The Prometheus Spark

Kevin hadn't moved from the fire in over an hour.

He sat cross-legged, a charcoal smudge on his cheek, one hand twitching slightly like he was still sketching something in the air. The

others had started pacing, whispering plans, debating next steps. But Kevin just stared at the same drawing he'd made the night before—a chained figure in a canyon, arms outstretched, with black chains binding them to the rock.

Colton approached quietly. "You alright?"

Kevin blinked slowly. "I think I saw how it happened. To her. To Selene."

Apollo and Hestia looked up. The room went still.

Kevin's voice was flat. "It wasn't a dream. It felt like I was… pulled into her past. Like it was being shown to me."

Colton knelt beside him. "Tell us."

Kevin's eyes unfocused, like he was watching something only he could see. "She was training with Hercules. They weren't just partners—he cared about her. Deeply. Like Apollo does with you."

Colton's breath caught slightly. He made eye contact with Apollo. Apollo nodded as if he was confirming Kevin's last statement.

"He told her that his power wasn't something to hand off lightly. That she needed to prove control if she ever wanted to carry his

strength. He said the kind of force he held could tear someone apart if they weren't ready."

Apollo's expression shifted—troubled but silent.

Kevin continued. "He left for a while. I don't know where. Then someone else appeared. Hermes."

Everyone tensed.

"He told Selene something had gone wrong. That Hercules had gone to confront Cronus without telling anyone. That he didn't want her to risk herself, but… he was in danger. That he needed her now."

Kevin's jaw tightened. "He said Hercules asked him to come find her."

Apollo crossed his arms. "And she believed him?"

"She wanted to," Kevin said. "She was afraid, but… determined. She left that night. She thought she was going to save him."

Colton's mouth was dry. "But she didn't."

"No," Kevin said. "She died facing Cronus. She never got the chance to save anyone."

The wind picked up again—cold, sharp, and sudden. Colton's pendant flicked black, then silver, then back to black again. Conflicted. Like it couldn't decide what it was sensing.

That's when Hermes stepped into view from the far archway, arms spread casually, like he'd just stumbled into a tavern.

"Boy, you people brood like it's a religion," he said. "Maybe start the day with a little sunshine, huh?"

Colton stood. "Funny. You're the last person I wanted to see."

Hermes twirled his staff once. "And yet here I am. Gotta love destiny."

Apollo stepped forward, voice low. "You've got some explaining to do."

Hermes raised a brow. "Don't I always?"

Kevin pushed himself up to his feet. "You told Selene Hercules needed her."

Hermes frowned. "Because he did."

"You said he was facing Cronus alone," Kevin pressed. "That he needed help."

"That's what he told me," Hermes snapped. "I didn't write the message, I delivered it."

Apollo narrowed his eyes. "And you never once questioned why the strongest warrior Olympus ever had would suddenly ask for backup?"

Hermes gave a half-shrug. "Hercules wasn't exactly a diplomat. He did things his own way. Always has. Maybe he bit off more than he could chew. I don't know."

Colton stepped between them. "That canyon—where they were. Where he's chained. You knew what it was the second you saw the drawing. So where is it?"

Hermes smirked, then let out a quiet sigh. "I said I know what it is. Not where."

"Convenient," Hestia muttered.

Hermes glanced at the pendant still flickering on Colton's chest. "That thing still having an identity crisis?"

"No," Hestia said coldly. "It just recognizes a man who's been bending the truth."

Hermes looked offended. "Hey, I didn't send her to her death. I told her what I was told. If you want to blame someone, maybe start

with whoever locked Hercules up in the first place."

Apollo's voice hardened. "And who was that?"

Hermes hesitated. "Ask Mnemosyne."

Kevin furrowed his brow. "Who?"

Hestia spoke then, her voice calm and low. "Mnemosyne. One of the elder Titans. She embodies memory itself."

Hermes nodded. "She sees the past clearer than any god or Titan alive. But that's not all. She can make people forget anything. She

doesn't just guard memory—she controls it."

Kevin stiffened. "So she could have… erased things?"

"Exactly," Hermes said. "If anyone knows what really happened to Hercules—and where that canyon is—it's her."

Colton narrowed his eyes. "Where do we find her?"

Apollo cut in. "That's the problem. She was buried during the Titan war. No one's heard from her in centuries."

Hermes gave a crooked smile. "Well. I never said this would be easy."

With a spin of his staff and a shimmer of gold, Hermes vanished.

The wind outside dropped. The pendant turned silver again, for now.

Colton looked at the others. "So. Mnemosyne."

Hestia sat forward, poking the fire. "She exists in fragments. Some say she sleeps under the oldest springs in the world. Others

say her mind drifts between the cracks of memory itself."

Apollo added, "Even if we find her, even if she wants to help, there's no guarantee she can control what she shows you."

Kevin dropped to his knees and rifled through the pile of drawings scattered beside him. He flipped past shadows, chains, crumbled stone—until he found one. A natural spring. Carved into rock. Steam rising from its center, shaped like a spiral. He held it up.

"Here," he said. "She's here."

Apollo stepped forward, eyes widening.

"That's the Springs of Lethe," he whispered. "The River of Forgetting."

Hestia nodded slowly. "Of course."

Apollo looked at the others. "Then that's where we go."

The fire cracked behind them.