FICTION
unnecessary breath, he steps
the culprit responsible for, this
forward towards the void. The
onerous deed!’ Chronos’ hand
anxiety in his chest spikes, and he
covers his face again, not in
reflexively grasps the memory of
pain but in annoyance at his
him and Ananke at the beginning
companion’s personality quirk.
of time, looking for comfort.
Whenever he gets excited,
Before the memory or the
convoluted doesn’t even begin
first step are completed, a bright
describing the portal god’s
golden and turquoise flash
choice of words. “Every detail
illuminates the inside of the bell
has been scrutinized in depth,”
tower, snapping Chronos out
the image continues, pulling
of any thoughts he had as he
a small groan from him. He
spins around to the glowing, and
quickly flicks his wrist to speed
irritating, form of a spectral Janus.
up the image, speeding it forward
“I have uncovered the origins of
through time and condensing
the murder weapon!” the image
the string of words that would
immediately shouts into the room,
have taken minutes to finish to
one hand raised in victory, the pose
a mere couple of seconds. The
itself almost screaming ‘Eureka!’.
message was as clear as it was
While no longer as sensitive,
surprising. The arrow is, without
his ears still hurt with the high-
a doubt, from Vishnu’s bow.
pitched voice of the Roman
The arrow is Rama’s.
primordial stabbing into his brain;
Chronos can’t believe his ears.
he covers his face with his free
The majority of the discourse was
hand in agony. Straightening out,
an endless listing of facts, details
the pain fading from his head, he
and minutiae explaining why this
looks at the ghostly figure again,
arrow came from Vishnu’s bow,
his interest piqued with this new
and how there is no other possible
tidbit of information. The image
suspect than the Seventh Avatar.
of the lord of transitions switches
He has to see this himself, see
even more frequently between
the arrow itself and compare it
its arrangements, the various
to the list of facts the lord of in-
armor pieces shifting endlessly
betweens has provided him. Rama
in excitement as it continues.
is the embodiment of virtue and
“After careful consideration
of all the facts present in the
situation, I have ascertained the
weapon used in, and as such
perfection, physically incapable
of willfully harming an innocent.
Having forgotten about his
earlier trepidation, Chronos briskly
28 The SMITE Community Magazine Issue #9
The GameOn Magazine