Dear Diary,
I am SO clever! An absolute genius! No one is as intelligent as I am. And while many praise me for my brilliance, especially Artemis, there is no way they can appreciate my genius to its fullest. Since I cannot tell anyone, otherwise I would be in great trouble. Like super big trouble. Like in Ares-level trouble.
At this point, I might even start to pity that idiot, because he got quite extreme punishment from Dad. I absolutely shudder only thinking about what could have befallen me, should have I not changed the records of who was in charge of the region, where Medusa and Arachne were initially located. The poor moron is now taking Prometheus's place on the rock, though that is not probably forever. Nevertheless terrible thing, that I'm glad I managed to avoid.
Although, I suppose it is an appropriate punishment since Dad got hurt by the spider monster. Not surprising, since he was just being himself and was "bothering" the monster. Not the Arachne though, he was "bothering" Medusa, who just so happened to be at the same place as the spider. Though it is probably the other way around.
Nevertheless, since he was not exactly combat-ready, at the time, Dad had been surprised. Really badly surprised, since that spider girl managed to hurt him. Quite bad if I have to say so myself. Getting speared through the chest is no fun.
Yet, comparing it to the injuries I suffered from the same monster is absolutely out of place, since I got hurt way more than him. Also, he is like super tough and stuff.
All things considered, it was not that bad. And the best part is, that I even managed to get back my spear, since dad bailed still impaled.
But there is one single problem, and that is that both of the monster girls are still alive. That is like a super big problem. For me that is. And on top of that, Dad told me not to approach them again, and that he is working on a permanent solution. And that is super great and all, I would love nothing more than both of those monsters being rid of.
The problem though is, that they can talk. And they sure will talk, if they are given a chance. Yeah, sure, like Father is probably not gonna believe them, the problem is Uncle Poseidon and apparently also Uncle Hades... Of all people who would have thought, that the only sane uncle... Mostly sane uncle would be the same as his two brothers. Thinking about it, it is probably not surprising, he just must have bigger self-control. Or likely is just too "picky".
Anyway, with Uncle Poseidon, there is a problem, that he could, and most likely would, recognize Medusa if he was given a chance, and then it would be not much trouble to connect her to me. Since, once upon a time, she was a priestess of Athena. This would result in her words being more credible. And with Uncle Hades... Let's say he likes to poke at things until they make too much sense. So, if he got his hands on the spider monster, he would have learned the real truth.
And then I might be forced to take Ares's place on the rock... Which is definitely not gonna happen. Like I'm going to prevent it at all costs.
Luckily for me, Artemis has been on a hunt for the Medusa for some time now, so she sure must be greatly frustrated. Moreover, she and her girls are super great trackers. And the last location of Medusa is known to be on Mount Athos. She sure can track the monsters down, no problem. And once that's done, I, together with her, will ambush them. They won't even know what happened before they die.
Dad's going to be avenged. Artemis is going to release her frustration. And most importantly, I will now have a perfect alibi, with no witnesses alive.
For months now, she was stuck with all of the idiots. And it would not be over any time soon if what she heard was right. After several months spent on this cursed ship, she had quite enough of the sea, at least for a few hundred years. But luckily she and the Argonauts managed to land at their destination a week ago. After the days of waiting for the audience with the king Aeëtes, Jason and his merry band of morons, managed to finally speak to the king. Only for the king Aeëtes refusing to relinquish the Golden Fleece.
She suspected that it might have been one certain individual who demanded to go with Jason, that might have brought the negotiations down. Nike didn't want to be unfair to them, most of them were still young and hopefully, they would get better with age, but she was certain that there was no hope for Pollux. Poor thing would have to remain an idiot for his whole life. She wondered whether it was Zeus's fault? Must have been, after all, they do not say, "like father, like son" for nothing.
"Nike?" she heard a familiar voice, catching her attention.
"Yes, Jason, what is it?" she asked.
"I've been thinking, but couldn't you ask the king for the Golden Fleece?" he asked.
"I suppose we are left with no other options, are we?" Nike sighted.
"Thank you!" Jason perked up, rushing to hug the uplifted human.
"Although I doubt that he would be willing to even talk to me when I mention you," she didn't want to dash his happiness, but it was necessary to keep being realistic.
"Maybe you do not have to mention us Argonauts?" a stumped young man pleaded with his eyes.
"You know that I have to since I cannot physically recover the Fleece. It is too dangerous!" Nike explained hoping that her bunch of idiots had not already forgotten that they had to recover the Golden Fleece in its inert state, which would change if she came in contact with it.
"If you let me. I might have a solution for that," said a new feminine voice, which neither Jason nor Nike recognized.
"And you are?" asked the uplifted human, once she noticed Jason's sclaked jaw and faraway look.
"My name is Medea," said the pretty-looking young woman and the main reason why Jason's brain stopped working for this very moment.
His brothers were idiots. It could not be said in any other way, no matter how much he disliked to call them as such. They had quite an opportunity to end the feud, they had with the two monster women, in an easy way. If they were only willing to talk. Both Arachne and Medusa were more than sapient and quite reasonable. He knew that quite well, after all, he went through all of the memories of Medusa's mortal companion. Every single detail was known to him. He had to admit that Phoibe was certainly a woman of culture. Not exactly his kind of culture, but he could find common grounds.
Thanks to those memories, he was also aware that Ares was not the one responsible for the creation of the monster duo. Oh no, he was well aware that it was someone else, someone, who thought herself a genius. Alas, he let that small detail pass for a few reasons. One, if his brother found that it was his favored daughter who messed up so badly, Athena may or may not have suffered a fatal fate. Since she was Zeus's greatest creation, at least his brother certainly thought so. Thus, the disappointment would have been probably too much for his brother to bear. Second of all, Athena was responsible for the creation of Medusa and Arachne, for which he was grateful, though he could not voice that opinion publicly. Alas, how exactly Arachne obtained her powers, still remained a mystery. Maybe she would tell him once she and Medusa joined him in the Underworld. And lastly, Ares was responsible for the creation of his upgraded Amazonians, which brought nothing but destruction. On the potentially catastrophic scale, since the souls of people they killed in Athens were completely mangled. They would get better with time, but should the damage be done on a larger scale, the human population in the Olympian region, could dwindle to unsustainable levels. He would love to know how Ares achieved that, though. Hopefully, he would be more talkative after a few years of an eagle snacking on his liver.
Putting his brother's naughty children aside, there was a much bigger thing to contemplate. The decision that could change it all. Should he go against his brothers and possibly even his own better judgment and attempt to contact Arachne? No, that was not exactly the decision he would have to make, since he already decided on this. He would contact her and Medusa. The question remained how exactly should he do that? From Medusa's long-time friend, Phoibe, he learned about the snake monster woman quite a lot. And her experience with his brothers was highly unpleasant, so to speak. Therefore, going there himself was probably not a good idea.
As such there was one and only real solution, to this predicament. And that was to send there a Persephone. He was certain that she would understand. Only if he knew where to exactly. Phoibe and Medusa resided on Mount Athos for some years, but this was also a place, where the snake woman was assaulted by his idiotic brother. He could have imagined, that she did not want to stay there for long, should his brother return. Then there was the island of Lesbos, where Phoibe's teacher, Sappho originally resided, along with Arachne. The latter presumably for centuries. There was a good chance, that they would return there, as the island was undisturbed by Olympians since they had only a small following there. And finally, there was a third, the least pleasant option. Where the monster duo would leave for someplace else. Sending Orthrus along with Persophone, as a tracker should address that particular obstacle. He was sure that the good boy certainly needed a breath of fresh air after the long convalesce.
With that out of the way, now was a time to look for Sappho of Lesbos, in the Elysium, in order to make sure that Arachne felt as welcomed in the Underworld as possible.
For long months the plans were being made. New people, who were willing to believe in their lady, were brought in. And the whole cult has grown. She herself held it together as a herald of their lady. There were some, who tried the same thing as the previous High Weaver, but none were successful, none could even come close. Since she had been blessed by their lady, with the red ampechone, the new symbol of leadership.
Many architects were brought to the island of Lesbos, to create plans for their lady's temple. Only the most brilliant ideas were selected, but none single was just right in capturing their lady's magnificence. And so, the architects were made to understand, that they would cooperate on the construction with each other.
Despite the few initial delays, everything was starting to come together. Workers and artisans were hired. And the necessary groundwork was already done, while the first stones were being cut at transported to the place where the temple was to be erected.
Cynane herself did not know if she would be able to handle all of the things necessary to run the cult and build the temple, while at the same time bringing in more people to worship their lady. At least she was certain that without their lady's blessing, she would not be able to do so.
Back when she was still a plain young woman, she had no such a way with the words as she had now, neither she held any sway on the important matters. But now everyone was in the awe when she walked around all tall, no longer bending her back to make herself look smaller. She was no longer nobody. Now she was Cynane, the high priestess of Lady Arachne.
Now many months after his son was born, he was certain that there must have been something different about him. He already long suspected strangeness of his child, but never could put a finger on what exactly was wrong. But now he doubted no more. After all, it was unheard of, for a child of a few months, to start talking and not just a few incoherent words here and there, but rather the whole sentences.
Not only it was strange, but it was outright creepy when his son asked him the most curious questions. At which he many times could not answer, for he did not understand the subject.
And thus he confronted his wife, about the eeriness of their child. He demanded to know, whether the child was truly his! Because he could not believe it. He accused his wife of conspiring with the Olympians, who were enemies of Lady Arachne. But no matter the question, no matter the accusation, his wife, the queen of the island of Lemnos, always answered the same and swore on the life of their son, that he was the only man in her life.
Until one day he learned the thing. The most unexpected, unlikely and unbelievable thing of all things in the world. His wife did let slip, how the blood of false goddess Athena revived some of her people and that it was lady Arachne, who bled on their island, and in whose blood his wife bathed.
Now it all made sense! The strangeness of his son was made clear. After all, it was not his son by blood. No. The child was his lady's and he was entrusted with raising it. Such was his duty! How brilliant! It was a clear sign by his lady, that he was to be the next High Weaver! And he would be! Though, the child would have to grow, a little bit more, first.