Chapter 61 Revisiting the Holy Land
“Come with me this time, Hermes.”
“I am going to the underworld to find the Moirai who weave the threads of fate. Hermes and Hebe will also be going with me in three days.”
Apollo fastened the brooch and explained the mission to his sister.
Upon hearing this, Artemis raised an eyebrow: "Was it Hera's doing again?"
After all, it was Hera who had Apollo arrange for Hephaestus to return from Thetis.
Apollo hummed in agreement, then lowered his eyes, seemingly deep in thought.
“Just think of it as a trip to clear your head. It’s not like it’s your first time in the Underworld.” Artemis turned back, no longer looking at her silly brother. “Speaking of which, aren’t you curious about what I found out in Cilicia?”
At dawn, she and her maids traveled from Delphi to Cilicia, and soon returned to Mount Olympus, just in time to witness Hermes's escape after playing a trick on Apollo.
In this short period of time, if we were to say what was discovered...
“I already know,” Apollo said.
"With your all-knowing prophetic power?" Artemis chuckled. "Since you foresaw it all along, why didn't you stop me from going there to take the risk? After you and Hermes left, Cilicia was shrouded in mist again."
“You have returned safely.” Apollo raised his eyes and glanced at the profile that was not smiling, which was as smooth and bright as the moon at night. “And you brought it back with you.”
"..."
Artemis paused, her hand lightly gripping the reins.
“Even though I delivered you from your mother’s womb with my own hands, sometimes I still don’t understand what you’re thinking, Apollo.”
Hermes was absolutely right, he really is an arrogant and conceited fool!
Artemis clicked her tongue and gazed at the sun chariot that was slowly flying towards them in the distance.
"But do you think the Father God knows... that he has acquired another scepter elsewhere?"
"Perhaps."
After that, the siblings had a chance encounter with Helios, the Lord of the Sun.
They nodded in acknowledgment and prepared to continue their journey to Delphi.
Helios thought for a moment, then told the children of Leto, who seemed preoccupied, about it: “The mortal realm seems to be in turmoil lately; the lands in the west and north have inexplicably dried up and cracked.”
“This is almost exactly the same thing that happened when you were hunting Pygmalion, Apollo.”
Apollo remained silent, his brow furrowed, his gaze fixed on the distance, his thoughts seemingly drifting beyond the world.
Artemis replied with a sigh, "Thank you for your kind advice. We will report this to the Father at the next council of the main temple."
Speechless. Can her good brother please change this bad habit of entering a meditative state anytime, anywhere?
I really don't know how Hermes could stand him!
Artemis inwardly grumbled.
Meanwhile, Helios said no more and rode away with the four winged horses amidst the fiery flames.
"Alright, my arrogant and rude brother." Artemis clicked her tongue again, tightening the reins to urge the golden-horned deer to go faster. "That's enough chit-chat, time to hurry up!"
Unexpectedly, when the Golden Horned Deer Chariot arrived above Delphi, the two great gods sitting inside saw the land slowly rising and approaching them.
Like tree roots rising from the ground.
The forest was crumbling, and all living things hid away; cracks in the ground were faintly visible.
Accompanied by the voice of some damn brat.
"Damn it, it's so heavy... No, to make that annoying Apollo regret it! I have to push harder!"
And the voices of the Delphians.
"Am I still dreaming? By the gods of Olympus, why do I feel the earth shaking?"
"Wait, wait a minute, are we going to fly to the heavens? Stand shoulder to shoulder with the gods???"
"Aaaaaaah! Hey, Goddess Hermes, what are you doing?!"
"Wow, this is so exciting! I'm going to heaven when I wake up!"
"..."
Apollo: "..."
Artemis: "..."
No, Hermes really did lift Delphi up?
Artemis, who, like Apollo, had control over Delphi, instantly darkened her face.
"This brat, who gave her such audacity!" As she spoke, she glanced sideways at the god beside her.
Apollo said helplessly, "I am a victim too."
Upon hearing this, Artemis snorted coldly, then jumped off her chariot and flew straight towards the brat who was causing trouble underground in Delphi.
"Hermes! Stop right there!"
"Ah, Sister Artemis? What brings you here?!"
Under the embarrassed gaze of the god of deception, the goddess of the hunt reached out and lifted her up, then snapped her fingers with her other hand.
The Holy Land of Delphi was thus restored to its original state, and Hermes' plan to move it failed.
In mid-air, Hermes was held in Artemis's hand. Watching her masterpiece being cut in half, she couldn't help but feel a little heartbroken.
After all, there's no way to get revenge on that bastard Apollo now.
But it seems there's something even more important...
Hermes swallowed hard, cautiously looking up at the goddess of the hunt who was staring at her expressionlessly. The goddess also ruled over nature and had the power to govern all the lands and kingdoms.
She gave Artemis a fawning smile, though it was unclear whether she was angry.
"Please let me explain, dear sister." Hermes forced back a few tears, trying to make herself appear small, helpless, and pitiful. "To tell you the truth, I actually... I was actually deceived by Brother Apollo!"
At that moment, Apollo, who had been quietly watching the show from inside the Golden Horned Deer chariot, heard Hermes' words clearly and immediately jumped down with a dark face, arriving beside them on a cloud.
Hermes, however, continued to argue relentlessly.
"He told me that King Hades changed the path to the Underworld, right beneath this sacred ground of Delphi! You know, dear sister Artemis, a wise and intelligent deity like myself would certainly not believe such an absurd thing, but Apollo, he is the great prophet—"
Before he could finish speaking, he was punished by Apollo's familiar hammer of love.
"Shut up, you little liar!"
"—?!!!!"
Holy crap, how come I always get caught by Apollo every time I say something bad about him?
Sure enough, the next second Apollo snatched Hermes's collar from Artemis's grasp and started holding her in his arms.
He raised his arm, meeting her face and eyes, which were filled with a mixture of shame and anger, with a half-smile.
"Who would believe such a clumsy and childish lie?" the God of Light mocked. "Are you only satisfied when you slander me every day, Hermes?"
Ugh! I was already angry, and now I'm even angrier!
Hermes immediately followed suit, a smirk playing on her lips, as she met Apollo's damnably handsome eyes with a half-smile.
"What? Don't you believe me anymore?" She naturally imitated that sarcastic tone even more. "You even look down on me, don't you, Apollo?"
What kind of bizarre verbal attack exchange is this...?
Using magic to defeat magic, is that it?
Artemis watched this scene with utter disbelief.
However, to Artemis's surprise, her good brother actually remained silent in the face of Hermes's rebuttal.
He sighed, put her down, and let her tread flat on his clouds.
“I believe in you,” Apollo said. “And I will never despise you.”
"My dear little genius."
That sounds amazing.
It softened her heart, as if she had transformed into a lakeside in spring.
Hermes blushed.
"However, what you just did was very dangerous. Don't do it again."
Apollo added this sentence and reached out to rub the girl's head.
He was incredibly gentle, appearing every inch the perfect husband and father.
Hermes blushed completely.
"Damn it, how cunning you are, Brother Apollo..." she muttered, feeling a warm caress from above her head, her eyes darting around nervously. "I know..."
Apollo chuckled and withdrew his hand: "So, are you planning to steal my things next?"
Hermes immediately calmed herself and clenched her right fist.
"That's without a doubt! You've always been my goal!"
"?"
"...Your stuff!"
"Actually, no explanation is needed, you little rascal."
The Delphians below witnessed this scene and, in their innate love of watching the spectacle and gossiping, began to engage in their own kind of activity.
"Those two great gods really do have something going on. No wonder there's a statue of the goddess Hermes in our Temple of Light now!"
"I hope they can be together forever, and the Arcadians surely feel the same way we do!"
Oh, that's not necessarily true.
After all, Arcadia now has one more deity.
After bidding farewell to the Delphians, Hermes followed Apollo to Crete, as she was quite interested in what Artemis had told them earlier—that Gaia had summoned Athena and Prometheus to the Sanctuary of the Earth Mother.
Hermes originally wanted to hitch a ride on Artemis's golden-horned chariot, but Artemis looked down on her and Apollo and told them to go away.
But just as she, the goddess of speed, was about to fly to her destination on her own, Apollo summoned his swan chariot.
“Come with me this time, Hermes.”
Let's go on another adventure together.
The God of Light grasped the hand of the God of Deception with a force as gentle as his voice.
He brought her onto his chariot, like the two statues standing side by side in his temple, or like the story passed down among the creatures of the Sanctuary of Delphi, a story unique to the two of them.
This made Hermes think that her story with Apollo might have quietly begun on the day she returned from Mount Olympus and took him with her to herd sheep in Arcadia.
Because he said those words to her—"Come with me this time, Hermes."
He is indeed regaining the initiative.
Hermes smiled and decided to let Apollo do as he pleased for the time being.
After all, she really enjoyed being pampered by him.
Even if there are ulterior motives, it doesn't matter.
She has more than one way out.
---
Compared to Arcadia or Delphi, the human population of Crete is quite small. Most of the island is inhabited by earth and sea spirits who voluntarily guard this place for the sake of the Mother of Gods who always resides in the Evergreen Sanctuary.
When Hermes set foot on Crete, she no longer sensed the eerie presence of the Queen of Cilicia. The power and majesty of the Earth Mother were so great that even a colossal monster intending to harm the gods dared not easily offend her.
But this gave Hermes new inspiration.
Gaia not only gave birth to many gods, but also many monsters.
If that monster is afraid of the Earth Goddess... what an interesting sequel that would be!
In any case, this time the Cretan nymphs did not stop Hermes from entering the Sanctuary as they had done before. They let her and Apollo pass, as if they already knew that these two Olympian gods would come to this boundless grassland today.
Artemis, however, had no intention of meeting the great Earth Mother. She transformed into a lithe yet strong deer and nimbly leaped into another deep forest.
She is also a goddess of nature, and she will not stand idly by when she senses that the earth is about to face danger.
At this moment, in the Sanctuary of the Earth Mother, Hermes and Apollo stood beneath the Tree of Life, which seemed to pierce the sky, waiting for Athena and Prometheus to emerge from it.
The goddess Gaia loved to show off her miracles to all living beings, but she also always hid many unknown secrets.
but……
“Hermes,” Apollo said softly, “Artemis discovered the same thing.”
As he spoke, he gazed at the place where everything seemed to be green.
The beautiful and charming nymph fairies picked flowers while dancing and singing joyfully. Their laughter and chatter carried from the cattle to the sheep, and even the birds in the sky chirped and chirped along with them.
Hermes, who was also witnessing this scene, tilted her head, and the scepter in her hand transformed into a flute.
She closed her eyes and played a melodious tune.
Seeing this, Apollo raised his eyebrows slightly and listened quietly, as if he had witnessed the dazzling dawn illuminating the world in an instant.
The nymphs were drawn to Hermes' flute music, turning their gazes towards her with a mixture of curiosity and emotion.
One fairy couldn't help but sing along to the flute music, and then a second, a third, a fourth... until they all used their own voices to join the goddess of nature in playing this beautiful melody.
Because they are born with a love for nature, they are naturally drawn to Hermes.
Apollo remained silent as he watched, his gaze falling upon Hermes's perpetually closed eyes, a hint of profound meaning tinged with their pale blue hue.
He still couldn't tell whether she was truly sincere, but he was willing to believe that she would always be honest and kind.
He wanted her feelings to be limited to him.
As the flute music came to an end, the Tree of Life burst forth with dazzling white light, and the gods of wisdom and prophecy stepped out from within it.
The light was so dazzling, even more sacred and majestic than the brilliant golden light at Apollo's birth, as if it encompassed the entire world.
Hermes smiled and put her flute away.
At the same time, a compassionate and gentle female voice resounded through the sky.
Hermes.
"come to me."
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