Gazing at Heracles's receding figure, Athena sighed with a hint of melancholy.
As a deity, Athena was arrogant. Although she was currently the closest among the gods in the Greek World to the Argo Heroes on the surface—with some unnamed individual even giving her the title "Argo Heroes' Nanny"—in Athena's heart, she and these Argo Heroes were ultimately not of the same kind.
However, Heracles was different. He was born in the mortal realm, but through Hera's milk, he shed his mortal elements and became a complete deity. Yet, he grew up in the mortal realm, receiving education from his mortal adoptive father Amphitryon and the centaur sage Chiron, and had not yet been corrupted by Olympus. At the same time, he harbored resentment towards his irresponsible birth father, Zeus. In terms of his strength, his ideas, his wisdom, and his psychological state, Athena felt a strong resemblance to him in all these aspects.
For this Hero, Athena genuinely, for the first time, conceived the idea of making a friend. After all, in her plans, once she overthrew Zeus and seized the throne of Olympus, she would need a new team to serve as the new generation of the Twelve Olympians, managing the world on her behalf.
Zeus's generation of the Twelve Olympians naturally could not be kept. Every God King understood this principle; after defeating the Titans, Zeus didn't take long to replace all the previous generation of Titans with his own children, siblings, and wife.
Athena also needed to do the same, but awkwardly, thanks to a certain scoundrel, she had already made a virgin's vow to the Inhibitors, and would likely remain a virgin goddess until the destruction of this planet. Therefore, even if she defeated Zeus, she couldn't follow Zeus's example and have her own children occupy important positions like the Twelve Olympians.
Thus, the Goddess of Wisdom could only settle for the next best thing, using her charm, cunning, and leadership to win over a group of heroic figures with divine blood, hoping to use them in the future.
Unfortunately, regarding Heracles, Ares had probably already told him the whole story. With the revenge for his wife and children's murders, Heracles couldn't simply let it go with a laugh. The strong man's path here was likely a dead end.
Thinking of this, Athena felt very aggrieved. She was the one who came first, whether it was introducing Alcmene to Zeus or planning how to trick Hera into feeding Heracles. But then, the Three Goddesses' series of absurd actions directly pushed the pinnacle of the Greek World's Argo Heroes to the opposing camp.
Are the representatives of the planet's Inhibitors all so foolish? They're impossible to lead, impossible to lead.
If not for her ultimate goal, Athena would never have cooperated with the Three Goddesses. Having such an ignorant and bossy Party A's Father (A-side boss) was truly unbearable.
However, she had just sent off a dejected Perseus and hadn't even had time to sigh when she saw Lachesis, the Goddess of Fate who controlled the cutting of destiny threads and the present, approaching her with a grim expression, holding a purplish-black condensed object.
"Athena, I have a remedial task for you."
The veiled goddess, with a maidenly demeanor, handed the purplish-black condensed object to Athena and said,
"This is a cursed demonic seed. Make Medusa eat it."
"Is this really a good idea?"
Athena frowned as she took the demonic seed, examining it carefully in her hand, then said,
"Medusa's fate of being raped by Poseidon has already been rewritten by Ares. I also have no reason to curse her again. If we still force her to swallow this curse, she is very likely to become an innocent monster, affecting my reputation in the Greek World. Ares will definitely not miss this opportunity."
"I don't care," Lachesis replied decisively, "But Medusa must become a demon. This is the arrangement of Fate."
With that, the Fate Goddess did not bother to tell Athena how to implement the plan, merely dropping a "figure it out yourself" before hastily returning to the secret temple where the Three Goddesses wove destiny, acting very much like an irresponsible hands-off boss.
Athena held the demonic seed, feeling both angry and amused. At this point, she was going all out. Anyway, according to the Three Goddesses, she just needed Medusa to eat this demonic seed. As for whether Ares or others would ruin the matter in the end, she took no responsibility whatsoever.
If Medusa ultimately didn't transform into the monster of her original destiny, then it was due to the poor quality of the demonic seed given by the Three Goddesses, and had absolutely nothing to do with her beautiful and pure Goddess of Wisdom.
Deciding to act immediately, after confirming that Perseus had dejectedly gone to a guesthouse in Athens to rest, Athena held the demonic seed and went to Medusa's residence next to the temple.
After all, Medusa was also a goddess, an unchangeable fact. Therefore, she did not live with the other priestesses. Athena still maintained her in a very high position among the priestesses and provided her with a separate residence. If this residence were to be converted into a temple, then Medusa's current treatment would be that of a subordinate deity to Athena.
After today's harrowing incident, Medusa had also been ordered by Athena to return to her residence to wait. Athena arrived at her door, sensed the familiar divine aura within, and then, she lightly blew on the demonic seed in her hand, casting a spell to transform it from a purplish-black, seemingly monstrous lump into a fresh, juicy, deep-red apple.
Holding this apple, Athena then acquired a pile of other fruits from Athens, arranged them into a fruit basket, mixed this apple among them, and then knocked on Medusa's door.
She tapped twice gently, and a response came from inside. Medusa's voice, slightly more mature than a few years ago, rang out, asking,
"Who is it?"
"Medusa, you clearly know it's me," Athena replied with a light chuckle. "I've come to visit you. Please let me in quickly. I've brought you some 'comfort food'."
Medusa at this moment extremely did not want to open the door, yet no matter what, Athena was now the deity she served. Therefore, with a thousand unwillingnesses and ten thousand reluctances, Medusa still lowered her head and, with a sullen expression, opened the door and let Athena in.
Upon entering, Athena first offered some feigned comfort, then declared that the audacious Poseidon had been punished, and that her late arrival had caused Medusa to endure suffering beyond her years. Following this, she placed the fruit basket on the table inside the room and offered the apple to Medusa.
"Eat it. These fruits are fresh, picked by the citizens of Athens from their own orchards. I even visited their orchards; the cherries there are growing wonderfully."
Medusa, half-believing, half-doubting, took the apple. Under Athena's gaze, she couldn't refuse, so she could only hold the apple and take a small bite.
Seeing her action, Athena nodded in satisfaction and then said,
"Then I won't delay your rest. Take good care of yourself. I'll leave these fruits here for you to eat slowly. After you finish them, have a good sleep and forget all these troubles."