Hi guys! Sorry for taking sooo long updating. I hope that midterms and papers are a good enough excuse :)
This chapter was particularly hard to write because a) I hardly even knew where I wanted to go with Claudine and b) because I don't know a lot about life during the French Revolution. Some things may be slightly historically inaccurate but I hope you don't notice/mind. :) Another side note: in a previous chapter I described Claudine as having lived in Rouen, but in the end I preferred to have her live in Paris, since I actually know Paris (as opposed to Rouen), because it seems more fitting to the story, and because of that little twist at the end of the chapter.
I hope that you enjoy this one, please review! :)

Speaking of reviews: one anonymous reviewer (that's you, 19) asked me if I'm going to include Phobos and Deimos in the story. I think that's an awesome idea and if I manage to find a good way to write them into the story (and have them interact with Emma etc.), I will! Thanks so much for the suggestion, and everyone, thanks for the reviews :)

We were both quiet for a long time. I couldn't wait for him to start talking. The longer I sat there in that relative silence, the more tears I could feel making their way to my eyes.

Without announcing the beginning of yet another new story with a deep breath or something other, Ares started talking again. He was talking fast now, as if he just wanted to get this over with.

'I left during the…I think it was the 1610s. No, earlier. I went to the New World, saw Jamestown being founded. I stayed for a while. There was enough chaos for me to do whatever I wanted, but stay invisible. With the Thirty Years' War, though, I had a reason to go back to Europe, to come out of hiding… Well, I didn't really go back to Europe permanently. I moved around the world like the Europeans did, discovering and conquering a world that wasn't theirs to take. War, fighting, was all that was on my mind for almost two centuries. Shutting everything else out was the only way I could cope with the pain of losing El- losing her. So I moved on from her and managed to keep her and my kids out of my mind for most of the time. I kept the feelings at bay. But every once in a while something would remind me of her, and my defenses crumbled, and I couldn't help but remember everything that she had meant to me - I couldn't help feeling so guilty over not protecting her properly, effectively causing her death. I couldn't sleep because every dream I had was about her. Each time that happened I would push it farther away, fought it harder, detach myself from my emotions more than ever. It was a downward spiral.

'When I found myself in Paris right before the start of the French Revolution, there was no feeling left in me. I was back to who I was before I met Valeria - no, before I met Elene. But the world had changed and I wasn't a god, not in the eyes of the people that I wanted so badly to adore me. So I mostly kept to myself, watching from the sidelines as the restlessness in France grew.

'I won't bore you with the political and economic stuff… Athena and Hermes could do a much better job at explaining all that, anyway.' One of the corners of his lips moved up in a slight smile. 'I'll tell you what really happened.

'The American Revolution inspired the poor people in Europe; they figured if the Americans could beat back Britain, then so could they. Especially in France the poor were getting more and more frustrated with the inequality. So after a whole lot of politics, which I'm sure you've learned about in European History class, the Bastille prison was raided, and the riots practically spread through the country.

'Before that happened, though, I'd gotten to know the rioters from the inside. I hadn't posed as an aristocrat since I'd left Florence - I wanted to lay low - and no one knew me. I could observe without anyone singling me out. I stayed among the rebels all through the revolution, befriending some of them, fighting alongside them in the battles.' He looked pensive for a split second. 'Well, I really only fought in the battle at Valmy...' For some reason, the way he said it made it seem to be an evidently important part of the story. I had no idea what it meant. I looked down at my feet and picked away a little bit of dried blood off of my big toe.

'So, anyway, the Republic was being formed and all, but I didn't actually witness that first hand. I didn't attend the assemblies. I was with the soldiers in the countryside, in other cities, finally back in Paris. At the very end of the eighteenth century the rich again were gaining power, but the soldiers didn't care. Not the ones I knew, anyway. We -' He had been looking right past my face, out the window again, but he now shot me a short look. Almost as if to check on me, or on whether I was still keeping it together. Or something. 'We raided mansions, townhouses, we took everything. We kidnapped rich men's wives, sisters, daughters. One of them was Claudine Richelieu.'

Our eyes met. Finally…he was getting to the point of the story. That took him long enough. I didn't know what to think of what he'd just told me, about the raidings and the kidnappings. Should I be shocked?

I broke the intense eye contact to once again study my toes. I sighed and pulled the blanket over my legs. At least this story wasn't as full of emotion as the last one. Really, all the talking about how he was so human with Elisabetta was more unsettling than this. Was that weird of me?

'Claudine was a member of one of the formerly most important families in Paris - plus, she was beautiful. She'd really been a prize for us to capture. So, at the end of the day, when we divided the booty, I chose her for myself. She was scared at first, as she had every right to be. I… Okay, what basically happened is that I used her for sex for a few weeks. Let's just put that out there.' There was the cautious look again. He looked like he felt guilty, though I wasn't sure if I could expect that from him.

'And she hated it, for a while. But for some reason - I still don't know what - she seemed to start liking it. She'd wait for me to get home, as much as I could call that place a home, she'd start asking me for more. It was as if we were forming a relationship, even though I had done everything possible to make her hate me.'

'What, like Stockholm syndrome?' I didn't mean for that to come out so cynically. I just couldn't help but compare it with that story I'd once read about, in which hostages had started to like and defend their kidnappers.

Ares looked at me quizzically. 'What? No. I mean… No. It wasn't the same…' I could see his doubt, though. He cleared his throat. 'So. What was I saying… Oh. Yeah.

'We, uh… With this whole…mutual understanding she became a bit of a…safe haven.' He was struggling to find his words. I had knocked him off his balance with my accusation. I couldn't help but feel a little powerful. He took a few seconds to recollect his thoughts.

'Our relationship wasn't based on love. There wasn't any emotion in it, just physicality. With her, I could let the stress slip away for a bit, I could be myself again, I could feel things but distract myself from Elisabetta. I'd used plenty of women before Claudine, but she was the first one that appreciated me for it. She didn't even escape when I gave her every opportunity for it.

'With the stress slipping away, so did my cover. She was smart, it didn't take her long to put the pieces together. I was careless, too, about hiding my weapons, about communicating with my family. She said she was shocked, that she'd never expected it - how could anyone? But she'd also known that I wasn't Commandant Lesauvage, that I wasn't just a regular soldier. And after that…it got crazy.

'Claudine didn't just accept who I was. She relished in it. Her lust increased and intensified and she wanted all of me, everywhere, all the time. She was addicted. She went overboard and it should have bothered me, but I bathed in it. No mortal had so fully known who I was since the fall of the Roman Empire and certainly no mortal had accepted me at all for me - I ate it up. I could leave her, leave France altogether, and start yet another life somewhere else. But I stayed with her because she gave me self esteem and I gulped down every bit of that. She made me accept myself, even if it was more about what I was than who I was.

'But she went insane. The desire, the craving for more was all that drove her by then and she couldn't think for herself. She'd get depressed when I wouldn't give her what she wanted and she'd hide in dark corners in our little house when I was away, drinking anything she could find. She had literal itches, she was often naked and full of scratches when I came home. The only way I could comfort her was by giving in to her hunger. I didn't even want to anymore, though. She exhausted me. She yelled at me whenever I refused. She threatened to kill herself. And one day, she did.'

His voice was monotonous; matter-of-fact. Detached. I wondered whether Claudine had really meant much to him, or if the only thing that mattered was her acceptance. If he'd really been relieved when she'd ended her life. 'And then?' I asked in a tiny voice.

'Then of course the first person I saw was Aphrodite, who'd set it all up. Makes sense, right? Driving someone to suicide with her own tools. She wasn't just jealous, she felt betrayed. Though Paris wasn't as much the city of love as it is supposed to be now, it had been her city since its founding, you know, like Athens is Athena's, and she couldn't handle my disrespect for love in her own city.' He shrugged. 'I guess I had it coming.'

For the first time, I felt a hint of sympathy towards Aphrodite. If this was really the way it had happened (though I didn't think Ares would bend the truth in her favor), then she had every right to act the way she did. This side of him was not one that I would like to know.

He sighed and I raised an eyebrow. 'So that's Claudine,' he concluded.

I nodded as he cleared his throat again. He didn't meet my glance.

'And that brings us to…' He looked down at his hands.

I finished the sentence for him. 'Virginia.'

He continued speaking without looking up. 'I guess we can just skip that story, right? You know what happened, I told you in the hospital. No need to go over that again…' He silenced.

I frowned. 'Don't back out now, Ares. You said you'd tell me everything.'

He shook his head. 'But I already told you that she- she died in the fire. In the…war. What more could you possibly want to know?'

I tilted my head to the side. This was it. It wasn't just that he didn't feel the need to repeat the story - even if he hadn't told me much. It was that he was purposefully avoiding telling me.

'I can handle it.' Could I? 'I want to know.'

He was quiet for a little while. Hesitant. He looked up. 'Fine, but…I…Would you excuse me for a moment?'

Before I'd even finished my nod, he was out of the room. I sighed. Alone with my thoughts, I began to prepare myself. Whatever came next had to be bad.