“Whoa, whoa, whoa, back up a minute!” you told Arianna, the story leaving you a little stunned, but not so
much that you’d forgotten what had happened the last time you were stood here, “I mean this is all like,
really, really heavy and ridiculous stuff, but didn’t I get kicked out of this whole shindig the last time I
was here, by that angry blond chick? I’m pretty sure I remember that.”
“Ah yes, Illyanna,” Arianna replied, referring to her fellow sister, the one who had seemed in charge before,
“You will have to forgive her I’m afraid. She was the first of us, the one who Athena chose to save her city
and is very much set in her ways. She does not believe that someone...such as yourself can take on the role of
Athena’s champion.”
“Cause of the whole “I’m not a girl thing”?”
“Well, to put it bluntly; yes," Arianna said, trying to sound as diplomatic as possible, "because you are not
a woman. But we have had council since then and prayed to Athena," she continued to explain, seemingly trying
to reassure herself as well as you, "and as the ring has chosen you, we have decided that it must surely be
the will of Athena that you have been brought to us after all these years, to bring light into this dark world
once more, no matter what...reservations some of the sisters may have.”
“Oh come on,” you laughed, not buying this excuse for a second, “Will of Athena? Anyone could have found that
ring! Surely you’ve got the wrong guy; there must be plenty of other people out there with the actual proper
credentials who actually deserves to be your champion, not me! I mean for God sake, what the hell was it just
doing lying there on the ground in the first place if it’s so damned important?”
“I believe it was there to find you, Simon. It is not just coincidence or chance that the ring found its way
to you after two thousand years of being lost and forgotten.”
“Two thousand years...Holy shit!” you thought, not quite able to even contemplate something existing for such
a long time, never mind being stuck inside a magic ring for all of it.
“I was the last of our legacy, tasked with protecting this earth when the ring was given to me and for ten
long years I did, fighting off evil and acting out Athena’s will, right up until the closing days of Ancient
Greece, when the God’s began to withdraw their presence from the earth,” Arianna told you quite proudly, her
voice fading slightly and a look of sadness appearing across her face again as she continued, “That was when I
met my match, when an agent of Ares bested me on the battlefield before I had a chance to find a successor and
pass on Athena’s ring. Though I held onto it tightly until my very dying breath, my enemy knew its value and
took it from me, breaking the line and placing our legacy into darkness.”
“The ring of course was useless to any mortal not chosen by its power and remained indestructible to all but
it’s creator, so the dark beast instead hid it and for two thousand years it remained hidden, buried deep
underground where even Ares himself could not hope to find it. That was, until several decades ago...”
“Excavated by archaeologists, passed on from museum to museum, to antique collector to antique enthusiast,
given little though other than being some odd little trinket from years long gone past, until finally it made
its way here, in the briefcase of a ancient history professor named Dawkins, a fun item of memorabilia for one
of his rather pedestrian lectures.” The name Dawkins was certainly familiar, pretty sure you’d attended one of
his classes at the beginning of the year, and even having somewhat of a vague recollection of seeing him
earlier on in the day, walking past Jenna and her friends when you’d stopped them after class.
“That was of course until it found its way into your curious hands instead, Simon,” Arianna continued, a
little smile creeping into the corner of her mouth, aware of the serendipitous thoughts clearly now running
through your mind, “That is not what I call chance...that is what I call fate!”
This explanation left you pretty much lost for words as you struggled to find any sort of reply, knowing that
there was no way you could actually be this mystical warrior Arianna seemed to want you to be. “Well...I...uh,
call it what you want,” you eventually said after a few false starts, “but I can’t be your champion, I’m a
college kid, I’ve got studying to do...and, and papers to hand in. Really you’ve got the wrong guy.”
“I’m afraid there is no “wrong guy” Simon, there is only those who are chosen and those who are not. No other
can take up the mantle until it is given up by you.”
“Okay fine,” you told her, adamant that this champion wasn’t going to be you, looking for any loophole you
could find, “then I’ll do that; I’ll give it up to someone else. How do I do that?”
“The only way another successor can be chosen is for you to die I am afraid Simon, either in the field of
battle or through the ravages of time, only then will you be released from this sacred duty and join the rest
of us," she said, holding out her arms and pointing to the various statues surrounding the temple, each one it
was now apparent represented one of Athena's previous champions, "the rest of your fallen sisters where our
knowledge and strength will give power to the next champion.”
“Well that’s just great,” you thought, realizing you were caught in a catch 22 situation with no apparent way
out, going from everyday college kid in one day to mystical champion of the earth, “Looks like I’m royally
screwed!”