Author's note: And now we finally start to get to the heart of Athena's fear. This one honestly took some motivation to get started writing, but by the end, I almost didn't want to stop. But, I have to save something for next chapter, right? Also, I decided to start having a few interjections from Apollo as Athena told the story. Can't forget about their current situation now, can we? After posting this, my main focus is going to go back to Turnabout Delivery, considering I'm entering the final chapters of it. This one will definitely be receiving at least a weekly updates from here on, and honestly, I fully expect to have it done by the end of the month.

As always, feedback is greatly appreciated and I can't thank you guys enough for taking the time to read my little stories. I really hope you enjoy reading this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it!


"Oh man…" Apollo said, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"What is it?" Athena asked.

"I think I already see where this is going. And with that former director being in this story, I'd bet money I'm right." He said.

"Oh be quiet. I actually got along pretty well with him back then." Athena scolded.

"And would I be correct in assuming this story has something to do with why you're not close to him anymore?"

Athena pulled her knees close and hugged them. "Y-yeah."

Apollo's face fell. "Hey," He said, placing a hand on her back. "I was just messing around. Keep going. I wanna hear the rest of the story."

Athena looked at him to see him smiling. A small smile formed on her own face and she continued.


As Athena and Cosmos wandered through the caverns, Athena was amazed by the natural beauty of the place. She had so rarely been outside the space center, let alone in a cave, so everything she was seeing was like a brand new discovery.

"Wow! What are those, Uncle Yuri?" Athena asked as she pointed at the spikey looking rocks hanging from the ceiling.

"Why, those are called stalactites, Cadet. They are types of rocks that have formed over hundreds of years, from nothing but the simple dripping of water!"

"They look so cool, Uncle Yuri! Can we make some in the space center?" The young girl asked.

Cosmos chuckled to himself. "We shall see, cadet." He said, making a mental note to have the techies change the hologram screen in the lounge to a cave scene.

"Why did we come here, Uncle Yuri?" Athena asked, curious about the need for a space center to be prowling around in a cave.

"Ah, there is a very good reason for that, Cadet Cykes." He stopped rolling on his Segway and turned to face the young girl. "You see, a small meteorite crashed into this cave. I believe the information we could gather from this fallen piece of the universe could prove most valuable."

"What's a 'meatier-ite?"

"Well, you see… A meteorite is a type of rock that flies through space! Sometimes, they enter our atmosphere and crash into our planet. It is our duty as explorers of the unknown to unearth these fallen stars!"

Athena's eyes glimmered in amazement. A lot of her friends, Junie included, just thought Yuri Cosmos was a silly old man who liked to talk about space. But she loved hearing him talk about space. Almost as much as she loved watching her mother work on her robots.


"Wow, I had no idea you looked up to Director Cosmos so much." Apollo said. "If I'm honest, I always found him kind of annoying. He used to lecture me and Clay about bothering Mr. Starbuck so much."

Athena smiled as she remembered the good times she'd had with the Cosmos. "A lot of people thought he was annoying. But I lived at the Space Center. He was like family." She then cast her gaze downward, Widget changing to a deep blue to reflect her sadness, which in turn changed the lighting of the whole cave. "He was… different before… that incident."

"You mean… Your mother?"

Athena nodded. "By that point, he and I had already drifted apart. But I still cared about him. Afterwards, it just felt like he was too worried about his reputation. And the Space Center's."

"Athena." Apollo said, looking at the girl.

Athena turned to look at the man. He smiled at her.

"How about after we get out of here, we go see him? So you two can maybe try and get close again."

Athena smiled, but Widget remained the same. "If we get out of here."

"Hey, don't say that." He then gave his trademark smirk. "We'll be fine."

Athena couldn't help but smile at this. "Yeah. You're right."

Apollo patted her on the back. "Now, are ya gonna finish your story."

Athena's face fell once more as she continued.


The young girl and the older man continued to tread through the tunnels. Athena was simply enjoying the time with her 'uncle', when suddenly…

"W-whoaaaaa! W-what's going on, Uncle Yuri!? I'm scared!" Athena cried as the earth around her shook. The prototype of Widget around her neck also turned dark blue.

"I-it's an earthquake! Stay close to me, Cadet!" Cosmos cried as he reached his other hand for the girl to hold her close, however, before he could grab her, a rock came loose from the ceiling and crashed onto the console of his scooter. Sparks shot out of it and nearly hit the man's face. "Ah!" He cried as he pulled his arms up to shield his face. Suddenly a loud beeping noise emitted from the scooter and the tires began to rev and he shot forward.

"Uncle Yuri!" Athena cried in fear as she watched her 'uncle' speed away.

"Blasted thing! Stop! Galactic Scooter, cease this at once!" The old man cried as he tried fruitlessly to get the machine to stop. Finally, he was left with no other option and dismounted the machine, letting it crash into the cave wall, where it toppled over and began to spin in circles on its side. "Cadet! Stay where you are! I'm coming!" He cried.

"I wanna go home, Uncle Yuri!" Athena cried as the tremors continued to shake the caverns.

Cosmos rushed ever closer to Athena when a true disaster struck. The caves began to shake even more violently and a cascade of rocks fell just in front of Athena.

"ATHENA!" Cosmos cried as he reached the wall that now separated him from the little girl. "Athena! Can you hear me!?"

Sobbing was heard from the other side. "Uncle Yuri! I can't see you!"

Cosmos breathed a momentary sigh of relief at the realization that the young girl was unharmed. "Athena, stay right where you are! I'll find help and get you out of there. I promise!"

"B-but… Uncle Yuri! Don't leave me! I'm scared!" The girl cried as she looked around the cavern which just moments before filled her with such, but now filled her with dread as she look at the threatening looking spikey rock hanging from the ceiling, made even more eerie in the dark blue light of Widget's screen.

"I promise I won't be gone long! Just stay exactly where you are! I need you to promise me you won't move from this spot!"

"U-uncle Yuri…"

"Promise me, Athena!" Cosmos cried in an uncharacteristically ordering tone.

Athena's eyes began to fill with tears as her fear only worsened from the man's screaming. Instead of answering the man, she found her feet moving on their own as they carried her down the nearest tunnel. Cosmos could hear her little feet pounding against the cave floor. He pounded his fists against hard against the rocks in front of him. "ATHENA! NO! COME BACK!" He continued to pound against the rocks until finally one of his hands made an audible crack. "Gah!" He cried as he withdrew his hand. Director Cosmos was no doctor, but even he could diagnose this. He'd broken his hand. He held it close to his body as he looked at the wall of rubble in front of him which was only being illuminated by the light on his now motionless scooter.

"Athena…" He said to himself. "F-forgive me, Metis." With that, he strode over to his scooter and picked it up to use as a light as he began to search for the nearest person.