out with a soft blow to the temple. His aura reacts...... like a sickle it lashes out at Helena!

The huntress rescues her in time before drowning out the next strike with Olympian energy.

The dark green energy retreats inside Taki which wakes him up in a frenzied state. He looks at his hands and thinks Stavros' blood is all over them. He turns to see Helena with a terrified expression.

Murderer. Look at what you almost did!

He clutches his head from the barrage of intrusive thoughts. Artemis knocks him out again and uses her aura to quiet him down. His body continues to tremble.

"Echo, get my father's totem!"

The nymph tosses a totem of an eagle to the huntress.

"Father, move this storm far away from us this instant! Please. I will explain the reason why later. Just don't bring any more storms near Thebes!", she prays with urgency.

The storm moves away as if commanded to and his body finally relaxes.

"W-What just happened to him?", Helena asks with fear in her voice.

"That storm drew out his trauma and made him react this way."

"Will he be okay?"

"That's up to him. I will continue to use my aura to calm him."

Helena gives Taki's hand a gentle squeeze. Echo gets her flute and plays a lullaby to help her friend out.

Unbeknownst to them, someone is watching and plans to make use of that fear.

California, 6:00pm

Penelope has a familiar feeling wash over her as a nearby thunderstorm rumbles. Her daughter wails from hearing the loud noises.

She clutches her close to her heart. "Shh. Shh. It's okay. This will go away. I wish I could hold you through it, Taki."

Aiko grabs a cup of coffee to hide her trembling hands. Penny notices this and puts a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"No matter how much time passes, I hate those thunderstorms. I'm sorry that I'm acting like this", her mother-in-law apologizes.

"You have nothing to be ashamed of. It was a horrible night for all of you. I saw how he acted when that happened."

She stares at her in disbelief. "He never mentioned that."

"We were watching some movies and there was a scene of a thunderstorm......"

----

He threw a blanket over his face to hide himself. She turned off the TV after seeing the blanket tremble.

"Taki? Are you okay?", she asked.

She touched the blanket, but he turned himself away from her.

"P-Please. Don't touch me."

"Okay. I'm right here."

She hums a lullaby. His focus on the notes relaxed him. After a while, he overthought his reaction.

She thinks I'm less of a man now. It's over between us. Just like last time.

He took off the blanket while fighting back tears.

"I understand if you never want to see me again", he went to leave. She grabbed him by the wrist to his surprise.

"It's okay, Taki. You're safe here. Don't go."

"I must be such a loser to you. Who would want to be with a man like me?"

"I do."

She stepped in front of him, and he squeezed his eyes tight. She held his face gently. "You have been through something horrible. It's not your fault. I love you, Takashi Watanabe."

Hearing that made him bust like a broken dam. She embraced him through the tears, even kneeling with him to comfort his soul.........She held his face still so she could look him in the eyes.

"You are still my man no matter what happens. You don't have to tell me what happened. Only when you're ready."

He exhaled. "No. You need to know."

"Take your time. I won't say a word."

He spilled his guts about the traumatic night. Penelope's jaw dropped in horror with welled up eyes for his family's pain. Not once did she let go of his hands.....

"That's awful. I can't believe your family went through that. You all suffered because of that asshole. You hold yourself guilty for something you couldn't control. You were just a kid."

"I could have done something to prevent it. If only I saw-"

She covered his mouth with her hand.  "It's not your fault."

He gently moved her hand away.  "I still took a life. Do you still want to be with me knowing that part?"

Penelope didn't hesitate. "Yes, because you are not evil. You protected your family from a monster."

Her tight embrace along with her body weight presses him down on the couch. He allowed himself to stay in place.

"I'm sorry I ruined our night."

She kissed his cheek. "You didn't. I still love you, Takashi. I love you, past and all."

"I love you too, Penelope Florakis."

He kissed her back with smiles on their faces. She wrapped the blanket over them while humming the same lullaby.

Back to the present...

"In case he got triggered again, I know how to help him now. It happens occasionally but he makes it through."

"He made the wise choice in marrying you. You're the best, Penelope."

Penny smiles from the compliment. The dark clouds walk away from their house, taking the thunder with it. Her baby is peacefully sleeping from hearing her mother's voice. She puts her in the playpen.

There was more to it, but that's for me to enjoy.

<3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 

Her loud yawn woke up Takashi the next morning.

"Morning, beautiful", before kissing her forehead. She returned the favor.

"Morning, handsome. Did you sleep well with me on top? I know I'm on the heavy side", she joked.

"I like it. I wasn't crushed at all. I mean-"

"Go on", she teased with her eyebrows and smile.

"I like having you on me. It's relaxing to me."

"I feel the same way. I was nervous about last night."

"What were you nervous about?", he asked with curiosity that made her blush.

"I thought something was going to happen, but I'm glad it ended this way."

Takashi brought her close. "I did bring some protection, but I will wait on that. Let's get ready and have some breakfast."

"We can just have it delivered to us. I don't want to move right now."

Taki placed the order into his phone. "30 minutes. I don't mind waiting like this. You're like my anxiety blanket", he stroked his fingers against her tan arms.

"I appreciate that."

While eating breakfast.....

"I have a joke to tell you", she told him.

"Let's hear it."

"What do you call--What do you call a dog-" her laughing interrupted her pending joke which made him laugh with her. Happy tears run down her face.

"This one has to be good", he's amused.

She took a deep breath. "What do you call a dog with no legs?"

"What?"

"It doesn't matter what you call it because it won't come to you."

They both clutch their ribs from the punchline.

"Your setup was my favorite part", he informed.

"Just thought you wanted to add that joke to your arsenal......Taki? My roommates won't be back for a while."

She got up from her chair and sat on his lap. He gazes into her honey-brown eyes.

"Can your anxiety blanket do this?"

She straddled against the outline of his manhood which made him grip her butt. Their kisses lingered with each passing motion. Then she abruptly stopped and offered her hand.

"You tease", while he grabbed the protection.

"I can say the same about you. You are full of good surprises", while leading him into her room. They took off each other's clothes. Takashi lost his breath upon seeing her curves and she was speechless with fixated eyes below his waist. 

"Don't worry. I will be gentle, Penny."

She licked her lips, eager to pounce on him. She goes to push him on the bed, but he turned her around and fell safely on top of her.

"I'm going to take care of you first", he declared with love and lust.

He enjoys every part of her curvaceous body with his lips and fingers. Her loud moans encouraged him to keep going...... 

After several positions, it ended with her body resting on top of him. The sweat on them a reward from all their fun. After a nice shower together, they got back in bed. They kissed each other again before peacefully sleeping.

Taki, I will reward you when you come back. Let's recreate that day, his wife thinks.

Gaia

Takashi wakes up to find that the dark clouds are gone.

"You're awake. I'm glad", Helena softly speaks while holding his hand.

He quickly removes it from her gentle grasp. "I'm sorry. I almost hurt you."

"But you didn't."

Artemis' eyes look down. "I should have responded sooner, pupil. I called my dad and he took it away."

"There was a storm when I......killed Stavros. Was that Zeus' doing too?"

"No, it wasn't. He sends thunderstorms to different places all the time. Sometimes, just rain if the land needs it or to remind evil doers that he's watching them."

"Yet Stavros kept doing what he did to me and the Trojans", he accuses while gripping the grass.

"He couldn't see you because of the magic placed upon those people. We told him it was Athena behind the illusions, but we had no proof. He would have come down and helped you. He's not perfect, but he loves the Trojans with his entire being."

Taki sighs. "I'm sorry. I'm still on edge."

The women stay silent as they let him process his feelings. A glance at his watch tells him it's 8 pm in his world.

"When will this end?", he breaks the silence.

"I still have nightmares from the war. I can never erase the sights I saw. Faces of the soldiers I shot and killed. Hearing their last breath leaving their mouths. It's a part of me that won't go away no matter how hard I try", the goddess confesses.

Echo and Helena are sad to hear that from her.

She grasps his hands. "However, we may find the end to it. I pray you overcome your fear whether it's here or back home. I wish I could say more to help you."

He appreciates her sentiment, but he's still upset with himself. He gets up to take the rubber ball out of his bag. His footsteps lead him into the forest to clear his head. Helena goes to follow him, but Artemis stops her. Helena looks at her and the goddess lets her go.....

Takashi finds a tree not too far away from the group. He tosses the ball against it over and over again. His therapist had given him this stress ball and the routine to center himself.

Almost 21 years and still suffering from that night. I can only imagine how sis is handling it.

Still referring to yourself in first person, you inauthentic bastard? Plus, you almost killed again. How could you hurt Helena? No! That wasn't supposed to happen! I would never hurt her. Stop lying! You almost did. If Artemis wasn't there... Shut up!

Green energy around the ball leaves a mark on the tree before bouncing back.

"Anger is not the way. It's not the way", he reminds himself.

Branch snapping.

He jerks his head to find Helena there. As she gets closer, he takes a step back.

"It's okay, Taki. I just wanted to check on you."

"Please. Just stay back. What if the aura tries to hurt you again? I wouldn't forgive myself if you got hurt."

She stops 6 feet away from him. "I saw the list you wrote of all the negative thoughts you have about yourself. I won't let them make you feel alone. You are none of those things."

"But they are a part of me, Helena. My trauma-"

"You are more than that! Does Penelope help you when that happens?"

"She does."

"And she wouldn't want you to give up on yourself. I know you will get all your powers back to make even Mt Olympus shake on your arrival."

He lightly chuckles. "That would be a sight to see."

"Stop taking it literally!", she laughs til she snorted.

The pair's laughter eats away at his stress. "Thanks, Helena. I needed that."

"You're always welcome."

Rain starts to shower without any harsh winds. Taki takes off his hoodie and wraps it around Helena's shoulders. He places the hood over her head.

"What about you?"

"A little rain doesn't hurt. Besides, I see how well you take care of your hair and don't want it ruined."

Her heart skips a beat when he said that.

Artemis and Echo see them return and wave. Helena goes to her tent and puts on her cloak to keep dry and gives his hoodie back. He puts it back on.

"Thank you."

He nods and looks at Artemis. She sees that he's in a better mood. Still sad, but not as much.

"Artemis, could you talk to your dad again? Maybe he can also help me against Poseidon."

"I talked with him about that already. I didn't want to bring it up until you were in a better mindset to listen. Although he's powerful, he can't get involved."

"Why not?", he asks with shock in his voice.

"If he directly goes against Poseidon, it would start another war within the family. You don't understand what kind of destruction that would bring to Gaia if they went all out. Many people will die."

"Is there something else he can do?"

"He's working on that as we speak."

"Then let's get back to training, teacher. Mt Olympus will have to accept me once we're done."

The huntress smiles as his gusto came back. "Alright then! Let's see what kind of shielding you can do! When I call out the body part, summon energy on that part!"

He nods and readies himself.

"Left arm!"

Green energy manifests around his left arm and he tries to hold it, but it disappears.

It's okay. Just going back to the basics.

"Right arm!"

He summons the energy around his right arm which disappears as well.

"Chest! Left Leg! Right Leg! Head! Abdomen! Back!"

He summons energy around those areas individually in sequence.

"Entire body!"

He imagines his whole body covered with armor which lasts for three seconds.

"We at least tried with that. You have improved since the first day of training. Now give me as many energy jabs until you tire out!"

"Yes, teacher!"

He spends the rest of his training firing off divine energy jab after jab until he starts running low on energy. His watch goes off with an alarm as the rain stops.

"I have to go now to Iphicles for more training."

Artemis touches his head and chest to restore his fatigue levels.

"I will go with him to keep watch", Echo assures the goddess.

"Do you want to join Helena?

"Sure!"

"I will get dinner in the meantime while you're out. Have fun!"

Echo sprinkles some dust and the trio walk into Iphicles' gym.

The prince of Thebes greets them. "Welcome back, Takashi! I see you brought your friends with you. How are you all?"

"Feeling a little off, but okay for the most part", he admits.

Iphicles offers his hand and he pulls Takashi close to him for a hug.

"A good sweat may be what you need. How are you, Helena?"

"Feeling good."

"Where's your lion?", he jokes.

She laughs. "That was just one time, Iphicles. I'm not a professional."

"My date went great!", Echo pipes up.

"That's good. I'm happy for you. Would you both like to work in with Takashi's workout session?"

"I'm going to shoot off some arrows, but maybe later. Helena, you're coming?"

She shakes her head. "I will be giving him support."

"Okay. Off I go! Have fun and don't kill him, Iphicles!"

 "I will try not to. Get changed so we can get started."

He comes out of the restroom wearing his singlet. Helena sees the muscles that hid under his normal clothes. Bicep peaks with large triceps. Sculpted shoulders with a an almost chiseled chest....

She thinks of Narcissus to distract her mind. Thinking of him scrunches her face.

"Let's get you warmed up!", Iphicles instructs Takashi.

He nods and Helena goes with them. A peeking scar on his back has her feeling bad for him. She shakes off this feeling to be his emotional support. She joins in on the warm-up session which is some jump rope. Takashi trips himself, but he gets back up and tries again. He sees how graceful Helena is with her hops and this motivates him to do better....

Iphicles demonstrates the barbell bench press. Takashi pays close attention to how do it properly. After some practice reps, Iphicles and Helena add weight to test his strength. With moderate weight, he feels his chest getting engaged.

Iphicles strips the weight off and puts on the heavier plates himself as Helena watched.

"Give me 3!"

"You got this, Taki!", she cheers.

He pushes the bar off and his arms begin to tremble. What the hell am I even lifting?!

He brings the bar down to his chest and grinds his way up. He goes down for the second time and he only gets a few inches off his chest before it stops. Iphicles lifts the bar off with ease.

"Great job!", Helena congratulates.

Taki pants. "Can you tell me how much that was? I thought I was going to get trapped under there!"

"84kg."

So by that math......185lbs?!

"That's really good even for a beginner. The whole point was to find your one rep max so you can work your way past that point. Now onto the squat!"

He demonstrates how to do it properly and has Taki work his way to his one rep max. He struggles with getting back up.

"You can do it! You're the best! You will be stronger than Heracles!", Helena motivates him.

Some of the gym goers join in as well and their words motivate him to push upward before Iphicles helps him rack it. The lifters clap for him.

"That was 102 kg! The exercises you learned beforehand helped you out with this one!"

225 pounds. I'm doing better than expected.

After some sled pulls, Iphicles leads him to the deadlifting platform. Takashi works his way up to his one rep max until he can't lift the bar off the ground anymore.

"106 kg! "It's okay if your bench press isn't up there. You're just stronger in the leg department."

"You're right. Plus, my wifey will appreciate these glutes of mine."

Helena can't help but look at his firm butt when he said that. She looks elsewhere to keep her mind off him. Don't treat Taki like that! He is someone's husband.

"That was the end of our session, Takashi. Great job!"

"Just going to do some arms before I go."

"Good deal!"

They do a handshake before Iphicles walks off.

Echo returns from her archery session. "I heard it all! You did great, Taki!"

"He sure did."

"Just going to do some arms to finish it off."

The nymph glances at her biceps. "I'm good to go for that."

"Me too."

The trio does bicep curls, tricep kickbacks, and lat raises. Takashi gives Helena some tips from what he learned from Iphicles. Throughout the session, he thinks about how lucky her future husband will be.

After bathing, the return to camp where Artemis is roasting some rabbits. They eat their fill before heading to bed. Takashi pulls out his phone and goes to the photo that Briseis accidentally looked up. His wife suggestively wearing a maid outfit that hugged her every curve. He leaves a voice message for his wife.

"Guess what I'm looking at. The photo of you in that maid outfit. It's too bad I can't take care of myself because Artemis will hear it. Still, I can't wait to hold you again. Once I get used to parenting our little girl, I want to make love to you for every night that I was away from you. Penelope, I love you."

After "sending" the message, he sniffs some lavender that pulls him to sleep.

Narcissus sees Echo sleeping through the projection from the peacock totem and he turns it off. He learned a lot about Takashi and how to exploit his fear.

"Goddess, I come with some information", he speaks to the totem.

It lights up. "What is it, Narcissus?"

"I learned something about the man I want to get rid of. He panics when he hears the sound of thunder. But Artemis already talked to Zeus, and he won't send any more storms. What do we do?"

"Just leave that part to me. I know a way around that. He will never know. And I will take care of Artemis so the plan will come to fruition. You mentioned before he was a foreigner, right?"

"Yes. Why?"

"Since we're working together, what is his name?"

"Does it matter? He will be dead once it's all done."

"Is he a demigod by chance? I need a little more information if you can't tell me his name."

"He is, but he's not a son of Zeus. His background isn't really important. For now, he can just pause time in his surroundings."

The goddess is silent from the last sentence. "Why does that sound familiar?", she mutters.

"What's wrong?"

"It's nothing to fear. He and Heracles will die together. I think tomorrow would be the best time while you're on your date with Echo. Too bad she won't die with them. She's too annoying for her own good."

"Tell me about it. Once it's done, I will jump up the ranks and eventually take Artemis' place. No need for Echo to exist afterwards."

"And I will be free of that brute once and for all. Just let me do all the work."

"But I want to see it happen", he whines.

"Silence! If things go wrong because of your arrogance, I will cut your tongue off", her voice rises an octave.

"Y-Yes, ma'am", he stutters out. The light of the totem disappears.

Narcissus shakily pours himself a glass of wine. Some of the wine spills out onto the table. He admits to himself that she was on a different level of cruelty than he was. He takes a sip with both hands on the glass, hoping to never meet her in person.