NOVEL SIMPLE Chapter 42: Pegasus
In Greek mythology, there was a hero named Bellerophon.
Bellerophon was a prince of ancient Greece, the grandson of Sisyphus, the one who pushed the boulder up the mountain.
Due to accidentally killing his own brother during a hunting expedition, he was exiled by his father, eventually arriving in the kingdom of Argos.
The king Proetus of Tiryns greatly admired him and pardoned his crimes.
However, during their first meeting, the king's wife—named Anteia or Stheneboea fell in love with Bellerophon.
As time passed, the once virtuous queen felt as if her heart was struck by Cupid's arrow, growing deeper in love with Bellerophon, thinking of him day and night.
One day, at a banquet hosted by the king, the queen saw Bellerophon again.
Overwhelmed, she took that opportunity to arrange a secret meeting and passionately expressed her love to him.
However, due to the help he had received from King, Bellerophon immediately refused the queen's advances, which angered her greatly.
Over time, the situation escalated, and the queen went to King in tears, accusing Bellerophon of attempting to make advances on her instead.
Although King Proetus admired Bellerophon, he naturally believed his wife more and got fumed with anger.
However, angry as he was, he dared not to satisfy his anger by killing a guest (who was protected by Xenia
—guest-friendship), causing him to finally exile Bellerophon to King Iobates, his father-in-law from the plain of the River Xanthus in Lycia, bearing a sealed letter in a folded tablet which read:
"Please remove this bearer from the world: he attempted to violate my wife, your daughter."
Before opening the tablets, Iobates feasted with Bellerophon for nine days.
On reading the tablet's message Iobates too feared the wrath of the Erinyes (Chthonic Goddesses if vengeance) if he murdered a guest; so he sent Bellerophon on a mission that he deemed impossible to survive: to kill the Chimera, a monster living in neighboring Caria, causing trouble in the countryside.
The Chimera, also known as Chimaira, was a child of Typhon, the progenitor of all monsters.
It had the head of a lion, the body of a goat, and a tail made of a python. It could breathe fire, leaving desolation in its wake.
Clearly, he had intended to use the Chimera to kill Bellerophon.
When he was his despair, Bellerophon was approached by a lame old river god.
He was Asopus, the father of the river goddess Aegina.
Though he had once given the ever-flowing spring water in return, he always remembered the help Sisyphus had given him when Zeus, disguised as an eagle, took his daughter away.
Seeing the grandson of Sisyphus in trouble, he came forward to inform Bellerophon.
In his territory, there was a powerful creature that could help Bellerophon defeat the Chimera.
It was a winged, silver-white horse which soared through the vast starry sky with its silver-white wings, its form beautiful and elegant.
Its name was —Pegasus!
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As it spread its silver wings and descended from the starry sky,
Promise finally understood the oracle given to him by the goddess of wisdom, Athena, and what the beautiful meteor described by the fate goddess Clotho actually was.
It was a winged horse soaring through the sky, named Pegasus.
Yes, it was the same Pegasus born from the blood of the Gorgon.
Descending from the starry sky, its wings fluttered as it approached them, its majestic form drawing all eyes.
The gaze of Pegasus swept over the crowd, finally resting on a golden-horned deer looking up at it.
It was actually attracted by the call of the golden-horned deer.
It landed gracefully, emitting a clear cry to the golden-horned deer, which responded but then shook its head and looked at Promise.
The golden-horned deer crouched down beside Promise.
Pegasus called softly twice more and, seeing the deer not responding further, glanced at the boy and the others before turning to the clear spring.
It dipped its hoof into the water, letting the cool liquid cleanse its silver body in the moonlight.
"Beautiful..." Atalanta couldn't help but express her genuine admiration, her bright green eyes reflecting the scene.
Promise nodded in agreement.
It was indeed beautiful.
Pegasus, in Greek mythology, was revered by poets and considered the guardian of the Muses, the goddesses of art.
Pegasus never allowed anyone to touch it, except for the nine ancient Muses, who would use the clear springs symbolizing luck, hope, and beauty to cleanse its holy body.
Just as Promise nodded, he felt a gentle tug at his leg.
Looking down, he saw the golden-horned deer looking up at him.
After a moment of surprise, he quickly said, "Of course, you're very beautiful too."as he spoke, he also stroked its head.
The golden-horned deer squinted its eyes happily and glanced at Atalanta.
Seeing this, the latter naturally hurried to praise it.
Thus, the golden-horned deer bowed its head again and comfortably lay down.
Just as Promise felt slightly amused by the golden-horned deer's reaction, he suddenly thought of something and looked towards the old river god Asopus, who had unknowingly stood up, leaning on his staff, trembling, and staring intently at the Pegasus.
After all, he had once dreamed of riding this winged horse, galloping among the stars.
But then, a bolt of lightning shattered everything.
"So, the oracle the great goddess gave you, was it to tame it?" Atalanta spoke, recalling the scene of it falling from the stars.
Thinking back to the spectacle when it transformed into a silver-white meteor and descended from the starry night sky to the mortal realm.
If such power were to strike the Calydonian boar, it could indeed be possible to hunt it, but...
"You..." She hesitated, looking at the somewhat too frail young man beside her, stopping herself from speaking further.
She naturally shared the same thought as the river god Asopus.
That was how could this frail young man possibly tame a meteor!
Promise, unconcerned with Atalanta's gaze, watched the Pegasus in front of him washing its body, his eyes filled with confusion.
Since seeing it, he felt an inexplicable urge within his body, but he couldn't quite identify what it was, so his brow furrowed gradually, and his face showed irritation.
Seeing his like that, Atalanta thought he was thinking about how to tame the Pegasus.
Seeing his furrowed brow, her heart softened, and she reassured him, "Don't worry, Promise, it's okay. Even if we can't fulfill this oracle, as long as we pray to the great Artemis, she will surely forgive us."
Promise snapped back to reality upon hearing this and turned to Atalanta, just about to say something, when the Pegasus, having finished washing and retracting its wings, walked back over.
It merely shook its body lightly and shook off all the spring water from its body.
The approaching Pegasus called out to the golden-horned deer again, and at its call, the deer finally stood up but did not move towards it, instead looking at Promise.
"Don't worry, I'm right here, I won't go anywhere, and there's no danger," said the boy when he saw this.
The golden-horned deer was clearly sent by Artemis to guide Promise and also to protect the frail young man.
Thus, hearing Promise's words, the golden-horned deer relaxed, walked towards the Pegasus, and started frolicking with it immediately.
The golden-horned deer, Artemis's favorite creature and a symbol of the moon goddess, wouldn't have been pursued so madly by Actaeon if it weren't for its stunning beauty, even leading him to Artemis's sacred place without realizing it.
Therefore, as it played with the silver-white Pegasus, bathed in the moonlight of the night sky, the boy suddenly understood what that inexplicable urge in his heart was all about.
Then, he turned around, under Atalanta's puzzled gaze, and took out paintbrushes and a canvas from his luggage, hurriedly running to the side of the spring.
Dipping his brush in the spring water; he looked at the Pegasus and golden-horned deer in front of him and his gaze became extremely serious in that instant.
Seeing this, Atalanta, who had been following him to ask what was going on, stopped and watched the boy, standing rooted to the spot.
And she recalled a scene.
The reason why she refused when the boy asked to paint her...
Maybe she would regret it later.. well remove maybe, but this scene was still fresh in her mind.
After all, it hadn't been that long ago.
That was the scene during the night of the hunting ritual... Although she hadn't said anything about it, however, that night had left an unforgettable memory in her mind.
That night, Atalanta felt as if she had seen Apollo, the most handsome god of light, in Promise.
He had come to earth, eyes closed, playing his lyre, causing all creatures to stop beside him to listen to his performance.
This was also why Promise later wanted to paint a picture for Atalanta, but she refused, opting instead to pay him with the sound of her lyre.
But now, at this moment, she suddenly felt as if she was seeing that night's sensation in Promise once again... only this time, instead of a lyre, he held a paintbrush and a canvas in his hands.