Wisdom and War

Chapter Ten

The gods are a reflection of us.

I've never asked, but I always assumed that they chose us because they saw a part of themselves- a version of themselves that they wished to be.

The longer I worked with Athena, the more I saw how we shared the same values and prioritized the same things. She once told me that her instincts concerning me were confirmed the first time we met because instead of running away from her, I stood my ground and was even curious. There was no fear, just the need to figure out what the hell was going on. She has a heart, but it's deeply guarded within years and years of battles and pain she's had to go through. As soon as I was able, I hit the books and read about everything I could find about her since she rarely spoke to me about herself. Most of them covered stories of her battles and how she is a warrior at heart. I wanted to know more about her beyond the image of a god, but I never got the chance. It was a few years later when I saw how Joaquin and Ares interacted that I realized I only needed to look at myself.

Joaquin and Ares were an odd pair. Out of all the countries where the descendants were present (and there are a lot), Joaquin was said to be the closest to a carbon copy of Ares. Both were stubborn but rarely voiced out their true intentions. One look into their eyes will make you run away because of the fear of not knowing what was going through their heads. Unlike the stories that go around, Ares isn't short-tempered. If he does get mad, it feels like fire has rained over the entire world, but it takes a lot for that to happen. Joaquin is the same, only ever showing an ounce of anger when he's already had enough. When he starts acting like he can't sit still, it's probably because he's trying his best not to punch someone in the face.

Demeter is a different story. She and Maiko have their differences, but it's obvious that the latter has embodied the values of the other. Maiko has always been a ray of sunshine to the core, but she has her moments wherein she'd lose it, especially when any living thing was harmed. She's the only one in the Luzon omada who has developed a parent-child relationship with their ascendant since Demeter was the type to stop by from time to time. Every year, she visits Maiko during the anniversary of her rebirth with either flowers or a plant that was in need of a new caretaker, and she does this for all of her descendants. She's also fond of butting into the lives of other descendants, especially with Elias and I. I try to avoid her since I can only handle so much affection that I'm already getting from Maiko, but Elias has no choice. He has to stand through endless questions about what he does in his pastime or if he ever plans on marrying Maiko. I'm just glad that Joaquin's stoic face is enough to ward off the marriage questions from Demeter.

Hermes, however, is a totally different conversation. He's so...bright and cunning and talkative. He has a charm that's only been seen on Elias under good circumstances. His body language may be giving off the aura he wishes to show, but the eyes never lie. It's all there and I guess the years I've spent being around people and analyzing them has caused me to be better at reading a person, and a god is no exception. Being the messenger of the gods has made Hermes act like he was always in such a hurry, never being able to stay in one place for such a long period of time. His visits are short, sometimes even lasting only a few seconds just to utter a few words. If he was in such a hurry, he'd invite Elias to come with him and jump from one place to another as he relays what he wants.

"To what do we owe the pleasure?" Elias asked, standing up and heading to Hermes. They do a small handshake which changes every time and Hermes winks as their palms connect and he lightly taps Elias' cheek.

"I hear a previous problem has made its way back into your lives?" He asks, looking at Joaquin and I as he sat down on the single chair, propping his foot over the table just like Joaquin did. All eyes turned to me as Hermes' shoe touched the upper right corner of a journal, but I kept my mouth shut.