VII.

A God Among Mortals (Ares)

Ares put his Olympian phone back into his jacket pocket and went back to his meal at a local pub. He had been on the road all day after leaving his original hiding place. Aphrodite and Thanatos had found him the previous evening much to his chagrin so he packed up and left. He had just texted Enyo and Aphrodite reluctantly but figured since the cat was out of the bag, he might as well do it. Ares pounded the table in anger which caused a few others to look over in alarm. Ares ignored them. Great, freaking GREAT. Now he definitely knows I'm not dead. Aphrodite would totally mention that she found me at the meeting tonight he thought angrily while chewing his burger. I evade the Old Man for 6 months and her and Thanatos gotta ruin it. FANTASTIC. I don't think they ever found out what my current name is. The waitress came over to his table apprehensively.

"Is everything ok sir?" she asked.

"What? Oh! Ja, everything's fine. Just you know, family stuff" Ares said in a very passable German accent. Ares has been going under a fake German alias for the better part of 6 months.

"Well ok. Let me know if you need anything else." she said.

"I will be sure to do that, fraulein" Ares responded. The waitress giggled when she was called "fraulein" and she walked away toward another table. Must have been his accent. Ares watched her go as he finished off his burger and fries. Ares had basically been a mortal the last 6 months. Most of his powers were sapped and he ditched his original clothing and disguised himself with new ones, although if someone who knew him looked close enough, they'd know. He wore blue jeans, a random rock band t-shirt (ranging from Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, AD/DC, Distrubed and several others), low top Converse sneakers and a light brown leather jacket. His hair was now dark blonde instead of oily black and he grew out a small chin goatee. He still wore his sunglasses but mainly out of habit as he no longer possessed his fiery eyes. The glasses also helped relieve eye pain he sometimes got when being under fluorescent lights. He took out his mortal smartphone and checked the map. Another 6-8 hours to go until he got to his new destination. Good news was that it was night outside, he could potentially shave about an hour or 2 off of the trip due to lack of traffic. As he put the phone back in his pocket, he noticed the waitress from earlier looking at him.

"Yes?" Ares said.

"Did you want to see a dessert menu?" she asked.

"Uh no, just the uh...how you say...check?" he answered. She smiled at him and handed him his check. As Ares took out his wallet, she asked him another question.

"So where are you headed?"

"North. Washington state. Took a new job there. My stuff is already at my new place" Ares said, counting bills. He gave her $25 for a $15 meal.

"Did you need change?" she asked him.

"Nah. Keep it. Thank you. It was good," he responded, smiling and putting his jacket pack on. He got up from the table and picked up his motorcycle helmet which was next to him. It was a typical sports style helmet colored black with a silver trim. There was also a short little mohawk of "hair" jutting out from the top. Yes. It resembled a Spartan helmet. People commented on it as Ares made his way back outside. They said things like "Whoa!" and "Sick helmet man!" and "SPARTA!" Ares acknowledged these comments with small nods. He approached his new bike, a Kawasaki Ninja 250R colored black and orange. Everytime he looked at it, he was reminded of his twin sons Phobos and Deimos who rode similar bikes. Ares preferred his old bike, but it had been destroyed 6 months ago. It was also where his life changed, for better or worse.

It all started with his crash to Earth. Thankfully, he didn't end up in a dumpster like Apollo had but he had broken quite a few bones. He was flying along at his leisure on his bike trying to think of where to go when he felt Enyo sit on his throne. White hot anger flared inside him. THEY GOT HER INVOLVED?! Ares thought angrily.

"I TOLD YOU MORONS I'M DONE!" he shouted to her when he felt her presence on his old throne...and also out loud.

"Bro, it's me! Where are-" Enyo's voice responded.

"NO. DON'T LOOK FOR ME. I'M DONE WILL ALL OF YOU. THAT INCLUDES YOU ENYO!" he shouted again. That was when he felt his power weaken. Figures. Oh well, he'd deal with it once he landed. Wait...landed? Hold on a second. He was flying. Like in the sky. You know, the domain of the dude he had punched in the face a few hours ago.

"Oh son of a bitch and pants…" Ares said before he heard the tell tale signs of a lightning storm.

"THERE YOU ARE BOY!" Zeus shouted. Lightning bolts flew at him, one after the other. Ares did his best to dip, dive, dodge and roll out of their way. Not good, not good! This is very bad! Ares thought in a panic just barely evading a bolt aimed at his head.

"YOU THINK YOU CAN GET AWAY WITH THAT?!" Zeus shouted again as a bolt finally grazed one of his shoulders. Ares gasped as he felt more of his power get sapped away. Another bolt hit his bike as he was recovering and it dropped like an anvil towards the ground. Ares fought for control but it was no use. He hit the ground with an earth shattering crash and was thrown from the bike. He hurtled towards a tree and turned sideways to absorb the impact. SMASH. He hit the tree hard and felt his arm break as well as 3 sharp bursts of pain in his chest. Yep, he was mortal...or at least partially because he had hit that tree going at least 50 mph. The tree splintered and fell over as Ares himself lay sprawled eagle in the dirt. He had crashed in a small patch of forest. He looked down at his bleeding chest and saw that he didn't have ichor or blood. It was a combination of both. The stuff was orange.

"What the- ow" he said softly to himself. Out of the corner of his eye he saw his wrecked bike catch fire and explode in a ball of orange flames. Oh come on! That wasn't even paid off yet! Ares thought angrily but then his face tensed. Zeus was coming. He would be looking for his body. As quick as he could, he began to crawl away from the crash site. Luckily, he had been thrown a few yards from the impact site. The pain in his abdomen peaked with every movement but he had to keep going. If Zeus found him, he'd be dead. Why did I punch him in the face?! Ares thought as he clambered away. Eventually he fell into a small hole...onto his broken arm. He pressed his other fist into his mouth to stop himself from screaming in pain. Ares barely had time to cover his hole with nearby rocks, sticks and more dirt before he heard Zeus land a few yards away. Come on man, please think I died in the explosion like a mortal. Please! Ares begged silently. He also begged every other non Greek god he knew (Hachiman, Guan Yu, Erlang Shen, Nakon, Tyr, Anhur and Horus) to shield him from Zeus.

"Hmm, good riddance boy." he heard Zeus say and then felt the overwhelming sense of power evaporate.

"Wow. That worked. Remember, you are no longer your old self. It's how this worked back in ancient times. Never say that name or title out loud. OW!" he said to himself, wincing with pain. With difficulty, he extricated himself from his hiding spot and made his way out of the woods, limping. He made it a few yards down the road before 2 young ladies noticed him limping, bleeding and clutching his abdomen.

"Sir, sir! Hey buddy, are you ok?" one of the women said.

"Oh my, he looks bad. Should we call an ambulance?" the other responded. Ares didn't even have the chance to respond before he passed out from the pain.

Ares awoke in a hospital bed, his arm wrapped in a cast and bandages wrapped around his chest and stomach. His red shirt had been removed as well as his sunglasses. Ares felt that his eyes were no longer fiery and caught a reflection of his face on a nearby TV screen. His face was also scraped in multiple places (his old scars were still there) plus none of the equipment had malfunctioned by his mere presence. Oh great. I'm mortal now. At least...I think so. That stuff was definitely orange, he thought. A young female doctor came into his room holding a clipboard.

"Ahh good you're awake. We need to ask you a few questions sir. First off, it seems you don't exist. Like we have no medical records of you or any sort of ID. Who are you?" Ares scowled. He hadn't had time to work out a fake identity. The doctor looked impatient.

"What, do you speak another language or something?" That gave Ares an idea. He wondered if he still possessed this power after Zeus had blasted him. He closed his eyes and focused. Willing the mist to bend to his will and surround the entire hospital staff. He told them all that he was a German immigrant named...Richter Kriegsmeister? Yeah, that sounded good. Like he was a cool action movie star. You all have my info already. I've been a resident of...this city for years, Ares said in his mind. When he opened his eyes, he saw that the doctor had gone a bit cross eyed but recovered.

"Oh wait, sorry Mr. Kreigsmeister. That's my mistake. Must have confused you with another patient. Long night. Anyway, you have a broken arm and 3 broken ribs. We put your arm in a cast and I will write you a prescription for painkillers. My advice, don't go riding motorcycles so fast ok Evel Knievel?" she said smiling and filling out the chart absentmindedly. Holy Hades. It worked. Ares was still able to manipulate the mist and implant false memories. He owed Hecate a gift basket whenever he got back to Olympus. He wondered what other powers he possessed before he passed out again. Ares woke up the next morning in the same bed. The attending nurse noticed him.

"Good morning, Richter. You may leave whenever you're ready. Your shirt and phone are on the chair and these are for your ribs" said the nurse, handing him a bottle of pills. Ares struggled to remember what the German word for "thank you" was for a moment but eventually he got there. He'd spent some time in Germany in the past, mainly during Oktoberfest with Dionysus.

"Danke," he said, climbing out of bed and putting his shirt on. He did notice the young woman looking at his muscles, which thankfully he still had. In fact, Ares's appearance hadn't changed all that much unlike what happened with Apollo. Well, that could be a problem, Ares thought as he made his way toward the front desk and gasped in alarm when he saw 2 women standing there. No way. No WAY, they found me this fast! He thought before realizing that the women were not who he thought they were. They just looked eerily similar to Enyo and Eris at a distance but he noticed that one had light blue hair and the other had bright red. One of the ladies noticed Ares standing there,

"Hey Richter. Just checking to see if you're alright." she said. Ahh good, The alias is getting around. Outstanding, Ares thought.

"Yeah, you looked pretty banged up when we found you. There was a fire nearby too. We figured that you were in a dirt bike accident. Your bike's totaled," the other said. Ares scowled.

"Scheisse!" he cursed in German and continued to talk in a German accent. "Thanks for getting me here though. Where am I anyway?" he said. He thought it was pretty good but he'd work on refining it later.

"St. Joseph's," blue hair said. "It was the closest." St Joseph's? That place sounded familiar. Ares racked his brain to remember. The southwest part of America maybe?

"That name is familiar. I think my daughter was born here about 19-20 years ago, although I had to move back to NY shortly after. Am I somewhere in Arizona?" Ares said, trying to sound like he was politely confused. He wanted to make Richter's personality friendlier than his old one. He would still keep the intimidation factor however.

"Yeah, we're in Phoenix. You suffer some sort of memory loss too man?" redhead asked. Ares's expression brightened. Now he remembered. He'd been here before when he met Clarisse's mom plus Clarisse was attending college here. He'd be able to keep an eye on her and keep her safe.

"Little bit," Ares said, still in his convincing accent. "That happens when you smash into a tree. Things are coming back gradually. I moved back here about a few years ago, now I remember. Thanks again Miss…"

"I'm Carla," blue hair said.

"And I'm Sophie," redhead added. "Here take this," Sophie gave Ares a $20 bill. Ares took it.

"Why?" he asked.

"Everyone deserves some help, even if they don't ask for it. We insist. You're gonna need a taxi ride. We have no car or we'd give you a lift. Each of our parents stopped giving us cash when they found out" Carla said looking dejected. Sophie entwined her fingers with Carla's. Ares finally understood why these 2 were walking together the previous night. Good for them, Ares thought. Aphrodite would like these 2.

"Ah...My dad wasn't very nice to me either if that helps," Ares said remembering how angry Zeus was and how he was determined to kill him.

"Really?" Carla asked, caressing Sophie's hand with her thumb.

"Oh yeah. Dude tried to kill me. Didn't help that I punched him in the face after he blamed me for something I didn't do." Ares said, folding the $20 bill and putting it safely in his back pocket.

"Jesus…" Sophie said.

"Yep, not the best dad. Looks like I didn't crash too far from my place. This is good news, bad news is that I totally got fired from my old job," he said. Hopefully they buy this crap I'm spewing, cause even I think it sounds pretty far-fetched, Ares thought.

"You look like a tough fighter, I think Ak-Chin is hiring for some new security staff. My older brother works there. He still cares about me. His name is Greg," Carla said. Ares forced himself not to scowl. The God of War working a mortal job? Ridiculous...but Ares had to play the part of Richter.

"I'll be sure to check that out. Thank you again for helping me," he said making his way outside and off in a random direction.

"You're welcome man. Be sure to pay it forward," Sophie said walking in the opposite direction with Carla. Ares turned and watched them go. Wow, I guess some mortals are nice to each other whenever someone is in need. Sunny Boy was right. I'll be damned, he thought, walking down the street. It was a bright sunny day around 70 degrees. He could not have picked a better spot to crash land in the winter. Yeah, I can make this work. Gotta give the Old Man, Mom and Smart Ass some time to cool off. Might have to be here a year but the new alias is working. No monsters so far...well except this US Healthcare system. 1200 bucks for a broken arm with no insurance?Jeez, good thing that mist trick works or I'd be in big trouble, he continued to say to himself as he walked into a fast food place to order some lunch.

Ares found out which powers he had lost over the next few weeks. He could no longer teleport (not surprising), conjure weapons out of nowhere or control them with telumkinesis, raise fallen soldiers from the dead, conjure fire, warp reality, transform things or manipulate the emotions of others. He still had higher than average strength/durability, a small amount of control over his appearance and his skills with handling/using weapons remained relatively unchanged. Trade off was that he now had to eat, sleep, bathe and workout. This wasn't a problem. As evidenced in the hospital, he still possessed some degree of control over the mist to which he used to his advantage in procuring many things mortals required in order to live a normal life. Thankfully, he had a pretty good idea of what mortals needed in order to live their lives and how their economy worked. He got a small 1 person condo (the rent was surprisingly cheap *wink*), a new motorcycle, some new clothes, an Android phone, a wallet, a driver's license, a gym membership and a supply of food and drinks. Ares had found out that they made red Mountain Dew which was AWESOME and acquired a few cases with the money he made from his job. He couldn't just use the mist trick for everything. That'd attract too much attention, so he used it once or twice every few days. He had taken Carla and Sophie's advice and went to the Ak-Chin Pavilion and spoke with Greg, Carla's brother. Greg gave him the position (Ares may have implanted a false memory in Greg's head that he agreed to pay him more than the rest as he had experience in working security) and he was to start the next day, earning about $60K per year (about $30/hr). On his off days (he worked about 4-6 days a week), Ares experienced the mortal versions of watching TV and playing video games. He of course used to watch Hephaestus TV back on Olympus but obviously couldn't do that anymore. When he had found out that mortal electronics no longer malfunctioned in his presence, he had taken advantage of this. He purchased a TV as well as a Playstation 3 and 4 and the entire main series entries of God of War. Initially, it was hard for him to figure out the difference between a Playstation 1, 2, 3, 4 AND 5. Why couldn't it be just one console? Hephaestus had figured this out with his OlympusBox like years ago. Ares did possess one of those back on Mount Olympus and Aphrodite often found him playing "Great Battles of Troy" or "Olympus vs. Egypt" with Enyo. Ares was initially surprised to find out that he was playing as a character named Kratos rather than himself. He obviously knew the real Kratos back on Olympus. He was the personification of strength and the dude was in the gym as often as Ares was. Ares at least had the decency to wear shorts most of the time however. Ares had mistakenly said that he was the god of strength during his rant, he was actually the god of fighting strength, courage and endurance. Ares had been enjoying himself until he found out Kratos's backstory. Kratos had been tricked by the game Ares into killing his family in order to become a better warrior. He wasn't a fan of that, even though he had recently punched his own father in the face.

"WHAT?! Why would I do that to my champion?! Plus what is with this poser's hair? Dude looks like he's trying to be that Ghost Rider guy from like the 90s. I should read those again. Man those mortals really can tell some good stories," he said to himself as he continued to play. Ares nearly burst out laughing when he saw the game Ares grow spider legs from his back to fight Kratos. He successfully killed himself after a long battle that he kept trying to brute force his way through. He eventually got around to playing the rest of the games whenever he had the time. He was particularly satisfied when Athena was stabbed at the end of the 2nd game. And when he beat the ever loving crap out of Zeus with his bare hands? Mmm, cathartic. Ares nearly texted Aphrodite when he got to a certain scene in the 3rd game. He had stopped himself however but not before seeing that Aphrodite had been sending him *ahem* pictures for the past few weeks. His heart sank when he read the messages from Enyo. He hadn't forgotten about the promise he made to her when her son had died. It also didn't help that his wallpaper shifted between a photo of Enyo and himself at an Iron Maiden concert and another photo of himself and Aphrodite out on a date dancing together. He knew Enyo's wallpaper was similar, minus the dancing. Great. I don't see her for a few months, finally get around to doing so and then I get angry and leave the same day. Way to go Richter, he thought to himself before throwing his Olympian phone back on the table. Ares had been surprised that the thing still functioned after the crash as well as his ability to work it being "semi-mortal". He wasn't on Zeus's family plan like everyone else (because OF COURSE), instead he, Enyo and a bunch of other minor war gods had their own plan, explaining why the phone still worked. He tried not to use it as much as possible and disabled the tracking on it. Ares had also looked up some other depictions of himself on his mortal phone. For some unexplained reason, it didn't attract monsters to his location whenever he used it. He was alright with his depiction in the game Smite (although he wasn't happy with being classified as "Guardian" instead of "Warrior") and saw that Bellona was in that game too. He smirked when saw that Bellona had an "Enyo" skin and couldn't wait to tell her-...oh yeah...that's right. He really missed Enyo but couldn't go back to Olympus until he figured out what to do about what he had done. He did some comic book reading as both Marvel and DC had a character based off of him. He threw the Marvel comics into the garbage and lit them on fire after he read a few of them. Note to self. Punch these morons in the face. This is the same company that did those Ghost Rider comics?! Seriously, he thought as he watched the issues curl into ashes. The DC Comics depiction was much better. Sure, he was mainly an antagonist but at least he looked WAY cooler. He took the time to write down that depiction along with the Smite one on a list entitled "New Forms to Use on Puny Mortals when Zeus Stops Being an Ass and Gives Me My Powers Back." He even watched that Wonder Woman movie one evening but was a tad annoyed that he was YET AGAIN the bad guy wanting to start wars for no reason. Still a good movie though. He was even played by the dude who played Lupin in those Harry Potter movies Hecate detested so much. Eventually Ares began to keep a list of things to watch, games to play and bands to listen to as he worked security at the Ak-Chin Pavilion. Until the day before the Summer Solstice that is.

Ares was at his post (near the entrance) keeping an eye on arriving concert goers. He wore the standard issue security button down and black jeans. Today's show was the popular metal band Disturbed, one of his favorite mortal bands. Under his security shirt, he wore one of his Distrubed shirts depicting the bands mascot, a figure in a hooded cloak with glowing eyes and a devilish grin named "The Guy", dressed as the Grim Reaper. He knew his daughter Clarisse was also a fan. As soon as he had this thought, he spotted Clarise walk in with a few of her college friends and her boyfriend...Craig? No. Carter? No...Chris! There it is. Their small group was wearing Disturbed t-shirts depicting their various album covers. Ares was happy that Clarisse was wearing an Indestructible shirt. That was tied for his favorite album along with Ten Thousand Fists. He saw Clarisse glance over in his direction. Oh crap, Ares thought. If there was one person who'd easily recognize him from his old life, it was his daughter. He looked away and saw something that distracted him from Clarisse's arrival. A young woman was yelling at a young man about something Ares couldn't make out while another young woman stood by looking absolutely furious. As Ares walked over to defuse the situation and he started to catch part of the argument.

"I told you that I hated that bitch! And you brought her anyway! Do you even love me Clark?!" the angry young woman said. The man flinched but answered the woman, who must have been his girlfriend.

"Come on Diane, she's been a fan of them for years!" Clark answered. Ares stopped by the other young woman who was watching the argument with tears in her eyes and shaking with rage.

"Everything ok?" he asked her in his German accent. The woman jumped when he heard him speak.

"Yes...well no. Obviously not. They're fighting again," she said pointing at Clark and Diane.

"Is he your brother or something?" Ares asked. He had a small flashback of seeing his parents fight back on Olympus.

"No. He's my best friend. I've...I've been in love with him since we were kids but he's been with her for like a year. She's abusive to him. Emotionally mainly. She makes him do things she wants. She hates all of his friends, me especially," the woman said, staring daggers at Diane. "I thought he was taking me to see my favorite band. Just the 2 of us. Then I'd finally tell him how I feel."

"I see. Why did you not just tell him before he got with this uh...specimen?" Ares asked. Aphrodite did this quite often and it annoyed him greatly. "Just tell the mortal guy or girl you like them," he often told her but did she ever listen? Nah, Aphrodite liked her little love games. The woman beside Ares giggled.

"Too scared I guess. I see how she treats him. He doesn't deserve that. Being blamed for something he never did," she said. Ares looked at the girl. She reminded him of Aphrodite and how she defended him from Zeus and Hera. At that moment, Diane raised her fist, Clark violently flinched, the other woman screamed and Ares made his move. Ares stepped in front of Clark and grabbed Diane's fist and pushed her back. He then raised both of his arms to either side of himself, blocking Diane's advance towards Clark.

"Get out of the way!" Diane yelled at Ares. Ares turned his head in her direction.

"Ma'am, that's enough," he said. He had a feeling a girl of her size wouldn't be able to move him. He was right of course. She shoved against Ares with all her might but it felt like someone had thrown a pillow at him.

"I'm going to have to ask you to leave ma'am," Ares said, grabbing Diane by the elbow.

"What?! But I have a ticket!" she said furiously. Clark had moved over toward the other woman.

"Wow. Amazing. Unfortunately the marching band performing in your honor is running a bit late. Let's go," he said, lifting Diane off the ground with ease. She continued to protest but some of Ares's co-workers had walked over to help and escort her outside.

"WE'RE OVER CLARK! DO YOU HEAR ME! YOU'LL NEVER FIND SOMEONE LIKE ME AGAIN!" she yelled.

"That's kind of the idea!" Ares shouted back at her. Ares turned back to Clark. "You alright sir?" he asked.

"Yeah, thanks...uh Richter. Cool name. You German?" Clark asked.

"Ja. Not the first time something like this has happened. Last week, I broke up another domestic dispute. Dude ended up getting arrested after trying to fight me when I threw him out. It was a big ordeal. But enough about me. You don't need a woman like that in your life. This young lady here seems to care about you," Ares pointed to the other young woman. "What is your name miss?"

"Lois," she said and rubbed Clark's arm. Really? Ares thought. Lois and Clark? Like those comics about that alien dude with the red underwear.

"Lois tells me that she has loved you for years. She seems to care about your happiness more than the other one. Those women are the ones you want in your life. Trust me." Ares said as Lois jumped in surprise when Ares revealed her secret. Clark looked at Lois in alarm.

"What?" he said. Lois looked at Ares who nodded once.

"Well...yeah. Couldn't you tell," Lois said and hugged Clark.

"Enjoy the show you two," Ares said and turned and walked away.

"Dad?" a female voice said. Ares nearly tripped over a garbage can. He turned in the direction of the voice and saw Clarisse standing there alone. Her friends must have gone inside already.

"Excuse me?" Ares said. Clarise snorted.

"Nice German accent Richter." she said, reading the name tag on Ares's shirt.

"Do I know you miss?" Ares asked, doing his best to not yell. I'm your father you little...

"You gotta do a better job of hiding yourself dad. You don't look that different. Plus I recognized how you hold yourself. Always standing with your shoulders forward, bouncing slightly as if you're looking for a fight. I'm surprised that you aren't sharpening a knife," she said, folding her arms. Damn. She knew.

"Alright fine. Yes, it's me. But don't, DON'T say my name out loud. The others could find me quite easily hence the Richter persona," Ares said, dropping the accent. Clarise folded her arms.

"Why?" she asked. Ares told her how he got in this predicament. Clarisse's eyes became wider and wider as he spoke.

"You punched him in the face?! And made Aphrodite cry? They all think you're dead?" she said. Ares face contorted.

"What have I told you about saying names?!" he growled. Clarisse's face fell. There it is. Her underlying fear of him, even if he wasn't at full power.

"Sorry Dad. I just..."

"Go, enjoy Disturbed. Mark my words, if I see you with one drop of booze. ONE. You'd better start praying. Plus you better put your fist in the air if they play Ten Thousand Fists. I'll be watching. Got it?" he said, his eyes boring into her.

"Yeah dad. Got it." she said before running off. Ares took off his sunglasses and rubbed his eyes. How could this day get any worse than that? As he looked up he saw 2 more familiar faces nearby. A female and a male. Both looked extremely excited and were talking to each other rapidly.

"Oh, THAT'S how. Dammit Clarisse,"he said, narrowing his eyes. He recognized them alright, even through their disguises. The female figure wore shades of pink and red while the male figure wore shades of black and grey. The 2 figures didn't approach him however, both turned and went outside. Beyond angry now, Ares followed them.

"We found him! I can't believe it! He looks different but in a good way. I like his new goatee. What luck that we saw him talking to his daughter. I thought I had heard her say my name. I know he values her as much as he did Leonidas," Aphrodite was saying to Thanatos who looked equally pleased.

"I know! This is fantastic news! E will be so happy. We gotta figure out what to do next now that we found him," Thanatos said.

"I got a few ideas for ya," Ares said loudly. He had followed them to the back of the parking lot near where his bike was parked. He had removed his name tag as he was taking zero chances. Both of them jumped as he spoke but Aphrodite ran to him and nearly tackled him in a hug.

"Get off me!" Ares said and, with difficulty as she was a goddess and he was weakened, he pushed Aphrodite off him.

"First off, you need to say how you found me exactly so I can make the necessary changes to not be found by people I DON'T WANT TO SEE. Secondly, you can take your frilly pink ass and GET LOST!" Ares yelled. Aphrodite looked very hurt.

"Sweetie it's me. I heard Clarisse say my name and I recognized your voice respond. Speaking of which, what happened to you? You feel different," she said. Thanatos looked at her with a weird look on his face. That almost made Ares laugh. He usually enjoyed Thanatos's reactions to various shenanigans. Instead, he rounded on both of them.

"DON'T YOU GET IT?! I DON'T WANT TO BE FOUND! BECAUSE NOW HE KNOWS!" Ares shouted. He kept repeating "now he knows" over and over before Aphrodite spoke.

"It's ok. Calm down. I'm here. You know I've always loved you. Come back with me. I'll protect you from them, especially your father," she said and went to hug him again. Ares drew the celestial bronze knife he kept tucked in his work boot for personal safety. It was about as large as a bowie knife and just as deadly. He had swiped it from a demigod's pocket as they entered the Pavilion for a different event. That demigod failed to notice the former war god and the fact that he had swiped their extra knife. He had to use it a few times while at work. He'd killed a few cynocephali that had seen through his Richter disguise and a nasty pack of dracaena that were attempting to jump John Mayer. His reflexes weren't as high and fast as before but if a demigod were to duel him, they'd have a bad time. Especially Jackson. He'd been practicing since that duel on the beach in LA.

"Back off. I don't need your protection succubus," he growled, brandishing the knife at her. Aphrodite looked at the knife and back at Ares.

"What?"

"YOU NEVER LOVED JUST ME. DON'T GIVE ME THAT GARBAGE. YOU'VE BEEN WITH WINE BOY, FISH FACE, SPEEDY AND THAT ADONIS IDIOT. YOU WENT TO THEM JUST BECAUSE I DIDN'T SAY YOU WERE PRETTY ONE DAY OR I DIDN'T NOTICE YOUR NEW HAIRCUT OR WHATEVER. I WAS FINE WITH THE DEMIGOD CHILDREN THING, I DO IT TOO BUT I USUALLY WENT BACK TO YOU AFTERWARDS. YOU ARE JUST AS BAD AS THE OLD MAN IN TERMS OF BEING FAITHFUL. OH AND SPEAKING OF THE OLD MAN, HE KNOWS I'M ALIVE NOW THANKS TO YOU AND THE GRIM REAPER OVER THERE. STOP TRACKING ME! I'M SERIOUS. AND TELL THAT PUNK SISTER OF MINE THAT I DO NOT WANT TO BE FOUND! IS THAT CLEAR?! SHE PUT YOU UP TO THIS TASK DIDN'T SHE? PROBABLY MADE IT SO I CAN'T GO ABROAD EITHER RIGHT? TOLD THE SAMURAI DUDE AND THE CHINESE GODS TO KEEP AN EYE OUT FOR ME OVER IN ASIA?! WHAT MAKES HER THINK I EVEN WANT TO COME BACK TO OLYMPUS AFTER WHAT YOU'VE ALL DONE TO ME FOR MILLENNIA?!" Ares yelled at the pair of them. Aphrodite's eyes were once again full of tears and anger. Thanatos looked just as surprised.

"Come on man. She misses you. Aphrodite misses you. Athe-" he began but Ares's fury could not be stopped. Plus he needed to stop him from saying Athena's name.

"DON'T. LIE. YOU KNOW AS WELL AS I DO THAT THE REST OF THOSE CLOWNS ARE LIVING IT UP WITHOUT ME! ESPECIALLY THE SMART ASS," Ares screamed.

"I'll tell you why you need to come back. Remember what you told E? Your punk sister? Hmm?" Aphrodite said, her eyes still wet and full of anger. Ares faltered for a fraction of a second. Yes, he did remember, Styx would have a field day with him later. Wait...this must be her way of getting back at him for breaking the promise! Yes! That was it! He was potentially in the clear!.

"WHATEVER! JUST LEAVE ME ALONE," he yelled as he walked back inside the Pavilion. He wasn't going to let seeing them ruin a Disturbed concert for him.

Idiots. Both of them, Ares thought as he pulled into the driveway and got off his bike much later into the night. In the reflection of a window, he saw Aphrodtie and Thanatos again for a brief moment before they vanished. Figures. He knew that would happen. He needed a new hiding place and fast. He thought they were going to jump him whenever they got orders from Enyo. Ares walked inside and began to think about what to do and how to get out of here. He'd have to completely start over from scratch at the new place. He decided to go to George, WA and would depart as early as he could. He had visited that area before in the 90s...with Enyo. I'll text her later, he thought as he packed the small amount of clothes he had into a large backpack. Gonna have to leave the other big stuff, plus I gotta do more mist manipulation to have everyone I met here and will meet on the way forget that I ever existed. Ares had done just that. He already used it on Greg and his co-workers following the concert, erasing himself from their memories. He used it on the landlord of his former home. He also used it at the hospital, the bar he frequented, the gym and even on Clarisse (although he did leave her the memory of both of them jamming to "Inside the Fire" at the Disturbed show as a gift) before arriving at his home. He had used this power so often over the past 6 months that it no longer knocked him out for an extended period of time but it did leave him a bit weary. With his affairs in order, he left Phoenix at around 6am making his way north. Maybe, just MAYBE this whole fake alias would still be able to hide him from Zeus. Hopefully, Aphrodite and Thanatos weren't able to catch his new name or see him leave. Goodbye Phoenix, Ares thought solemnly as he crossed the city limits. It's been real.

Ares now sat outside the diner he purchased dinner at on his bike later that same day ready to take off again. Before doing so, he had to use the mist once again to erase himself from the nearby mortals' memories. He'd replaced himself with a guy that wore a hooded jacket the entire time and wore a mask that tipped the waitress well. He still felt awful about shoving and threatening Aphrodite last night and texting Enyo a cryptic message. He thought maybe Zeus would start checking phones now that he knew he wasn't dead hence why he used a code. But...I just texted Aphrodite a real message. Son of a, WHY DO I NEVER THINK THINGS THROUGH. It's fine Richter. It's fine. Chill. All you said was that you needed more time. You'll be miles away from this place by the time the Old Man reads that, if he ever does that is. Let's also think about how to get back to Olympus this time rather than play video games, read comic books, work out and watch movies...I mean, you can still do that but...ah whatever. Let's go, Ares thought as he turned on the bike as well as taking a long swig from his water bottle. The drum intro from Judas Priest's "Living after Midnight" came from the speakers. Ares smiled to himself as he turned onto the highway and continued to head north.