Axle, The Crow

A lengthy, transparent cord straightened out on a wooden table. The sun shone past the window glass, hitting strong rays at the scattered rubies on the rough surface. Two delicate fingers picked a random bead of ruby amongst the twinkling crowd. "Beautiful." Fiona said as she took one end of the cord and poked it through the ruby. One after another, beads lined up in one direction as she linked them all together.

Hours passed and the sun began to set. With the weakened rays of sunlight slowly diminishing from sight, Fiona held her latest creation and brought it to the window. An apple made of rubies could be seen absorbing the warm rays of the sun. The blood-red accessory emitted a powerful aura, which soon blossomed into a hibiscus flower.

With an empty cup in her other hand, she brought it close to the center of the hibiscus. Drips of nectar filled up the cup in no time, leaving it in a withered state. Once the last drop fell into the cup, Fiona crushed the remains and sprinkled it on top of the liquid. She walked over to her bed, where Kyle was rolled up in a thick blanket.

Squatting down to meet him at eye level, Fiona tapped his wet nose lightly. "Wake up, sleepy head. Time to drink your medicine. After this, I'll bring you to the roof and let you absorb energy from the moonlight." She brought a crazy straw, placed it in the cup and slid it into his mouth. Once the scent of sweet nectar entered his nostril, his eyes popped open.

Though he couldn't jump up and squeal like before, his mouth formed a smile to show how joyful he felt. As promised, Fiona carried him to the rooftop after the sky darkened. Under the starry sky, stars waved from a distance. She rubbed Kyle's forehead and looked up at the bright moon.

"Luckily, Eros took a strand of your fur and cast a protective shield around the enchanted forest. This way, nobody will realize your father was injured severely. Though you sacrificed one of your tails to save him, the damage has been done to his soul force. With the help of your power, he will still need to meditate for a little less than two decades to fully recuperate. By that time, Primrose should be eighteen. When that time comes, Eros will have to find her on a countdown and nobody is allowed to help them. There's only so much we could do."

Her fingers combed through his white fur. After Kyle saved the Oracle, his strength was completely drained. His fur was no longer pure white. Now, one-ninth of his fur is dyed Neptune blue.

[ Eighteen years later ]

A pair of tarry wings flapped energetically across the underworld. Rushing past the guards by Eros' chamber, the crow cawed merrily as if it was singing opera. It spun three times in the air and slowly shifted in shape. The lively body of a teenage boy around seventeen years old with soft features and a pair of dark indigo eyes appeared. Ignoring the creatures that were present, he rushed up to the golden chair where Eros was sitting on.

"Master! I'm back! The human world is extremely phenomenal! I went to this place called school today and sat in this wooden chair. I had no idea what the old man in front of the green chalkboard was saying, but I made him very happy. When he called on me to answer his question, I read what he wanted me to say in his mind. Oh! Oh! There is also Greek mythology class too! I can't believe humans also know about stories related to deities!" He exclaimed as he described everything elaborately.

Eros rubbed his temples for minutes before asking the loquacious crow in front of him to stop speaking run-on sentences. He could barely comprehend what was coming out of the crow's mouth. "Axle. Close." Eros demanded.

Within seconds, Axle's lips sealed into a straight line. He pointed to his mouth and muffled strugglingly. It wasn't until he ran out of breath and fell on his behind that Eros reversed the spell.

"Master! You're so cruel! I was getting to the good part!" Axle pouted, forcing his cheeks outwards.

"Those puppy eyes won't work on me. You were speaking too fast again. Remember what happened to Medusa last time you did this? She decorated your wings with neon pink sparkles for the whole month because you didn't slow down and confused the heck out of her. All I did was give you a break. Now, what were you talking about?" Eros chuckled at Axle's childish behavior.

"Tch. Medusa was just petty. Oh, right! Master, we were having a discussion in class today about you and mistress! It was a love story between Eros and Psyche. After listening to the teacher, I realized at least half of it was true! I can't believe master and mistress are so famous that even people on earth knows your stories!" Axle returned to his talkative state.

With his rising excitement, Eros didn't have the heart to stop him. Hence, he ended up watching Axle silently as he reenacted his entire class lecture.

Leaning on his palm, Eros responded indifferently. Though he had a monotone voice, the smile on his face gave him away. "Then, bring back a souvenir tomorrow. I would love to read how accurate the Greek mythology books are on earth."

"Yes, master!" Axle bent his arms and stretched it to the back of his head.

The following day, Axle cheerfully flew to earth and attended school like a normal teenager would.

On the top of the hills, Fiona's hands played the role of a pair of binoculars. Observing from the window, she noticed a familiar aura interrupting earth's time. She squinted through the gaps of her hands and smiled. "Ah, Axle has grown up to be such a handsome adult. It is time for me to do my job."

A few clicks reverberated in the room. Shimmering glows with various colors exploded from the inside of the house. When the levels of illumination stopped, the face of a youthful woman was gone. Instead, an elderly woman with a pair of brown reading glasses, a cane and hunched back was standing in the middle of the living room.

"Kyle~" Fiona called out. Hearing his mother's voice, Kyle sprinted out of bed and threw his body on her ankles where he wrapped his limbs around it.

Squeal!

He lifted his head up to look at his mother's face only to see her disguised look. Once again, he was stunned by her transformation. It took him a few seconds to familiarize himself to her new style.

"Your father should be waking up today. I'll open up a portal for you to go find him. Let him know that it is time for Eros to come to earth and look for his wife. Remember the rules. We can't tell him anything about Psyche's reincarnated life. So, you can't tell him her name either. Just tell that to your father, and he will understand. Go."

A marble sized orb appeared on her right hand and slowly distorted in size. Once it was large enough for Kyle to fit, he waved his arms and jumped into the portal.

After he was gone, Fiona smiled. "Great. Now, it is my turn to greet Axle."