A/N: New oneshot? So soon? This has been in the works for almost three months and I finally decided to post it after reading SoN because HEY look Mars is in it and he's not an asshole like Ares. Thanks to my Wonderful Beta Mission To Marzipan for doing a wonderful job. I hope you enjoy.
War and Wrath
Laurie Aucoin sat silently on the bank of the San Francisco Bay with a smirk covering her face. Her fingers hovered a couple of inches over the two pistols that rested in the sand a few feet away from her. She was dressed in full battle armor and her black hair was up in a ponytail. The always-interesting smell of burning flesh seemed to dance around her nose on account of the burning body that rested close by.
Today was going to be the day that she and her little brother finally got revenge on their least favorite god for taking away their father — the two had managed to find a daughter of Mars within the Roman camp that said she was willing to help them if they needed her assistance with anything. What the poor girl didn't know was that they planned on burning her body and using it to bait Mars into appearing before them.
Laurie grabbed a log that rested beside her before tossing it into the flames and enjoying the well timed screams that rang out form the half dead daughter of Mars that rested before her. She gave a cold laugh before raising one of her pistols up. "Scream a little louder, won't you? I'm sure your daddy will love that."
"Leave Elizabeth alone, bad enough you forced her out here," a rather annoying voice said from behind her.
She glanced over her shoulder to find her younger brother, Louis, standing there with a frown covering his face. He moved past her, pulled a piece of ambrosia out of his pocket, and fed into Elizabeth with a smile. Once he was sure that her flesh was starting to repair itself he turned away from the daughter of Mars and met his sister's glare. To say that Louis Aucoin was happy at the moment would've been one the biggest lies told since the start of time — today was supposed to be the day that he and Laurie celebrated his fourteenth birthday. She had promised to take him to the park so they could play together. Of course just like most things she promised him recently that too was a lie.
"How can you call yourself a son of Invidia? Let her burn to death. That'll make Mars even madder."
"Have you ever actually fought a god?" Louis countered. "He'll be pissed as it that we've kidnapped his daughter. Let's try not making him madder."
Laurie rolled her eyes at her baby brother. Honestly how could he call himself a son of vengeance if he insisted on helping their captive? No matter how many times she looked over it, Laurie could never tell where her brother's sense of compassion came from. Their father, Matthew, was a fighter in the Second World War. One of his arms was amputated after an invasion of a Nazi hideout. He personally thought he was robbed; he served his country and lost a limb fighting to protect it — the least America could do was give him a medal or two. That feeling of resentment is what drew Invidia to him; the two would often sit around and talk about just how they were wronged in life.
The conversation frequently ranged from how Invidia was never given a proper throne on Mt. Olympus or how nobody respected the veterans anymore. Somewhere down the line the two of them started to fall in love and sometime later a baby girl was born.
Invidia stayed with Matt for another two years, leaving and going as she pleased because who could expect a goddess to stay in one place forever? Around the second year Matt started acting strange and it became clear to everyone around him that he was suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. There was this one time at Laurie's fourth birthday party that he actually pulled out a gun and started shooting at the guest because he thought they were Nazi spies. He was checked into a mental home and Invidia found herself pregnant with his second child, Louis.
With their father gone Invidia decided it was best to leave the children with their grandmother, hoping that one day they would understand what a cold place the world was. They needed to know that vengeance was the only thing worth living for. Laurie grasped that concept very well she blamed Mars for everything that was wrong with her family — had it not been for that god of war maybe her father would've been normal.
That's why she spent of her life trying to figure out a way to get back at him and this was a foolproof plan. In the old days of the Roman Empire people often sacrificed things to the gods to make them appear before them — what better to offer to a god than his own child? The only problem with her plan was Louis who insisted on treating Elizabeth like a person just because he had a small crush on her. For a child of Invidia he still didn't grasp that fact that without wrath he was nothing.
Laurie stood to her feet and stepped over to her younger brother — her lips curled into a grin because she could see the way his knees shook whenever she got close to him. He knew exactly who ran their relationship and that freewill wasn't something she liked very much. "I'm about to start the ritual. You should get back in the bushes."
Louis growled at his sister before scurrying back into his hiding place. Defying his sister wasn't something he did often and it wasn't something he planned on making a habit out of. The daughter of Invidia pulled a small jar of eternal fire out of her pocket; she placed it right at Elizabeth's feet and took a step backwards. With a wave good bye Laurie took at the jar, fired with her pistol, and watched with a smile as green flames surrounded the daughter of Mars right along with the altar that supported her.
"Now for the sacred animals," Laurie grabbed her backpack before pulling out the dead body of a woodpecker and the hide of a wolf. She tossed the items into the flames and watched with glee as the flames shifted from a light green to a nice shade of crimson. Her hands rose up and she gave a loud cackle. "I summon Mars, god of war, Lord of wolves and woodpeckers!"
The flames rose up in response to her call and Laurie could make out the glaring face of a man within the fire. "Come out here you coward!"
There was a low chuckle from inside the flames before they exploded and sent Laurie sliding backwards in the sand. She stood to her feet to find a man standing before her with a scowl covering his face. He wore a black army coat, a white shirt, black slacks, and a pair of commando boots. His eyes were hidden behind a pair of black sunglasses but, you could see the red light that gleamed behind the shades. In his arms lay the unconscious body of Elizabeth, he placed the girl on the ground before stepping towards Laurie.
"Look kid, I have a date with Venus in thirty minutes," Mars said while removing his sunglasses. "Can we make this ass kicking fast?"
Laurie gritted her teeth before grabbing her second pistol from off the ground. "Do you know who I am?"
Mars shrugged his shoulders and pulled his double-edged sword from its sheath. "Doesn't matter to me, anybody desperate enough to try and use my kid as sacrifice is eager to see Pluto."
The daughter of Invidia couldn't believe what she was hearing — how this oversized brute not know who she was? After all that damned pain he put her family through how could he not understand why there was so much resentment in her heart? She raised both of her pistols up towards Mars and put her fingers on the triggers. "Die you fucker."
If there was one thing that the god of war could appreciate it was a woman with a mouth on her. When Laurie started firing at him, he had to give her credit. Most mortals would never actually sacrifice one of his children to get his attention — even in the old days of Rome the most people would do was offer up an ox so that he would bless them with the ability to use a sword correctly. For someone to actually go this far to get his attention there had to be at least a little bit of passion behind what she was doing.
He raised his sword up and blocked the bullets that there flying in his direction before charging at Laurie. With a devious grin he raised his sword into the air and brought it down towards the girl, Laurie rolled out of the way just in time to avoid being sliced in half. She shifted up to her feet and started firing at the god's shoulders. Mar's groaned as the bullets made contact with his jacket, he leapt backwards and examined the damage.
"Do you know how long it took for me to pick this thing out?" He asked with a sigh, his clothes shimmered for a second before turning into classical Roman armor. "Maybe Venus will find me hotter if I have a little blood on my armor."
Mars shot forward and slammed his shoulder into Laurie's stomach; the daughter of Invidia stumbled backwards before taking notice of the interesting copper taste that was starting to take over her mouth. She glanced forward just in time to have Mars' fist slam into her face. A loud scream rang out in the air and Laurie's body hit the ground with a thud. The god moved forward leisurely while spinning his sword in his hand, he stood over the girl with a grin. "Such a shame, you would've made a wonderful sex partner."
He raised his sword up and chuckled when Laurie tried reaching for one of her pistols; he stepped down on her foot and shook his head. "I do love it when they struggle, makes killing them more fun."
Laurie coughed up a little blood before yelling out. "Louis!"
Mars arched his eyebrow when she called out the name. "Who is that, your boyfriend or something?"
His question was answered when the sound of footsteps echoed in his ears. He shifted his attention onto the small boy that was charging towards him. Once Louis was in range he gritted his teeth, placed his hand on the end of his Khopesh, and made one wild slash at Mars' right arm. The god of war was so surprised by the young boy's weapon that he barely had time to register the golden ichor that was trailing down his hand. Louis stuffed a piece of ambrosia into his sister's mouth before bringing his weapon up to block a slash that was aimed at his stomach. His eyes met the eyes of the god of war and for a brief second he felt as if his brain was about to melt. Mars quickly shifted his eyes onto the weapon that Louis was holding.
A Khopesh was an Egyptian sword that had a curved blade at the end of it. This was his first time seeing one of them since some of the Roman's tried praying to him for advice on how to use the weapon — he wasn't sure and people quickly began praying to the Egyptian god of war, some fellow with a falcon head. He could feel some power radiating off the weapon and it was slowly starting to interest him. With a grunt he pulled his sword back before moving backwards. "Interesting weapon you got there, kid. Where'd you find it?"
Louis used a few seconds to return his sister's pistols to her. Once he made sure she would be alright he felt it was best to answer the god's question. "In the armory at Camp Jupiter, Lupa said that a child of Rome shouldn't use something like this because of its Egyptian roots. I, however, found it fit perfectly with my fighting style."
Mars nodded his head just as Laurie stood back to her feet. She spat out any remaining blood and clenched her pistols tightly. "Go get him Louis."
The son of Invidia didn't need to be told twice, he spun his weapon gently before lunging at his foe. Mars stood firmly and began to parry every slash that was being aimed his direction — Louis was starting to take notice of the strange fact that he couldn't land a single blow on the god of war. He ducked a slash and brought his blade upwards to Mars' chin, his foe grinned before gripping holding of his sword with his free hand.
"Seems that you're great when it comes to sword play, how about hand to hand?"
Louis didn't have time to analyze the statement on account of Mars head butting him with his helmet on. He wobbled backwards for a minute and placed a hand on the now bleeding wound. Mars tossed the hooked blade aside before moving in towards Louis with his hand cocked backwards — the son of Invidia dipped down and Mars was greeted by the sight of Laurie's pistol. She grinned before pulling the trigger and watched as a golden bullet fired right into the god of war's hand. Mars prepared to crush the pistol only to have a foot ram into his chin and send him falling backwards.
"You asked me about hand to hand earlier," Louis said while Mars rose up from the ground. "I'm pretty good at it."
That was all it took for Mars to abandon his sword and rush towards Louis with his fist cocked back. Laurie stood on the sideline, watching with a grin as the two went toe to toe. She wasn't worried about her brother's well-being because this is what he trained for. Even before he was claimed by their mother she made sure that he only sparred with the Mars cabin because she knew it would prepare him for this day.
For a second it looked as if Louis had the advantage — of course that didn't last long because Mars was the god of battle strategy. The god caught one of Louis's punches and flipped him into the sand. He sent a punch down at the small boy's chest and was very pleased when he heard the sound of a cracked rib. As he tried to pull his hand back up he found that his foe had a tight grip on his wrist.
"Laurie," Louis screamed. "Do it now!"
Mars glanced up to find a silver pistol aimed right at his face. Laurie's grin widened as she pulled the trigger, a green bullet flew out of the pistol and hit Mars' right between the eyes. Louis released the god of war, kicked him in the chest, and scrabbled away just as the green bullet began glowing. The expression Mars wore as the bullet exploded and swallowed him in a sea of green flames was priceless — the perfect look of anger along with a hint of confusion.
Here is something that a lot of people don't know about Mars as a god. He's a lot more civilized and organized than his Greek counterpart. Ares was a side of him that he really didn't appreciate much after the Romans adapted him into the image of the perfect soldier. However, there were times when he preferred Ares because he could kill anything without so much as a second thought. So as he stood within the green flames he could literally hear his other persona's killing intent whispering in his ear.
Just kill them, the voice said in a hushed tone. Venus won't give up the goods if you're late again.
The simple thought of Venus holding out of him again was reason enough him to kill those brats. He waved his hands through the fire and dispelled it as only a god could. All of his armor had been burned in the explosion so now he was standing in nothing more than a Roman toga with a blood red trim. There was a red aura that surrounded his body that alerted both Louis and Laurie — they had seen the blessing of Mars before. It was a common thing amongst the children of Mars however; even the children of Mars couldn't hold a candle to the power their father currently held.
Louis grabbed his Khopesh from the ground and glanced over at his sister. Laurie was currently cursing up a storm. That bullet was supposed to take that bastard out — instead it only made him madder. It was becoming painfully obvious that he wouldn't give up until they were dead, which was rather ironic because she wouldn't die until he was dead.
Mars extended his hand out and snapped his fingers; within a matter of seconds there were two large wolves standing on either side of him. The wolves had jet black fur and a pair of light brown eyes — these two made Lupa look like nothing more than a puppy. One of the wolves locked eyes with Laurie and immediately rushed forward towards her; its friend didn't waste any time following suit.
If there was one thing that Louis Aucoin hated about himself it was his dying need to keep his sister out of harm's way. He didn't exactly know why he did some of things he did because Laurie was more than capable of taking care of herself. However, he just couldn't allow anything to happen to sister — with a sigh he charged forward and met the beast with a growl. Ever Roman half-blood knew how to read the facial expressions of wolves because of Lupa and from the glare the two animals were giving him Louis knew they were pissed beyond belief. One of the beasts lunged at him with its fangs bared, but Louis raised his sword into the air and brought it down on the beast's face. While he was occupied killing its friend the second wolf lunged at him before biting him on the leg — he groaned and fell backwards into the sand. For some odd reason he could hear his sister's voice clear in the back of his head.
If you had bathed in the River Styx like I said you wouldn't be having that problem.
He gritted his teeth before stabbing the wolf right in the back. There was a whimper and shortly after that the beast vanished into red dust — Louis quickly returned his attention to his sister. She was currently fighting against the god of war with no more than a pair of pistols and a need for revenge. Sometimes revenge was one of the best weapons every created.
"Why don't you just roll over and die?" Laurie screamed as she fired off another round at Mars. The god of war simply swatted each bullet down with his right hand and wielded his sword with his left. Mars caught a green bullet that was aimed at his face, closed his fist around it, and watched the explosion that occurred within his palm. With a loud snarl he slammed his sword down on the ground and sent a shockwave in Laurie's direction that sent the daughter of Invidia sliding backwards towards the water.
He summoned another set of wolves and watched as they lunged forward towards his foe. There was a strange silence as the beats moved towards Laurie — she could see her entire life playing out before her. Every moment she saw represented something close to her heart, whether it was the day she defeated Jason Grace in battle or when Louis was claimed as a child of Invidia. However, none of the memories could compare to the last one that played in her head.
She saw her father and herself at the park. He was smiling at her the way he used to before he started going crazy — no matter how much she didn't want to admit it Laurie missed those days. Her eyes shifted from the wolves onto Mars; it was his fault that her father was the way he was. If he had never existed then maybe Louis would actually have some good memories of his dad. That was all it took for Laurie to realize that Mars had to die here — if he didn't other children would lose their family because of the wars that he would cause.
"This entire thing is your fault!" Laurie screamed as she fired at the wolves that were advancing towards her. She rushed past the beats just as they vanished in a cloud of red smoke, when she got close enough she threw a punch at Mars' face and attempted to a fire a shot at his nose. The god of war grinned before grabbing onto her wrist — it didn't take long for him to apply just the right amount of pressure for the bone to break. He raised his leg and delivered a strong kick to her stomach.
"I find myself wanting to yell out this is Sparta!" Mars said while lifting up his sword. He brought it down with a grin and expected to feel nothing but flesh; instead he was greeted with the familiar feel of metal. His eyes gleamed with anger when he saw the end of Laurie's pistol blocking his blade. Slowly he began lowering his sword down and cutting through the wimpy metal of the pistol. Honestly, who ever heard of Imperial Gold being stopped by a metal made by man? Once he was half way through the pistol the god of war decided that there might be a better way to deal with Laurie — his image flickered and within seconds he was standing in front of Louis. Laurie glanced over her shoulder at scowled at how much of a coward Mars was, he didn't want to fight her directly so he moved onto her little brother. "Kill him Louis!"
Louis was trying to stand up when Mars appeared before him. His leg was a wreck because of that damned wolf that attacked him earlier. He gritted his teeth, raised his sword up, and blocked Mars' slash with all the energy he could summon. The god of war looked him up and down before asking in a hushed voice. "Why are the two of you doing this?"
He was a bit taken back by the question but, thought it best to answer. "Different reasons: Laurie wants to kill you because she believes you're the reason our father went insane. I'm just here to protect her — if she dies I won't have anyone else in the world."
"She thinks I'm the reason? What did I do to him?"
Louis didn't know all that much about his father and honestly he was fine with that. His sister never really told him anything positive about his old man. "He was a fighter in the Second World War. He suffered from a case of PTSD; she thinks you're to blame."
Mars paused for a second and everything suddenly clicked in the back of his mind. He invaded Louis' mind trying to find any sign of lying — when he didn't find it he understood why Laurie hated him so much. With a sigh he pulled backwards and glanced down at Louis with a look of pity. The sound of footsteps rang clear in his ears and he turned around to find Laurie holding a large jar of Eternal fire in one hand with a pistol in the other, she wore wearing an insane grin. "Looks like this is the end for all of us, now die you son-of-a-bitch!"
She tossed the jar up towards Mars and Louis before firing off her final bullet. The explosion that came from that jar was more than enough to rock all of San Francisco — fire erupted in every direction. Even the San Francisco Bay had a few small fires floating on top of it. Once the smoke cleared there was only one person and a god standing on the river's bank. Laurie lay on the sand, her body smoking from how close she was to the explosion; she glanced around to find that Mars was standing in front of her little brother with his hands up. Louis was on the ground shaking like the pussy she thought he was.
Mars exhaled quietly and glanced down at Louis before shifting back into his formal attire. He straightened his jacket and helped Louis up from the ground.
"I won't kill either of you — I understand what it's like to lose someone at war. Hell, most of my children die when the wars start. Personally I don't like it when that happens but they're needed to preserve life. Some people must die so that others may live; it's the natural order of things. Plus I know what it feels like to have a sister who doesn't care for you — Minerva is a bitch sometimes."
Something in Louis' mind clicked and he understood. While it was true that his mother was all about Vengeance and Wrath she also stood for balance. His father fought the war and eventually met his mother — had it not been the war then he wouldn't be around right now. Louis nodded in thanks to the god of war before moving over to help his sister up.
Once Laurie was back on her feet she started looking for her pistol. Even after everything that happened she still wanted to destroy the god of war. "Louis don't—" She didn't get to finish her sentence on account of Louis hitting her in the back of the neck. He exhaled and watched as Mars vanished into thin air. When he sister woke up he'd have to explain to her why he let their mortal enemy get away but he'd climb that hill when he came to it.
With a content sigh he fell to the ground and just laid there. His eye glanced around at the burning beach that rested around him. Sure he was worried about explaining things to his sister but Lupa would be even worse than that. However, he could say he didn't destroy the god of war because that would've set off the natural balance of the world. If there was one thing Louis had come to appreciate it was equilibrium. With a low groan he closed his eyes and tried drifting off to sleep because honestly fighting with a god was the hardest thing he'd ever done in his life. He heard a low moan and opened his eyes — Elizabeth was starting to come to.
Forget what he thought about fighting Mars, explaining what in the name of Pluto just happened to Elizabeth would be the hardest thing he'd ever. There was only one thing on his mind when she walked up to him and asked what was going on.
Fuck my life.