Episode 30

Shortly after their conversation, Max had to excuse himself, needing a moment to find a place to relieve himself. Well, he put it more delicately. In any case, the important thing was that he wasn't going to relieve himself. He'd only said that to avoid worrying Helen.

The truth was, he felt nauseous. He thought he'd be able to hold it back. He was utterly wrong.

He vomited the little he'd eaten. He had to lean against a tree trunk with one hand to keep his balance. How disgusting.

The truth was, he hated vomiting. The aftertaste of vomit wouldn't leave his mouth for hours.

The most irritating thing, however, was probably the headache. His temples were throbbing. He felt like closing his eyes.

But, of course, he forced them to stay open. Why had he vomited? Why now? Max lifted his head, taking a deep breath. The answer was quite obvious.

The conversation he'd just had. What else? Was he so afraid of what Helen might think of him if she knew he was just an ordinary person, deep down?

If this scared him, how would he be able to approach his real mission with her? Max bit his lower lip. He wasn't sure, but those things could wait.

Max wiped his mouth with his hand, cleaning off the remains of that filth. He wished he were near a river.

He wished he knew where he was, for that matter. He was doing his best, and he didn't think he was completely lost, but reading a map wasn't as easy as it looked.

Besides, it was a damn map. A real one. Not a GPS.

Who knows how many years old it was. Who knows to what extent he could trust the information it contained. But well, as long as it helped him find the right direction, his way to Athens, he was content.

He returned to Helen quickly. He didn't want to worry her by taking too long, and he didn't want to leave her alone. At any moment, an animal could attack, one with two or four legs, maybe even one with none. A snake had almost fallen on him. Once.

Seemingly falling from one of the branches. He didn't know how the hell it had gotten that high in the first place.

He reacted quickly and killed it, splitting it in half, but he was left with that doubt. It seemed like it had climbed onto the branch to jump on its prey,

and that thought alone sent shivers down his spine. Despite his attempts to hide it, Helen saw through him with frightening ease.

"Are you alright, Max? You seem a little, I don't know, different."

"I'm fine, little one. Don't worry too much."

"How can I not worry?"

"No, but... You can't go through life with constant tension. Even the most paranoid guy has to relax from time to time. By force."

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"Paranoid?"

"Yes, don't you know what it means?"

"I think I've heard the word a couple of times, but I'm not sure."

"Well, paranoid is... Someone who's always looking back over their shoulder, convinced that there's someone or something waiting to screw them over. That sounds like cynical," he realized. "Well, I guess it's the same thing."

"I understand," Helen said slowly at the end. "But is it bad to be paranoid? We know we have enemies. The champion of Hades, maybe he'll come back, or Hades himself, I don't know. And while there are many people who would go out of their way to protect us and please us... Well, please you... Ares also has enemies. Or so my mom said. That he's not exactly the most popular of the pantheon."

"Yeah, I understand," Max replied.

And what he thought was: *I'm not surprised at all.*

"Do you think it's much further?"

"Not too much. A couple of days, maybe."

They were riding horses. Bought in a town along the way, not stolen. Though he had to admit the idea had crossed his mind.

This had made the trip much easier.

"Is it good or not?" Helen repeated. Insistent. "Being paranoid."

"Oh, yes."

Honestly, he had completely forgotten that he hadn't answered.

"Well, Helen. I understand what you're saying. But it's one thing to be careful. And another to be paranoid."

Helen nodded thoughtfully, as if it hadn't occurred to her.

"I understand."

It took them exactly two days to reach Athens. It wasn't exactly as he had imagined it. As he had seen in photos and history movies.

Perhaps this Athens was completely different from the real city. The only thing he could say was that the style was very ancient Greek. It was obvious.

He supposed it couldn't be that different from the Athens of his world. Except that the people here prayed to gods who actually existed, and could answer their prayers or screw them over even more, it was according to what suited them at that moment. If there was one thing he knew for sure about the Greek pantheon, it was that they didn't mess around. They didn't exactly preach peace and love for their neighbor.

They were human beings, only bigger.

More bastards. And more capable of getting away with it. Zeus was famous for sleeping with anything that moved.

With human form or animal form. He was disgusted by...

Well. He was going to say by nothing. But if he remembered correctly, the only thing he was disgusted by was his own wife, ha ha.

And of course, all that story of Hades and Persephone and thousands of other things.

But that was what came to mind the most, what was he going to do? They entered the city and didn't attract attention.

The reaction to him didn't surprise him, he doubted very much that any traveler would arrive unarmed, but not even Helen received many looks.

Three or four perhaps, as they passed, and those people went on with their lives as if nothing was happening here. Which was true, of course.

Nothing was happening. Helen had as much right to be here as anyone, but it took him by surprise anyway.

And he was used to something else. The city, although it looked like a town by 21st-century standards, was better after all. Less racist, less full of superstitious crap.

That, or the city folk were better at hiding it. Maybe because it wasn't socially acceptable. In any case, he relaxed the tension that had unconsciously enveloped him since he saw the city.

The Temple of Ares. It was almost like asking the God himself for help. But if he was looking for allies, people who would make life easier for both of them, what better place to start?

"Max," Helen said, "how do you plan to, you know, convince them that you really are, you know?"

Max nodded thoughtfully.

"I have no idea," he admitted.