The atmosphere was tense. "Of course," Athena said coldly as well.
Artemis and Apollo were quiet. They know why Lucifer said this.
There were no servants in the dining room and just before the servants came in. Lucifer's mood changes almost immediately. "Let's eat, Rosetta cooks good food, I'm sure you'll like it," he said smiling excitedly as he picked up his cutleries and started to dig in.
The servants came in with a holopad. Augustus' face was on it. "You must be Phoenix's friend, he's told me a lot about you guys," he said, his voice neither friendly nor cold.
"Your Highness," the gods greeted almost immediately. Although they are gods, they are now posing as humans and citizens of the Empire, it is normal courtesy to greet any royalty or nobility.
"Please, call me Augustus, after all, a good friend of Phoenix is a good friend of mine," he said. "Make yourself at home."
"You have our gratitude," Athena said.
"Phoenix," Augustus said calling Lucifer. The screen turned to him and he said, "Don't forget to study for your test."
"Who do you think I am? I am very studious," Lucifer scolds Augustus, who just laughs and hangs up.
"This is really good," Apollo said.
Lucifer returned to the study room after dinner. The clones had already made progress with the assignments. The first group of clones had already created a digital model of a tectonic bomb.
The other two were busy with something on a holographic computer screen.
Everyone's busy with something. Lucifer began to work on the other assignments.
He spent about four hours in the study room without coming out for a sip of water.
There was a knock on the door and everyone froze. "Who is it?" One of the clones asked.
"It's me," Athena's voice could be heard at the other side of the door. "I want to speak to you for a moment," she said.
Lucifer didn't say anything for a while. One of his clones went to open the door and Athena was standing there.
She stepped into the study room and was surprised to see several Lucifers working at the same time.
"What do you want?" everyone asked.
"Assignments," a Lucifer responded.
Athena goes to take a seat next to the original Lucifer. "Why did you decide to live like this Lucifer?" she asked. This question has been on her mind for a while.
"I promised the original owner of this body to help him get revenge on his parents and on his ex-best friend and ex-fiancé, as well as some other people he failed to mention," the original Lucifer responded simply, his eyes were still on the screen of his holopad. "Unfortunately, his ex-fiancé is the Hero Aiden who is the fiancé of the ex-best friend who is now my friend, and one of my people."
"So you plan to live like this till you get revenge on the original owner of this body's parents?" she asked, leaning against her hand, almost bored.
"No," Lucifer replies. "I plan on living like this until I can break the peace treaty and not be threatened, so maybe a few hundred years."
"I have a question for you, Lucifer," Athena said. "Do you remember your reason for revenge?" she asked. "Do you even remember why?"
Lucifer looks up and stares at her, his eyes are empty and they look like those of a dead man.
"Of course, I remember what my revenge is all about. I have scars to remind me what my revenge is all about," he said. "Do I need to remind you of what happened?"
"A young boy who wishes to live peacefully with his mother who also wished the same. On a beautiful sunny day, the young boy goes to the forest to collect some herbs for dinner that night, however, when he returns he finds an angry mob in front of his home.
The mob was led by a holy priest, they had come to get rid of the demonic woman and child living in that household.
The child was captured and he was forced to watch his mother get brutally tortured and killed by the angry mob."
All of this played in Lucifer's mind as he spoke. "Do you need me to continue?" he asked the Goddess of Wisdom.
Athena knew how the rest of the story went, but the emptiness in Lucifer's eyes made her realize that the wounds in Lucifer's soul hadn't healed at all despite it being nearly ten thousand years.
"Athena," Lucifer called her name. "You are smart and one of the wisest out there," he said. "You are also one of the least empathetic gods out there because you don't know what it is like to suffer."
"Just so you know," he said. "The day my thirst for revenge is quenched is the day the Elder Gods bow to me and ask for my mercy."
Athena nodded and stood up. "I apologize for my insensitivity," she said. "I will leave now."
Before she opens the door. She turns around to Lucifer and says, "I hope your thirst for revenge with quenched without the need for bloodshed."
"Let's hope it comes to that Athena," Lucifer replies. "But we both know that isn't happening soon."