Chapter 21: Athena and Her Twin Sibling (7)
The net that ensnared Athena was a grotesque weave of indistinguishable materials—human, god, nymph, or something else entirely.
Caught in it, Athena thrashed, unable to breathe underwater like a mortal or lesser creature, her body wracked with the terror of drowning.
‘Gasp… I’m going to die like this…’
As the fear and pain of drowning overwhelmed her for the first time, draining her strength, a light burst from Hera’s pouch, Kibisis.
It was one of Poseidon’s gifts—Hestia’s lantern, igniting on its own.
Whoosh!
A warm glow spread through the cold, dark sea, loosening the net’s grip and allowing Athena to breathe again.
Cough, hack!
Spitting out the water she’d swallowed, Athena regained her senses.
The old woman who had trapped her screamed as if she’d seen something repulsive.
“Damn it! Put out that goddess’s fire at once!”
The sight of Hestia’s flame—once a solitary light that illuminated the world before her—seemed to disgust the old woman. She released Athena in revulsion.
Seizing the moment, Sleipnir rushed to Athena’s rescue, carrying her away as she struggled to recover.
Hestia’s lantern dimmed and extinguished as Athena escaped.
The old woman, swallowing her rage, gave chase.
“You think you can escape Lan, the goddess of drowning?!”
The self-proclaimed goddess-monster refused to give up.
***
Having narrowly escaped, Athena was shaken. The harrowing experience of drowning—a brutal form of death—left her unable to muster her strength.
“Ugh…”
For a young god, such a traumatic ordeal left deep mental scars that were hard to heal.
Sleipnir, being Poseidon’s steed, could keep running even with Athena dazed, but the problem was the relentless pursuit of Lan, the net-wielding old woman.
“Don’t run! I’ll use your soft, tender skin to renew mine!”
Lan, the unyielding monster, kept coming.
Unbeknownst to them, the old man from the island was also closing in, narrowing the distance.
“Ugh… I need to… pull myself together…”
As Athena groaned in pain, Kibisis glowed again.
This time, a leaf emerged—Demeter’s leaf, radiating a soft brown light that enveloped Athena.
The light felt like a mother’s gentle touch or a father’s sturdy back.
“Ahh…”
It purged Lan’s divine influence, the drowning goddess’s power, helping Athena break free from its grasp.
Grown directly by Demeter and infused with her divine essence, the leaf’s potency was unmatched.
Athena quickly regained her clarity.
Though she would’ve needed days to recover otherwise, as the daughter of Zeus and Metis, bolstered by Demeter’s power, she overcame the lingering effects of the sealed monsters’ influence.
Prrr!
Seeing Athena recover, Sleipnir snorted with a look of relief.
Athena gently patted its neck, expressing her gratitude.
“Thank you, Sleipnir. I’d have been in real trouble without you.”
Phrr!
“I’m okay now. I must’ve been under that monster’s influence.”
Glancing back, Athena saw Lan drawing closer.
“Tch!”
“Let’s get out of here!”
Fully recovered, Athena urged Sleipnir to top speed, outpacing Lan.
“You little brat!”
Lan’s furious scream echoed behind them, but they ignored it, racing forward with reckless abandon.
***
Athena and Sleipnir easily left Lan behind.
Though she still pursued, it was uncertain whether she could keep up with a fully alert Athena riding Sleipnir.
“We’re almost there. If we escape this place, we can go home.”
With only the exit ahead, Athena and Sleipnir slowed to a cautious pace.
Clop, clop.
Having left Lan’s territory behind, the fog grew even thicker.
As they pressed through it, Sleipnir suddenly halted, trembling.
Before Athena stood the old man from the island.
“H-Hello…?”
“…”
The atmosphere was entirely different from their first encounter.
On the island, he had been eerie but unreal; now, he felt tangible, grounded in reality.
His aura was as overwhelming as Poseidon’s had been.
‘This old man feels as powerful as Father Poseidon?’
No, that couldn’t be.
If he were that strong—and a sea god—he wouldn’t be trapped here.
“Won’t you… say hello…?”
Whether aware of Athena’s scrutiny or not, the old man seemed eager for her greeting.
“Hello,” Athena said cautiously.
“Yes… good children… should always… greet properly…”
Athena nodded, glancing behind her.
Thankfully, there was no sign of the monster Lan pursuing her.
But the old man in front of her showed no intention of stepping aside, continuing to speak.
“You… said you had… a protector…”
Her wisdom sounded the alarm again, warning her of imminent danger—that staying here meant death.
“Oh… they went ahead and are waiting for me up there,” Athena replied quickly.
The old man tilted his head, nodding as if satisfied.
Just as Athena began to relax, he spoke again.
“Kihik, you believe that? It’s obviously a lie.”
“But… that pouch… it’s precious…”
“What does that matter?”
“It’s a fine… pouch… I want it…”
“Idiot, she might’ve stolen it! Who would entrust such items to a child? Kihihihihi!”
“That… pouch… smells like… me…”
“Could it be Pontus’?”
“But… making a child cry… Mother… wouldn’t like that…”
A primal revulsion welled up in Athena.
The old man’s dual voices—one clear, one crackling—clashed in a disjointed, eerie conversation, as if he were two beings speaking only what each wanted.
Despite being alone, his divine aura reeked of stagnant water, and the stench of blood grew stronger.
After muttering chaotically as if he were multiple people, the old man suddenly fell silent and asked, “Who… are you… the child of?”
“I’m Zeus’—” Athena began instinctively but stopped mid-sentence.
Poseidon’s advice flashed through her mind.
Besides, though Zeus was her father, she’d never felt him as one, so why had she reflexively said his name?
‘What’s going on?’
As her confusion grew, the old man’s divine aura swelled.
“Zeus…? Who’s… that?”
“Idiot, it’s that Zeus from the rumors!”
“Maybe… but the child… stopped speaking…”
As the old man conversed with himself, Athena realized something.
‘The more I lie, the stronger his divine power grows. And his power is trying to force me to tell the truth.’
Her divine wisdom roared to life, revealing the truth.
This was Tlaloc, a monster that devoured children and adorned itself with their fingernails.
To Tlaloc, truth or lies didn’t matter—only whether he was convinced.
‘In other words, consistency is key. If I lie, I must stick to lies. If I tell the truth, I must stick to truth. That’s how he’ll be satisfied.’
She also understood why Pontus had imprisoned him.
Tlaloc was a monster who toyed with, tested, and devoured the children of gods, humans, nymphs, and all beings.
Now, she could see his twitching desire to consume her.
“Ahem… not Zeus. Poseidon is my father.”
“Poseidon…”
“The sea god…”
“The one who defeated our enemy, Pontus…”
“…”
At the mention of Poseidon’s name, the muttering old man fell silent.
His drooling saliva and sharp teeth receded.
Stroking the child’s fingernails adorning his trinkets, he stared not at Athena but at Kibisis and roared.
“Damn it! I lost my prey!”
“Just a bit more, and I could’ve filled my starving belly with those crunchy bones, tender flesh, and bright little eyes!”
“Just a nibble… can’t I take a bite? We always chew up naughty little liars!”
“No… no, we can’t let that monster into Mother’s strait!”
“Hold back… we can do this…”
“Child of Zeus, next time you come, I’ll crunch you up—pouch and all!”
After spewing his chaotic rage, Tlaloc muttered one last time, his neck twisting grotesquely.
“Poseidon… terrifying god… his power reaches even this sea…”
“We must protect Mother’s domain…”
With that, he vanished instantly.
The fog blanketing the sea lifted, revealing the true, storm-ravaged domain of the monsters.
“That monster was holding back this entire sea alone…”
Athena realized she’d narrowly escaped death.
For that creature to have sealed this raging sea from the moment she entered was a feat even most great gods couldn’t achieve.
Yet, instead of fear, Athena felt pride.
Poseidon’s name alone had made even such a monster flee.
“He ran just hearing Father Poseidon’s name!”
Though a more mature mind might’ve questioned why Tlaloc reacted so suddenly, to the young goddess Athena, it was simply thrilling and awe-inspiring.
“Yes, Father Poseidon is amazing!”
The seeds of the future goddess of war and victory were evident.
Now that the ordeal was over, Athena saw the experience as an exhilarating adventure.
Her wisdom, as if approving of her reaction, remained silent.
As the sea cleared, Athena spotted Lan approaching in the distance.
She grabbed Sleipnir’s reins and galloped out of the strait.
In truth, while Athena’s wisdom remained silent, and she marveled at Poseidon’s greatness, several hidden truths lay beneath the surface.
First, the storm raging in the monster-filled sea was caused by the release of the tempest trapped in Amphitrite’s glass bottle.
This storm had swept the other monsters away, preventing them from pursuing Athena.
The sea of monsters, aside from the initial fog, was supposed to be a silent, eerie place.
Second, the true reason only children could access the Spring of the Goddess—and why Tlaloc had retreated—was tied to the same entity: Tiamat, the mother of all sea monsters.
Tlaloc had mentioned the “Mother’s strait.”
Deep in the heart of this sea lay Tiamat, a being so primordial she could be considered a Protogenoi alongside Eurynome, known as the womb of the primeval sea.
Tiamat permitted only children in her domain, and she had a peculiar habit of taking young beings with unformed identities into her womb to rebirth them as monsters.
From the moment Athena entered the sea, Tiamat’s unconscious will had been trying to draw her in for this purpose.
What had protected Athena was Eurynome’s rope, which had been countering Tiamat’s influence.
Additionally, Poseidon had secretly slipped his trident into her possessions.
Though the trident had fiercely protested guarding Athena covertly, it had no choice but to obey its master.
In truth, Tlaloc had retreated not out of fear of Athena but due to the combined threat of Eurynome and Poseidon.
Had things gone differently, Tlaloc would have devoured Athena’s body, leaving only her unformed divine essence to be offered to Tiamat.
***
Having safely escaped the sea of monsters, Athena returned and administered the Spring of the Goddess to her younger sibling, Metel, as planned.
Gradually, Metel’s male body began to feminize.
Though there were clashes with Hades and a still-uncertain Zeus, these were minor skirmishes.
No gods or creatures died in the conflicts, and Poseidon’s army had largely put on a show of force to hold off Hades’ initial assault.
A temporary peace settled in.
As time passed, Athena shed her girlish demeanor, growing into a womanly figure as she raced across the fields.
Behind her, her closest friend — Pallas, the daughter of Triton, son of Poseidon — was chasing her with fiery determination.
Huff, huff, huff!
After their race ended, the two collapsed under a tree’s shade. A stunningly beautiful woman approached, offering them cold water.
“Here, sisters. Another tie today?”
“Kybele, I won by a hair,” Athena declared.
“No way, I beat Athena by a fraction!” Pallas countered.
“What?”
“You saying I didn’t?”
“Ha! Prove it with strength, then.”
“Oh, Athena, you’re still such a barbarian. But I’m not backing down.”
Kybele, as the woman was called, leaned against the tree, unfazed by the familiar scene as the two grabbed their spears, shields, and swords for a spar.
She waited leisurely for their return.
“Those two are just too full of energy,” Kybele chuckled.
And so, all the gods found peace—except for Poseidon.
“Wait… you want a daughter like Athena? I’m fine, really—argh, don’t do this! We’re family!”
[Record]
In the original mythology, Kybele was a dual-natured being, both male and female, and a powerful mother goddess associated with death and rebirth.
In this tale, Kybele is depicted as the daughter of Poseidon and Metis, Athena’s half-sister.
Kybele considered Poseidon her father, though, unlike Athena, she viewed both Zeus and Poseidon as her fathers.
She was always guarded by two male and two female lions, and the crown gifted to her by Poseidon, crafted by the Cyclopes, became her symbol of authority.
As a patron of marginalized identities, Kybele inherited aspects of Poseidon’s divine essence, becoming the goddess of rebirth and protector of sailors.
She also bore the unique divine essence of ‘hope’, a power absent in original Greek mythology, making her the first and last god to wield it.
As a guardian of humanity, Kybele stood alongside Athena as one of the most powerful fourth-generation gods, sometimes rivaling the three chief gods in influence.
This bolstered Poseidon’s authority among the three chief gods, ensuring no god could challenge his position.
Kybele remained ever at his side, like a shadow.
Her divine essence of ‘hope’ became so potent that it could sway even the gods, born from humanity’s deepest desires.
As a result, Poseidon became the only god immune to the threads of fate.
As an aside, Kybele’s love for her father, Poseidon, was so intense that she bore a son, Attis.
Various myths surround Attis’ birth: some say Kybele, with her ability to shift between male and female, birthed him alone; others claim she forced herself upon Poseidon to conceive him.