"So, Athena. . ." I began, "Are you going to give me a hint of what we're going to do today?"

"I'll tell you when."

It was a late Sunday morning and Athena still hadn't made a move about what I'm going to have for training. I kept asking her but she wouldn't give a straight answer. I even tried reading her head but all I saw was a blank.

"I see you in my head," she once said. "Stop spying on my thoughts or I won't start training you."

The two of us were currently in our dorm. I was lazily lying on my bed, staring at the room aimlessly. Meanwhile, Athena was sitting on the floor with her legs crossed and eyes closed, which I eventually assumed that she was meditating.

I let out a long groan. "Athena! I'm bored! When are we even going to start?"

She opened an eye and looked at me. "Soon."

"But we're wasting time!" I sighed in frustration. "You know what? If we're not going to do anything today, then I'll just go out and hang out with Pierre."

I rose from my bed and walked past Athena.

"Where are you planning to go?" she asked.

I stopped near the door. "Well, I'm going to the library or whatever and meet him there."

Athena opened both of her eyes and stood up. "Perfect timing. I was planning for us to go there."

I rolled my eyes. "Oh, now you decide to move and do something!"

She smirked. "I just waited until you ran out of patience. You had it longer than expected. Congratulations, you passed my first test."

"Wait, wha—" I raised my hands in surrender. "You know what, I'm done! Let's just go before I do something I don't wanna do. I mean seriously, you're so painfully unbearable!"

"And you're impatient and naive." She went out of the room without waiting for me.

"Hey, Athena! Wait!" I shouted before following her. "Who do you think you're calling naive?"

Fast forward to the library, Athena picked a table that was at the far end of the library. She told me she wanted as few people coming near us as possible. As soon as I sat at the table, she ordered me to ask the librarian for a chessboard.

"If she refuses to give you one, just tell her that I requested for it," she added. "She'll then give you one easily."

I looked at her skeptically. "First off, you can do that? Asking the librarian for a chessboard, I mean."

She stared at me as if it was obvious. "As long as you're quiet and don't disturb anyone, you can ask for a chessboard or other available board games like checkers and Scrabble."

"Wow, that's nice. I should probably play those with Pierre sometime," I murmured, then turned back to Athena. "And second, why didn't you ask the librarian earlier when we passed by the front desk?"

She shrugged. "I wanted you to do that by yourself. It's part of your test I'm overseeing."

I groaned. "Just tell me if you're making up a stupid excuse because you don't need one in my case."

Athena waved her hand at me. "Don't make a fuss and just go, Amelia."

Rolling my eyes, I sprang up from my seat and walked my way to the librarian's desk. I politely requested a chessboard, which the old lady immediately gave with a smile. I took the board and went back to Athena who was reading a book.

"Here I am." I placed the chessboard in front of Athena. "And here's the chessboard."

"Hm? Ah, yes. The board." She put down the book beside her. "Now, help me arrange the chess pieces. We're going to play."

"Wait, we're playing?" I asked. "But I thought you said we're going to train."

Athena gave me a side glance as she opened the folded board and took out the pieces. "Let's just say that this is a warm-up before your actual training, alright? This isn't like Zeus's weaponry training. And stop acting so naive. I'm expecting you to be clever."

"B-but I'm not good at chess!" I complained while I helped her put the pieces in their right places. "I know the basics and stuff, but I'm terribly bad at the strategy part. I swear I'll lose against you in just five moves or less."

"As much as I'd love to enjoy that, I only want to see how good or bad you are," she said calmly. "Don't worry, I'll be easy on you if you wish."

"Okay, fine! I'll play." I sat across Athena. She who already sitting where the black pieces were, leaving me with no choice but to make the first move.

Without a thought, I picked up the pawn in front of the bishop near my king and moved it two spaces. Athena moved the pawn in front of her king also two spaces. I then moved the pawn from G2 to G4, or two spaces front. Athena, like a snake, picked up her queen and moved it all the way to H4.

"Checkmate," she said.

"What?" I blurted, my eyes wide at the board. "How did you do that? And in less than four moves? You didn't even try to get easy on me."

"Now that wouldn't be fun, would it?"

Grumbling, I inspected the moves made on the board. Okay, so I moved two of my pawns upfront, while Athena moved a pawn then she moved the queen because. . . Oh.

"You see now? You openly gave a chance for me to attack you," she said like she read my mind. "The move is called the Fool's Mate, and it usually tricks beginners. Beginners like you."

"Yeah, yeah. I get it, I'm an amateur. No need to shove it on my face." I stood up. "Can we go now and do the actual training? I want to do something else, anything but chess."

"Who said that this isn't the training?" She began rearranging the pieces back to their places. "We're going to play again, and again until you beat me. Or at least when you put up a good game."

"Wait. . . So you're saying that playing chess is the training?" I asked. "How will chess be able to help me with the upcoming mission?"

"Chess is a game of strategy, Amelia," she told me. "Strategy that you can use in real life. You wouldn't just go on the battlefield mindlessly, would you?"

"No, that would be stupid. . ." I muttered.

"Exactly. The skills you'll learn in chess will help you think your actions through in the best way possible," she continued. "You'll be able to predict the possible results and consequences of your moves and your opponents."

"Wow, I never really thought of chess like that," I said. "Can you really use chess in a fight?"

"Sure. Unlike my brother Zeus, I'm no knucklehead who'll just charge into a fight without thinking," she said, scoffing. "I'm my namesake, and no one's better at strategy and wisdom than me. That's why I'm here to teach you how. Now sit back down and let me do my job."

Sitting back in my seat, I sighed in defeat. "Okay. Let's play again."

* * *

For the rest of the day, Athena and I played chess in the library, with Athena doing most of the serious playing while I just let myself lose from her, not really caring about my moves and stuff. I didn't know how long we were playing, and how many games we already played, but I knew it was so long that Athena suddenly slammed her fist on the table, shaking some of the chess pieces off their tiles.

"Hey! I was about to steal your rook!"

She glared at me. "You're not taking the game seriously, Amelia."

"What are you talking about? I'm already playi—"

"That's not what I meant," she interrupted. "You're just moving pieces randomly, not even giving yourself the time to analyze your moves and mine. You're not even learning from your past games, which is definitely a must. That's not how chess is supposed to be played."

"Well, I'm not like you who's all smart and clever," I snapped. "You're the Chosen of the goddess of wisdom, and I'm Hera's. Let's face it, we're completely different, so I'll let you do the strategy stuff for the team when the mission starts while I'll do the fighting."

I angrily rose from my chair and prepared to walk away when I felt Athena's hand on my shoulder. I turned around to see a strange look in her eyes that I don't see in her every day.

Athena let out a deep sigh. "Listen, Amelia. . . I'm not being hard on you because I want to make you look stupid—"

I snorted. "Oh really? That doesn't look like it to me every time."

"No, it doesn't—Look, the point is. . . You're right about us being different, but that doesn't mean we have something in common. You may not know, but that we are quite similar than you realize. Hera can be actually cunning when it comes to sniffing out Zeus's affairs, you know."

Her last statement made me smile a little. "Yeah, that's kinda true. . ."

"And we both don't like being underestimated, right?"

I nodded. "You feel that too?"

She smiled. "Yes, of course. I often despise it when my brothers suggest that I do reconnaissance while they do the rest of the action during our missions. They think I should be the brains while they act as the brawns. As much as I love that they think of me like that, I also want to be able to fight and fend for myself. My namesake used to fight in the front lines too."

"Agreed," I said. "It sucks to be underestimated just because you're a girl and look vulnerable and stuff. It feels unfair."

"At least we agree on something for once." She gave out a hand. "Truce?"

I hesitated for a moment before shaking her hand. "Truce."

We both walked back to the table and rearranged the chess pieces to start a new game.

"This time, I'll teach you the game. Properly," she said. "Is that good for you?"

"Yeah. That definitely is better than your earlier approach," I joked.

As she promised, Athena started to teach me in a more mentor-like way. Whenever it was my turn to move, she would give me some tips and hints on how to make a better strategy for my gameplay. After every game, I became better and better, which was something considering that I was playing against the most strategic person I know. I would lose at her every time, sure, but it wasn't like the first time. Our games became longer and longer until we realized that it was almost nighttime. We decided to call it a day and went back to the dorms.

On the way there, she told me about her plans for tomorrow's training.

"What? You're going to end it that fast?" I asked. "But I thought your training will take some more time."

"Yes, I thought so too, but I figured it would be a waste of time if I taught you something that needs years and years of mastery in a matter of mere days," she said. "Besides, I think you know enough to survive the incoming mission."

"You think so?"

She nodded. "I hate to admit it. . . but yes. I don't think you need to learn more things about tactics and strategy."

"So we're going to play one last game?" I asked. "Tomorrow?"

"One last game and some more tips, and you'll train with Poseidon next."