While I was sitting in a chair at the table in Aphrodite's temple, being given something for my headache, Kiss-shot was behind me, massaging my head.
"Let's try not to go near Dionysus again," I told Kiss.
"Sorry, I didn't know that would happen," he apologized.
"You know Apollo is a god of healing," I retorted.
"I spoke to him, but he said that seeing you like this was more entertaining and more charming," he said, sending a shiver down my spine.
Remember, the gods aren't interested in sensuality; in fact, it appeals to both sides, especially the male gods.
"Since I couldn't sober you up and be by your side until—" he began, his voice trailing off.
"Until my proposal came along and you both accepted." Aphrodite said, completely naked, with a toga draped over her shoulders, making her look even more sensual than she already was.
That toga covered nothing of her, absolutely nothing.
"If she was in that state, it's not like she didn't consent, since she wasn't conscious," I said, unable to stop looking her up and down.
She noticed my gaze but said nothing, just smiled smugly.
"You talk as if you didn't enjoy it; in bed you act like a little slut. Literally, you exhausted my personal maids, including me. Now no man will be able to satisfy me because of you; you'll have to take responsibility," she said in a mock-crying tone.
Kiss-Shot hugged me as if I were about to disappear.
"What did we say about possessiveness, Dite?" she pouted, looking at her new friend.
Being cornered, Aphrodite raised her arms in a gesture of peace.
"I admit it, it's my fault; don't be mad at me, Kiss," she said in a friendly tone, with a smile I couldn't tell if it was real or fake.
"But getting back to the point, Dante, Kiss-shot told me about her sad situation, about not being able to have children," she said, wiping away a nonexistent tear. "So, as a great friend of Kiss's, I'm offering myself as a surrogate for her children." She spoke, opening her arms wide.
I stared, already suspecting why she was doing all this, only to glance at Kiss-shot, who was pondering what Aphrodite had said.
Just as she was about to say something, the door to the place burst open.
"Dante, my child, I've come to save you and bring you to my temple," Hestia said, being held back by several servants, who couldn't stop her from entering.
"Oh, what do we have here?" he said, taking in the whole scene.
...
"No, and you don't know how Hera reacts when the truth comes out; it's every man for himself to avoid her wrath," Hestia said.
"Yes, I remember when she found out about Zeus; he had cheated on her with that nymph who was close to him; she wiped her out in seconds," Aphrodite added.
"But didn't Zeus rape her? Why doesn't she punish Zeus?" Kiss retorted.
"Ah, that's not how things work," Aphrodite said, shaking her head.
"Relationships between gods are more complicated than you think; fidelity doesn't exist, no matter how much it hurts, which is why I decided to be a virgin goddess, to distance myself from all that poorly executed drama," Hestia said.
"But why, if love is the most important thing in this life?" Aphrodite asked.
"We already love everyone, since they're all my family; what I'm not very interested in are sensual relationships, and that's a different decision than those two," Hestia replied.
"Those two?" Kiss asked.
"She means Athena and Artemis," Aphrodite said.
"Exactly, one doesn't trust men much, while the other isn't interested in love, hence swearing by the River Styx for her virginity; I'm different, I don't like that kind of trouble," Hestia said, stretching in her chair.
I was in a corner listening to the three women's conversation, a little afraid of interfering, since at any moment they might start talking about me, and I don't know if I'd like to hear what they had to say.
...
After three hours of women's conversation—or, as I would say, torture—we managed to escape Aphrodite's clutches, but we had a feeling she would try to get her hands on me again.
"I see, it's like a primordial curse. It makes sense that Aphrodite and Hera fell for her charm, since those two represent the category of madwoman," Hestia said as we walked to her temple.
"Hera," Kiss-Shot said, somewhat worried, since she hadn't heard anything good about that goddess so far.
"Don't worry, my child, Hera won't do anything that will lead to her being discovered. If she does something, it will be slow and decisive, so there's time to be prepared for her moves," Hestia tried to reassure her, but it wasn't very effective.
"Darling, you know I wouldn't touch a woman without your permission." Now it was my turn.
"I know, but we're no longer facing spiritual beings or humans with strange abilities, but real gods," she told me.
"For now, I recommend you play along with the games of some gods as long as they're nothing serious, like that proposal I heard from Aphrodite. Before you interrupt, Aphrodite just wants to have sex with you, Dante, nothing more; if you give her what she wants, she'll leave you alone. Besides, if she gets pregnant, since she can, I don't think she'll be very responsible for that child; I'll end up raising it, or you, Kiss-shot, or even Persephone or Demeter," Hestia said.
"So you're saying we should accept?" Kiss-shot asked.
"Yes and no. It's best to accept but set limits and rules so she doesn't abuse both of us. Reach a mutual agreement, because if what Dante says is true, she can do everything in her power to make Dante her sex slave, and let me tell you, this family is quite vengeful," Hestia added.
"Does that include you?" I asked.
"You want to find out," she said mockingly.
"No," I replied curtly.
At that moment, I entered Hestia's temple.
"Home sweet home, my house is your house. You can stay here while that place where you'll stay is being built," Hestia said.
"When you say 'that place,' what do you mean?" Kiss-Shot asked.
"You weren't here, were you? In the conversation with Zeus, it was decided that I would be like a guardian of the entrance to Olympus," I told him.
"Guardian and servant of the Olympian gods—you can imagine what each god might ask of you."
"Tell me what she could deny me," I begged Hestia.
"Of course, if there's any conflict between you and any of the gods, I have to intervene, since you're my champion. Basically, I'm going to protect you from these barbarians, but not from everything," she said as she sat down in a chair. "There's only one thing I can say no to each god, just one, so it's best to think carefully about what I'm going to refuse. That's why I'm telling you not to refuse Aphrodite, because she might come up with something, but I won't be able to intervene in the usual way; that would create conflict and maybe even a war among the Olympian gods, and I'm not going to allow my family to fight amongst themselves; that's my job as the eldest sister."
"You didn't seem very quiet at the party yesterday," I commented.
"I was bored, and if it weren't for that, you wouldn't be my champion, and you wouldn't have an island to live on here either." She spoke smugly.
"Wait, wasn't that Athena's idea?" I asked.
"Do you think she came up with it out of nowhere? I had mentioned it to her before, since there were many gods who didn't have a comfortable place to live, and I, as the goddess of the hearth, have to do something." She announced her grand plan. "Thank you, you're saving me."
I use quotation marks because these gods are known for being liars and treacherous. It's best to stay on good terms with as many of them as possible.
"Anyway, continuing with the Aphrodite thing, I think the best thing would be for me to have your children, since that way our family would expand and I could certainly have grandchildren without having to stop being a virgin," the goddess of the hearth spoke.
That was why she agreed with Aphrodite's idea.
"Does it have to be her?" Kiss-Shot asked, "I don't know if it's out of curiosity, concern, or something else, since she wasn't entirely against the idea of the goddess of love.
"And who else could I have? Athena, Artemis, and Hestia are out; Hera is Zeus's wife, and you could try it only to die from a lightning strike shortly after; and finally, there's Demeter, your mother's mother. That sort of thing already exists, but I recommend avoiding it, since the genealogy gets much more complicated than it already is," Hestia commented.
There were also the other goddesses, but I imagine Hestia didn't mention them for a reason; I imagine it's to keep the family closer together and not so scattered.
"What do you say, Kiss-Shot?" I asked her.
"Honestly, I don't care; he's already trying to get a woman pregnant. What difference does one more make?" she told me.
I forget that those 500 years as a vampire have distorted her perception of some things quite a bit.
"Right, that pregnant woman from Crisa Island, right?" Hestia asked.
"Pregnant?" Kiss-Shot and I asked.
...
"Yes, she's already pregnant, four days along. How did you find this out so quickly?" she asked, standing in front of a tearful Aria.
"Hestia said so," I replied.
"Oh, yes, she has that ability," Artemis told me.
"Is it a family goddess ability?" Kiss-Shot asked.
"If they're skills related to her divinity, like knowing what animals humans hunt or when a woman is going to give birth, those are things that sometimes come in handy, sometimes." The moon goddess began to ramble.
Kiss-shot and I left her alone with her musings and went to where Aria was.
...
"What is this?" Daria asked.
"Mathematics, and it's useful for many things," Kiss-shot said, gesturing to a chalkboard and chalk.
"It looks quite complicated," she said, looking at some fractions, "but I still insist, what is all this for?"
"You know our situation, right?" I asked Daria.
"Yes, I have to go live in the wilderness by order of the gods."
"Exactly, and if I go, I need someone to replace me," I replied. "And that someone will be you, Daria. I don't have anyone else; your father can't even count on his fingers, and he's too old to teach you; you're a blank canvas, perfect for becoming a competent leader."
"And why not a perfect or unsurpassed one?" she asked again.
"For that, you would need experience, something I can't provide," I replied again.
"Yes, but that doesn't change why I have to study math," she complained.
I just sighed.
"Mathematics models real life, converting objects into numerical expressions so they can be manipulated with pencil and paper into money; whether it's coins or objects, it can be represented by a number, which can be useful when studying the market or balancing the accounts of a business, village, or your own home, using basic arithmetic."
Yes, a quick breath before continuing.
"To create and build different structures, you need geometry, which is the branch of geometric figures, which are objects represented in two dimensions, while geometric solids are in three dimensions; hence, plans or construction models."
I took another breath.
"We also have other areas, like alchemy, which extends to biology, physics, and chemistry, where mathematics can be used for various purposes, such as understanding DNA, the composition of chemical compounds, and their balances. Physics itself uses everything mathematics has to offer, but with real-world situations beyond what we can see."
And I finished my story, only to see Daria practically steaming from her ears, her eyes glazed over.
"Arithmetic, geometry, physics—what are those things? Are they edible?" she asked.
I just sighed, having tried to keep it as simple and concise as possible. This is going to be a long story.
...
"So, how does this work?" Ares asked, holding a wooden sword.
"Each touch counts as a point; you lose when your opponent has 3 points. Also, if you have points and your opponent manages to hit you, they lose a point," I explained to the god.
"I see. I think I have an idea of how this works, but why is she here?" he said, pointing to Athena, who was a little farther away from us.
"She's the judge," I replied.
"Yes, but why her?" he asked again.
"What, is there a problem with me being here?" Athena asked Ares, her tone icy.
"She was here to ask me something, and since we were doing this, she said she could act as judge," I explained.
"Tch, she won't be impartial. She's throwing me off balance, period, every chance she gets. "I'm glad about all this.
"What, can't you win a battle even with a disadvantage? Pathetic. Relax, I won't do that, since it would be too easy for Dante to beat you if I did, hehe." She mocked Ares.
Ares was hot-blooded, so he fell right for Athena's taunts.
"Get ready, Dante, I'm going all out," she said, her eyes red.
I looked at Athena with a tired expression, while she returned a kind smile.
"Begin," she said, and Ares charged like a raging bull, allowing me to move to the side and quickly score my first point.
"Point for Dante," she commented happily, which drove Ares even crazier.
Ares lunged again, faster and more violent, forcing me to block with Haki. This led to a tense back-and-forth of blows and blocks.
The seconds ticked by until I saw an opening. Placing my foot next to his, I forced him to spread his legs wider, which confused him and caused him to lose his balance, allowing me to score another point.
"Another point for Dante, two to zero, zero for Ares," I said, trying to further inflame Ares's already short temper.
"Ares, pay attention and concentrate. Calm down a bit, or you'll end up losing," I told my opponent, who paused briefly to take a deep breath.
After about 20 seconds of rest, I saw that Ares had calmed down.
"You have—" he couldn't finish, as I had already touched his chest with my sword.
"Three points for Dante; with this, Dante wins, and Ares is left as a big loser," Athena said, almost shouting and celebrating.
At this, Ares stood motionless, staring at my sword as if it were about to explode, only to calm himself, lower his head, and retreat to the mountain, since Zeus had already placed the entrance to Olympus there.
"Well, your wish has been granted," I said to the goddess of wisdom.
"What I wanted? I don't know what you're talking about," she said with an air of ignorance that didn't suit her true personality.
"The wish was to make Ares lose and, at the same time, make this confrontation as short as possible so you can deal with me about whatever you want," I explained.
To which she smiled smugly.
"I expected no less from someone who knows how to use her head. Follow me to my temple; I want to ask you some questions about a few things," she said as she walked toward where Ares had gone.
I hesitated, unsure whether to go.
"It's a request from a goddess to her champion," she said, a little more seriously.
With that, I could only follow her and see what she wanted.
...
"This is my special library; here I have all the knowledge of Olympus; if you want to know something, you can come here," she said as she showed me around.
"But wouldn't it be better to ask you?" I countered.
She wanted to contradict me, but after thinking about it for a while, she realized she couldn't without sounding rude.
"I think you're right, but even if I'm not here, you can come here," she replied.
"Can I?" I asked.
"Not really," she said, sounding discouraged at this point. "Anyway, we didn't come here for that, but for what you said about the party when you were drunk," she said as she sat down and looked me straight in the eyes.
I got a little nervous since I didn't remember any of it.
"Well, when I'm drunk I don't remember anything that happened," I said.
"I know, Kiss-Shot made a point of reminding everyone you approached about your special condition. "I'm talking about the goddesses. "And among all the things you said, you mentioned quantum physics, which caught my attention."
"Can I ask how that conversation came about?" I asked, a little nervous.
"It was when I asked you out of curiosity how you worked; I took advantage of your condition to get information out of you, but I didn't understand anything you said—haki and devil fruits, for me, are pure fantasy, but wormholes, the law of gravity, and dark matter are something I feel; they're something real and not invented because of your drunkenness," the goddess said.
A tear fell from my eye as she said this, and I just sighed.
"Well, find something to write about because this is going to be long," I told her.
"No problem, I don't mind talking to someone intelligent; I'm used to men being stupid, so I find someone like you easy to get along with. I hope our friendship will be long," she said as she shook my hand.
Writer's POV
Thus, Athena shook Dante's hand as a sign of friendship and goodwill, which Dante returned.
Obviously, without knowing what he was doing, he would bring ruin and hell into his life.
Dante thought that if anything bad happened, it would be the fault of Artemis, Aphrodite, or Hera, but the true cause of his downfall would be the woman standing before him.
This would be the beginning of Dante's downfall in Greek mythology.