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(Fate) Chapter 139: Aphrodite, the Goddess of Beauty, and Helen
🕑 Added 2024-09-14 17:03:00 +0000 UTCGoddess Aphrodite once told Helen:
"You will become the most beautiful woman on earth, and every man will fall at your feet. You have the right to enjoy everything and claim everything for yourself."
"Men will fight wars for your smile, and they will kill for the chance to win your favor."
"You can trample all men beneath your feet."
Helen sought to capture Promise—or rather, she wanted to make the boy hers.
Athena obviously noticed this.
Her eyes, representing absolute wisdom, quietly observed the little girl for a moment before looking away.
Well.. this wasn't the first time she had seen someone desire Promise.
So, she felt a bit uninterested and she turned her attention back to Promise.
Promise, on the other hand, didn’t notice Helen’s actions at all.
After all, in his mind, anyone who could have feelings for a loli of eleven or twelve years old should die!
"So, when are you planning to go back?" Athena rested her head on his shoulder, smiling softly as she asked.
Her long, silver hair gently swayed in the breeze, carrying a pleasant fragrance.
"Hmm... I promised Theseus I’d give him a month," Promise said, pausing briefly before continuing. "But I imagine it’ll take a bit more time to prepare for the real departure. It’s time for me to head back."
"I think Jason has probably been waiting for me for a long time now."
Promise smiled.
Nearby, Pegasus, upon hearing his words seemed to hesitate as if wanting to say something.
It was really curious—was this Jason guy even still alive?
After all, since joining Promise on his journey, Pegasus had noticed something peculiar:
Every time they found someone, the person meeting Promise would say words like “Teacher Chiron must’ve lost his mind, letting you leave the mountain,” or “When you see that Jason, punch him for me!”
So, it was a bit doubtful whether this fellow was still breathing somewhere or not.
"So, before that, my final battle ...the only thing that is left is your homeland, Helen,"
As he said that, Promise patted her head.
"Wait! Brother Promise, are you really still not going to take Helen with you?!" Hearing this, Helen became anxious.
She blinked rapidly at the boy, desperately hoping her magic eyes would work.
But Promise just looked at her, confused, wondering if she had something stuck in her eye...
“No matter what, I have to take you back home,” Promise responded. “That bastard Theseus kidnapped you, and your father must have been very worried... Even if you want to join us on this adventure, you’ll still need your parents’ permission, right?”
Promise’s words were quite reasonable.
After all, this was Athena’s oracle, so, even though he felt a bit uneasy about bringing Helen aboard because of the fact that, in the myths, she had never been on board the ship at all! — Promise still accepted it.
His reasoning was so straightforward that Helen couldn’t argue against it.
She instinctively wanted to seek help from Athena, but when she looked around to ask, the goddess had suddenly disappeared.
Athena had left.
In fact, she knew and understood him too deeply that even without Promise’s words, she knew exactly what he intended to do next.
The reason she left was simple: if she didn’t, Hera was about to show up and kick her out!
Maybe it was because they hadn't seen each other for a long time, Athena couldn't help herself but show a bit too much affection
Originally, the situation with the golden apple hadn’t been fully resolved yet, but since Athena had helped build the Argo, Hera had decided to tolerate it for a while, turning a blind eye.
As a result, knowing full well that Hera was watching them, Athena still continued to tease and tempt Promise right in front of her.
Just because it’s Hera doesn’t mean you can get away with everything, right?
Well... although it was not a green hat in a proper sense.
But Promise was still her beloved follower.
So now, a frustrated and angry Hera was chasing Athena all over the place.
“Why do I feel like Athena is actually enjoying this?” Persephone, who had yet to leave, tilted her head as she watched bolts of lightning rain down on Athena, who was still running around leisurely, taunting and teasing Hera with each step.
Next to her, Hermes, who was never one to miss out on such entertainment, patted her shoulder and said.
“There's no doubt it, it’s definitely intentional... and I bet, no, I know it’s because of Promise.”
Hermes said, grinning, unable to hide his amusement.
Persephone looked at Hermes a bit curiously. “What does this have to do with that child?”
“Oh, it has everything to do with him. You really think Athena doesn’t care?” Hermes chuckled and said. “She always gets what she wants and has never failed once,
But she keeps hitting a wall with Promise. Do you know many times he has rejected her?
Think about it.”
Hearing his words, Persephone thought for a moment, then suddenly understood.
She glanced back at Athena, who was still being playful despite the chase, and couldn’t help but laugh. “I never would have guessed that she could be this... cute.”
“Oh, you haven’t seen anything yet. You should’ve seen her when she couldn’t get her hands on the golden apple—it was like she lost her mind...” Hermes hadn’t even finished bragging when, in Persephone’s dull eyes, he was suddenly launched like a shooting star into the distance...
In the next moment, Athena, who had been running away, stood in the distance holding a spear, having just hurled it at Hermes.
As Hermes flew off, Hera nonchalantly tossed a bolt of lightning in his direction, delivering a second, precise strike.
Persephone, who was watching this scene in stunned silence, swallowed nervously.
At this moment, she had thoroughly realized that though the gossip was sweet, only the powerful could indulge in it.
So, she forced a stiff smile, then
she quickly turned and left,
And so, four more days passed...
.....
....
....
Four days later,
In the kingdom of Sparta.
Promise walked out of the palace with a somewhat troubled expression on his face, while Helen followed closely behind him, looking extremely happy.
“It’s so strange... How can there be parents like this? They agreed way too quickly…”
He muttered, glancing at the little girl beside him in confusion.
Just a short while ago, he had met her parents, and Helen's return had brought them to tears of joy.
There was no doubt that, they still cared a great deal about Helen, so Promise had originally thought that getting their approval to let her leave would require significant effort.
Not.. to be honest, he thought they might not agree to let her leave with him.
So, he was already prepared to use his impressive skills to either negotiate with them or slip away but in fact, Helen only had to say a few words in front of them, and they agreed without hesitation, showing no concern at all...
Promise found it incomprehensible but also quite shocking.
Helen, however, averted her gaze guiltily when she noticed his look.
She actually felt a little guilty, after all, she used her magic eye on her parents and forced them to agree to something...
“Brother Promise, this means I can go on the adventure with you, right?”
However, although she felt a little guilty, Helen was mostly filled with excitement at the thought of following Promise on an adventure alongside so many heroes.
“...Yes.” Seeing the eager look in her eyes, Promise couldn’t help but smile and nod.
After all, her parents had agreed, and Helen’s brother and sister were also on the ship so, he wasn't much averse to her joining.
Not to mention, this was an oracle given to him by Goddess Athena.
With no reason to refuse, Promise agreed.
As soon as he nodded, Helen’s heart, which had been anxious, finally settled down.
Excited, she reached out to grab his hand and was just about to say something when her eyes inadvertently caught sight of something.
The moment she saw the beautiful red figure, she froze.
The two looked at each other for a while as the figure gave Helen a small nod before turning to leave.
Seeing this, Helen hesitated for a moment, then lowered her head and said to Promise, “Brother Promise, Helen just remembered... now that I’m back, I should go visit my goddess to inform her.”
Promise didn’t think much of it and agreed.
So, Helen quickly arranged for a few palace attendants to take care of Promise, then hurriedly followed the red figure all the way to the temple.
It was the temple of Aphrodite, the goddess of beauty.
Next to the holy pool outside the temple, Helen soon found the goddess sitting there with her head tilted slightly as if lost in thought.
Aphrodite, the goddess of beauty, the most beautiful goddess in existence.
However, before Helen, who was walking towards her and looking at the goddess in front of her, could even say a word,
The first sentence of the goddess of beauty Aphrodite contained so much information that hee was stunned on the spot.
“I know him.” Aphrodite lightly gritted her teeth, saying, “He’s a follower of Hera, and... he’s also the student of my dear husband, Hephaestus, who once humiliated me.”
.......
