VIII.
The War God's Revenge (Ares)
Second verse, same as the first. Ares arrived in the city of George, WA around the early afternoon of the next day. He had left Phoenix about 2 days ago at this point, vigorously covering his tracks along the way as well. Again he used his mist abilities the following few days to procure a house, the same luxuries he had had back in Phoenix and a job. He was working security at the popular Gorge Amphitheatre. He recalled spending a few days here with Enyo back in the 90s which is why he chose this location. Eventually, he would return to Olympus and only trusted Enyo to help him do so. He cursed himself daily for not talking with her more before fighting Typhon, the titans, Gaia and the giants. She was his twin sister and he had ignored her, despite what he had told her years ago. But now was not the time to bring up old grievances. She would figure out his code eventually. Hopefully he'd have a plan by then. Ares had just returned from an early evening concert about a week after arriving in George, WA. He was thankful that it was over, Ares could only stomach the same country song about alcohol, America, a girl, a dog, farming or a truck so many times in rapid succession. Ares sat on his couch, turned on the TV and rubbed his eyes. Why are drunk college girls always the worst? The guy probably wrote that song sitting on his private jet in 300 dollar cowboy boots, he thought as he opened the mini fridge and grabbed a drink. He popped the top and flipped to the news channel. He nearly choked on his beverage when he saw the screen. A news anchor was sitting behind a desk with a photo of Athens behind him. The image was wrapped in police tape reading "Do Not Cross." A headline on the bottom of the screen read "Athens in Ruins? Terrorism on the Rise. Doctors overwhelmed by snake bite patients." Ares placed his drink on the table and turned up the volume on the TV. His heart was pounding. The attacks were still happening? It's been almost a year since he was originally accused of causing them. What the...have they done nothing to help? Ares thought as he wiped soda off of his goatee.
"Thanks Jane, now onto our top story yet again. The ancient city of Athens, Greece continues to face random acts of terrorism every few days it seems. Authorities are still baffled by the attacks and how they are unable to find out the specific group behind them. Doctors are still overwhelmed by, get this, snake bite patients. What seemed to be a simple fix is turning into a widespread panic. They simply are unable to treat the victims. We have word that over 100 people have died from these snakes. Local authorities are in talks of enforcing a curfew, which would restrict all citizens from leaving their homes from 9pm-5am only able to leave in special circumstances." A shaky cam video recorded by someone's phone began to play on screen. It showed scenes of destruction and widespread panic. The video ended abruptly but not before Ares caught something in the background. He scrambled for the remote, picked it up and rewound the broadcast and paused the video at a certain point. Ares got close to the screen and squinted at the blurry image in the background. The figure was about 10-15 feet tall with oddly shaped legs and feet. They looked like they were made of scales and a sickly green color but Ares couldn't really make it out. The figure's hair was a tangled mess, covering its eyes and most of its face but Ares noticed that it was grinning. He staggered backward and tripped over the coffee table, smacking his head on the couch. He knew that grin all too well. It sometimes haunted his dreams. Ares scrambled to his feet and found the remote again. He rewound the footage a few more seconds and pressed play. Ares focused on the background as the video played. He saw the figure yet again. It nodded in the direction of the mortals before disappearing into the shadows. The video cut off again and the news anchor switched to a story about community service or something. Ares was too focused on what he had just seen. He cursed in Ancient Greek and slumped back onto the couch, thankfully he hadn't spilled his drink when he tripped over the coffee table and downed it in two swigs before throwing it aside and grabbing another. Calm down Richter. It can't be that guy. He was like WAY bigger. Relax man, relax, Ares said to himself. His hands were shaking slightly and he couldn't get the haunting image of that smile out of his mind. He heard a distant laugh within his subconscious followed by Enyo's voice. It sounded small, distant even...and it was dripping with agonizing pain.
"Big...brother…" Ares jumped up from the couch and dashed to the nearby table where his Olympian phone was. He noticed that he had an unread message from Enyo. It was dated the same evening he had texted her his code It said "Big brother, we might have a problem. It's about those attacks. We may know who's actually behind them. I think Aph and I got most of your old pals to agree that it wasn't your fault. I'm going to check on your kids and then I will find you. Please don't move again. I am begging you. Aph still misses you despite what happened." Ares face fell. Was his ancient foe back for revenge? Why attack Athens? Could he be targeting those closest to Ares as well? Like Clarisse? Or Sherman Yang? Or Aphrodite? Or Enyo? Enyo knew about this giant of course, she was there the first time he slayed him. Ares squeezed the phone in anger as he remembered what that giant had done to Enyo. He had almost lost her. Ares was about to text her back but thought better of it (for once). Ok. Ok, so they're aware now. I'll heed Enyo's advice and stay here till she finds me. Can't make my way to New York. That'd take forever and I'd better not risk taking a plane now Zeus knows I'm not dead. Meanwhile, chill dude. Could be just an overreaction. Boot up the video games. Some mindless zombie killing should help me clear my mind. Ares put his Olympian phone back on the table and booted up the PS4.
He had finished playing all 5 of the mainline God of War games before he left Phoenix (including Ascension, where his digital self looked even more like Ghost Rider minus the skull). He had enjoyed the Norse mythology one but not as much as the Greek ones (go figure). After playing those, he had been informed of another game series where the player took control of one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse from Christian mythology called "Darksiders." The first game he was in the shoes of the horseman "War." Ares enjoyed this game quite a lot because War was also blamed for something he didn't do and he was just as ruthless as Ares was when it came to killing things. Ares went so far as to complete every task it threw at him plus unlocking every achievement and jumped into the sequels as quickly as he could. The second game had him playing as the horseman "Death" who reminded him of his friend Thanatos. He was still able to power through it within a few days, chuckling every once in a while when he imagined how Thanatos would react to certain things. He even imagined Death speaking with Thanatos's voice. The 3rd game was immensely hard for him to complete as he played as a female character this time named "Fury" and the character reminded him of Enyo so much that he broke 2 controllers in sheer anger when he got killed by certain bosses.
"YOU KILLED MY LITTLE SISTER! I'LL RIP YOUR FACE- oh wait...aw damn, not again!" he had said after Gluttony killed him and the controller broke apart in his hands after he squeezed it too hard. After Darksiders, he played a few of the Mortal Kombat games but doing so caused Ares to have a bit of "gamer rage" and chucked the TV out the window after the final boss of the 2011 Mortal Kombat game kicked his ass for the 15th time in a row.
"HOW IS THAT FAIR! YOU COWARD!" He had yelled after getting hit by Shao Kahn's X-Ray move and seeing his health bar get deleted. Recently (after getting a new TV), Ares began to play the Dead Rising games after a coworker recommended the series to him. The first game was an absolute pain for him to play and complete. He constantly found himself having to do horrible escort missions under a very strict time limit. Half of the people he attempted to save ended up dead. What also didn't help was the beginning of a certain song that played whenever he entered Leisure Park at certain times.
"Oh COME ON! I HAVE LIKE NO HEALTH! THIS IS SO BOGUS!" Ares yelled as he entered the park once again and heard the beginning 2 notes followed by the singer yelling "WEEEEEEEELLLLLLL, HE AIN'T MY BOY BUT THE BROTHER IS HEAVY…" He had rage quit the game and made a mental note to strangle his co-worker for recommending it to him but thought better of it and went to sleep. The next day he gave it another chance, deciding to not just brute force his way through it and looking up exploits and overpowered weapons to use. This worked and he was able to save a decent amount of survivors and obtain the best ending.
"Wow...did I just do that? Hmm...maybe Smart Ass is right in terms of fighting strategies. Brute force isn't always the best plan...but it's still fun" he said watching the credits roll, although he thought he would never get that song from Leisure Park out of his head ever again. Ares had finished it the previous night before the country concert he just worked. He grabbed his red controller and booted up Dead Rising 2. What struck out to him immediately was the new player character, a motocross champion named Chuck Greene.
"Now THAT, is a cool jacket. I wonder if I can…" Ares paused the game and closed his eyes, concentrating on the image of Chuck's jacket and himself wearing it. He had tried changing his form/appearance back in Phoenix but was only able to do small stuff like change his hair and grow a goatee. After several minutes of concentrating, he opened his eyes and looked down at his chest. No luck. He was still wearing his red undershirt. He had turned his hair brown though.
"Schiesse" Ares muttered and continued to play. He found that he enjoyed this game more than the first one. Chuck's characterization reminded Ares a little of himself to an extent. Chuck would do whatever he had to do to protect his daughter from harm. Ares usually did the same thing with his children (at least, those that were worthy) whenever he could but most of the time, they just got unlucky. Except for one. One of his sons was betrayed by his own countryman and Ares had not known until it was too late. The memories of this son of his began to overtake him and he hastily saved the game (after about 3-4 hours), turned it off and collapsed on his bed. His house was only one story this time. No. Please. Not without Aphrodite. Please, Ares begged. But there was no stopping it. Memories broke the floodgates in his mind.
It was the ancient times once again. Ares had just left the throne room on Mount Olympus after a meeting with Athena and was walking along the streets of Olympus, thinking about how he'd check in with Leonidas later. Reluctantly, Ares/Sparta and Athena/Athens had formed an alliance to repel the invading Persian army...a second time. Ares had been secretly assisting the Spartans, especially his son, during the invasion despite Zeus forbidding direct godly intervention. He had a feeling that Athena was doing something similar as one of her children was an Athenian politician and general. About 6 or 7 days ago, Leonidas and around 300 other Spartans were tasked with holding the "Hot Gates" at the city of Thermopylae. It was the only road the Persian army could pass through. Ares had faith in his son's abilities as a leader and decided to follow Zeus's orders for once. Leonidas had made it to the age of 60 after all. He still spoke with Leonidas whenever he could spare the time and Leonidas was always happy to hear from his godly father. Together they spoke of war and fighting tactics, roasted Athena and her city and talked about how they were going to usurp the other Greek city states so Sparta ruled all. Ares looked back at the Hall of the Gods and said to himself,
"This is the last time I will work WITH her directly. Jeez, being AGAINST her was bad enough...but she's right...as usual. I do owe her one." Ares took off his helmet and rubbed his scared face in frustration. Athena had indeed saved his life once many years ago but Ares didn't like to mention it to anyone. Only he and Athena knew. Ares pinched his nose when he remembered how much he had begged Athena to help him. It also didn't help that she had helped Diomedes injure him during the Trojan War.
"Backstabbing little… Ah nevermind, I should check in with Leonidas. See how he's doing holding that road. Can't WAIT to rub it in her face when I tell her he- Hermes? What's this?" Ares had been approached by Hermes as he spoke his plans out loud, a bad habit of his. Hermes had given him a scroll before running off. Ares couldn't help but notice that he looked terrified for some reason. Ares frowned and unrolled the scroll. It read "Ares, they failed. He was betrayed. We have the body." Ares recognized the handwriting of Thanatos. Ares frowned and reread the message. They failed? Who failed? Athens? That'd be nice. We have the body? Body of who? Ares eyes widened when something in his mind clicked.
"No…" Thermopylae. He needed to check. Just to be sure.
Seconds later, Ares arrived at Thermopylae. Bodies were everywhere, Greek and Persian alike. He noticed a lot of Spartan bodies as well. His eyes shifted to the invading Persian force going up the road. He'd deal with that later. He had to find Leonidas. He spotted Thanatos and Enyo standing on a hill with what looked like a body laying at their feet. The mortals kept going about their business as if Ares, Thanatos and Enyo were not there.
"Enyo? What's she doing here? I thought she was overseeing Sparta's safety." Ares said softly as he saw Enyo on the hillside. Panic was building inside of him. Where was Leonidas? He would have greeted his father warmly by now. Come to think of it...all of the Spartans appeared to be dead. Enyo appeared to be having a conversation with Thanatos. Thanatos turned his head and spotted Ares walking toward them. Enyo's head turned as well and she ran forward and stopped his advance while using her body to block his vision. It didn't exactly work as Enyo was a bit shorter than Ares.
"E, what happened here?" Ares asked her. He was able to keep moving forward despite Enyo's efforts. She was strong yes, but Ares was an Olympian so he was a tad stronger.
"Big brother…" Enyo began. Ares noticed her voice was full of sadness and fear. She was desperately trying to have him not see the body. Ares stopped moving.
"E, where is Leonidas?" Ares asked fiercely. Neither Enyo or Thanatos needed to answer. Ares was close enough to get a read on the body. It was Leonidas. Ares fell to his knees as Enyo continued to cling to him. Rage and grief began to build. Ares looked at Enyo who seemed to know what he was saying to himself.
"He's...I'm sorry Ares. He's dead," she said softly. He screamed. He screamed so loudly that the very grass rippled beneath him. He ripped off his helmet and continued to scream in agony. Enyo had backed off in sheer terror. Leonidas lay on the ground a few feet behind Thanatos still clad in his armor. It was full of arrow puncture wounds and the golden armor was smeared with blood. Leonidas's mouth was slightly open and his teeth had also been coated red with clots of blood tangled in his graying beard. Someone had closed his eyes. Leonidas's shield, brandished with the symbol of Sparta, the letter lambda, was next to him along with his kopis. Ares had gifted Leonidas this blade when he was crowned king. Ares noticed that Leonidas had gotten it engraved. It read "For the glory of my father, Ares" which caused the grief leaving his body to escalate even more.
"THAT'S MY SON! THAT'S MY BOY!" He managed to say after just screaming for 10 minutes straight and he ran forward. Athena, who had just arrived, barred him. She, along with the rest of Olympus, must have heard him yell. Thankfully, she looked confused rather than smug. If she was wearing her "I beat you" face, Ares would have beaten her senseless.
"Move." Ares said to her his voice was almost unrecognizable and dripping with misery. Athena attempted to stop him again.
"Ares, what were you yelling about?" she began.
"I SAID MOVE!" Ares shouted and shoved her aside. Thanatos caught her before she fell. He knelt next to the body of Leonidas, his entire body shaking with rage. He buried his face into Leonidas's chest and screamed again. His pride and joy. The man who was supposed to lead Sparta to glory now lay dead on the ground. He had been betrayed. Someone was in cahoots with the Persians for some reason. For what? Money? Power? Women? Men? Who knows. Ares shook Leonidas's body as if he were trying to jumpstart his heart. Athena had put her hand over her mouth. She seemed to realize who this dead man was.
"Physician's Cure," Ares said in a shaky voice. Thanatos and Athena winced.
"Ares, buddy. You know we can't do that. Plus it's too late. He's been dead for hours," Thanatos said. Ares looked at his friend as if he were about to strangle him but he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned to see Enyo standing there and looked in Ares's eyes. She looked just as angry, just as sad and just as resentful that she was unable to help save Leonidas.
"Come here" she said. Ares didn't move. He continued to kneel in the dirt, staring at Leonidas's face. Ares could almost see Leonidas smiling at him as a baby and a young child. Suddenly, Ares got up and grabbed Thanatos by the throat.
"ELYSIUM. GIVE HIM ELYSIUM," he shouted into his friend's face while shaking him. Enyo walked over and made Ares release Thanatos.
"Yelling at Thanatos won't help," she said, while Thanatos gasped for breath.
"WHO DID IT?! WHO BETRAYED HIM?! WAS IT YOU SMART ASS?! DID YOU DO THIS?! I'LL KILL YOU!" he yelled. Athena recoiled.
"No, It must have been a local. He or she must have shown the Persians a secret path," Athena said fearfully.
"I'LL RIP HIM TO SHREDS!" Ares snarled before glancing at his son's face once more. He faltered and Enyo took the opportunity to grasp his shoulders.
"Ares, calm do-" Enyo began.
"DON'T YOU TELL ME TO CALM DOWN! MY SON HAS JUST BEEN BETRAYED BY ONE OF HIS FELLOW COUNTRYMEN! BECAUSE OF THAT TRAITOR, THE PERSIANS ARE ADVANCING. HAVE YOU NOT NOTICED?!" Ares yelled at her. He was attempting to escape from Enyo's grip. He had no idea what he'd do once he had done so however. Strangle Athena? Yeah, that sounded good. Athena walked over to Ares. Ares bared his teeth at her and snarled. Athena was not deterred, instead she did something that she almost never did. She embraced Ares.
"I'm sorry brother. I know you loved him. Take time to grieve. Thanatos and I will assess the current situation," she said in his ear. Ares couldn't believe what just happened. Athena, his rival, had just given him a hug. Athena released him and turned to Thanatos. Thanatos nodded and both of them teleported away. Ares stared at the spot where they disappeared. Then he remembered why he felt so angry and miserable. Enyo, his favorite sister, embraced him tightly as his eyes fell upon Leonidas's body again. Ares began to make noises that sounded like a cross between a yell and a sob.
"Shh, it's ok big brother. I'm here" she said calmly. Ares closed his eyes, allowing the tears to fall as Enyo embraced him over the body of his favorite son.
Ares teleported to his fortress after about an hour of groveling over his son's corpse. Enyo, who had been telling Ares there was nothing he could do and that Leonidas was at peace, came with him. Aphrodite was waiting for him in the courtyard. Ares had forgotten that he said that he'd spend time with her after his earlier meeting. Aphrodite took Ares into her arms when she saw him. He didn't even object and allowed Aphrodite to embrace him. Aphrodite noticed Ares's blank expression.
"What happened? Where were you? Ares? Sweetie, are you ok?" Aphrodite asked as Ares looked into the distance, not meeting her eyes.
"The Spartans lost at Thermopylae. Leonidas was betrayed and subsequently died. Athena thinks a local showed the Persians a way through the mountains. He took the loss hard," Enyo said, patting Ares on the shoulder.
"Oh Ares," Aphrodite said, embracing him tightly. Ares continued to say nothing. He loved Aphrodite and Enyo very much...but they just weren't Leonidas.
"He hasn't said anything for the past hour or so," Enyo said. "This news utterly broke him." Ares croaked out one word at that exact moment
"Hades." Enyo stared at him.
"What?"
"Speak to Hades," he growled and released himself from Aphrodite and teleported away once again, this time to the Underworld. An idea had struck him.
Unfortunately, Ares made a right mess of himself in front of his uncle, demanding that Leonidas be brought back. Half the time, his words were unintelligible as he was trying not to resort to yelling or sobbing again.
"HE WAS BETRAYED UNCLE! Can't you make an exception just this once?" Ares begged, finally finding the right words. Hades looked at Ares from the comfort of his throne.
"I'm not even going to dignify that with a response, nephew. You know the rules. Should I bring back everyone you killed while I'm at it?" Hades said. A smile was playing across his lips as he watched Ares kneel and beg for Leonidas to be revived. Out of pity, Hades eventually said
"Ares, come now. He was to die at some point. Thanatos tells me he made it to 60, right? Gotta be a record. I will not make an exception for you just because you want vengeance. You may go." Hades teleported away, leaving Ares kneeling in an empty throne room.
"FINE!" he yelled to the empty room. "I'LL DO IT MYSELF!" Ares teleported back to his fortress. He walked right past Enyo and Aphrodite and locked himself in his room. But he was not going to stay in there, oh no. This was just a ruse. Ares was certain that no one would want to bother him while he grieved so this seemed like a perfect distraction. Instead, he had unsheathed Leonidas's kopis from his belt and stared at it. He had taken it from Leonidas's corpse. This would be the blade he used to cut down every enemy in his way. It would be rather obvious to Zeus if the God of War, the father of Leonidas, joined the battle on the front lines. He decided that needed a new identity. Ares changed his form to that of a large Spartan, slightly taller than average. He wore standard Spartan armor; a gold cuirass, a red cape, helmet, a pteruge and knee high sandals. His facial scars remained, no matter how much he changed the shape of his face, as he was not able to will those away after obtaining them in a previous battle. Instead he ripped off part of another cape and used it to cover half of his face and scars under his helmet. Only his eyes showed. The irises were blood red and seemed to burn with rage.
"Gotta strike quick, fast and deadly. Also gotta make sure everyone else knows that I'm pretending to sulk. Someone HAS to see me come here beforehand. If I don't say my name out loud on the battlefield, maybe Zeus won't know it's me. He usually ignores what I do anyway. I will have my revenge. For the glory of my son, Leonidas."
The blade of Leonidas proceeded to hack and slash its way across multiple plains of battle wielded by the owner's father. Ares mercilessly killed every Persian that crossed his path as if they were the one that fired the arrow that killed Leonidas. The Persians began to fear the man with the face covering and the glowing red eyes. This man was an absolute monster, nothing, NOTHING, could stop him. Arrows? Bounced off him. Entire squads? Annihilated. Mortal women? Swooned in his presence. This man was quickly becoming a legend to be feared not worshipped. After a few days into his Persian killing spree, a Spartan officer approached Ares, who had been busy sharpening his blade in a Spartan camp.
"Spartan, state your name" he said rather harshly. It took all of Ares's resolve to not smite the bastard on the spot.
"I said, state your name," the officer repeated. Ares snarled under his mask. He ALMOST yelled that he was the God of War but that would be a bad move. Zeus and the others thought that he was sulking in his room which was half true. A clone of himself was currently in there...and he wasn't exactly alone. Gods, Aphrodite was beautiful when she was-
"Ar...Aerimas." Ares said. It was the best he could do as he was so angry at this little punk for speaking to him like that. The name was just "I am Ares" but rearranged to sound like an actual name.
"Well, Aerimas. What exactly are you doing with King Leonidas's blade? Did you steal it from his corpse?!" The officer proceeded to glare at him. Ares stared right back at him. The officer went cross-eyed for a moment and shook his head in confusion. He looked around, saw Ares standing there and then walked away. Gotta love this mist stuff, Ares thought smirking as he watched him go. Ares followed him deeper into the camp. Some of the Spartans pointed at him in admiration.
"That's him! That's the guy the Persians are so scared off!" one said to his friend.
"By Ares, he does look scary doesn't he?" another one said. Ares decided that he liked this guy.
"Bet his woman absolutely loves him back home" a third one said, looking Ares up and down. Ares barely acknowledged them and eventually made himself invisible when no one was looking. He was walking towards the commander tent to see what the new plan was. Highlights from his battles played in his mind but they were constantly interrupted by memories of Leonidas.
"This is for you my son," Ares said in a memory, handing the newly crowned king Leonidas the sword currently sheathed in his belt.
"Thank you father. You honor me," Leonidas said to Ares, examining the blade. You honor me too son, Ares thought as the memory ended and he saw officers issuing orders. Ares smirked and went back to what he did best, killing things.
Ares fought under the alias of Aerimas for the following year. He eventually began to wipe the memory of any Greek who saw him. He did not want to be remembered for this, which was odd for him. Normally, Ares liked to rub victories in Athena's face but as he was pretending to sulk in his room as well as following his father's orders, he had to keep this a secret. A few times, Ares had spotted Athena surveying the aftermath of a battle. He had to hastily change out of his Aerimas form before he was spotted. One day, Athena approached him on Olympus where he had decided to take the day off from his quest for vengeance.
"Ares, have you heard of this 'Spartan with the red eyes', everyone keeps talking about? My son Themistocles informs me that Persians and Greeks alike are in constant fear of encountering him," Athena asked.
"Uh no, why?" Ares answered quickly. Almost too quickly. Almost.
"Hmm. One soldier did mention a name. Aerimas I believe. Says he's been instrumental in securing victories against the invaders," Athena continued, studying Ares's face. Thankfully, he was wearing his helmet so it was a bit harder for her to do so.
"Has he now? I can't say I've ever heard of him," Ares said, feigning innocence.
"I just want to speak with him if you do find him. His strategies are completely unorthodox according to Themistocles but they have never failed. I want to see how he does what he does. Thank you for the information Ares. We've almost got this won," Athena said as she walked away. Ares stared at her back and scowled.
"I'll speak with you about strategies the day Apollo learns how romantic relationships work," he said under his breath.
The Greeks eventually repelled the invading Persians a couple weeks later but Ares continued to search high and low for the traitor whenever he could spare to look. He had learned his name was Ephialtes and a reward was posted for his capture or murder...and his idea of "learning" something from someone was yelling in their face until they wet themselves or told him what he wanted.
"WHO DID IT!" Ares yelled in the face of a Persian officer. He had just defeated this man's entire guard with his bare hands. One of which he had placed behind his back. What? Ares liked to challenge himself sometimes. It's a bit easier when it's against mortals.
"Who did what?!" the officer gasped.
"WHO TOLD PERSIA ABOUT THE PATH AT THERMOPYLAE!" Ares shouted again, shaking the man fiercely. The officer continued to resist until Ares held him over the edge of a nearby cliff.
"EPHIALTES! HIS NAME WAS EPHIALTES! PLEASE LET ME GO!" the officer yelled clutching at his throat.
"Ok big guy, if you insist," Ares said and literally let the man go. Ephialtes? Like that giant that trapped me in a jar? Figures, Ares thought as he watched the officer's head slam into the rocky cliffside repeatedly before disappearing beneath the waves 150 feet below.
Ares never found Ephialtes however. The sleazy bastard managed to hide from the God of War's gaze for 10 years until he was finally killed by Athenades of Trichis for some other reason and had alerted Sparta of his deed. Ares had been in Sparta when the messenger had arrived. He was keeping an eye on his grandson. Ares had assumed the form of a regular Spartan and joined the small group of them who were to meet Athenades nearby on a hilltop. Athenades stood by a body wrapped in cloth. He wore a traditional Greek chiton and sandals. His hair was caramel colored and short along with his beard. A small xiphos was sheathed at his side. He greeted the approaching Spartans.
"Khaíre Spartans. As requested, I have the body of Ephialtes. The man who betrayed you at Thermopylae" he said uncovering the body. Ares stared down at the dead man with absolute hatred in his eyes. The man's features matched the description that was common knowledge. Ephialtes had a sunken and hollow face. Bags were visible under his eyes and he had a bit of an underbite. His hair was so matted with dirt and grime that Ares had trouble determining what the actual color of his hair was supposed to be. Ephialtes looked like he had been stabbed to death which Ares was glad of.
"Thank you. You have done a great service to Sparta. Here is your reward," one of the Spartans said. He gave Athenades a small chest filled with drachma and other valuables. Athenades took the chest, smiled appreciatively and walked off. Ares secretly blessed Athenades, ensuring that his journey home would be a safe one. 2 other Spartans went to lift Ephialtes's body.
"Stop. I'll do it. Go, you have served your purpose" Ares said, still staring intently at the body. The Spartans obeyed without question and walked away. Ares looked into Ephialtes's withered face.
"You should be grateful that I didn't find you boy. I would have ripped your head from your shoulders as you screamed for mercy. My son is dead because of YOU!" Ares shouted and plunged Leonidas's sword through Ephialtes's chest. He then summoned a shield from nowhere. This shield looked like a skull with gleaming red eyes. The mouth on the skull opened and a fire sparked to life.
"Burn," Ares snarled and turned the fire on Ephialtes's body.
Ares found himself laying on his bed back in Washington, thousands of years later. He was shaking from the memories. How he wished he could have killed Ephialtes for what he had done. He took his frustration out on the alarm clock and smashed it to pieces. The fragments flew everywhere. Ephialtes's face invades his thoughts almost as much as Leonidas's face, Aphrodite's face (and body) and cheese did. Ares got up and changed out of his work clothes. He usually just slept in them but this time he just decided to just sleep in his skivvies. Plus he needed something to do in order to not think about Leonidas anymore. As he stated, Aphrodite was usually there to calm him down but due to prior actions, she was not there and was probably still absolutely furious at him for the encounter in Phoenix. Ares would not be surprised if she had proceeded to have a fling with Apollo or something. Ares laid back down in his bed trying to fall asleep for several minutes but Ephialtes's dead body kept invading his mind. Once Ares had thought it had smiled at him as he burned to ashes. The grin reminding Ares of that figure he had saw on the news that night which made him feel even worse. Ares eventually conked out, wishing he'd have a dreamless sleep.
How very wrong he was.