Athena x Nike

#43 * Celebrations

A tall fire burned bright in between a bunch of tents. Loads of people were standing around that same fire. Some in groups of their own, others going from place to place. Some even played music while a few dansed around.

You might never expect it, but among those dancing was Athena. Not just any Athena mind you. A very specific form of Athena. Athena who is victorious. Better known as Athena Nike.

On her shoulders Athena Nike carried an angel. The angel that embodied everything victory related. She went by the name of Nike.

Coincidence?

We all know that there is no such thing as coincidence.

Athena looked up into Nike's eyes and smiled. There was no moment quite like this one. She'd never been so happy to not be planning the next battle. For now she was truly careless.

"Baby, you're a genius." The victory goddess said, leaning down so she could kiss her girlfriend.

"I agree." The wisdom goddess added.

"But in the end you decide who wins so I didn't really have anything to do with it."

"As if." The daughter of Styx chuckled.

"Without warriors there is no one to take the laurel."

Nike summoned a golden laurel and placed it on Athena's head.

"There that's better." She added.

The daughter of Zeus couldn't hide her smile as they continued to dance around the fire.

From a bit further away her brothers Dionysus, Apollo and Hermes were baffled. This could not be their sister who was dancing around the fire. Athena didn't dance. Athena didn't sing. Athena didn't drink alcohol. Athena didn't... Party.

Who was this woman and what had she done to their sister. It's not that they didn't like to see her having fun, because they had been trying to get her to do this for months. It's that it scared them how intricate their sister was. She had so many layers that it was almost impossible to know what she was going to do next.

Athena was never really predictable. Only a few could take a guess at her reaction and actually get it right. Those few being Zeus, Artemis, Hestia and Nike. All the others had to guess most of the time.

"Do you think we should go, you know, say hi to her?" Hermes asked.

"What? You act as if we've never seen her before?" Dionysus laughed.

"We haven't." Apollo said very seriously.

"Whichever aspect of Athena this is, we haven't met it."

Dionysus stopped laughing, muttering something incoherent.

"So I mean, do we?" Hermes pressed.

"We should. She's a new layer of Athena that none have ever met. So yeah, why shouldn't we be the first to welcome her?" Apollo grinned.

"See, now I like you better." Dionysus smirked.

The three brothers walked over to Athena and Nike. Once there the pair that was dancing stopped.

"Hello." Hermes said with his trademark, lopsided smirk.

"Hi." Athena Nike responded with a smile of her own.

"Who are you?" She asked.

"We're your brothers." Apollo smiled.

"I have brothers?" The wisdom goddess asked the angel that was sitting on her shoulders.

Nike nodded.

"Yes, even more then the three you see here. And you have a sister too." She added.

"Why do I have so many siblings?" The daughter of Zeus questioned.

"Let's just say dad likes to keep busy." Dionysus grinned.

Athena Nike still seemed confused. But she let the matter go. It didn't matter. She won and now they got to celebrate that victory, that was the only important thing right now.

"You're name is Athena right?" Apollo asked, knowing it would trigger a chainreaction within any deity if they weren't properly addressed.

"Yes and no." Was the response he had to work with.

"Why yes and why no?" Hermes questioned, latching on.

"My name is indeed Athena. But Athena alone is not correct. It's Athena Nike." The wisdom goddess corrected them.

"We see, we see... Well it's a pleasure to meet you big sister. My name is Hermes." Dionysus said with a smirk.

"Dionysus." Apollo said sticking out his hand.

"And I'm Apollo." Hermes grinned.

"Pleasure to meet you." Athena said to each of them.

While sitting up on her girlfriend's shoulders, Nike scowled. Did they really just pull this? Those annoying pricks.

"Baby, could you put me down please?" Nike asked Athena.

As requested the daughter of Zeus put the angel on the ground.

"Stay around the fire okay?" The victory goddess said to her girlfriend.

The latter nodded and smiled.

"Boys, if you'd follow please, I have something for each of you." Nike said, leading them out of Athena's earshot.

Once they were the angel slapped Hermes across the cheek, kicked Apollo in the shin and kneed Dionysus in the groin.

"Awww..." They all groaned.

"I expect you all to apologize for what you did back there and set it right or you can expect round two." Nike grumbled.

"Look Nike, it's called having a bit of fun. It won't-" Dionysus said in a tiny voice.

"Matter? Trust me when I say that Athena Nike will quickly make place for Athena Promachos when she finds out. You can't ruin this or the chances we get to see her more often will become increasingly smaller. And I think we all enjoy a light hearted Athena don't we?" The angel questioned.

"I mean..." Apollo started.

"Do you or don't you?" The daughter of Styx said, her eyes lighting up slightly.

"We do." Hermes said quickly, wanting to protect his body of the wrath of the victory goddess.

"Then go apologize. If I ever see you three pulling this again I will curse you to be second best forever." Nike swore.