[Third Person's PoV]
"Okay, okay, okay, wait," Lucian said, trying to calm himself down. "So you're telling me this was all because you guys were horny?" he said with a bit of anger in his tone.
All three blushed slightly before they shook their heads. "No, we've been alive since close to the beginning of time. Do you have any idea how lonely it is to be alive for so long and not have any idea what male companionship is like?" Atropos said, looking ashamed to admit it.
"Aren't there three Virgin goddesses? Why couldn't you be like them?" Lucian asked, looking confused.
They slightly scoffed. "Oh please, Athena barely counts as a Virgin Goddess. Although her children weren't conceived normally, they still came to be by a man and a woman," Lachesis said, shaking her head.
"Artemis at some point had a very close relationship with Orion. She came very close to breaking her vow if it wasn't for her brother and Zeus. So even though she didn't do it, she still had a glimpse of what a man's touch is like," Clotho said.
"And Hestia… Well, she's just different. She doesn't need male companionship; she has the warmth of her sacred flames to keep her warm. Her divinity of family is more than enough for her, which is something we don't have," Atropos stated with a sigh.
Lucian's eyebrow twitched upon hearing that. "You guys are Greek, aren't you? Why don't you just find a god or something to do it? You guys are beautiful, no doubt. No matter how much I dislike you, even I can tell that much. I highly doubt you would have any sort of problem finding 'male companionships.'"
The three initially looked pleased with themselves. It wasn't every day they were called beautiful, and who didn't like to be called beautiful? But upon hearing the next part, they let out a sigh.
"That's the problem, we're not looking for just pleasure. If we were, we wouldn't have kept up our disguises; we would have just gone out and grabbed the closest pretty boy god and been done with it."
"Disguises?" Lucian asked, looking at them with confusion.
Atropos snapped her fingers, and the three of them turned into decrepit old ladies, appearing as if they already had one foot in the grave, before she quickly snapped her fingers again, changing them back to their normal appearance.
"Those were disguises!?"
Lachesis let out a scoff while crossing her arms. "Have you seen who our father is?"
"Ah…" Lucian said, gaining a look of understanding.
"And if we did undo them, everyone would have just been looking at us with lust, which is a disgusting feeling," Clotho said with an upset look.
Atropos then smiled toward Lucian. "This is one of the reasons why your mother was the one we most approved of to give birth to you. We knew due to her past she would raise a respectful young man. Not once since you arrived here have you looked at any of us with a lustful gaze."
Lucian just gave them a deadpan expression. "Well, for one, I'm 10, and two, forgive me for not feeling any lustful feelings towards the people that made my mother live a long life of loneliness and solitude," he said sarcastically toward the end.
Atropos shook her head with a weary smile. "You underestimate the Greeks, especially Greek demigods."
"As for the second matter, we truly are sorry for what we did to your mother," Clotho said apologetically.
"We just assumed she would be okay living a long life. It was a type of immortality, something a lot of mortals searched for and longed for," Lachesis said with an apologetic expression.
They all looked toward Lucian and bowed their heads slightly. "We're sorry for what we did to your mother."
Lucian looked at them in disbelief. 'They're apologizing… Gods are apologizing… this is it, I think I've seen it all now.'
"It's not me you should be apologizing to; it's my mother. If she, by some chance, forgives you, then we can see where we could take it from there," Lucian said, looking at them with a serious expression.
Clotho then looked like she remembered something. "We decided to give you something to make up for it too. I'm sure you already noticed it."
Lucian just looked at her in confusion.
Lachesis then puffed her chest with pride. "Don't go taking the credit; it was my idea to begin with."
"Okay, just what are you guys talking about?" Lucian asked, looking at all three of them.
"We tied the red string of fate with you and one of the Virgin goddesses, making it so you two are destined to be lovers. It was a gift to show our remorse, although we know it wouldn't make up for the life of your mother; we thought it was a nice start," Clotho said, rather pleased, until she felt Lucian's power slightly rising.
She was surprised to see Lucian's eyes slowly turn red while looking at her with an emotionless expression.
"I thought you said you weren't manipulating my feelings or thoughts, so what's this then? So, that was what I was experiencing towards Artemis?"
Atropos intervened, "Your thoughts in the matter are still your own. The red string only increases the chances of you two getting together and appearing much more likable towards each other. You two are still able to reject each other and fall out of love.
There have been many cases of destined ones not being together and separating. It is ultimately up to you how you want to pursue the matter. If you want to pursue Artemis, it would be much easier for you now, but you will still face some challenges."
"Send me back," Lucian said with a tired and cold expression. "I've heard enough for today. I need time to myself to think over some matters."
The three of them looked towards each other and let out a sigh of reluctance before nodding their heads.
They smiled softly towards him. "It was nice to finally meet you." And with that, they snapped their fingers.
...
Lucian sat up in his bed, took a deep breath, and let out a sigh while rubbing his face. "Just what is my life at this point," he muttered before looking out the window.
He saw that it was still dark outside and decided to think about the matter more in the morning.
It took Lucian a few minutes until his eyes started getting heavier, and he fell asleep.
...
When he awoke, he looked confused. He glanced around and realized he was in the middle of a desert.
Lucian felt the golden sand under his toes, looked around, and became puzzled.
The sand then started moving and twirling around on the ground, slowly forming a face made entirely out of sand.
"Hahahaha," the sand laughed. "It's nice to see it worked. I thought it was going to be difficult meeting you. Oh, how I've been expecting this meeting."
Almost immediately, Lucian understood who that was. He didn't know how he knew, but he just did. He looked at the face wearily.
"Kronos," he called out. "Or should I call you grandfather?"