[Greek mythology] Born to be arrogant

—Tell me why you are here, Colonis.

Diana stared at him in a daze, unable to speak. After a while, she lowered her eyes slightly and covered her eyes: "Naturally, he was brought here from the Nile River by His Highness."

Apollo exerted a little force in his hands, lifted her chin, and forced her to meet his eyes.

"Say it again." He said in a deep voice, "Look me in the eyes and tell me, why are you in Delphi?"

Diana closed her eyes, her long eyelashes trembling slightly.After a while, she raised her head following the strength of Apollo's hand, looked straight into those golden eyes, and said softly: "Of course His Highness brought me here."

A look of surprise flashed in Apollo's eyes.

She took a few deep breaths, recalling what the muses did every time they saw Apollo. Following their example, she lowered her head slightly, slowed down her tone, and asked in a respectful and soft tone: " Your Highness, don't you remember?"

The look of surprise in Apollo's eyes deepened, with a hint of displeasure.

Diana had already made up her mind, and lowered her head a little lower: "I overstepped."

"Kronis..." Apollo called her name in the human world, pressed his right thumb on her lips, and traced its outline almost presumptuously, and there was a bit of heat in his cold golden eyes, " ...Is she awake?"

Diana replied vaguely: "About... yes."

"Heh." Apollo sneered, and gradually moved his hands to her white and delicate neck, rubbing it, as if thinking about how hard it should be to crush it completely.

Diana almost broke out in a cold sweat, she secretly warned herself not to speak nonsense, and carefully organized her words before lowering her voice and said, "Whether His Highness Moon God is awake or not, why don't His Highness try it yourself?" She closed the mouth Closing his eyes, a sad expression gradually appeared on his face, "Anyway, His Highness can't trust me, can't he?"

Apollo narrowed his eyes slightly, pressed two long fingers on her carotid artery, and finally slowly lowered it down.

Only then did Diana suddenly realize that her palms were slightly wet with sweat.

Alas, this kind of Apollo is still a little...not used to.

"Of course I'll try it myself." Apollo said almost threateningly, his cold golden eyes approaching her a little bit, "But you better understand when to lie to me and when—— You should have lied to me."

Diana answered yes in a low voice.

Apollo seemed to be very satisfied with her attitude, and the strong sense of oppression disappeared silently.He stood up, moved a little away, his face was still cold and expressionless: "I will take you to Kadesh."

Diana couldn't accept his jumping thinking for a while, and couldn't help being stunned.

Apollo raised his head and looked at the other side of the coast, the golden color in his eyes deepened slightly: "Athena, intervene."

On the way to being caught by Apollo Kadesh, Diana probed a few more times before she roughly understood the ins and outs of the matter.

The Egyptian army and the Hittite army have been stalemate in Kadeshi for half a year.

Neither side can do anything to the other, so they have to think of some crooked ways to win.After the two sides offered sacrifices to a bunch of gods indiscriminately, a pure white pegasus ran up to Ramesses and told him that a goddess would be happy to help him in exchange for all the "knowledge" of Egypt.

In Egypt at that time, mathematical astronomy had reached an extreme peak.

Ramses has always believed that military affairs are more important than knowledge, so he nodded without hesitation.

Immediately afterwards, Niki, the goddess of victory, brought the golden staff of Athena, the goddess of wisdom, to the battlefield of Kadesh.

The Hittites were defeated across the board and had gradually retreated to the edge of the border.If you retreat further, Hittite will be taken away from the capital by the Egyptian army, and then completely perish under the hands of Ramses.

But the Hittites also invited the goddess of war to help.So now, the dispute between the two great empires in the human world has become a conflict between two goddesses of war.When a goddess confronts a goddess, of course no one will obey the other, so the war has always been in a stalemate.

After Apollo finished speaking, he suddenly lowered his head and asked Diana, "Tell me, who will win?"

Diana was silent for a moment, then replied: "I always believe that gods should not interfere in wars in the world."

----

night.

Kadesh.

Apollo took her and landed in the Egyptian army, as if entering no one's land.

The Egyptian soldiers on watch at night wanted to step forward to ask questions, but Apollo went straight through his body, his face full of horror.

Diana's expression turned into a big "囧", but due to her current "identity as the human princess Koronis", even if she wanted to remind her, she was quite powerless.

The tallest and largest house in the city was still lit with bright lights, and a few familiar voices could be heard faintly.Diana listened carefully, it was Athena, Ramses and Nikki.Nicky has always liked to make herself smaller and stand in Athena's palm to symbolize victory. For some reason, she is suddenly excited to join the battle this time.

Apollo turned his head and glanced at her, and said indifferently, "Follow."

She quickened her pace.

Arrived.

Apollo didn't even need to move his hands, his golden eyes narrowed slightly, and the heavy bronze door shattered under his gaze.

The people and gods in the room turned their heads in unison, with different expressions.

Athena stood up with a golden scepter in her hand, and asked Apollo, "Why, you want to intervene?"

Apollo glanced at Diana before saying, "I don't intend to interfere in this war."

"You know I don't mean war!"

"Oh?" Apollo looked at her with a half-smile, "What is that? Mathematics? Astronomy? Metallurgy? Navigation?... Heh, Ramses, I heard that before becoming a god, the nine pillars of Egypt were almost without exception. They're all Egyptian pharaohs, right?"

Ramses didn't know why Apollo suddenly changed the subject, but subconsciously answered yes.

Athena's face changed slightly.

"So these things are useless to them." Apollo said leisurely, "but they are useful to you and me. Athena, Plato's Academy of Athens has been open for three full years, right? 'Those who don't understand geometry can't enter', really true Arrogant enough."

Athena sneered: "What about you? Didn't you still take "Elements of Geometry"?"

""Elements of Geometry"?..." Apollo flashed a look of astonishment again, turned to look at Diana, and gradually turned into a furious and dark owl again.

He vaguely guessed something, but he still didn't want to think about it, or didn't dare to think about it.

Athena sneered, sat back, straightened her snow-white skirt, folded her hands in front of her knees, calmly and gracefully: "Since you don't intend to interfere in this war, please go back to Olympus."

Apollo pursed his lips slightly, turned and left.

"Please wait, Your Highness!"

Diana spoke hastily, and grabbed Apollo's sleeve.Apollo paused, but didn't look back.

She let go of his sleeve, took two steps back, and finished speaking in one breath: "Since neither you nor Her Highness Athena intend to intervene in this war, why don't you let the people fight?"

Before Apollo answered, Athena reprimanded: "Why, if I don't intervene in the war, can't I help the Egyptians win?"

Diana turned around and looked at the aloof Goddess of Wisdom, and chuckled lightly: "What if the Greeks get involved in the battle?"

"What are you kidding..."

"I'm not joking, Your Majesty the Goddess." Diana walked up to the stunned Ramses, forcibly took a map from him, and unfolded it in front of Athena, "Hittite has at least four Greek city-states. It borders Miletus, the sanctuary of the God of Light and Ephesus, the sanctuary of the Moon God[1]. If the Hittites are in a hurry, and they break into Miletus or Ephesus to 'take' some food and water, What do you think?"

Athena's face changed slightly, and before she could speak, Diana heard a deep shout from behind: "They dare!"

Miletus is a city-state shrouded in the protection of the God of Light, and Ephesus is...it is her...

Apollo stepped forward step by step, and his low and explosive voice echoed in the room: "If the war between Egypt and Hittite spreads to Ephesus... Athena, don't blame me..."

Before he finished speaking, an Egyptian soldier rushed in from the door and shouted in Egyptian, "My lord! The Hittites have invaded and occupied Miletus!"[2]

boom!

A golden cup on the table fell off, and Gululu rolled on the ground a few times, but no one picked it up.

If Apollo doesn't intervene this time, he will be in vain as the god of protection of Miletus!

Athena chuckled: "Apollo, I have a proposal. How about we fight gods and gods, and people fight people? The Hittite goddess of war is a very powerful character."

Apollo glanced up and down at her with those golden eyes: "I refuse."

Athena's face changed slightly.

Ramses finally found a space to speak: "Actually, I agree with this proposal..." He turned his head to look at Diana and even smiled, "Long time no see, my Nefertari. Are you interested in joining me? Turn the Red Sea into a lake in Egypt?"

messed up.

Everything is messed up.

Ramses forcibly tied Diana to the camp of the Egyptian army, but Apollo acquiesced, and gathered the faint light of God around him, and followed him all the way; Athena and Nikki both stayed in Kadesh. To wait and see what happens.Before leaving, Athena suddenly said to Apollo, "Tonight is the time of the year when the moon is the roundest and brightest", which made Apollo's face change slightly.

Ever since Selene insisted on guarding the beautiful boy Endymion, and Diana made [-] moon phases with her own hands, the rumored three moon gods have gradually become one—the long-lost Diana, The twin sister of Apollo, the sun god.It is said that according to the Greek tradition that the twin born later is the older one, Apollo should call Diana "sister".It's a pity that neither Apollo, Diana, nor the gods of Olympus have any interest in following the so-called "tradition" of the human race.

Far away.

Athena's meaning is actually very clear. When the moon is at its roundest and brightest, that is when the possibility of the return of the moon god reaches its peak.If you miss tonight, you will have to wait another year before you can try again.

Apollo is naturally impossible to miss.

He quietly arranged a whole set of complicated formations in the desert, and in the middle of the night, he tied Diana out completely and threw him on the altar. The branches had their hair tied up, holding a dazzling golden scepter, and chanted obscure spells on the side of the altar.

Diana gradually woke up.

She moved uneasily, raised her finger, and suddenly realized that there was a faint layer of moonlight on the back of her hand.

When I looked again, not only the back of her hands, but also her shoulders, her waist and legs, her ankles, her long hair... almost her whole body was shrouded in a layer of hazy moonlight, and the surroundings were neatly arranged. Uncovering the crystal stone, Apollo knelt beside her, with the golden scepter slanted in his hand, chanting the familiar and ancient mantra over and over again.

A ray of divine power gradually spread through the arm to the fingertips.

She vaguely felt a familiar coldness coming from the depths of her soul, and in an instant, a large area of ​​light shrouded behind her.

The brilliance is like water, pouring down the earth.

Like a twilight ice wheel, reflecting her flying long hair, she is extremely beautiful.

Apollo had already stopped singing at some point, and stared at her blankly, with some watery glints in his golden eyes, a little at a loss, but more ecstatic.

The author has something to say: [1] The easternmost city-states of Greece all border Hittite, including Miletus, Ephesus, Smyrna, Mytilene, Troy, Abydos, etc.

[2] The time when the Hittites occupied Miletus was about a few hundred years away from the time of the Battle of Kadesh, but... ahem, everyone understands.