Chapter 39: the one who sacrifices
[3rd Person's Pov]
Zoë watched with utmost horror as the most idiotic man she have ever met charged straight forward in face of Ladon.
He ducked under the first head's snapping jaw and rolled out of sight, only leaving an array of writhing heads for the Hesperides to see.
Zoë desperately wished that David had clung on to the Nemean Lion pelt. It was how Hercules came out of his skirmish with Ladon alive. If only he had the item…
Alas, the best protective gear David had at the moment was his best offensive gear: His sword. Which wouldn't have a noticeable effect against Ladon's thick scales.
After a few breathtaking moments of writhing heads, several upturned roots, and many thunderous growls, the heads parted away like a flower blooming in the late sunlight.
There was no man in sight. Ladon roared in a sense of victory.
"No…" Zoë barely held herself from crumpling to the ground.
There was no way he was already dead. She refused to believe it.
On the other hand, Erytheia was more than eager to jump on to a conclusion.
"Well, that took longer than I thought. I always—"
"Wait, what is Ladon doing?" Lipara shouted.
The Hesperides all turned around to look at where their youngest sister was pointing.
Ladon didn't coil itself back around the tree for its well-earned nap.
Instead, it paced around the area, growling and whimpering while dozens of heads sniffed the ground. Zoë could tell faster than anyone that Ladon was searching for something. But what…?
One of the heads tensed, then suddenly rammed its snout straight into the grass-covered soil. It tried to dig itself inside to the ground, and before any Hesperides could suggest that Ladon might've gotten crazy out of nowhere, something wiggled out of the ground.
"God damn it! I was this close, man. Come on!"
David shouted in protest, quickly sprinting away from the many snapping jaws of an enraged dragon.
Erytheia was the one who broke the shocked silence.
"Did he dig under the garden? How?"
Hygeia rested her chin on her hand.
"I think he used one of the holes from the roots that got upturned. That would theoretically lead him directly beneath the tree."
Asterope hummed in a mild admission. Lipara let out bark-like laughter.
"Nice! That's a child of Athena if I've ever seen one!"
Zoë shook her head. "No. He's a son of Ares."
The rest of the Hesperides gave her a skeptical look.
However, Zoë didn't dare pull her eyes away from David as he weaved in and out of the hoard of dragon heads.
[Line Break]
"Come on, Ladon! Don't you want your caretakers to be free?"
Ladon roared in several furious voices as it tried to chomp up the pesky hero who dared to come anywhere near the prized tree.
Then, it suddenly stopped pursuing.
David also stopped in his tracks, taking the moment to catch his breath and dust off some dirt from his eyes.
'Damn it!'
He held back from shouting a curse. That would be a waste of energy and might provoke the agitated dragon 10 feet behind him.
The plan was neigh perfect, except for the fact that he didn't know that Ladon would pick up his scent from underground.
How could he have possibly known? There was nothing notable about the dragon's sense of smell, every literature ever was so busy expressing how strong of a monster it was.
David slapped his hands against her cheeks and shook away the dark clouds of negative thoughts.
"Improvise," David muttered to himself. "Improvise, not deliberate. That's what father said, right?"
He looked up at the towering dragon.
Countless eyes glowered down upon him, making his 'flee' instincts kick in. Even now, after he had certainly made up his mind, it was hard to keep his legs from shaking or bolting away from the scary monster.
'Keep an eye on the opponent. Study how they move. That applies to whomever you are fighting.'
David gripped his sword tightly and ran.
As soon as he took a step, Ladon acted up again. Countless throats hissed in unison as dozens of heads shot themselves toward the ground with their impressive neck muscles.
David lunged, ducked, and rolled for all his worth, barely weaving through the cascade of jaws. Many of them gobbled up a truck full of earth and grass, shrieked in rage, and spat them at the hero in a muddy ball of acid.
"Oh, no. That's going to take quite a time to replenish." Hygeia muttered.
Her forest green eyes scanned over the tarnished garden with a tinge of sorrow. She had put so much time and care into every single grass…
"No, it won't."
Erytheia countered, only for Lipara to cut in.
"Speak for yourself, Erytheia; all you have to do is fill up the holes in the ground! Hygeia is the one who has to make sure every grass is properly grown, and I have to keep tabs on which of them are sentient enough!"
Then, the youngest Hesperid turned to Zoë; an energetic grin in tow.
"Zoë, can't you make Ladon calm down just a bit? You'd like if your, ah, hero is safe too, correct?"
"If she interferes in the challenge, it would be invalidated."
Lipara pulled a nasty expression.
"Since when? Zoë interfered the last time and—"
"Yes, she did. Why do you think only one of us was free?"
Zoë retorted the glare from Erytheia with a stern look of her own.
"Erytheia, if this is for revenge, I'll take any punishment. He has nothing to do with this."
"A revenge? Hardly so, sister. This is a lesson."
"What lesson?"
"A lesson you should've picked up three thousand years:
No matter how much you struggle, nothing will change. You did everything you can to escape this blasted garden, and where are you now? Right here, right next to us.
Even if by a miracle that boy succeeds, he won't give us the apple. You'll see."
Zoë glanced at the raging battlefield again. David ducked under Ladon and rolled back, getting further away from the apple tree.
"He will."
Erytheia raised her eyebrow.
"Pardon?"
"If he gets the apple, he will give it to us. I can…I can at least vouch for that."
"Since when did your vouch mean anything?" Erytheia sneered back.
Zoë was at a loss for words.
Other Hesperides started to complain that it was a bit too harsh of a statement. Their older sister snorted at the small outburst and held her chin high up, keeping her flaming amber eyes on the buffoon running through the battle's wreckage.
"All of you are yet too naïve. No human would ever give us the apple. That's why Hera presented that as a condition for our freedom. She doesn't want us to be free."
Zoë opened her mouth to argue, but the myriads of words never made it past her throat. Erytheia was looking down
'David…'
[Line break]
Things were not working out.
David coughed and spluttered through the field of acid. Both the ground and the air were saturated with acid produced by a dragon that clearly didn't go through a gargle routine since the dawn of time.
His eyes were scrunched up from the effort to keep them as guarded as possible, and to hold back the tears that welled up behind from falling. Each step he took was a dangerous roll of a die. A pool of acid was sizzling on the ground every few feet, threatening to dissolve any part of the body that slipped into the puddle.
He desperately missed Dr. Thorn. At least he was slash-able and punch-able; there was a sense of duel, an engagement in combat with another. This was more akin to trying to not die against a natural disaster while it ripped through everything around him.
Through his hazy sight, David saw one of the many golden apples glinting in the never-ending sunlight. They were tantalizingly close, yet so far away.
"Just, give me a break!" He swung his sword at the impending train of teeth.
The black sword clashed against a long yellowish fang. Neither of them broke, but the strength behind them was incomparable. David was flung backward and skidded over the grass for several feet before coming to a halt.
He struggled back up. Yet again, Ladon had stopped chasing him. The heads were spread out like a sunflower, all glowering down at him with malicious intent, but none made any movement to strike.
"…?"
David frowned, confused. That was a prime opportunity to dispose of him, yet Ladon let the moment pass without any notice.
Then he thought back on how it reacted the last time it abruptly stopped; Ladon held its position until he made a step forward.
David carefully lifted his feet. The entirety of the hundred heads all growled in unison, making a sound like thousand motorcycles getting started up.
He put the foot back. The growling subsided, but the lividness in the many pair of eyes didn't diminish a bit.
'It has a limited range. Ladon won't attack me as long as I stay out of bounds.'
It was a breakthrough. However, David was unsure how that could help in any way.
Sure, it was useful in keeping him alive during the challenge, but that didn't mean much if he couldn't get the golden apple. And it wasn't like there was a way to get the apple while he stayed clear of Ladon's radar.
'Unless…'
David looked down at his sword. Perhaps there was a way.
He wasn't sure how much of an effect it would have, but it was worth a shot.
David threw his sword on the ground and ripped off a big enough leaf that'll cover up his lips.
"What is he doing? Is he giving up?" Erytheia grumbled. The other Hesperides tilted their heads in confusion as well.
Zoë, on the other hand, realized what he was about to do as soon as he brought the leaf to his lips.
A rough, inelegant tune rang across the field. It was far from any great music Zoë had ever heard—even the Hesperides frowned in discomfort at the vast lack of musical talent the flute player had.
However, soon enough, their irritations were quickly swapped into astonishment. Because the sword that lay on the ground was starting to float up into the air, matching the increasingly rising notes of the music.
Out of the five, Asterope was the first to recognize what was going on.
"That's a symphonic spell. But, I thought the Muses were the only ones who could use them…"
The second Hesperid muttered. Her dismal dark blue eyes glinted with faint curiosity.
"I taught him," Zoë said.
"And how did you learn that?"
"By a friend. From the outside."
Everyone fell silent for a moment. Some eyes darted over to the silver tiara on Zoë's forehead.
Zoë, meanwhile, was thinking back a day prior; when the two of them were camping in the middle of the desert, and when she taught him how to use the grass flute.
"He still has a long way to go." She muttered under her breath, albeit feeling slightly light-hearted.
She wasn't the only one impressed by this showcase. Even Erytheia couldn't help herself from glancing up at the mesmerizing movement of the sword.
"Still, he must have some talent in sorcery if he could pull that off.
And you said he's a son of Ares? How peculiar."
"He is…one of a kind amongst his half-siblings."
Or men in general, Zoë thought to herself.
The sword danced around in the air as if an invisible swordsman had picked it up in the middle of the air and was wielding it. Some of the dragon heads looked up to focus on the dancing sword, while the rest of the heads kept a close eye on David.
Suspending a weapon by a song was much more demanding than David had anticipated. He could only dare to take a breather at the slightest opportunity to keep the sword airborne.
His head started to feel lighter than usual as if he was floating up just like the sword. He could feel the sharp breaths sapping the liquids in his mouth, making it hard to continue the music. His lungs drastically wished Grover was here right now; his reed pipes would have been perfect for this situation.
Still, he pushed on; putting on more frantic music for the sword to dance to. It slashed and spun around, demanding the dragon's attention.
Slowly, one by one, Ladon's head started to focus more on the vigorously moving sword than on the man. Soon enough, the last head that was half-heartedly eyeing David finally turned away.
'It's now or never!'
At that moment, David tweeted on the highest note he could pull off, sending the sword straight to the tree and darting straight forward himself.
However, before he could even take a certain step ahead, tens of dragonheads slammed their lower jaw onto the ground, preventing his entry.
"Seriously!?"
Ladon spat a huge glob of acid in retort.
David jumped back and out of the splash zone.
He watched the sizzling ground in disenchantment as the earth around his sword dissolved, mocking his last-ditch effort to reach the golden fruit.
[Line Break]
[David's Pov]
This was impossible.
I know I wasn't supposed to think like this, but I couldn't think otherwise.
Ladon was that much perfect as a guardian. No wonder Heracles failed to get the apple on his own—with either brawn or brains or both, it was impossible to get past the hundred-headed dragon.
I looked at the Hesperides lined up at the sidelines. It was too far to make out their expressions, but I could tell a sense of resignation was lingering around them. They had given up hope on my success.
Even Zoë, who had both her clasped in front of her seemed to be gladder than anything; probably relieved that I managed to stay alive up to the point where…the only logical step left was to give up.
The golden chains around their ankles shimmered in the nightfall.
…No. I can't do that. I can't just give up.
If I give up, all Hesperides would be stuck here for who-knows-how-much until some other heroes come to take a shot. And if I'm being frank, I doubt any of the future attempts would be more successful than mine.
The next idea was to ask for help. That was how Heracles did it, and it worked.
What bothered me was that Erytheia made it clear that I was the one who should get the apple. And judging from what other Hesperides had said, getting help isn't a road to take when you aimed to free all Hesperides.
There was no other way. I had to get the apple on my own.
That's impossible!
The logical part of myself complained. For once, I agreed with it. It was impossible. I was much less experienced and skilled than Heracles; there was no chance in Hades that I'll manage to get the apple.
Then again, that wasn't enough of a reason to not try.
I picked up the sword from the acid puddle. A small amount of acid burned into my skin. The singing pain erupted around my palm.
I clenched my teeth and glared up at Ladon.
I am going to get that apple.
Not just for Zoë.
For every Hesperides who were damned to be locked in here.
And for every unlucky hero who had tried and failed to get the apple.
I will succeed. Even if it was impossible.
After all, that's what heroes did. Even in prehistoric times.
Heroes were meant to challenge the undoable, confront the unbeatable, and provoke the almighty. Heroes were meant to clash against the status quos set up by humans. And if a tragedy was what awaited at the end for their 'fatal flaw', their 'arrogance', then so be it!
The sigil around my left palm crackled with energy like never before. I could see the crackles climb up to my arm.
At the same time, however, I didn't feel a sudden boost of power, not anything physically uplifting.
Instead, I found within myself, the strength to smile, and look straight into the 200 eyes staring down at me.
"I'll be taking your apple, Ladon," I stated.
Ladon snarled with its multiple heads. Even though I didn't speak dragon tongue, I could tell you what it just said then.
Go on then. Die trying.
And try I did.
I leaped up as high as I could as the first head came barreling down like a derailed train.
Somehow, I managed to jump over the entirety of its wide-open maw and landed on the snout. I quickly sprinted between its eyes, down to the neck as the head howled in confusion and rage.
The rest of the heads came swopping down. Apparently, Ladon's scales were much more durable than its fangs because the other heads didn't hesitate for a second as they chomped down on the neck of their fellow head.
I spurred on as the clamping noises came closer and closer until one of the heads inevitably caught up, looming over my head and casting a large circular shadow.
Right as it swooped down, I jumped sideways and rolled back onto the ground.
I've what, ran past 6, 7 heads? Only 90 more to go!
Speaking of, more heads attacked from the above.
They propelled themselves to the ground like before, only instead of slamming their open mouths into the ground and scooping up tons of soil, they swerved sideways at the last second.
They zoomed right above the ground like a collection of freight trains, swirling around the perimeter to aim for a secondary strike. I slid under the belly of one slithering body and clambered over the other.
The tree was getting closer with each step. If I could keep this up for another minute…
Ladon must've realized that his usual defense methods weren't working. The heads I left behind snapped their jaw and swerved back, while the other heads loomed over in a second wave.
Dodging attacks that came from both the front and back was a much more daunting task than I'd hoped it would be. It quickly became impossible to advance a single step as countless teeth came snapping down, drenching the area in acid.
I glanced upon the jungle of dragonheads above; I can't brute force my way through them. Not when Heracles's herculean strength wasn't enough. I'd either get flesh torn from bones or painfully melt into a puddle of gooey acid.
I needed a different angle; a different method of approach.
More flexible. More agile.
Like a Hunter.
It was a luck of the draw, but it was the only chance I had.
As Ladon closed in from I deteriorated my thoughts away from it. I shouldn't focus on the rapidly impending doom. Trust my instincts; only, lead it in a slightly different direction.
I pictured Zoë in the snow field of Cloudcroft. How each skip of her joy looked like, how graceful she moved amid the combat. And most importantly, I recalled her naturally calm, sedative nature.
I had plenty of memories to base on.
I took a deep, soothing breath and jumped as an impression of her.
The clambering jaws of tarragons were underneath while I soared upward. My lungs filled with clear air, and for a second, I saw the world in the eyes of Zoë Nightshade.
The world was tilted upside down sideways. Sunlight came from below as I felt a tug from the ground above, and it was amazing.
I had to refrain myself from laughing with joy; I had to save up on oxygen in my lungs, after all.
Still upside down, my feet landed on a standing portion of one of the necks. I kicked up and parkoured my way higher, over the slashing fangs and snarling acids until I reached the highest standing head of them all.
My legs buckled with fatigue. They didn't like what I tried. None of my body did.
My muscles weren't trained to act like a hunter. It was much stiffer, centered into a more grounded use, not jumping several meters with ease.
But I was there.
The golden apple basked in the eternally setting sun.
Nothing was in between it, and me.
I jumped with the last of my strength.
I was there. I made it.
My fingers closed around the prize, and—
[Line Break]
[3rd Person's Pov]
Zoë screamed.
She didn't care if it was one of the last things she'd do. She just couldn't help herself.
It was both horrifying and uplifting to see David leap in between the morass of dragons (they were technically one, but you get the point) by imitating her. And by the gods, he actually made it to right underneath the tree!
All that was left was to pick off the apple, and it was over.
And that was where everything went wrong.
The first head that had attacked David kept its head low while the young warrior climbed his way up to the top, it watched closely, biding until the exact moment to provide itself.
Every Hesperides, including Erytheia, cried out in despair as David was knocked backward back onto the ground. And following the frantic lead of Zoë, they all gathered around the small crater he landed in.
To Zoë's horror, David was crumpled against the ground, making no sign that he was fine; or even alive to begin with.
"Is he dead?" Asterope whimpered. Hygeia wrapped an arm around her sister's shoulder.
Lipara nodded with a grim expression.
"Logically speaking, he should be."
"He is not." Zoë snapped.
She wouldn't accept that as an ending. He can't be dead. Not like this.
Surprisingly, Erytheia was the one who backed up her claim.
"Zoë is right. Not even Thanatos can reach here without our permission. Nothing will be sent to The Underworld in this garden unless we allow it."
And right on cue, David's eyelid fluttered open.
"What happened…oh."
He looked around, meeting each Hesperides in the eye, down at his empty hands for a few seconds. When he was done piecing things together, both of his hands balled into firm fists.
Despite the handful of concerns from other Hesperides, David got back up to his feet.
"I'm going back in."
Finally, Zoë had enough. She stepped in front of the insolent boy-hero and spread her arms out wide.
"David, this is enough. You've done the best you can."
"Well, clearly that's not enough. It doesn't mean I cannot try again, does it?"
David angrily spluttered out.
Zoë opened her mouth to retaliate, an odd sense of fury building inside herself.
Why couldn't he just give up on this one occasion? The entire world might be at stake right behind this garden, and yet here he was insisting that he get that godforsaken apple.
But before she could lash out, Erytheia stepped in.
"My sister has a point.
Your efforts were valiant, hero. But the task in question was impossible to achieve, to begin with."
David whipped around to face Erytheia.
"I almost did!"
"But you didn't. That's the point. Not even the greatest hero known to mankind managed to do it. Neither would anyone in the future would manage to do so.
The Three Fates won't let us escape. That is our fate."
"…"
The Hesperides hung their heads low. Asterope snuffed a snivel, Hygeia closed her eyes solemnly, and Lipara bit her lower lip in frustration.
No one dared to say it out loud as Erytheia did, but all of them had a similar skulking sensation of dread inside. They all had been bound to this garden for longer than their memories could stretch. Not even Zoë couldn't fully imagine what it would be like to be 'free' from the garden.
She had left it behind, sure. But she wasn't free from it. She never was. The golden chains were always around her ankles, following wherever she sought out as a sanctuary.
They would never be free.
David saw their crestfallen expressions and looked up at the golden apples for the umpteenth time.
An idea came to his mind. Not a great one. Not even good; on the contrary, he nearly wanted to disregard the idea as soon as it came to mind.
But the more he thought about it, the more it made sense. And most importantly, he couldn't allow himself to turn a blind eye.
"Zoë, I need your knife."
Zoë looked up. David had his hand outstretched to her, his eyes still glued to the apple.
"What?"
"I need your knife. Come on."
Zoë noticed the small tremble in her outstretched arm.
"Why do thee need it? It won't be any better than thy sword."
"I can't tell you."
"Then I can't give it to thee."
"Seriously? Just give me the knife!"
"No!"
Other Hesperides watched the two bicker with mild interest. Their heads went back and forth as if it was a ping-pong match between them.
Finally, Erytheia intervened. Again.
"Zoë, just give him the knife."
Zoë bit her lip. Goosebumps slowly crept under her skin.
Every sense she had: from her extensive times spent as a hunter to the faint celestial senses as the granddaughter of the Titan Iapetus warned her that she would thoroughly regret this decision.
"Fine."
"Thank you!"
Despite all of her intellectuals saying otherwise, she handed David one of her hunting knives.
The silver blade glinted scarlet with the glow of the setting sun.
"Though I must ask, what are you going to do with it?" Erytheia asked.
"…You said Heracles was the greatest hero, period."
"I thought that was widely accepted amongst mortals. Is that not true?"
"It is. Just…I have a different idea about what makes you a hero. And also, why nobody managed to free all of you before."
David changed the hand holding the sword to his right, the silver knife held to his left, his palm ablaze once more, and sprinted forward once more.
The Hesperides watched as Ladon acted up again. Even the monster seemed exasperated at the persistence of this impudent mortal.
Some of the heads were wary of attacking. They glanced over at the Hesperides, eyeing the apparent chains around their ankles. It wanted their freedom as well, as they were the only companion it ever had since it was first dug up from Tartarus to guard the tree.
However, it couldn't let the apple get taken. That was not up for debate.
So the dragon roared and trampled its feet in warning as the challenger approached. One of the more feisty heads snapped forward, and the contender sprung over its head. Ladon tensed, keeping a far enough distance from him to prevent another rapid scaling with its many necks.
But instead, to every being's surprise, David stomped on one of the scales with all his might and jumped straight upwards—shooting up into the air like a torpedo.
And when he reached the very top of his height, he raised his left hand.
The silver weaponry shone through the orange setting sunlight.
[David's Pov]
This was crazy.
And not your typical demigod crazy, mind you, where you charge toward a monster or try to poke a hair out of Clarisse.
No. This was flat-out, full-on bonkers of an idea. If the words spread of my actions, I'd be the grand prize winner of the Darwin Award without any objections.
And I was terrified.
If anyone was right next to me at that moment, they would've seen my arms trembling. My face scrunched up in my best efforts to not cry because I cannot allow any distractions to take place.
Once I execute my plan, I had to act without hesitation or this would all be for nothing.
Stop thinking.
I scolded myself.
There was a reason why Heracles failed to free the Hesperides. It's not because he wasn't strong enough, or fast enough; Hera's trap was much more cerebral than that.
It was because he didn't want to.
And that was the difference between the greatest hero in Ancient Greek history, and me.
I clenched my right hand around the sword handle as hard as I could. It shouldn't slip off under any circumstance. And, I'll probably miss how this feels.
I let out a roar of a yell, more to squash my own fears than anything else, and brought down the silver knife on my right arm.
Red lights flashed in front of my eyes as intolerable pain exploded from my wound. I think I screamed a second time, though that might've come from below by the Hesperides. My eyes were filled with tears. The entire right arm was on fire. Every instinct I had was trying to refrain from looking at the now severed arm.
But I had to focus on it. I know that was against my impulse, but it was the only way.
Through the hazy scenery, I spotted a black sword spinning downwards with an arm dangling on its handle, trailing blood on its way down just like I was.
I resisted the urge to vomit and locked my eyes on the sword. Music was only a medium to control its movement. The movement itself was the trait of the sword.
I focused on the spiraling blade and pictured the golden apple. The very same golden apple that was just in my grasp a few minutes ago. I painted the image as strong as I could and shouted at the top of my voice.
"GO!"
The sword perked up by its tilt. It zoomed upwards, flying straight toward the very apple engraved in my mind.
And the hundred heads of Ladon did nothing to stop it; which meant I was right.
Heh, right.
I didn't have that anymore.
My fall speed started to pick up. The Hesperides were huddled around below.
I could almost hear Zoë's voice shouting something at the top of her lungs
I landed on the hard ground with my legs.
By all the sense in the word, the impact should've broken both my legs to shrapnel and also kill me, but I was miraculously alive. Not unscathed, mind you. But alive.
Because I still had to give them the apple.
The sigil crackling in my left hand told me.
I hobbled back up to my height. Erytheia was gaping at me as if I fell from the moon.
"You—you just—"
"It was a very first sacrifice. From mankind to the Hesperides. And this,"
I caught the black sword spinning back. A single golden apple was stuck in the middle of the blade. Oddly, not a single drop of juice was leaking out. On the contrary, as soon as I pulled out the weapon the apple regenerated itself.
I handed the apple to Erytheia.
"This, is probably the last sacrifice."
With trembling arms, Erytheia took the golden apple in her hands.
"You're all free."
Five sets of golden chains shattered away.
And right after that, my knees buckled, and I fell face-forward into the ground.
The soft ground was the last thing I felt before passing out.
My god, this was much more painful to put out than I initially thought.
I'm starting to realize why Uncle Rick decided to bypass Ladon; writing a combat scene including a 100 headed-dragon was a straight-up nightmare.
I'd save on the commentary because for one I am currently deprived of energy from writing to redrafting and whatnot
and secondly, again, I'd like to see what you guys think!
Was the combat boring? How does the more frequent change in between the POV fit in?
Does each Hesperides stand out? (I put more effort into making each of them rememberable than I should)
How about David's final action? Does it feel overdramatic? Or does it match within his character?
Or any other questions or impressions you may have gotten, feel free to comment on them: Because I like reading your comments.
I hope you had a fun time reading, I'll see you all in the next chapter.
Ta ta~
