Chapter Text
Melinöe was endlessly curious, kind, and passion. She greeted the world with an openness that many would have lost if they were to be put in her position. Hecate had never dared hide any truth from her, instead telling Melinöe that her family was captured, her birthright usurped, and her home was being transformed into a titan's own fortress. She had trained the girl to question, to challenge conceptions and the status quo. And now, she was reaping the consequences of raising a girl who followed such ideals.
"Headmistress, there must be something that we can do for Arachne. Her curse torments her. What use is our craft if we cannot ease a friend's suffering?"
Hecate masked her expression, regarding Melinöe before her. She had not expected this question, not when Melinöe's task had begun.
"Arachne's Fate is not yours to undo. 'Tis a matter between her and Athena. I suggest you leave it well alone."
There was a brief silence before Melinöe replied.
"How... did you know it was between her and Athena?
Hecate narrowed her eyes. That was not something that need be brought up now, especially not with Melinöe on her task, and Athena occupied in the defense of Olympus.
"I do not care for your insinuations, Melinöe."
"...I'm sorry, Headmistress," Melinöe responded, a furrow forming on her pale face with her green and red eyes narrowed in a deep stare.
For a brief moment, Melinöe looked as if she'd challenge this answer too and Hecate prepared herself to deny the young princess. There was no gain to have the girl filled with the fires of vengeance for a friend when the Fate of the very Underworld and Olympus themselves hung in the balance.
But, the Princess of the Underworld gave no reply, as she quickly dashed off towards the entrance to Erebus, giving her a retreating nod. She waved at Odysseus after reappearing in a blur halfway across the Crossroads before she was off again, once more setting forth on her task.
Hecate hid a grin, seeing little Mel in her movements even now, dashing this way and that in her eagerness to learn.
Hecate turned back to her station, studying some of her notes on incantations that she had recruited Melinöe's help with in her recovery periods from her task at hand. She shifted slightly, relaxing her shoulders and letting her armored gauntlet rest on the cauldron that bubbled with a viscous green elixir.
It would need to brew for several days yet. Which allowed Hecate a small moment to ponder her actions.
Melinöe had grown up so much, it almost seemed like a magic veil was being pulled across her eyes transporting her back to the House of Hades, where she was fighting the Titan's magic, fighting to get little Mel out while Hades stayed to slow Chronos. She let her thoughts drift, to the babe she had held in her arms in the first days at the Crossroads The little girl laughing and playing hide and seek years later. Of the training Melinöe endured, all the was to the woman she had become.
She felt the loss of Nyx and Persephone with a pang of agony. The Titan had took her whole world from her. The people she cared for- gone in the blink of an eye, locked in a prison outside of Time itself. What's more, what they lost in Melinöe's coming of age, and the memories that Hecate had cultivated with her. In every first, ever new experience, a stab of guilt accompanied the joy at seeing little Mel grow up. Persephone would be inconsolable, as both her children's youths were now denied to her.
A black rage threatened to wash over her, hidden thoughts of challenging Chronos herself barely able to keep contained. It was a rash and impulsive nature that had gotten her into enough trouble in her youth. It was hardly helpful now. Melinöe had her task. Hecate had her own. And she would die before failing in protecting Melinöe.
Melinöe was a fine witch, with a cunning mind, a fierce determination, and a aptitude for magick that would surpass her own one day. She had already probed deep into the Underworld, having battled to the very doorstep on her lineage's doorway. Chronos would die at Melinöe's hands. She was sure of it. Olympus burned, but the gods yet lent their aid to the cause and Melinöe had friends in gods and titans alike. She was hard to ignore, a stunning young beauty that Hecate now found herself unprepared to lookout for.
Because, even though Hecate knew that Melinöe was fully dedicated to finishing her task, there were potential distractions, even if Melinöe didn't see them as such. She saw the lingering gazes that Moros threw at the girl. Even the studied expressions that Nemesis had been sneaking when she thought she was totally alone.
They were predictably besotted and thus easily contained. It was this... other suitor that Hecate hadn't before considered.
She had quite literally stumbled in on their meeting, which was hardly the first between the two based on their conversations. Hecate had been enroute to the outskirts of Erebus's borders when she heard the telltale signs of Melinöe speaking with someone, their soft voice immediately recognizable if not by the encroaching webs that covered the trees and caves of a small corner of Erebus.
And so Hecate found herself uncomfortably listening in on none other than Arachne bashfully flirting with her own surrogate daughter. The girl she had raised and trained. It wasn't a pairing that had ever entered her mind. But she had resolved to track this budding relationship just like she did with the others. She kept her distance. Allowed the girl her privacy.
It wasn't difficult to gather Moros' and Nemesis's feelings, as they frequented the Crossroads daily. Their post-bath retreats were all too informative, along with Melinöe's earnest desire to connect with any kindred souls she could find.
But Arachne? That was a delicate situation.
And now, with Melinöe's fading streak of light racing towards her beginning another journey to face Chronos, Hecate knew she only had a limited amount of time to make her inquiries and requests.
Just now, after all, Melinöe had inquired about the situation between Athena and Arachne. That was a troubling distraction for the Princess of the Underworld, fighting against a Titan to reclaim her family and home.
She needed to succeed. Hecate couldn't allow the thought of failure. The girl needed her family, that above all else.
And so, she left the Crossroads behind in a similar blur of movement, descending into Erebus with illusions clinging to her form. It was easy to transverse the lands that had been her home for a lifetime. Seldom had she returned to the House of Hades in times past, barring the day that it fell. But here? Even the forces that Chronos amassed would not hinder her here. Melinöe faced the hordes that guarded treasures and messages from the Olympians themselves. They cared not for a forgotten titaness that preferred the solitude of the woods to people.
In quick time, Hecate pinpointed Arachne's lair, it's proximity betrayed by the great silken strands that were woven into a thick grove of trees. The silk threads almost glowed underneath the luminescent mushrooms and candlelight of Erebus's many branching pathways.
As she approached, Hecate was cautious, keeping her senses clear for the possibility of Melinöe's presence. But she was elsewhere for the moment, yet her student wouldn't be far from either here or the edge of Erebus itself soon. And she would stand in her way yet again.
Coming here was a risk. But a necessary precaution. She wouldn't let anything come between Chronos' fall and the restoration of the House of Hades.
She heard a soft voice humming a tune, seemingly carried on gently thrumming sild strings that carried the song.
"Oh Muses, spin me a tale,
So that I might be free,
Free from this longing, free to be me.
I've memorized your comings all too well,
Your fiery footballs
follow greetings and farewells
With a Ruby glare, your foes lay slain
Beneath an Emerald sea, might I stay?
I am but a small spinster, weaving her threads
But oh how I wish you could wear them instead.
I dream one day, we could both be free,
Free from our troubles, to do as we please.
I drown in those red-green eyes,
Praying that one day you might be...mine."
Hecate was no stranger to the arts. Circe had always been a fan, so too had Persephone, with her return heralding a joyous golden age of music and laughter and love in the House of Hades.
So it was a surprise to hear such a somber tune that was very clearly an original. She slide up next to a web-covered tree trunk that had a cluster of woven sacs at its base. One of them shifted slightly at her approach before going silent.
Arachne was close, her voice permeating throughout the entire chamber and Hecate could hear the tell-tale sound of rustling fabrics.
It was a beautiful song. One that Hecate found herself not wanting to interrupt, but it also only confirmed her former worries.
She dropped her illusions and emerged from her cover, stepping into the light of Arachne's lair.
Up above her, amidst a thousand intricate strands of web, Arachne was busy arranging and organizing her weaving efforts. There was a large rolled up rug on one end of her home, a row of shawls, and a half finished tapestry that was spread taut at its tassels with thick woven webs. But the most significant work on display, which should not have been as surprising as it was, were the dresses that hung down towards the ground as a centerpiece to the collection. All at a height where one could easily take them down and try them on. All confidently in the style that Melinöe had taken to wearing at the start of her training.
There were dresses of Ruby and Emerald. Lavender, Onyx, Sapphire- the palate of colors seemed endless, with some sown with beautiful floral designs, others in geometric black patterns that reeked of subtle woven magick.
A small knot of doubt worked it's way into her mind, having seen flashes of those colors in her continued tests with Melinöe. So these were the source of such magick and thus illustrated that the two of them were clearly close. A purely transactional approach, like with Charon? Or friends perhaps?
'Oh was this a mistake? How I need you now, Nyx. You and Persephone would know what to do-'
Arachne's voice still lilted over the chamber and Hecate waited patiently for a few moments, looking up at Arachne herself and the lair she kept.
"I give to you colors I could never wear- OH!"
Arachne let out of squeak of fright, cut off mid note in her song, her numerous green eyes widening and her legs curling. Four shawls and dresses, having been clutched in various legs, dropped into a tangled web of fabric amongst the woven lair. Two legs furiously pushed back her short golden hair and a moment later, a small length of silk tied it back in place, highlighting the human face of the legendary weaver that challenged the gods themselves.
It had been some time since Hecate had last seen Arachne face to face. She had always been a recluse in Erebus, content to hide away in her lair, though was always perfectly cordial when summoned or when greeted in passing.
By all rights, a wonderful neighbor.
She had a similarly colorful array of silk bands on her legs, as well as a golden tiara from her mortal days before her curse.
"I- the Witch of the Crossroads, in my lair?" Arachne laughed slowly, a twitch of her legs betraying the nervousness laced in her voice, "I'm so sorry, you gave me a fright. I don't get visitors here very often, really."
Evidently, one visitor had visited quite often indeed though. Hecate steeled herself, the thoughts about letting things go fading away.
'Too late to back out now.'
Hecate smiled though, still genuinely happy to see her, despite her reasons for visiting in the first place, "I am sorry to move so silently, these are dangerous times and our enemy is farsighted indeed."
"Oh yes, even in my solitude, I've seen and heard such things," Arachne quickly spun a thread of silk and tidied up her fallen garments, "How can I help you Hecate? It has been far too long since the Witch of the Crossroads has had need of me."
"I am afraid I do not need your services at this moment, but my coming is tied to a person to whom you have offered your services quite regularly."
"...oh." Arachne curled in on herself, her already small form seeming tiny now as her legs folded in on themselves until it looked as though she was no more than a floating head and abdomen amidst her woven lair.
It was a closely guarded secret that Melinöe was raised in the Crossroads. Her identity being secret was paramount for her protection and the Fate of her family's survival. Arachne happened to be one of the trusted few outsiders to know such a thing.
But the fact that Melinöe and Arachne had clearly been conversing with one another after Melinöe's task had begun was the reason she was here in the first place.
"I have a limited time, so I will be brief," Hecate continued gently, "I know not the relationship you and Melinöe share, nor would I care in times of peace. But Time moves against the very Fates now and Melinöe cannot be distracted from her task. The very Underworld depends on her success or failure. I merely ask that you keep her focused on her mission. There is too much at stake for distractions that might divert her attentions elsewhere.
"I-" Arachne blushed heavily, "I understand. I didn't mean to-"
"No apologies," Hecate gently interrupted, shaking her head, "You did nothing wrong. She has grown to be quite the beautiful young woman. It's not hard to see why so many are besotted with her. But such feelings are vulnerabilities. And Time has a way of testing all defenses. It is a precaution."
There was a nervous thrumming in the air, the culprit being on of Arachne's back legs, flexing against a trip-web that went out deep into Erebus's many chambers and caves.
"I... she is very beautiful, yes," Arachne murmured lightly, almost too soft to hear. "But...is it so bad? She has been so kind and I feel lucky to have her at all as a friend..."
"And I am glad for it," Hecate smiled, "Melinöe never got to meet many new people other than shades. But when this morning, she began inquiring to me about breaking your curse..."
Arachne raised her gaze and they met eye to eye. There was no reason to say it aloud. There was a reason that Athena wasn't getting through with her messages. Athena may be the goddess of wisdom, but wisdom is subjective when you are a Olympian.
Hecate watched as Arachne shift her eyes away, her legs nervously toiling away and web and fabric alike, "I never told her... I didn't ask for-"
"Arachne," Hecate said firmly, "I am not trying to carve you out of Melinöe's life. No one, even I or her family, could do that to her. But the fact remains that she is asking questions and seeking answers that we both know just aren't there. And our saying so would only encourage her to try harder. Melinöe needs to focus her efforts against Chronos. She may be doing well in her task, but it is a battle of endurance and resolve. I wish to remove all variables possible until her task is complete."
"And I'm a variable," Arachne concluded, a wisp of sadness in her voice.
"The biggest, I think," Hecate sighed, "Please keep aiding her efforts, but remind her of her task at hand. That's all I ask."
Hecate thought back to the lyrics she had overheard earlier
"I've memorized your comings all too well,
Your fiery footballs follow greetings and farewells
With a Ruby glare, your foes lay slain
Beneath an Emerald sea, might I stay?"
Hecate padded out of Arachne's lair only a few minutes later, purchasing a lovely emerald shawl from Arachne's wares before she left, bidding the kind recluse a warm farewell and a standing invitation to the Crossroads. Arachne only gave a weak smile in reply.
It pained Hecate greatly, to ask someone so begrieved this particular favor. But it was in Melinöe's best interests. She left the weaver behind, with only the sound of a gentle plucking tune resonating along the many webs that spread into Erebus beyond. There was an accompanying silence in place of a lovely echoing voice that had been singing from within Arachne's lair.
__________________________________________
At the Edge of Erebus a short hour later, Hecate felt a familiar presence approaching her.
The unusually prolonged wait Hecate had sat through after dozens of Nights was the first that she hadn't considered, since she was lost in the thought of her short conversation with Arachne.
The second sign that something was amiss, was that she noticed Melinöe's approach at all. Hide and seek with young Mel had been the precursor to her training. Illusions and subterfuge where the foundations to witchcraft. And now she sensed Melinöe was approaching, which told her that she wasn't bothering with cloaking herself in protective magick.
In hindsight, she should've expected what followed.
Melinöe entered the edge of Erebus with a chilling stare that threatened to freeze the very ground she stood on, though it bubbled and roiled with the heat of the depths of Tartarus at her heels.
A wealth of boons and blessings coated her form, no dress from Arachne visible. But Hecate cocked her head, taking in Melinöe's magick. There was Aphrodite's blessings. The fires of Hestia augmented her own flames. She wielded the sister blades, their silver steel glinting with the power of the moon.
But Hecate hardly had time to study this further, but the combination didn't surprise her at this point.
"Headmistress," Melinöe said calmly, "I was hoping for a quick chat before you put me to the test."
"Hello to you too, Melinöe," Hecate responded slowly, sensing something amiss. "Is this to do with you failing to conceal yourself properly, like we trained for? Chronos is watching, always. Erebus is a safe Haven't for now, but his efforts--"
"What did you do?" Melinöe snapped, "And don't lie to me. I thought we didn't do that with one another."
Hecate watched Mel's hands grip the sister blades tightly, a small pool of lava bubbling at her feet, scorching the ground around her.
Hecate had a sudden flash of memory, when she had visited Nyx years ago, and watched a young Zagreus challenge his father in the main hall. She still remembered the growl in Hades' voice. The stubborn indignance that Zagreus threw back in his face.
She remembered thinking that she was glad that she hadn't even had to deal with obstinate children (even though she had agreed with Zagreus about Persephone's disappearance).
How the Fates mocked her.
"I have done many things," Hecate regarded her surrogate daughter, "But know that all I do is to prepare you best for your task ahead. There is no greater threat that we face. You must be ready."
"Must I?" Melinöe paced back and forth, looking like a great cat, her eyes blazing. "And I suppose that I can't have anything else can't I? Friends? Lovers? Not even a wonderful weaver that offered only her kindness and passions to me?"
She had suspected that Melinöe might find out, perhaps even this soon. And her reaction was all that she feared.
"You visited Arachne then," Hecate sighed, "What did she tell you?"
"No, you don't get to ask that!" Melinöe snarled, "What did you tell her? I will have answers."
"Melinöe..." Hecate shook her head.
"Fine," Melinöe flicked her blades, "Ready yourself."
Hecate almost laughed, if not for the furious expression on Melinöe's face.
"Very we--" Hecate swore as she raised her torches, before having to twist back, Melinöe suddenly appearing behind her, driving her dagger into her back, as she narrowly avoided a cutting scythe to her neck. Flames licked at her ankles, a searing heat that accompanied the burning pain of radiant moonlight which marked her flesh.
She lashed out, sending waves of green fire over at the Princess, artfully dodging back whenever Melinöe tried to close the distance.
There was a feral rage that Melinöe exuded, a ferocity and anger that was towering in it's presence. Hecate poured more power into the fight. This had always been about tempering Melinöe's emotions as she fought to the Underworld. To never lose sight of her training, her mind, and her cunning.
But this? This was a glimpse of what Melinöe was capable of.
And it was a concern.
"You fight without restraint," Hecate scolded, catching the girl with a full bodied kick as she tried again to flash behind her for another lightning stab. "You are compromised. You cannot let Chronos lure you out--"
"Chronos will die today," Melinöe panted, "But my enemy is before me now. I have never been more focused!"
A circle of magick flared underneath her feet, rooting her in place, with icy winds sending shards of ice swirling around her in a blizzard. Melinöe darted forwards to close combat, slashing and cutting with unmatched speed and accuracy.
Hecate struggled to match her blows, finally breaking free or the circle and slamming her torches into the sister blades, locking the the weapons together.
"Enough of this," Hecate growled at Melinöe. "You know not of what you speak!"
"Then fucking tell me!"
Hecate blinked away into the center of the chamber, bleeding from a dozen stab wounds and feeling burns at her feet, and frostbite at her fingertips. Melinöe had been delayed getting here, but her efforts thus far were all pointed into finishing this fight as soon as possible
"It's not our place!" Hecate wove a spell of polymorphing, in an attempt to draw out the fight. Melinöe was powerful, but Hecate was a titaness and she would remind her of that fact.
She released the crackling ball of purple energy, which raced towards Melinöe. Expecting to either see Melinöe dodge frantically, to take the full force of the spell, she failed to see Melinöe's own casting until it was too late.
The spell hit Melinöe right in her chest, only a flare of dark moonlight surrounded her, as she wove the same purple energy back out of her body and arcing back at Hecate.
Then, all she saw was a flash of purple, before the world shifted and she suddenly had to stare up at Melinöe.
"Baaaah!"
Hecate jolted, kicking her conjured hooves in surprise. 'That little brat--'
She clumsily turned on four legs and glared up at her protégé, who was looking down at her, arms crossed.
"This fight is done," Melinöe coldly looked at her, as though she was a angry shepherd who had caught a wayward animal from their herd.
Hecate could only stare back trying to process how Melinöe had not only resisted the spell, but sent it back to her.
Silver light gistened on the Sister Blades, almost winking in the darkened chamber around them.
'Ah. Well played, Selene.'
Even as a sheep, Hecate could tell that Melinöe was covered in her Aunt's magick, the rush of lunar energy slowly flickering away. And as the last dregs of power vanished, so too did the spell.
Hecate came back into her own body with a small chuckle.
"Well played," she said ruefully, "clever work indeed." Resisting a polymorph was one thing, overpowering another's resistance? It made her proud to see how much Melinöe had advanced in a few short years. She had to blink rapidly before her eyes could moisten. And, there was the fact that Melinöe still glared heavily at her.
"We aren't finished here," Melinöe sniffed, "I'm still angry at you."
"And you are right to be," Hecate admitted, her wounds closing rapidly as they both settled down from the fight which had taken only seconds; a quick and decisive skirmish.
"I was worried that your... relationship with Arachne would be detrimental to both your focus and the completion of your task. I still am. But I should not have gone around you to talk with Arachne."
"You will apologize to her," Melinöe rubbed one of her arms, a raised red welt of a burn flaring angrily from one of Hecate's flame arcs. "She is good and kind to me. I am happy to have her as a friend. She is very dear to me."
"I will, apologize that is," Hecate placated her, "But I stand by what I told her, and I will repeat it to you now. This task you've embarked on. This war you rage with Chronos. It is a struggle of bulls, with both of your horns locked together. There is no escape, for either of you. You may seek a way to break his hold over the Underworld, as we discussed, but for the moment, it is a match of wills."
"And you think that Arachne is detrimental to my motivations? She is a boon, a wonderful gift!" Melinöe began, some of the unfamiliar animosity faded as her eyes blinked filling with a wistful wonder, "I think of her everywhere I go, I keep her trinkets and wares when I can. I lov--"
Melinöe's face burned as she dropped her gaze to the ground, hands dropping to her sides. They grasped for blades that were not there, an impulse Hecate hoped that Melinöe wouldn't bear for long.
"It is precisely because you love her so that I acted," Hecate revealed, "Melinöe, if this happened in a time where you were home, your task won, and your family freed, I would love nothing more than to hear all about this woman who has... ensnared you so. But this is not that time. Our enemies are everywhere. Our actions watched. Our vulnerabilities, constantly tested. What if Chronos was to discover your fondness for her? I guarantee, even in Erebus, his pull could be enough to find her."
Formidable as Melinöe had been just minutes before, Hecate suddenly watched as her protégé, surrogate daughter, and the Princess of the Underworld all fold into a a singular form: a scared girl yearning for her family.
"Oh..." Melinöe stared gloomily at the scorched ground beneath her feet, the orange flames from her feet diminished into a glow of a fire's dying embers.
"In no world did I mean to upset you or Arachne. She had a hard end to her mortal life, and suffers still from a spiteful curse that Athena wove a long long time ago."
"...What did happen, between them?" Melinöe quietly asked, raising her gaze up to look Hecate in the eyes. They shimmered with unspilled tears. "I tried asking her today... but she only said that it was better if we were less familiar with one another, and that... that my affections would be better directed... elsewhere."
"Oh Melinöe, come here," Hecate stepped forwards and hugged the girl, her heart aching in her chest. "I'm very sorry for coming between you two. This by no means forgives my actions, but I will tell you the story that I know of Arachne's curse, if you wish."
"You weren't right, but... I understand your intent. You hurt Arachne though, you hurt me." Melinöe frowned. "I want her to come with visit the Crossroads. She doesn't like crowds, but I know she does like to visit sometimes to feel like she belongs. And she should."
"Melinöe, I've been inviting her for years," Hecate pointed out, "Of course she is welcome. Though I think if you asked, you needn't worry about her declining." The Lydian weaver would likely spin hundreds of dresses if Melinöe so much as asked.
Melinöe smiled bashfully, "And I shall. But id like to hear the story of Arachne's curse, please." Hecate's smile dropped.
"I must warn you, Hecate cautioned, "You will not be satisfied with this story."
"I need to know," Melinöe doggedly, her stubbornness as great as Hades himself.
Hecate simply nodded, gathering her thoughts of the sorrowful tale.
"I was called ages ago to Olympus, at Athena's request. It was then that I learned that a mortal weaver, renowned for her skill, earned the title 'Pupil of Athena' and became quite famous in Lydia and cities beyond for her creations in cloth. Arachne, rightfully so, having recieved no boons or blessings from Athena, proclaimed that her craft was beyond that of the gods."
"Word spread, and the story went from mouth to mouth, changing with its teller embellishing the tale so that when it reached Mt. Olympus, and thus Athena, it was the story of a woman who challenged the gods to make finer fabrics than her. Athena decided to investigate, and found that Arachne was such a fine weaver, that she was challenged daily from her family's stall in the agora, to her home where any and everyone proclaimed that Arachne was a fraud.
"One particular day, when Arachne was helping her family set up shop, a old noblewoman of Lydia challenged Arachne in a dressmaking competition. If Arachne won, the woman promised to fund and sell Arachne's wares the world over, elevating Arachne's family to nobility and prestige. But if the woman won, Arachne would have to work for the woman's own family."
"It was a unfair challenge from the start, but Arachne accepted nonetheless, always seeking to help her family in whatever way she could. Athena, curious of Arachne, decided to stay and watch the contest in disguise, devised a punishment for the noblewoman. She had resolved, as she told me, to make an example of the noblewoman, who was raucous and demanding of her attendants in fetching her supplies and tools, as well as her greed and desire to keep Arachne's talents for herself."
"The contest proceeded, and the two dresses were made. A crowd had formed in the process, and thus admired both weavers' works. But there was a clear favorite, as Arachne's was 'finer than silk' as was proclaimed by all there to see."
"Oh no..." Melinöe breathed, catching the meaning, and perhaps the inspiration for the outcome of the tale.
"Yes, Athena rather thought the same," Hecate said darkly, "The old crone was in a fit, yelling about Arachne cheating, using the gods as examples, even denouncing them publicly. And so, Athena cast a curse that she had studied. A curse mind you, that even I dare not use."
"She directed it at the noble, cursing her to be a weaver of fine silks yes, but to take the form of a solitary predator that feasted on whatever would stray into its grasp. Ot would be a lonely creature, destined to spin threads endlessly, eager to catch carrion feeders, as was fit for a person of her demeanor. A rather unjust beginning for spiders, in my opinion."
Melinöe's answering sneer told her that she thought the same.
Hecate took a deep breath, letting a moment of quiet settle between them before continuing, "Only... when Athena cast the curse, the noblewoman, in a fit of rage, being jeered by the crowd, and becoming increasingly embarrassed, lunged at Arachne and grabbed her arms..."
"Wait... Athena cursed the noble? But Arachne..."
"Curses are not to be taken lightly. They are an incantation of power. Our own craft is meticulous with its incantations, even with our cauldron, casting circles and runic dampeners, it can still be volatile. Athena, in her infinite wisdom, cast a verbal curse that acted as a permanent polymorph of a creature that she created on the spot. And since the noble woman was grasping Arachne when the curse took hold..."
Melinöe was silent for a long moment, the implications of the tale washing over her.
"It was an accident..." Melinöe murmured.
"The most dire I have ever consulted on," Hecate confirmed, "Athena called me to Olympus that day, the feeble creature that Arachne had become clutched in her arms. She was alive, but not... living. Athena begged for a cure, a reversal. But Athena hadn't understood what magicks she trifled with. There was no cure, none even that I could divine and thus Arachne died that night."
Melinöe jerked as if she had been stuck with a physical blow. And Hecate was quick to move on from that image.
"I searched for her with Hades' assistance in the Underworld, before ultimately finding her in Tartarus, as she was relegated there due to the curse she bore, even in death. It was a cruel and mocking allotment, one that Hades saw fit to overturn immeadiately upon bringing it to his attention. I then brought her here, to Erebus, where I gave her a corner of this realm to call home."
"But- but that can't be it!" Melinöe wrung her hands, a desperate madness coiling there that was all too similar to Hecate's own reaction to Arachne's curse.
"There has to be a way! A cure, even now! Athena should look for something, anything! It's not fair!"
"No, it's not," Hecate agreed, "It is a tragic tale of overconfidence, hubris, and consequences for meddling in affairs that one has no right in involving themselves in. Athena knows this now all too well."
"...Is that why I haven't received messages from her? Almost everyone else has messaged me from Olympus... Melinöe asked, a dangerous glint in her eyes.
Hecate sneered, the long ago seething conversation she had had with the young Wisdom goddess coming to mind. The vitriol she had spat back then still felt too tame, after all these years.
"She is not welcome with me and my kin. She broke one of the cardinal rules of witchcraft, and no amount of time will change that judgement, for no amount of time will cure Arachne of her curse." The last time she had seen Athena was during a hosted party in the House of Hades, organized by Persephone and Zagreus.
All the Olympians had come, for show of unity when the truth of Zagreus's parentage was revealed, and the Queen of the Underworld in her rightfully place. Hecate had attended, content to chat with Hermes and Nyx away from the limelight.
Athena had attended as well, but she avoided the goddess, for she was obsessed with flaws, especially in herself. And since it was a flaw that could not be smoothed over, Athena had never stopped looking for a cure.
"But what do I do?" Melinöe whispered brokenly, "Arachne is so... so sad about it. I can tell, even when she was... dismissing me, she told me that I deserve someone who could l-love me like I deserve... as if she wasnt deserving of the same! I want her..."
"The heart wants what it wants, Melinöe," Hecate held her by her shoulders, before she brought her hands up past Melinöe's neck to her pale face, wiping away the tears that streaked down her cheeks.
Hecate tilted Melinöe's head up by her chin, meeting her glassy eyes, "Then tell Arachne so. I don't think that she would so quickly abandon all her affections just because a stubborn old hag like myself told her to."
That coaxed a small wet laugh from Melinöe. Hecate wasn't so proud to think that she wasn't a hag now and then, and she had truly put her foot in the cauldron today, no matter her intentions.
"All I ask is that you remember your training," Hecate continued, "You are fine witch... that I am proud to call my protégé. I will not come between you and any relationships you foster again. I... I love you, Melinöe."
She could feel the weight of Persephone and Nyx at her back, could see their very warmth in Melinöe's own eyes. She would see them free. One day.
"I love you too Headmistress," Melinöe buried her nose in Hecate's neck, wrapping her arms around Hecate's torso. "I'm punching Athena when I meet her though. Repeatedly."
Hecate snorted, running a hand over Melinöe's short brown tresses, "A fine idea indeed."
A small part of Hecate still worried over everything, but Melinöe was capable and her heart was her own. Besides, she rather thought Arachne suited her.
Upon telling Melinöe so, she had never seen her protégé flush so red in all her life.