Dylan King and His New Roommate Called Goddess Athena [1st Book]

CHAPTER 16

POINT OF VIEW: DYLAN

Friday, October 20, 2028, around 08.00 P.M

Dylan's eyes flew wide with surprise when the woman he thought to be the relative of the young couple, turned out to be the goddess Hera. The wife of the Greek god Zeus was just staring at the couple, and the smile she threw at them was so sweet; Dylan felt he could melt if he was the one receiving it. Suddenly, his admiration towards the goddess had to abruptly cease when the Father and the young couple turned to them. He looked back at Athena, who also still fixed her eyes on Hera. Grabbing her by the arm, he whispered, "Athena, we have to go now!"

Athena did not respond. Leaving Dylan with no choice, he dragged her away. He was fully aware that by doing so, she would be furious at him. Nevertheless, considering that disturbing someone's wedding ceremony would have a greater cost, he was willing to take the risk.

Finally, when Dylan reached the fifth row of the seat, he stopped. Taking a deep breath, he prepared himself to be scolded by Athena. He turned around, ready to say, "I am sorry for dragging you away,". However, instead of setting an angry face like he thought she would be doing, she seemed to still glue her eyes on Hera. Lines of confusion were on her face, making him decide to ask, "What is it that's bothering you, Athena?"

"Hera seemed to not recognize me. She looked at me momentarily, and she smiled at me. Oddly, the smile she gave me was the smile someone gave to a new person she never met before. She supposedly knew me. Why on Gaia's name did she react like she never knew me?"

"Hmm ... is it possible you mistake her for someone else?" Dylan asked. "I mean ... probably she is just a person who happened to resemble Hera."

"No ... ," Athena responded with a stern voice, simultaneously looking at Dylan. "I know I wouldn't be wrong here."

Dylan nodded. "Well ... then there's only one way to figure it out. We have to wait until the ceremony is over."

Dylan and Athena sat at the fifth seat. It was clear that she still fixed her eyes on Hera, who was already sitting and her back was to them. The ceremony usually took around 20 minutes to finish. Afraid that Athena might grow impatient, Dylan decided to distract her. Luckily, he remembered her strange reaction upon the 'Jesus On The Cross' figure. Thinking it might be a good topic, he decided to ask her about it.

"Hey, Athena," Dylan called forward. Instantly, the goddess looked to him.

"What is it, Dylan?"

"Mmm ... just now, before you noticed Hera's presence, you were looking at the statue back there," Dylan said as he pointed at the Jesus statue. "I saw you seemed to be sad –"

"Ah, that's because His death was so tragic."

"His death was so tragic?"

"Yeah ... ," Athena seemed confused. "There are surely books about it, right?"

"Hundreds of it," Dylan said, even though he obviously never checked it.

"You're not sad upon reading about His tragic death?"

"I did feel the punishment He had to endure was too sadistic. But honestly, I never really felt sad about it."

"Probably because you weren't there to witness it by yourself."

"What do you mean?"

"I was there, standing on that hill, seeing this man and two criminals hanging on their crosses."

"Wait ... ," Dylan paused. "Are you saying you were on the hill where this man was crucified?"

"Yes, I was. It was such a major unexpected event, hence there were some gods and goddesses who came down to witness it by themselves."