Deimos watched excitedly as his cousin Strife was reborn. He held tightly to his twin brother Phobos' hand, and they both leaned forward eagerly, but carefully. Neither of them was supposed to be here. In fact, they'd had to go to some rather spectacular lengths to be here. Here, specifically, was high up in a tree, balanced precariously on a very fragile limb, and peering into a very narrow window outside of Hera and Zeus's temple on Olympus.
A god was being reborn for the first time in the Olympic Pantheon. This was both a momentous and delicate situation. That was why only the original twelve and Eris had been invited. Both Deimos and Phobos had been told sternly to stay away from the ceremony.
But, as Deimos told Phobos, that only meant they were expected to spy.
So they had gone and were now watching.
The twelve main gods and goddesses of Olympus stood in a circle with Eris in the middle. Strife's body was gone, dissolved into nothingness and his shade was weak. He had been dead for a long time. Zeus had not wanted to bring him back but after centuries of people running wild and no one able to control the power that had come to Strife, he had finally been forced to acknowledge that perhaps Strife was actually needed. The words had hardly been out of his mouth when Hades had appeared, saying that Strife's shade was in its last few moments and he just wanted to know if he should extend the "life" of it, or if he could finally let Strife go onto the afterlife. The timing was perfect and completely intentional.
Deimos knew that Ares was tired of seeing Eris become more vicious and more depressed as the years and refusals to even hear her petitions for Strife's life built up. He was also tired of having Deimos and Phobos screw up the most simple of tasks. Ares needed a second-in-command that he could both trust and count on. It hurt Deimos a little that his father thought he was pretty much worthless in battle, but it was somewhat true. He was the God of Pain and although he was good at his job no one could ever match Strife in creativity, stealth and sheer viciousness when needed. Deimos admired Strife desperately although Strife had never paid much attention to him.
But Ares had come up with the plan to force Zeus into allowing Strife back and had managed to get every single God and Goddess to agree to it; even Apollo and Athena. Of course, Deimos had a feeling Aphrodite and Eris had something to do with those two agreeing. And Artemis had just agreed because Apollo had. The others were okay; they'd never had a problem with bringing Strife back. It had just been those three stick-in-the-muds.
Deimos casually reached forward and pulled Phobos back. The God of Fear had almost fallen in the window. Deimos glanced at his brother's face and then followed his line of sight. Ah. Cupid. He stood in the circle, a look of intense concentration on his face. He was working hard, and sweat was beginning to drip down his body. That explained Phobos' preoccupation.
Since Strife had no body and practically no shade left, the Twelve were forced to use their power to literally re-create him. Eris was in the middle of the circle as she was his mother and could act as a focus for the energy.
Colors were beginning to form into swirls. Where the colors had come from Deimos wasn't sure. It must have happened while he'd been musing on Ares' plan to trick Zeus. Ah, now he saw. They were forming from beams of light from each God. All the colors of the rainbow were there (as well as some Deimos didn't even recognize) and they were all forming into one ball of light. The ball touched various member of the circle. Deimos was intrigued to note that while it lingered on the obvious choices like Ares, Aphrodite and Cupid; it also brushed Apollo, Demeter and Hades several times. At last though the ball headed towards the middle of the circle where Eris stood. She cupped her hands together and waited. Deimos gripped Phobos' hand tighter; this was it! After what seemed like an eternity to the anxious godlings hovering by the window, the ball of light, now predominantly blue but still with other colors swirling around in it, settled into her hands where it began to pulsate.
With each throb the light grew stronger. Phobos, never one to feel comfortable in light, whimpered and buried his head into Deimos' shoulder. For his part, Deimos tried to keep looking, wanting to see Strife the moment he reformed. But the light was too bright and Deimos was forced to close his eyes. He heard a strange boom and felt a vibration run through his body. It lingered, resonating in him with a tone so dull it was almost as if a very low-toned bell had been rung right next to him.
When he opened his eyes and looked, Strife stood in the center of the circle. But it was a different looking Strife.
Deimos poked Phobos and together they examined their cousin. He was thin, very thin, and even paler than he had been his first life. The hair was still black and unruly and the eyes still pale blue. He was naked but Ares quickly waved his hand and Strife's normal leather outfit clothed him instantly. For a few moments, Deimos focused on making sure the brief view he'd had of naked Strife- mmm, mmm, good that's for sure- would never, ever, under any circumstances whatsoever, leave his mind, but then he forced himself back to the situation at hand.
If Strife appeared to be the same to the naked eye- umm, naked again- what, then, was the difference? Despite having just been revived after centuries of death, Strife stood straight and tall, no sign of weakness or tremors moving through his body.
Ares quickly moved forward and held a goblet out to Strife. It had to be full of ambrosia, Deimos thought. Strife would need that. Strife accepted it but he held the goblet for a few moments and did not move to drink. Deimos felt his brothers' eyes on him and knew this was his last chance to take Strife's position. For all his bluster, Phobos knew he was not strong enough to be second and he also knew that it was saving his ass all the time that had really held Deimos back. Deimos could be Ares' second. All he had to do was defeat Strife.
Of course, Deimos didn't really want to be Ares' second. He liked the duties he already had, he also had no desire to try and fill Strife's boots. Not only would it be an absolutely impossible task to do but if it were ever actually accomplished, which it wouldn't be due to the aforementioned impossibility, it would be a thankless task as well.
Deimos did not move.
Strife drank the ambrosia and only Deimos and Phobos saw that he tipped the goblet towards them before doing so.
Startled, the two of them quickly climbed down the tree and ran. How had he known they were there?
After ditching Phobos, Deimos headed off to think. What had just happened had actually left him in awe of his family. Oh sure, he knew they had power but knowing was not the same as seeing, and to see them bring Strife back from the dead; well, it was pretty damn amazing. But that knowing wink Strife had thrown him was making him a little nervous. He'd been extra careful to conceal his brother and himself. Layers upon layers of shielding had gone up and not only was the window in an out of the way place but it was very tiny, just barely big enough for Deimos and Phobos to watch. And they'd had to have their heads right next to each other to do it. So for Strife to have seen them, well, it was pretty freaky.
Of course, Strife had always been like that. But when Deimos had thought about how Strife would be when he appeared he had somewhat expected, well, not weakness exactly but something…fragile? He'd expected his cousin to be weak and scared, confused even. He sure as Hades hadn't expected him to be all cocky and shit.
A reluctant smile curved Deimos' mouth. Sure he hadn't expected it but that didn't mean he didn't like it.
Strife was coolness personified. The only other God who came close to him was Cupid, and that was only after he realized what everyone else had known-that mortals don't make good mates for gods unless they are extraordinary, which unfortunately, Psyche wasn't. Ever since they had parted ways, Deimos had felt sorry for both of them. They had tried so hard to make their marriage work but Cupid was a God and Psyche, for all her beauty and the cunning she had shown, was a mortal and, truthfully, not capable of seeing the world as a whole. She saw only what pertained to her though she had tried her hardest. In the end she had given up everything…her godhood, her immortality, her husband and her son. Both Bliss and Cupid had cried for months after she had died and Deimos knew that Bliss still mourned on the anniversary of her death.
Yes, Cupid was way awesome even though he was real protective of Bliss, but that didn't make him weak or anything, it just made him cooler.
And Bliss liked him and Phobos. Not many did. Too bad Cupid didn't think either him or Phobos was really worth his real attention. Maybe then he'd clue into the fact that Phobos was desperately in love with him and had been for eons already. On the other hand if Cupid ever did clue in, it would end badly. The God of Pain and the God of Fear were pretty much despised on Olympus and Deimos knew Cupid shared the Pantheon's feeling for him and Phobos though he didn't know why Cupid hated them. This meant if Cupid ever found out about Phobos being in love with him, poor Phobos would be laughed at and ridiculed and the only person allowed to do that to Phobos was him. So it was probably better for Phobos to admire from afar. Phobos knew it too. He was careful to not reveal his feelings. Phobos and he had learned early on in life that there was nothing more amusing for a God or Goddess than a weak, despised God to pick on.
Perhaps that was part of the reason Deimos idolized Strife. Strife had been weak and despised but he'd risen above it. And after his death, he'd become even stronger as the memories of the trouble he'd caused faded and all that was left was a sense of wrongness where he'd used to be. So yeah Strife was cool and strong. But his wink was still freaking Deimos out.
Deimos brooded for a few hours before he decided he'd better head to Ares' temple. He'd be pissed if no one from the House of War showed up to welcome Strife back. Deimos had plans for the next few months and not a single one of them involved hiding out from his dad.
But since he was in no real hurry, he decided to walk there, maybe stop by to see Bliss on the way. Deimos slowed his pace to an ambling walk and sauntered in the direction of Cupid's temple. He always had to brace himself before he went in it. The damn thing was just so cheery and bright. It was almost terrifying if you didn't mentally prepare yourself for the trauma.
Deimos was certainly not prepared to see his dad or cousin in Cupid's temple but that was exactly what he saw when he walked in. Deimos hated being surprised. Although his brain was quick enough to take things in, it was not able to react to them as fast as it should. Apollo said there was something wrong with his neurons; they didn't fire as quickly as they should, so although Deimos knew what was happening, he couldn't react.
It was odd to see Strife and Ares in Cupid's temple. Deimos always felt oddly uncomfortable there but they looked perfectly at home. They lounged on those damn beanbag chairs that Cupid used for furniture. Deimos had never gotten the hang of getting in and out of them so he rarely sat there. He mostly just swung in to grab Bliss.
It looked as if he had interrupted a conversation and Deimos forced himself not to flinch from the double glare he received from both Ares and Cupid. He wished he knew why Cupid disliked him so much, as far as he could tell he'd never actually done anything to his brother. It was probably a case of his reputation proceeding him again. Cupid did have the tendency to form opinions and enclose them in rock, after all. He took stubbornness to the extreme sometimes.
Luckily before anyone could really say anything Bliss swooped in; literally.
"Gotta go, Dad, later Granddad Ares, Strife, you and I gotta get together for some real conversation when you get caught up. Bye." Deimos felt nothing but relief as Bliss hauled him out the temple though, for politeness sake, he threw a somewhat weak grin over his shoulder as he was dragged outside.
Once they had escaped, the two of them flashed down to earth and then into their favorite glade. Bliss had come into his godhood ages ago, not to mention his adulthood, but the rest of the Pantheon, especially his father, still treated him like he was the same winged cherub he used to be so he needed a place to vent that frustration off. Deimos was just not liked and sometimes that bothered him. So together they had found this glade and had laid claim to it. According to current geography it was somewhere in Montana in the United States.
Deimos had never bothered to shield the glade as no one ever came looking for him except Phobos and no shield could keep his twin out. Bliss's shields had never been that good, in fact, that was one of the things both he and Phobos were trying to teach Bliss. They had yet to figure out why Bliss couldn't get the hang of them but they had fun trying to find out.
Today though Deimos was feeling thoughtful and it seemed Bliss felt the same. They both sat down on the grass and proceeded to brood. Deimos was, of course, better at it than Bliss was, but it was still a satisfactory activity for both. After a few minutes, Phobos flashed in and plopped down beside them. Together, the three of them sat there in silence.
They never got much time together in the glade. Cupid usually, as soon as he found out who Bliss was with, would make up some flimsy pretense and call Bliss back home. It was really lucky that Cupid was so busy or Bliss would never be able to hang out with them. A lot of it was Aphrodite though. She didn't much care for him, Deimos knew, but she knew all about Phobos' love for Cupid and she had told Phobos it was a pure love. After that conversation, she had never had any problem with Phobos hanging with Bliss and she lightened up on him as well. So she tried to keep Cupid busy so Bliss could hang.
It didn't always work though.
After a while Deimos got tired of thinking about Cupid's issues and moved on to Bliss. They really needed to do some more work with his shields.
Poking Bliss in the arm he motioned for him to stand up. A few days ago, he'd had an idea on why Bliss couldn't shield. He'd never actually seen Bliss put up his shields, he'd always just accepted that they were up when Bliss said they were up. Now though he told Bliss to construct his shields step by step so he and Phobos could look and see if they could fix it.
Shielding was very simple once you got the hang of it. Before that, it could be a problem. You had to ground and center yourself mentally, not just your physical body, but your essence as well.
Bringing his attention back to Bliss, he and Phobos watched as Bliss sent up his shields. Deimos frowned. As usual, Bliss's shields were wavering all over the place. In some places the shield was so thick it looked like rock, in others, it was so thin it was almost transparent.
Phobos gestured for Bliss to un-shield and then re-shield again. Bliss did so. Deimos shook his head and looked at Phobos who looked back at him in shared astonishment. It couldn't really be that easy, could it?
"One more time, Bliss," Deimos said. Sighing, Bliss again let down his shields and, after taking a few deep breaths, put them up again. Deimos and Phobos looked at each other in glee and Phobos started dancing around.
Deimos sighed. He shared Phobos' happiness at figuring out Bliss's problem but really. Dancing? It was just so…not cool.
Bliss watched this for a few moments before breaking in. "So, does this mean you know what my problem is?" he asked.
Deimos snickered. Bliss had left himself open for this one. "Aw, Blissie, you have lots of problems and no one could ever know what all of them are. But, yes, we do know why your shields suck."
Phobos giggled, as Bliss looked torn between being pissed at Deimos' insult, joking though it had been, or happy his problem was solved. Perhaps, once he didn't need to be rescued from every energy blast that came his way, people would begin to realize he was a full-grown God.
"Well?" Bliss asked, impatiently.
Deimos held up a hand. "First of all, B, who taught you how to shield?"
Bliss frowned. "Well, I had watched dad and Grandma Dite and Grandpa Ares do it so often, when Apollo was training me and asked, I said I knew how. I'd been watching for years, I figured I knew how to do it. And I do know how. It just won't work."
"That's 'cause you don't know how," Phobos told him. In return he got a glare that would have been fierce if it wasn't on Bliss's face.
"Bliss, all you're doing is taking energy and throwing it up around you," Deimos said quietly. "That's not how you shield. You have to ground and center yourself; otherwise the energy is out of control and the shield, when hit with a force of energy, simply dissolves. As the singed feathers on your back shows us," Deimos grinned.
"Here, watch me and Demi," Phobos said. He then proceeded to shield slowly, so that Bliss could see what he was doing. Deimos followed him right after so Bliss could see the energy lines sinking into the ground and then rising back up to curl around Deimos to form a protective bubble that nothing would get through. Not surprisingly, considering their despised status, Deimos and Phobos came in for a lot of abuse so their shields were the best on Olympus.
The three of them stayed in the glade for several more hours. At first they practiced and Bliss finally got his shields to go up both perfectly and fast. He wanted to tell his dad about his accomplishment but he knew if he did Cupid would be torn between pride and irritation about who had helped him with the shielding.
Later on they played games of tag and later still they just laid there watching the sun set. They never ever got this much time together at the glade. Bliss knew Demi and Phobi had spent days here but he never got more than a few hours before someone came looking for him. He wondered what was up.
Almost as if that thought had conjured it a voice appeared in his head. "Gods and Goddesses of Olympus, present yourselves in the Great Hall."
Glancing at each other, Deimos, Phobos and Bliss flashed out. One didn't keep Zeus waiting; especially when he took on his "announcement voice." If you did, you just might find that the "announcement" had been amended to go very badly for you. Zeus was like that sometimes.
When they arrived at the Great Hall, which was completely packed with gods and goddesses of all ranks and still seemed as if it could hold more, Bliss was dragged away by Cupid and Ares came to get them. He took them into a small room where Eris and Strife stood. Eris looked very different but it took Deimos a few minutes to realize that she hadn't actually changed anything it was just that now the years of pain and hurt had disappeared from her face. She had her son back where he belonged and she was happy.
Strife looked like only Strife could although the insane grin was missing. Hmmm, that was quite interesting. So far, Strife had not been acting like himself at all. First, there was the wink. Then there was the fact that Strife, always one to lend trouble a helping hand in a tense situation, had not said or done anything when they had all been in Cupid's temple. And if that wasn't a scene that would have been perfect for Strife to create some mischief in, then Deimos didn't know how much better it needed to be. And now Strife was simply lounging against a wall, not making comments, not harassing Eris, and not smirking. Very curious. Especially considering he had just been resurrected from the dead, so to speak. Most people would have been driven insane by spending several centuries in Tartarus; but to Deimos it appeared it had made Strife sane. Trust Strife to be different.
"Zeus wants to present Strife to the mortals so he can gain worshipers." At Ares words, Deimos and Phobos looked at him.
"But the mortals barely even believe in us anymore. They're all caught up in that Way crap Gabbie and Xena started. And if that wasn't enough to confuse people, how are we supposed to explain that all those other Gods-the American Indian ones, Jehovah, Yahwah, Osiris and, well all of them-never even existed? That they were just made up by some really doped up freaks. That's not gonna go over well." Deimos stifled a smirk. Phobos seemed both very confused and a bit wary about this plan. Not that Deimos blamed him. He felt the same way; he just was better at hiding it. Obviously Zeus hadn't really thought this plan out very well. No doubt it would be something that was, once again, dropped into the House of War's collective laps to plan and implement. Zeus wasn't to great on the planning of anything that wasn't the seduction of a pretty girl.
"Zeus and Hera have decided it is time to take back our former positions. The Way has been in power long enough, especially since it is only a belief system with no power or gods and goddesses to back it up. We are the ones who fell from power with it and yet we perpetuated the Way by performing the miracles, assisting the mortals. Now he wants us to reveal that it was us all along and regain the power we lost.
"He's decided to start with Strife.
"The presentation ceremony will take place tomorrow afternoon in Sunnydale, California."
"The Hellmouth?" Phobos gasped. Deimos had to agree with his brother there. Hellmouths were not fun and they definitely weren't cool. They were dangerous and even though both he and Phobos were supposed to be able to channel into them, due to their respective godhoods, they had only tried once and spent weeks recovering from the backlash. Hellmouths didn't like gods trying to tune into them.
"Yes," Ares said. He seemed to Deimos to be both wary and a bit exasperated. Probably with Zeus. No doubt Dad had picked up on the fact the he would be the main force behind coordinating the reintroduction of them into the mortal world. "The Hellmouth. We will all congregate in my temple at ten tomorrow morning. You will be briefed on what to do. The ceremony won't be much; no one wants the mortals to die of fright. It will just be Strife in a beam of light and Zeus' voice announcing from above at noon. You know how he likes to do that. But, as members of the House of Aggression, we need to be ready to keep everything running smoothly and show our support.
"As the home of a Hellmouth, Sunnydale will be one of Strife's towns, it's so full of chaos and mischief, he'll have a field day there even if he only finds a few worshipers in the town itself. I know I'll be glad to be rid of it though I would like to leave my Warrior there.
"Are we understood?"
Eris, Deimos, Phobos and Strife all nodded. Aside from Ares they were the major players in the House of Aggression so they would be in control of the others.
Eris, Ares and Strife disappeared leaving Deimos and Phobos behind.
Together they walked out. Everyone else was still in there listening to Zeus but since they knew what he was talking about there was no reason for them to join. Luckily, Zeus was too busy talking to notice any of them leaving. Ares had told them what to do, they would do it.
But that didn't mean they would enjoy the Hellmouth any longer than they had to.
