Chapter 8: Samaria
Her grandfather's march above Crete marked another day. Now that it was the end of the week, Ariadne could disappear to wherever she pleased in Crete.
It's not like her Sunday started off completely bad. Her bull-leaping instructor had applauded her performance and asked for Asterion's well-being. Before the Labyrinth, Asterion had been the best in the youth bull-leapers of Crete. Unfortunately, before she could wander off into nature, Minos had forced his daughters to get their measurements for new dresses. With puberty only being a few years away, he thought they needed to practice their appearances as royal women.
Despising dress tailoring was on the limited list of common things between Ariadne and her sister. Phaedra just expressed her dislike of tri-color patterns and showing off her prepubescent, flat chest. Ariadne received a slap from Minos the moment she said that if they were just going to dress up to show off their tits, they might as well dress just as half-naked as all men did if they wanted to pretend to be Aphrodite at birth. Was Minos insulted by the insult or the foul language?
Wait, why did Ariadne care anyway? Her mere existence annoyed Minos.
As the main city disappeared in the plains behind her, Ariadne took the stone-carved stairwell that towards the heart of the Samaria Gorge. Mortals believed that during Kronos' reign, the toddler Zeus found refuge in the gorge to play with his nymph mothers until the Titanomachy made it his main plotting spot.
Even with the gorge's rocky walls, the base's stream beautifully reflected the blue sky. Ariadne bent down, splashing her face with its fresh water. She rubbed her cheek when her reflection showed the mark left by Minos' strike. Groaning over it, she didn't look over her shoulders when some branches snapped.
The purple bull with green horns silently trotted towards her.
An unsurprising, yet terrifying reality for mortals. A youthful mortal, usually a princess, minding her own business when a god in disguise suddenly kidnaps her. Probably the Ancient Greek's prototype for future generations' horror movies.
The bull got close enough…
Ariadne punched the creature on the nose.
She took her stance on the pebbled ground. The bull scratched its hooves and charged. Without so much as scratching her skin, Ariadne jumped in the air, somersaulted, and supported herself on the bull's leathery back with just her hands. Her legs were perfectly folded up towards Helios.
The bull shook, aiming to knock her down. Ariadne did fall, but not before grabbing its tail, dragging the beast five times her size towards the ground. The bull let out a non-bovine growl, agitating its legs angrily. The legs then melted into a singular, non-legged form. The newly formed purple viper hissed at Ariadne.
The 10-year-old half-Titaness just kicked the snake into the stream. A smug smile appeared on her face.
The soil under her feet softened. Ariadne looked down at the sudden quicksand that trapped her from her toes to her waist. Marble formed around her. Ariadne tried to push herself out of her mineral prison.
"Hey! You said you'd stop cheating!" Ariadne told the stream. The water bubbled. In a big splash, Dionysus jumped out of the stream, shaking his purple hair dry. Vines and flowers grew where water and soil met his feet.
"I did! You told me to stop cheating when I made myself invisible last week!" Dionysus waved his hand against the marble, weakening its strength. He grabbed Ariadne by the armpits and lifted her out. White dust dirtied her dress. "What on earth is that? Your dad knows you're not 10 yet, right? Ya look like you got married!"
"Very funny!" Ariadne punched him on the arm.
Dionysus grabbed her cheek. "What is up with your face? Ari, what did Minos do?"
"You're still fussing over my face? I just bull-leaped you!" Ariadne pushed him. It was something natural between them, but confusing to others, in their friendship. Play fighting the way wolf cubs did.
"Nah! When you get bruised because you jump over bulls, or when you hit a demigod, or if ya knocked out a guard's tooth? That's cool! When your dad hits you? My Pops would have tattooed Minos with his hooves if he saw your face!" Dionysus sat up, only for Ariadne to stomp her foot on his stomach, planting him on the ground. Grabbing her ankle, he yanked her to the ground. Scratches appeared on her cheeks. "See? When you get scratches like that, it's cool!"
"Will it be 'cool' if I kick you on your dick?" Ariadne's question had a warning tone.
"And Ariadne wins!" Dionysus jumped up and ran towards a nearby bush based by a tree. Moving the bush aside with his powers, Dionysus revealed the carvings on the trunk. Turning his hand into claws, he carved the newest score. "Ariadne, 84. Me, 81."
"You need to think of smarter ways to get me. And get a bath for once!" Ariadne pinched her nose. "Even Asterion takes a bath!"
"I take baths!"
"You smell like a thousand goat herd that ran over bull shit and dragged all the dung into a fish market."
"Oh, the wound!" Dionysus dramatically gasped. He faked being dizzy and fell on the ground. "Chatty sword! I am struck!" He held his hand up towards Helios. "Spare my agony! Send me to the Underworld, where words are less cold than yours!"
Ariadne bit the side of her mouth within her closed lips. She shook her head.
"I die!" Sprouts grew around Dionysus, creating a green coffin of twigs and moss. "Oh, how I die! How I am now a part of my great-grandmother Gaia! Send my will to Olympus! Adieu!" Rocks popped from the opening, sealing the demigod within his own coffin.
Ariadne crossed her arms, tapping her foot patiently. The tapping became rapid when five minutes passed.
"Uh… Dorknysus?" She tapped against the coffin. "Hello?"
No noise came from the coffin.
"Oh my gods, he died!" Ariadne gasped.
"Hi!" Dionysus goofily said over her shoulders, earning her freaked-out punch.
"THAT wasn't funny!" She exclaimed.
"What?" Dionysus chuckled, his nose hurting. "I was like Perseus when he and his ma got thrown in the sea inside a box! You almost wet yourself!"
"Well I don't think that you pretending to be dead is funny!" Ariadne's fists tightened.
"It was just a joke, Angryadne. It's not like I put you in the coffin!"
"Just DON'T do it again!" Ariadne lowered her head. Tears were impossible for her, but her eyes became bloodshot red. Mixed with her natural gold colors, her eyes looked like the sun during a lunar eclipse when she got genuinely upset.
"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to upset you THAT badly!" Dionysus reached out for her.
"I know." Ariadne didn't stop him from touching just beneath her eyes. His wild fingers felt much softer than Minos' royal ones. "I'm still worried about Asterion. Minos still won't let him out of the Labyrinth."
Edible plants grew on the ground beneath them. Ariadne sat down with the demigod as he plucked out some basil and rampions. Even after chewing dozens of leaves and petals, Dionysus kept the plants growing.
"Is Minos sending more men to fetch Athenians?" Dionysus offered Ariadne some basil leaves.
Ariadne had met plenty of street dorks hoping to bribe her royal attention with pastries, first-caught fish, and their loveliest flowers. Her cousin Medea always warned her to never trust a man or prince who could offer her all the richest jewels and resources in the world. But with the dork? Randomly offer leaves like it was the newest candy. At the same time, Dionysus kept refueling Ariadne until his next visit, especially if Pasiphaë and Minos had punished Ariadne's insolence with no supper.
Ariadne accepted the basil.
"Yummy. But it tastes better with that cheese you brought three Sundays ago." She chewed on the leaves slowly, to properly ingest and replenish.
"A WHOLE better when you also include tomatoes in it!" Dionysus nodded, flicking a rampion in his mouth. "How's Asterion doing?"
Ariadne sighed. "You tried being cooped up in a maze?"
"Have you tried living in Nysa? With ME as the local fertility god?"
"Not the same…" Ariadne sighed. "Medea told Pasiphaë that her husband, the king of Athens, found his hidden son. Medea went back to Colchis."
"What does that have to do with Asterion?"
"A king of Athens with a son. Son has a big sword." Ariadne gulped on a rampion too quickly, she coughed out petals. "King of Crete sends diplomats to fetch the tributes early. The king of Athens' son happens to be this guy whose ALSO Poseidon's son… Apparently, he kicked a bandit into a monster turtle."
"THESEUS?" Dionysus' horns viciously appeared, his eyes becoming violent vortexes of green and purple.
Ariadne just stared at him. "Guess you heard him?"
"That fucking half-cousin is as much of a douchebag as THE PURPLE DOODOO!" Dionysus hit his head against a rock, smashing it into sand. "I swear to Hades, that green-haired pedo gets on my nerves!"
"Pedo?" Ariadne tilted her head. "What's a pedo?"
"Ya know how gods like to trick, like, THOUSANDS of girls in this realm? Imagine if a 2000-year-oldish god only tricked girls… under 18! And WAY lower!"
Ariadne stuck her tongue out. "Gross! What kind of adult goes after kids if it isn't to kill them?"
"I know, right? Pops goes berserk every time some adult tries to be TOO FRIENDLY on the other kids in the retinue! But Theseus? Everybody hates his guts in the retinue! I hate him because he's the only thing Helen and I have in common!"
"The psycho princess of Sparta?"
"Yeah!" Dionysus morphed into the legendary purple-haired princess known for the being the cruelest, yet beautiful of all the demigoddesses. "Get this! When she was MY age, Theseus snatched her from Sparta!" He morphed back to his usual appearance, his hair looking a bit curlier and his physique slim. "Like by some logic, he thought 'I kidnap her now as a kid, and I'll marry her when she's older and gorgeous.' Do you have any idea what kind of embarrassment Attica got? Getting raided by Castor and Pollux so Helen could go home? They were only 10! And that was years ago!"
"Minos would execute himself if he got embarrassed by a kid."
"You embarrass him all the time! That's not the same!"
"How's it not the same?" Ariadne put her hands on her hips.
"Because if Theseus snatched YOU, you could burn Athens easy-peasy! Mortals would easily fear you! But…" Dionysus hesitated. "Minos' a mortal guy… and he hits you as if you're a mortal."
"I'm half-mortal. Like you." Ariadne gave his head a knock with her fist.
"You fight me back! And I like that!" Dionysus rubbed the area Ariadne had hit him. "Reminds me I'm not… completely like the Olympians. Especially not Zeus…" Dionysus dragged himself to sit by the stream. "It's cool how you fight back Minos. He acts like he can control a half-Titan, but you, like, tell him to fuck off. I don't have that leverage… or strength."
"And THIS comes from the dork who shapeshifts into anything, brought wine to men, grows any plants he wants, AND is a fertility god?" Ariadne shook her head. "Your insecurities are ridiculous, sometimes."
"Says you, holding back!" Dionysus huffed. Ariadne sat down next to him. He dropped himself and laid on a grassy blanket. "Ya could just, AGAIN, leave Crete. Unless ya want the world record for half-Titan with the most bruises from a mortal? The purple doodoo got the world record for getting shot at by a mortal."
"Dio.." Ariadne sighed. "You know why I can't leave, right?"
"Yeah, and I've been thinking about it since I last came! What if you and your siblings left Crete with me?"
"WHAT?" Ariadne's eyes nearly popped out of her head. "Are you madder than usual?"
Dionysus shushed her by covering her mouth with his hands. "Come on! Minos won't be able to use Asterion against Athens, Asterion will be free from the Labyrinth, and you won't have to put up with your family anymore! And Phaedra can meet anyone she wants in Greece! You guys could come to Nysa with me!"
Ariadne pushed his hand away. "Dionysus! My brother's a 5-foot-tall, bull-headed, bloodthirsty kid and Phaedra and I are Princesses of Crete! You think Minos won't notice?"
"We could pretend that you guys killed each other at the next Athenian sacrifice and disguise three dead Athenians as you guys! Minos would think you were really dead!"
"You think none of the Cretans would notice the Minotaur and the princesses running off to the port?"
"Not if you guys run off to the north of Crete and if I get a boat for ya!"
"And if they us flee on the boat?"
"We coast on Naxos, we sink the boat with fake corpses of you guys, and we take ANOTHER readied boat to Greece!"
"And if Minos decides to send the Cretan army to fetch us!"
"The Greek Armies fighting the Minoan Armies won't be a problem! You'll be safe in Nysa!"
"And if Minos goes to Nysa?"
"Then I get arrested for committing an act of wrath by doing to Minos what I did to the pirates." Dionysus grimaced. "Bad case scenario, I end up in Tartarus. Worst case scenario, Zeus forces me to live on Olympus. In any punishment I get, Minos dies and you and your siblings are free."
"But I don't want…"
"Or, if hiding in Nysa isn't a good idea just yet, we could always go to Gaul! Wait out some years there, actually. I just LOVE Gaul wine!"
Ariadne finally managed to shut up the demigod by placing a quick kiss on his cheek. Dionysus blinked like a crazy owl.
"Dionysus… I don't want you to do the same thing you did with the pirates… Remember when I first met you?"
"Your eyes were very pretty when you punched me." Dionysus blushed.
"And you nearly died." Ariadne cupped his hand with hers. "You trusted me with you being a fertility god. But you're still a demigod. And a kid! When you use your powers to the max, it isn't like when Persephone defeated Kronos! She's fully divine and an adult! All the fertility gods and goddesses you told me about aren't half-divine kids. You're powerful, yes, but that power can also kill you!"
Dionysus stared right into her golden eyes. Ariadne groaned. Sometimes, she wished she didn't have the all-seeing eyes she'd inherited from her grandfather. What she used to seek out paths for the labyrinths, she could see the true souls of others, no matter how much they tried to hide it.
The empty heart of Minos.
The parasitic ambitions of Pasiphaë and Medea.
Asterion's misery.
Phaedra's neutrality.
Having the eyes of the Sun had caused Ariadne to realize the fertility god's nature even before Dionysus told her. His chaotic innocence was terrifying yet comforting all at once. His true loyalty, however, was what troubled the princess.
The legacy of Helios wasn't known for attracting the most loyal, after all. Pasiphaë could care less, Circe was accepting, and Medea… was a psycho.
"Maybe I should talk more about this with Asterion and Phaedra," she said.
"Yeah." Dionysus grew some crocuses in his palms. "You know you're my friend, right?"
"Yes." Ariadne plucked a crocus from his skin. Her nostrils felt the soft petals and smelled the fragrance. "You know I worry about you, right?"
Dionysus nodded.
Ariadne flicked him on the forehead, startling him for seconds before she started running. "Bet you can't make it to the gorge's opening!"
"Cheater!" Dionysus ran after her, the children laughing in their odd games.
…
Her grandfather began to disappear in the horizon, creating the sunset. Guards patrolled around the palace, the torches' lights transforming them into armored shadows.
Crete's 'finest troops' didn't notice the princess break into her own home. Ariadne kissed her middle and index fingers, tapped the walls with said fingers, and made her own pathways through the external walls. Her enchanted pathways sealed themselves into oblivion once she was done crossing. She ran through the courtyard, crawling behind several floral bushes and bull sculptures to ditch another patrol. When she reached the wall, she tapped all her fingers against the surface. Fresco tiles shifted and pulled out of the wall, forming a floating staircase for her to climb. She reached the hallway, summoning the fresco tiles back to normal.
OK, I need to change. Fast! She turned, bumping into the only other princess in the palace.
"Phaedra!" Ariadne quietly hissed.
"Ariadne! Where were you?" Her blonde-haired sister nearly freaked out at the dirt on Ariadne's dress. "Father's going to get angry! That dress is new!"
"Who cares?" Ariadne hissed back. "Why are you out here? Don't tell me you were sneaking into the kitchen again!"
"Don't tell me you did what you did again!"
"Forget it! Are Pasiphaë and Minos busy?"
"A last-minute meeting with Minoan oracles. They left for the temples."
"Good!" Ariadne spoke a bit louder. "I'll quickly wipe myself and check on Asterion."
"Uh, Ariadne…"
"I'm JUST going to get him some fruits, OK? At least I'm being a sister to him!"
"Ariadne!" Phaedra snapped. "You got a bigger problem than Asterion!"
"What, you can't braid your own hair for bed again? Shall I fetch you the nurse?"
What Phaedra told her sent Ariadne to a baffled state.
Wiping her face and dirt off was the least of her problems after Phaedra quickly helped her with it. Due to her own fears, her sister didn't join her to the throne room. Which Ariadne understood. Even she wouldn't want Phaedra to be with her in the throneroom.
Ariadne quietly closed the door behind her. She turned towards the figure standing on the throne, its presence turning the torches to sparks compared to its daylight. Her black chiton was of inflammable fabric, her pearl-colored skin emitting heat levels intolerable for mortals. Her golden hair moved like flames and glowed like Helios. Her golden eyes stared right back at Ariadne.
On the throne was none other than Helios' golden child.
"Aunt Circe." Ariadne bowed. "You visit us early."
"And you are a second earlier than I expected." Circe impatiently tapped her fingers against the throne. Ariadne could care less that her aunt damaged the King of Crete's throne.
Ariadne approached her aunt. She knew that if she didn't, Circe could use her magic to drag her forward. "So… What brings you to Crete? I'm afraid it's not the right season for Athenian slaughtering."
"Ah, yes. The torture your father inflicts on Athens. Your breath shifting each twist and turns, making the exit impossible for Athens' youngest. An annoying delay, really. Your brother's meals are always nearly dead from starvation."
"I merely try to keep my brother safe, Aunt Circe. I have no shame."
"I know. Along with the passages you've been making for yourself to sneak out of the palace. Nice fresco staircase."
Ariadne kept a stone-cold position and indifferent glare at her aunt.
"Sneaking in your mother's chambers. Stealing her scrolls. Healing stray cats."
Ariadne shrugged. "I like to vandalize her properties."
"Indeed." Circe sat up. "You know, she took credit of a stunt on your father. Apparently, he's been misbehaving around the females Athens sends before he gives them to your brother. Your mother claimed that it was her magic that caused her husband's dick to be filled with vipers and scorpions rather than semen. The girls got killed before they could step in the maze. How your parents argued."
Ariadne snorted. "It was a fun trick she came up with!"
"Indeed! Too bad I know my sister lacks creativity!" Circe's brief chuckle turned into a growling scowl. She pointed at Ariadne. "Tell me… did your little friend suggest it, or was it really all you?"
"I don't do friends."
"Really? So the demigod you've been seeing at the gorge is just a pet?"
Ariadne's eyes widened. If her organs were filled with fire, they immediately froze in fear, making her bones heavier. "A demigod?"
"You can see people's nature, Ariadne. However, Helios sees EVERYTHING when he walks. Did you think the gorge was going to shield you from his eyes? If Helios saw you, you assumed that he wouldn't tell me, his favorite daughter, when he stopped at Aeaea in the afternoons for a cup of Helianthus tea?"
"It's not like it matters, does it? I'm my mother's disappointment. Helios shouldn't worry about his most useless grandchild."
"His most useless grandchild is that foot-licking blondie you have for a sister!" Circe started to get impatient. "And Asterion's sole use is to devour Crete's enemies!"
"Well, there's always Medea!" Ariadne shook off the frozen fear and shrugged. "Didn't she just murder her uncle to give her father his rightful throne of Colchis? Apparently, she's going further east."
"Medea's accomplished enough. She's doing what she's supposed to do."
"Kill people?"
"Spread Helios' legacy." Circe walked down from the throne, burning the floor underneath each step she took. "Why do you think most of us are queens?"
"Why do you think I care?" Ariadne just wanted Circe to kill her now so she wouldn't have to deal with her lecture. "It's not like I'm needed."
"It's basic knowledge, Ariadne. Mortals know legacies, they worship legacies. When legacies are worshipped, gods and Titans refuel in power. When they refuel in power, they remain strong and eternal. Our family ensures that the Mortal Realm understands who is the true Sun. Because… if we fail, and mortals stop worshipping Helios and his legacy… what do you think will happen to Helios?"
Ariadne opened her mouth.
"Helios would lose his powers. The Sun would weaken into oblivion. And tell me this, Ariadne, between an eternal frozen era in darkness and Apollo replacing Helios… Which is worse?"
"I'd probably be comfortable in eternal cold since Mother turns off my fireplace to discipline me. The ice age would actually be warmer than the purple doodoo."
For once, Circe chuckled at Ariadne's insulting term. "I might need to weave a tapestry. 'Apollo, the Purple Doodoo.'" She gagged out her last chuckle, like a cat puking out a hairball. "Ironic mockery aside, it's displeasing. You have far more potential than you are willing to acknowledge. And you seem to find rebellion and uncredited pranks to be a good fitting. When I was your age, I was talented enough that Nyx recommended me to Hecate. An apprenticeship under the Goddess of Witchcraft did wonders for me."
"Your point?" Ariadne crossed her arms.
"An excellent one!" Circe loomed right behind her niece. Ariadne didn't flinch from the solar heat her aunt emitted. "Once the next batch of Athenians are butchered, you'll be leaving Crete. Your mother's against it, but you'll like Aeaea."
Ariadne backed away from her aunt. "What?"
"Well, I told Pasiphaë myself. Clearly, Cretan lifestyle has outlived you. You're not challenged enough except when you disrespect your parents. You don't fully comprehend that your talents could transform you into a feared queen." Circe marched towards Ariadne, forcing the princess to step backwards until she fell against the throne.
"But… But I can't leave Crete! My siblings!"
"You can be sentimental about your siblings AFTER you're successful!" Circe flicked her hand. A gust of wind lifted Ariadne, dropping her cruelly onto the throne. "Then again, Phaedra will be married off and Asterion will be captive in the Labyrinth, it's not like they can really go anywhere. Why, you could torment as many slaves as you want and give them bull heads! Or you can give ordinary bulls human legs!" Circe got too excited in her descriptions. "My island is south of Rome! You could conquer the Romans first, marry some lord with a sister, and you could both gloat together when you throw your husband to the lions in the Colosseum! Or I can make you my heiress; I'd retire and Aeaea would be your kingdom."
"Or I can just leave!" Ariadne slid down from the throne. "And we can laugh with my mother about your crazy suggestion! As if I'd leave Asterion and Phaedra by themselves!"
Circe's nails sank into Ariadne's shoulder. Mortal blood and Titan ichor started to ooze out.
"You know what would be a CRAZY SUGESTION?" Circe's sarcastic tone was coated with vicious warning. "Going to Aeaea right after your birthday, with close to no chances of ever visiting your brother and sister… OR… You staying in Crete… constantly monitored so you only use magic in your bedroom… NEVER leaving the palace… NEVER going to the Labyrinth… NEVER attending your sister's wedding to some foreign monarch… and never knowing what happened to that little demigod friend of yours. Maybe he'll stay in the gorge, waiting for your impossible return even if time reduces him to dust… Or he'll think you saw him as a toy to your royal boredom, and abandon you… Or he might get injured… He must have been REALLY injured for you to go through your mother's supplies… Did Asterion ever meet him? I wonder what it would be like… your favorite sibling devouring your ONLY friend?"
Circe caught Ariadne's fist. The princess' eyes turned red, her golden orbs still glowing. Ariadne could care less that her horns ripped through her skin and that her hair was now a wildfire at dark.
"There we go!" Circe smiled, patting Ariadne's fist. "Medea was a year older than you when she first revealed her true form! You got potential!"
Ariadne's nostrils flared out actual flames.
"Get some sleep to rest that bonfire of potential. I told your mother to keep a closer eye on you. Can't make things too easy for you, right?" Circe walked towards the window. "Oh! And you might want to tell your little demigod pet to stay in his pen. I'll be coming every Sunday now to make sure you aren't slacking off!"
Ariadne watched her aunt transform into a fiery vulture flying westward, taking all the room's heat with her. Ariadne's flames extinguished from the cold, her horns retracting back into her skull.
When Phaedra came to check up on her, she found Ariadne cuddling herself on the ground, both from the cold and her sobbing.
…
Nemesis eagerly tapped her fingers when her office door knocked. "Ms. Penelope, you many come in!"
The door, despite its slow opening, made scratching noises like those of a sharpened blade. The red dryad in dark green business casual stepped in, carefully making sure she wasn't sitting on her skirt improperly as she sat across from the Goddess of Retribution.
"Lady Nemesis, I'm so sorry I have an inexcusable absence" The dryad gave her best smile.
"Oh, but NEMS INC is open 24-7!" Nemesis clapped her hands before spinning on her chair. "Retribution is profitable… for me! I'm just amazed by the busy weekend I've been having! SOOOOO many citizens asking for wrath permits for protests! And all it took was some nymph posting a video on live television!"
"Yes…" Penelope chuckled nervously. She pulled out an envelope from her purse and gave it to the goddess.
"Is that my client's papers or yours?" Nemesis grinned menacingly. Penelope gulped and searched her purse. Rolling her eyes, Nemesis snatched her purse and dumped all the contents onto her desk. Penelope caught her laptop and makeup bag but allowed her boss to search through the pile of envelopes and her wallet.
"THERE'S my client's envelope!" Nemesis triumphantly showed off a thick, black envelope before shoving it into a drawer. She then went on to go through each envelope, throwing most of them in the trash before even opening them. "Murder charges. Murder charges. BORING! Violation charges… Yes! OOOOOOH… LOT'S OF VIOLATION CHARGES! Total keepers! Contraband… Meh! Human sacrifices… TOTALLY! Riot permits… ABSOLUTELY! Seriously? Tax evasion? Tip your waitresses! Or at the very least, give your employees insurance!" Nemesis organized in a neat pile the files she saved.
"Lady Nemesis, are you sure you don't want to save the other files?" Penelope asked. "You hate losing money."
"Yeah, but I especially hate boring retribution! You saw how it turned out after the broadcast. EVERYONE is asking me for retribution against Apollo! When an Olympian gets trashed, controversial becomes commercial. I call it cancel culture. And I REALLY want to make a profit to see a high-ranked Olympian like Apollo get cancelled."
Penelope let out a small chuckle.
"Something funny?" The goddess asked.
"I was just wondering what it would be like. If Apollo's rep went THAT bad, there would only be 11 Olympians left," Penelope admitted. "You could be an Olympian, Lady Nemesis."
"Nah! Too glorified. Too obvious. Too… toe-lickers. Being an Olympian would mean submitting to the King of the Gods. However, as an A-Grade goddess with great customer service, Nyx as my mother, and Eris as my girlfriend… I got everything I could want! My business helps me get kicks!"
"And that is why you are a fabulous goddess!" Penelope nodded.
"Aw, thanks! That's why you're my #1 personal assistant!" Nemesis gave Penelope gun-fingers. A knock came at the door. "Ooh! Looks like the 8'o clock appointment! Come in!"
Penelope quickly checked her phone. "Um… Lady Nemesis, when did you make an 8' o clock appointment?"
"Nemesis, you want to explain to me why you told me to come with that form you gave me? You'd better…"
Nemesis smirked when her dryad assistant petrified from recognizing the Olympian's voice. Her smirk got wider when the Olympian recognized the dryad's arboreal ears.
"PENELOPE?" Hermes exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"
"I… work here…" Penelope hesitated to look at her ex-fling. "I…"
"Nemesis… what did you do?" Hermes glared.
"Me? She was already my personal assistant since last month!" Nemesis got up. "And you DID ask me about the form I gave you, and I told you to come over to my office to discuss it."
"What form?" Penelope gulped.
"Why, a form for potential charges!" Nemesis rested her hands forcefully on her personal assistant. "Why don't I get prepare coffee while you and Hermes catch up? After all, he might decide to charge you for abandoning his child."