“Of course!” Regulus would be happy to guide him although it made him wonder how different the Sanctuary now was from his Sanctuary in the future. “Hopefully, the Sanctuary is not too different for you.”
As Avenir talked about his Athena, he listened. Lilies and orchids… Regulus couldn’t help but laugh as he imagined the outside of the Pope’s chambers being flooded by the two types of flowers. It was impressive that Avenir would know what her favourite flowers her. Now that he thought of it, he didn’t even know his own Athena’s favourite flower. He never thought to ask especially since he knew very little about flowers. He only knew more about herbs and edible and poisonous plants. However, he did notice that Athena always have a flower bracelet on her right hand and it seemed very important to her. Unfortunately, he was unable to figure out what kind of flower it was.
“I bet the outside of Pope’s chambers must be very beautiful. I am sure everyone must have enjoyed the scenery. And it is amazing that everyone was able to know what her favourite flowers were to grow the flowers there for her. Maybe we should do something similar for our Athena but it would take a lot of work to grow the flowers. What is your favourite type of flowers?”
At the mention of how adventurous Athena was and how he needed to bring her back to the Sanctuary, he laughed. It sounded similar to his Athena but different. He heard about the number of times she got into trouble sneaking out but not because she was adventurous but because she sometimes missed her old life.
“I wonder if all the Athenas are prone to sneaking out of the Sanctuary. Mine does the same too but it is because she missed her old life and everything here was so new to her. That is what my uncle told me. He tends to worry a lot when she is missing. One time though, she was kidnapped by Kardia. Apparently, he took her to Mexico and they had to fight an Aztec god! When they got back to the Sanctuary, everyone was furious with him especially my uncle and Degel. But it seemed like Athena had fun on the trip. My uncle told me after that, she was able to finally use her powers and fully accepted her role as Athena. I am not sure what Kardia did or what she experienced on the trip but I think the trip was a good experience despite what my uncle thinks. I think he worries too much.”
Yes, his uncle worried too much about Athena and even about him. He still remembered how on his first mission, all his uncle did was worried about his safety. When Avenir told him his Athena’s human name, he smiled.
“Elena… that is a nice name.”
♈︎ — The man smiled sadly upon remembering his Sanctuary--yet that smile faded slightly as invasive memories of the beautiful place being covered in darkness and blood... How many bodies did it take for the white stones to be dyed such a deep red... And yet, he could only blame himself regardless of how many times Hakurei tried to tell him that what had happened wasn’t his fault...
“Not fundamentally different, no,” he answered while his mind was still very far away. Yet, his mind was railed back to the conversation at hand--ah... the flowers. The boy’s chattering brought back those fond memories, and Avenir couldn’t help but smile. He really missed his people.
Upon the question regarding his own favorite flowers, the Frenchman paused briefly in thought before he said, “If I had to pick one, I suppose lavenders would be my favorite.”
Upon hearing that ‘Kardia’ kidnapped this time period's Athena and took her to Mexico to fight with Aztec gods, Avenir couldn’t help but shoot Regulus a profoundly confused look.
♈︎ — “Why on earth did he take her to Mexico and put her in danger like that?” he couldn’t help but ask. There were other ways to help Athena awaken to her power.... but he could only try to picture it. Something like that... was too risky! But, according to what Regulus said, Athena had a fun trip...
“If you insist that she had a fun during her... voyage, then I’ll believe you... Although, it must have been a very long time since she was ‘kidnapped’. You guys don’t exactly have airplanes in this time... That’s nearly a month from Greece to the New Land, right? I understand your uncle’s worry...”
Upon hearing the boy comment positively about Elena’s human name, Avenir couldn’t help the sad smile.
“Yes... Elena... The Master raised her as his own along side his daughter, Diana. I suppose he named her that to hide her from those with malicious intent whenever he took her out of Sanctuary when she was a baby. After all, the Master was very distrusting of those he felt uneasy around, and he loved Elena as much as he loved his own daughter,” he recalled as they strolled.
Feeling as if he was the one talking too much, Avenir then glanced over at Regulus, curious, “What’s your Athena’s ‘other name’, if you don’t mind me asking?”
