Athena x Nike

#33 * Golden Appels Are A Curse

"Ugh... I hate mortals." Athena grumbled, pacing in front of Nike.

"I mean who in their right mind chooses the prettiest woman in the world over being a general?! Or a field marshal?! Or over having a strategic advantage in any battle?!" She continued.

'Pretty much everyone.' Nike thought, but she knew better than to speak those words out loud.

Now really wasn't the moment to challenge the wisdom goddess. Now was the moment to just listen and nod in understanding.

"Who even does that?! Drop an apple in the middle of a wedding full of gods and goddesses and address it to the fairest?! It can never go well." Athena rambled on.

'It was never meant to go well darling.'

Nike stopped following her with her eyes. She was starting to get dizzy. If this kept going the floor underneath the wisdom goddess' feet would wear out. Take the angel's word on it that her girlfriend would keep coming up with new arguments and you'd never hear the end of it.

"Of course if you do it you should give it to the actual fairest. Aphrodite doesn't count because well she's Aphrodite. Everyone thinks she's gorgeous. And Hera she's the queen of heaven and this old lady. It should've been me. It's the only logical choice!"

Nike rolled her eyes. She loved her girlfriend, but sometimes she could really be a straight up b*tch with a capital 'B'.

The angel got up and stopped the wisdom goddess in the middle of her rant.

"Okay stop. I've heard enough of this self pity." She said.

Athena gave her a look that said 'Even you?!'

"Don't even dare make an assumption about my opinion on all this.."

That shut the wisdom goddess up for a moment.

"Why do you care what they think?" Nike asked.

The grey eyes of Athena rolled towards the ground. Her girlfriend was right. Why did she even care?

"They're just mortals. They're beneath you. They're what they are because of you. Why would you care if they think you're the prettiest goddess when you can do to them whatever you like? They're your puppets. They live and die by your hand." The victory goddess continued.

The angel could not see what bothered Athena so much in all this. First of all she was gorgeous, anyone who disagreed was doomed with second places forever. Second she's Athena, she never cared what anyone said. She did the things she liked because she wanted to do them and anyone else who tried to say otherwise could expect a waterfall of words to drown them.

The daughter of Zeus remained quiet. It worried Nike slightly.

"My love-"

She took Athena's hands in her own.

"-Tell me. Why does it bother you?"

The wisdom goddess kept her eyes trained on the ground. She didn't want to look up and meet pitiful eyes. Yet the angel seemed to always know what kind of thoughts were racing through her mind.

Nike, unlike others, didn't push for an answer. She asked the question and waited patiently for your answer. Even if Athena decided not to tell her she'd be alright with it, although most likely rather curieus.

"It's just-" Athena started, but she stopped herself.

She freed her hands and walked to the other side of the room. If the angel was worried before it just got worse. Who is this person? What happened to her fierce and brave girlfriend?

"Just what?" The victory goddess asked.

"Never mind. You wouldn't understand..." The wisdom goddess sighed.

"Hey, don't say that. Try me. Talk to me. Please." Nike said, walking up to her girlfriend and hugging her from behind.

The angel rested her head on the goddess' shoulderblades. She could feel her sigh. As if she were saying 'Fine but only because it's you'.

"I guess I just wanted someone to tell me I'm better than Aphrodite and Hera." Athena muttered.

Nike didn't respond. She figured she'd let Athena tell her story before she said anything.

"I have never belonged anywhere. I've always been different. I guess that for once I just wanted to be seen as someone who belonged." The wisdom goddess added.

For a moment it stayed quiet as the angel thought about what she should respond.

"But you're one of the Olympians right? You belong with them." Nike tried.

Athena scoffed.

"I might be an Olympian, but I'm one of them just as much as Hephaestus is. I'm only there because I'm family. If my father didn't see me as his favorite daughter I might as well not excist for the others. And then the fact that I'm not his favorite because of who I am, but because I was born from him alone."

"That's not-"

"True?" The wisdom goddess cut Nike off.

"Yes it is. It's always 'Athena why do you have to take the fun out of everything?', 'Hey, loosen up a little', 'stop being such a know-it-all'. Do you know how much that hurts? No matter what I do, it'll never be enough. Is it so wrong that for once I want to have what they have?"

Towards the end Athena's voice had gotten louder until she shouted the last sentence. The victory goddess hadn't suspected the problem was rooted this deep.

"Of course not." Nike replied.

"But there are other ways to get what you want."

"Then by all means tell me because I have no idea." The daughter of Zeus said in defeat.

"Admitting it is always the first step. From there you move forward." The victory goddess said.

She walked around so she stood in front of Athena. The wisdom goddess had been crying. The angel almost hadn't noticed.

"You have nothing to prove my love." She whispered wiping away one of Athena's tears.

"It's okay. I'm here. Always." She added, wrapping her arms around her girlfriends neck.

The latter buried her face in her shoulder shoulder. Nike ran her fingers through Athena's long, brown hair.

"And as for where you belong. That's simple. You belong with me..." She added.