Chapter 7: Flamma's Coma
Hello, my love, Ares said.
Athena smiled. The two gods turned into their human forms and kissed. "I hope you can defeat Mars soon," Athena said. Ares frowned and shook his head.
"I don't think it will be that easy," Ares said, kissing his wife again. "Why don't you help us?"
"I can do my best. I've never been one to fight, but I trust you. But I hope my father doesn't object. He only allowed us to be together because of your role in stopping Mars," she said. Ares nodded and kissed her again. They put the griffin in the cave and looked at each other.
"Shall we stay here with it or go back to the others?"
"I'm not taking any chances. We already lost Caudus and I don't want to lose Flamma too. So I say we stay here," Ares said. He kissed her again. They put the griffin in the cave and looked at each other.
Athena nodded. The two looked at the griffin. "Is it going to be okay?"
"Physically, yes. Emotionally...I don't know. She was forced to fight her friend before under someone's control. That's one thing. But to have to fight a friend while they're under control, and to see the hate in their eyes...Flamma loves Argentum, but she really cares about Caudus. I think she'll be hurting quite a bit when she wakes up."
The goddess sighed. "What can we do?"
"Hope she heals over time. Her husband can help her with that. In the meantime, I don't think we should let her fight Caudus. It will hurt her even more."
"It won't wake up for a while. The griffin is in a coma."
"Oh no! What can we do?" Ares asked, looking at the griffin, worried.
Athena shook her head. "I don't know. Any suggestions?"
Ares thought about it, then he realized the answer. "Asclepius. Remember, the Greek God of medicine and healing? He would know what to do."
The goddess nodded. "You stay here. I'll find him."
"Alright. Be quick; I'm afraid Mars and the others will come back to try and finish us off." Athena nodded and left. Ares sighed as he looked at the griffin. "Oh Flamma, why can't our lives just be normal?" he said.
The griffin said nothing. Ares sighed and became a dog, then curled up next to it. Meanwhile, Articulos and Argentum had gone back to there houses. Argentum was currently with his son, who was 'wondering where mommy was.'
Argentum sighed. "She'll be back soon," he said. "Mommy is just not feeling well now."
"I miss her. I hope she gets better soon," Licinus said, pouting.
The Roman nodded and hugged his son. "I'll be here for you but have to leave if something comes up."
At that moment, he heard a knock on the door. He opened it to see a woman standing in front of him, someone who he had seen in the Greek Temple for the gods.
"Hi," Argentum said. "Who are you?"
"My name is Athena. I know Ares. In fact, I'm his wife," she said.
Argentum was shocked. "Please, come in. What is it you want?"
"Your wife is in a coma. I need a ride to Greek, to talk to the god of health and medicine, Asclepius. He will know what to do."
The hedgehog nodded. He took his son and went to Caudus' house. Once he had dropped off his son, he transformed into a Cerberus. Athena got on its back and it ran off to Greece. When they arrived, they saw Articulos in his avatar form walking around the temple.
What are you doing here? Argentum asked it.
The avatar looked at him. "Being Mars' avatar leaves some negative energy in you. Sometimes I feel it rise up and I want to complete what Mars started. Like he still has a hold over me. So to push it back down, I come back here every once in a while. The influence of all the gods, especially Ares and Zeus', helps stop the negative energy form rising. It's become more powerful since Mars has come back."
What do you do as Mars' avatar, anyway? You must have some duties.
The avatar nodded and it spoke. "I have to represent Mars for the Roman Gods. They can't exactly have the real Mars to do that since he, well you know, so they asked me to represent him."
The Cerberus nodded. That is cool. Anything else?
"Nothing really? Also..." it said, looking at Athena. "Who's the woman?"
The Cerberus turned back to normal. "This is Athena," Argentum said. "She's Ares' wife."
"Ares has a wife? That's a little hard to believe," the avatar said. Argentum went up to it, and punched it in the stomach.
"Stop being a jerk," he said.
The avatar groaned. It looked at Argentum and then at Athena. "So...you and Ares have any kids?"
Argentum slapped it. Athena looked shocked but then spoke. "Actually...yes, we do. His name is Deimos; he's the god of fear."
Argentum whipped around. "And Ares was planning to tell us this WHEN?!" he asked, his eyes wide. Articulos' mouth was wide open, and he was gaping at Athena, who was turning red.
"Well...I..." The goddess was starting to get embarrassed, and turned her back to them. Argentum and the avatar saw this and quickly apologized.
"We didn't mean to embarrass you, it's just that...wow. We didn't expect this," Argentum said.
"It's fine," Athena told them.
"So, what are you two doing here?" the avatar asked.
"We need to talk to Asclepius. He'll know what to do for Flamma."
The Avatar of Mars led them further into the Temple. It saw the statue of Asclepius and bowed. Then it began to pray. Asclepius was checking on someone who was praying to him to save her husband, who was deadly ill, when he heard a familiar voice.
"I must speak with you," the Avatar said. A bright aura appeared around it as it continued to pray.
"Mars. Or should I say avatar? What is it? Does this have to do with the actual god? I heard what happened," Asclepius said.
"Indeed. Argentum's wife is in a coma because of him. Is there anything we can do?"
"Comas are hard to cure. Most of the time you have to wait it out and hope that they wake. But I may have something. Give me a few minutes." The Avatar waited. A few minutes later it heard the god's voice again. "I'm afraid I don't have anything to cure a coma. You're going to have to wait."
"DAMMIT!" he heard Argentum yell.
Asclepius smirked at that. "I am sorry I can't help. She'll wake eventually. But if she does she may have some side effects like memory loss or brain damage. We'll have to see."
"She was only bit. How could a simple bite do so much?" the avatar asked.
"She was bitten by a hydra, right? They are extremely poisonous."
Argentum's eyes widened. "Don't you have anything that could speed up the process of waking her?" he asked, desperately.
Asclepius shook his head. "I'm afraid not. What hydra was she bitten by?"
"That would have been out friend Caudus," the avatar said.
The god nodded. "I'm afraid I don't know what to tell you. As I said before, a hydra's venom is very poisonous, even deadly. The wounds it made won't heal at all, and there isn't a cure for hydra venom."
"She won't die will she?"
"It is possible but I am not sure."
"No I will not let that happen. Argentum will not be the same. We will find a way to save her. You are the god of medicine and health, so you must know something that you are not telling us. So spill it genius," Athena was looking at the avatar in shock. How could he talk to a god like that without fear of any punishment?
Asclepius glared at him. "If you were not the Avatar of Mars, then I would punish you greatly for that statement, immortal. I have told you everything I know."
"Articulos, let it go," Argentum told it.
The Avatar's aura vanished and it stood up as the god disappeared. "There is no way that there is no cure to this; that Flamma will simply die. There is something off about it and I can feel it. I'm not gonna stand by and see one of my friends die again," it said.
"It's not that simple, avatar," the goddess told it. "We have tried to cure people who have bitten by hydras before but haven't been successful. I'm sorry to say this, but it is highly possible that Flamma could die."
The avatar looked at her. "You don't me. I don't give up that easily. And I'm pretty sure Ares wouldn't either. No, there is a way and I'm going to find it. Trust me," it said.
Athena nodded and thought about it. "We'll ask Ares about this. He might know something."
"Then let's get to it. We need to get back to him!" the avatar said. Athena nodded, and they went to Argentum, who had been pacing back and forth.
"Flamma will be fine," she said. "Come on."
Argentum nodded and turned back into a Cerberus. The avatar and Athena got on its back and headed towards where Ares was.
