You watch as the water begins to shift again, the ripples on the surface creating many shapes and images until
you found yourself staring at a once ancient civilization that you remembered quite well from your history
studies; Ancient Greece, only instead of simply illustrations or photographs in a book, this ancient Greece
was alive! There were people swarming around marketplaces, soldiers marching in formation, philosophers and
mathematicians studying outside in the streets as well as children running around playing amongst the various
fountains, it was quite an incredible sight and even though you were only looking at an image within a pool it
almost felt like you were actually there.
“ This was the city of Athens, named after the Goddess Athena who protected and watched over her people high
above on the mountain of Olympus,” Arianna explained, narrating the slide show your were now seeing, “Known
for her wisdom and beauty, Athena sought only to see her great city as well as the rest of the world prosper
and grow, a view that sadly not all of her fellow Gods happened to share.”
The image in the water then changed very abruptly to one of death and slaughter as armies marched on the city
gates and buildings went up in flames, foul beasts you’d only ever heard of in stories before now storming
through the streets; “Athena’s brother Ares, the God of War had no interest in peace nor the tranquility that
his sister had strived to create, using the armies loyal to him to attack her city and spread death and
destruction all across ancient Greece. Armed with the many viscous beasts that had once walked this earth as
well as long dead soldiers who had pledged their allegiance to him, plucked from the very depths of the
underworld, Ares force on earth was nigh on unstoppable and Athena bound by her father’s law was unable to do
anything but watch as her brother’s forces began their brutal campaign.”
As the watery images shifted again, depicting the Greek army’s futile attempts at defending against their
attackers, Arianna continued her tale, describing how Zeus, King of the God’s and father to Athena and Ares
had forbidden any God from waging war against another and decreeing that Athens and the other Greek cities
fate would be left in the hands of mortals without any interference from them. “Knowing that she herself could
not break her father's rule and come down from Olympus to protect her city and its people from her brother’s
warmongering she instead decided to find a mortal who could; one who was pure of heart and soul and had what
it took to be a true champion of the people. A young blond haired girl then appeared from out the water, her
white robes tattered with blood as she knelt praying in an a ruined temple, her face strangely familiar.
“Hearing the prayers of a young woman who had just seen her family slaughtered and sensing that she was indeed
pure and worthy, the very mortal she had been looking for, Athena then disguised herself as a priestess and
gave to her that very ring you now wear on your hand, forged by the blacksmith Hephaestus in Olympus and
carrying within it her strength, her power, her wisdom, her courage and her beauty, it transformed that
ordinary mortal girl into a warrior and a hero, Athena's champion on earth, the title that you now hold
today.”
“Wow, that’s a pretty cool story,” you said, looking back over at Arianna, the whole thing reminding you very
much of the myths you used to read about in school (or to a lesser extent one of your favorite comic book
characters; Captain Marvel). “So what happened to the girl, did she defeat Ares army?”
“It is not quite as simple as that I’m afraid,” Arianna replied, gesturing back to the pool where a muscular
babe, decked out in armor and holding a sword (her appearance except for her clothes identical to your own)
fought back the evil creatures descending on Athens, taking out entire legions on her own and leading the
charge for the defending armies.”Though she did succeed in driving back his armies and saving the city Ares
did not simply give up there, his defeat at the hands of his sister filling him with such rage that he vowed
to continue spreading war and destruction across the land as long as they both still breathed, his armies
defeated but his minions still vast and powerful, spread out across the oceans of the world. So too did Athena
make a vow, vowing to protect the earth and that as long as evil remained her power would be passed on from
one champion to another champion, creating a legacy throughout the generations, the ring being given to each
new successor when the last was close to death, so to continue the fight, gaining not only the Goddess’
strength in the process but also the strength of the women who came before.
And with that the images in the water disappeared and you were left staring in awe at the ring sitting quietly
on your finger, the knowledge that it was thousands of years old and the gift of a God being more than a
little intimidating, as Arianna continued,“ And now it seems that the ring has chosen you Simon Blake and it
is now your turn to take up the mantle of our legacy once more.”