A band of fifty or so men were running towards the temple of Athena. The only place the man at the tail of the group knew they all would be safe.
"Get in! Get in! Hurry up, or they'll eat you alive!" a big man shouted at his companions
"Herc! What in the Tartarus?"
"Shut up and block the doors!" he ordered.
With all of them inside of the temple, the doors were blocked. None would be able to get inside, but none could also go out.
"Could you please explain, what is going on, Heracles?" asked a young-looking man.
"Jason, listen boy. We all were in mortal danger, only thanks to Athena we are safe now," answered the big man.
"Safe from what? An island of beautiful women, that did not have seen any man for who knows how long? Oh, how thankful I am to the VIRGIN goddess Athena, for saving us from such a danger!" said another young man.
"Pollux! Don't you dare! You have no idea how dangerous these women could be!" shouted Heracles at the insolent young man.
"Then enlighten us, oh great hero!" said Pollux.
"You fool, did you not see the madness in their eyes?" asked the big man.
"Sure I saw it! They were all madly in love with me!" shouted the insolent young man.
"They were not madly in love with you. They would squeeze you dry and grind your bones to dust!" Heracles remembered terrible things from his past.
"How would know that?" asked Jason.
"They had the same mad look in their eyes as Amazons... I've lost many comrades that day, all good men," said the big man solemnly.
"Can you tell us the story?" asked the young man.
Heracles looked to the ground contemplating whatever he should the youngsters about his not-so-glorious stories.
"You might as well old man! Not like we have anything better to do anyway! Hah, at the least the goddess Athena was so gracious to give us supplies. Grains, flour, wine, oil and fruits. How nice of her to take care of our bodily needs," said Pollux going around a big pile of different goods.
"Pollux, be thankful that the Athena provided for us and fetch the old man a wine, he has a story to tell," said Jason.
Dear Diary,
Why, that cow, Aphrodite had to interfere with Lemnos now? Does she not understand the importance of the Argonauts succeeding in their quest? Never mind, it must be completely way over her head. And no way I let that b*tch Aphrodite ruin my time with Artemis.
I hid boys in my temple, with supplies that should last them several days. I would deal with that problem right now, but can't and the Argonauts can wait a bit. And I can get back one on Aphrodite.
But right now, I have more important things to do, like preparing for the date with Artemis. We are going stargazing. Just me and her and stars. I can't wait! I'm SO nervous excited!
Maybe we could even hold hands!
They were sailing after their lady for a whole day and still no result in finding her. And even if their own ship was way faster than the tiny boat their lady consecrated for herself, it was hard to spot one single small fishing boat on the sea. But they had supplies for days, good navigators and zealous rowers who all worked tirelessly in finding their lady Arachne. She must be found at all costs! The island of Lesbos would not, could not flourish without Her there. Her presence on the island was quintessential for the existence of not only Her followers but the rest of the islanders as well. After all, She was their shining sun, their guiding light and their savior. Without Her, their existence was meaningless.
As a captain of the ship, he was clearly denominated as a Weaver. And the little fact that it was his ship was just an added bonus. And as such his duty was the most important one. To oversee the search and prepare the most appropriate accommodation for their lady. Her mere presence would bless his ship for any of its future endeavors and travels. And he would be one of the truly few who managed to witness their lady's brilliance in person.
He envied the previous High Weawer who had seen their lady once when he was still a young man. Who took a mere glimpse of Her from a far distance, through one of the artifacts that their lady left behind, which allowed the man to observe distant things as if they were rather nearby. He envied the previous High Weaver, who after seeing their lady Arachne could not look at any other woman even again and preferred the company of men instead. Who got rid of his own wife and who blinded himself, finding the sight of any woman, other than their lady, unsightly!
But the envy and wait would soon be over. Soon, with their new Hight Weaver, they will get rid of all of the useless traditions and idiotic rules that bound them! After all, the old goat, the previous High Weaver was now dead, rotting somewhere not buried. The only thing he had to do now, was his most sacrilegious duty to find their lady. And they would succeed, he would succeed, there was no doubt in his mind. Just look a little further, a little more to the north, a little more to the east. They would surely find their lady any moment now.
And with the Sun rising over the horizon, their search would be made much easier. Even if their lady Arachne chooses a fishing boat with a rather plain sail of almost no color. They would find Her even if the observers' eyes were to go permanently blind from the sun. Not even blindness would be able to stop them from finding their lady. He was willing to sacrifice that and much more.
"Lord Weaver over there!" one of the observers shouted from the starboard side of the ship.
"What is it, Acolyte? Did you spot our lady?" the Weaver who was leading this expedition asked.
"No lord Weaver, but there is some wreckage floating! It must be new!" the acolyte answered.
The Weaver looked at the place the acolyte was pointing at and there indeed was a fresh wreckage. Though it seemed to be quite irregular. He as a captain of a merchant ship, has seen several shipwrecks in his life, but none looked so strange. The typical wreck he always saw was usually a whole lot bigger, there was usually more of it. So either not much of the ship survived, whatever happened to it. Or the ship was small, to begin with. But small boats did not sail high seas.
Except for one, he realized and his eyes windened in panic. His breath became erratic and his limbs were shaking. This was impossible. This should be impossible. He must have been mistaken!
"Sail for the wreckage! We have to recover it!" the Weaver ordered gasping for fresh air, as his breathing was labored.
They were not that far from the wreck, but each passing minute felt like an eternity to him. He constantly repeated in his mind that he must be mistaken. That this must be someone else's fishing boat wreckage that drifted on the high seas. But the closer they got the more his hopes were fleeing. The more he recognized the ship's design, the more he could see the familiar look of spider silk. But finally, the reality was undeniable. This was the remains of their lady's boat!
When more of the acolytes recognized the unmistakable signs of their lady's missing presence, some fell to the floor and wept. Some were angry and cursed everything and anything they could! Some just stopped. But their lady couldn't... She just couldn't...
The Weaver refused to believe that! It was a completely ridiculous notion and heretical on the top! They would find their lady no matter what. So he ordered several acolytes to dive! Dive so deep that it cost some of them their lives, but it did not matter! The sea floor has been at least seen and there was no sight of their lady.
He then ordered currents to be measured. And the currents they would follow. He was absolutely confident that the sea must have taken their lady to some nearby island! And they would find her, no matter how long it would take!
The patrol started several hours ago. She and her comrades went around the usual route, just as always. They went around the queen's palace, then around the whole city. They had to stop a single scuffle today. The two numbskulls, who let a simple haggling boil over into a full-out shouting match, were pacified quickly. Or so she and her comraded thought. The two idiots did not even wait until the patrol was out of sight, and started throwing the pomegranates at each other. Then she and her patrol had to rush back and separate the two. One of her comrades caught a fist of the seller to her face. With more pomegranates smashed and four knees bashed. Both the seller and the potential buyer, who were fighting, finally reconciled. The damage was paid and so was reparation to one of her comrades, who got punched. Several of the pomegranates were "confiscated" as "evidence". At least they all would have a fresh snack during the patrol.
Of course, this meant that they would be late for the switch with the border patrol team. And as she could see, the border patrol was already impatiently waiting for them. Well, not like she could have done anything about it. The fight at the market was quite a surprise. Or maybe it was not, they all were frustrated. Initially, they just wanted the men to be safe on the seas and so they listened to the old priestess of goddess Athena and prayed as ordered. And sure men were more successful and returned back with fewer wounds. But that led to more problems, their men started to enjoy the time with concubines when they did not have to heal and on the high seas far more than going back home.
To solve that, the queen and many, many others prayed to the goddess Aphrodite far more than to Athena, which in return led to the less and less of their men returning back home. Until only a single crew of them remained and even they had not been back for weeks. And well, an island full of only women, led many of them to permanent frustration, just like the seller and buyer at the market. She herself had no problem with that, who needed men anyway? She just hoped that the crew of men who arrived two days ago and cowardly holed themselves in the temple of Athena would get out soon. Because she sure could see her fellow guardswoman, the leader of the border patrol, and she was permanently pissed.
"You are late," the leader of the border patrol said.
"Yeah, we had to deal with a little fight at the market," she said.
"A fight? Really?" the border patrol leader looked surprised.
"Yes, a fight. A lot of good pomegranates got wasted," the city patrol leader said.
"Like the one you have?" the leader of the border patrol asked.
"Yes. Just like this one. It's evidence,"
"Sure..."
"Anything of the note in the old harbor?" the leader of the city patrol asked.
"Nothing," answered the border patrol leader.
"Then, the city is yours,"
With that, the patrols exchanged their posts and she and her comrades went to patrol the old harbour and the road leading to it. The trek sure was boring, nothing was happening around here anyway. With the only exception being the men who arrived two days ago. At least the pomegranates were great, if a bit messy. And just as she expected nothing unusual happened on their merry way to the old harbour, which was an hour or so long trek away from the city. As well as it was well hidden from prying eyes, their whole island was that of pirates after all.