"I'm sorry, I can't give it to you"

The moment Athos said those words the grass around him stopped rustling. The entire park seemed to come alive. Trees creaked and groaned, their branches turning, and pointing toward him in indignation.

'How dare you blaspheme the Goddess!!!', they whispered, making him feel as though hundreds of ants were crawling down his neck.

Demeter's gorgeous face contorted in anger before returning to her previous calmness.

"Then die", she said softly, and the sword next to her shot forward with such speed that it seemed to teleport.

He barely registered the attack before the sword smashed into a thin pink barrier that appeared before him, stopping the weapon from piercing his neck.

"APHRODITE! Why!", she growled, staring at the Love goddess who simply went back to sipping her tea.

"Tsk Tsk, Demeter. You'll never find love if you're like this. Now's not the time to let your prejudices show", she chided, while a drop of sweat trickled down Athos' back. He didn't expect Demeter to lose her cool that quickly. The attack didn't look all that powerful, but he wouldn't be surprised if it could cleave a small hill in half.

He loosened his grip on his ring and breathed a sigh of relief since Aphrodite seemed to want him alive for reasons only she would know, but the words she used just now were odd.

'Prejudice'

Did he do something to slight her before? He didn't think so. She shouldn't be so mad unless.... she wasn't referring to him in the first place. Perhaps she was venting some of the anger from the old days - anger induced by Zeus, his very own grandfather.

"You-...Fine!", Demeter said through clenched teeth before closing her eyes and taking a deep breath in an attempt to calm herself.

"There we go! Now~ why don't we talk like civilised people?", Aphrodite clapped and an invisible force pushed Demeter into a chair. The Harvest goddess let out a cute yelp of surprise and Khrysaoros, her sword went back to her side. A beautiful teacup floated over to her along with a plate filled with cakes and biscuits.

"Since little Athos isn't willing to part with the cornucopia, how about we come to a comprise?", Aphrodite said, biting into a strawberry-flavoured cake.

Demeter gave her a small glare before turning her eyes onto Athos, who shrugged and brought out the most valuable item he was willing to part with - the manticore stinger. The goddess' raised her eyebrows in surprise before slightly frowning and shaking her head.

"A worthy sacrifice, but not enough", she muttered as the stinger floated over to her. It was surprising how calm she was compared to a few seconds ago. Goddesses were weird, but a few millennia of living would drive anyone a little cuckoo.

Stolen story; please report.

"I do not have anything more to offer", Athos replied, waiting for another outburst but none came.

"Oh you do, demigod. You have yourself", she countered, putting away the stinger.

Athos' brain almost short-circuited.

"I...what?!", he stuttered while Aphrodite gave out a small chuckle.

"Uh? I meant a favour. Why are you laughing?", Demeter clarified, glowering at the snickering Aphrodite.

"I can do that", He interjected before Demeter attempted to strangle the Love Goddess. Making hasty promises wasn't a good thing, especially with goddesses, but he doubted Aphrodite would stop Demeter from pulverising him if he refused this too. All he hoped was that the quest was reasonable, but knew it was wishful thinking; when were they ever?

"Good", Demeter nodded, standing up and pushing away the floating plate of snacks that was constantly nudging her hand.

"Athos Apsifoun, you have a deal. We may have gotten off the wrong foot and I may have been too hasty to judge. I hope I'm wrong about you", she added with finality, before disappearing into thin air, leaving a few floating corn leaves and a sweet distinctive scent of a rainstorm over a field of jasmine.

"That was abrupt", Athos commented, finding the fragrance quite delightful.

"You'll get used to it. She represents the seasons, you see. Tough to not have your moods constantly shift. One second she'll be yearning to cut off your head, and she'll be shaking your hand in the next.", Aphrodite nodded while munching on her fourth piece of cake. Using divinity to keep yourself fit must be nice.

"And why did you want to meet me?", Athos turned toward the Love goddess. Surely, she wasn't just accompanying Demeter. If so, she would've left by now.

"Hmm? Can't I have come for the sole reason of seeing your face~~?", she purred, her hair now turning wheat-gold, but all it elected was an eyebrow raise.

"Humph! You're boring!", she pouted before pointing her finger at Athos' ponytail which promptly shortened.

"Hey! Don't touch my hair!", he complained, finding his hairstyle now akin to his father's. It was messy, yet it worked somehow.

"There, much better~!", Aphrodite smiled, but the very next second, her expression turned serious. "You do know why I am here, do you not?"

Athos mentally sighed. What was with goddesses and their need to ask him useless questions?

"I assume it's not for the cornucopia?", he answered to which the goddess snorted.

"I have no use for it, although it would do for a good sacrifice. Anyway, You need to know a few things before you continue on your journey", she said, slightly leaning forward. "The first thing is that you are dangerous. Very, very dangerous. Dangerous enough to catch the attention of Zeus, that is if he wasn't so full of himself."

Athos wasn't really surprised at this point. His presence had stirred up Gaea, and who knew how many more entities? Frankly, it would be more surprising if he wasn't worthy enough to catch the attention of Sky daddy.

"The thing that makes you so dangerous, and so....interesting, is your odd ability to escape the weavers, something any being would desire."

"The Fates?". Athos questioned, struggling to believe what he was hearing. He was an anomaly, that he knew, but the Fates?! They were the ones responsible for manipulating the fate of every single being in the world, their status is above that of any Monster, Titan or God, since not even a god can defy fate. Birth, Life and Death were glorified plays to them, and reality was their playground.

"Hard to believe, I know. But do not think of yourself as completely free. Once the weavers realise that you have escaped their clutches, they'll spare no expense in bringing you to heel. I wouldn't be surprised if they begin weaving your future with barbed wire."

'Well, shit'