Marinette continued her trek, more confident now than ever. She could do this. No, she would do this. She owed it to herself, and to Adrien.
Adrien. Every time she thought about that name, her heart fluttered. She couldn't believe that the god of love had been her husband for almost a year. The more she thought about it, the harder it was to believe, and yet the more she knew it was true. She was in love with the god of love, and he had once loved her back. She wasn't sure if he still would after her betrayal, but she knew she had to try and get him back.
After three more days and two more nights of almost constant walking, Marinette finally reached the temple of Gabriel, just north of Athens. She entered, and walked up to the altar. There she placed a bundle of flowers wrapped in a torn piece of her dress, as it was the only thing currently in her possession. She prayed, asking Gabriel to return her to Adrien, so that she might ask forgiveness for her betrayal.
When Gabriel heard the desperate prayers of Marinette, he at first ignored them. He had to care for his wounded son, and he was still angered that Marinette had stolen so much of his patronage. He saw her as a selfish, wicked girl who stole favor from the gods, and who hurt his son out of spite. He had no intention of allowing her to truly marry Adrien.
However, for several days, Marinette continued to come to the temple. Each day she would find something to give as an offering. A small crust of bread she had begged for. A few small coins someone dropped on the side of the road. A beautiful narcissus she found growing by a nearby stream. And each day, she would respectfully ask for the opportunity to see her beloved Adrien once more.
Gabriel grew more and more enraged by Marinette's stubbornness with each passing day. Finally, one day, he came up with a plan to finally end it. He appeared before Marinette, and he told her that, unless she could prove herself worthy of being a god's wife, he would not allow her to see Adrien.
"You will come with me back to my palace, and there I will ask you to perform several tasks to gauge if you are truly worthy. If I find you an unacceptable bride, you will never be allowed to lay eyes on my son again."
"I accept your terms, my Lord. I am humbled by your generosity." She bowed before the god in front of her, and when she pulled her head up, she was in completely different surroundings.
She was in a beautiful palace, much like the one she once shared with Adrien. However, this palace was grander, and more polished. Everything was perfectly crafted, perfectly in place, and perfectly pristine. Looking down at her own filthy, torn dress and knowing how long she'd been without bathing, Marinette felt very out of place. Looking around, with everything so immaculate, she was constantly aware of her less-than-stellar appearance.
However, she did not let this faze her. It was, in a way, refreshing. Usually people told her that she was the most beautiful thing in the room. Here she stood out because she was the least.
Gabriel looked down at her. "Follow me." He said curtly. He walked down a nearby hallway, leading her through more perfectly decorated rooms. Eventually they came to a large door. Gabriel smiled smugly as he looked at the door.
"On the other side of this door, you will find the kitchen. I have laid your first task out for you in there." He looked down at Marinette. "According to the traditional criteria, a wife must be good at cleaning and organizing a kitchen. I expect you to prove you are capable of this if you expect a chance at winning my son's hand."
His cold blue eyes looked the girl up and down in disgust, although his face remained as stone. "You must finish this task before sundown, or I will not allow you to ever see my son again." He turned down the hall, a small smile on his face. There would be no way any human would be able to complete this task in a week, let alone in a few hours.
Marinette nearly burst into tears upon entering the room. She had been expecting a mess, but this was too much.
There was a pile of grains nearly the height of her knee standing in the middle of the room. On a nearby table, several labeled jars sat. Wheat, barley, poppyseed, chickpeas, lentils, beans… there were so many different categories.
Marinette had never cooked in her life. She had no idea how to distinguish one type of grain from another. And even if she did, the sheer amount of grain in front of her would have taken months to sort out perfectly, and she knew that if so much as a single grain was out of place, she would fail.
Marinette forced herself not to cry. She couldn't afford to fail. Somehow, someway… she'd complete this task.
She immediately went to work, trying to figure out how grains differed and which grain was which. After a solid hour of work, she was surrounded by 10 small piles of grains, and yet she had barely made a dent in the enormous pile in front of her. Her fingers were starting to ache, and she wasn't even sure if she was sorting correctly, but she was determined to do her best.
While concentrating hard on her work, a small insect peeked its head out of a small open crack in the window. Seeing what the girl was forced to do, it made its way over to her.
"You look like you could use some help." The strange ant said.
Marinette looked for the source of the voice, and when she finally saw the ant, her eyes widened. "Y-yes, I could… but w-why…"
"Shh…." The ant said. "I owe you. You helped me clean not that long ago, now it's time I returned the favor. But don't speak my name, or the master of this house will know I'm here. And never tell him that anyone helped you, or he'll have an excuse to dump you back out into the street. As long as he can't prove you got help, he must assumed you completed the task on his own, and must continue to give you tasks until he deems you worthy. Do you understand?"
Marinette nodded, finally understanding who was there to help her. "Yes, of course Al- I mean, little ant." She smiled at herself, making sure not to use the goddess's name.
The ant nodded, and almost seemed to smile. It nodded its head back toward the window, and suddenly a whole swarm of ants flooded the room. They immediately went to work, and in less than an hour, all the grains were sorted into piles right underneath a corresponding jar.
"There. All you have to do is put the grains into those jars, and your task will be complete." The ant seemed very pleased by its work, and Marinette was elated.
"Thank you so much, little ant!" She said, still in awe of the spectacle she had just witnessed. "I don't know how I can ever repay you!"
The little ant waved its antenna at her. "There's no need to repay me. This was my repayment to you. You earned my help." The rest of the ants began to leave the room, filing through the open window. "Good luck, Marinette. Know that you have most of the gods on your side." The little ant seemed to nod at her, and then quickly left along with the others.
Marinette looked at the little piles of grain and immediately began transferring them into jars. She smiled and hummed to herself as she worked, feeling one step closer to seeing Adrien.
"How could this happen?!" Gabriel yelled as he looked around the room. There wasn't so much as a speck of dust on the floor, and all the grains were perfectly sorted.
Marinette bowed her head. "I simply did what was asked of me."
The god paced back and forth across the room, as if trying to figure out what had happened. "Someone must have helped you! Who was it?" He asked her, fury boiling in his voice.
Marinette did not respond. She simply shook her head.
Gabriel's anger only rose. "Fine, if you will not tell me who helped you, then you'll just have to go to bed hungry tonight!" He threatened, but Marinette did not budge. At this point, she was used to hunger pains. Gabriel was not happy that his threats didn't seem to affect Marinette, and he soon stormed out of the room. "A few of my servants will be by shortly to escort you to your… accommodations." He looked at her, his face contorting with disgust. "If they aren't to your liking, tomorrow you can tell me who helped you. Only then will I rethink your living arrangements." He then left the room, the door slamming shut behind him.
