"Over the years, whenever Orion suffered soul stripping and his consciousness fell into chaos, he would mumble this place name. We suspect Paradise Island is the place pulling his soul away."
Athena nodded slightly, her brow tightening. Samael's gaze sharpened as he followed up.
"So my role in this expedition is to help Artemis find Paradise Island and restore Orion's soul?"
"Correct. Trading a complete Orion for Atalanta is a good deal for you, isn't it?"
The Goddess of Wisdom gave a sly smile, her tone teasing as she nudged Themis and Medusa, who were sharing sweets and fruit, clearly fanning the flames.
Samael stayed calm, his eyes steady.
"That's it?"
"What?"
"Since when have you ever been this generous? Say it. What does finding Paradise Island do for Areopagus?"
"Tch, boring…"
Athena curled her lip, the smile vanishing as boredom took over.
"See? Told you. You can't fool him."
"A bet's a bet. Next month you're covering ten tutoring sessions for me at the Academy of Athens."
Across the table, Themis and Medusa exchanged a quick smile, clinked their cups, and sipped the floral tea dried by the nymphs.
With her temperament long laid bare to her entire household, the Goddess of Wisdom finally gave in, annoyed, and got to the point.
"Fine. Paradise Island might be the legendary place where Greek heroes' souls return.
And it's not just Orion. Under normal circumstances, with humans and divine spirits coexisting, the Olympus bloodline constantly mingling with mortals, and generation after generation of god-blooded descendants being born, humanity should be thriving. But so far, heroes born among humans—even those with heroic potential—seem cursed. They run into endless accidents. Some lose their souls. Some vanish entirely. Many disappear after achieving glory. Areopagus still can't determine the cause. These should have been forces we could rally and rely on…"
Athena's expression dimmed, bitterness clouding her face.
Samael considered it.
"You think these human heroes were all being drawn to Paradise Island?"
Medusa stepped forward, her expression tightening.
"Not a guess. A certainty.
During one of his episodes, when his consciousness was being torn apart, Orion described first seeing a white void. Then his body felt lighter and lighter. After his mind collapsed and reformed, he found himself in a world of birdsong and flowers—full of familiar faces.
He even saw his old friend Perseus and Perseus's sons."
Samael frowned. He knew Orion and Perseus were early Greek heroes. Orion had once helped the son of Zeus cross the Oceanus to slay the sea monster. They knew each other too well for Orion to mistake him.
But legend said Perseus ascended to the heavens as the constellation Perseus. Why would he be on Paradise Island?
Unless—
"You're saying someone has been manipulating the heroes' fates, pulling the strings behind everything. And the most likely culprit is…"
The ancient serpent paused, voice low.
"Zeus."
Themis spoke solemnly, the eyes behind her black veil deep and shadowed.
"The so-called wise God King never stopped controlling humanity. He only changed his method. According to fate's revelation, Olympus will face a major upheaval—that will be our best chance. But before that, Areopagus must uncover Zeus's trump card."
Understanding flickered in Samael's eyes.
"So you want me to use this expedition to find that card. Even if we can't wield it ourselves, we have to destroy it and leave Zeus with nothing to rely on. Good idea."
He already understood the upheaval Olympus was destined to face. With the advantage of foresight, he knew Zeus's rule would not be smooth. It would be shaken by three wars and one internal rebellion.
The three wars were the conflict between the old and new gods, the Typhon War, and the vaguely recorded War of the Giants. According to legend, the final catastrophe nearly toppled the Greek gods. Even the great hero Heracles was summoned to defend Olympus. When the battle ended, he received the supreme honor of being named an "Olympian," recognizing him as one of the gods and honoring his sacrifice.
The internal conflict took place in the mid-to-late period of Zeus's reign, when Poseidon secretly joined forces with Hera and Athena. They seized an opportunity to suppress and imprison the God King, but for unknown reasons the rebellion ultimately came to nothing.
In truth, that internal strife was exactly the moment Samael had been waiting for. Based on Themis's sense of fate, toppling Zeus would not be simple. He likely held a trump card the gods could not afford to disregard. Paradise Island might be one of those cards. And its existence was severely slowing Areopagus's ability to gather people to its cause.
A thought struck Samael, clearing his mind.
"Poseidon or Hera contacted you, didn't they? You're getting ready to move?"
The three goddesses exchanged glances, their surprise obvious. The silent admiration in their expressions satisfied Samael's pride.
After a short pause, Athena straightened her thoughts, sounding helpless.
"Poseidon is too ambitious, and Hera is a jealous woman on the verge of losing her mind. I can't trust either of them. I didn't want to act so hastily, but Zeus seems to be watching Areopagus. If we wait any longer, things could go wrong."
Samael frowned slightly, murmuring to himself.
"Because Areopagus and the Academy of Athens have gathered so many heroes, Zeus feels threatened?"
Now that she had spoken openly, Athena remained calm.
"Maybe. Either way, we'll clash with Olympus eventually."
After a brief pause to think, the ancient serpent tested his guess.
"Then… is there any chance Paradise Island is on Amazon Island?"
"How could it be! We practically turned Greece upside down to find that card. If we hadn't found nothing on land, and if we weren't all queued up under Zeus's watch, with no time to spare, we wouldn't have even considered looking to the sea or sending you into danger."
Athena's blunt answer crushed Samael's momentary fantasy, leaving him disappointed. Tch. So no crossover after all. A shame Hippolyta ran too fast—he should've asked whether they knew someone named "Diana."
Just then, as the four of them spoke through divine intent, the carriage hit rough terrain. A sudden jolt snapped Samael back to awareness and sent him tipping sideways into Atalanta's lap, nearly knocking the huntress over.
...
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