The evening breeze was gentle, almost sweet, and the sky above the Garden of the Hesperides was painted with the warm colors of twilight. Flowers of impossible brilliance swayed delicately, and the golden trees cast soft flashes with every ray that reached them. To anyone else, it was an untouchable paradise, beyond the reach of mortals.
For Akhon, this place was like ho or at least it was like that 6 months ago, since then he had not co to the garden again. You could tell this when he crossed the threshold of the garden unhindered but was surprised by one of the Hesperides
"You're not exactly invited, Akhon," said a lodious voice, though with a clear edge. It was Aegle, the eldest of the sisters, leaning against the trunk of a golden apple tree, her arms crossed.
The other two, Erytheia and Hesperia, appeared shortly after, flanking him as if they had been waiting for him.
"I know," he replied calmly, without stopping completely. 'But I'm not here to steal golden apples or break rules. I need your help."
The sisters exchanged quick glances.
"What kind of help does a newly ascended god seek in a place like this?' asked Hesperia, her grey eyes narrowing.
He frowned slightly, though he tried not to show too much reaction. How did they know? As far as he knew, only Hers was aware of his official promotion and the domain he had begun to form. The Council could have started talking, of course, but... so soon? So far away? Or did the Hesperides know more than they had let on from the beginning?
Perhaps the rumors had already spread among the gods, like an underground stream of divine gossip. Or worse: perhaps the system itself left traces that could be perceived by entities of a certain power. Energy marks, different vibrations... had he begun to emit signals without knowing it?
Part of him felt a pang of paranoia. But another part... another part felt slightly proud.
"How... how do you know that?" he asked, his voice more curious than defensive.
Aegle looked at him gently, as if his question touched her. "We are not as alien to the world as many think. Sothing has changed in your essence. You vibrate differently. And believe , when a Hesperide notices sothing, she doesn't forget it easily."
Erytheia snorted, as if to hide the chill that ran down her spine. "Tch. It's not like we were spying on you or anything, okay? We just... noticed. End of story."
Akhon took a deep breath. "Training. I need to learn how to fight. And I know you know how to do it."
Aegle let out a low laugh. "Us? The garden keepers? You think we're the best people for that?"
"Yes," Akhon said firmly. "Because if there's one thing I've learned in the last six months, it's that those who live to protect sothing develop combat instincts. And you've been guarding a treasure that has tempted heroes, gods, and monsters for centuries. Don't tell you don't know how to defend yourselves."
Erytheia stared at him for a long mont. "And why us? You could ask Ares, or even Artemis. You are "one of them" now."
"Because I don't trust them," Akhon said bluntly. "What I need isn't just technique. I need to learn to resist, to adapt, to survive. And you... you've been doing that longer than any god can rember."
The sisters fell silent. The request was unusual. Not all gods ca asking for sothing with such humility and logic at the sa ti. And definitely not to them.
Aegle took a step toward him, arms crossed and one eyebrow arched. She looked him up and down as if evaluating a sculpture she didn't want to admit she liked. "And what do we get out of this?"
Akhon didn't hesitate. "Dates."
"...What?"
The question ca out of all three of them at once, in different tones of confusion and alarm.
"Yes. Dates. With whover you want. I'll make sure they pass by the garden without you having to lift a finger."
Aegle glared at him. "Are you... bribing us with n?"
"No! I an... not necessarily." Akhon shrugged. "I'm offering experiences, not favors. Co on, you're immortal guardians, you live in one of the most isolated places in the world, and you haven't had a single worthwhile visitor since... since..."
His silence caused the three Hesperides to glare at him.
Akhon raised his hands, amused. "Hey, don't look at like that, I've co with a decent proposal. Who are you interested in? That champion of Apollo who always looked at you from across the river?"
"I'm not interested in that idiot!" snapped Aegle, visibly red.
Akhon looked at her a little surprised. "Ah, then I won't tell him anything."
"...Yes, do that." she muttered, turning her face away slightly.
"Do you want to let him co or not?"
"I want you to shut up," Aegle mumbled, but her voice was weak. There was sothing tense in her eyes, as if she were struggling internally.
It was Erytheia who broke the silence with a smile. "What about ? What do you have for ?"
"Nix's sentry already asked about you. I just had to open the barrier so he could approach without triggering the defenses."
Erytheia tilted her head, almost amused. "Really? He was always shy... but cute."
"Now he'll have an excuse to talk to you," Akhon said with a knowing smile.
Hesperia looked at him suspiciously. "And ?"
"I didn't get you anyone. But I did ntion to Selene's youngest daughter that you train with a spear faster than any mortal I've ever seen."
The dark-haired guardian frowned, though Akhon noticed the corners of her mouth twitching upward. "That star witch always looked at funny."
"Well, now you have a fan. Shall I pass on the ssage, or let her spy on you for a while?"
"Don't even think about it," she muttered. "But if she cos by, tell her to bring wine."
Akhon smiled, but when he looked back at Aegle, he noticed that she was still silent. She was watching him with a different, more complex expression. As if she were struggling with sothing she didn't know whether to say or bury forever.
"And you?" he asked, lowering his voice. "Who do you want to bring you?"
Aegle pressed her lips together, her cheeks still flushed. But this ti, she didn't look away.
"I don't care about any of them," she said, barely more than a whisper. "I agreed to train you because I wanted to. Not because you promised anything."
Akhon blinked, surprised by the sudden change in her voice.
She moved a little closer, just enough so her sisters couldn't hear. "I did it because I dislike you for being so righteous. Because every ti you speak with that calmness, as if you're not afraid, it makes angry. And because—" She lowered her gaze for just a mont. "...because I like you. You idiot."
The confession hung in the air for a second that seed like an eternity.
Akhon swallowed hard, and for the first ti in a long ti, he was speechless.
But before he could respond, Aegle returned to her previous stance, her features hardening dramatically. "And if you tell anyone about this, I'll stick an apple tree branch down your throat."
"Not a word," he promised, smiling more softly now. "God's honor... rookie God at least."
She snorted, but her lips trembled with a smile she was trying to hide.
"So... deal?" he asked, looking at the three of them.
"Yes," they said together.
And although each said it for a different reason, Akhon could already guess which one motivated him most to go ahead.
---
The first day was a disaster.
Akhon thought he could handle physical exercise after so many battles with bandits and lesser beasts. But the Hesperides didn't train like soldiers. They trained like guardians. Circular movents, almost invisible displacent techniques, balancing on branches as thin as threads. Everything was based on patience, agility, reading the environnt.
On the second day, he was covered in bruises. On the third, he could barely lift his arms. But he didn't stop.
"Did they train you to take care of trees too?" he asked sarcastically as Erytheia rolled him across the ground with a lock.
"This is for survival when your enemy knows they can't catch you with brute force," she replied with a smile.
---
Weeks passed. Ti seed to slow down in the garden, or perhaps Akhon simply stopped counting. He moved with greater precision, his eyesight improved, he began to read gestures and anticipate movents. The fatigue remained, but it no longer broke him.
One night, as the shadows in the garden lengthened and the reflection of the luminous lotus floated serenely on the pond, Akhon sat at the water's edge, his body still burning from training, but his mind wandering. Not about battle, nor about power. About her.
Aegle.
He sensed her before he saw her, as he had been doing lately. Her footsteps made no sound, but her presence was automatically detected by the system.
She sat down beside him, saying nothing at first. She handed him a cup of nectar, and Akhon accepted it with a half-smile.
"Thank you."
A few seconds passed in silence. Only the distant song of a nocturnal creature accompanied the night. Then she spoke.
"Can we talk, really this ti? Not as trainer and apprentice. Not as Hesperid and ascended god."
He glanced at her. "Sure."
Aegle looked at him straight in the eye, without beating around the bush. Her golden eyes had a different, more vulnerable gleam.
"What I told you before... when I confessed that I liked you... I didn't do it expecting anything in return. It wasn't a ploy. I just needed you to know."
Akhon held her gaze, not looking away.
"I know. But it still surprised .
Sotis... I don't realize what I'm provoking."
She smiled softly. "Yes, we've noticed that."
"Who's 'we'?" he teased, though his voice had an honest edge to it.
Aegle laughed softly, but her expression remained firm. "I didn't co here to confuse you more. I ca to ask you if... you ever thought of that way. Or if you still see as part of the garden. As part of the landscape."
Akhon looked down, searching for the words. He wasn't a man of quick confessions, and even less so now, with so much at stake. But this... this was different.
"When I arrived, you were the first person I t and the first to introduce yourself and take care of . You treated like one of the gardeners, and we beca friends. Then you beca my teacher. And now... I can't stop looking at you and thinking about what it would be like to have you close to beyond this garden. As part of ."
Aegle narrowed her eyes, her breath caught in her throat. "Does that an...?"
"I don't know if I'm ready for sothing big. But I do know that every ti you leave after training, I find it hard not to follow you. And every ti you laugh, I feel like the world weighs less."
She moved closer, as slowly as if afraid of breaking sothing fragile. When their lips touched, it was more like a shared sigh than an explosion. A silent agreent. A beginning.
They pulled apart slightly, and Aegle rested her forehead against his.
"Don't fall in love with a Hesperid," she murmured. "We're worse than nymphs. We guard secrets. And hearts."
Akhon smiled. "I've broken bigger rules."
She laughed, and that laugh was a reward in itself.
"Then show I was worth choosing," she said, tapping his chest with two fingers.
He stood up, raising his spear with renewed energy.
"Does training start now?"
"No. Sothing much more difficult begins," replied Aegle, also standing, with a sparkle in her eyes.
"And what is that?"
"Going out with ."
And with that, she returned to the clearing where the other Hesperides were practicing, but this ti, Akhon followed her with his heart beating as if he had just awakened in another world.
---
A month later, they were no longer just dodging and resisting. Now he was attacking. With precision, with calculation, with a strength that depended not only on his statistics, but on his mind.
"Strength can break bones, but good control can break mountains," Erytheia said.
When he faced the three together for the first ti, he fell in five minutes.
The second ti, he lasted ten.
The third ti, he managed to disarm Hesperia and keep Aegle at bay... for thirty seconds. But it was a partial victory, and the sisters acknowledged it with a shared smile.
One day, while practicing on a huge tree leaning over the garden's abyss, Akhon lost his balance. He was about to fall, but sothing inside him changed.
His body adjusted, his legs spun in the air, and he landed gracefully.
📥 New passive skill obtained: "🐾 Instinctive Balance"
"Well," said Hesperia from the upper branch. "It seems you're finally understanding the language of the Garden."
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