"Let's go. I still have the next thing to take care of."
Just as Lorne was rubbing his hands together, secretly savoring the lingering sensations from that night, Athena spoke up and cut off someone's wandering thoughts.
The latter snapped back to his senses and surveyed the Attica Peninsula beneath his feet, mountains on three sides, the sea on one, his eyes flickering slightly as he nodded in thought.
The two finalized their route and hurried toward their destination.
Along the way, to avoid certain kinds of perception, Athena frequently changed direction, or spread the authority of the "Labyrinth" over herself and Lorne, disrupting any possible detection.
What should have been a short journey ended up taking a full day and night of detours.
At last, as the silhouette of a majestic white marble city leapt above the horizon under the morning light, Lorne pressed his throbbing temples and let out a long breath.
At the same time, Athena, whose nerves had been taut the entire way, finally relaxed as well, gazing toward the city ahead, now subtly different from her memories.
—Athens had arrived.
After paying a few coins of Hera's silver to the sentries at the gate, Athena led Lorne into the city discreetly.
With crowds bustling about and the flow of pedestrians forcing them to stop and go, the full panorama of Athens gradually unfolded before their eyes.
Palaces, council halls, theaters, inns, markets, workshops, docks, and arenas, every kind of public building was present.
In the plaza stood bronze statues of athletes, their muscles knotted and their physiques displaying perfectly sculpted lines.
Some of these statues depicted participants of past Olympic Games who, as Athenians, had achieved outstanding results.
After Erechtheus's death, his tomb was honored with the title "Poseidon Erechtheus" (meaning one capable of contending with the Sea God), and he was worshiped by later generations.
Others commemorated the founders and successive kings of Athens: the first king, Cecrops, half-man and half-serpent; the fourth king, Erichthonius, born of Hephaestus and the Earth; the fifth king, Pandion, who left behind many myths; and the newly erected statue of the sixth king, Aegeus…
The lineage ended there, clearly indicating that Athens was currently under Aegeus's rule.
According to myth, Aegeus was the son of King Pandion and the grandson of Cecrops, the city's first founder.
The fifth king, Pandion, had been driven from the throne by the sons of Metion (Eupalamus, Sicyon, and Daedalus), forcing him into exile in Megara, where he married Pylia, daughter of King Pylas.
Pylia bore him four children: Aegeus, Pallas, Nisus, and Lycus.
After Pandion's death, Aegeus and his siblings marched on Athens and reclaimed power from Metion's sons.
The four then shared authority, with Aegeus as king, while the others established their own bloodlines, together forming the family of city founders.
That's right...the so-called Pallas line was not only one of Athena's divine epithets, but also the identity she had prepared in advance for Medusa and the final group of Minos survivors.
Aegeus, huh?
Lorne frowned slightly as he looked at the bronze statue in the plaza.
If he remembered correctly, hadn't Athena's chosen Athenian successor also been "cucked" by Poseidon?
Because he had offended Aphrodite, Aegeus's first two wives were unable to bear him children.
Tormented by the lack of a male heir, the Athenian king consulted the Delphic Oracle.
Later, while returning to Athens via Troezen, he was warmly received by the local king Pittheus.
Fulfilling the oracle's words, he was plied with wine and slept with Pittheus's daughter, Aethra, resulting in the birth of a son named Theseus.
However, some myths claimed that on that same night, Athena caused Aethra to wander in her sleep to the island of Sphairia, where Poseidon suddenly appeared and slept with her.
Thus, Theseus might also have been Poseidon's son.
Even more bizarrely, the hostility between Crete and Athens began when, at a Panathenaic Games, Crete's crown prince Androgeus defeated Aegeus in every event and won first place.
Consumed by jealousy, Aegeus ordered the prince to capture the Marathonian Bull that was ravaging the lands near Athens, only for Androgeus to be killed by the beast instead.
This enraged King Minos, who launched a campaign against Athens, crushing it and forcing Aegeus into tribute: every nine years, seven boys and seven girls were sent to Crete.
Later, the grown Theseus reunited with his father, boarded the tribute ship, entered the Labyrinth, slew the Minotaur, abducted two princesses, and indirectly caused King Minos's death during a pursuit...leading to the decline of Minoan civilization.
From then on, relations between Crete and Athens were irreparably shattered…
After mentally reviewing the original historical trajectory of Athens and Crete, Lorne roughly guessed the cause of the divergence.
—Most likely, it was because he had drawn the Atlanteans to Crete from the sea, giving Poseidon an excuse to act and prematurely igniting the conflict between the two sides.
As a result, Crown Prince Androgeus had not died at Aegeus's hands, and the two princesses had not been abducted.
However, because demigods' appearances and ages were highly deceptive, it was still unclear whether Aegeus had gone out sowing seeds and left behind a son named "Theseus", or whether Theseus had already grown up.
So, to be safe, it would be best to remind Athena and the Athenian king later to keep an eye out for that "Theseus".
After all, there was a real possibility that he was Poseidon's offspring.
Thinking about yet more scheming and intrigue, Lorne pinched his aching temples and shifted his gaze around to ease his mind.
In the plaza, many passersby stopped to read the achievements inscribed there or touch the statues, hoping to receive some unseen blessing.
And when enthusiastic Athenians proudly introduced these heroes and deeds to outsiders, they instinctively straightened their backs, pride evident on their faces.
Beyond human heroes, Athens also housed numerous temples.
The most striking of them all stood on the highest platform, dedicated to Athena, the Goddess of Wisdom.
Compared to the prosperity of Crete, however, there were noticeably fewer worshippers coming and going here.
After a brief look around, Lorne did not linger in the bustling districts and instead followed Athena through the Acropolis.
The Acropolis was closely integrated with its terrain, ingeniously designed.
Viewed as a whole, the hill itself formed its natural base, while the arrangement of buildings and substructures harmonized with the rises and falls of the land, creating a unified, fortified stronghold capable of resisting attacks step by step.
Passing through the leaf-stem-shaped gate, the two followed vein-like roads straight toward the northwest—to Ares Hill.
Ares Hill?
Hearing the pointed name, Lorne instinctively glanced at the war god beside him.
"It's not me."
Athena folded her arms and snorted lightly, then explained the origin of the name.
"Ares Hill" was named after the actual war god, Ares.
But as one of the protagonists of the story, his image here was anything but flattering.
Because Ares was the first defendant ever tried on this hill, it was named after him.
And the incident itself, unsurprisingly, also involved Poseidon.
—Poseidon had a son named Halirrhothius, who attempted to rape Ares's daughter Alcippe.
To defend his daughter's honor, Ares killed Halirrhothius, and Poseidon accused him of murder.
This became the first murder trial held on Ares Hill, with Ares as defendant, Poseidon as plaintiff, and twelve major gods as judges.
The gods ruled Ares not guilty, and he was acquitted.
From then on, the hill bore his name.
After hearing this, Lorne fell silent for a while.
He wasn't sure whether to mock Ares's awkward status or Poseidon's consistently terrible parenting.
That said, this incident did slightly improve his impression of the war god—his great-uncle, so to speak.
Ares was reckless and warmonger, sure, but he treated his children well.
Legend held that the Amazons were descended from Ares and the nymph Naïad.
Queens like Penthesilea and Hippolyta were his daughters.
Ares doted on them greatly, even bestowing his golden girdle.
—Which was probably the very one Lorne was wearing right now.
Yet the Amazons worshipped Artemis instead…
And Ares didn't seem to mind much.
At the very least, he was far more reasonable than Zeus, who had hounded Crete relentlessly and driven his own son Minos to death.
"Let's go. We'll take a look."
Athena cut off Lorne's thoughts and stepped onto Ares Hill.
As they passed through a light membrane and entered the jagged foothills, Lorne finally let out a relieved breath...
After all, the journey had ended without incident.
At that moment, streaks of light shot down from the temple atop Ares Hill, landing before them and dispersing to reveal familiar faces.
Medusa, Stheno, Euryale, Hestia, and the two Cretan princesses.
In fact, after the trial of Ares, Ares Hill had become sacred ground and was now the residence of Athens's founding families.
Disguised as the Pallas line, the remaining Minos people had, under King Aegeus's arrangements, been transferred here to avoid divine scrutiny.
"Lorne!"
The moment she saw him, Medusa rushed forward and threw herself into the arms of the person she had been longing for, burying her head in his chest and rubbing against him repeatedly.
In an instant, the expressions of Athena behind him, Hestia, who had been about to open her arms to welcome him, along with Stheno and Euryale, all darkened.
However, Medusa was clever enough to use her "alt account"—that childlike appearance made it impossible for anyone to fault her.
Thus, all those burning gazes converged on the other party involved.
Feeling the heat around him about to roast him alive, Lorne hurriedly pulled little Medusa out of his arms, forced a reasonably gentle smile, and offered a simple suggestion.
"How about… we talk inside?"
"Mhm, but let's eat first!"
Hestia immediately nodded, giving her usual answer.
(End)