The Past Lived

After the battle was over, Anubis heard Gabriel's cry. After his wounds were mostly healed, he came to Gabriel to ease him down.

"You can not sit here all day. Emperor Ra has an eye on you and is boiling your back."

"Can you tell me... Why do we live?" Gabriel asked as he sat down, "Humans always wanted to live. But for what purpose? They will suffer for the rest of their lives."

"Calm down, Gabriel. You must have been traumatized. OF COURSE, we need to live! We live to get what we want, what makes us happy!"

"Everything that can brighten my day is gone... forever. I now have no purposes..."

Anubis had never seen his friend so depressed before. But Anubis wasn't giving up.

"Look, I have lost my best friend too. I know how it feels. Deaths are unavoidable. You can not look back..." Anubis just realized what he just said. He stopped for a moment to think of a way to relieve Gabriel. He later continued, "Geb is gone. But he must have been reborn in Egypt. My point is... Though he died, his soul lives on, as do your friends. They want you to move on!"

Gabriel soon regained his enthusiasm, "Maybe you are right."

Anubis knew he lied. Once there are no soul keepers, a dead man is gone forever. But he was glad that he could do Gabriel a favor.

Both eventually came to terms and began looking for a place to rest. Gabriel recalled Iron telling him about a faraway destination. Gabriel smacked the ground and turned into Typhos. He then carried Anubis on his back and began their trip to Argos.

On the way, Gabriel thought of talking with Anubis. However, he was startled to hear snores.

"I suppose you have had a hard day... I will let you sleep for a while."

Gabriel had seen a lot of interesting places along the way. The first thing that drew his attention was a significant river known as Eurotas. It was where he spent most of his youth with his friends and Doris. Gabriel had many wonderful memories of seeing it again. At one point, Doris nearly drowned in the river Gabriel jumped in and tried to push her up. However, they were both struggling so much that they couldn't get up the land. Nasir then jumped in with all of his confidence and drove them back to the land.

Gabriel then had a majestic view of the great Parnonas mountain. Many villages could be seen down the hill. It was something special, magnificent to Gabriel's eyes. He had always regretted joining the Spartan army. He could have explored so much in his lifetime. "What would happen if that day, you did not tell me to go away?" Gabriel referred to his father. Gabriel then suddenly thought of how his hometown treated him and his wife. Gabriel had a change of mind, "Heh, perhaps my father was not the worst person ever..." He continued with an empathetic tone, "But I can not let the same thing happen again."

The Greek gods had been watching the fights. Seeing two of the most powerful gods get defeated, they retreated unconditionally. They eventually reached Zeus for assistance. The king had already foreseen all the incidents by the time Gabriel and Typhos were fused into one. Despite having a thoughtful strategy on stopping any further damage, Gabriel had grown far beyond his expectations.

When asked how he planned to stop the danger, Zeus sighed.

"If I had to fight Typhos again, it would not be as simple." Zeus explained to other gods and goddesses, "Even if I get rid of that troublesome Egyptian, Gabriel is not alone." Afterward, Zeus changed his mind, "The man has a goal in mind. But I have no idea why he wants it. I will not let him succeed by any means. If not, deities will vanish. After all, we are the last of our beings."

Despite his concerns, Zeus knew there was still a spark of hope. He knew that Poseidon was still alive.

Having traveled over an hour, Gabriel eventually reached Agros. Gabriel found himself flying with ease. He didn't feel the need to transform into Typhos any longer. His stopping point was a small mountain close to the town. From afar, he could see many farms and gardens in the middle of a desolate landscape. He reckoned that it was a result of living in the Dream World.

"There is no way this city could grow that fast in such a short period... But how did those people construct such farms?"

As he got closer, he realized the water source was a nearby river. The locals had worked hard to create smaller channels for the river to flow to their farms. Other than that, Gabriel saw a small group of people riding horses in the town. He couldn't let them see him in his tremendous shape. Gabriel slowly landed on the mountain and shrunk himself. He then went to carry Anubis on his back along the way.

As Gabriel saw Anubis' golden ring fall out. He wanted to hold it for Anubis, but it was quite heavy for him. He admired how strong Anubis was to carry such an item everywhere.

"(Anubis, what secrets have you kept from me?)" Gabriel sighed.

Later, in a calm voice, Gabriel woke Anubis up. He was told that their journey had yet to end. As Gabriel expected, Anubis was left concerned.

"Where are we now?"

"We have arrived at Argos. We come to search for a man named Perseus. Iron said that he can give us details about the gods. And he probably knows how to beat them."

"Why are you so sure of yourself? Do you happen to know where he lives?"

"At least we have... I mean, I have a voice. I can ask the people in the area. Just hope that they do not recognize me..."

"What do you mean? Have you been here before?"

"A few years ago, I was ordered, along with four other Spartans, to come to Argos to collect information on its army, also known as the Argives."

"Argives?"

"The Argives. My king, the former one, once said that the more you know about your enemy, the better your chances of success. It was a great tactic that would eventually lead to a bigger battle. Although I am not sure what was the ultimate goal, I can tell that the Spartans desired dominance..." Gabriel gave Anubis his ring back, "In any case, here is your ring. It fell off before."

In front of their eyes was a great wall. According to Gabriel, the most efficient way was to disguise and go through the gate then.

"Do you want to get in with my plan?" Gabriel asked with a grin.

"What do you mean?"

The two flew behind the group of people. They planned to take action from the back to draw the least attention possible. Next to them was a horse ridden by two people. Anubis placed his crook on a person's head. He was immediately vaporized, leaving no trace but his clothing. Gabriel was stunned, but he didn't wish to say a word. Anubis then continued doing the same thing to the other individual. They quickly changed into the clothes which were left behind, which were regular white and brown chitons. The two would eventually get on the horse carefully. A man in the front row noticed some noise. He looked back and asked whatever had happened. Gabriel quickly answered that he was only speaking too loudly. Despite hearing a mild difference in the voice, the man cut loose.

Both entered the gate safely. Gabriel even warned Anubis not to speak as people would recognize him as a foreigner.

"Specifically, your ears. They are too big. Can you hide them?" Gabriel asked.

"The cloth's material is quite loose, so I can roll it over my head... How do I look now?" Anubis confided.

Gabriel palmed his face as Anubis looked even more ridiculous.

"Whatever covers your stupid face."

In an Egyptian sense, he looked conventional. Still, Anubis couldn't put up with the smell of the outfit he had. His ring was transformed into a crook. He hid it behind his back, just in case anyone noticed.

Gabriel noticed that the horses in front were heading back to the rider's home. He expected the horse he was riding to behave similarly. So he told Anubis that they would be walking instead.

"But why should we do that when we have this horse?" Anubis was bothered.

"This horse does not belong to us. We are strangers to this town and we should not be caught as suspects."

The horse came to a complete stop as the two hopped off. It waved its tail vigorously as if it was sincerely greeting Gabriel.

"Look at that horse, Anubis. It looks like it is proud to have us as riders," Gabriel was delighted.

"Interesting... I never knew animals had emotions before," Anubis mocked.

"Maybe it likes the way I rode it. Horses are all too familiar to me."

Gabriel then told the horse to stay still.

To Anubis' surprise, he saw a busy town. People did everything from raising cattle to selling goods. There were also children having a fun time with little games. Gabriel was distracted as he saw a woman having her fish cooked in a tall clay oven. Curious, Gabriel asked whether Anubis was hungry, to which he responded, "I do not often eat."

After walking through the city for a short distance, the two came across a group of Argives walking in the opposite direction. Gabriel immediately warned Anubis to lower his face. He was baffled and asked Gabriel what that was for. Accidentally, this raised suspicions among the Argives. One moved toward the two to refine things.

While the Argive was approaching, a memory within Gabriel was suddenly stroked, "(How come he looks so familiar? A man with a thick beard and long hair covering his neck?)"

"What are you doing here?" The man revealed a smirk.

"Ah... We are returning home from farming," Gabriel responded with a sweat.

The man took two steps closer and gave a subtle warning to Gabriel in a soft voice, "Do you think you can go through me easily, Athens?"

Gabriel almost choked. He spoke in heavy strain, "C- Cristian..." The man's voice had provoked his memory immensely. He took a step back out of fear. "(How is this man still alive?!)" he frightened. Anubis quickly woke Gabriel up just before his mind went wild. Cristian quit his smile as he noticed that Gabriel had company. The suspending temper was rising as the three men had a deadly stare at each other. Anubis questioned Gabriel's anxiety, Gabriel doubted Cristian's reincarnation, and Cristian suspected Anubis' existence.

Cristian settled the tension with a statement.

"We will meet each other... Before the sunset."

He then returned to his group and walked away.

Anubis approached Gabriel, "What was going on with you? I have never seen you that worried."

"I was... all right," Gabriel answered with grief.

On the day returning to Sparta, the Argives discovered that he and his team were spies. Gabriel's team was pursued by a small group of Argives. Knowing their weakness, and lack of potency, Gabriel's team confidentially fought and destroyed the opposer. As there was one attacker left on the field, Gabriel told his colleagues to retreat first and that he would take care of the rest in the meantime. Gabriel turned back to see his despairing opponent, Cristian. Cristian didn't tremble when facing Gabriel. He put his helmet on and prepared for a death battle. He needed to forget his friends' sacrifices and have a full focus on his enemy. By the fragile looks of Cristian, Gabriel let his guard down. Gabriel raised his arms and provoked, "HEY! You are not seeking death, are you? Do you not want your friends to know that danger is coming? Oh, I am sorry! They have already met their death!"

Cristian tried to concentrate, but his mind had been boiled by anger. He couldn't control his action but sprinted into Gabriel outrageously.

"You Spartans will pay for your sins!" Cristian yelled intensely.

"(This was exactly how I planned,)" Gabriel thought, "(I lure my enemy to run into me so that I could do the final stab.)"

However, as Cristian got close to Gabriel, he quickly took his helmet out and struck it at Gabriel in full swing. The attack was so unforeseen that Gabriel didn't get time to defend. as a result, his spear was blown away. Right before Gabriel could grab his knife, Cristian had already jumped and knocked Gabriel down. As Cristian was about to give a hard punch, Gabriel rolled over, topped Cristian, and slapped him aggressively. Gabriel took out his knife and struck down. Luckily, Cristian turned his head over and avoided the attack. Before Gabriel could give out a second strike, Cristian noticed Gabriel's long hair. He quickly pulled it towards him, weakening Gabriel for a good while. Both eventually got on their feet. Cristian embraced his focus, whereas Gabriel decided to end Cristian as fast as possible. As Gabriel charged an attack, Cristian revealed his melee and quickly parried it.

Gabriel almost had his knife fall off. Despite the surprise, he gave Cristian a frightening glare.

"You could have stunned me back there," Gabriel smiled wickedly, "But you were weak."

"Not if I cut your awareness," Cristian responded.

"What!?"

Cristian quickly lay a bleeding wound on his adversary's cheek. Enraged, Gabriel mindlessly charged his knife downwards. As a result, he severed half of Cristian's left arm. Christian couldn't predict such an action. The pain drifted through his whole body. For a few seconds, he couldn't feel anything but his heartbeat. He then screamed in despair, triggering other Argives to come out and assist. Gabriel had to retreat before the number of enemies increased.

As Gabriel was ready to run, Cristian evoked, "The one before me, I demand your name. This shall not be the last time we meet! If you flee now... you will forever be a living fool."

Gabriel wanted to speak to him no more, but his ego told him otherwise.

"I am Gabriel," he responded, "Gabriel Athens!"

"Gabriel Athens... I shall carry that name with me for the rest of my life. I, Cristian, will see you IN HELL!"

Gabriel didn't understand what he meant at first. All he knew was that he needed to flee the approaching Argives. Later, Gabriel and his team jumped on their hidden horses and drove back home safely.

"Sparta... You will pay for your greed..." Cristian mumbled his last words, "No... I do not want Sparta... I want a rematch..."

Cristian eventually passed out due to blood loss.

One of Gabriel's teammates, Nasir, had a quick conversation with Gabriel on the way.

"What was the hesitation? Were you trying to take down the whole city by yourself?" Nasir questioned.

"No... It was a person..." Gabriel replied with uneasiness.

To Gabriel, killing and dying were fragile. Yet, the previous fight had had him look back. He knew he had killed his opponent. But he didn't see it as righteous. He feared that one day, his rage might get him killed. After that day, Cristian's voice remained stuck inside Gabriel's head.

Anubis awoke Gabriel when he was drowning in his memories.

"Hey, I noticed that you have been hazy lately. Are you sure you are all right?" Anubis concerned.

"Yes... Yes, I am. We need to move on and continue our search. Before it is too late."

"How are we going to find one man out of all the people in this city!? Not to say that we have not seen his face yet."

Gabriel suddenly stopped walking. He sighed deeply before responding to Anubis.

"We are in a hurry, are we not?"

"Do not ask obvious questions... What is your next plan?"

"Look," Gabriel turned back to Anubis, "This may be ridiculously risky. I will ask as many people as possible about Perseus, and we will find him based on the hints we receive."

"That is insane! You are exposing yourself to others. And they may question my identity as well."

"I know this approach may take days and weeks to do it successfully. But listen... we can not wait any longer."

"Is that all?"

Anubis' ignorant expression caught Gabriel's attention right away. He attempted to continue his explanation.

"Plus, we will have to face Cristian. Who knows if he will tell everyone in the city about us? We may as well expose ourselves now."

"Cristian? That man before? Fine. But try not to involve me in any conversation with your kind."

"They are not- Ugh... Just get that stupid wearing of yours off because it could be the main reason why people were staring at you."

Anubis was surprised to hear such words from Gabriel. Out of frustration, he thought Gabriel was discriminating against his country. Gabriel walked away with a deep disappointment in Anubis' attitude. Anubis waited for a moment to distance himself from Gabriel. The two continued their walk in sorrow.

On the way, Gabriel saw two young boys. He thought it was the opportunity to investigate. While the boys were playing discus throw, Gabriel suddenly interrupted.

"Hello, kids. Are you having fun?" Gabriel calmly asked.

"Yes, we are!" A boy replied.

"No, we are not!" The other boy cut in, "My brother is taking away all the fun!"

"What did you mean by that?" The brother laughed.

"It is not fair that you always win..."

"Hey, hey," Gabriel shouted, "You two will not get along if you maintain this attitude throughout your lives. One should know how to encourage. And instead of complaining, one should learn to improve."

The boys stared at each other for a while, then shared smiles. Gabriel felt like it was the moment for him to ask them.

"Now, I will give you a question. I am looking for the man who goes by the name Perseus. Do you know who he is and where he lives?"

The kids were dazed. They had never heard of the name before. Shortly after, the elder brother gave a laggy response, "I... do not know..." Gabriel then began to lose hope of ever finding Perseus. A woman came out of her house and leaned to her door. She asked the kids, "Did I hear a stranger?"

She was shocked to see Gabriel. She stood still and quickly called the kids to come inside the house. Gabriel was confused by her action. As the kids reached her, Gabriel heard the woman telling them not to talk to him again. Gabriel suspected that the citizens had recognized him. He had to come up with a better plan. But he doubted he could do it alone. Just before Gabriel could put his hope on Anubis, he heard a burst of a giggle.

"What is with the wait?" Anubis made fun of his fellow, "Why do you not get inside her house and ask her? Maybe she knows the answer!"

"Now you listen to me." Gabriel returned to Anubis, "How about you get back to your place and do your job, HUH?" Gabriel yelled straight into Anubis' eyes, "What kind of 'God' are you? Your people are dying, and you are slacking off. This conflict is between Greece's imaginary animals and me. They are all made up! Even YOU! What you have to do now-"

"HEY!" Anubis cut Gabriel's words, "What did you mean by 'animals'? Are you not one of them too!? And does the importance of my job concern you in any way? My job is no longer to keep the soul in a cage. My new mission is to keep Egypt safe. And to do so, I have to end the source of the threat."

"Then why are you not helping me out here, Anubis?! Instead of standing there complaining, why do you not support me by looking for an individual?"

"Oh, so do I have to knock on every person's door and ask them kindly: "Hello, could you help me find this man?" Is that what you want??? Look at me, Gabriel. I am no man. I am a jackal whose spirit was given by Fate and raised in a family of divinities. What do you expect when your people see me? Did you think I rolled this wool over my head just because I liked it?! I need to uncover myself!"

Anubis met rapid breathing after the speech. Shortly after, Gabriel's brows were furrowed. He began slowly approaching Anubis.

"So... you do not want to do any of these?" Gabriel spoke intensely, "Then you should have listened to me at first. I am allowing you to go back to Egypt. You are not welcomed here anymore. Leave. And I will do the rest. You said you want to assure your country's safety, right? I will do it by myself. And just to let you know, I have never needed you from the start."

"ARE YOU SAYING THAT I AM USELESS!?" Anubis spoke louder and faster, "I was the one who extended your sleeping time when the idiotic God of Death of yours was about to do whatever he intended. I had to fight him, ALONE!"

People in town started walking out of their houses to see what the noise was. Gabriel felt the situation had become too far. Yet, Anubis continued talking.

"And I will never let you forget this. Geb's death was ALL. YOUR. FAULT."

Gabriel wanted to tell Anubis to leave as quickly as possible. But he felt Anubis was being nonsensical. He began clarifying things.

"Am I the one to blame now? Am I? Did you not tell me that you explicitly saw your partner being killed by someone bigger and more powerful than him?"

"I could have saved him, you ignorant fool! You saving that stupid dog had delayed my trip to the rescue! If you had killed it, we would not have suffered this much loss."

Gabriel vented his rage after hearing such words. He slowly looked around to see the locals witnessing the argument. He then made eye contact with Anubis and said his new beliefs.

"A soul for a soul."

Anubis was left thoughtless after hearing what Gabriel had just told him. Shortly after, Anubis ground his teeth and shook his hands. Gabriel bent near Anubis to see whether he was alright. Suddenly, Anubis drew the crook from his back and stabbed Gabriel with the spear end. The force was so strong that Anubis had pierced through Gabriel's skull. Blood was seen dripping down Gabriel's face.

The people in the area began to scream. Some fled, while others carried a weapon to defend themselves. It was then Anubis realized he had caused trouble. He could hear Gabriel's breath in and out. Gabriel held the crook and slowly plugged it out of his head. He was growling furiously as he did so.

The people screamed even louder. Eventually, the Argives arrived to protect their people. They had no idea what was going on. Cristian has also come into the field. Out of all, he was the least to be shocked by the event. Since he met Gabriel again, he had always believed both evolved to a higher form of life. Still, he wanted to know how much Gabriel had progressed.

On Gabriel's feet at the moment was a pond of blood. After he plugged out the crook, he immediately threw it at Anubis. As Anubis was about to take it back, the crook flew through his palm. He began to bleed gold and screamed in agony. Cristian noticed Gabriel's technique and thought his rival still had a bit of spartan in him. He told his army not to interfere just yet. Gabriel dashed up to Anubis and gave him a hard punch in the eye. Anubis almost passed out afterward. Gabriel grasped his enemy by the head and flew to the sky in a split second. Gabriel brought Anubis out of the city. As he reached the cloud, he yelled at Anubis.

"NONE OF THIS WOULD HAVE HAPPENED IF YOU LISTENED TO ME! You could have gone away, and I could have carried on with my duty."

Gabriel later threw Anubis down as if he were an object. As Anubis was falling, he fully realized the truth.

"(Perhaps I was wrong... I have been feeding my past... Gabriel, I...)

Anubis landed near a river. He couldn't feel his body anymore. His legs were wrecked, and his arms were scratched. He couldn't move, nor could he speak. Gabriel flew to Anubis and then slowly walked toward him.

"I know you can still hear me. You are not dead yet. Man's hearing is most sensitive when he is near death," Gabriel stared at Anubis and took a deep breath, "Sometimes, I have this feeling that you are not living to yourself. You lost control in some situations. But now I get it. You always have your wrath ignited. You are a threat to your surroundings. I may not be so different from you, but I have control."

Gabriel turned away. However, before leaving, he spoke without looking at Anubis.

"I am sorry about Geb..."

Gabriel quickly flew back into the city. Anubis looked at his friend for a few winks before closing his eyes. The last thing he felt was the sound of the flowing river. And a touch of water.