Chapter 7

The two maidens walked in silence until they went farther away from the eye of others. Athena had never seen this part of the land before. She found the short journey a mystery but did not ask as Pallas continued to stride ahead.

The northern shore was rough with river rocks, but after they passed a few hundred miles, it turned into a long stretching beach of rainbow pebbles. The water flowed beneath their sandaled feet. Pallas knew every inch of the river, its crags, and caves, its hidden hot springs.

It was a good place to be alone. There was a grove up ahead and the two went to the field surrounded by redwoods and elm bushes.

"Why did you bring me here?" Athena finally said when they stopped.

Pallas just grinned and went up into a cave by the shore. Athena waited until she returned with an ash-wooded spear, a bronze sword, and two polished shields. The nymph tossed the spear to Athena, who caught it without a flinch.

"I figure you would behave less stiffly when no one is around," Pallas said.

"Stiffly?" Athena frowned.

"I knew you were born armor-clad and all, but here you can lose some of your proud bearing a little." Pallas smiled again and held up her shield. "Now strike me, goddess."

Athena would have laughed if she knew what laughter was, but she didn't have time to find out as the warrior nymph delivered a blow that almost made her stumble back on her sure feet. She parried Pallas's attack with her shield. Bright sparked burst when their weapons clashed upon one another. Pallas was a great fighter, Athena realized. Her swiftness and her strategic blows made up for her lack of strength. Athena found her a surprising match.

"I thought you wanted me to lose my guards," the daughter of Zeus said as their shields collided again.

"Isn't it the best way to do so?" Pallas laughed. She charged again with all her might. Kicking and swirling like two dancers, they sparred for a long time until Pallas decided to put a stop to it and then sat down. Athena didn't seem to lose her breath when she set the spear aside.

"Are you well?" she asked, looking at Pallas's heaving sighs.

"You are unreal," the nymph said. "I used everything I had learned and bent all my muscles, and you did not even break a sweat. By Zeus, you were just born!"

It was the moment Athena came close to cracking a smile. It was strange on her lips, and the smile was too faint to form itself.

"You are not bad yourself," Athena said and sat down on a large river rock, too. "Who taught you how to fight? Your father?"

"Yes, he kept a horde of his warrior-daughters here, so if some lustful gods happen to chance upon them, they can defend themselves, hopefully."

"The lustful gods?" Athena asked. Pallas didn't answer. She picked up a white pebble and flung it into the river. The stone didn't skip but it made a nice splashing sound.

"My grandfather for one," Pallas said. "And some other gods who I dare not say their names."

"You mean my father?" Athena said. Pallas sent another stone into the water.

"What is this deep resentment you always seem to carry around with you?" Pallas said instead.

Athena picked up a multi-colored pebble and threw it to the river. It skipped seven times before it sunk into the water.

"I knew what my father did to my mother...because of the prophecy," she said after a while. "She told me after she had me."

"Your mother told you?" Pallas turned to look at the gray-eyed maiden. "But I thought she...is she still...?"

"Alive? Yes and no," Athena said simply. "She is immortal. Swallowing her is like consuming all the ambrosia of the gods. Father and mother fused together and now become one."

Pallas didn't know what to say. It made sense that Zeus appeared less of a reckless young god and was becoming wiser than he used to be. That was the result of Metis's sacrifice. In a way, Athena still had her two parents even one of them had eternally disappeared.

The two girls were silent for a while.

"My mother also made me those armors," Athena told her and there was a tone of pride in her voice. It had been quite a change to see her gradually opening up. Pallas did not want to ruin the magical moment and chose her next words with care.

"She was truly a master of the craft," the nymph said.

"I aspire to be a great goddess just like her," Athena said.

"And your father, too?"

Athena's gray eyes fixed into a distance for a moment before she spoke again.

"Better than my father."