Origins: Hot Pursuit

"JULIUS, RUN!!"

Before him and Corinna can process anything else, they reacted spontaneously out of Rexis' words of warning. Not a second after hearing those, they immediately scampered away from their current position, with Rexis trailing a few feet behind them.

"DUDE, EXPLAIN! STAT!" Julius said without looking back.

"REMEMBER THAT GUY FROM OLYMPIA WITH THE BAT-LADIES? HE FOLLOWED US IN THIS TIMELINE AND I DON'T KNOW HOW OR WHY! NOW HE'S TRYNNA KILL ME WITH SHADOWS! THAT GOES FOR YOU TOO!"

He doesn't get the killing nor the shadow part, but now that he's got the general idea of the magnitude of their present situation, Julius slowed down a little to allow Rexis to catch up to him. This earned him a few looks from Corinna, who went ahead. Upon seeing this, he called out to her. "Hey, wait for us! We'll try to leap farther using my powers!"

Since the idea isn't so bad, Corinna stopped on her tracks and waited for the two to catch up to her. She also used this as an opportunity to assess their problem. She looked behind, searching for what appears to be the issue, and there, she spotted another guy, who seem to be commanding the presence of the entire darkness that was all around him. She could tell, this guy is not someone you wanna mess with.

One of the shadowy hands was able to get a hold of Rexis' leg, which sent him stumbling from his run. He fell to the ground but his hand acted reflexively to swat away the shadow that was holding him back. He retracted his shield and flames erupted from his right hand. He then hovered it above his captured leg, still afraid that he'll burn himself despite Hephaestus' assurance before that he's immune to fire.

The shadow became fainter under the light of his fire, until it got eventually burned away, setting himself free from those shackles. He thought of doing that after his theory, that in order for shadows to vanish, it should be overwhelmed by a source of brighter light. He also noted from earlier that the shadows controlled by emoboy are not really solid-looking. He hurriedly helped himself up, and continued to run towards Julius, whose mouth was hanging open.

'Did Rexis just summon fire from his hands?' His mind says, 'Yeah obviously, and you should start getting used to all of these unbelievable things! Stop asking if what you're seeing is true or not!'

Finally, they were running side by side, both sweating profusely from their recent exhibitions. Fortunately, Corinna waited for them, so in just a few seconds, all three of them are now bunched together sprinting in this narrow course. Julius instructed the two to hold on to his shoulders, and he tried to envision skipping a few feet from where they are. But, 'Waaaah, I can't concentrate'. He was having trouble while moving.

"Dude, nothing's happening." Rexis said, controlling his left hand which is currently tapped onto Julius' shoulder. He was careful not to set his friend ablaze.

"Just keep running, I'll get the timing correctly, just gimme a few…" Julius huffed in response.

Corinna wished they just kept quiet, because her heightened hearing can pick up some noise of wings flapping. And if it's the things she was thinking, they really got themselves in a pinch.

Meanwhile, Isaac continued on his hot pursuit. He picked up his pace despite feeling dizzy already from draining most of his energy in using his magic. He's still not used to using his power at this extent, not that he's fond of using it, in the first place. His vision was beginning to blur now, and he can still feel the blood coming out from his nose. If he fails to wrap this up soon, and the running will keep on going, the next thing that can happen to him is he'll probably be numb and loose his balance.

'Move faster.' He commanded the shadows, and their speed doubled. Now, the nearest hands are just a mere two feet away from the back of Julius. 'We must get the Son of Time to cooperate with us!'

'He's closing in.' Julius thought. He tried as hard as he could to move their bodies forward to the place in front of him that he's currently eyeing. 'Please, please, get us there.'

The familiar feeling of tightness around his guts happened, and with a faint pop, they disappeared and reappeared several meters away from the shadowy hands that was just about to get hold of them. All three of them realized what happened but they did not dare to stop and take a short break. They continued to run, towards the reddish glow in the horizon, where the shadows may not be able to follow them anymore.

That didn't really please Isaac. That power to manipulate space is too troublesome for him. Moreover, he's really getting gassed and he feels like he's about to pass out from exhaustion. 'Come on.'

When the trio got nearer to the source of light, they realized that the reddish glowing line in the horizon was not actually Underworld-ly lights. Rather, it was the haze from the fire burning in the River Phlegethon.

Rexis: "Oi, oi, Julius! We're not going straight at that, right?"

Julius: "We are."

Corinna: "That's crazy! Do you really intend to die there in Phlegethon?!"

Julius: "No. I'm gonna get us across. But prepare yourselves, we're gonna jump on my command. Trust me."

Rexis and Corinna: "?!"

Isaac was closing in to them again, and this time, he was beginning to feel nothing in his entire body. It's like he's only moving mechanically now. Just following the three. 'This is baaaaaad.'

Just seven feet away from the river, and Julius already began to give them a signal. "Aaaaand....JUMP!!"

Rexis and Corinna had no other choice but to put their trust in Julius, even if they're risking their lives by doing this literal leap of faith, not really knowing his plan.

While they were in midair, that gut-feeling again happened, and the next thing they knew, they landed flat on their asses on the ground across the river. They rolled over some more distance, but other than that they seem to be fine. When they looked behind, the pissed off face of Isaac glared daggers at them.

'Haaaaah, haaaaah, haaaah.'

All three of them tried to catch their breaths after that close shave. Now, them and their pursuer's shadow party are now separated by the fiery river. It's light illuminated their surroundings, which is actually to their advantage since it's because of that that they were beyond the reach of the stranger's shadow. Unfortunately, it was a dead-end on that side, so they cannot retreat further.

"Those shadows can paralyze or bind youhh – haah – I bet they can – haaah – do all sorts of other nasty things toohh." Rexis said in between breaths.

Julius said nothing, but he was extremely relieved that he was able to pull off that trick a while ago. Corinna, in the corner, picked up again the noise of the wings, and looked up, as if waiting for their arrival.

On the other side of Phlegethon, Isaac released the shadows of the Underworld who were attached to his own. With that, the darkness around him vanished, and the only shadow he can manipulate now was only his own. For his magic to activate, he has to connect his shadow to the other shadows around him. That will be impossible for now because of two reasons. First, he's definitely out of energy. Second, the shadows near him are useless. In order to bind the three he was going after, the best shadows to be used are the ones present from across the river. And unfortunately, those are not at his disposal. He plopped to the ground and pulled out some sweets from his pocket. He needs it to recharge.

"Yeeeekekek! Master! – yekek!" One of his Furies arrived. The bat-woman looked at the tired form of Isaac and then moved her attention to where her master was currently facing. There, she found the trio of Julius, Corinna and Rexis. "Yeeeekekek! Bad mortals – yekek!" And she lunged after them.

Corinna was quick on her feet to draw her weapon and release an arrow towards the Fury's direction. It hit her left wing, which made her flying awkwardly. This didn't stop her from going after them, though. Corinna's next arrow was dodged by her, and in a split second, she was already in front of Julius. She was about to grab him using the talons of her foot, when suddenly, Julius did another unexpected thing.

From his right hand, an ominous purple light appeared and he released it in front of the Fury's foot. Then, the skin around it began to sag, wrinkle and age.....spreading across her entire left leg. She shrieked after witnessing that phenomenon happen to that part of her body, so she instinctively moved away from her prey.

Everyone else, including Julius himself, was shookt at unanticipated development. He stared at his right palm and clenched it, feeling another awakening of power from within.