Brawls and Chariots

The mood in the car to school was even worse. No one fought this morning, but Mel was exhausted and Mac wouldn't even look the other girls in the face. Angela and Ask didn't feel comfortable talking and the whole trip was in silence.

When they arrived, they went straight to the living room. Mac sat behind Ask, leaving an empty chair between her and Mel, who didn't seem to mind.

Soon the other students arrived and improved the mood, at least for Angela and Ask.

Geras entered the room already hitting a table with his ruler.

“Stop what you are doing! Let's all go outside, today we have a special class.”

As they left, confused, they could see a group of Menoites approaching with cattle and heavy boxes. They were all muscular men, led by Manny who had a large box on his lap. He greeted Angela and the others, but Geras didn't give them time to talk bkacj.

“Listen here! Chariots are often used in the Olympics! Whether in races or in fights. Today we're going to split into trios, assemble a chariot and start training for racing.”

Momus started counting her classmates, already knowing that the math didn't add up.

“Greatest Geras, how shall we divide eight into trios? It is not possible that you could have made such a mistake!”

Geras approached with the ruler, but now that he wasn't strapped to a chair, Momus easily fled.

“I'm going to participate in one of the trios” replied the professor, now out of breath “I know it's unfair for a great experienced god like me to help a team, but remember: the Olympics won't be fair!”

Momus felt someone grabbing the collar of his shirt and lifting him off the ground. Thanatos held him with a threatening gaze and approached Hypnos, pulling his pillow, which made the god fall to the ground.

“You two go with me. You need to learn to have a little discipline.”

Seeing that Thanatos was already with a team, Mac quickly thought how not to be with her sisters. She took Ask by the hands and approached Geras.

“Very wise princess, the best choice for sure!”

She ignored the teacher's comment and Ask himself didn't say anything.

Angela teamed up with Oizys and approached Mel. The more energetic one tried to cheer up the team, but neither of the other two was at ease.

Soon the Menoites emptied the contents of the boxes, several pieces of unconnected iron and bronze. They tied the cattle to the school fence and left them to their lessons.

Each team received a manual on how to put all the pieces together to form the chariots.

“The first team to finish will earn my respect and nothing else. Try to make an effort. If any chariot is not ready by the end of the day your team will stay here after class to finish it!”

The announcement upset the students, but Momus had an idea.

“Including you? After all, you are participating?”

The old man had no immediate reaction.

“But of course that won't happen! My chariot will be the best!”

Thanato pulled Momus close to his materials and looked at his team.

“I will manage the team and you will work in the building. I don't want any jokes or naps. ok?

Hypnos and Momus looked at each other without reaching a consensus.

“Excellent! Let's start.”

Holding the construction manual he gave orders to the pair. Despite his warning, Hypnos worked with the minimum of effort and Momus did something hidden. When finished, he showed Hypnos nuts and bolts mounted to look like a person, something that did not impress the sleeper.

“Focus! There is still much to do!” ordered Thanatos.

On the other side of the field, Angela struggled to understand the manual and showed a certain talent for it. Mel, despite helping, didn't seem to be present and Oizys didn't have the initiative to do anything without Angela's request.

“It's going to be a long day…” Angela said to herself.

Mac's group wasn't doing any better.

“What are you doing?” Mac asked Geras who held the manual.

“Clearly that screw goes here!”

“Of course not! You want to stay here building this crap until later?”

The professor glared at her and they both felt hands on their shoulders.

“Let's take it easy. I'm not good with this type of machine, but I know that any activity done without patience never works out.”

Looking into the innocent face of Ask, the pair didn't feel like fighting anymore and they tried to be more patient.

While this team started to work better, Thanatos felt a lack of synchrony with his team.

Momus worked very well with the tools, but seemed to be doing something in parallel, slowing down his progress. Hypnos was caught by Thanatos realizing that he had been turning the same nut for minutes.

“We have to do this right. Do you know how important this mission is?”

“No idea, but relax, I'll finish with plenty of time,” replied Momus.

“It's not about that. We have to work as a team, you are doing everything yourself and not following the manual while Hypnos just pretends to work.”

“That's not fair, this is probably the hardest I've worked since I came into existence,” Hypnos replied.

Thanatos could not be patient with his team and tried to be stricter in his orders. When he walked away for a few seconds to drink water, Momus approached Hypnos.

“Hey, watch this.”

The sleeper looked disinterested. Momus was holding a metallic spider made with parts of the chariot, he turned a key and it started to walk.

The progress on Angela's chariot advanced very slowly, however the spider ran towards Mac's, which was almost ready. None of the group noticed the spider leaping into the chariot and exploding in a purple cloud.

It wasn't a big enough explosion to hurt anyone, but the chariot was not so lucky and had a third of its parts blown away.

“What was this?” Ask asked.

“Geras must have misplaced the explosives. By the way, why do these chariots have explosives?”

Geras rose from the ground with his eyebrows burned.

“They're chariots of war! They have to be prepared with all kinds of equipment. And I didn't put anything in the wrong place!”

Momus laughed on the floor while Hypnos stared at him reproachfully.

“Why did you do that?”

“What?” asked Momus, not understanding his colleague's reaction. “It was just a joke. Geras attacked us with his ruler every day. It's just a little revenge.”

The god of dreams rolled his eyes, not having the energy to continue arguing. Momus, in turn, had stopped laughing, the humor had gone with Hypnos' comment.

Then the two felt a chill in their spine even without seeing that he was approaching.

“I don't know what happened, but I know it's your fault.”

Thanatos ordered Momus and Hypnos to help rebuild Mac's chariot, something Geras accepted with a smile on his face. In the end Thanatos wasted his time happily that it was being a punishment for the rest of his team, while the other two groups were already released.