Greece rose through its city-states.
The City-Builders were the people who first laid those city-states brick by brick upon the earth.
For every city-state, that title was not only a mark of noble status, but also a supreme honor, one that its people would often revere and remember down to the present day.
The origins of several of the most famous god-blood families could basically all be traced back to that.
And in Athens, the only City-Builder family that dared use the Gorgon and the olive branch as its emblem was the Pandion family.
Legend said they were protected by the Three Goddesses and especially favored by Athena, Goddess of Wisdom.
There was even a rumor, from some dubious back channel, that one of the Pandion bloodlines who inherited the throne of Athens was actually a bastard child Athena had raised in secret.
Because of that, the Pandion family was regarded as the descendants of the goddess. On the Areopagus, they held a transcendent position, acting as the direct intermediaries who listened to heaven above and conveyed divine will below.
"My employers, are you all right?"
Samael stepped up the stairs, entered the assembly hall, came to Gorgo and Helen's side, and asked with a frown.
"We... we're fine..."
The Queen of Sparta stared at the emptied space around them, then at the assassin bodyguard who had appeared so abruptly before her. For a long moment she was too stunned to speak, and only after standing there in a daze did she instinctively manage a vague reply.
Fine?
Samael rubbed his chin and swept a scrutinizing look around the hall.
The nearby god-blood guards all instinctively drew back their sword and shield, bowed with a hand to the chest, and carefully avoided meeting his eyes as they saluted this "City-Builder."
As for why, well, obviously.
The entire Areopagus was practically the Pandion family's backyard. Given a status like that, let alone breaking into the sacred domain, even if he started a rebellion right in the Acropolis of Athens, without a divine decree from above, not even the citizen assembly would likely be able to try him.
"Looks like I came at the wrong time and missed quite a show, so would someone care to explain..."
Samael glanced at the bearded councilor lying cold on the ground, then lifted his eyes toward the ring of withered old men seated above. The corner of his mouth tilted up, his expression openly mocking.
"Ahem, Lord City-Builder, this matter is somewhat complicated. Perhaps after the session..."
"Idiot, shut up!"
The rough rebuke cut that attempt at ingratiation short. The richly dressed old man, his face flushing green and red with rage, looked down at the uninvited guest below and spoke with chilling menace.
"You dared assault the sacred domain and forge the Pandion family crest? Boy, to swagger your way in and try to fool me. You've got nerve."
Then the old man looked down with disdain, as though he were watching some clownish farce.
"I can guarantee that he is no descendant of the Pandion family! Men, throw him into the water prison and interrogate him thoroughly. Make this brat confess the mastermind behind him as soon as possible. This matter definitely has something to do with the Spartans!"
The soldiers gathered around looked at the Gorgon emblem hanging on the old man's chest, hesitated, exchanged glances, and amid the stir reluctantly raised their swords and shields.
The god-blood nobles, having only just recovered from the shock of seeing the sacred domain's eighty-eight constellations fall in an instant, now looked strangely at the old man who had stood up to confront him.
"A fake? That seems a bit much, doesn't it? That girl handed this to me herself..."
Samael rubbed his chin, muttering as he examined the rune-carved wardstone, then, right in front of everyone, casually gave it a kick.
Buzz!
In an instant, a pillar of light woven from gold and violet shot into the sky from the center of the hall, passing through the open space held aloft between the cupped palms of the three goddess statues.
In the blink of an eye, the eighty-eight constellations centered around the Twelve Zodiac Temples lit up one after another across the dome where heaven's starlit river was reflected, gradually linking together into a sacred emblem.
The Gorgon... the olive branch...
Inside the open-air hall, the god-blood families seated around the tiers all sprang to their feet and stared at the wardstone in the center. Their astonishment was beyond words, and their burning, disbelieving eyes all turned toward the languid figure standing off to one side.
The Pandion family. It really was the Pandion family crest!
Under the mix of strange, curious, and mocking gazes around him, the head of the Pandion family who had raised the accusation moments before felt his old face sting with humiliation. His cheeks twitched uncontrollably, and even the Gorgon emblem on his own chest looked shabby and cheap by comparison.
"Boy, I will verify your bloodline myself in due time. If your identity proves genuine, I will grant you the chance to return to the Pandion family."
The old man's expression was ugly. After forcing out those words through a stiff neck and a cold snort, his face darkened further. He slammed the table and issued a frigid threat.
"But this is the sacred and solemn assembly hall of the Areopagus. We are discussing decisions concerning the fate of Greece. Before I truly lose my temper, get out at once. Otherwise, no matter whose bastard left out in the world you are, the Pandion family will strip you of your name immediately!"
"Strip me of my name? Sorry, but I think you've got something very wrong."
Samael looked at the old man standing at the center of the circular seating, trying his best to maintain the dignity of the family head, scratched his head somewhat helplessly, and asked quietly,
"Does carrying the family crest necessarily make someone your blood descendant...?"
Not a descendant? Then could it be...?!
As those offhand words slipped from the man's lips, the current head of the Pandion family felt as though he had been struck by thunder. A certain possibility flashed through his mind, making his whole body shudder violently. His expression changed drastically as he stared in utter disbelief at the man below, who had just pulled back his white hood.
According to the Pandion family records, only one member had ever been personally marked by the goddess as missing in the war against the Titans...
At the same time, Helen beside him had clearly realized something too. She whipped her head around in shock and stared blankly at the figure whose features twisted and shifted beneath the halo of light.
"It seems I've been away too long. I suppose I should introduce myself properly."
Samael looked around, the corners of his lips lifting slightly.
"So, let's meet again. My name is Theseus. If I remember correctly, that should make me your king..."
That familiar yet unfamiliar name exploded in everyone's mind like a thunderclap, leaving the god-blood nobles frozen in shock and disbelief. The hall fell into dead silence.
The Ancient Serpent's gaze swept over the aged, stunned faces of the councilors. Beneath the smile gathered at his lips was a cold edge as sharp as a blade, and he spoke leisurely.
"Come to think of it, the reason you're all able to sit here in peace is because of me, isn't it?"
Theseus. A great hero of Greece's Age of Heroes, a participant in the Calydonian Hunt and the Argonaut Expedition, and Athens's greatest City-Builder. The sacred king who single-handedly raised the Pandion family to divine prominence.
And beyond that, Athens's laws, Athens's navy, and the Areopagus's entire strategic apparatus had all originated from his hand.
Even the very formation of the Greek alliance was built on the foundation he laid in the war against the Titans, when he united the Greek city-states through his own charisma and leadership and successfully drove back Velber.
It could be said that every god-blood noble present in the assembly hall, the glory revered by the masses in their hands, the authority to look down on Greece, the power to command the troops of the city-states, the right to hold Sparta to account, all of it came from him.
Queen Gorgo stared wide-eyed at the assassin "Ezio" who had protected them all the way here, her face full of disbelief. Helen looked at that familiar yet unfamiliar silhouette from her memories, clasping her fingers tightly before her chest as a mist of tears welled in her eyes.
And now, at last, he had returned...
...
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