Pallas Athene, goddess of wisdom and war, holder of the Aegis, patron goddess of Athens and the supporter of heroes. A divine virgin birthed from the head of the father of the Olympians, Zeus. She was as cunning as she was unshakable. Before her presence and might, no rebellious mortal would prevail, and none should attempt it. Wherever her silvery eyes gazed the truth was revealed in full.
This goddess descended from the clouds above the still ocean and materialized into her impressive form. Just as the waters below belonged to Poseidon, the knowledge of the entire world was hers. She knew so much, yet she shared very little. Appearing before this small meaningless priestess was something of an honor.
Eugenia of Lamia was no stranger to the divine anymore and had even conversed with a god. Yet to be confronted with this one whose presence was simply crushing could not be compared. As blind as she was, she could still ‘see’ the truth of the matter. The figure in front of her deserved respect, nay, worship!
Instinct alone forced her onto her knees on top of the still boat. They were in Attican waters, but they were also in a different realm entirely. Had Athena come to her or did she drag Eugenia away? Either seemed possible now. Everything inside her screamed ‘This is the journey’s end!’
“Blessed child.” Her voice was firm and seemed to echo across the waters.
“Great and wise Athena, I kneel before you in reverence.” And so she did.
“Raise yourself.”
“A-As you wish.” She stood on shaking legs as she awaited judgement. Eugenia was so small compared to her towering figure.
“You set sail for the cursed island.”
“Yes.”
“I have come to stop you.”
Eugenia balled her hands to fists and tensed up.
“However, my words are not an order. I have come to stop you - by convincing you to be better.”
“W-h-a-t?” Eugenia’s mouth was open in shock.
“Today I shall answer every question that your heart desires. By sharing the truth I shall make you understand. To seek knowledge and learn the correct course of action is the core of my doctrine, so for my chosen these terms matter to the utmost.” The bottom of her spear hit the boat’s tip and she stood before her expectantly, like every statue in the grand temple. Her eyes were boring through the priestess.
Why did she give Eugenia a choice? She could not fathom why the goddess would be so gracious after everything this foolish girl had done. All the blasphemy and lies.
Somehow her heart was calm, though. This is what she wanted. Answers.
“Is Medusa alright?” It was the first and most pressing question on her mind.
“The Gorgon yet persists in this world.” Athena replied matter of factly.
That was such a relief that Eugenia wished to sigh, but she knew better than to be this relaxed in front of her mistress. And the words Athena had chosen were still far from reassuring. Just in what state could Medusa be right now?
“Please tell me, why did you punish Medusa?” She asked quietly.
“Because it broke the rules we instilled into it. To leave the cursed island was an infraction that could not be ignored. Its defiance has earned it this fate.”
“No, no, no… It was my fault! Medusa, she – she… she did it to save me.” She insisted strongly.
“This is known. Therefore its punishment only lasted sixty days.”
“Huh?”
“If it had decided to leave on its own terms, it would be destroyed.” The silvery eyes were cold and pierced the priestess’ wavering heart. “The Gorgon’s plea to Poseidon was heard and he decided to allow it this one breach. The rules were broken nonetheless and so I dealt it the punishment it deserved.”
Medusa had begged Poseidon to let her leave? She swallowed her pride, she knew she would be punished… and she still did it. This was frustrating. It was cruel. But it was the law and she had known it. No matter how unjust this agreement appeared to Eugenia, she was always naïve. She knew that her perspective was foolish. If Medusa was before her right now she would only shrug it off and tell her that she was not so weak as to fear punishment.
“Why do you want me to turn away from Sarpedon?” Eugenia asked with heavy spirits, still thinking of Medusa’s pain.
“Your talents are wasted on the Gorgon.”
Now Eugenia truly felt a stabbing heat inside her chest. This was too horrible to ignore.
“I have failed you!” She retorted. “Again and again I have failed you! When I was a child I let my village get destroyed and my parents die.”
“I gifted you hearing when you lacked sight. I gave you a warning when you needed strength.” Athena’s solemn words pushed the girl back. “Your failure was inevitable. I miscalculated.”
“Y-You what?” She could hardly believe her sensitive ears.
“I saw you as a failure, indeed. At the time I had given up on your case, labeled it a dead end. The factors were wrong, but truly, the entire equation was misplaced.”
“I don’t follow.”
“The essence is this: I do not assign blame to you for this outcome.” With that Eugenia was freed of her mistakes of that long ago night as far as the goddess was concerned.
It could not have been so easy. This was a failure that had shaped her entire life, a burden she had carried without question. And all it took to end the misery was a simple acquittal by the one she owed everything to? Did Athena not feel any remorse towards this outcome at all? Was it just… Eugenia? She breathed shallowly and lowered her head. Sometimes guilt could not be erased even by the one who was wronged. If this was so insignificant that it could be excused, then it would lose all meaning.
“Mother, she was the most devout woman I have ever known. Even more so than Lady Akacia. You blessed me because she was that great. But she died, because I was useless. The loss you experienced back then must have been unforgivable.” She muttered with shaking lips.
“Losing a priestess is oft regrettable.”
“R-Regre-?” The word got stuck in her throat because it was so weak.
“I must correct you. I did not bless you for your mother’s service. My decision was unbiased and random. The only criteria was a suitable child born with blindness.”
“How can that be? Clearly… surely, it must have been because she was so devoted! Mother loved you more than anyone in the world.” It must have been so. Her mother was-
“There was one thing she loved above me.” The goddess replied stoically.
Her mother was-
“You.” Athena declared.
Special.
She wanted to cry, but no tears would come. Perhaps she had cried too much recently. Maybe deep in her heart she had already known. Her mother had cared so greatly for their goddess, but Athena was perfectly neutral. Such things would never sway her. The only ones who would make such a connection were humans.
“I am a failure.” She insisted. “My service was meaningless, I never managed to help anyone. I could not call upon you, because of my guilt. There is nothing I could do but keep pretending that everything was fine. I wasted away in the temple, was taught by Lady Akacia, but even then I could not converse with you. How can one who does not dare face you be your chosen?”
“Communication is only one talent of many. Something drives your actions and chases you into the arms of danger. A quality that I have seen often indeed.” The goddess of wisdom responded. “It is not a thirst for knowledge; that is merely a stepping stone. What moves you is the will to shape the world around you.”
“Shape it?”
“To transform the world in one’s image is the will of humanity crystalized. The gods know their place and the world to be theirs. Humans seek to influence the world through their limited means, so they can change their place. Your decisions along the way proved that you are not simply passive. You have shed the shell of the failure that could not use her gift.”
“You are- you are wrong!” She said with twisted lips. This was outrageous. To defy a goddess was certain doom, but her words hurt too much. “There is nothing I did on my own. Not a single thing was solved by my hand.” She raised her shaking hands to show how weak they were. “When I was left behind by the expedition Medusa let me live, because of you. When I was in Eretria I used your name to gain their trust. When I encountered the Satyr Kygnos I was left unscathed because of your presence. Even to the very end I used your name - your strength - to lie to Athens and overturn what human might could not.”
“That is the truth.” Athena agreed.
“So-!”
“This raises no contradiction to my words.”
“Nothing I did was based on my own power and not even on your blessing. Then how am I not a failure? How am I not a parasite that fed on your name to get what she wanted?!”
“That is the quality I need.” She put her foot down on the boat and for the first time it vibrated in this world of stillness. “My chosen are not those who can change the world on their own. It is those that know to use my wisdom and my name to the greatest effect.”
Her calm words, so deep, created a ripple in the priestess’ mind. For once she felt that she truly understood who the goddess in front of her was. It had always been there, plain for all to see. It was not that she ever hid her intentions.
“Your will to use me to change the world and move it forward into a greater direction is the one quality I seek.” The light reflected off her helmet and seemed to unite a beam of heat onto the faltering girl in front of her. “Your interest in the Gorgon shackles you and will continue to inhibit your full potential. I offer you to become my chosen priestess once again, not simply in name. You will become useful as you had always wished.”
A current of electricity seemed to run through Eugenia’s neck as those words rang in her ears. Athena knew her. Could she read her mind? Her soul? Those words were too accurate like a spear tip aimed for the heart. After all this time, she would finally be someone that people could rely on!
But the shock also served to free her clouded mind. The more Athena spoke, the more Eugenia understood. She needed to know more.
“W-Wait! I have more questions.”
Athena waited patiently.
“While you were punishing Medusa, your city was in crisis. You ignored their pleas and calls to continue your watch over her.” It was hard not to sound accusing. “I then… used your name to prevent war. At first I thought that this was the way you would have resolved things. To me that was the consequence of your teachings. That was probably just my delusion. Now I think that you would not have interfered either way.”
It was not so much a question as it was a need for confirmation. Athena contemplated her words for an appropriate amount of time.
“War is unavoidable. Whether it happens today or in a decade or a century.” That was the viewpoint of a war goddess.
“Then you would have let Achaeus go through with his campaign against the Persians? You would have let him lead Athens and the Ionian alliance against this mighty empire?”
“Indeed.”
“Then that means that he – what - that he could have succeeded?” Her milky eyes widened.
“That is likely. The Neo-Assyrian Empire is weakened.”
Her look of confusion was apparent.
“Those you call Persians are not a united people. Much like the Ionians and the Dorians, they are split among many kingdoms. One of the greatest kingdoms, an empire spanning much of the world, is the Neo-Assyrian Empire. Its greed has swallowed many ancient nations, even the Pharaohs of Egypt.”
Eugenia realized how little she truly knew of the uncivilized world outside the domain of Greece. She had never heard of so many different peoples. When they spoke of Persians, every child would only think of the far east and a unified empire of evil. The dry explanation coming from Athena did seem indifferent and similarly incomprehensible.
“And such rapid expansionism is its downfall. As the decades pass it crumbles in on itself and will collapse. With the armies of these lands it is possible to force the collapse of the entire empire prematurely.”
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“That can’t be. He could have won?” She had stopped Achaeus in his mad plans, but now it was revealed that they hadn’t been mad at all. Persia could have been brought to its knees.
“You called that man Achaeus, did you? His obsession would have been enough to claw down a giant, but his putrid hatred would have created dire consequences.” Athena must have realized that she made the girl doubt herself dearly.
“What do you mean?”
“His belief to eradicate his enemies, born from the wrongs done to his family, would have led him to commit atrocities among the Persians the likes of which have never been seen before. Such gruesomeness elicits a reaction. A crumbling empire will turn into a dozen vengeful beasts that will devour their tormentor. What was burned to ashes will rebirth a dragon much stronger than the one slain.”
A victory like that was shallow. A new Persian empire would rise and grow even fiercer and wider than the one that existed now. Athens would raid Assyria and bring the greatest empire to its knees, only to be crushed by its angry retaliation. She couldn’t help but shiver at such thoughts.
“He said that he was your chosen one.”
“It is the nature of man to build their beliefs on the name of the gods.”
“That is what I was doing too.” She realized.
“Indeed.”
“Then the reason I am your chosen and he is not is simply that he failed?”
“All things end in this manner. The victor decides the fate of the world.”
Like Cronus overthrowing Uranus. Like the Olympians felling the Titans.
“Ha...haha.” She couldn’t help but laugh self-derisively at the foolishness of it all.
“I was there on the day of his rebirth. The cult that had slain his family worships false deities who are no threat to us.”
“He saw you. He saw you and thought that you were telling him to destroy Persia.” The laughter got stuck in her throat and she only felt misery.
Humans who used the gods to impose their will and humans who believed they were the tool of the gods’ will: Who was more selfish?
“You let it happen. No matter the outcome, you will continue to observe?”
“That is my role. You begin to comprehend.” She stretched her arms to the side and a strong wind went past them. “I have continued to observe this world since the day I was given life. The actions of the gods, monsters and humans alike. None is a mystery to me. I watch as they keep moving and get into conflicts, destroy, rebuild, reforge.”
“If you see it all and know what will happen, why do you not stop it? Why allow all this bloodshed? Does it amuse you?!”
“I am not my brother. Ares revels in blood and battle. That is his choice and also his role in this world, which he finds great pleasure in. War is not something to entertain me.”
“What could you possibly gain from it then?” She shook her head.
“Conflict breeds improvement.”
“Improvement?”
“For every battle and every war, humankind will attempt to further themselves to destroy their enemies. Stronger weapons, grander strategies, an eternal arms race. Improved construction for the sake of defense, better ships for the sake of maneuverability and better preserved food for long campaigns. With each conflict humans improve.”
“But you taught us to learn and strive for wisdom in times of peace as well!”
“That is my wisdom given to humanity for the sake of spurring their advancement. Yet it is in your nature to despise idleness. As long as you have enemies, wisdom only exists to grow beyond them. That is human nature. I do not judge it, I nourish your kind in the ways it understands.”
“Not all humans think that way.”
“Those that gain power do.”
It was a candid rebuttal, crushing to the core. One who knew so much more could guess every counter argument and denial ahead of time. Nothing Eugenia could conceive would ever sway a goddess who knew better. Then did she have to accept this reality? Who would want to accept it?
In the end she was just some meaningless girl among thousands. Nothing she did would truly change the world. Unless she did as Athena suggested. If she could use the power of her mistress to change the world in a way she thought best…
“I can’t do this.” She revealed.
“Speak your mind, loud and clear, so that I may not misunderstand.”
“That way of treating the world is too callous. It is the prerogative of the gods, but I could never accept that burden. If the world is the way you say, then this is something I will never change. You are wiser than me and will watch over us foolish humans. That alone gives me some relief.” She exhaled painfully.
“Do not belittle yourself, Eugenia of Dankana. Eugenia of Lamia. Eugenia of Athens. Under my guidance you could be so much more.” Her words became more pressing. More determined.
Before the girl could even react she felt a large hand on her head. It was firm and powerful, she could tell. Electricity seemed to run between the palm and her hair and her entire body was shaken by the impact of something.
“You shall be my limbs and I will be your eyes.”
Everything changed. The eternal darkness that had kept her in its grasp since the day she was born suddenly dispersed and left behind a blinding light.
“Ahhg… haah… ga?” Her open mouth made noises as the sensory overload seemed to fry her mind.
And then as the blinding light faded, she saw something. Blue. An enormous stretch of an azure blue. She had never seen a color like this before, she didn’t even know what it was, but somehow the name just flashed inside her mind. This was a blue that spanned the entire world.
She understood without knowing why - this was the sky.
Eugenia looked down and witnessed another shade of blue. Darker, cerulean blue, which was so deep and thick that one could not see through it. That was the color of the ocean around her boat.
Her view expanded without her input. She looked forward and saw something in the distance. The coastline of a grand city. It must have been Athens which she had just left. A mix of tan stone buildings, the burnt amber tones of wooden construction and flags in cobalt blue and vermillion red. At the borders of the city were emerald green forests with the lushest meadows and brushes.
Further beyond she saw the vineyards with large buckets of stomped grapes, an enticing purple. Farms with brown and white goats, dark-pelted bulls and grey-furred dogs.
The world seemed to expand before her eyes. How could her vision reach this far? Beyond the mountain, through the clouds, where she saw a city of gold and marble, glowing like the sun itself! Mount Olympus turned smaller already and her eyes moved east, toward the islands. Lesbos, land of the poets, then the Lydian kingdom. Further away still was Babylonia and the Persian Empire.
Yellow and brown deserts, snowy white mountaintops, bleak tundras, pink cherry-trees, blackening skies, animals she had never heard of, humans of unfamiliar appearance. The information was threatening to burst her skull.
“Enough, please enough already!” She shouted in pain.
With the sound of a breaking twig everything returned to where she started.
A vessel smaller than a ship, but bigger than any fishing boat. It was not swaying at all on the still, glass-like ocean. Everything seemed to be spinning for a moment, before her vision adjusted again and she finally saw someone.
It was a young woman, perhaps of nearly eighteen summers. Her clothes were practical, made for travel. Her skin was tanned, but there were signs that she was paler below the rim of her neck. Her curly long hair seemed to be hanging over her back and shoulders. She needed a haircut.
And as their eyes met, the splitting headache ended.
They had been white. Empty and white.
Darkness returned in a moment and she sank to her knees. Athena’s hand left her head and she let the priestess rest. The shallow breathing calmed down eventually and she touched her face and hair.
“I saw… everything. I really saw. My eyes could see and there were so many colors.” She recollected dizzily. She could not remember their names anymore, but she remembered every color so vividly.
“I shared my vision with you.”
“It was overwhelming. Do you always see the entire world?” It was an awe inspiring experience.
“There are places even I may not observe.” She showed a shocking moment of humbleness.
Now it became painfully clear just how limited everyone was compared to the gods. Even as her godly vision had passed the world she had barely managed to take notice of humans. They were no more than a blur.
“As my priestess you will regain your vision. I shall grant you sight and influence to understand this world and shape it.”
Eugenia could barely believe her ears. Did she truly mean it? If Eugenia served her she would be cured of her blindness? Her heart was beating faster in excitement. No matter how used one grew to their disability, given the chance to change it there was no question. She would finally be able to read without tracing the indents of carved words. She could see the colors that she sewed into a chiton. She would be able to see the stars on the sky’s ceiling!
Her hand twitched.
Eugenia would be able to see everything she wanted.
It was like an invisible finger traced across it…
She could be useful to everyone.
There were things that nobody could see.
“There is only one way to find your place in this world. Choose me.”
An ultimatum. The final choice.
“Your hand was colder than hers.” Eugenia muttered and rubbed her head where they had made contact.
“Pardon?”
“I respect you deeply Lady Athena and I want to thank you for everything you have done for me. Without you I would never have become the person I am now.” She folded her hands together and finally felt at peace.
Hermes was a clever one. In the end there had been more to his trial than he would let on. She had not understood it until the very last moment, but now her eyes were opened.
Athena’s aura changed. Someone of her caliber understood what those words entailed. She grabbed her spear tightly.
“Your worldview and mine are not compatible. The past me would have loved to serve you and change the world for the better. Even now there is something inside me that tears at me to go along with it.” She forced a smile. “You said that you would help me find a place that I could belong. That place already exists.”
“Do not be rash.” Athena showed an unexpected sign of distress.
“I choose Medusa.”
It was not much of a choice, was it? She had already made it ages ago. Just as she did that distant day on a tiny island.
“You cannot be so foolish.” Athena was displeased to say the least.
“I know that you hold nothing but dismay for her. To choose to be by her side makes me incompatible with my current duties. Mother told me to find what I believe in and follow that duty to the very end. But becoming your priestess and serving you were things that were expected of me, never my true choice.” She knelt down again and raised her arms.
Athena looked down upon her like she was a horrible insult.
“Great and wise Athena. I can no longer be your priestess or your chosen one. Therefore I resign.”
“Your decision is most unwise.”
“Perhaps. I will not change it though. I am not worth your efforts, so you should not be disappointed. To be sure that I do not owe you anything and am no longer your chosen, I will offer you my hearing too.”
“What?” The word seemed to come from somewhere around them. It was not Athena. Maybe the wind was playing tricks on her ears already.
“You will renounce even my blessing?” The silvery eyes seemed to burn her alive.
“It is yours to take, just as you gave it. For a common girl without any connection to you to be blessed may be an insult. Thus I offer my hearing to you as my final gesture of devotion.” She explained with feigned courage.
Athena was still as a statue. In all her glory and intelligence she could not have predicted this outcome. She understood the human named Eugenia. She saw her desires, her hopes and dreams, her love for the world and most of all her doubts and fears. What was offered to her far exceeded anything she could ever hope for on that tiny cursed island far away. Therefore the wisest and most logical choice had been obvious.
There was still some surprise in the willfulness of humans.
“Leave.”
That was the only word she uttered.
Before Eugenia could even say another word, a tremendous breeze pushed open the sail and threw the boat into a rapid stream. Eugenia fell on her back and was shaken about as the wind seemed to tear her away from the still world they had been confined to a moment ago.
The former priestess forced herself up and held onto the mast. She turned back towards the goddess, but her hearing was drowned out by the rushing winds.
“La--- thena---!” She shouted into the raging winds, but her voice was swallowed. She was not allowed to say anything more.
As the boat rapidly disappeared on the ocean, the goddess of wisdom and war still floated in the air, unmoving.
She had lost.
Her lips twisted in anger and the formerly still water below her started to swirl into a maelstrom of death.
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Hours later the terrible stream finally ended and left the boat stranded in the middle of the sea. Eugenia felt faint from all the shaking and the desperate clinging to the boat so she would not fall off.
Nauseous and a little disoriented she lied down and spread her limbs.
Now she had done it. She had antagonized her benefactor and sailed into an unknown place. As foolish as she felt, she was also relieved.
“Can you hear me?” A man's voice echoed inside her pounding head.
“Lord Hermes?” She guessed.
“I dare say you are not deaf then.” The playful messenger sat across the rail and watched her with a tilted head.
“Seems so.” Her ears were as sensitive as before.
“It was risky to make such concessions. How would you have heard my soothing voice if she took you up on the offer?”
“I am sure you could have found a way.” She muttered and stabilized her breathing so she wouldn’t throw up.
“None that would be proper.” He joked and then put his arms on his crossed legs. “What a choice to make, it is nearly unfair.” He added with one eye closed.
“Did you not hope I would make it?”
“The result of the trial was entirely up to you, I assure you.” He flicked aside the invisibility cap and looked at the pristine ocean around these far away islands.
“I see.” She could only muster so little resistance right now.
“But as you have made your choice, it allows me to finally make good on my own words. I have a delivery to make.”
“Huh?”
“Accompany me, if you will. It will be beneficial to both of us.”
“How?”
“Haha, you did not expect that you could sail to Sarpedon on your own, hm?” He grinned widely. “I shall be the wind in your sails again, but this time I will guide you to the place you need to reach.”
Eugenia turned her head on the side.
“Is there a problem?” The curious god asked leaning forward to follow her face.
“Nothing.” She denied him quietly.
“Oh?” He put a hand to his chin and thought about it. “Are you ashamed of asking me for help after just rejecting Athena's offer?” He guessed.
“N-Not at all.” Eugenia turned red and put her face down onto the wooden planks, showing him her back.
Hermes’ grin only turned wider.
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The journey took a few days longer than expected thanks to a detour, but they eventually met the barrier of storms. Waters far away from Athens, in a cursed area that none should ever venture. Blackened clouds everywhere and lightning hit the tallest waves.
This deadly wall would sink even sturdier ships and experienced sailors.
The wind was on Eugenia’s side, but the waves and whirling waters were not. With the power of her ears and the knowledge obtained from the fishermen of Eretria she managed to navigate through the horrific barrier. It seemed to last for hours and her arms became stiff and hurt all over, but she breached Poseidon’s wrath and pushed into calmer waters.
Even exhausted, she could tell that the island was right ahead. She wiped away the seawater and wrung out her soaked clothes. She had advanced this far after all.
She had finally returned.
Beyond the oceans, after the barrier and even further than the beach there stood a figure in the ruins, observing this intruder reach the shore.
Eugenia stood at the tip of the ship and jumped off it the moment it hit sand. Unsteady, but determined, she turned her landing into a dash and rushed forward. There was no time to tie the boat down, there was no need to unload the cargo right now. What was behind her did not matter at all, only the things ahead had any value.
Her hurting feet took her up the steps and across the yard until she could finally hear the wind brush against scales and the shocked gasp of a woman. She could feel that familiar gaze on her skin and her heart nearly burst.
““YOU FOOL!”” They shouted simultaneously as they crashed into each other.
Eugenia embraced the Gorgon with all her might, sensing that her entire body was covered in hardened scales, which made it less than comfortable, but that wouldn’t stop her.
“I’m back.” She said with moist eyes.
Medusa had been stiff the entire time and let her hands float in the air as she was hugged against her will. But slowly, surely, she put her arms around the shivering and sniffling girl.
“You really are a fool.” She said softly.
The trial had ended with a reunion. Two souls torn apart were reunited with the strength of unfading will. The consequences were irrelevant in this infinite moment.