Chapter 126: A Step Back In Time(5) (1/2)

-Mount Olympus-

Over a mountain peak in Olympus, a tall tower constructed of bluestone bricks dominated the surroundings.

Inside the highest floor of the tower, a blue-robed woman sat on a chair.

She was studying a yellow-ish, tattered scroll.

Although she seemed focused, a closer look revealed that her pupils looked elsewhere than the scroll.

It was Athena, the goddess of wisdom.

Her pupils were twitching rapidly, and this increased in intensity until...

*Tsss*

She abruptly ripped the scroll in half.

'Why am I feeling this way? Why does the time go on so emptily?' Athena wondered to herself.

Recently, she schemed against her father, the King of the Gods, Zeus.

Along with Prometheus and Hephaestus, they stole the divine fire of Zeus and granted it to the mortals, who couldn't eat freezing meat in the winter or spoiled meat in the hot summers.

Unfortunately, the latter had discovered their plans, albeit too late, and sent Prometheus to the Underworld.

When Here discovered Hephaestus' involvement in the plan, she began pestering him again, and now, he hadn't left his base in a few months.

Athena was left unscathed, but that did not matter to her.

Over the years, especially after the exile of Sophus from Gaia, she started feeling emptiness at her meaningless, but immortal life.

When Prometheus spoke to her about the 'humans', her curiosity overwhelmed her.

She found them amazing, even more so than gods could ever be.

Because they didn't have unlimited time, everything they ever did had importance, and they valued the world and their peers much more than the selfish gods of Olympus.

From this intrigue and amazement, Athena began teaching the mortals.

She taught them language, and wisdom, and thought.

Then, she gifted them ink and paper, as Sophus had once done for her.

However, now that Hephaestus and Prometheus weren't her anymore, it felt empty and unfulfilling.

Suddenly, she recalled something.

'Didn't Herme take in two children a few years ago? Should I go see them?' Athena contemplated.

Ultimately, she packed up a few scrolls as gifts and left her tower.

She was soon in front of Hermes' mansion.

*Knock*

She knocked a few times on the front gate.

Athena did not wait too long, and someone opened the door.

Surprisingly, it wasn't Hermes.

A skinny man was at the door.

He had piercing hazel eyes and a serpentine staff in his hands.

The man looked at her and, unexpectedly, he frowned.

”Is Hermes here?”

”No,” The man coldly replied.

”Are you...Apollo?” Athena nervously asked.

Apollo did not answer her question, and instead, he incomprehensibly commented, ”It's strange...”

Suddenly, he stabbed the serpentine staff into his two eyes.

As his eyes bled profusely, he calmly said, ”You have an obsession with injustice, perhaps an insecurity that you won't be seen as a morally just person, if you continue on this path, you will only turn into a monster you've never wanted to be.”

Athena stepped back.

'He's...scary...' She clenched her hands on the scrolls, and slowly left the premises while surveying the man in front of the door.

Blood pooled down at the floor.