Chapter 100 - Icarus and Athena (Part 2)

  I woke up early and eveo a river to take a bath and wash my clothes. I o look presentable.

  "I'm going to see a real General!" I excimed, ughing iement.

  I wao secure a good spot, where I'd have a great view.

  Generals are so amazing that they even ride alongside a god on horseback.

  As I walked through the city, I was surprised to see it nearly deserted. There were only a few guards, and I noticed them pushing the elderly along, urging them to hurry towards the main road. I ran to the area and, from a distance, I spotted a rge crowd.

  "I'm not tall enough..." I muttered, frustrated.

  I 't miss the only my life to see a General!

  A rge barrier of guards blocked people from getting closer to the main street. Even though I had e early, the pce was already packed.

  "Damn it..."

  I couldn't see anything because of the crowd.

  "Hey!" I heard a voice call out.

  I looked to the side and saw a boy.

  "Help me up, and I'll pull you up," he suggested.

  I approached and uood what he was trying to do.

  "You want to get on that wall?" I asked.

  "Yeah. From the top of the wall, we climb that building a a better view. You think I'm going to waste the only ce to see a General in my life?" he replied, running toward the wall.

  The boy tried to gain momentum but couldn't reach the top of the wall.

  "Help me up, then you run and grab my hand."

  "Sounds like it'll work."

  I got closer to the wall and, with some effort, helped him climb up.

  "Don't fet about me!" I shouted, seeing him disappear.

  "I just went to check if it's safe. I don't want the guards to see us," he responded.

  I backed up, ran toward the wall, jumped, and used the wall as leverage. The boy stretched out his hand, and I grabbed it.

  "Damn! You're heavy," he said, pulling me up with difficulty.

  I mao climb up and grabbed the wall to finish pulling myself over.

  "Let's go! We 't be seen."

  The boy and I moved cautiously along the wall, but we mao climb the building's outer side and reached the roof.

  "I'll finally get to see a General. This is going to make for some great stories," he said, excited.

  My whole body was buzzing with happiness. From where we were, I could see the ereet where the Goddess Athena would pass with her generals, and I saw the army of soldiers f a barrier.

  The boy and I stayed there for a while.

  "It's starting!" he said, shaking me iement.

  "I noticed, calm down..."

  The boy was trembling with joy.

  We moved a little closer to the edge and peeked over. The sounds of instruments echoed as the parade began. We saw several soldiers in white armor marg forward, while beautiful women in front of them scattered flower petals.

  There were magnifit horses in armor, and as they approached, the crowd began to shout and cheer.

  "PRAISE THE GODDESS!" they shouted.

  "GLORY TO ATHENA!"

  The crowd cpped and cheered with enthusiasm as the goddess’s army marched through the city, their armleaming uhe sun, each step resounding like thunder—discipline and power in motio, my attention was elsewhere. My eyes sed the crowd, ign the pomp and celebration, searg for familiar faces among the leaders.

  Finally, I found them. The Generals. Imposing, mounted on their warhorses, leading the troops with a presehat radiated authority. Their gazes were sharp, always assessing the crowd, ready for anything.

  The Generals were five t figures, mounted on white horses that glistened in the sunlight. The aura they exuded was so intehat, for a moment, even the euphoric crowd instinctively recoiled, as if they could feel the weight of the responsibility and power these leaders bore. The brief silence gave way to a new wave of appuse, this time mixed with resped fear.

  Their armor was adorned with intricate details that sigheir rank and achievements in battle, and their expressions were unwavering, like living statues fed by war and and.

  “They’re real! They really exist!” the boy o me shouted, his voice trembling with disbelief and admiration.

  “THE GODDESS! I SAW HER!” a woman excimed iasy, her hands raised to the sky as if expeg to receive a divine blessing on the spot.

  “LOOK AT ME, GODDESS!” a man shouted, full of hope, though his trembling voice sounded more like a desperate plea.

  That’s when a soldier, with a severe expression, drew his sword in one swift, firm motion.

  “She never looks at us, always ahead. Don’t you dare and her!” His voice was cold and harsh, refleg the gravity of the sin that had just been itted.

  The man instantly paled, the color draining from his face as the reality of his mistake hit him. anding a god was a grave sin, punishable by death.

  “Five me! Please five me!” He fell to his kerrified, his trembling hands raised in supplication.

  “You will die for your crime!” the soldier snarled, advang with his sword raised, ready to carry out the sentence.

  However, before the bde could fall, a cry rang out from the crowd:

  “THE GODDESS IS ING!”

  The momentary chaos was silenced by an explosion of even louder appuse. All eyes turo Athena.

  “You’re lucky I don’t want to spoil her procession,” the soldier muttered, stepping back as he lowered his sword, his eyes still cold as they bore into the kneeling man.

  The man, still trembling, murmured in gratitude, “May the Goddess bless you.”

  I watched it all, a mixture of awe and fear swelling withihe bliion, the absolute power, and the fear... it all felt rger than life, more imposing than anything I had ever witnessed.

  Is this the authority of a god? No one dares to defy them...

  My eyes turo the ter of the parade, where the crowd’s excitement reached its peak. At the heart of the procession, what I saw left me speechless. A massive white horse with majestigs advanced dowh. Upon it sat a woman with a serious expression, her gaze fixed straight ahead. She was breathtaking, and perhaps calling her beauty ‘beautiful’ would be an insult to her divinity.

  The Goddess Athena was truly divine. Her beauty was of such grahat it transded the ordinary, and her blonde hair shone so intehat even Helen’s golden locks, admired by many, seemed to lose their luster in parison. There was an unshakable regality in her posture, her eyes firmly fixed ahead, as if no mortal was worthy of her gaze. Every movement she made veyed the sehat she was above the world of humans, immersed in a sphere of power and majesty that mortals could never hope to prehend.

  “GODDESS!”

  “LONG LIVE THE GODDESS!”

  The crowd shouted in unison, their voices resonating through the air with an iy that was almost tangible. For a brief moment, something impossible happened: Athena turned her gaze toward the crowd.

  It was a fleeting moment, but powerful enough ter an overwhelmiion. The people around me erupted in joy, as if they had received a direct blessing.

  “SHE’S LOOKING!” someone shouted, their voice filled with pure emotion that was felt by everyone.

  “WE’RE BEING AOWLEDGED!” another excimed, their eyes shining with hope.

  That small a from the goddess, that simple gnce, made everyone’s heart race. It was as if the diviouch itself had desded upon them, filling them with a happihat few mortals would ever experien their lifetime.

  The shouts of joy echoed through the crowd, a cacophony of sounds celebrating the divine presence. But Athena, unbothered, seemed to be searg for someone in particur. Her majestic eyes sed the sea of people until, suddenly, they found mi was a moment that felt like ay. And then, uedly, she smiled at me. A subtle, enigmatic smile, but unmistakable. The world around us seemed to fall silent, as if that gesture was meant for just the two of us.