Chapter Nine

A scream resonated throughout the temple of Ares as a young woman lay crumpled on the ground. Hades stood over her, a murderous look upon his face as he created yet another black ball of energy. The girl lifted her bloodied arms to cover her face; she didn't know what she had done to anger the gods so! Even Hermes was completely enraged with her. What had she done? She had been trapped in Ares' temple for nearly two weeks and the gods…they kept hurting her and she didn't know why!

She had known the agonizing pain of both Artemis and Apollo's arrows, she had had her heart feel like it was being ripped out and shredded by Aphrodite, been drowned in water with sea creatures attacking her by Poseidon, been thrown against walls by Hermes, been in battle with Ares and Athena, and had Hades and Hera just attacking her with their powers. She just didn't understand it! What did she do wrong?

She flinched as she watched Hades raise his ball above his head, ready to let it fly…but the pain never came. She peeked open her eyes to see Ares grabbing his uncle's arm, "That's enough," Ares said smirking at her, "At least for now."

Hades glared at her before disappearing in a swirl of black, Ares could only smirk. Who would have thought his siblings and uncles could be so easily swayed? Just mention that she was slandering their names and cursing them and suddenly they were all jumping to punish her. She tried to support herself, to stand, but she couldn't. Ares kneeled down to her level but she hastily scurried back.

"Now, now, now, Ari," he started, reprimanding her as if she were a child, "If it wasn't for me Hades would have finished you off."

"I…if it wasn't f…for y…you," she started, her voice shaking from a mixture of pain and fear, "This w…wouldn't have ha…happened…"

He smirked, "Well, all you have to do to make it stop is join me," he replied, standing, "Be my priestess and I'll heal your wounds."

She glared at him, so that was his plan? She shook her head defiantly, inwardly smiling in pride at how his grin disappeared.

He glared at her a moment before smiling maniacally at her as he stepped closer. Ari looked up, shaking terribly from the wounds she had received, only to see Ares draw his sword, "I told you before," he growled, "No one can escape me."

IOI

Hercules returned the last of the scrolls to the library, not sure if he should feel better or worse about what they had found…nothing. Should he feel better that he was right and that Ari had lied, or should he feel horrible that she had told the truth and betrayed his trust. He, Iolaus, Jason, and Lilith had searched every single scroll that the library had about laws and gods…even about thieves just to see if any of them found loopholes anywhere. Nothing.

He stepped out onto the grounds, taking in the fresh air. He'd only been outside for training and that was it. He hadn't even gone to Kora's! Though, now that he thought about it, he decided walking up there just to say hi to everyone was a good plan.

He was only a few feet away from the building when a fire sprung to life before him. He jumped back slightly, knowing all to well who was about to step out from it.

Ares glared at him, and before he could react, was sent flying back by one of Ares' electric jolts. "This is all your fault!" he shouted, sending another shock at Hercules, who jumped out of the way.

"What is?" Hercules yelled back, knowing with Ares, it would be anything and everything.

"You're the reason why she won't cooperate!" Ares shouted. It hadn't been his intention to make Ariadne suffer as she was, but she refused to work with him and so he had to teach her a lesson. Having a defiant priestess was not a good thing. "If she didn't care about you as she does, she wouldn't be fighting me!"

"Who?!" He shouted, flipping behind Ares as he lashed out again.

"Who do you think?!" he asked, in all honesty, his little brother could be quite dim, "Ariadne!"

"What does she have to do with this?" he asked, groaning as Ares' shock clipped his shoulder. He fell to the ground with Ares stalking towards him,

"She was supposed to be my priestess!" Ares shouted. Some people might find it shocking, but he was not a very popular god, priests and priestesses were hard to come by. "But because of you…she refuses to join me!"

"What?" Hercules asked, but…Ari was supposed to kill him…wasn't she?

That was when realization dawned on Ares' face, "You thought she had joined me, didn't you?" Oh, this was great! If the physical torture didn't do it, knowing that even now, Hercules didn't believe in her…maybe that would do it, "When she's conscious again…I'll be sure to tell her of your faith in her."

He turned away from Hercules, who only now realized what the god had just said. When she was conscious?! "What did you do to her?!" He shouted, trying to get up, but Ares blasted him again.

"That…is none of your concern," he said, "It's too late for her…"

With that he disappeared in a blaze of fire. Once it died out, Hercules got up and ran back towards the Academy, his mind working in overtime, Ari had been telling the truth! And he'd…

He had to get to Cheiron! Cheiron would know what to do…he hoped.

As luck would have it, Cheiron was walking down the hall just as Hercules burst into the Academy. "Cheiron!" he shouted, rushing over to him.

"Hercules?" he asked, taking in the boy's disheveled appearance, "What happened? What's wrong?"

"I was wrong…" he said, holding his arm in pain, "About Ari…I was wrong…"

"What about Ariadne?" he asked, confused as to what the boy was talking about, but seeing the guilty look on the boy's face, he could guess what he was getting at, "Hercules, what have you done?"

"Iolaus, Jason, and Lilith…" he started, "They heard her talking with Ares…he said he wanted her to kill me…to get me out of the way…They heard that she was supposed to be Ares' priestess and…"

"And what?" he asked as Hercules trailed off.

"And we yelled at her…" he answered, "We told her to leave…"

"Why would you do such a thing Hercules?" Cheiron asked, "You should have come to me with your suspicions first, guilty until proven innocent. I could have cleared all this up, but now…"

"Cheiron!" A voice called. They both turned to see Lilith running toward them, a scroll in her hand.

"Lilith," Cheiron started, "What is it?"

She held up the scroll, "I found this…under Ari's bed," she explained, "I dropped my stylus and it rolled under her bed. When I went to get it…I found this…"

She handed the scroll to Cheiron, who read it briefly before sighing and handing it to Hercules. He gave Cheiron a questioning glance before reading what was written there…his eyes widening in shock. "She was telling the truth…" he looked up at Lilith, "She did find a way to break the deal."

"What?" Lilith asked, her eyes wide as well.

Cheiron nodded, "It turns out, if she received the blessings of a divine being, her contract with Ares is off."

"Did she?" Lilith asked, hoping against hope that she had…if she had…then she wasn't going to kill Hercules…she wouldn't have to.

Hercules looked down at the ground thinking…they hadn't come in contact with any gods…so who…

He looked up quickly. He was divine…well, semi-divine, but still…he thought back as far as he could, trying to recall all the conversations that he'd had with her, trying to think if he'd ever given her his blessings for her future…and then he realized…he had.

"Yeah…" he said softly, "She did…I gave them to her…"

Cheiron smiled, "That is a good thing," he said, "She despised the fact that she would be stuck with Ares for the rest of her life. I gave her permission to use the library to its utmost ability to try and find anything about how to get out of it. She must be extremely pleased."

Those words brought Hercules back to what he had come there for, "No!" he shouted, "Ares…he was here…she…Ari's in trouble."

"What?" Cheiron asked alarmed.

"Ares…he said something about her being unconscious and that it was too late to help her…"

"This is not good," Cheiron muttered to himself.

"I have to find her Cheiron," Hercules said.

But Cheiron shook his head, "No, no, it's too dangerous, it may be a trap."

Hercules shook his head, "I need to Cheiron!" he shouted, "It's my fault she's in trouble in the first place. I have to save her…get her back…"

Cheiron looked at the stone faced Hercules, glancing briefly at Lilith's determined face as well, he knew that as soon as Hercules started to leave, Lilith, Iolaus, and Jason would end up going to. He'd be safe…and even if he weren't, nothing Cheiron said would be able to stop him. He sighed, "Fine…we don't know where she is," he stated, thinking, "Start at the temple of Ares…that is your best chance at finding her."

Hercules nodded, before turning on his heels and going to get his supplies. Lilith ran slightly ahead of him to go get Iolaus and Jason…they were all responsible…they all hadn't trusted her…so they were all going to get her back…

IOI

In one isolated cell below the temple of Ares, one lone figure laid curled on the floor. Her breathing was labored; she was shaking with the cold and pain. Her hair was mated with sweat, blood, and dirt; her face pale with red blotches from her tears; her clothes torn and dirty. She couldn't move her legs, nor would she want to…she knew they were broken…Hera had seen to that. Her body was in turmoil, some parts numb from the pain, some open wounds screaming in agony. She didn't know what Ares was going to do now…she was in no state to fight him nor did she think she could survive another onslaught of the gods' fury...

She didn't know what Ares was going to do…she didn't think she wanted to…she didn't want to admit it…but she was scared.