"I really hate this teleportation bullshit!"
Nolan's voice rang out with a wheeze as they appeared in what seemed to be a witches lab.
"You seem to be quite the overly sensitive person to spatial energy. Even though your affinity for space is mediocre at best," Hecate said after a while.
"Yeah, thanks for the help," Nolan replied, his tone taking a sarcastic edge he couldn't help.
Could any of these stuck-up deities even be a bit less infuriating? Why weren't they following the plot? In those novels he read, at least one or two would be trying to get on his good side by now.
Where was the protagonist halo?
It couldn't be that he had become one of those archetypal protagonists who had to climb and claw to the top with soul-consuming hatred and vengeance against the gods, could it?
"You are quite a peculiar person," Hecate said after studying him for a moment.
Nolan just looked at her and offered no response. This wasn't the first time he was hearing that. Though it was the first time hearing it to his face from a god, he had heard it so many times, that it felt like hearing "the sky is blue."
Right now, all he wanted to do was create some funny scenarios about his situation in his head, until he left for the mortal sphere, as he frankly did not want to keep dwelling on this anger, lest he did something stupid that could cost him his life.
After all, he had sworn to himself to take revenge on these gods, and he'd be damned if he let himself die before fulfilling that goal.
'Wow, I really did become one of those 2D protags... Fuck me!' He mused internally.
Just then the air rippled slightly and Hera appeared in the lab.
"I was expecting you," Hecate said calmly, without even turning to look at her.
"I want him, Hecate," Hera responded, her voice just as calm.
'Language woman, language. I don't want your husband to get the wrong idea,' Nolan screamed in his head.
Her statement really could be interpreted the wrong way. And who knew if Zeus was secretly eavesdropping? He knew a little about mythology to know that although Zeus was quite the scumbag he was overly possessive of Hera.
He was indeed a true man of culture. Though a pathetic one since he had to sneak around to carry out his escapades. But a man of culture nonetheless.
Meanwhile, the two goddesses continued as though the subject of their discussion wasn't right there in front of them.
"He's my disciple Hera. Besides, he is a sole singularity. Are you sure you want to take a gamble and put all your eggs in one basket?" Hecate asked.
"Yes. It is exactly because of his nature that I want him. Not even the sisters of fate would be able to expose my ambitions. I think it is fate, that you found him and brought him to me." Hera replied.
At that, Hecate was forced to turn. She studied Hera for a few long seconds with that infuriatingly passive expression, and to Hera's credit (way Nolan saw it) she didn't break composure in the slightest. Truly a queen.
"Pardon me, Your Highness, but I'm afraid I cannot release my protégé to you," she finally replied after a while.
Hera's expression visibly darkened at that. However before she could say anything...
"Don't I get a say in this?"
Nolan's voice cut through their discussion, and causing them to finally acknowledge his presence.
A heavy pressure descended on him the moment their gaze settled on his mortal body, but compared to what he had endured in Zeus's throne room, it was like a walk in the park. Something he casually shrugged off.
"Oh? And who would you pick?" Hera asked.
Nolan held their gazes without trouble and pretended to contemplate for a while, giving Hecate a good look, and finally turned to Hera.
"I choose you!" He declared, watching as a glint of satisfaction shimmered in Hera's majestic eyes.
He watched Hecate from the corner of his eyes, and of course, her expression remained impassive.
Nolan of course had a reason for choosing the Olympus queen over Hecate. He could not read the three eyed woman at all. Her expression was always impassive, her body language betrayed nothing, and her aura was a still as a fathomless abyss.
It left him feeling uneasy, and he didn't like it. For someone who prided himself on understanding psychology to a very deep level—bordering on philosophical—courtesy of his ability that had forced him to mature on time and the tons of psychology books he had engrossed himself in, like Greene's 48 Laws of Power.
The highest shift in expression he had noticed from her, was a narrowing of eyes that disappeared the next instant, when he was able to somehow cultivate.
But Hera on the other hand, Nolan could read. And while he knew both just wanted him for the advantages he could bring, one could be played to his advantage, the other... He couldn't even begin to know what she was thinking, talk more fooling her.
"Hahaha"
Suddenly, a light chuckle escaped Hera's lips, that soon devolved into a full blown sinister laugh that left him a little confused.
He turned to Hecate, and he could see her looking at him with... Pity? It was hard to tell, but it seemed he was in trouble.
Suddenly a flash of realization struck him, and he almost palmed his face.
'Of course, you idiot. They can read minds. How could you let that detail slip past?!'
Hera had just heard him say how he planned to play her because she wore her heart and expression on her sleeve.
But Nolan was quite sure it was more than that. If he went by his knowledge of mythology, then it was more of a comparison than claiming he could control her. After all, he had been thinking of getting strong enough that he would pay back their humiliation a thousandfold in the future, and they had not paid him any mind. He was too insignificant to care about.
From a different lens, he had just said Hecate was the better of them, and he chose her because she was less intelligent and thus more liable to be manipulated.
And... Hera was a very jealous and vindictive goddess. It didn't matter what the cause of such a personality was. The important thing was that she was a narcissistic and vindictive bitch.
The war of Troy was a good example.
'Yeah, I'm fucked.'