Chapter 64 Promise Me
“I am your first believer, Hermes.”
Hermes pondered for a moment, then waved goodbye to the gods Artemis. After confirming that they wouldn't follow, she swiftly darted to Apollo's side, who was already far away.
His steps were steady, making a soft rustling sound as he stepped over the grass, reminding her that he had once walked with similar steps to visit her in Arcadia.
If only time could turn back.
Hermes' thoughts drifted away.
For some reason, she missed the old days when there weren't so many troubles, and her mind was filled with nothing but protecting her mother, being recognized by the Olympian gods, and... herding sheep with Apollo and playing beautiful music together.
"Sigh~"
Hearing the sigh of the brat beside him, Apollo glanced at her.
"What?" His tone seemed a little strange. "Missing Pan too much?"
No, it's you I miss.
"..."
Actually, Apollo isn't quite used to Hermes's recent straight shots.
But this did not prevent him from being in a good mood. His face, which had been stern because of that brat Pan, gradually broke into a smile.
“Well, it’s good to have a conscience.” Apollo withdrew his gaze, pretending to be calm as he stared ahead. “However, there’s something I’m curious about, Hermes.”
"What? Go ahead and tell me, it's good to have a strong curiosity, Brother Apollo!" Hermes snapped out of her reverie and looked up at the guy who was trying to change the subject.
"..." Apollo was too lazy to even comment on her anymore. He rubbed his temples and continued, "In that Tree of Life, did Gaia really only instruct you to go to the Underworld?"
Oh, so that's what it was about.
"Tch, in the end you still don't believe me." Hermes curled her lip.
But she didn't completely trust him either, so everything was fine.
“Sometimes you should find the clues and answers yourself, instead of just thinking about getting them from me…” Hermes’s voice trailed off, until finally she mumbled in a whisper, “…Never mind.”
It's so annoying; even she doesn't know what kind of nonsensical things she's rambling on about.
She'll surely be mocked again by that despicable Apollo who harmed her so much.
Unexpectedly, Apollo said gently, "I know, Hermes, otherwise I wouldn't have taken you to Pan."
Um?
“I was born with a hatred for evil monsters, so I care about that child just as much as you do, and I worry that his dark nature will bring about a catastrophe.” Apollo’s voice sounded a little softer and more magnetic than usual, making him seem like a ghost wandering through the forest at night. “So I think, perhaps we have been overlooking something all along.”
Upon hearing this, Hermes felt a pang of anxiety, and Apollo happened to look down and come into her line of sight.
His light blue eyes slowly turned deep and dark.
Hermes couldn't help but click her tongue softly.
Perhaps even she was infected with the silly goose virus.
“The goddess Gaia commanded me to kill the evil thing that is about to wreak havoc on the world, and it will also shake the old man’s throne. I have named it Typhoon. If you can lend me a hand, that would be best, rather than just trying to gain something from me.”
Hermes ultimately chose to confess to this man who was just as cunning as herself. She had originally wanted to wait a little longer, or simply wait for him to find out on his own.
"And I have never overlooked Pan's dangerousness, because I had long suspected that he might also have a close relationship with that great god."
"Don't really think of me as an idiot who doesn't know anything, you bastard Apollo."
"..."
Apollo remained silent for a long time.
Just when Hermes' heart was about to sink into despair, the annoying guy who had been tormenting her finally stopped pretending to be mute.
“Never.” His tone softened. “And I have never despised you, otherwise I would not have wanted to give you my heart.”
“I am your first believer, Hermes.”
It must be said that the God of Light truly deserves to be called the God of Art; every word he uttered touched the softest spot in her heart, and he indeed pleased her with these sweet words that were full of hidden meaning.
Hermes pushed off with her feet and flew upwards, standing shoulder to shoulder with Apollo.
"Promise me you'll always put me first, and even you'll have to come second." She stared at him intently with her wide emerald green eyes.
Apollo also stared intently at her.
"I promise you, I swear on my honor as Phobos Apollo."
It's strange, this usually arrogant and aloof God of Light actually looks more serious than her, as if she's been sold out and is still helping her count the money.
"Love-obsessed people are terrifying." Hermes blurted out her true feelings without realizing it.
But Apollo simply smiled and said, "So, you admit you love me too."
Hermes: "..."
Hermes: "...Hmph, I'll allow you to touch my head."
The two of them were expressing their feelings for each other and talking about love, while the snakes who were forced to be the background were very miserable.
[I'm speechless. How much longer is Your Highness going to drag this on with that bastard Apollo? I can't take it anymore, the air is thick with the stench of romance...]
【Hey, that's not love, Apistoni! I refuse to believe it! It's definitely His Highness enduring humiliation and biding his time to seduce Apollo!】
Where did you learn all this? It sounds so advanced!
That's not the point...
In short, the two gods and two serpents eventually arrived at the dwelling place of humankind.
Although the creator goddess Gaia lives in seclusion on Crete, there are also a few human villages there. They are accustomed to living in groups, so the villages are built very densely. While far from the goddess's sacred realm, they also gather the strength of weaker races, like slaves who are isolated and kept but unwilling to be enslaved.
Humans are like wild grass, full of vitality; though small in stature, they are incredibly resilient.
New growth will come next year, and life will continue endlessly.
Hermes and Apollo concealed their divine aura, disguised themselves as ordinary humans, and easily found Pan.
Indeed, it was effortless, for the boy with the legs, horns, and ears of a goat was sitting cross-legged on a boulder in the center of the village—a rough-hewn platform that looked like it had been carved by humans. His eyes were closed, and his blood-red skin burned like flames in the sunlight.
The serene-faced goat boy, holding a seven-stringed harp, sang as he played, his high-pitched and passionate tone seemingly carrying surging emotions, accompanying the new, unfamiliar, and strange language, turning it into a long and beautiful ballad.
Humans gathered around him, gazing intently at him and listening attentively to his speech, their surprise and admiration evident in their faces that resembled those of a god.
They were completely infatuated with him, idolizing him as if he were a supreme deity.
Pan and the humans seemed oblivious to Hermes and Apollo's approach.
“That’s not what I taught him.”
Hermes stood a few steps away from the humans, her expression complex as she looked through them at the goat boy atop the giant rock platform.
In that instant, she felt as if she had never truly known the child.
“I don’t understand his self-invented language, but…”
“But it possesses a magic far more powerful than we can imagine.” Apollo, understanding her perfectly, picked up where she left off, his expression equally complex. “It was able to evade the eyes and ears of the gods and spread unscathed in the realm of the Earth Goddess.”
Even when they got so close to the source of this magic, they still couldn't glimpse even the slightest mystery within it.
Not to mention—one of them is a nature god, and the other is a god of light.
Hermes felt an unprecedented tension.
This intense tension, as if every cell in her body was screaming, swept over her entire body, causing her to tremble unconsciously, the tremors growing stronger and stronger.
It was as if—she wasn't afraid, but rather overjoyed and excited.
The darkness that had troubled her time and again now enveloped her completely.
Whether in the human settlements of Delphi or in Cilicia, inhabited by monsters, that ominous and malevolent aura always clung to the nature goddess favored by the Earth Mother, never leaving her side.
Hermes' mind suddenly went into chaos, as if she had fallen into an unparalleled state of confusion, and she could not help but recall everything she had witnessed in the realm of the God of Light.
She saw again the strange things the Delphians had kept in secret: papyrus scrolls with many small drawings. They looked somewhat like the script she had taught the Arcadians to write, yet they also seemed like simple scribbles. But they were all painted with gradients of gold and silver, as if telling a mysterious story.
That story—
"..."
Hermes' eyes widened, her pupils contracted sharply, and she saw that the sky and clouds had turned into a dark, overcast expanse.
The humans no longer paid attention to the goat boy singing and playing on the high rock platform; they turned their heads as if unconscious, facing her with empty expressions.
At the same time, the tall, handsome man who had been by her side disappeared.
There was no longer any light to protect her.
The two snake spirits coiled around her arm were still cold, but at least for now they were there to support her in maintaining her self-awareness.
【Your Highness, Your Highness...】
Just as Hermes was secretly relieved that the snakes had not been excluded from this strange situation, the boy who sat calmly in the center, high above, suddenly opened his eyes, and a bewitching violet flower bloomed on his handsome face.
That beautiful face combined the best features of a nature goddess and a nymph, yet possessed an innate allure, unleashing intense emotions in a fiery red glow.
Hermes saw Pan raise his eyebrows, curve his eyes and smile at her.
The next moment, a feeling of immense weight, like a thousand pounds of stone, came from her arm, and the snake spirits named Apistoni and Tokei stopped moving and speaking.
They were petrified alive on her body.
“Hello,” Pan said, his clear, spring-like voice filled with joy and excitement. “It’s so good to see you again, Goddess of Nature.”
That was the exact same excitement Hermes felt at that moment.
But she was not happy.
Because that wasn't the real Pan.
Hermes clearly sensed the presence of the Lord of Cilicia from the body of the goat boy who possessed his own divine power.
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