Started With A Dare - A POTHENA STORY ✔

Poseidon Wants A 'Nice Little Chat'

ATHENA's POV

I was just reading a godly book I wrote myself - Weaving For Amateurs. There was nothing special going on that day - random mortals calling out to me, one poor boy called Chuck who got laughed at for bad grades and believed in Greek gods. The boy asked me for sudden smarts so that he could ace his next test. In your dreams, Chuck, study!

That was when Ares came over to me. True, Ares was usually gone for killing people on his blood red chariot, but today he stayed, because apparently 'there weren't interesting enough people to kill anymore'. I crossed my arms and glared at him as he approached.

"What do you want?" I asked him sceptically.

Without even saying another word, he kissed me.

  "Eek!" That was the first thing he screamed right after it. That's right, readers, the mighty war god himself laughs like a maniac when he kills people but is repelled by a little kiss with the goddess of wisdom.

That was when Aphrodite stepped into the throne room.

Of course she was angry. Jeez, why wouldn't she be? Her boyfriend just 'cheated' on her. I furiously wiped my mouth with my sleeve and Aphrodite immediately criticised me for that.

"ATHENA! How dare you?!" Aphrodite howled, stomping her foot with utter madness. "What are you doing with my Ares?!"

"HEY!" I retorted angrily. "He started it! He was the one who kissed me in the first place. Oh gods, that filthy saliva!" I wiped my mouth again, which made Aphrodite even madder.

"You think I'd believe you?! What have you done to him, you revolting little wisdom goddess?!" she shouted.

I was about to snap back when Poseidon entered the room, clearly confused and clueless. "Hey, uh, mind if I...?"

I stopped him from saying anything else.

"Poseidon," I said, my voice shaking a little, "you shouldn't be here."

"Gods of Olympus!" Poseidon exclaimed. "This is the throne room, Owl Head!"

I surprisingly didn't find the need to scold him for the nickname. I didn't even have time to say anything at all - Aphrodite interrupted.

"Well, if it isn't our favourite little fish god!" she yelled. Gods, she sounded a little like a maniac. "Wouldn't you be interested to know that your honey owl grabbed the war god and kissed him behind your back, huh?"

Poseidon recoiled after hearing what she said. Was that...hurt on his face? He looked so unsure, yet slightly in pain. "...What?" That was all he said.

I swallowed the lump that strangely formed in my throat. "Poseidon," I mumbled with all the strength I could muster, "Go away." As the goddess of battle strategy, I had never felt so weak.

Poseidon flashed me one last look - he didn't look disappointed or angry. He just seemed...hollow. That was even worse. I couldn't explain anything I was feeling as I watched his back turn. Then the sea god slowly galumphed out of the room, his shoulders slumped.

I didn't have the heart to face Aphrodite or Ares. This whole 'Athena, date Poseidon' thing had gone way too far. I couldn't imagine to possibility for me to have feelings for my sworn enemy, and I wanted to believe that I forbade myself for it.

I couldn't.

——————

  Would you be surprised if I told you that this was about the hundredth time I slammed my face into my godly bed this week?

  Probably not. With all that going on with Poseidon, Ares and that little moron Aphrodite, my bed was practically inviting me to slam my face into it whenever I saw it.

  There was nothing in my bed but my covers, pillows and a book. The amazing Weaving For Amateurs, by obviously yours truly. I was about to pick it up and start reading, but all I did was flip through the pages. My vision was blurred and the book looked blank.

  For once in my entire godly immortal life, I didn't feel like reading.
 
  I decided to drink some mortal coffee because... well, you know, I don't exactly have mutual hatred with the god/goddess of coffee as I didn't even know who he/she is. We get lost of track with all those new gods coming in all the time - it's a miracle that we manage to think of one thing that doesn't have a god of it yet for those we decided to turn into gods or goddesses. Most of the Olympians liked to tease me and say that I had an entire list of minor gods, but here's the thing - I didn't.

  I transformed into my usual mortal disguise and suddenly my bed looked like a mountain. Well, I could be as big as a mountain if I wanted to, but being big doesn't really do much good in my opinion. Trust me - wisdom is key.

  I teleported behind a random Starbucks in the mortal world to avoid any mortals seeing me, even with the power of the Mist. With a look around, I realised that apparently I was teleported to Hong Kong, one of the cities that has the least number of demigods. For some reason, Asian cities tend to have less demigods - I guess us gods just don't go there so often. I changed my appearance so that I looked more Chinese and it wouldn't look weird when I speak Cantonese.

  I stepped into the shop in the main entrance. I felt at least twenty men looking at me - why did I always have to look attractive when I transform, even with an Asian complexion?! I ordered a black coffee takeaway as the men's staring started to get uncomfortable and I didn't feel like staying here, although I had quite a thing for bustling cities and flashy street lights. I guess I felt safer in NYC as I knew the place pretty well and I might get lost in Asia. And yes, to answer your question, even us supposedly all-powerful gods get lost in big cities.

  I teleported back to Mount Olympus, changing my appearance back to the supposedly nerdy Athena and sat on my throne. Turns out there were good and bad news...

  The good news were that neither Ares nor Aphrodite was there to mock me, insult me or whatever they'd been doing the past millennia.

  The bad news was that Poseidon was there.

  Examining his trident as usual, sitting on the throne and whistling Under The Sea.

  Why did he have to appear at the worst times possible?!

  He glanced over and saw me. I immediately fixed my posture so that Poseidon wouldn't have a chance to point it out and give me embarrassment for the next decade, but I suspected that there was another reason which I decided to ignore.

  "Athena," he said as softly as a feather as if I was a little child who just broke the rules, "We... need to have a nice little chat."