[[ The Camp ]]
"Where are Zeus, Raneem, Satam, and Sama? And little Shahad too. I have a bad feeling about this," Amjad thought anxiously as he watched the children around him and the horizon, where the sun had disappeared half an hour ago, marking the end of this training session imposed by Zeus.
Amjad should have given his educational session long ago, if not for Zeus's actions. He hadn't been able to begin his lessons due to the absence of several students.
Zahraa was cooking, and Khaled had already gone to the mountains looking for the children half an hour earlier.
"I hate this place, but I can't say I don't enjoy teaching the children... I just hope nothing bad happens to them," Zahraa thought.
(Tala): Don't worry, Teacher Zeus will find them.
"What worries me more than anything is that man," Zahraa thought, then calmly reassured the child:
_ I'm not worried, they'll definitely come back. Maybe they just got a little lost... You shouldn't worry either.
(Tala): I'm not worried.
(Rashed): Teacher, I fear this isn't something simple. Satam told me he was planning with Raneem and Sama to get revenge on Teacher Zeus. They wanted me to join them, but when I found out they were planning...
(Zahraa): Planning what?
Rashed hesitated, realizing he couldn't say they were planning to kill him... It wasn't something simple.
(Rashed): To get revenge on him, like I said before.
A small child who had also been punished earlier approached. He was the one who had been playing with the supplies box behind the tent.
(Qusai / 8 years old): When will the food be ready?
(Rashed): Why didn't the teacher punish you?
A girl nearby, one of the older kids in the group, responded while reading a book.
Joud (14 years old) – Village of Sadeem:
(Joud): It's obvious. It's because they weren't as rude as you guys.
(Rashed): But I didn't do anything rude. It was Satam and Raneem. What about Tala? She helped Raneem give him the poisoned flower.
Tala was surprised and asked fearfully:
_ Was the flower poisonous?
(Rashed): Yes, it was. You seriously didn't know!?
(Joud): I don't think she did it on purpose. That Raneem used her. That's why Teacher Zeus didn't punish her. As for you—I don't know why he hit you. Maybe he just doesn't like your face... [Joud laughed after saying this]
Rashed became upset and decided he would confront Zeus directly and ask him like a real man—or maybe he'd rather not.
---
(Elsewhere)
(The Cave)
The area had become wrecked after a ten-minute intense fight between a rock monster and a human-like warrior fighting without any protective suit.
In a direct clash, the residents of Sahba village would have been shocked to see this and incredibly thrilled.
All this time, Zeus hadn't taken a single direct hit, even though he had programmed the dummy before him to attack seriously.
He was undergoing a real training session, completely forgetting about the children watching him nervously—so nervous their nerves were about to snap.
Zeus didn't attack at all during the fight, focusing only on evasion, which was a fairly effective form of training.
When he felt tired and noticed that the daggers strapped around his limbs and waist—which boosted his movement—were running out of energy, he decided to end today's training.
But he wasn't going to end it in a boring way. He wanted to create an unforgettable cinematic scene and change the kids' opinion of him.
Suddenly, the monster stopped attacking Zeus and lunged straight at the children.
Its fist shot forward, and the children screamed in terror, closing their eyes and trembling.
For a moment, everything went quiet—and they realized nothing had happened.
The trio slowly opened their eyes and saw the monster restrained in chains, very close to them, its fist struggling to break free and crush them.
Behind it, they saw Zeus grappling with the giant dummy's massive hand, which was pressing him against the wall, as if it were trying to crush him in revenge.
The children burst into tears at the scene, deeply moved by their teacher's apparent sacrifice and his willingness to face death to protect them.
Suddenly, Zeus screamed loudly, the chains around the monster tightened, and he broke free from the giant hand, flinging himself away and pulling the chains into his hands.
With swift movements, he launched his grappling hooks, darted forward to grab the kids, and escaped the tunnel. Upon exiting, he found Shahad standing at the cave's entrance and grabbed her too before rushing off.
In midair, Zeus spat out a mouthful of blood that splattered across the children's faces. They were extremely worried and could barely keep their eyes open due to the speed of flight.
Except for Shahad, who wasn't as scared. She wiped the blood from her face and, for a reason Zeus couldn't understand, sucked her finger to taste it—realizing it was only watered-down tomato paste.
(Shahad): Is this...
(Zeus): Aaaaaaaaaa
He screamed loudly, startling everyone, cutting Shahad off mid-sentence, then descended rapidly before setting her aside.
He tossed the other kids about twenty meters away, carefully managing the runes on their clothes to soften the fall and prevent injury.
Then he spoke to Shahad, who had landed beside him.
Zeus had carefully staged the fall to look just like this.
He pretended to be in severe pain, speaking with difficulty as he wiped the tomato paste from Shahad's face before she could taste it again.
_ Shahad, I can only carry three people at a time because of my injury. I'll take them to camp first since they're hurt, then come back for you. I'll only be gone a few minutes—wait here.
"A lie, then he believed it... Why do they always do this? Why does everyone lie?" Shahad thought sadly.
"Leaving a child in a dark place like this is terrible, but I can't let her expose me in front of those kids—they were determined to kill me. I finally solved that problem... I'll be quick and come back."
Zeus thought as he walked away. He turned back and saw that Shahad was scared.
"I thought she was a fearless monster when I saw her chasing those dummies. Was I wrong? Damn, I'll take the risk."
Zeus hesitated briefly before accepting the situation.
He quickly grabbed her, along with the others, placing his hand over Shahad's mouth to keep her quiet.
After a few minutes, he reached a nearby oasis, where he pretended to fall again with the kids, who were now shivering from the cold and wetness.
This landing was also planned—to wash off the tomato paste before returning to the camp.
Indeed, after a short journey using his grappling hooks—which offered the kids no sense of safety, especially since Zeus had already fallen twice—he finally placed the children in the courtyard, under everyone's watchful eyes.
(Amjad): Finally, you're here. Where have you been? ... Why did you leave so suddenly?
Amjad was surprised when Zeus ignored his question and rushed toward the village. When he looked at the children—Raneem, Satam, Sama, and Shahad—he immediately realized something was wrong.
Their faces were pale, and they were trembling badly, their teeth chattering—except for Shahad, who looked healthier and calmer but still felt cold.
"What the hell happened to them!? ... What did that bastard do?" Amjad thought angrily as he and Zahraa rushed to check and help the children.
The other kids felt afraid as rumors began to flood their minds—rumors that Teacher Zeus was terrifying and harsh in his punishments. When they saw the state of the children before them, they imagined a demon's face instead of Zeus's human one.
Khaled had not returned yet, and Zeus didn't even know the man had gone to the mountains. He wouldn't have cared much even if he had.
---
(In the Village)
Zeus knocked on Marwan's house door and waited a bit before a young man opened it, immediately recognizing him and speaking cheerfully:
_ Mr. Zeus! Why are you covered in mud and water? Should I call my brother?
_ Yes, is he here?
(Marwan): Come in.
Zeus entered, and when Marwan saw him, he asked immediately:
_ What happened to you!? ... Why do you look such a mess?
_ I'll tell you. But first—can I borrow a tent, a cooking pot, and some other supplies?
(Marwan): First, go take a shower inside. Then we'll talk.
(Zeus): There's something on my mind—I can't shower here. Can I just take some equipment from storage? I'm in a hurry.
Marwan sensed Zeus was serious and suspected something urgent was going on, so he agreed.
(Marwan): Alright, go to the storage. I'll notify the guards.
And he did. Marwan began calling them while Zeus rushed straight there.
After ten minutes of running through the village tunnels, he reached the military storage, took gear enough to set up a single-person tent with attachments, and then exited—heading for the mountains with large cloth bags, daggers, and a blanket to gather it all.
Using his chains, he quickly traveled after exiting the tunnels toward the mountains—to the location where two giant stone dummies were cleaning and organizing the area.
Zeus had a firm belief: he couldn't use a comfortable bathroom while the children bathed in the cold wind using primitive tools.
Even though he'd been harsh with them, some kindness in his heart and a sense of justice made him feel guilty—though whenever he remembered those brats seriously wanted to kill him, the guilt vanished instantly.
"I wonder what their reaction will be tomorrow when they see me."