Embers of a campfire dance in the air while Eros clutches his wife, Psyche, to prevent himself from sinking. She nuzzles her nose against his to comfort him through the loss of his mother.

Heavy bags weigh down his eyes, but they widen. He yanks his wife with one arm while preparing a glowing finger in defense.

Salmon pink aura crackles against the golden orange flames. The couple takes in the height and might of the now standing Hephaestus. The god of love and goddess of the soul stand their ground from the heavy steps of the Olympian.

His broadsword in one hand is trembling for a fight if it comes down to it. The tip of it raises and points at Eros.

"Where is your mother?"

Eros's heart rattles more than a snake. "Don't bring up my mother's name knowing what happened to her!"

Hephaestus grips his sword. "Don't lie to me. You must have felt her too!"

"We didn't!", Psyche refutes while wisps of flying pink butterflies surround the trio.

Eros aims his finger for where Hephaestus' heart would rest. "Leave us now."

The Olympian god of fire thinks of using the second slot of Zeus' energy to overcome the duo. However, through the crackling of auras, the truth is revealed. They had no idea about Aphrodite's remainder of living aura.

The god of love trembles from the slip of emotion from the Olympian. A sense of longing for his mother.

The armored Olympian smothers his aura. "I will find her with or without you."

Before he steps away, he deflects an aura infused arrow with a parry of his sword!

Several energy projectiles are ready to fire at the Olympian. "I will not let you hurt my siblings to get to her!"

A volcano erupts in the soul of the obsessed god. Short swords, various arrows, and sharp spears ally with their hard-working creator.

"I will not let anyone get in my way!"

The wings of Eros flap. A furious wind fires off his arrows that collide with Hephaestus' volley. Several aura arrows bounce off the Olympian's golden armor. Eros ducks the swing of his sword while backing away. He fires off a pinpoint pink arrow at the exposed eyes of the fire-forger. 

Orange flames burn up the attempt beyond a crisp. A horizontal slash of the broadsword sends an arc of roaring flames to Eros. Despite jumping above it, Eros feels the embers nibbling away at the soles of his exposed feet.

Hephaestus stabs the ground. Volcanoes the size of mole hills stream fire at their target. Eros lies left, right, and up into the air. The fire-forger pulls out chains to capture the god of love. The chains wrap like snakes around his body. Steam and screaming comes out from the god of love. Burn marks appear on the flying son of Aphrodite.

"If you want to live, give me your love dust! She will love me with this new body!", Hephaestus demands while yanking down.

The orange irises widen. The body of Eros turns into butterflies. Before he can turn around, he feels his soul fluttering. The weight of it forces him to kneel. The armor trembles while resisting.

"Damn you, Psyche! Release me, wrench!"

The brunette's hands are joined by her husband in a combined endeavor.

"You absolute fool! Do you think Aphrodite will love you like you are?", the goddess questions with intent.

Wrathful aura almost cracks through the trap. "She will or I will make her. She was mine and mine alone!"

"Even if my mother is alive, you will not treat her like an object!"

Hephaestus tries to raise the tip of his sword. "She loved being the object of your father's heart, Hermes, and everyone else but me. Blessed with something I could never have", his voice almost breaks.

The married couple almost pities his words.

"You can still have children with someone who will love you-"

Flames exit through the small cracks. "NONSENSE!"

Hephaestus pushes the button on his wrist. Zeus' aura travels through his body. His whole body writhes in pain. Using the pain, he stands on his two feet.

Psyche's butterflies don't incinerate from the infernal flames. Touching his armor prevents him from taking a step forward. His sword tips down, weighing close to a quarter of Mt Olympus.

"I looked at your scroll. My mother was never meant to be with you. Someone else is."

The Olympian seethes through his teeth. "LIES!"

"The scrolls never lie! But I will not tell you her name until you change your behavior. That is the reason why you would stay alone."

The verbal assault could almost break his armor apart. The Olympian denies the reason, thinking the new woman would never look past his broken legs. He yells that she would run away just from looking at him. 

He forces a step forward while lifting his broadsword against the weight. Veins strike like rivers underneath his armor. The gears whir to keep up with the output.

Eros takes Psyche in hand into the air. With a pouch of love dust, he throws it above them. They vanish out of sight.

The trap releases the solitary god. Geysers of flames erupt from his failure. A vertical swing of his sword sends a cutting wall of flames through their stone house. His scream pierces the sky of dusk. With a waving hand, the campfire rejuvenates the energy he had spent.

Suspecting that Eros would warn his siblings, he uses his sword to travel to a new fire. One that belongs to the son of Aphrodite and Hermes....

----

6pm, Gaia Time (10pm on Earth)

Takashi's eyes open. Vision blurring before seeing a smiling Harmonia's face. With a helping hand, he sits up.

Despite the peaceful slumber, his eyelids weigh heavy. His heart feels exposed and raw from reliving the horrible night and aftermath. 

"Just eat and rest for now", she advises while embracing him. "I'm sorry for what you had witnessed."

"....Thanks", he manages to utter.

She opens the clam shell slowly to reveal a starry night sky. The moon of Nyx being the biggest source of light. He slowly reaches out to the moon as if to absorb more energy of the night goddess.

I'm going to keep trying, Nyx. Lend your help in any way possible.

Harmonia slows her walking pace so Taki's staggered steps will be by her side. Echo runs out from the house and tackles him to the ground. 

"OW!", he grunts. Harmonia stifles a laugh from breaking out.

The mountain nymph gets off of him. "I'm sorry! I was just worried about you."

Her mud-brown eyes analyze his puffy cheeks and tired face. His arms softly embrace her.

"Thank you, Echo. For everything you have done for me."

His whispers of appreciation grow more flowers over her face. She refrains from plucking them to keep the hug. He slowly drifts away and helps her remove some flowers to decorate the grass.

"Takashi! Dinner's ready!", Hippolyta yells out from inside.

The nymph tells him about the fresh salad of leftover chicken, olives, grape tomatoes with a hummus dressing on top. "....Are you hungry?"

"I will try."

A slight bit of hope accompanies his words to the nymph's happiness. During dinner, Taki keeps quiet to heal his mind and heart. The others refrain from telling him the events of Charybdis and Scylla. They still question what Demeter had done to the two monsters.

After Takashi eats some of his food, he retires for bed. Resting on the soft linen, he thinks about Hikari's wellbeing......the weak response from her startles him.

He sends a voice message for the first time in a while.

"Please stay strong, sis. You can punch me as much as you want to. I won't complain. Just know that.....you are one of the strongest people I know. Even at your weakest, I admire your strength. I'm....starting to let go of what had happened to us. The guilt of not knowing. The helplessness. I will return to you and everyone back home. I love you, big sis."

---

On Earth, Hikari's eyelids weigh like anchors, but she feels some strength from her little brother.

A weak chuckle breaks the monotony of the beeping monitor. Tears follow from the sentiment of his words. "I don't blame you at all. Let it all go so you can return to us. Beat the crap out of Zeus for me."

Penelope sits up from prayer after feeling Takashi's "arms" wrapping around her. 

"I love you from head to toe, my bronze goddess. Thank you for your words."

A hopeful smile graces her face. "I know you can do it, husband."

Their words lull him to a peaceful sleep. The nightmares of before crack from their motivation. 
---

Aug 30th, 7am Gaia time

After a light breakfast of pita, yogurt and honey, Takashi asks Harmonia to continue their session.

She crosses her arms. "I refuse until-"

"I know. But I feel ready to continue."

The goddess of peace sighs before leading him back to the shell. Her aura intermingles with Aphrodite's energy inside him to complete the session. She hopes his aura would re-awaken.....

After Aiko Watanabe was sentenced to prison, the duo witness the emotional aftermath. Every day, Hikari and Taki cried relentlessly for their mother. Some days, they could only eat a bit before retiring to their usual sadness. Hikari lashed out at her aunt who tried to get her to speak. Heavy bags drew under Taki's eyes from reliving that horrible night and court.

Even then, the siblings slept in the same bed with the night light on. Holding each other close to comfort the other.

Aiko's sister took them to see her. Small hands reaching for the bigger hand but separated by plexi-glass. Tears streaming down her children's faces. Their orange uniformed mother relayed that she's alright. That she even made friends in prison from what they heard about her. Her lawyer had been hard at work to appeal the decision.

"I'm sorry, mom", Young Taki told her with a heavy heart.

"It's not your fault. Neither of you. I was supposed to protect you. I need to make things right."

Her sister questioned if that meant staying longer.

 Aiko shook her head. "I will not let that happen again. My focus will be on you two. Getting you therapy while I'm working my way out. It won't be long."

After talking with her lawyer and realizing the slow speed, Aiko's sister decided to take action to speed up the process. She went to a mainstream newspaper company to tell what had happened to Aiko while omitting the names of her children.

The story's circulation caused a public uproar against the judge's decision. Protest signs demanding the judge to step down and to release Aiko Watanabe.

The court of public opinion caused the appeal process to speed up. The judge was forced to resign out of bad judgment. Aiko's arms latched around her children who waited outside the prison for her. A settlement was received by her from the city for wrong imprisonment. They moved to another city in California to begin their new lives.

The family went to therapy as one. It took time, but they opened up with how they felt. Aiko never judged her children for feeling how they felt. Her love never gave up on them. Despite Hikari moving to Colorado as an adult, they kept in touch.

Both women were happy to find out that Takashi was dating Penelope. The Greek woman felt comfortable when meeting the both of them. Hikari cracked jokes on her little brother which sent them all into a laughing fit. Aiko embraced Penny, wishing them the best. They later attended his wedding with Hikari wearing a suit on Takashi's side.

The salmon pink aura disappears. Takashi sees the mountain of a burden he placed on his shoulders. "Shaking off" the guilt and self-hatred, the mountain shrinks down to a cave.

His heart found itself lighter than air.

Inside, he feels the dam over his aura channels crack. Green wisps leak out from his body. He almost jumps with joy that it came back.

Harmonia applauds him before embracing him. "We need to take it easy from this point. Don't think of sparring just yet. Leave that for tomorrow."

"Okay. Thank you so much. Your parents would have been proud."

Her lips quiver from the deep respect he has towards them. "Don't make me cry again."

Opening the clam, they find Cadmus, Echo, and Hippolyta waiting outside for them. The Amazon queen grips her belt with pride from seeing the green wisps travel around his arms. Echo jumps with joy while the former king of Thebes embraces his wife. Showering her face with kisses.

"Want to see me beat Echo in another game of Pessia, Taki?"

"Hippolyta, I will defeat you! I just need one time!"

His eyebrows raise up. "Pessia?"

The women lead him inside the house to show him. In Taki's mind, it resembles a variation of checkers. 

Hippolyta outwits Echo on every turn. Sacrificing a few pieces to win the game.

The mountain nymph pouts her lips while narrowing her eyes. "One more time!"

The queen laughs. "Sure. 10-0", she gloats.

A chuckle escapes Taki's lips. Echo pinches his cheek in annoyance.

The gameplay stirs something in his clear mind. The Trojans and how to save them from Stavros. His right foot taps the floor.

Perseus is out of the equation because of Zeus' promise to me. The Trojans can't be seen unless Athena is injured. What if......No. I can't risk exposing Harmonia to be part of the plan. Demeter is my best shot to rival Athena. But not a typical battle.....

The others notice his eyes are focused on the pieces. The tapping stops once his idea has solidified in his mind.

He gathers them to deposit his new plan after getting Demeter's aid. Defeating Athena in a game to force her magic away.  They gasp from the implications.

"But-But she never loses a game! I couldn't even beat her", Hippolyta objects.

"It won't be a game that she knows. It's a simple game from home, but I will add things to make it riskier."

"Like what?", Cadmus strokes his beard.

He details the risk that would apply to both of them. Harmonia smiles that her therapy session would leave him less exposed with the game in mind. Athena won't see it coming.