Athena Glory

Athena is quiet, gentle and extraordinarily absent-minded. She bumps into things, overlooks obvious details and can become so distracted that Alice wonders how someone so clumsy became one of Neo-Venezia's greatest Undines.

That impression misses Athena's emotional attentiveness. She notices Alice's problems even when Alice thinks she has hidden them and often resolves them indirectly so that her student can preserve her pride.

Athena's strange, severe-sounding laugh contrasts with her otherwise soft demeanor. Around Alicia Florence and Akira Ferrari, she comfortably joins the playful friendship the three established during their training years.

Athena is one of the Three Water Fairies and an accomplished Prima, but her defining professional talent is singing. Her canzone is famous throughout Neo-Venezia and can transform a gondola ride through atmosphere alone.

Her ability was already remarkable while she was a Single. Athena herself is so unselfconscious about the talent that she once fails to recognize that Akira is talking about her when describing Orange Planet's unusually gifted singer.

Athena is also an excellent mentor. Her approach to Alice emphasizes emotional awareness and enjoyment, compensating for areas that Alice's extraordinary technical rowing cannot solve by itself.

Athena enters through Alice's life at Orange Planet. Her apparent incompetence initially embarrasses her student, but Akari gradually notices that many fortunate coincidences around Alice are deliberate acts of kindness by Athena.

Flashbacks establish that Athena once practiced with Alicia and Akira much as Alice now practices with Akari and Aika Granzchesta. The parallel connects the two generations of Undines.

Athena conducts Alice's promotion examination after Alice graduates from middle school. Impressed by her complete performance, she bypasses the Single promotion entirely, removes both gloves and names Alice the Prima Orange Princess.

Later in her career, Athena leaves regular Undine work to pursue singing professionally at the La Fenice opera house, while remaining an important figure in Alice's life.

Alice Carroll is Athena's student and roommate at Orange Planet. Athena quietly looks after her even when Alice interprets her absent-mindedness as uselessness. She eventually promotes Alice directly from Pair to Prima.

Alicia Florence and Akira Ferrari are Athena's longtime friends from her Single years. Together they become the Three Water Fairies.

Maa is the kitten Alice secretly keeps in the Orange Planet dormitory. Athena knows about her and helps arrange for Maa to become the company's president.

Akari Mizunashi comes to understand Athena's quiet methods of helping Alice and recognizes that her clumsiness does not reflect her ability as a mentor.