After only a few hours of sailing, I was approaching the island of Imnos along with the crew of women, that decided to go with me. While their presence was unexpected, they proved to be capable and should the worst thing come to be, and another sea monster decided to rear its ugly head from under the water, they would become brilliant meatshields and even better decoys, while I would bail the doomed ship.
Alas, no monster decided to appear, which was great, because the longer my new meatshields stay alive, the less likely it is for things to go utterly sideways, with no backup plan. But with how fast the ship was, I would calculate the chances of another accident happening on my sea voyage to be quite low. While Being X was likely to be a wild factor, and therefore I could not count on luck, to have an average normal day, without any accidents as long as I was alive ever again. Faster travel meant less time spent at sea, which then lowered the risks.
Another precaution, that was deployed during this journey, from the island of Lemnos to the island of Imnos, was an order to sail the ship near the coast, where the waters were more shallow. This of course meant that the ship could potentially sail to the rocks, but that was why several observers were positioned on both ship sides and on the front. Should there be any obstacle in a way, the course would have to be altered.
But so far the journey was smooth sailing and the weather was great. Sun shining, but not overly so, light white clouds lazily floating in the sky, good backwind that hastened my sea voyage and most importantly no enemy battlecruisers, attempting to sink the ship with me on board, using their long-range artillery pieces, neither any hidden submarines firing torpedos at us, since no periscopes were peeking from under the waves.
With how idyllic this cruise was so far, I was almost able to enjoy it. Almost because this was a missed opportunity for an afternoon coffee. Alas, there was no coffee in ancient Greece, or at least I did not know about any. Though should Captain Serebryakova be here, she might be able to produce some coffee either way. I wondered what Sappho would say after tasting the brilliant bitter beverage. Probably wrote a poem about, whether she liked the taste or not. I suspected it would be amusing.
Suddenly my musings were interrupted by the shouting of the crew. Something must have been happening, something important enough for them to need my attention. And that something was the fast approaching ship, that appeared seemingly out of nowhere. Or rather it was waiting behind the cliff, well hidden. Its front had been armored, and by seeing how fast the rows were moving, they were planning to ram into us.
How ridiculous! It was impossible to avoid them. My ship could not be turned that fast, nor accelerate that much as to avoid fast approaching enemy. I ordered everyone to abandon the port side of the ship where they were heading and to brace for an impact and possible boarding since it was clear as a day who the new enemy was.
Was this place just riddled with pirates, monsters and god-pretenders? So far it seemed so. What an unreasonable world Being X decided to throw me into. Should this trend continue I would be facing one irrational thing after another. If this was Being X's game, I would rather not imagine what he has in store for me, should I survive long enough. Apocalypse perhaps? I hoped not, because that would be ultimately a rigged game, since there is no surviving the apocalypse, at least according to that bastard's book. But I would not put it beside him, to throw one final tantrum, once he is out of options on how to torture me.
Alas, these pirates did not stand much chance. First, their ship shot straight at us like a well-aimed arrow, with the intention to ram our ship. And they did so. But that was the point of failure of their plan. Whatever material was this ship made of, was stronger than the wooden ship of pirates. When their ship rammed us, we were all thrown to the side, but our ship sustained no damage. The same though could not be said about pirates' ship. It broke into a shower of splinters. And as it came to a sudden halt, some of the pirates were squashed agaits out ship's hull.
It was clear as day that none of the sea commies did expect to encounter such an unnatural ship, that was not even slightly dented after their ramming maneuver. But neither I expect that. There was no wood, I knew about, that could withstand getting slammed by a reinforced enemy ship's hull and survive without even a scratch. It made sense since this ship was originally owned by the men who were hiding the temple of Athena on the island of Lemnos. And since the berserker was part of the crew. It made sense that the ship must be also strong, in order to withstand individuals with such monstrous strength. Yet this brought me quite a big concern, if this ship was unnaturally strong, what else was abnormal about it?
Be it my paranoia speaking, or perhaps knowledge of possible future technology, I could not discard the possibility of someone being able to track this ship remotely. And while god-pretender Athena, berserker and even the sea monster were dead, there was still the possibility of Being X sending someone or something else my way. Therefore I decided to discard the ship as soon as reaching the mainland. While it would be impractical and possibly even illogical to do so. I would rather not risk having another thing similar to that cursed Type 95 computation orb tied to my person.
After the pirates' ship unceremoniously sunk, along with most of the pirates. I proceed to explain to my new meatshields my philosophy about piracy. How it is not good for the free market, or for their health. Because they could never hope to anticipate all the unreasonabilities the ancient Mediterranean Sea provided. From sea monsters lurking in the depths, ready to snack on any unsuspecting ship. To seemingly indestructible ships, that can turn pirates into paste. If my meatshields were not convinced about the inevitable futility of piracy before this occurrence, they were now.
While I did not prefer to be attacked by pirates so soon again. It was a great example for my new subordinates. To witness the negative example, of what piracy leads to. This would hopefully, positively reinforce them not to think about becoming pirates ever again. Should they not learn though, I would be forced to commit to a drastic measure, even if I did not want to waste human resources.
She was lucky that she still had some time before she would have to return to Olympus. While yes, her job was to recover Argonauts, which she already did, she would be able to spend only so much time looking for her daughter, while still being able to pretend to have no clue where the "spider monster" went. It infuriated her much. So much in fact that she would love to wring Zeus's and Athena's necks. Alas, she did not have the power to do that, even if it was a nice thing to imagine. Well, she would be able to do it one day It might be a long time in the future, but she would be able to do so.
Another thing that annoyed her greatly was the fact that she might know where her daughter was heading, she learned that from the cultists. But what she did not know, was the path her child intended to take, as all accounts from the women of the island of Lemnos were different. And even if she went for the mount Athos, she would not have time to look for the person her daughter was looking for. Thinking about it, she did not ask the cultists for more details about the person her child was looking for. The only detail she caught was the fact that this person was similarly afflicted as Arachne. So, some Olympian must have done something to this person. Maybe as an early experiment for uplifting? Perhaps, after all, she was the first success the Olympians had with uplifting baseline humans. What the arrogant bunch did not know, was how much Aphrodite did help with the process.
Arriving on the island of Lesbos, Nike immediately started to look for her daughter's abode. She wanted something else besides her poor child's amputated spider leg to have with her. She knew that Arachne would be content with her taking something as long she left another thing of the same or greater value. Probably greater value would be better, after all her child was an uncompromising and shrewd merchant.
Thinking about how her child usually was, or at least how she remembered her daughter, from all those centuries ago, Nike finally encountered giant spider webs and that could mean only one thing. She was nearing Arachne's abode unless it was a decoy.
After several more minutes of searching, she was able to locate quite an inconspicuous place, among the spider webs, with a fresh water source and spacious cave. If this was not the place her daughter choose to her abode, while on Lesbos, then she did not know where else it could be. And ultimately she was victorious, the place was, until just recently, inhabited by someone, if ashes from the campfire were anything to go by. With deep breaths, she shook down all the nervousness and entered her daughter's dwelling.
"So here she lives? Quite a neat place for a cave," she mused.
Looking around Nike saw many different things for daily use. Some of them looked quite old and very unprofessionally made. Wooden spoons and plates, ceramic pots and even what she remembered was a cloth-making device Arachne devised. And then she realized that all of those things must have been made by her daughter. Looking at some of the newer utensils she saw a real skill in the craft.
"Always so resourceful," she wondered melancholically.
Reminiscing about the past made her slightly sad and angry, at the missed opportunity to see her child after so many years. Yet, she could not stay much longer, if she wanted to visit Aphrodite before reporting to Zeus. She did not look forward to it, unlike spending time with Aphrodite. She better collect something of Arachne's making and leave before anyone becomes too impatient or suspicious.
There, in front of her was a pile of undyed cloth. inspecting the material Nike noticed that it was made of the same spider silk as the webs outside. Smiling, she realized that it was made by her daughter, nothing short of meeting her child, could bring her any closer.
Unfolding the pile of spider silk cloth, she certainly did not expect a young woman, still almost a child to be in the middle of it. And yet, there she was, whimpering from her sleep. Nike noticed numerous bruises and cuts on the child's skin. The girl has been hurt a lot. Why would anyone ever do that? But then she noticed the girl's attire. From her recent ventures among the humans, she knew that such clothes were usually worn by slaves of this time.
So the explanation for the injuries was indeed quite simple. A piece of human trash was responsible for them. But it could not be Arachne, her daughter always treated servants well, much like her equals. Therefore someone else was at fault and when she got this piece of sh@t in her hands, she would...
Calming her breathing, she probably should heal the girl first, before making a quick work of the abuser. Healing humans was now easy for her as an uplifted being. Just cut her skin open and with a few drops of her copper-colored blood, the girl was as good as new. At least her body was.
At that moment the girl stirred back to consciousness and immediately backed to the corner covering herself with arms, when she noticed that she was no longer alone. Nike knew that the child was scared, she expected it and because of that, she must stay calm.
"I'll stay here, without moving. Are you feeling better?" she tried to signal to the girl that she was not a danger to her.
After several short moments of silence, the scared girl slowly peaked from behind her arms observing her surroundings. And she noticed that the stranger did keep to her words and stayed where she originally stood. Several more moments later, the now not-so-scared young woman found the courage to inspect her injuries, only to not find any.
"H-how? Why?" the child dared to ask after some more silent moments.
"A little bit of magic," Nike said softly.
"Magic! Like lady Arachne?" the young woman hurled her words.
Nike smiled and confirmed the girl's question. She had to explain to the girl that she helped her only because she had been hurt because she could and that she did not expect anything in return. The not-so-scared child seemed to be surprised, but after a few more confirming answers the young woman was convinced that Nike's intentions were genuine. She even managed to coax the girl's name, Cynane the young woman called herself.
The uplifted human wanted to do something about the Cynane's situation. But when Nike asked about who hurt her, that she would make them stop, Cynane shrugged on herself and refused to communicate any further. Was she perhaps, too hasty and had not enough of the young woman's trust?
In the end, Nike could do nothing more, even if she was angry. But lashing out would not help Cynane, if anything it would have scared her even more, which would lead to a setback. The uplifted goddess left there one of her communication feathers, telling Cynane should she need help, to break the feather and she would come. After that, Nike left, with a single spider silk sheet, leaving several coins in its place.