"Helen of Troy..."

The woman beside me bear the resemblance of Adrestia, except this woman has golden hair while Adrestia has brown hair. It's astonishing, how striking the resemblance that she has. The painting in the Parthenon doesn't even manage to capture her real beauty. However, no matter how close they look to each other, this woman doesn't give off a stern aura instead of a more sisterly one toward me.

"I'm surprised that you know me." She tilts her head slightly while a half smile form with her lips.

"Of course, I know you. I've seen your painting in the Parthenon. You look more beautiful in real life than in the painting."

My words turn that half smile into a full one. Her hand move to pushes a dishevel lock of my hair back into place, and remove the few tiny bits of grass off me, "Aren't you a sweet talker."

"I'm only telling the truth."

"Andre...that's a sweet name."

Her compliment causes my cheeks to blush a bit while making me take a few glances away. I've only met her, but I feel a sisterly connection between her and me. "Why are you here?"

"I live here, silly. I should be the one asking you that."

"How do you recognize me?"

"Hm, you know, Hermes's little helper, they like to gossip. Especially right now, since you been doing stuff that attracts people attention."

"Ohh, Adrestia is going to be piss at me when she finds out." I press my palm against my face.

Helen suppress a burst of laughter with her hand, then ask me, "How is she?"

"Quite scary when I first met her, but I can tell that she is a kind and loving woman from those stern eyes."

"That's sound just like her..." Her eyes cast down as she stares at her hands that are resting between her laps.

My heart tightens when I see the slightly sad expression on her face, "What's wrong?"

"If you know about me, I presume you know about her past." She looks at me, and I turn my gaze away.

"A friend of mine told me what's happened between her and Zeus. It's unfortunate that it happened, but at least, there's one good thing that came out from all of that."

I look back at Helen and match her gaze, "You. You that one good thing that came out. I know it sounds crazy because I just met you, but I felt a connection with you, and I can tell that you're a kind person, just like Adrestia, and I'm glad that I was able to meet you."

Helen couldn't look at me in the eyes, "Andre...I'm far from being a kind person—In the past, I picked some questionable decision that might have caused a war. However it's all in the past, I've moved on, and I've learned to deal with it, but I could never forget."

"All I want now is to meet my real mother, but unlike me, terrible guilt plagued her and holding her back. I've seen her in the distance from this place, watching me and wanting to meet me."

"That explains why Cerberus was so friendly to me when he smells my scent, she visited here almost every day, didn't she?"

"That's correct, I forgive her, but she could never forgive herself. Andre, I know you think highly of Adrestia, but remember, that gods make mistakes too."

"I'm sorry, but I don't think I can view Adrestia any less than what she is, a god."

"I'm not going to force your viewpoint." She let out a small sigh and turn her gaze to me.

Helen takes hold of both my hands, "If you ever get hurt, come to me, okay? Because since the moment you were reborn as a candidate, and while Adrestia blood still running inside of you, we are sisters, and sister looks out for each other."

"I never knew that I wanted a big sister until now. I wish that you could meet my best friend. I think you are going to like him. He's a harpy."

Her eyes widen slightly in pleasant surprise, "A harpy? Quite the interesting friend you make."

Helen rubs the top of my head, and I snuggle closer to her soft and warm hand, "I always wanted a little sister."

"Bonjour, who is this belle femme?" A French woman with a black, bob cut hair, warm ivory skin, and thin, pink lip appear behind us. The sudden appearance scares my body to jerk upright while Helen stays calm and smile at the unknown woman.

Helen places a hand on my back to calm my stiff nerves. "This is Andre, my new little sister."

"Oh, you're the girl that Helen been obsessing about, she kept asking Hermes little helper about you a lot. My name is Jeanne d'Arc, you can call me Joan, and it's a pleasure to finally meet you. Anyway, you look shit. What happened?"

I subtly look down at my disheveled appearances with a large scar on my abdomen, the black smudge all over me, and the charred clothes. I do look like shit, but somehow, I'm proud of my appearance.

"Well, shit happened to me on the way here," I say with a jokingly tone.

"Why are you here anyway?" Joan ask.

"I trying to find Rhea." I look at the French woman as she rests her chin on the railing.

"Rhea?" Helen let out.

"Yeah, do you know where to find her?"

"Sure, it's easy. Follow me..." The French woman stands upright again and walks away, while Helen and I follow her from behind.

It doesn't take us a minute to reach the courtyard near the buried statue's face. I look around the place and able to see that people are sparring with each other using wooden weapon. Joan stop and turn around to face me. The moment the about to speak, I duck down as I feel the wind shift near my head.

Thank god for my reflex that I manage to avoid a wooden dagger from hitting my head.

"Oh, sorry about that!" A man voice echo from behind.

"Achilles got a little feisty when I tease him about his heel." I turn around and stand up again.

A muscular man with bronze skin and short, messy, black hair nod his head apologetically. I recognize him as The Well Of Knowledge put a name on his face, Hector.

"You're Hector the one who fought Achilles to the death against all odds." Amazement glaze over my eyes as I look at him.

"Sadly, I lose, but at least Paris finished the job." A grin appears on his face.

"Ha ha ha, I lose once, and everyone wouldn't let it go. What happens to your invulnerability, Achilles? What your heel isn't protected by it? One arrow is all it takes?" The man holding a wooden spear behind Hector says in a mocking voice.

Achilles then throws his spear at the ground, "Screw this!" and walk away.

He turns around again, "You know how painful it is to get hit on the heel by an arrow?! It's really painful! Malaka!" Everyone in the courtyard starts to snicker and giggle, annoyed by the snickering, Achilles storm off.

"Well, I just lose my sparring partner." He watches as Achilles leave the courtyard.

"Is he going to be fine?"

Hector rolls his eyes to the side. "Yeah...He'll calm down in a minute. This kind of stuff always happens on sparing day."

Hector turns his gaze on me, "Would you like to become my sparring partner for a few minutes?"

My mouth widens in glee, I glance behind me, and Helen nods her head. I look back at Hector, "Yes, a million times yes!"

"Ok then, let's go." He jogs to where Achilles was standing, and walk toward the weapon rack to pick a wooden gladius. He then walks back into the circle area near the weapon rack.

I let out a smile when there's a wooden hatchet in the assortment, I grab it and swirl it around in my hands. After taking a breath of fresh air, I walk into the circle and turn to face Hector.

His expression turns serious as he looks at me, "Your move."

The smile I had is gone, I grip the shaft of the hatchet tightly while I hunch my back slightly. Using my right feet, I push myself into a full sprint toward Hector. I try using a horizontal slash attack on him, but he easily sidesteps to the left and avoids it. However, it didn't discourage me as I keep making my advance on him.

Every attack I throw at him, he avoids with ease like it was nothing. I can feel my body getting tired and sore as I keep on trying to hit him with the hatchet. Without me noticing it, Hector trips me with his foot causing me to fall onto the ground, face first.

"Is that all you got?" He said with a disappointed tone.

"I thought you were better at this. I thought you get here solely by skill. Well, I guess my expectation of you let me down. It was pure luck. Isn't it?"

His words strike a chord in my heart. I huff the dirt off my lips as I get up again and try to attack him. This time instead of avoiding, he grabs my forearm and brings me closer to him. Afterward, he hit my stomach with the pummel of the wooden gladius.

I feel the sudden pain erupt in my abdomen while I fall to the ground after Hector let me go and cry out. "All that knowledge Adrestia gave you...What a waste, she should have picked someone else."

I grunt as I place my hand over my belly to soothe the aching pain. I know that he's trying to rile me up, but I couldn't help myself, his word hurt me more than the pain that I'm feeling right now. I rise again and wails my hatchet at him, hoping that one of the attacks hit him.

Every wail I take, I can feel the rage inside of me increase ten-fold, I begin to foam in my mouth like a rabid dog as I try to hit him. I can sense that I'm getting close to nailing my attack on him.

"Pathetic." He takes a step back and kicks me on the chest.

The force from the kick was so enormous that I lose my footing and cause to fall on my back. The dust rises around me as I let out several coughs, while my lungs try to inhale the air that I lost. In the corner of my eyes, I can see the worry in Helen's eyes, but I also see something else, hope.

"Your last effort is rage? Is that all you got, rage and drunken attacks?!" He shakes his head in disappointment.

"If you're not going to take this seriously then don't try at all."

"Adrestia make a mistake picking you over a million other souls." He turns his body to face the other way and start walking.

I rotate my body over so I could face the ground and place both hands in front of me to push me up. When I finally on my knees, I shout, "I'm not a mistake!"

"Adrestia pick me over a dozen million soul because she has faith in me!" I rise to my feet and able to stand up through the pain.

"Is that the lie you tell yourself so you can feel special?" His word burn into me, but I keep calm and take another breath in to clear my mind.

I can see a half-smile form on Hector's face. I dismiss his earlier statement, "It's not a lie!"

"Then prove it yourself!!" He shouts at me.

I rush to him with all I got and begin my final attack, but this time it's different, I'm using The Well Of Knowledge to pull every move that Adrestia learns and apply it in my assault. However, some of the techniques are harder to execute as Hector counters it with ease and return it with a couple of jabs to my body.

This way too easy for him that he doesn't even need to use his weapon. I grit my teeth and take a step back then I throw my hatchet toward him while charging toward him at the same time. I pull my fist behind me while he avoids the incoming hatchet by tilting his body. When he turns his body to face me again, my fist is already close to his chest that he can't avoid it anymore.

My fist finally connects to his chest, but it doesn't leave an impact as Hector let the momentum dissipate with a lean back. I grit my teeth in frustration as my attack end in another failure. In front of me, I can see his fist heading to my face. I couldn't avoid it because I lost too much energy on the last attack.

I close my eyes and wait for the inevitable.

My forehead jerk back as I feel a flick on my forehead, I open my eyes and see a full-blown smile on Hector's face.

"What?.." I turn my gaze to Helen and Joan. They both have the same smile.

"You did it. You landed a hit on me, a weak hit, but a hit nonetheless. Good job."

"I did?" I feel my knees weaken. Before I fall to the ground, Hector grabs hold of me and gently rest me on the ground.

"An inexperienced fighter manages to land a hit on a veteran? On the first fight? It's unheard of, you did great, and it shows you got potential." Hector barrage me with his recognition, and I can feel my cheek reddens.

Helen and Joan make their way to me as I hear the cheers from the others in the courtyard. Helen drops to her knees and begins stroking my hair with a proud smile on her face while Joan pats me on the shoulder.

I raise a fist of victory to the empty air.

Everyone cheers become even louder.

Achilles walks back to the courtyard, "I know, I know, I'm sorry for the outburst—" His eyes widen in surprise when he sees the people around him applauding.

"What did I miss?"