I watched people move around the market and leaned my head against one of the giant white pillars.

"Attie," a little voice called. I turned to spy a black-haired, blue-eyed boy who was around five or six. "What are you doing, Attie?" he asked as he sat down beside me.

"Watching the people," I told him. We sat together in silence for a moment or two.

"This is boring," the boy murmured. I ignored him. Seeing this, the boy retaliated by placing a slobbery kiss on my cheek.

"Eww, that's gross, Ar," I whined. I wiped the spit off and wiped it on his arm. The boy, Ar, just chuckled and pulled on my hair lightly. "It's not funny," I grumbled. "Be quiet."

"Make me," Ar challenged with a mischievous glint in his eyes. I narrowed my eyes as I quickly tried to come up with a plan. Before I had a chance to act, Ar darted down the steps with me hot on his heels. He weaved through the buildings until he entered one. It was a round building with a round opening at the top to let in the light. We dashed to where we had left our wooden swords. We picked them up and pointed them at each other and began to circle each other.

"Name your terms, Ares," I barked out.

"No other weapons but our swords. Loser has to be winner's slave for one day."

"Deal." Ares had a chance to smirk before I attacked.

Unfortunately, Ares saw this and blocked my blow. We were both equally matched in strength and wit, and the duel seemed like it was going to end in a stalemate. I turned my back for one second, when I heard a sword hit the ground. I almost shouted in victory, when I was knocked to the ground. Fingers started to dig into my side, and I screeched in laughter.

"No, no, this isn't fair! You're cheating," I yelled. But, Ares didn't stop at my shrieks.

"Say you surrender," Ares growled playfully.

"Never," I screamed. We rolled around on the ground with Ares never ceasing to tickle me. Finally, I relented. "I surrender! I surrender! Stop! Stop!"

"Aha," Ares shouted with his arms raised high in the air. "Victory is mine!"

"Cause you cheated, Ar."

"No, I didn't. I said no other weapons. I'm not a weapon," he said before sticking his tongue out at me and continuing his victory dance. Fed up with his smugness, I dove at him hoping to bring him down. I was successful, and we spun around in the dirt.

"Your dress is all dirty now," Ares commented once we stopped. I shrugged. I laid my head on his chest as we both stared up at the sky. "What did you thing of Uncle Hades's wedding today?" Ares asked me.

"I thought it was beautiful. Aunt Persephone looked so happy."

"You think your wedding is going to be like that?"

"I'm not going to get married," I stated as I sat up.

"Why not?"

"I don't want anybody to tell me what to do. I'm going to be independent." Ares sat up and looked at me.

"I'm not getting married either."

"Yes, you will. Men are suppose to get married."

"So are women," Ares retorted.

"Ok, then," I said. I grabbed Ares's forearm and he mirrored my action. "Let's make a vow to each other. We will never take a spouse."

"I promise it." We both smiled at each other.

"I'm glad you're my best friend, Ares," I confessed when I begun to hear an annoying ringing sound.

I pried my eyes open to see my phone buzzing around on the bedside table.

"Hello?" I was able to croak out once I answered the phone.

"Cora! Finally! Where are you? We have that big presentation for Carter & Mitchell in an hour," my co-worker, Cindy, told me. I looked over at my alarm clock to see that it hadn't gone off.

"Shit! Alright, I'll be there soon as possible. Just try to stall them as much as possible," I told her as I scrambled out of bed.

"Fine, just try to get here as fast as you can. I don't know if I can give you more than an extra ten minutes."

"Got it. See ya soon. Bye." Once I hung up, I ran to the shower, and put on the suit that I had luckily ironed the day before. Running out of my apartment, I grabbed a taxi and was soon on my way there.

But unfortunately, New York City is famous for one thing: traffic. And it was in rare form today. I pulled up to my work about 45 minutes after Cindy's "extra" ten minutes. I rushed up to my office to see my boss, Mr. Moore, with a frown as he sat in my chair. I took a deep breath and prepared for battle.

"Ms. Asker," Mr. Moore greeted me with not an ounce of cheerfulness.

"Good morning, Mr. Moore," I replied back in a cheery tone. Mr. Moore slowly got up from my chair and approached me as I discard my coat and briefcase like every day.

"Ms. Asker, would you mind telling me why Carter & Mitchell walked out on us this morning?" Playing dumb seemed to be my best option.

"No idea, Sir." Mr. Moore apparently was not in the mood for my shenanigans today.

"Dammit, Cora, that is the third client that you have lost this month. Now get your head out of the clouds or get out of this building." I nodded my head as I fished around in my briefcase.

"I understand completely, Sir. But, I do have an excuse for why I was late. And I think you'll be quite pleased once you see," I told him as I pulled out two contracts. Mr. Moore glared at me as he grabbed the contracts and began to skim them. "Now, those are only a year contract for Initech and Virtucon, but they said if they liked our advertising, they would be willing to extend."

"Initech and Virtucon? That's impossible. Darcy has been trying for years to get them."

"I was able to sway them with a few of my tricks," I told him with a smirk. Mr. Moore finished checking the contracts for a few moments. I could see him mentally calculating how much money he would make from these two companies. Mr. Moore started to head toward the door, papers in hand.

"Well, just don't let this happen again, Ms. Asker," he said and with that, he was gone. I had barely sat down, when Cindy came rushing in.

"How'd you do that?" she asked stunned voice.

"Were you listening by the door again?"

"Yes," she sheepishly admitted. "But how did you do that? He was all set on firing you, and you managed to keep your job and get two new deals."

"It's all strategy," I chuckled. "I have had those deals for two weeks now just waiting for the right moment to spring them on him." Cindy's face went pale.

"Two weeks? We have to schedule a meeting, find out what they want..." As Cindy continued to ramble on, I turned around and grabbed two files to drop in front of her.

"Done. Meeting is next Friday. They sent over information on their new products, and I already started brainstorming." Cindy looked down at the files before letting loose a sigh of relief. "Strategy," I told her with a smirk.

The rest of the day went off without a problem, and we were actually able to leave early. Cindy and I walked to a nearby coffee shop for a little afternoon pick-me-up.

"So where were you this morning?" Cindy asked.

"Home. My alarm didn't go off."

"Mmhmm," she hummed with a sip of her coffee. "Must have been a good dream since I know your internal clock is set to your alarm." I blushed and hid my face behind my cup. "Anything you'd like to share with the class?" Cindy said as she wagged her eyebrows causing me to burst into laughter.

"No, no, no, nothing like that," I told her as I waved my hand to dismiss that thought. "It's completely innocent. Just kid me play fighting with this other cocky little kid."

"Oh? And does this cocky little kid have a name?"

"Ares." Cindy raised an eyebrow.

"Ares? Like god of war Ares?"

"That's what I call him," I murmured as a lazy smile found its way onto my face. Cindy smiled knowingly as she took another sip.

After we both finished our coffees, we went our separate ways home. I had decided to walk home instead of taking a taxi because of the beautiful weather. On my walk, I paused in front of shop window and stared at my reflection. I released my hair from my bun and saw my grey eyes sparkle with happiness. With a quick smile at my reflection, I began walking down the street again.

"Attie?" I heard someone call. I spun around trying to find who had called out to me. "Attie! Attie," a tall, blond man shouted as he ran toward me. I tried to recall where I had ever met this man. I was a statue, watching this man continuing to run towards me. He looked so happy, and he refused to break eye contact with me. That is until he ran into a street pole. I immediately ran to his aid.

"Oh my goodness! Are you ok? Can you hear me?" I questioned. He groaned and rubbed his forehead.

"I am fine, Athena," he assured me.

"I think you have me confused with someone else. My name is Cora," I told him. He opened his blue eyes for me to see them swimming in confusion. He muttered something to himself before studying me again. I looked around us to see we were in front of a little café. "Here, let me get you something to drink and make sure you're ok," I told him as I helped him up off the ground and into the café. I sat the man down at one of the tables and ordered two hot chocolates. Once I paid for the hot chocolates, I moved back towards the table. The man was still staring at me as if his life depended on it. "There you go," I said as I handed him his drink. "How is your head feeling?"

"Quite fine now. I'm still trying to figure out how you're not Athena. You share her likeness and respond to her name of Attie," the man shared before he took a big gulp of the steaming liquid.

"Well, they do say that you have the same face as seven other people on the earth. Or maybe we're related somehow," I offered.

"That still doesn't explain the name." I offered my hand.

"Cora Atika Asker, at your service. All my friends call me Attie." He cautiously shook my hand with a wide smile.

"Thor."

"Nice to meet you, Thor. Wow, you and Athena's parents big mythology fans or something?" Thor let loose a boisterous laugh.

"I believe this joke has gone on far enough. Have you been talking with Hermes or Loki?" he laughed.

"Thor, I have no idea what you're talking about, and I surely don't know anyone named Hermes or Loki." That sobered him up. "Like I said, I think you have me confused with someone else." His face said that he couldn't believe what I was saying.

"You don't remember anything?"

"No, because there is nothing to remember," I stated.

"You don't remember me? Loki? Hermes? Sif? Sigyn? Odin?" Each name he listed off, I gave a slight shake of my head. "What about Ares?" I froze at the name. "You do remember Ares, don't you?"

"No," I shook my head, " I just had a dream about a little boy with that name. That's just pure coincidence though," I defended. Thor's face broke into a big grin at my statement.

"Of course, of course. What is your earliest memory of your life, Cora?" I sat back and thought for a moment.

"I guess it would be when I was eighteen. I remember vaguely entering the city," I said trying to remember more of that time. Thor's smile grew wider.

"Don't you remember anything from when you were a child? Such as six or seven?" I shook my head. "And doesn't that seem a bit odd?" I smiled briefly at the attempt.

"Nice try. I dated a doctor once. He thought I may have had a traumatic brain injury. That would explain why I wouldn't remember."

"But wouldn't have someone been looking for you? A friend or another family member?"

"Maybe.." I trailed off. "Like I said, that doesn't mean anything, Thor," I defended, but I didn't sound very convincing.

"Are you trying to persuade me or yourself?" Thor questioned. I could feel a headache coming on. I put my head between my hands and closed my eyes hoping that it would pass quickly.

"Thor," I heard myself call. "Take this stupid blindfold off."

"Oh come on, Attie. It's part of the surprise," I heard a male's voice comfort.

"Don't even start, Ares. You're on the top of my list along with Thor."

"Now, Attie, be a good sport," Thor's voice said. I could hear myself mumbling as I continued to walk forward.

"How much longer," I whined.

"Oh, stop it," Ares said.

"My feet hurt," I grumbled.

"Climb on," Thor offered as I timidly felt for his shoulders before climbing on.

"Who knew the goddess of war could whine so much," Ares commented. I stuck my tongue out in response in the direction I heard Ares's voice. A few minutes past in silence besides the sounds of footsteps. Suddenly, Thor stopped and stood straight up. I took that as a cue that we were here and gently slid down. "Alright," Ares's voice breathed in my ear, "in one, two, three." The blindfold fell away, and I saw a younger version of Thor.

"Happy Birthday, Athena!"

My eyes flew open to see Thor looking concerned.

"Cora," he called to me.

"I remember," I whispered.

"What did you say?"

"I remember," I said once I found my voice. "I mean I remember you a little bit. If Thor's smile had gotten any bigger, his face would have split in half.

"What do you remember?"

"Um, one of my birthdays? You and Ares blindfolded me, and you guys were making me walk somewhere. I kept complaining until you carried me the rest of the way," I described. Thor scooped me up and swung me around. "Thor, put me down this second! We are in a restaurant!"

"Oh, Athena, this is wonderful news. Come on, we must go at once," he began rambling off as he dragged me out of the café and down the street.

"Thor, where are you taking me?" I shouted. Yet, he didn't hear me. He continued dragging me to who knows where. We turned down a random alley when Thor finally stopped.

"Let's get you home," he stated.

"But I am home," I retorted which Thor seemed to ignore. He pulled a small hammer from his pocket. He said a few words in a foreign language which made the hammer grow larger.

"What the.." I muttered. Thor wrapped his arm around my waist.

"Hold on tight," he whispered in my ear, and with that, we started to soar up into the air.