116 — ATHENA AND POSEIDON
Days ago.
Eternally sinking in the waters of the sea, she could still see the glow of the sky that illuminated her Earth becoming more and more distant; the rocky cape where her body had been swept away by a strong wave and the strip of that orange sky were increasingly lost. Her body was slowly drawn into the depths, stretched and pulled to the point of no return.
The dress shimmered with the moods of the deep sea, as if in a flight of fantasy across an open and increasingly dark scenery. Alone, her senses gradually wavered as a fatal attraction seemed to control her body, so that she seemed unable to escape that irresistible force.
She could no longer see the sky, her sky, in the distance. Unable to say anything, while she began to feel less divine and more human. Just a girl. A rebellious girl who sought to solve the world's problems by ranting at the sea. Her ears were already beginning to hurt from the pressure of the depths and, the deeper she went, she reflected that perhaps she hadn't thought that plan through very well. Without anyone to help her find the path to her destiny, empty and falling as if turned to stone.
She tried to look around her, but she was entirely surrounded by another force, outside her control, like a tense soul learning to fly. Made to be rooted in the earth, but determined to try to fly across the bottom of the ocean.
Below the planet, her white dress danced and she said a prayer to her gods; her divine Cosmos around her body, while a trail of light followed her into the ocean. She could no longer see much more than a foot in front of her; her consciousness slowly fading into an incomparable sensation, as if in a lethargic state of suspended animation, a state of grace.
A body that fell eternally into the depths of the sea.
Her golden bell reflected in the dense waves at the bottom of the sea, and in each reflection of the light she seemed to see a different misfortune: the faces of children crying for their parents carried away by a flood, dogs sniffing out bodies in piles of earth caused by landslides that swallowed houses and entire neighborhoods, the traffic of cars being shaken on a suspended bridge by colossal waves, entire families on top of flooded houses in peripheral neighborhoods.
The Earth that Athena was supposed to protect was being destroyed by the waters. And surrounded by the depths of the seas, Saori felt the sadness and pain of everyone suffering on the surface.
But she kept falling forever without being able to do anything.
Her eyes closed, but her ears heard a beautiful lament sung at the bottom of the ocean; a sweet and mesmerizing voice that drew her inside herself as it had done before. In between the song, she heard old words again in her ears.
"You are the Goddess Athena. The Earth Goddess. The protector of the World."
It was the wise voice of Master Mayura on one of those many days that Saori looked for her in her retreat, full of doubts about life and her duties.
The Earth Goddess.
Those words echoed in her mind until it went blank.
Saori woke up in a fantastic place.
Her eyes opened and the first thing she saw shining on the ground was the golden bell that was still in her right hand. And with it, Saori slowly got to her feet and realized she was somewhere impossible.
A place where the sky was formed by the ocean crashing many feet above her head. Around it were spread out rocky oceanic formations, reefs and multicolored corals bordering a street paved with beautifully cut and clear stones. But she had no doubt that the firmament was indeed formed by the sea; because on her Earth the sky was a fabric that, very slowly, dyed itself another color as the hours passed. There the sky was of a different nature.
The sky was alive like a surrealist painting, as the waters moved slowly, always keeping the oceanic tones in view, a myriad of light and dark blues, sea greens and other tones that only existed there; a fabric that moved as if an invisible artist used a miraculous brush moving the paint from here to there, in a hypnotic and wonderful movement. An oceanic sky that was as distant as the stars in her sky in the Greek night. Saori squinted her eyes and guessed far away in that firmament, fishes and even larger animals sometimes swimming above her head.
For a second, she wondered if she was living in a dream, but the more time she spent looking at every detail of that magical place, the more she became convinced that it wasn't a mirage or a dream. That she had actually thrown herself into the sea and woken up in that impossible place.
Impossible, as she was fully capable of breathing in the depths of the ocean, while some immeasurable force seemed to prevent that impressive sea of the firmament from swallowing that entire place. The immeasurable strength of someone she remembered well.
Lost and amazed by what she saw, Saori took a while before she noticed a figure behind her. She turned and faced exactly the curious girl who had appeared to her on the stone ridge at Cape Súnion.
"Who are you?" asked Saori when she saw her kneeling in front of her.
"I am the Mermaid Thetis, emissary of the God of the Seas, Poseidon."
Saori then seemed to remember what she was doing there after all. She stood up bravely and called Poseidon's name to the four winds of his world, demanding that he listen to her. And there she was, finally.
"This is the Poseidon Sanctuary." concluded Saori, looking around.
"Atlantis. The Land of Poseidon. The Kingdom at the Bottom of the Sea," the girl behind her replied.
Saori walked a few steps beyond those rock formations and it wasn't long before her sight was lost in a wonderful citadel. Low buildings, but all untouched and new, as if they had been built and finished the day before her arrival.
With Mermaid Thetis silently at her back, Saori walked into that citadel and, perhaps she didn't have the exact magnitude of what that meant, but that was one of the rare moments in which the Goddess Athena walked through Atlantis. And she walked in peace, for there was not a single soul to welcome her, good or bad. The citadel was absolutely empty, although it was not in ruins or apparently abandoned. Just empty.
She walked along the main street to a horse fountain in the center of a square, where she was finally called by the voice of the girl who was escorting her.
"Goddess Athena, the Lord of the Seas awaits you."
Saori looked at the girl who, once again, seemed to look away from her, and accepted that she would be guided along whatever path was needed to try to stop Poseidon from destroying the Earth that she was supposed to defend. She followed her closely and, for the first time, she noticed how, far away on the horizon and in all directions, enormous pillars rose against that oceanic firmament. Seven of them.
When they took the largest avenue in that city, in the distance Saori could see the imposing construction of a great Temple, behind which stood a colossal Pillar that was lost to sight in the oceanic firmament that appeared above her head. She immediately guessed it was the Temple of Poseidon.
She climbed the wide stairs of the temple guarded by two imposing stone statues, one on each side of the entrance: two large harpies with human faces and feathers of birds of prey, said to be daughters of the God Poseidon. Saori entered the cold temple and her footsteps, like Thetis's, echoed through that enormous building which, like the citadel, also seemed absolutely empty.
As they approached a central hall, where other, wider steps went up to the inner chamber of the temple, Thetis let Saori pass by her and knelt at her back. Ahead on the wide steps two people seemed to be confiding, one sitting on a throne while the other leaned over to speak into his ear. They immediately stopped once they noticed the presence of Saori and Thetis.
She could not make out their faces, for there was a thin white curtain between them. The man sitting on the throne stood up, asking his advisor for silence. A gust of wind briefly moved the curtain aside, revealing the face of whoever sat on the throne for just a second.
"What is the meaning of this?" asked the voice behind the curtain.
There was a tense silence.
"Explain yourself, Mermaid Thetis." asked Sea Dragon, who was next to his lord, taking a few steps forward. "What is this girl doing here? Have you lost your mind?"
"Lord Poseidon." she began, kneeling. "Master Sea Dragon, this is the Goddess Athena."
Next to the divine figure, Sea Dragon noticed the lines of consternation on his young face, when Thetis resumed her story.
"She was the one who called out to the Lord in his Temple at Cape Súnion."
The counselor, who had previously spoken in his master's ear, passed through the curtain; he was a warrior in marvelous iridescent armor, a cape on his back and a helmet that covered and hid his face. The imposing figure reminded Saori of her Gold Saints, although the color and material of that Armor were completely different. His voice, however, made her shiver.
"You must be wrong, this girl can't be…"
"Sea Dragon!" shouted the figure sitting on the throne behind the curtains.
He immediately turned and knelt before that figure who, now visible from his figure in the curtain, was standing. His voice was a clear request.
"Leave ourselves alone."
Again, there was deep silence among everyone.
Not even that imposing advisor could disobey that order. He bowed and, without saying another word, left the place accompanied by the Mermaid Thetis, without having the courage to look Saori in the eyes, although he was much taller than her. A clear sign of respect.
The place was deserted and the footsteps of Thetis and Sea Dragon moving away could still be heard, such abandonment of that beautiful temple; It was also a very well-lit temple at that point, with light marble and some stairs that went up to an atrium further on. As the steps of the temple disappeared, Saori finally noticed that the man on the throne had come down the steps and passed through the curtain, so that she could recognize the familiar face that left her extremely confused, although the boy welcomed her with a tender smile on his face.
"It's been a while, dear Saori."
Upon leaving the Temple of Poseidon, Thetis descended the steps to the outer courtyard with Sea Dragon at her back. In silence, although there was a terribly hostile atmosphere between them; If not because of their own rivalries, at least because of the novelty of that enormous visit to the Bottom of the Sea.
"Mermaid Thetis."
The girl stopped and took a deep breath when she was called by Sea Dragon's deep voice.
"What are you hiding from me?" he asked.
She turned to face him and found him without his helmet, his eyes twisted and the expression always hard and worried on the handsome man's face. She looked away for a moment, which was enough for Sea Dragon to shout at her.
"Come on, answer me! Who is that girl who now speaks to the God Poseidon?"
"That girl is the Goddess Athena." replied Thetis, with some fear that Sea Dragon would speak without due respect to that magnanimous presence. "She called the name of Poseidon on the edge of his Temple at Cape Sounion and I fulfilled my duty as emissary to bring her before our Lord."
Thetis then looked over that man's shoulder and into the Temple where gods were talking.
"I would never be able to deny her request." she continued. "I have never felt so much terror in my entire life in front of someone."
Sea Dragon considered that answer for a long time, but was not satisfied.
"You didn't answer my question, Mermaid." he began, stoically. "The Goddess Athena is in the Temple of Poseidon. What I want to know is: who is the girl?"
Thetis swallowed hard, as if someone had been caught in a lie and tried to hide part of her shame, again avoiding the counselor's gaze. Until she finally found the courage to respond.
"That's Saori Kido." replied a name that did not bring any reaction to the Sea Dragon, as if he did not understand how that name could be of any importance when two enormous Gods were willing to speak. "A girl from Julian's past."
Sea Dragon let out a slight displeasure, but remained where he was, still calculating this new information; He turned his back on Thetis and looked at the back of the Temple from which they had left, where those enormous Gods were talking about divine punishment on men. And there, outside, the mermaid girl spoke to him about childish feelings.
"Does that bother you, Mermaid?" asked Sea Dragon, feeling that his own position was lowered when he considered conflicts so common and far from his authority.
Thetis did not respond.
"This is ridiculous." he finally concluded. "Inside that temple there is not a girl and a boy. But Athena and Poseidon. Remember this, Mermaid Thetis…"
"I know it very well." she replied, bravely.
"Then keep your feelings to yourself."
"Perhaps it would be best if you remind Lord Poseidon of that as well."
"How dare you?!" Sea Dragon approached Thetis.
She swallowed hard, because Sea Dragon was the oldest of Poseidon's servants and his grandeur, in truth, owed nothing to the God of the Seas himself; She herself had witnessed on several occasions the terror that that general caused in the few romani envoys who descended to that depth for any assigned task. Still, Thetis was as brave as he was terrible.
"Where do you think you're going?" when he saw her turn away.
"Take care of my duties."
"Well, you're not going anywhere." ordered the man, with his voice like thunder. "You have brought the Goddess Athena to our domains."
"To the domains of Poseidon." she corrected, looking at him.
"Don't you understand what that means?"
She didn't understand, and her face clearly showed confusion when the huge man answered her.
"War."
Thetis looked ahead at the Temple, when Sea Dragon finally ordered:
"Come with me."
And he took the path along a winding side street through which Thetis, unwillingly, followed him a little further, without deviating from his duty, as that man was his immediate superior in that Realm.
They walked for a short time until they arrived at a small, beautiful building, with smaller pillars, but no less imposing than other places in that Realm. A single man guarded its entrance, wearing armor whose color was identical to that of the Sea Dragon. An orange, coppery and iridescent tone; He had a helmet on his head, which was nothing more than a diadem, but his most striking feature was a terrible scar on his left eye, which was covered by a glass eye.
"General Kraken." greeted Sea Dragon. "Take us to the Hall of Creatures."
Thetis already knew him, although he was a boy of few words. He gave the two passages into the Hall and the three finally entered the place, which was a wide and beautiful chamber where eight pedestals stood. Seven of which had a beautiful marble statue in the figure of a fantastic animal. They were the Sea Dragon, the Sea Horse, Kraken, Scyla, Chrysaor, Lymnadis and Siren.
"Mermaid Thetis. The time has come to summon the Seven Marine Generals of Poseidon to the Realm of the Bottom of the Sea." began the General, while collecting the Relics that had not yet been used next to the mystical statues. "As I, Sea Dragon, and Kraken are already in the Realm, we need to summon Scyla, Chrysaor, Siren, Sea Horse and Lymnadis."
He handed the five pendants to Thetis and ordered.
"Go and make them come as quickly as possible."
"But Sea Dragon, this is not the Time of Poseidon, maybe they are not ready."
"They have to be ready." replied the Sea Dragon. "There is no time for doubts. The Goddess Athena stands before Poseidon. And the Marine Generals must be next to the God of the Seas."
"And that's not all…" Kraken interrupted, for the first time. "There is a legend among men that says that wherever the Goddess Athena walks, the Gold Saint will be at her side."
"A Gold Saint?" asked Thetis, while Sea Dragon also looked inquisitively at Kraken.
"Athena's strongest protectors." replied the Sea Dragon, who also knew the legend.
"But she came in peace, nothing seems to indicate that there will be a war."
"Do not underestimate the moods of the Gods. You're just a mermaid." said Sea Dragon.
Thetis looked from one to the other; two imposing Generals with their oceanic Armor, the haughty posture and the look of someone truly preparing for war. All she could do was obey orders and leave as soon as possible; and that's exactly what she did, disappearing from there running, albeit reluctantly, to be able to find those destined to protect Poseidon in the four corners of the world.
Left alone, Sea Dragon replaced his helmet, took a deep breath and would have left that Hall, if it weren't for Kraken's insistence.
"Wait, Sea Dragon."
The General stopped and looked back at him a little surprised. Kraken always had a very serious expression and, in a way, the scar on his left eye gave him an eternal look of distrust.
"Tell me what ails you, Kraken. But speak at once, as this is not the time to waver."
Kraken calculated his words.
"Very well," he began. "Tell me then, Sea Dragon. Who are you, anyway?"
The General walked around Kraken and let a slight smile appear on his face.
"Well, Kraken, that is not a wise question." he began, with a hint of mockery in his deep voice. "Athena is in our domains, the Marine Generals have been summoned and we are preparing for war. I thought you had more important things to worry about."
He walked a step towards Kraken, without the General backing down, however.
"I am the General of the North Atlantic Ocean, Advisor to Poseidon and leader of the army of the Undersea Realm. This is who I am. The Sea Dragon."
Kraken did not feel bothered by the man's deep voice, as he was also a General Marina after all.
"Surely this is the Scale that protects your body. The Sea Dragon."
"What do you mean by that, Kraken?" he asked, threateningly.
"It's just that... I can't shake the impression, Sea Dragon, that the Gold Saint told in Athena's legend is closer than Poseidon imagines."
Sea Dragon remained silent, as if awaiting any accusation.
"You reek like a saint, Sea Dragon." said Kraken through his teeth. "You stink of an Athena Holy Saint."
On the other side, there was no reaction; Kraken continued speaking.
"You know better than anyone that I was raised and trained by a Gold Saint of the Sanctuary. And for this same reason, the Cosmo that I feel within you is terribly similar to that of my master. So I'll ask you one more time, Sea Dragon. Who are you?"
Left alone, Poseidon and Athena faced each other.
The figure who descended the steps of that Temple to welcome her wore a beautiful white tunic, adorned with some details in gold and light blue fabrics. His pretty outfit and smile even highlighted his tanned skin and full hair.
It was Julian Solo.
At first, Saori felt very confused seeing that familiar face in such a magical and impossible place. For Julian was exactly part of her worldly life, her civilian guise, one of the many oligarchs she strove to keep in touch with for the good of her Foundation. A Foundation. Her former job as an heiress and wealth manager. A life that now seemed to have happened in another life.
For now the entire Planet was collapsing. She, Goddess Athena, Protector of the Earth, had descended to the magical Realm of the Bottom of the Sea, where the ocean served as the sky, to ask Poseidon, the God of the Seas, to spare men.
And, in his place, she found a young oligarch, owner of maritime empires and the personality of someone who lived his whole life with the king in his belly.
"What are you doing here, Julian?"
It was Saori who asked the question, and not the Goddess Athena, as if Saori was, for a moment, irritated that the boy had dared to stand before her divine duties. On the other side, the question was answered by a smile she remembered well and despised.
"Julian." he repeated." Julian Solo."
And he looked at Saori, walking around her.
"Yes. And you are Saori Kido," he concluded.
She looked at him a little confused, as she recalculated what that smile could mean, although it didn't make her falter.
"I am the Goddess Athena." she replied.
"And I am Poseidon, the God of the Seas." he said.
His posture was truly haughty and the ocean above their heads seemed to tremble at his speech.
"You shouldn't be surprised, Athena." he continued. "You are born into this beautiful World as a girl, Eris takes the body of a cursed child, Hades chooses the purest soul on Earth."
Julian looked at Saori deeply before finishing.
"And Poseidon chooses the one who most deeply experiences the solitude of the ocean."
Saori looked at Julian, still unable to believe that terrible coincidence, but after all, few coincidences really existed in that World of which she was part. She suspected that that meeting between the two was nothing more than a sick play of the Gods or of those who braided the threads of their destinies.
"It doesn't matter." Saori said, harshly. "Perhaps the fact that Julian is your host will make our conversation a little easier, Poseidon."
She stepped in front of him, tightened her grip on the staff and spoke with all the seriousness and haughtiness in the world.
"I want the rains that are destroying the entire world to stop."
Julian was bigger than Saori, so Poseidon looked down on Athena; The boy's smile was followed by a movement of his hands, for her to follow him.
"Walk with me, Athena."
"I'm not going anywhere, Poseidon." she protested. "Stop the rain."
Poseidon had his back turned, but then stopped his walk and turned around again, very disappointed in Saori.
"Again." he said. "I'm here making a request and you refuse."
Saori found the comment strange.
"Julian believed there was something deep uniting the two of you. Something he mistook for love, without even imagining that it was the noblest divinity."
"Is it Julian or Poseidon talking to me?"
"Does it make any difference?" he asked, with some gallantry.
Poseidon smiled. Or maybe Julian, Saori really had her doubts.
"Enough talking, Poseidon. You have risen out of your time and are wreaking havoc beyond your domains."
"Out of my time?" he asked, with troubled eyes. "Well, it seems to me that perhaps I woke up far too late."
A white aura appeared around Julian that erased the colors of that temple, throwing them both into a dark chamber in which Saori's senses seemed more acute; In the distance she could hear whales singing and the deep rumble of the ocean. In place of that deep pitch, the bottom of an ocean gradually materialized, illuminated by Poseidon's cosmos; they were now surrounded by the sea, although they did not touch it and Poseidon's voice was clear and crystal clear.
"Species are becoming xtinct in all corners of life in the sea, unrestrained fishing unbalancing the fauna of the ocean and rivers, the greedy exploring of deep valleys and ancient trenches taking away the balance of the reefs and destroying the home of many creatures. Of many children. Indiscriminate and murderous pollution has prevented life to thrive in corners of the ocean for hundreds of years."
As he spoke, Athena saw in that oceanic projection the animals that were dying, the ocean landslides, the oil slicks that devoured fish and small animals, as if Poseidon showed her all the sins of her mankind on her face.
"Never before in history has my domain been so attacked. No, Athena. I do not awaken before my time. I woke up too late. Maybe there won't be another time if things go on like this. There will be no ocean to return to if this goes on as it is."
Saori was open-mouthed and silent, as Poseidon seemed to feel the pain for his Realm as she felt for hers, which was now devastated by the waters.
"I can understand your pain, but I cannot accept this punishment, Poseidon."
"It's too late for that, Athena."
Poseidon spoke and they returned again to the Temple they were in, while his voice enumerated his terrible plan.
"It will rain on the surface for forty days and forty nights in a great deluge that will cleanse the face of the Earth of all the rotten race that disrespected the Seven Seas and caused a huge imbalance in the sacred life they gained from the Gods."
"No!" asked only Saori, who couldn't bear the tragedies of two or three days in a row and could not imagine the extent of the destruction if it continued for more than a month.
"After a hundred days the water will recede across the entire planet and those who are left will have a second chance to do things differently. But I can no longer accept that life on the surface is sustained by the genocide of the seas."
Saori was shaking.
"It is not fair that so many die for the sins of a few."
"The rain will make no distinction and enough will die so that this will never happen again."
"The most miserable ones will die!" accused Saori. "Those really responsible for all this will not suffer at all."
"The balance of your people is not my concern. I only care about the survival of the Seven Seas."
He was irreducible and not without reason, thought Saori, as she found herself in a situation that was impossible to resolve. When she closed her eyes, she immediately saw people's suffering. She was the protector of the Earth. And it needed to be. That's what they expected of her. She had to be Goddess Athena. And the Goddess Athena would not leave it that way. She wouldn't have thrown herself into the ocean to accept that punishment. Poseidon could not tamper with her domains.
More than that, she knew and felt in the depths of her being that the suffering would be much greater among riverside, poor people, those who lived in inhospitable regions, without structure. She knew this, because Saori was exactly the opposite of that and, precisely because of that, she knew how very few people had as much as she had had throughout her life. She couldn't let that happen.
Julian spoke again.
"Listen to me, Goddess Athena. I can feel inside this young body the enormous feeling that there is about you. And I would like to reiterate the request I made to you previously. If you accept to rule this World at my side, I will let you care for those who survive after the flood, so that you can guide them to virtue and prosperity."
Saori was somewhat incredulous and responded without hesitating for a moment.
"I think I was very clear in my response, Julian. And I'll tell you more..."
The Goddess Athena stepped firmly into that temple, tightly gripping the golden staff, manifesting her wonderful solar Cosmos.
"I won't let this continue, Poseidon. You are not fully awakened and your Temple is empty. You don't want a battle against the Sanctuary now."
Julian, on the other side, tilted his head, weighing those words very carefully.
"Is that a threat?"
"End the rain on mankind." said Saori, bravely.
There was a moment of stalemate between them, until Poseidon opened his arms with some calm.
"There is no turning back. What's done is done. Not even I can stop what is happening. You, Goddess Athena, are the one who arrived too late."
"I don't accept it, Poseidon." she said, in deep denial. "There has to be some way."
Julian fell silent, his face became serious and his breathing slowed.
"There is a way, isn't there? Come on, say it, Poseidon."
But he remained silent and she had to press him for the first time.
"Say it at once!"
The boy in front of her seemed hesitant for the first time since she had arrived, which was disconcerting, as Poseidon until then was the master of the situation and true master of his Temple. The ocean itself responded to his voice, but at that moment it really seemed like Julian was there and no longer the God of the Seas. He swallowed hard.
"Yes, there is a way." he began. "But it could cost you your life, Saori."
There was even sadness in Julian's eyes, because the truth was that a deep passion for her slept in the boy's heart, despite the feeling being completely incompatible with the Gods they were or represented. Saori saw Julian's confusion in front of her and, even though she despised his courtship and his loving requests, she was not oblivious to that feeling.
Her life, however, was that of Goddess Athena.
The Goddess Athena was supposed to protect the Earth, prevent them from suffering the destruction caused by the fury of the waters as they did on the surface. So many deaths on her back, so much suffering in her hands.
Her life was also that of Saori Kido.
A life surrounded by suffering. The suffering of many children who never returned, of a boy who cried in her lap, missing the girl who lost her memory because of him; or of the youngest who died in battle in her name. Of the five boys and girls who climbed the mountain to give her a second chance to live, they spent days and nights in a coma, while she pleaded for their health alongside them. How many more had passed through her life and suffered?
"Don't do that, Saori." asked Julian.
"Tell me how I can stop this from happening, Poseidon." she replied.
He closed his eyes resignedly and, when he reopened them, Saori noticed how Julian seemed to have been shut up inside that boy's chest to make room for the God Poseidon. He opened his arms and indicated the stairs into the Temple.
"Walk with me, Athena."
And this time Athena walked with Poseidon through the curtains of that chamber and climbed the stairs to the inside of his Temple. A section of that temple that was darker, walking down a corridor lined with Greek columns to where a single throne was carved into the stone; and far before the stone throne hung the Trident of the Seas, which had once been sealed at Cape Sounion.
Athena stood before the throne while Poseidon walked up to it and took the Trident for himself, making the sea waves crash against the sky. At the command of his Cosmo activated by that trident, the enormous mural carved on the wall behind the throne rose like magic, letting in light from outside, where a paved street stretched to a colossal pillar of the same color and material as the buildings in that place seemed to be made.
Again Poseidon invited Athena to accompany him and, as they crossed the distance between the throne and the pillar, the God of the Seas spoke to her.
"The Oceans of the Earth are supported by Seven Pillars of my kingdom." he began, enigmatically, as he invited Athena to look at the seven pinnacles on the horizon from a distance. "Seven Pillars for the Seven Seas of the Earth. They are the ones who provide support for the sky of Atlantis, without which the seas would invade and destroy this Realm. However, the cornerstone of this Realm around which everything else is built is this pillar, the Primal Support."
And saying this he presented the colossal pillar that stood before them: a pillar whose end Saori could not even see, as it seemed to tear the waters of the ocean and disappear from sight. Perhaps as wide as the very Temple they had just left. It was a really fabulous building.
"It is not possible to contain the fury of the waters that will fall on the Earth, as the punishment is already underway, the water has already made its choice." he spoke again, while Saori was dazzled by that pillar. "However, it is said that the Primal Support can contain all the water that exists on this planet. Not even all the rain that will fall to the surface over the next forty days and forty nights could fill it to the top."
"Where are you going with this, Poseidon?"
He turned to Athena with a very serious face.
"The rain that would fall in the coming months and that would destroy much of human life. I have no power to stop it from pouring out their punishment, but I can stop them from falling on the men on the surface to fill this central pillar."
"Well then, do it." Athena ordered behind him.
And only then did Poseidon turn to her, even a little threateningly.
"That would certainly solve your problems, wouldn't it? However, it would do nothing to help the people of the Sea, who depend on me."
Saori looked at him hard in her eyes while holding her golden staff. Poseidon showed the entrance to the Support with his trident and his voice shouted clearly.
"You are the Goddess Athena. If you want so much to sacrifice yourself for your humanity, go inside the Primal Support and sustain the rain that would fall on the Earth in your body. This is not an ordinary rain and the water that will drown you inside the pillar will feed on your Divine Cosmos, on your providing essence, and will then be able to reverse the poison that is now spreading throughout the Oceans thanks to the greed of your people."
"A sacrifice for your Realm. That's your plan, isn't it?"
"This is what your men did in ancient times when they locked young dwellers in the foundation of new structures in a sacrifice to the Gods, so that they would have longevity and prosperity. I see no better sacrifice for the Realm of Poseidon than the body of the Goddess Athena."
Saori understood perfectly.
And she found herself without choices, but she also didn't hesitate for a second, as she was already determined to give her life and sacrifice it; Without responding to Poseidon, she simply walked towards the pillar, which also had a wide staircase leading to an imposing entrance. There, in front of the door, she turned and waited for the God of the Seas to approach.
Step by step, he walked with his Trident in his hands to the entrance of the Primal Support and opened it with the magic of his Trident. She extended her Golden Staff to the boy and ordered:
"Take it back to Greece."
Poseidon had in his hands the Trident of the Seas and the Golden Staff of Victory; invincibility in his hands, but the confidence that Saori had in him also made him hesitate, for a moment. It was something so primordial and absurd for a God to take what belonged to another, that both she and he knew perfectly well that that Staff would return to the Sanctuary.
Saori turned her back to him and entered a wide chamber, where in its center there was a staircase spiraling around a pinnacle; The lighting there was not done by torches, but by lamps installed around the chamber that had luminescent gems from the abyssal trenches of the seas. The entire building seemed to shake its foundation when Saori noticed four huge fish heads carved in stone, one on each wall of the chamber, spit out jets of water that would fill that chamber with all the rain that should fall on Earth.
Saori let the water wet her dress when she decided to slowly climb the stairs; As she walked around the chamber, she noticed with fascination the details of that beautiful construction. It didn't take that long to reach the top of the pinnacle, far from the bottom of the chamber, but much further from the roof of that pillar that was lost to sight in the darkness. There, Saori knelt and prayed with her shining Sun Cosmos around her.
Julian went down the steps with a heavy heart, when the entire Ocean felt Athena's Cosmos spread through those miraculous waters. In the Hall of Creatures, Kraken and the Sea Dragon interrupted their fight and headed out of the hall, trying to understand what that powerful, frightening and, at the same time, familiar sensation they felt was. Thetis on the high seas never felt so much peace in her adventures swimming across the ocean and she looked once again at the golden glow that was Atlantis at the bottom of the sea, thinking about the boy she always left behind.
On Earth, the rains stopped falling.
ABOUT THE CHAPTER: The meeting between Athena and Poseidon. Saori Kido and Julian Solo. I took as inspiration the conversation between the two in the Manga and the sacrifice that Athena decides to make for humanity, but at the same time I wanted to give a little more basis for Poseidon's motivations, as well as also leave some tension between the two of them, a little bit of the feeling that they have for each other as mortals. I also sought inspiration in Saint Seiya Destiny for the conversation between Kanon and Isaak, I find this dialogue very interesting and I wanted to use it here too to introduce a certain suspicion against Kanon among the Marine Generals.
NEXT CHAPTER: THE FLIGHT OF THE OWL
Alice, Athena's Saintia, decides to go after the Goddess and her friend.