Approximately 1200 BCE…
"This is your fault!" Athena, the Goddess of Wisdom, yelled as she pushed herself out of her seat in the throne room of Olympus, rising to her feet. Her voice trembled with barely controlled rage as she glared furiously at the goddess that was seated across from her. Long, loose tendrils of black hair brushed against her back as she strode forward. "All your fault." Her index finger punctured the air with each word and her eyes were alight with grey fire.
In front of Athena, Aphrodite was seated calmly in her throne, one leg crossed over the other. Her hair was curled in large beauty-queen ringlets that were swept over one thin shoulder. The colour flickered rapidly, changing from blonde to auburn to a fiery red. The Goddess of Love raised a thin eyebrow as she regarded Athena with interest. "How so?" Aphrodite asked.
Athena's right eyes twitched in fury. "Are you kidding me?! It was you who promised Helen of Sparta to Paris. It was you who made her fall in love with him. This war started because of your actions." She threw her arms wide in exasperation, sending her white robe flicking out around her.
Aphrodite's cool expression hardened at the Goddesses words, the corners of her mouth tightening. Anger flashed in her ever-changing eyes and her hands, which were lightly clasped together in her lap, curled into fists. "How was I to know that it would start a war?" Aphrodite asked tightly. "It is not as though I can predict these humans' actions."
"Well, we all know that intelligence had never been your strong point," Athena sneered viciously.
To Aphrodite's left, Ares, the God of War, let out a low whistle at the blunt, tactless insult. His eyes flickered repeatedly between the two goddesses, thoroughly entertained. The other immortal beings seated around the room watched on readily, expecting a fight to break out at any moment.
Aphrodite stilled, her gaze turning dangerous as her eyes zeroed in on the goddess in front of her. She rose to her feet and walked forwards with measured steps until she stood directly in front of Athena. Athena rose her chin defiantly, daring Aphrodite to challenge her.
"I don't take kindly to insult," Aphrodite stated coldly. Her eyes scanned Athena up and down, her lips curling into a look of disgust, as if she were staring at a rotting fish, not a goddess. "I find it funny that even the Goddess of Wisdom and Strategy could not predict a war, let alone know how to end it."
Athena's face twisted into a look of murder. If Aphrodite wasn't an immortal goddess, i would have terrified her. Luckily for her, one death glare wasn't about to send her six feet under.
Athena extended an open hand to the side. The air around her fingers sizzled, and with a crack, her legendary spear appeared in her grip, materialising out of thin air. Its metal glinted dangerous in the bright lighting.
Aphrodite regarded the weapon vigilantly for a moment before returning her gaze to Athena's face, which was pinched tightly. "Try to attack me and I will order you to skewer yourself," the goddess warned, referring to her ability to charmspeak. "Won't that be amusing?"
Gripping her spear tightly, Athena moved the weapon until the tip was pointed at the base of the Goddess of Love's throat. "Just you try."
"Enough!" Zeus ordered. His powerful, commanding voice filled the throne room, shaking the ground and hurting the ears of all listening. It conveyed the suffocating, unquestionable power that only a ruler of Olympus could hold.
The two goddesses flinched at the sudden noise, stilling instantly. Casting one final furious look at each other, they slowly broke apart, and turned to face the front of the throne room where Zeus was seated. He glared down on them in annoyance. His grey hair was long, as was his beard. Even seated, every aspect of the god radiated power, from his broad, strong body to his stormy eyes that have seen the beginning of time.
"We have bigger issues to deal with without the two of you fighting like children," he said. Zeus' eyes landed on Aphrodite. His face was hard and angry, causing her to tense. "It were your actions that lead to this war."
Aphrodite felt her anger instantly flare again. She struggled to hold it in check, purposely keeping her face blank. Unlike with Athena, she would never dare challenge Zeus. He would easily throw her over the side of Mount Olympus without batting an eyelash. Beside her, Athena's lips twisted up into a self-righteous smirk. Aphrodite wanted nothing more than to wipe it off her smug face, and quite brutally.
Unaware of Aphrodite's malicious thought towards the other goddess, Zeus continued talking. "If it weren't for your careless promises of love, we wouldn't be in this predicament. This war has grown tiresome. It needs to come to the end…and soon."
"But how?" Apollo said, speaking up for the first time. All heads in the room swivelled around to face the blonde-haired god. "It seems to be the million dollar question, doesn't it? How do we actually end the battle of Troy? Our previous attempts have all failed miserably." Apollo sighed tiredly, ten years of constant conflict taking its toll on him. His once vibrant blue eyes were reduced to a dull grey colour and lines had starred to appear around the corner of his eyes from both stress and exhaustion.
"And now Achilles has chosen to join the war," Poseidon said gravely as he stared at the ground, clearly deep in though. He pursed his lips and rubbed his hand over his unshaven jaw.
"With Achilles now fighting for the Greeks, there is no way in Hades that Agamemnon will withdraw his troops," Hera stated, voicing what all the other gods already knew to be true. "The boy is what he plans to use to finally breach the walls of Troy."
All of the gods lapsed into silence, each lost to their own thought. Although her pride would never allow her to admit it, Aphrodite knew that there was some truth behind the gods' words when they said that her actions lead to starting the war. She kept her lips shut tightly though because, like the other gods in the room, she had a hard time admitting her mistakes. Now, not only did she have the other gods on her back, but she also had to come up with an idea to end the war that she supposedly started. As if the Goddess of Love didn't have enough problems at the moment with her having to worry about all of the Greek and Trojan widows who had lost their husbands during the war, and all other matters of the heart.
And now this spear-wielding Greek soldier, Achilles, had decided to join the fight. It was just what the goddess needed: some hotshot who was apparently destined to change the outcome of the war. Aphrodite wished that he would just bugger off back to wherever he had come from. It would make her job a heck of a lot easier if Achilles had stayed back home, found a little woman, married her, and lived happily ever after. Instead, the meathead had decided to go charging into battle, desperate for fame and glory.
If only Achilles had been a hopeless romantic who valued love over the grandeur of war, Aphrodite thought dryly. Maybe then he would have chosen to stay home…
Wait!
The goddesses' head snapped up as the idea sparked in her mind.
What if Achilles was to fall in love, or at least become distracted? What if someone, some girl, was able to change the soldier's main focus from the war to something else…something more romantic?
"I have a plan!" Aphrodite exclaimed, her loud voice shattering the thoughtful silence. All of the gods' eyes fell on her and she straightened her stance almost subconsciously, standing tall and proud. "So, it seems to be that Achilles is the key to the Greeks continuing to fight. Well, what if Achilles decided to withdraw from battle?"
Ares raised a dark eyebrow at the goddess. "What on Earth would compel him to do that?" he asked.
"Love," Aphrodite stated simply.
The God of War let out a short laugh, clearly believing Aphrodite's answer to be ludacris. The flames in his eyes burned with amusement as he regarded her. "There is no way that Achilles, 'the greatest soldier in Greece', would ever refuse to fight because of love," he said, flippantly disregarding Aphrodite's idea. "That is the most ridiculous thing I have heard since I found out that one son of Apollo died by accidently shooting himself with his own arrow."
Apollo's eyes narrowed as he regarded Ares, annoyed that his son's humiliating death was once again brought up in conversation. Would he ever live it down? Seeing that the gods were immortal, he decided maybe not.
Aphrodite's face hardened. Her temper flared as the God of War instantly deemed her idea to be incredibly stupid and even laughable. "You seem to be overlooking the greatest weakness of all, Ares," she said tightly. "Love can turn even the smartest man into a blubbering idiot." She turned to face Zeus who was regarding her with curiosity. "Isn't it only fitting that a war which started because of love, ends because of it?"
Unlike Ares, Zeus appeared to be actually considering her idea. Well, at least he wasn't outright laughing at her. "It would be very poetic, but gods aren't allowed to directly interfere in the affairs of humans and demigods," he finally said.
"I know," Aphrodite agreed, nodding. "But I won't be."
Beside her, Athena snorted in a very ungodlike fashion. "How do you plan to seduce him if you aren't with him?" she asked derisively. She shot the Goddess of Love a look that said: You really are as dumb as you look, aren't you?
Well, Athena," Aphrodite replied coolly, shooting the other goddess a look of complete disdain, "if you had let me finish instead of so rudely interrupting, you would know that I don't plan on seducing Achilles myself."
Athena raised a thin eyebrow. "Then who do you suppose will?" she inquired.
"A daughter of mine will be more than capable of doing the job."
"Aren't you forgetting something?" Artemis interrupted. Aphrodite turned to look at her, slightly annoyed at being questioned yet again. "Achilles isn't exactly easy to be around. All of the women in the Greek camp are terrified of him. Besides, women bore him. His personality allows him to walk all over them."
Aphrodite had to admit that Artemis had a point. Fortunately for Aphrodite, she had already thought of this. If Achilles found girls boring, Aphrodite would have to make sure to spice things up.
"I never said that it would be a daughter from this time period," she said, shocking the gods.
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