After a closer inspection, the purple Ampechone was indeed intact. This was good because there would be no need to repair it. At least it smelled nice thanks to the soap bath it got. What was not good though, was the fact that I was surrounded by some people. I noticed them relatively early, when two of them on my left, crossed my peripetal vision. Sadly, due to their terrain advantage, I noticed them too late. And if I were to run now, they would follow. So my only option was to wait and see if they were going to question me first or outright attack me. Either way, I would be ready.
If I were to be forced to kill them, in order to protect myself, I would have to come up with a plan to immediately leave this island. Because it was possible that these people, whoever they were, could be missed by someone else. Such a situation might result in me being hunted by all islanders. And even I was not confident enough to be able to deal with possibly hundreds of people.
While I was pretending to continue inspecting Sappho's Ampechone, several more of them appeared in my vision. Still hiding and approaching me stealthily. If I were a normal civilian, they would most likely go unnoticed, I had to leave them that. Sadly for them, I was a combat veteran, who honed her senses in the most unreasonable and bloody conflicts ever seen in all three worlds I lived in.
When they got near enough, to the point they could not hide anymore, they sprung out from their cover and approached me in a menacing manner. But they did not attack, neither did they charge at me, which meant that they most likely did not consider me a threat to them.
"What are you doing here stranger?!" a presumed leader of the group asked me.
Now that they were all up close, I observed, that they all were only lightly armored, if at all. And some of their spears were just sharpened straight branches. What a strange bunch. And strangeness did not end only with their equipment. In moments between the question was asked and before I could form a proper answer, which would have to be almost instantaneously, they all prostrated themselves on the ground, kneeling before me.
"Forgive us, lady Aphrodite, for not recognizing you sooner in this form," the presumed leader sharply said the moment I was about to answer her question.
This left me without and ability to respond to the initial question. How should I even react to this? Why would they even think that I was an Aphrodite, a presumed goddess? What could lead them to such a conclusion? It made no sense, to first question the stranger and then proclaim them a "god" out of nowhere. There must have been some reason for such action, but eluded me for now.
The supposed goddess Aphrodite, was a representation of love and beauty, at least according to Sappho. She did compare me to the goddess, on several occasions. This made me wonder if Aphrodite was perhaps the same kind of being as that god-pretender Athena. If so, why had she not hunted down Sappho, when the poet repeatedly compared my beauty to that of Aphrodite? I was sure that I was not that beautiful, average at best. Then it would make sense for a god-pretender Aphrodite to do something about a perceived insult to her person. Perhaps she did not exist, or if she did, then maybe Aphrodite had a better character than Athena. At least my mother in this life thought so if I remember it correctly.
But knowing Aphrodite's character would not help me much. I still had to figure out why they had mistaken me for this presumed goddess. Since it could not be my beauty and neither did I show any form of love to them it must have been something else, that made them mistake me for Aphrodite. Perhaps it was some external factor. My clothes were an option as they were made from spider silk, the finest of the fine materials in the world. Or maybe it was the Ampechone? The purple dye color could vary from region to region, but it should not be uncommon. Alas, if it was not me, neither my belongings then it could only be the foam. I was standing it the foam on the seashore. From what my mother told me about Aphrodite, she came out of the seafoam. That was it! How stupid of these superstitious idiots! Their mistake could bring wrath on my person, from the presumed goddess Aphrodite, should she be real.
"Please raise, honored warriors. I'm not the Aphrodite," I denied, once the ridiculous reason was found out.
Although my mother never mentioned any bad thing or a revenge story about Aphrodite, thou my mother was a rather devoted worshipper, of said gods. And neither did the more recent account, as told to me by Sappho, paint this being in a bad light. Most of the stories I heard were about Aphrodite making someone fall in love with someone else, or being a helicopter parent, which was probably reasonable in this time period. There was this one legend, which Sappho told me, about Glaucus, who fed his horses with humans and Aphrodite made his horses eat him. I would admit that this is a horrific way to die. Alas, Aphrodite had no ability to fire this man from his position and as he was wasting other precious human resources, I suppose he was dealt with appropriately.
Therefore the decision was simple. I might have been mistaken for the presumed goddess, but due to my experiences with the god-pretender Athena, I decided not the risk it. If this Aphrodite was just as real as Athena, the god-pretender, she could learn about my existence and take some actions, which could potentially be not to my liking.
"Y-You are not?" the leader of the group sounded incredulously, looking up at me from her kneeling position.
"No, I'm not her. My name is Nike, I was washed ashore nearby," I answered.
As a security precaution, I used my mother's name. In case the god-pretender Athena somehow, learned about me being on this island. It sounded like an average name for an average woman. And it could not hurt my mother, who I borrowed it from, since she must have been dead for centuries.
"Oh, that is terrible! Are you unhurt?" one of the women asked me.
From their attire and equipment, I assumed that they were some form of militia or perhaps even guards, therefore her conduct was quite unprofessional. But not unwelcome. And the others seem to show similar concern, I could use this and exploit their compassion for me. Yet I could not let them approach too close to inspect me for any injuries unless I wanted my illusion to fail.
"Yes, I'm unhurt, only slightly fatigued," I answered
"That is great, that you are unhurt! We must inform the queen immediately, of your arrival, lady Nike!" the leader said.
"And make a sacrifice to Aphrodite for sending you here to help us!" said one other guard.
"No, she did not, send me!" I said, trying to clear things up with the guards.
"She must be still weary from her journey here," said one of the guards.
"Do not worry lady Nike, the city is not far from here, we'll have refreshments prepared for you," said the leader and sent two of her subordinates ahead.
"Does Aphrodite use anything to dye her hair or is she natural blond?" asked one of the guards.
"Is it true, that Lady Aphrodite has an affair with Ares?" asked yet another curious guard almost at the same time.
I resigned myself, these superstitious ancient Greeks, sure loved their fairy tales. It seemed that I gained their compassion. But the problem of mistaken identity remained. Instead of being Aphrodite herself, they believed me to be some kind of messenger or champion of the presumed goddess. This might pose a problem, should Aphrodite prove to be as real as the god-pretender Athena. But even the god-pretender Athena, targeted only me because I used her name for my inventions. Maybe she was not completely unreasonable?
I could try to persuade them more of their mistake or I could use their mistake to my advantage. Requesting a ship and supplies, for around three days of travel, should not be a problem, while they actively mistook me for some kind of Aphrodite's champion. And ultimately any possible offense to the presumed goddess was not my fault, as I did explain not to be Aphrodite, nor her messenger or champion.
The palace I was led to was spacious. I must admit, I was never in such a grand place in any of my lives. Ancient Greek architecture has the look of grandeur. The queen of this island already expected us, if the runners, who were sent ahead of us were anything to go by. Meeting the queen was like a job interview, except this time both of our roles were ambiguous. She was a queen of the whole island and thus would normally have respect given her station. But at the same time, I was presumed to be some form of messenger sent by goddess Aphrodite, thus she would have to give me respect. This conundrum could not be easily resolved and thus mutual respect would have to be balanced. I could not appear as lower than her, but at the same time, I could not poise myself way too above the queen. Lest I wanted to be discovered lying.
"I heard about your plight, queen Hypsipyle. The men that arrived are hiding in the temple of Athena," I said, based on the information that I managed to get from the guards on the way to the palace.
"Yes lady Nike," the queen answered.
"Wouldn't they have to leave eventually? They have to drink and eat after all," this was the logical conclusion.
Humans could not last without water for more than three days. And as the guards said, the men arrived more than two days ago. They should be reaching their limits. No sane individual would have subjected themselves voluntarily to dehydration.
"We tried to lure them out with wine and freshly cooked meals, but that damned Athena provides for them! The men can stay in the temple for as long as they want!" the queen seethed between her teeth.
As someone, who suffered at this god-pretender's hands, I could understand the queen's anger. Was I anyone else I would not believe her words about a goddess being personally involved, but if Being X, in my previous life, could instantly heal that monster of his from certain death. Or the god-pretender turning my lower half into that of a spider, which I still did not understand how exactly it worked. Then transporting fresh food and water to the closed temple should be relatively easy.
"We tried everything we could, short of dismantling the temple!" the queen continued her lamenting.
"Destroying Athena's temple could lead to some ugly consequences, for all of us. So why not smoke the men out?" I suggested.
It was an idea, that should work in an enclosed space like a temple. Light some leaves on fire and as the smoke spreads, the men will have no other choice but to vent the smoke. And once they open the doors, the guards can ensure that they stay open. Then the women of this island could do whatever they wanted to do with them as it would be no longer any of my concerns.
"That is... Thank, you lady Nike! What should we do to repay you?" the queen asked with hope in her eyes.
This was exactly what I was waiting for. I asked for a small boat, which could be operated by a single person, but could travel the sea between the island. And three days' worth of supplies for the journey. Then I would leave as soon as possible, because I had no plans of encountering this Athena, whether she was the same god-pretender that changed me all those centuries ago or someone of a similar nature.
"Smoke them out? With what?"
"Didn't you listen? She said leaves,"
"Leaves, like from trees or..."
"The better ones, we save for sacrifices for gods,"
"But..."
"Look, do you want the men out or not?"
"Of course I DO!"
"Well, then think about this way. If you throw in just normal leaves, then they come out angry and who will they take that anger on? US!"
"That would be bad,"
"But if you give them smoke from sacrificial ones, then..."
"Then?"
"Argh! Do you have something in that head of yours?"
"Hey!"
"Fine! Then, the men will come out of the temple weary, ready do to anything WE suggest them to do,"
"Oooh! Haha!"
"Now you get IT!"
"Yes! I'll be right back! With the leaves!"
"Good. Good."
"Hey Herc, old man! Let's go wrestle, I'm boooreeed!" asked the arrogant young man.
"Pollux, boy, sit down," said the old strong man.
"No! I've been sitting here for two days! I want some action and you gonna help me with that!"
"Pollux, just leave the old man alone, please," said a young man.
Instead of listening to the advice of his friend, Pollux decided to do something else. He was bored, and angry and so much bored. So instead he continuing the verbal provacations, he punched Heracled in the face. But the old man did not react at all. And that lack of reaction angered the young arrogant man. So he punched Heracles once again, this time with even more strength. So much so that the Heracles was fallen face down to the ground.
"Pah! That's it, old man?! Aren't you like the heroest hero of all the heroes?" the arrogant young man asked but received no response.
At this point, all of the men in the temple started to finally pay attention to the happenstance between the Heracles and Pollux.
"Pollux! Stop it!" said a young man.
"Jason, my dearest friend. Why have you even taken this old relic on our adventure?" asked Pollux kicking the downed form of Heracles.
But before Jason could intervene once again. Attempt to calm down his arrogant friend, Pollux has been thrown to the side of the temple so hard that it dislodged several blocks of the wall for several centimeters. When Janos's sight returned back from following the flying form of his friend he saw, the old man Heracles standing, shadow over his eyes. And then in the blink of an eye, Heracles moved. He moved so fast that none of the regular mortals could not follow.
"Why have they not returned yet?!"
"Maybe the men got lost?"
"They had our best navigator with them! It must have been the ship!"
"The ship is one of the fastest ships on the seas!"
"It cannot be the fastest, it was built by YOU!"
"YOU!!!"
"SILENCE!"
...
We just have to wait a bit longer,"
...
"What of the fisher, whose ship our lady consecrated for her journey?"
"He, had an accident, along with his whole family. An oil spilled in his house and it caught fire. The doors were barricaded, from inside by debris, so he and his whole family burned to death,"
"N-NO!"
"Silence girl!" the man came forth and stoked the young woman to the ground.
"What of the relics, our lady left for the fisher?"
"They, of course, miraculously survived and were recovered, High Weaver,"
"Excellent,"
"Herc, NO!" a woman's voice shouted from inside of the temple.
Several thumping hit sounds followed. And the animalistic and inhuman roar, no human voicebox could hope to produce, followed. And yet one could almost hear a man's voice. Then it happened, like a gong, metal smashed metal. And again, and again. The temple doors bulged in several places with each hit until they could not bear it any longer and exploded outwards.
Two metal slabs were punched out, breaking several pillars in the process. In a second all the debris fell, killing numerous bystanders and guards. The metal hit the ground with thundering noise and dust bursted all around the place. And with squelching noise a human-sized figure hit the ground several tens of meters outside of the temple of Athena.