36 Athena will tread new paths of wonder...

Hela finally left Apollo's room and her patience seemed to have been completely wasted with that unnecessary dialogue.

No, she didn't know that all that time she had been talking to Hades and not Apollo.

If she had known she probably would have ripped apart a lot more than just an old book.

She couldn't even imagine that she was face to face with Hades.

Inside the room, Apollo's presence completely overshadowed Hades' and she couldn't sense any double intent.

It really was like there was only her and one other person in the room and not three.

Well, it was true that Hades had done a tremendous amount of damage in what was in theory the first meeting between her and Apollo.

The first impression had been bad.

Just awful and she now just thought Apollo was a complete lunatic.

Hela didn't know a lot of things, but it's not like she's going to get the best of impressions from meeting the real Apollo.

It was true to say that Apollo wasn't soft and gentle, but he really was selfish and megalomaniac... He was all of those things, but he still wasn't Hades.

That library had really been created as a way to keep each story as a personal trophy.

Knowledge is also power, belonging is power and all these Apollo possessed.

Apollo possessed the divine gift of being privileged as the just and benevolent sun god.

Somehow the Greek gods always ended up letting themselves be carried away by the powers granted to them by fate.

It was also true that despite the similarities, there were also some differences between Hades and Apollo: mainly regarding arrogance and madness.

Of course, Hades was completely obsessed with Hela and that couldn't just be ignored.

Apollo didn't care about Hela, in reality he was incapable of caring about anything other than himself.

But he had his own way of acting and he was much less desperate.

He knew how to behave with politeness and honor when necessary.

Hades didn't even care to keep any dignity about himself.

By then Hades had completely lost his composure and in the eyes of the rest of the pantheon of Olympian gods he was truly a joke.

Apollo really thought Hades was now a runaway car and there was no good thinking about him, only pitiful.

But for Hela that visit to Mount Olympus was surprising in many ways, first Socrates and now Apollo.

She truly questioned whether there were any real possibilities of getting away unscathed and without a fight.

The initial plan was to stay no longer than an afternoon and have a pleasant chat with Aphrodite.

Now she knew that at least a whole day would pass and she had already been deeply irritated with a god, what is the chance of not getting irritated with another among the dozens that lived there?!

Yes, she might even have some sort of regret for having left the tranquility of her home to plunge headlong into the madness that was Mount Olympus.

She sighed heavily and resolved to simply ignore those thoughts.

There was no option to return without completing what she had planned.

She should press on and find Aphrodite quickly.

But it reminded her that she was still in that hell of books.

The library was massive, its interior not matched by mere external limitations.

It stretched up and down, left and right, it was almost like a real labyrinth.

Hela even missed having a horse, it would make the journey so much easier.

Well, the brief thought of riding through a library sounded ridiculous, but she couldn't even see where that place ended and she urgently needed to find a way out of there.

She kept walking in a straight line and struggled to keep silent even when she was practically running.

For almost two hours staring at books and more books she could dazzle the beauty of the light, she could see the huge exit gate.

But was that really as close as it looked?!

Her conception had completely changed in relation to libraries, she couldn't stand being in one anymore.

She definitely wanted to never pick up books again.

All that stillness was suffocating and made her irritated even more.

Wasn't it enough to have to talk to the Apollo lunatic? Now she was trapped in that library not knowing how to get out.

Everything inside that place revolved around books, people didn't look at each other or share whispers.

What mattered were simply the books.

Disappointing in many ways, especially after meeting Apollo.

Perhaps she hated Apollo at that moment, or perhaps all her dislike was simply for the library.

She couldn't tell.

But that place was irritating and lifeless.

Hela was panting and could feel the sweat running down her face, what the hell was that place? It should be easy to walk out of a library.

So why did it seem like no matter how hard she ran, she didn't even seem to be moving?!

She looked around and didn't see many people, in reality she found only one.

Hela felt so desperate to get out of there that she was forced to ask the first person she saw around.

She walked a few steps towards the girl and quickly received a curious look in response.

"I can help with something?"

Helen nodded. "I've been running for hours and I can't find the end, how can I get out of here?"

The girl smiled, feeling a little amused.

"Someone handed her some kind of paper?"

Hela thought briefly and remembered the stupid permission she had received from Apollo.

She briefly rummaged inside her armor and withdrew the paper, quickly handing it to the girl.

The girl took the paper for herself and, looking at it a little more carefully, she soon understood that it had been signed by someone pretending to be Apollo.

It would simply be impossible to leave that library without a permit.

Well, those were the rules and permissions that were really necessary.

"Looks like someone forged Apollo's signature... Be careful who you meet around here..."

It was really ironic to get that kind of advice from a complete stranger.

But Hela couldn't help but feel confused... If the person she had talked to wasn't Apollo, who else could it be?!

Hela wouldn't lie to herself, she didn't care too much about it.

Think about who cheated on her afterwards.

Heavens, she just wanted out of this place.

What left her most desperate was knowing that every second in that place would mean losing much more than twice as much time in the human world.

She sighed trying to ease her mind and spoke. "Can you help me out of here?"

The girl nodded, of course she could.

Hela hadn't asked, but she had been lucky enough to find Athena.

Although that place belonged to Apollo, the zone was shared between them.

Athena pointed to the light that Hela had been chasing for a while and spoke. "That exit must be a few thousand kilometers from here... Follow me, let's take a short shortcut..."

Hela sighed in irritation, how could that library be so big to the point of the exit that seemed so close being miles away?!

Athena took the lead from Hela and started walking into one of the sections of the library.

Hela frowned, it looked like they were going even further away from the exit.

It was easy to see that the place was not very popular and even there were many dusty books.

But it was still Athena's favorite place to spend her free time and she enjoyed herself quite a bit even though all she was doing was reading a few titles and gently fingering a few covers as she walked.

But despite this she loyally led the way.

Athena knew the book section perfectly, each book in that place she knew and had read thousands and thousands of times.

She stopped her steps slightly and pointed to a book. "This has to be one of my favorite books from this session..."

Hela looked at the book in question "Aurore... Which session are we in?"

Athena smiled in amusement. "Lilies."

They did not last long and the book was not even removed from its place.

But Hela could feel some familiarity with that name.

The beauty of Apollo's library was that each person could have their story eternalized in a book and Hela didn't even dream of it, but she already had many of her steps described in simple words.

After all, the Moiras were great storytellers.

The future was open and the lines of fate were gradually tightening, but Athena was excited to watch as an onlooker.

The opportunity to be able to see it all unfold and see with your own eyes what the future would look like was truly breathtaking.

The corridor created by the shelves was long, but in just over five minutes a small door appeared.

A small door that could easily be overlooked.

Athena finally opened it and a beautiful forest awaited them.