Chapter 9: Athena
“What did you do to us!” the auburn-haired, pale white skin girl yelled at me. Her words were filled with anger that felt like the sun on my skin. She pointed at me as if she could stab a knife. My first instinct is to meet her anger with my own. I almost lost my battle with Arachne, if not for bestowing these 7 mortals with my favor, I would have lost.
She had the right to be angry, but I was still the Greek Goddess of Wisdom, and she. She was a mortal. The wise thing to do is to try to stay calm, I still defeated Arachne. even if it meant breaking another vow. I also prevented Arachne from devouring all the mortals in the cemetery.
The light-skinned black girl and Asian girl picked me up as the poison from Arachne’s spider started to process out of my system. Arachne said she was there to devour mortals, but to me, it seemed as if she was waiting for me. I thought about her words. She knew I had returned back to duty. She happened to be where I would be for my first assignment. I’m not one to believe in coincidences, not ones that are mortal danger in mind.
“Paige not now!’ the asian girl raised her voice. There is something musical about her words compared to the one called Paige. Each word danced about the word in a rythm. concern and sadness express in her intentions.
“I don’t care! She knows what’s going on!” Paige started to walk in front of me. Raising her hands in the air in frustration. The other mortals in the cemetery were still coming too, but not enough to be fully aware of what was happening from my observation.
I had enough of Paige’s tone. I don’t care if she had the right to be angry. This disrespect to me, a Goddess, will not go on any further. I looked at her as if I could pierce her soul.
“I saved our lives.” I managed to spit out as calmly as I could.
“Paige is right!” the Hispanic boy yelled, louder and more vicious than Paige. I could feel his anger, even hotter than Paige. With Paige her anger is in her words, but with this boy. His anger consumed everything around me. It wasn’t in the air and it didn’t touch my skin like Paige. His words, his being, his hate tried to engulf me. Where Paige’s anger felt more like wounded pride, his was disdain.
“It doesn’t matter right now. We have to help the others.” The Indian boy put a hand in front of the Hispanic. He spoke with a sense of entitlement as if his angry friend was a possession, like a pet. I’m sure he meant well, by wanting to help his friends and the other mortals, but in his confidence, his words, they tried to take something.
“I got her Salem.” The black boy said reaching under my arm to replace the light-skinned girl. She seemed more than pleased to let him do the work. Out of laziness? maybe she was tired of holding me. She looked pretty failed, but I was amazed at her strength. He looked at Paige and the other yelling kid. “Yelling isn’t going to get us answers, guys.” His words betrayed him though, much like the Indian. They were full of regret, like he wanted to yell at me too, but he didn’t.
“Let me help you out too.” The short, black hair kid said. He was the shortest of the boys. “Ddint’ you all see that big spider the woman had? She saved us. She deserves that much.” his words, which I noticed immediately had traces of flirting, lust, and a hint of astonishment. People didn’t understand the meaning of words. Everyone had a feeling or flaw attached to every word. That’s why they said to watch hat comes out your mouth. Even though they all meant well, their flaws were in their voices. Pride for Paige, Gluttony from the Asian girl who smell like alcohol and tried to hide it behind the perfume. Wrath from the Hispanic boy whose words wanted to kill me. The possessiveness of the indian’s Greed over his friends particularly the angry ones. The jealousness and envy from the black boy about the boldness of the others. The lustfulness in the black hair boy’s voice. Even the the lack of words, carried weight, like the slothfulness of Salem.
I felt like they deserved to know what was happening. They did save me after all, without realizing they did. “Mortals, I’m here investigating the murder of Teresa. I gave you favor, part of my power. That is why Arachne left. “
I could feel the emotions of their true self start to step back. Those small flaws act like turtles and go back into their mental shells. Replaced by hurt, every single last one of them. To different degrees. The favor I gave them started to feed me more information about them. They all knew Teresa. They were friends with her. I could feel and see their memories with her as individuals and as a group. They knew the missing boyfriend too.Â
