I: A Place I Would Never Call Home
It was warm. Though nothing unbearable or irritating like a hot and dry summer's day that would plague the day with its unpleasantries and even into the night, forcing you to remove the sheets meant to keep your heat from escaping. Instead you would remove those sheets during those hot days to keep cooler, and to hope you did not sweat out all of the water and potentially soak your bed and sheets in that cooling liquid. Today was not that kind of warmth. Today's warmth was something akin to that of someone close to you holding you in a comforting hug or caress. Of course you'd still sweat if you committed to any form of excessive activity, but you were always comforted later by something incredible. The nice cooling winds of a gentle breeze. Not howling enough to chill you, but enough to cool you and blow any lengthy or loose hair, as it gently brushed against your warm skin in an attempt to cool you off. Those gentle breezes had enough strength to make the leaves of old and young trees to move slowly, making it seem as if they shivering in an attempt to stay warm. The breeze was strong enough to make the rolling green fields seem alive, as if the land itself was moving. It was a sight to see from a good vantage point. The sight was calm and soothing to anyone.
A pair of figures were upon that vantage point, a small hill overlooking the green fields and green trees of the land. The breeze cooling them off, as they were warmer upon that hill, even if said hill was only two homes high. The moving blades of the grass tickling their wrists and legs as they sat and rested. Small beads of sweat gracing their brows an example of said activities causing them to produce the salted water. Their fair skin, shone brightly in the sunlight in hopes of slightly burning them, and gracing their skin with a familiar color. One of the figures rose to full height, brushing itself in case of any stray blades would stick to his simple clothing. The figure's hair was that of a tree's fresh bark. The face still young, but a development of strong figures coming into the transitioning one. It was an adolescent boy, not old enough to be considered a man, but far older to ever be considered a child. The arm and hand of the boy extended down to the other sitting figure, a smaller and daintier hand took it, the skin not as blessed by the sun as his, but not bright enough to be considered pale. The figure's smile was graceful and bright, enough to make the boy smile. The hair the graceful figure had as braided in various places and reached to the middle of its back. She was quite a precious looking girl. In the same situation as the boy, not old enough to be considered a woman, and older to not be called a child. The girl was pulled to her feet by the boy, but he never exerted more force than he need to, he never wanted to harm the girl in front of her. As she reached her full height, the top of her head reached the middle of his eyes, she was grateful for how tall she was, to never be forced to look up at the boy.
The two figures began their walk down the back of the hill, away from the emerald landscape that was once in front of them. Their visions' now found something else to take in, but it was a familiar sight, a sight they'd had seen for years. It appeared to be a nice open field, with a graciously sized river flowing through it. On either sides of the steadily flowing river were a few dozen homes, built on the foundations of strong stones, mud, and wood. The wood used to help seal the stones together, and the wood used for furniture and the roofing on top. With a nice thick layer of dried mud, to help absorb the rains that would come. The boy and girl had lived here all their lives, they remembered when they were first born that only a handful of houses once laid claim on the land around the river. No roads or bridges to connect the houses or make travel more efficient for those who traveled. Now it seemed as every single house had a stone road connecting to it, and two bridges connecting the two sides of the much larger village. The village seemed to be surrounded by what appeared to be rolling fields of amber grass. But, they were much taller than any blade of grass could hope to be, and they had much more significance in their life than just being the flora the boy and girl would walk on. It was wheat, a gracious resource that all of their kind seemed to be able to consume, and a source of food that was versatile in many uses.
The pair continued side by side along the stone road that had been built sometime back when their once small village had become large enough to be able to afford the construction of something like roads. They took in the sights and sounds of their very active village. The sounds of children playing the streets. The squeaking of wooden wheels rotating and rolling as carts pulled by large domesticated beasts made their way through the streets, pulling carts full of various kinds of items to trade. They came to a stop in front of well sized house, with clear signs of expansion as the years had gone by. The boy extended his hand to the girl, and she gladly took it with a small smile. The two had some sort of pull to one another as they stood so close to one another. The boy could see the faint signs of redness coming to her face. The girl becoming more aware as he continued to take in her gentle face, her happy face, becoming more and more shy as his smile grew. He took his opposite hand brought it to her chin so he could see her beautiful eyes. To him this girl was perfect, and no one else to compare. He was happy to see her classic smile to once again form upon her face. The two stood closer to one another, close enough to where their foreheads touched gently with one another. Their eyelids half lifted, taking in this moment for as long as they could. For them time seemed to stop.
Though their precious moment was quickly broken by the sounds of the sounds of something falling and cracking. The entire town's activity seemed to shift to where the sounds were coming from. The town's attention shifted to the top of the hill the boy and girl took their time upon, just some time back. The boy instinctively shifted himself in front of the girl, his hand still held onto hers, squeezing a small amount. The girl instinctively squeezed back. The town deathly silent as they awaited for the sound of the cracking and snapping to stop. And it seemingly did, many breathing a sigh of relief. The boy however was not so convinced, his gaze hardening more upon that hill. It was not until the sounds of a ear piercing squeal did the town bring its attention back to the hill. Many stared in fear and horror at the sight at the top of the hill. Upon it was a beast two houses high. A ridge gracing it's back. Pure black and shining hooves upon four strong legs. Eyes as red as the fires of Hell itself. Fur as black as the night itself. And four bright tusks, brighter than any gem. The beast had caught the movement of the people, clearly already irritated by something. The sight of a living creature threw it into a frenzy. It charged down the hill at full speed towards the town. The town went into a frenzy, like mere simple deer being hunted by a wolf. All scattering and running into one another, throwing others down just to get away. Though the boy and the girl were in its path, they were seemingly trapped in the beast's path. The girl could only bring herself to cling to the boy's back and close her eyes, hoping her end would be quick and painless. The boy wrapping one arm around his back as tight as he could. In an attempt at bravery he grab what appeared to be rusted old blade used to cut wheat from the fields holding it high above his head, hopping he could hurt the beasts in his last moments. The beast was only mere feet away from him, the boy closed his eyes and swung forward…
Death, was not like he expected it to be, it was dark, and he felt like he could still feel his body. A great amount of pressure was being applied to his body from behind. The boy opened one eye and took in the sight in front of him, the tusked beast seemed to be slain. The boy opened his second eye and took in the sight in front of him, the boy seemed to take in the sight in front of him, the beast's head was severed completely off, the blood still pouring from its body. He threw the rusted farming tool in his head at the beast's head to ensure it was still dead, and thankfully not even a twitch or blink came from downed beast. The boy turned his head quite quickly to see the girl who still clenched his back tightly with tears pouring down her cheeks, and quickly encasing her in a tight hug. Her own eyes opened and took in what he had seemed moments ago, and hugged him back as tight as she could as well. The boy was thankful he was alive, and the girl he held in his arms was not hurt in the slightest. But one thing did not add up, he could still see the sun out in the sky, but why was it so dark? Maybe a large cloud had rolled in? Turning his head to the sky his eyes widened at the sight in front of him. A large being more than several houses high, stood above them. A bronze helmet reflecting the light of sun off it, hiding the beings face in the shadows of the helmet, but the bright orange eyes shone through the shadows. A large bronze shield strapped to the similarly bronze armored goliath in front of him. And a sword nearly the same size of being in its right hand. The boy stood still hoping the titan would not take him as a threat. The being took its free left hand and reached forward towards the ground. The boy again placed himself in front of the girl, but the large human ignored the boy and continued to reach forward.
The hands trajectory was never towards the boy in the first place, the large left hand grabbed the slain beast's severed head, leaving behind the body. The large being inspected the beast's head from tusk to the top of its head, before turning his back to the village, taking its large shadow with it. It's stride easily clearing the river that split the two sides of the village and walking back into the forest. As the goliath disappeared into the horizon and as the forests consumed him, the townspeople began to move again, and spoke in whispered tones. All the boy and girl could do was continue to stare off into the distance…
The forests while large and thick in nature, was not able to block out all the light that shone from the sky above. God rays breaking through the canopy of the forest, the sounds of birds and insects could be heard in the forest. As could the sound of running water, the source coming from a stream that flowed through the forest and most likely ran into a larger source of water. The stream was peaceful, but the occasional splash and subsequent ripples break its peaceful nature. The creator of such disturbance was a man clad in bronze armor and helm. His similar shield placed off to the side. A large sword was continuously shoved in and out of the water, cleaning a red substance off of the sharp blade, carefully cleaned as to cut the user. The user of the sword after a few wipes of a cloth and quick inspection believed it was clean enough to be used again, and placed it off to the side. Off to his opposite side was a the head of a large beast, with four tusks gracing its maw. All in pristine and shining condition.
The man brought his two hands to take his bronzed helmet off his head to help relieve the heat that was beating down upon him. When he finally did manage to pull it off, his face was revealed to the world, but no man or animal living was around to see it. He glanced over to the flowing stream to observe inspect himself that nothing was out of the ordinary, a strong jawline, bedraggled and wild hair, blacker than the shadow that followed him around, and blue eyes that rivaled even the ocean's coloration. He made movement to stand to observe the rest of his body, muscles formed from excessive work and exercise in his field, his skin now blessed olive by the time he had spent out in the sun. His blank expression turned for the worse when he noticed the scar on the left side of his face, tracing it with his own left hand. A scowl of displeasure forming, a feature he hated most about himself. His observation of his own form, left him unaware of the liquid running from the middle of his lower leg. He noticed a horizontal red line running across it horizontally, but the liquid that poured from it was not crimson, but pure golden white. He merely sighed and shook his head in annoyance at the sight. The beast he had slain must've nicked him at some point while in pursuit, he hadn't even felt it forming any pain. It was like a mosquito bite to him, a flaw on his body that cause annoyance. He cut a section red cloth from his undershirt to tie around his lower leg to cover the cut and stop the seeping of the golden liquid. He was never the best at doing this sort of patchwork, but he knew enough to get the job done.
His quick and shoddy bandaging work had seemed satisfactory. He looked to his side to see the beast's head laying on its side, the blood seemingly all having soaked into the grass below it. The man pulled out a sharp hooked shape knife, and began inspecting the tusks on it. He chose what appeared the best looking tusk out of the four shimmering silver tusks. He hooked the curved blade under the tusk, and in one swift pull cleanly cut the silver tusk. He observed its beauty, his scowling face turning neutral again at the sight of the beautiful bone that was once upon the beast's face mere moments ago. He pocketed the glimmering tusk into a small satchel that laid against his hip and tied it securely. The man strapped his large sword and shield onto his back, along with donning his helmet yet again. In one swift motion he hefted the beast's severed head upon his shoulder, before turning and walking in a seemingly pointless direction. Though it seemed as though his body was travelling greater distances than he thought, before breaking out into a run, never even panting as he hauled the sheer weight that pushed down upon him. He never stopped running, he had a specific direction in mind and he could never stop heading that direction.
We still see the same man. However, he was no longer standing in the forests that he once washed himself, that was days ago. The treasure of the tusked beast's head mounted on his wall. His eyesight was focused on what appeared to be a winding set of stone stairs the zig zagged up along the side of the mountain he was at the base of. His face still in the shape of a scowl, he didn't like walking up these stairs, he didn't like anything that was at the top of this accursed mountain. But there was no point in delaying the inevitable, he was late either way, so it was in his best interest to be done with this as soon as possible. As he walked up each flight of steps, he would occasionally look out upon the horizon to bask in the sun's light and see the land stretch out in front of him. He could see almost anything from his spots on the mountain. The forests, the lakes, the ocean, the smallest village or the largest city. Though the closer he got to the top, the more disgruntled and annoyed he became. He reached a point where the steps met the base of the cloud line, signaling he was nearly to his destination with only a few flights left to conquer. But it still brought him back to a sense of displeasure.
He pushed those last second doubts to the darkest recesses of his mind and began his walk up those stone steps again, until his entire body was above the clouds, and their large, white, and fluffy masses blocked out any sight of the land below. It wasn't as beautiful up here in his eyes, sure the sun was still shining, but there was no variety, nothing but clouds for as far as the eye could see. His sour thoughts were interrupted when he came upon what drew his ire, a large building of some sorts. Made of the rarest ores from below. Doors and walls made of gold, crystals used as windows, and silver to help accent everything. Sure it was grand and many would deem themselves of seeing this place, but to him he hated it. It never made him feel comfortable. As he continued his walk he eventually found himself at the grand front entrance, doors reaching half the height of the building itself, making the gold encrusted building even larger than it was. It didn't impress him that much and simply pushed open the door. The man was initially blinded but what appeared to be a light brighter than the sun itself, though as he was with this place he was unimpressed. As his eyes soon looked past the blinding light, he was able to see inside, just as lavish as the outside was. It was a grand entrance hall of some sort, with the same golds, silvers, and gems being used to make the room shine ever brightly. Before he had entered he could hear the sounds of talking and conversation taking place before he entered the entrance hall. But, those conversations and talks soon ended as he entered the room. He was used to the entire hall's eyes being on him, it was normal at this point. The black haired man couldn't care less. He found what appeared to be a rack and chest for himself near the grand doors. He made his way over there first, still feeling the eyes of everyone in the room on his body. He just continued to ignore their gaze. As he mounted his armor, helmet, shield, and sword upon the rack, he noticed he had nothing to put in the chest, the only thing he carried on him was an invaluable gift, and there was no way he would ever put that gift inside the chest.
He turned on his heels and began walking towards the opposite end of hall, continuing to ignore the other attendant's focus on him. He was definitely late, but someone was missing from within the halls, before he could even think of the name, he was already at the opposing end of the hall, at the base of a few steps of golden and silver steps that led to equally as golden and silvered thrones. His gaze naturally shifted to his right. He saw a woman, with hair similar to that of the earth. A graceful and beautiful face, but graced with some age, but her age never hindered her appearance in his eyes. He naturally walked up the steps towards the woman. Her brown reaching the top of her back, a golden crown holding most of her earthen hair in place, and a golden scepter in one hand with a red jewel strapped to the top. The woman looked up at him with a small smile, which he gladly returned.
"Mother." He said simply, his eyes focused entirely on her and no one else, his small smile something rare to see nowadays to many in the room.
"My son." She spoke back, giving into her smile more, but still maintaining her royal posture. The son simply nodded his head to his mother, and she gladly returned, before watching him walk down the steps. He never he paid any focus to the figure in the opposite throne, not until a cough caught his attention, forcing the black haired man to look at the figure in the other throne. It was a man with equally as brown hair, his hair long and wavy, and a beard full enough to match it. The man was graced with and white streaks in his hair, showing his age in full effect. But physically, the man looked to still be in the prime of his life. The black haired man turned fully from his spot at the base of the stairs to look at the greying man, and his hand instinctively went and traced the scar of the side of his face.
"Father." He said simply with a scowl, looking at the brown haired man which sat in his throne. His posture high and an air of authority surrounding him. The son just focused solely on his father in the chair, a tense silence hung even heavier in the room now, before the man spoke.
"Ares." The son really did hate this place with all his fiber.
Author's Notes: New story, I know. Shocking probably not. Go ahead and review and favorite and all the self gloating stuff we do for our stories. Feel free to point all of my grammatical errors, I'm sure there's plenty I haven't seen.
If you have any questions I'll try and answer them in the Author's Notes at the end of the next chapter or in the story itself.
2nd Author's Notes: Jesus Christ , learn to add in proper copy and paste functions already, so tired of having to manually do something menial every single chapter I write.