Chapter 32 - Agon

The iron door was a grim sight to stare upon—it was eerie as it only sat still in the middle of the coral wall. It looked like Charon, who only had his eyes to convey his words. The door has no mouth, yet it did manage to utter haunting sentences that made Athena's feet lose their warmth. 

Footsteps were now clearly heard behind the bolted door, along with muffled voices of men. 

And once the gritting noise of the door rumbled the enclosure, Athena swallowed a hard spit down her throat as she regained her composure. 

Two men appeared right before her—tall, very athletic, and skin bronzed with visible scars that ornate some spots. Once their eyes gazed upon her, something was brewing beneath as one man suddenly coquettishly smiled at her. 

"Well, well, well—look who is now awake, Anubis." One spoke as he drew closer to the maiden. 

"I see that, Gorgo. Sleeping beauty has now opened her eyes—gifting us this moment to absorb the magnificence of that legendary silver orbs." The smiling man replied. 

Fair Athena did not say anything. A jest like theirs need not to be equaled with graceful logic. Instead of retorting the strangers, the lovely jailbird raised her chin and observed their demeanor as Gorgo passed her and broke the chain from the wall with his hammer. 

She looked at him in hindsight. And when he felt her glares, he looked up to her, and by surprise, Gorgo kissed her cheek after he released the chains from his hands. 

"Ah!" Athena yelped—flabbergasted by the abhorrent act.

"That is not fair, Gorgo!" Anubis sulked as he grabbed the maiden, locked her in his arms, and slowly but violently licked her other cheek. 

Athena's adrenaline was gushing in her bloodstream as the soldier went for another taste of her now red face. She screamed from the sacrilege—revolting one more advance, punching and kicking him until he freed her from his embrace. 

"I am now fulfilled, for now, I know what a former goddess tastes like. You are sweet, my dear. Sweet as those mythical and descriptive nectar flowing on your golden cups." Anubis childishly gleamed. 

"Truly it is," Gorgo added while closing the distance between him and Athena. "Too bad I have failed to kiss that red lips of yours. Yes, yes—very lovely. I wonder if that mouth had tasted any co—"

"Move your filthy presence away from me!" Athena raged, cruelly pushing Gorgo, causing him to stumble and hit his back on a pillar.

Disturbed and maddened by the insult he witnessed, Anubis unwittingly punched Athena right in the stomach and growled, "You have no right to mock us like that. Maybe that head of yours forgot you are no longer a revered ethereal being."

Catching a glimpse of his eyes disgusted Athena. Before more words could come out from his wicked tongue, she spat into him and freed herself, once more, from his heavy grip. 

Yet, a complete escape was futile. 

Before she could run to the open door, Anubis took hold of her, followed by Gorgo, who recovered from his fall. In between their arms, the former deity was trapped. She wanted to shove them off, but with her recent realization, her strength was dwindling and was no match for them.

"May your tongue burst out from your jaws and your eyes spew from your skull." Athena firmly exhaled. "Your mind is polluted with menacing thoughts. You better reflect what you are doing."

"Wise words indeed from the goddess of wisdom." Gorgo mocked while playfully twirling her curls. "Oh, wait—My dear little beauty, you are no longer divine."

"Ha! Even her precious Athens bent before the army of Kourosh." Still poisoned from the insult he gained from her, Anubis gripped Athena's chin and said, "Listen here, you little skata! Your words of wisdom have no longer an effect on us. If I were you, I would rather submit myself before I would lose my head. Just be thankful for that iron door because without it—you might have lost that one last divinity between your legs to either of us. No one could ever resist such beauty you possess. Gorgo, will you remove the rest of her shackles?"

Gorgo laughed along with his comrade's threats while he released her hands from the shackles. He felt giddy, as well, to the manifesto that now bore trauma into Athena's psyche. 

"Come now—Her Grace anticipates for your presence." 

The two men dragged her out of her prison, discounting the scratches and weakness of her feet as they brutally kissed the uneven floor. 

Her mind went from crowded to nothing—then back to the noise she now knew by heart. Silver eyes could not comprehend the interior structure as lights glared brightly upon her. She did all her best to let the soles of her feet feel the texture of the ground, but the conflicting situation—trapped between the arms of brute men—was enough to enfeeble her will. 

A pathetic scene it was for her to deal with. 

Once they had reached a room of neatly ornate frescos that rounded the whole area, Athena regained her sight but was promptly pushed by the two savages—forced to kneel before a platform that acted as a throne for someone important. She almost hit her head from the uncalled cruelty. As she slightly raised her head to peak the throne again, she observed that it was not much compared to Zeus and Hera's, but the little décor on the sides of the seat gave the impression that it belonged to someone of noble birth. 

There, coming out from the shadows, appeared someone wearing lavish robes and gold trinkets around her neck and fingers. After Athena cleared her vision, her eyes widened to see Enyo—smiling from ear to ear.

"Well—greetings, fair Athena. I see now you are finally awake!" The goddess of warfare greeted in a cheeky tone. 

"Enyo." Almost a whisper, Athena said. 

"It has been three days since you drifted far away from reality. Please share with me, were your dreams as pleasant as the dawn of the new king's reign?"

"New king?" Athena was puzzled. "Who is this new king?"

Enyo laughed. "Oh, dear! Oh me, oh my—how silly of you to forget, Athena. Why, it is Ares, of course! As his right hand, I must tell you of the new course the Olympian bloodline will run." She went down from the platform, stood before the bemused maiden, and added, "First is to deal with you."

"So, you are with him? Did you kill the other deities?" On a plain note, Athena asked—looking down onto the ground to avoid the manipulative gaze of the goddess who she now sensed was one of the traitors. 

"If only you were there, my dear, to witness how we shattered the Heart of Hellas. Everyone saw how their authority was ruptured right in front of them. I must say, I credit their braveness for they still tried to stop us, but obviously, it never ended well."

"And you are proud of it?"

"Pride is not enough to describe how we feel. Joyous! Satisfied! Exhuberant to the sense of completeness that ate our bodies in. All of that is worthy. Hellas needed a new era, and Ares's reign will sure do bring new prosperity and serenity."

"By burning everything and everyone to ashes?" Athena glared at her with knotted brows and a snarling voice as her mind remembered those wails and unanswered prayers that rang through her head. All of them she remembered–charred faces, withered landscapes—everything and everyone lingered in her head for who knows how long. "How can a low-minded deity think this will all go well? How can you think that your greed, you can easily change the equilibrium of nature—of life?" 

Wicked and slowly burbling in Enyo's veins were the ad hominins she wanted to spit at her. But her courage seemed to forfeit. Athena was now human—a mere weakling and a little lady with no might. Yet despite this reality, how could she still have engulfed her with her unmatched wisdom that lingered in that well-known sweet voice? 

Losing all of her control, the malevolent goddess raced towards Athena and aggressively held her face as if she was crumpling some old papyrus. Enyo growled her anger, not wanting her offense to stain her day. 

"You are human now—a human! You are nothing, Athena! You only live because this will be your last chance. Let us wait and see if your pride can save you from the coming moment's delight. Ha! You have this argument this time, but the next seconds will be mine."