Chapter 5
Startled out of my wits, I cried out loud. I clapped a hand over my mouth too late. My voice echoed thunderously through the space.
All eyes turned toward me at once. It was the exact kind of attention an extreme introvert could never endure, and just as the pressure became unbearable—
“What’s wrong, Auntie?”
Athena approached, her platinum-blond hair tied up in a neat, rounded bun.
Perfect timing, Athena. As one of the Twelve Olympians, she should know more about this situation than anyone else.
“Do you know if there’s any connection between yesterday’s rapture and the Protogenoi?”
Now that it had come to this, I needed to know for sure. If I brushed it off halfheartedly, who knew what disaster might strike later.
“Is it serious?”
“Well… actually…”
Athena pressed a hand to her forehead as if even thinking about it gave her a headache, then continued.
“The rapture that occurred yesterday was a sign heralding the birth of a new god—one with power comparable to the Protogenoi.”
Good heavens.
“The three Moirai even delivered a prophecy.”
In an instant, the area erupted into noise and agitation.
I bit my lip. This was far worse than I had expected. The primordial beings—entities even Olympus could not fully control.
Gaia, the mother of the earth. Nyx, the mother of the night. Erebus, the father of darkness. Those were the ones I remembered, though there were others as well.
They were the first to shape the world, setting it straight from Chaos into Cosmos.
Their very existence carried overwhelming authority; even Zeus, king of the gods, yielded before them.
And now a new god with similar power was to be born.
No matter how I searched my memory, nothing like this existed in the original myths.
“That’s why Lord Hades is going to meet Lady Nyx first,” Artemis added, adjusting the sandals beneath her quiver. “Since they’re both Protogenoi, she might know something.”
“Honestly,” she continued, “Lady Hera caused a huge scene yesterday, thinking Father had another illegitimate child. Luckily, it turned out not to be the case.”
Well, it certainly was enough to turn all of Olympus upside down.
Not that it had anything to do with me.
I was far too busy to worry about the fate of the world. I just hoped Athena wouldn’t suffer too much from all this.
Artemis, tying back her loose black hair, urged Athena on.
“More importantly, let’s hurry up and go hunting, sis. I need to catch a boar today.”
Truly the goddess of the hunt. For her, today’s prey was what mattered most.
“You really don’t feel worried at all? You’re one of the Twelve Olympians, you know.”
“What’s the point of worrying in advance? Let’s live wisely and flexibly.”
“Since when did wisdom come into this?”
“Because the goddess of wisdom doesn’t seem very wise today?”
“….”
Athena, struck right where it hurt, trudged into the forest.
“Ow! That hurts!”
Unable to let it slide, she smacked her unruly younger sister on the back.
The two sisters bickered affectionately as they headed deeper into the woods, with Pallas following behind them.
I hurriedly grabbed Pallas and unleashed a rapid-fire list of warnings.
“Take good care of yourself. Especially watch out for spears—no, better yet, don’t go anywhere near people holding spears at all!” You careless child! Even if your death only happens in a mock battle, it doesn’t hurt to be cautious.
“Okay, okay.”
“Don’t just brush it off. Remember what I said!”
“I said I get it. Why are you nagging so much today?”
“It’s an adult’s intuition. That kind of thing exists.”
Apparently eager to escape my nagging, Pallas dashed off into the forest after Athena.
…It’ll be fine, right? Nothing will happen.
Trying to calm my unease, I sat beneath a zelkova tree. I planned to rest there until Athena and Pallas returned.
Then my younger sisters, who had wandered over without their mistress, asked,
“Sis, are you resting here?”
“Yeah. Aren’t you going hunting?”
“Hunting? We’re sea nymphs. We’d be lucky not to get in the way.”
“At least you know that.”
“Oh, sis!”
“I’m resting, so be quiet.”
As their voices faded into the distance, I closed my eyes. Was Morpheus already at work? A strange drowsiness washed over me.
The last thing I felt was a light touch brushing past my eyes—then I fell into a deep sleep.
—
Pitch-black darkness.
Staggering to my feet, I instinctively walked toward where light was seeping in.
And there—unbelievably—
“Pallas, please wake up. Please… Why won’t you open your eyes?”
Athena was there, clutching a blood-soaked Pallas and wailing.
“I-it’s my fault. So please, wake up…”
Athena’s anguished sobs. Pallas, unmoving, eyes closed.
It was the very scene I had prayed never to see. The future I had desperately wished would not come to pass. No. No, it couldn’t be… There was no way—
Did you really think fate would change so easily?
“!”
A woman’s voice echoed through the void, sending chills racing down my spine. It felt as though it were burrowing deep into the folds of my brain. This was not a human voice…
“Don’t leave me too!”
With Athena’s desperate scream, the space collapsed in on itself.
—
“Huff—!”
I jolted awake, gasping for breath.
What on earth was that just now— ngh!
The dream I had just seen resurfaced like an afterimage. I grabbed one of my sisters who was walking back from the shore and fired questions at her.
“Rhodia, where’s Pallas? Where is she?”
“She went hunting, didn’t she? What’s wrong, sis? Where are you going?”
Ignoring Rhodia’s cries, I sprinted into the forest.
I felt as though I had to find Pallas immediately. Something unknowable was driving my body forward.
But the forest was vast and dense. Even following footprints, I was more likely to become lost myself than to find her.
Please… where are you?
Wandering in panic, I finally spotted Pallas—like a miracle.
“Pallas!”
“Lady Leuke?”
A miracle. Truly a miracle.
I let out a breath of relief and carefully inspected her from head to toe. “What are you doing out here? Were you looking for me?”
“Yes. I came to find you. So let’s go back now.”
And yet—why was I still so uneasy?
Why did this sense of dread still have my throat in its grip?
Shaa— The sound of rustling greenery filled my ears, and my intuition reared its head, screaming at me to take Pallas and leave immediately.
“Huh? But I’ve only caught a rabbit so far. I haven’t caught a fox for you yet, Lady Leuke.”
“Who cares about a fox? You can give it to me next time—or never. Just get out of here, right now—”
I didn’t even finish my sentence.
A beast’s cry—one that should never have been heard here—rang out. From somewhere far off came the faint twang of a bowstring being drawn.
A chill ran through me.
It felt as though all the blood drained from my body.
“Don’t tell me…”
A boar was lurking behind a tree, unseen until now. But even it could not escape the eyes of the goddess of the hunt. By the time I realized what was happening, the arrow had already left the string.
Then, driven by a wind from nowhere, the arrow flying toward the boar veered off its path.
This was no accident.
There was no way it was.
No—
As if mocking my resolve to defy fate, fate itself returned Pallas to where she belonged.
A destiny of unjust death, born of a god’s mistake.
The mock battle had never been the real issue. It was only the trigger.
Why did I realize this only now? Why was I always too late—always left with regret?
Screee—!
I don’t want to lose her.
I don’t want to let her die.
We’re far too precious to die like this.
“Lady Leuke!”
