Days, months, years passed by in a second as the mist enveloped me. I could see the future, everything that happened, everything that is happening, and everything that will happen. This vision is a by-product of being faster than the concept of speed, and a fear brought upon by them, the concept of terror, Akumu.
MTA: You can't fool me with these visions!
The mist spreads, as Korren appears.
KOR: No one is here to fool you, rabbit.
As soon as Korren finished his word, I didn't give a second of thought and ran straight through him, only for Korren to dissolve into mist.
KOR: This place is simply to atone for your sins.
A second figure appears behind Korren, facing me down, one that I recognized on the spot.
LEO: Hello, daughter.
MTA: D... d-dad?!
My eyes widen, memories flooding in. It was years ago, so long that I'd forgotten everyone elses' face except for his. I was a child of nine, the youngest, the bravest, and the most stubborn. They would all ridicule me for abusing my gift of speed, said I should be respecting it as a divine right and not a physical ability I had all the rights to. Were they right, or was I wrong? It may seem a strange question, one with one choice, but in the end, I learned life isn't black and white, and neither is a rabbits' fur, not its' colour but its' soul. My family was slaughtered by wolves, and I was the only one who managed to run away.
MTA: Was it because I was faster?
LEO: You were more of a coward.
I clenched my fists tight.
MTA: You shouldn't say that about your own daughter.
LEO: The rabbit in front of me is no daughter of mine.
I see, in his eyes I had failed as a descendant of his.
MTA: I've achieved alot since then.
LEO: And where is it to show?
MTA: People accept me for who I am!
LEO: An accepted failure is still one.
He was getting annoying, but I had learned that annoyance is the thief of focus.
MTA: Even if you aren't my real father, you deserve to see how far your daughter truly has gone.
LEO: You're showing me how good you are at running away again?
MTA: The opposite - This mist of fear can't hold me in, the one who reigns over speed.
This is a show of my ability, not to you father, nor to you Icarus, or you Akumu, but rather proof to myself that even the past cannot catch up to me.
But before I could move, the mist shifted, and suddenly I was standing in our old burrow. The walls were carved from earth and stone, roots hanging like curtains from the ceiling. The scent of home - of carrots fermenting in the storage room, of my mother's herb garden, of the wood polish Leo used on his ceremonial staff - it all came rushing back like a dam bursting.
MTA: This... this isn't real.
LEO: Reality is what shapes us, daughter. This is where you learned to run.
I could hear them now - my siblings' laughter echoing from deeper in the burrow. Mira's infectious giggle, Tobias's booming laugh, little Clover's squeaks of delight. They were playing chase, as we always did, their feet pattering against the packed earth floors. But beneath their joy, I could hear something else. The distant howling.
MTA: You know what happened here.
LEO: I know what you allowed to happen.
The scene shifted around us. Now I could see myself at nine years old, tiny and defiant, standing in the center of our family circle. Leo - my real father - was lecturing me about the sacred nature of speed, about how it was a gift from the ancient gods, not a toy to be played with. But nine-year-old me wasn't listening. I was bouncing on my toes, energy crackling around my small frame like lightning barely contained.
MTA: But dad, I can run faster than the wind! Faster than sound! Why should I hold back?
LEO: Because with great speed comes great responsibility, Matta. You cannot simply run from every problem.
MTA: But I can solve them by running to them faster!
LEO: And what happens when running isn't the answer?
The memory-Leo's words hung in the air like a prophecy. I watched my younger self roll her eyes and dart away, leaving only a small dust cloud behind. Even then, I was already running from his wisdom.
MTA: I was just a child.
LEO: Children who refuse to learn become adults who refuse to grow.
The howling grew closer. Through the burrow's entrance, I could see shapes moving in the darkness - massive forms with glowing eyes and slavering jaws. The wolf pack that would change everything. I knew what came next, had lived it a thousand times in my nightmares.
MTA: I tried to warn everyone.
LEO: You tried to run. There's a difference.
The scene played out with horrifying clarity. I watched myself burst into the main chamber, breathless and wide-eyed, screaming about wolves. But I was moving too fast, speaking too quickly, the words tumbling over each other in my panic. My family couldn't understand me. Precious seconds were lost as I tried to slow down, to form coherent sentences.
MTA: Wolves! Outside! Big ones! Coming here! Now!
MRA: Mta, slow down. What wolves?
MTA: No time to slow down! They're almost here!
And then the attack began. Claws and fangs tearing through the entrance, shattering the peaceful evening. I watched my father grab his staff, watched Mira push the younger ones toward the back tunnels, watched Tobias try to barricade the doors. But they were too slow, all of them too slow. I could have saved them all. I was fast enough to evacuate the entire burrow in seconds, fast enough to outrun the wolves, fast enough to lead them away. But instead, I froze. The gift that made me special, that made me different, suddenly felt like a curse. How could I choose who to save first? How could I leave anyone behind?
MTA: I couldn't choose.
LEO: So you chose yourself.
The words hit harder than any physical blow. I watched my younger self grab little Clover - the smallest, the most vulnerable - and run. Just run. Through the back tunnels, through the forest, through the night. I ran until my lungs burned, until Clover's cries faded to whimpers, until the sounds of slaughter were just an echo in the distance.
MTA: I saved who I could.
LEO: You saved who was easiest to carry.
The mist swirled again, and now I was standing in a field of graves. Crude markers made from stone and wood, each one bearing a name I had tried so hard to forget. Mira. Tobias. Benny. Sage. Willow. And at the center, the largest marker of all.
LEO: Even in death, you abandoned us.
MTA: I was ten! I was scared and alone and-
LEO: And you had a gift that could have made the difference.
I fell to my knees before his grave, the weight of years of guilt crashing down on me. He was right. I had been fast enough to save them all, but I had chosen the path of least resistance instead. I had run away from the hard choice, from the responsibility that came with my speed.
MTA: I've tried to make up for it.
LEO: By running toward danger instead of away from it? By throwing yourself into every fight, every conflict, every impossible situation?
The scene shifted once more. Now I could see flashes of my life since that night - moments of heroism, of sacrifice, of using my speed to save others. But in each scene, I could see the same pattern. I was fast enough to save everyone, but I always cut it close. Always left room for doubt, for the possibility of failure.
MTA: I've saved hundreds of lives.
LEO: To silence the voices of the six you didn't.
Korren stepped forward from the mist, his expression unreadable.
KOR: She begins to understand.
LEO: Understanding is not enough. She must accept.
I stood slowly, my fists clenched so tightly that my claws were drawing blood from my palms.
MTA: Accept what? That I'm a coward? That I failed you?
LEO: Accept that you cannot outrun the past, no matter how fast you become.
The mist began to thicken around us, and I could feel something changing. The very air seemed to slow, to become viscous like honey. My speed, my greatest strength, was being dampened by my own guilt.
MTA: I won't let you trap me here.
LEO: You trapped yourself here long ago, daughter. This mist, this place - it's not Akumu's creation. It's yours.
I could feel the truth of his words like ice in my veins. All these years, I had been running from this moment, from this confrontation with my past. But the faster I ran, the more I carried it with me. The guilt, the shame, the weight of six graves - it had all been building up, creating this prison of memory and regret.
MTA: Then I'll break free the same way I always have.
LEO: By running away?
MTA: By running forward.
I closed my eyes and reached deep inside myself, past the guilt and the shame, past the fear and the doubt. I found the core of my speed - not the physical ability, but the essence of what it meant to be fast. It wasn't about escaping. It wasn't about arriving first. It was about being where you needed to be, when you needed to be there.
MTA: I can't change what happened that night.
LEO: No, you cannot.
MTA: I can't bring you back.
LEO: No, you cannot.
MTA: But I can stop running from who I was and start running toward who I need to be.
The mist began to part, not blown away by my speed, but dissolved by something deeper. Acceptance. Understanding. The willingness to carry the weight of my past without letting it slow me down.
MTA: There is no reason for me to chant your name, Hermes of Speed, for your throne is no longer yours.
I bent my knees forwards and moved my arms back.
MTA: I'm the god of speed now.
But this time, when I ran, I carried them with me. Not as burden, but as purpose. Not as guilt, but as motivation. The memory of Leo's wisdom, of Mira's laughter, of Tobias's courage - they became part of my speed, part of who I was becoming. And in an instant, faster than light could catch, faster than the shortest form of time measurement, I ran, my legs propelling me beyond reality and into pure motionless causality. But this time, I wasn't running away from the past or toward the future. I was running through the present, carrying everything I was and everything I could become. The next instant, I was right back where I left, facing Korren down in the royal palace, his expression telling me this was out of his prediction. But something had changed. The mist of fear that had surrounded me was gone, replaced by something else entirely. The mist of resolution. The mist of a speed that had finally found its purpose.
KOR: Impossible... you were supposed to be trapped by your guilt.
MTA: Guilt is only a trap if you let it be. I choose to let it be a teacher instead.
I stood straighter, feeling the weight of my past not as a burden, but as a foundation. Every step I had taken since that night, every life I had saved, every moment I had chosen to run toward danger instead of away from it - it had all been leading to this moment.
MTA: You want to know what true speed is, Korren? It's not about being faster than everything else. It's about being exactly where you need to be, exactly when you need to be there. And right now, I need to be here, facing you, carrying the memory of everyone who made me who I am. So come on then. Let's see if your predictions can keep up with a god who's finally learned what it means to be fast.
The palace around us seemed to hold its breath, waiting for what would come next. But I was no longer the rabbit who ran from responsibility. I was the rabbit who ran toward it, who embraced it, who let it fuel her speed rather than slow her down.