CHAPTER 4. THE ALTAR TO THE GOD CHRONOS.
7:00
The day the routine was broken started even differently with him. On that day, he hadn't been jolted awake by the dream he couldn't yet remember, nor by the sound of the alarm. In fact, he had woken up very calmly, sitting up on his bed, and when he looked down, he saw again the breasts that he always compulsively touched every time he woke up. He was about to touch them again, but stopped himself.
"I won't do it for her" He whispered to himself.
Or that's what he didn't want to do, because Donna opened the door and caught him in the act again.
"You do really like your boobs, Diana" The little girl told her, tilting her head. "It's time to go, hurry up!" She yelled at her at the end before closing the door.
He had gotten used to the routine of going to the village school over and over again, so he got ready quickly, in the school uniform, although he had not yet put his usual ponytail in.
Before receiving the answer from Donna and Aunt Antiope, again, on the television, the report about the impending Comet Petropoulos was playing.
"Comet Petropoulos has been seen with the naked eye in recent days" Said the host of the segment. But where and when can it be seen? Comet Petroupolous moves in the same direction as the sun, east to west from our perspective" That was the last both Donna and Aunt Antiope could hear when the person they were waiting for arrived and gave them their answer.
"Why did you put on the uniform?" asked Donna.
Aunt Antiope's surprised look had been her answer. Of course, he had to ask what they were going to do today, so, knowing what they were going to do today, he had to change again, this time into more sporty clothes, like blue pants that left his ankles uncovered, sports shoes, a yellow blouse, accompanied by a red sweatshirt. He would have gone gray and blue if it had been his clothes closet.
XXX
10:00
Once already with his clothes, and all having had breakfast and ready to go, the three people left their house in the town of Little Volos and prepared to go uphill, towards the mountain that was above the town. They had already covered a good distance, but it was clear that they still had a long way to go.
This was strange to him. There was no mountain nearby in his city, so doing this was very new, and he doubted his parents would have allowed him to do that (Another benefit of being in someone else's body). In his city, he was someone too famous, but due to his study at the university and shows similar to the one he had done on her body during that art class, he had made almost no one at school want to talk to him, except his friends, Dick and Tim.
However, walking all this way had become tedious after a while, so he was humming his favorite songs for a while, because he knew that if he asked anything more than what they were going to do today, it might be discovered that he really wasn't the person they thought he was.
"Aunt Antiope, why is the altar of our god so far away?" Donna asked in an annoyed tone.
"I don't know, Donna. It must be because of Makris" Antiope said in response without turning to look at them. She even carried a wooden walking stick.
This made him wonder who the guy or person Aunt Antiope had mentioned was. He hadn't heard that name at any time, so it was a good idea to ask the little girl.
"Who is Makris?" He asked in a whisper.
"What? He is famous" She replied with a surprised face. It was clear that he didn't know that the person who owned the body he was in already knew who Makris was. Well, how would he know?
After that question, the walk continued for another hour. During that time, he thought about asking Aunt Antiope, but he knew that it was not a good idea, she had proven to be cold and rigid in this kind of thing, and it was obvious that she was in good shape, for a woman of more than forty years, almost fifty, or that's the age he could perceive. This reminded him of how his parents were when he lived with them, they were similar when he had to do something on their orders, like a punishment for failing a test or causing a little show at school.
When it seemed like Aunt Antiope was never going to speak, she finally did, to start sharing her knowledge about what they had to do today.
"Diana, Donna, do you know why we are making an offering on the altar to the god Chronos?" She asked them.
There was no response from the two girls, so she continued.
"Chronos is the god of time, girls. With the union between him and Ananke, the goddess of inevitability, they formed solid matter, which they divided into the earth, the sky and the sea, which, in turn, generated the creation of the ordered universe" Aunt Antiope started, but she hadn't finished. "Since then, Cronos and Ananke have remained united and have been known as the force of destiny and time, guiding the inevitability in the course of the heavens, and the inevitable passage of time. This is the reason why they are the origin and controllers of other future gods like Zeus himself" It seemed to be the end, but this story was still missing one last piece of information. "In addition, Ananke gave rise to four other children: Chaos, Ether, Erebus and Phanes, the primordial gods and predecessors of life" This story could be everything, but that was only the beginning, for what came later about what said god was related.
"As you can see, the universe was formed with a union. That's a very important word, girls" She said without missing a beat up the hill. "But, that union can be formed in any way. Intertwining threads is a union. Connecting with people is a union. And the passing of time is a union. Those are the powers of the god. The intertwined threads we create are a part of the god and represent the passage of time itself" She paused for a moment.
"The threads settle and take shape, they get tangled and twisted. Sometimes they unravel, break, and come back together. That is Chronos, time itself" She finished the explanation, and to everyone's surprise, both he and Donna paid attention to everything she said.
They walked for a while longer until they had to stop and sit in a nice place under a tree that protected them from the sun's rays. There, Aunt Antiope served them water, and just in case, she brought energy drinks.
"Thank you" he said to Aunt Antiope.
"I want too" Donna said very enthusiastically.
"That is also a union" Aunt Antiope said. This caused them both to stare at her with wide eyes, which was joined by Antiope's pleasant laugh. "Whether it is water, rice or alcohol, when a person ingests something, or when something becomes a part of someone, that is a union. Unite their souls. That is why today's offering is an important custom that connects the god with the people" Antiope said.
They stayed there for a while longer and then walked again for a while longer until they finally reached the top of the mountain, where they had to go down a dirt slope.
"There it is, I see it!" Donna yelled excitedly before starting down the slope.
Behind the girl were he and Aunt Antiope. He had stopped as he marveled at the grand sight. The top of the mountain was a big green circle, sunken in a bit, but with a few streams that seemed to connect to the edges of the mountain, it would be perfect for playing a sport if it wasn't a shrine, and in the center was a tree grown and thick with branches next to a rock that served as the entrance to the altar, surrounded by small streams.
"Is it here, the holy heirloom of the Galanis family?" He asked in a whisper to himself. After he recovered, he followed Aunt Antiope, who had passed him while he was taking in the great sight.
The three continued walking until they reached the stream that surrounded the altar. Donna had stopped on a rock near the stream when Aunt Antiope spoke again.
"Forward lies the afterlife. It's the underworld" She said leaning on the walking stick she had.
Donna gave a gleeful laugh and started jumping on the three stones she had to jump on to cross the stream onto the grass to get to the sanctuary. He and Aunt Antiope followed her slowly, the aunt crossed the stones, but walking followed by the person she thought was her niece, who followed her from behind to make sure nothing bad happened to her.
As they crossed the stream, Aunt Antiope spoke again.
"To return to this world, you have to leave behind what is most important to you" She said as she kept walking, followed by him, letting out another pleasant laugh. To his surprise, the aunt turned to him. "The fermented spirit of the ritual, Diana" She said.
Once they reached the tree, Antiope took out two white ceramic bottles, one large and one small, and gave the larger one to him, and the smaller one to Donna.
"Ritual fermented spirit? Oh really?" He asked to himself while looking at the ceramic bottle, covered with a lid of the same material and with a red ribbon to secure it. He knew it wasn't good to say it out loud.
"You will put it as an offering for the god. It is the sacred relic, the god will take half of you" Aunt Antiope explained to both of them.
"The Diana's half" He said in his mind.
Without further ado, the three people entered through the large opening in the rock, entered the tunnel and left their two bottles of fermented alcohol at the foot of the altar of the god Cronos. Antiope made sure they were put in the right place, and when she saw that everything was in order, they left the altar and started the way back home, which was easier than the way there because now they were going downhill.
They walked for some time until they were surprised by a flock of birds that came out of the trees, flying and chirping before gaining height and moving away from them. Both he and Donna laughed at the sight of them flying.
"Wow, it's magic hour already. Like you told me a few days ago" Donna said to him, stopping her walk down the hill, and going to the edge with a big happy face.
"What? Magic hour?" He asked following the girl. He had no idea what she was talking about. He understood what the girl was referring to when he saw the stunning view of the town and the lake itself being bathed in late afternoon sunlight along with the shadows that were gathering before nightfall, and added to that, there was a smoke that gave a mystical touch to the great sight.
"Oh right. Maybe we can see the comet" Donna said as she looked up at the sky and put a hand over her eyes to shield herself from the sunlight so she could see the Petropoulos comet.
"Eh? The comet?" He asked Donna again while looking at her rather suspiciously. He didn't understand what he meant by the comet. He didn't remember seeing anything of a comet recently.
His answer could not be given, because Aunt Antiope came up to him and looked at him very suspiciously, with her eyes narrowed.
"Let's see, Diana. You are dreaming, right?" Antiope asked.
How did I do this one? I am more than sure that they saw that the chapter was quite similar to this part of the movie, except for a few moments, like Aunt Antiope not needing Bruce's help to continue climbing, or the explanation of the god Chronos. I'm sorry, but remember that I had to put this like this so that the story can work, not out of disrespect for Greek culture.
Well, having said that, you know what's coming for those who have watched the movie. If not, you'll see soon. I hope you enjoy it. See you next time.