Chapter 4

Athena swept through the clouds on high Olympus. Distant crackling sounds echoed in the sky from the speed of her going. Her warlike armor of flashing gold glinted under the golden rays of the sun. Zeus watched her from his window and was right glad to see the broad heaven's floor rocked beneath the goddess's feet as she landed.

Glorious, beautiful, yet deadly, and a marvel to all, Zeus knew this daughter would be a great asset. Though the Titans had been destroyed and cast to the eternal pit of the Underworld, he still worried that his enemy could rise and rebel. The sky-lord still needed help to keep the other remaining Titans in check. Now that he had Athena and her ever-growing strength, his lordship was more secured and he felt much at ease. The thunder god thought he could reign the universe far more effectively.

The moment after her birth, Zeus had been humoring her with gifts and temples and even promises of cities. Once, out of curiosity, the god even permitted her to wield the weapon so feared by all —the great thunderbolt, which no god save Zeus himself could lift.

With her extraordinary might, Athena picked up the masterbolt and raised it above her head. Her immortal armor flashed with miniature lightning. The sight of her power humbled those who witnessed it, and they gasped and trembled in awe. It was then that every Olympian knew Athena was not the maiden to be trifled with.

As the night poured over the earth and the haze covered the broad sea, Athena was summoned to her father.

In the endless throne room, she stood, looking at him with her unblinking gray-eyes. Her helmet tugged under one arm while the other held her long spear. Its fire-forged point gleamed in the light of the torches.

"Father," she said.

Zeus smiled warmly at the maiden child and leaned forward from his enormous seat.

"Athena, dear, I have come to a decision that I shall send you off to be properly trained."

"Train?" Athena's elegantly arched brows furrowed. "With who?"

"Your uncle Poseidon had just offered his son, Triton, the messenger god of the sea, to be your mentor. As I am too busy with my court that I cannot teach you all that you wish to know. Now under Triton's supervision, you shall be glad to learn all the worldly things. Besides, there are many wonderful maidens your age that would help you achieve your woman qualities during your sojourn."

Zeus was aware that Poseidon brought up this proposal to try and give Athena a bend in her character. He thought his niece was too undisciplined and too unladylike that she should be taught to behave better. Somehow, Zeus agreed as he also saw an advantage in this arrangement, but what he did not tell her was that no other Olympian offered to take Athena in. Either they feared her, or that they deemed themselves unworthy to guide her. Nevertheless, Zeus was wise enough not to entrust Athena to Hera.

The god worried that if this child was left alone, she would develop untamable habits. Though her mind was quick with peerless wits, it was her heart that had to be molded while it was still young and innocent.

"I am not going to the sea," Athena declared. "I delight here on heaven, or else send me to earth where my other aunts can teach me."

"Worry not, my darling lass, you are not going to the sea," Zeus said with a smile. "You can train by the bank of the river where Triton is a god. He is a messenger and thus knows a great deal of everything under heaven. You will surely enjoy your lessons there, Athena."

The goddess pondered the idea for a moment. Her first instinct was to refuse, but then her reasoning ruled her heart. Athena did want to learn a great many things. She could not roam idly on Olympus with no new knowledge to hoard.

The maiden had already visited Hephaestus's forge at the heart of a volcano. Of course, she admired the smith god's mastery and his genius inventions, which he tried to impress her with, but Athena seemed to already know everything about the craft herself. The knowledge seemed to come to her at the speed of her father's lightning.

Now it would be a good chance to learn something else new.

At last, Athena nodded, and Zeus smiled in relief. The trip to her foster parent's kingdom shall be made at her convenience, which was tomorrow.

~*~

The next dawn break, Athena shed off all her finest armor. Her silk tunic reached down to her delicate knees, girdled around the waist by a plain leather belt. It was the first time she left Olympus. She knew she would have to live as simply as she could, and no longer the favored daughter of the King of the Gods.

When she reached a large salt-lake in Libya, the water surged and turned to wavelets. Then a tall figure emerged from the surface. He had a fish-tailed body and sea-hued, his shoulders barnacled with sea-shells. He was the son and herald of the loud-roaring Earth-Shaker, Poseidon, and he could still the roaring waves with his conch-shell trumpet.

Triton drove his chariot yoked by a team of four dolphins, working in harmony. It was the river god who greeted her first. His smile was unlike his father's. It was warm and friendly and hid no double edges.

"O Athena, the iron maiden," Triton spoke. "My great honor that the House of Zeus allows me to welcome you to my home."

Afterward, she was led through the palace beneath the river. The halls were a lot smaller than the ones on Olympus as if restrained by the modesty of the kingdom that Triton governed. The walls and floors were plain marble, whiter than was found on land. Athena feet were hot against its surface. She thought she was being led to the throne room where she would be greeted by many more strangers, but it turned out to be a chamber.

Triton left her there by the doors, saying he had an important report to bring to his father and hers and shall be back for a welcoming dinner.

"But my daughter would be right glad to show you around, my lady," he said and then sped off on his fish-tail and disappeared.

Athena waited, but no one opened the doors for her. She decided to push them open. Lying on a wide pillowed couch was a maiden her age. She was obviously the river god's daughter, but she did not have a fishtail. She did not glance at Athena, or rather that she did not care who had entered.

This was how Zeus's daughter began to notice the difference. Ever since she was born, everywhere she went, every time she moved, everyone gawked at her with unduly attention. Now Athena was simply a maiden in the house of another god.

She took another step forward, and the girl finally looked up. She could see the silent shock in her deep-green eyes as they met, but it wasn't just Athena's beauty alone that surprised the girl.

"Good heaven, so it is true then. You do look mighty intense!" was the first thing the daughter of the fishtailed god said to her.

Athena had left all her armor on Olympus, and what she had now was only a helmet perched on the crown of her golden head and a spear. Was that what they thought of her all along? It struck from the goddess a sudden, springing irritation. She ground her jaw shut and did not speak.

The girl got up from her couch and came toward her. She was tall, too. All Triton's children were, but still, she had to raise her eyes to look at Athena's steely face. The goddess refrained herself from taking a step back.

"I am Pallas," the maiden said, her bright green eyes twinkled with mirth. "I fancy that I shall be your foster sister now."