Chapter 264: The Talk (1)

"Now… shall we talk man to man?"

"...What?"

"Let's talk, mano a mano."

"...You want us to fight?"

"What? No, forget the meaning, I just wanted to say it. What I mean to say is that let's talk."

Van slightly furrowed his eyebrows as he slowly walked his way towards Charlotte, trying to check her condition as her head was lifelessly laying on the table. How Van didn't notice that Charlotte lost consciousness was baffling, was he so focused on Artemis and Athena's heated argument that he forgot to look out for Charlotte?

"Oh, you don't have to worry, dear ol' Vanny. Can I call you Vanny? I used to call your father Hermy as well, so I thought it would be fitting," Dionysus then approached Artemis, carrying and placing her gently on the table before once again focusing on Van, "But wow, to think you were actually that guy's son. Although I should have known since you're named Evans. Did you know that that guy had a son called Evander back in the days? Useful guy…

...But then again, this so-called embodiment of the wing of the Seraph Azrael calls herself Evangeline as well, now it gets more confusing. But that story though, woo! Talk about plot twists after plot twists."

"Did you… also put something in my drink?" Van said after checking that Charlotte was truly just unconscious.

"Oh, don't worry. That's just grape juice," Dionysus let out a chuckle as he pulled a seat towards Van and sat near to him, "As I was saying, the plot twists… spectacular. But it would have been more surprising if I didn't already know that big ol' Goddess of Wisdom here started the war."

Van didn't really say anything as he once again checked Charlotte's condition.

"Forget about the beautiful mortal for a second, Vanny. I assure you she's alive and she will be alive later on," Dionysus said as he took a sip of his wine, "Sit down, we have something to talk about. But first, of course, you might have questions, so ask away-- that's why I brought wine in the first place."

Van could not help but furrowed his eyebrows from the sound of Dionysus slurping his wine. But after a few seconds, shook his head and also took a seat as well.

"Most of the Olympians seemed to not know about Athena starting the war… how did you know?"

"Oh, how many have you met?"

"Mister Hercules and Artemis."

"You've met the mighty Hercules? How did that go? Were you even able to talk to the buffoon with all his raging muscles?"

"...He's the calmest I have met out of all of you so far."

"Hercules and Calm in the same sentence? Oh my me. I thought the day would never come," Dionysus took a big gulp of his wine, "I suppose more than a thousand years of isolation would do that to even a god. I, on the other hand, was stuck with the woman that started the war that destroyed our world in the first place!"

Wine burst all over the room as Dionysus suddenly crushed his goblet, "Did you know how hard that was!? To hear her babbling about how to save us all when she was the reason we're stuck in this father-forsaken world in the first place!"

Dionysus then flicked his slightly dark golden hair to the side as he let out a short but deep breath to calm himself down, "Anyway… to answer your question. I am the God of Festivities and all other things that involve wine and losing your head. And you know how parties go, people talk. One Fury, in particular, I won't name who because I am not a snitch, whispered something into my ear whilst we were celebrating someone's birthday party…

...and it just so happened to be that Athena was planning to blow up Olympus so the war with the Seraphs would start."

"...Athena was the one who destroyed Olympus?"

"You know what they say about rumors, it usually doesn't lie, only exaggerates the truth."

"...What?" Van slightly tilted his head from Dionysus's words. He was pretty sure that rumors don't actually work like that… or did it?

"What I am trying to tell you is that I could have prevented all of this from happening!" Dionysus once again raised his voice, "I just thought that once again, it was just exaggerated. I thought that the Fury meant that Athena would expose something shocking… you know, blowing up Olympus. Who would have thought that the Goddess of Wisdom herself would do something as stupid as destroy our home!?"

Dionysus's heavy breaths echoed throughout the room repeatedly. But after a few seconds, he once again flipped his hair to the side and started to calm down. But then, after a few more seconds, tears started to trail from his eyes.

"I… I could've prevented it from happening," Dionysus then once again took a big gulp from his seemingly unlimited wine, "But instead, as always, I was busy losing myself to the insanity of my own doing… because I am the God of Festivities."

It would seem that all the gods have a few screws loose in them. But then again, who wouldn't? To watch as your home crumbles and you know that you could have done something about it… then be stuck with the woman who caused it for a thousand years--Dionysus probably had it worse.

"And Athena… you said she was the Goddess of Wisdom?"

"And of War, Tactics, a weapons master. Father's perfect little spawn," Dionysus let out a chuckle, "She also calls herself a Goddess of Handicraft but apparently, she once turned a human into a spider because she lost to a weaving match, petty really... Although I guess most of us are."

"Goddess of Wisdom and War…" Van had already heard it from Angela's story, but one thing he can't wrap his head around is…

"If she is indeed all of that, then don't you think she had a very good reason for doing so? Hermes was the Messenger of the Gods, giving him the gift of speed. Artemis is the Goddess of The Hunt, and she told me that she never misses a target even if it's… from another planet. And you, well… you're the God of Wine and you seem to be able to conjure it up whenever you want. As for Athena, you said so yourself, she is the Goddess of Wisdom and War, if there's something she knows best, it's that."

"I have thought of that before," Dionysus let out a wry smile from Van's words, "But as I have mentioned before, we are fallible. We make mistakes, and I assure you, Athena made a mistake in her plan."

"Hm," Van really can't say any more since he was not in the position to do so-- he wasn't there.

"I--"

"Maybe if you would have let me finish, I could have explained everything to you."

Before Dionysus could say anything more, Athena suddenly sat up from the table, holding her head as she let out a long and deep groan, "I wonder if this is what father felt when I was born."

"You… were awake?" Dionysus could not help but slightly step a few feet back from Athena.

"Of course," Athena said as she pinched the bridge of her nose,

"Who do you think I am?"