XV.
The Rematch of the Millenium (Ares)

The sky darkened when Ares took the field at Thermopylae. Coincidentally he had arrived right at the monument of his deceased son King Leonidas. Ares looked at the monument for a moment.

"I'll see you in Elysium son. Hopefully I'll buy Apollo enough time to heal the others," Ares said to himself. He didn't want to do this but Ekhidnades had left him with no other options. It was either face him now or allow Athens to be destroyed along with Olympus. On the upside, he believed that killing Ephialtes had definitely put a damper on Ekhidnades's grander plan. The Gods were all alive. One of them happened to be a female one clad in blue and black and immensely distraught that Ares was about to basically kill himself. He looked down at his form of gleaming gold and bronze armor with a red cape and helmet that gave his face the appearance of a black void with flaming red eyes. He held a shield in one hand and a large sword in another. Leonidas's old sword was attached to his belt as sort of a good luck charm but knowing how dangerous Ekhidnades really was, it was more symbolic. Despite getting his powers back, Ares still had his "mortal personality" in contrast to his previous godly one. Hence why he chose to sacrifice himself to save the world rather than let Athena do it and then take credit for it later. Ares began to look around the barren field. He could see the hot springs in the distance. Rumor has it that they are actually the entrance into the Underworld. They were back in the day, but now it was just a hot spring. The amount of times Aphrodite and Ares had been in that very spring sans clothes? Too many to count to be honest. Ares was just wondering where Ekhidnades was when he heard a familiar hissing sound from behind him and turned just in time to dodge a lethal strike from a giant ochia viper. The viper's fangs were inches from Ares's sword hand and he managed to smack it right in the face with the hilt. The viper hissed and spat indignantly but that was all it managed to do before it's head was sent spinning into the sky. Ares didn't have time to revel in his first kill of the battle as he heard more hissing coming from multiple directions. He looked at his shield attached to his left hand and uttered one word,

"BURN!" Instantly, a stream of red hot flames erupted from the shield in front of him, instantly incinerating 2 more vipers. The last one dodged the initial stream of fire but must have forgotten that Ares was the God of War once more and he summoned a spear from nowhere which impaled the viper to the ground. The viper tried to wriggle free but Ares easily broke its neck and it faded to dust in the wind.

"Impressive War God," a voice boomed from across the battlefield. Ares turned to face his mortal enemy. The one who nearly killed him, his children and Enyo thousands of years ago. He still wasn't sure how he was able to do it last time. It must have been because Ekhidnades was distracted. If he could do that again and get a cheap shot in, that would be fantastic. Ares strode toward Ekhidnades across the field. The giant looked a tad smaller than he remembered but his features were still the same. Long tangled greasy hair that covered his face, a greenish tinge to his skin, long talon like nails on his hands dripping with greenish poison and 2 snakes for legs and feet.

"You have come alone this time," Ekhidnades taunted and folded his arms.

"You know why you coward," Ares answered.

"Coward am I? Was I the one that fled Olympus after getting angry with daddy? Was I the one who cried to daddy when my sister injured me DURING A WAR? Was I the one who got beat by a 12 year old boy while I was at full power and then tried a cheap shot move while escaping?" Ekhidnades retorted. Ares snarled.

"How does everyone know about that? Was it written in a young adult book or something?!" he yelled. Ekhidnades even chuckled at this.

"You are a funny guy, War God. I like you...and that is why I'm going to kill you last. I want the last thing you hear to be the screams of your precious little sister and girlfriend before I slit their throats," Ekhidnades continued to boast. Ares nearly charged at him like a complete moron (something he was known for) but resisted when he remembered his plan. Wait...he had a plan?! That's a new one.

"How did you escape Tartarus anyway?" Ares said, slowly making his way toward Ekhidnades. He wanted an easier shot due to the fact that he was only getting used to having his powers again. It reminded him of the time after Apollo killed Python where he entered the Hall of Gods and momentarily forgot how to change his form. Ekhidnades decided to humor him.

"Much like anything else that manages to escape that place. I reformed around the mortal year of 2010ish. Escaped a few years later and laid low for a number of years in the forests waiting for my chance for revenge,"

"And Ephialtes. How did he escape the Fields of Punishment?" Ares asked. He actually was interested in learning this particular piece of the puzzle. Ephialtes was mortal. Once mortals were assigned either Asphodel, Fields of Punishment or Elysium, there was usually no coming back. Except for that one time that Nico guy pulled someone out of Asphodel but that's besides the point.

"Ah yes. Him. That was pretty easy. You might be aware of the time Tantalus filled in for Chiron at Camp Half Blood for about a year. Pretty much a similar situation. I grabbed him and told him of my spectacular plan to kill you and the others. See wanted revenge on Athenades for killing him. He kept saying that Athenades had help from Athena or something because he betrayed precious Leonidas," Ekhidnades explained while running the blade of his sword across his fingers where it made a metallic screeching noise. Ares stopped in his tracks. Athena helped him again?! Why?! All this time, he thought she hated him. All of her children hated him too, although that Annabeth girl was a brave warrior in her own right.

"Liar. Why would Athena help me?" Ares growled. Ekhidnades laughed.

"You are still caught up in the notion that they all hate you all the time. You represent bloody war and death. Did you expect them to treat you with reverence like how parts of Sparta did? Did you also know that Sparta loved Apollo and Artemis too? Think about it, War God. Athena saved you from my father when he arrived to topple Olympus the first time. She gave you orders while fighting Typhon the second time across America. When Diomedes threw that spear at you, he was aiming for your head. It would have killed you if she had not guided it towards your gut. And yet you still called her a bitch. Rude, don't you think? Remember how she just threw a rock at you afterwards? She wasn't trying to kill you at all, she was just defending herself from your puny little tantrum. You treat them like that and it's no wonder they tend to treat you the same way," Ekhidnades said. Ares still couldn't believe this. Athena, ATHENA, had been secretly helping him throughout the years. That was ludicrous.

"Enyo cares about me…" Ares found himself saying, as if he was a hormonal teenager.

"Of course she does. She's your sister. She also represents blood and carnage. The same thing you do. The mortals used to call her the 'Sister of War." Ekhidnades said. Ares could tell that he was growing bored of this whole explaining thing and he guessed he only had seconds before the battle began.

"How do you know all of this?" Ares said and silently summoned a giant 2 handed sword (the same one he used to fight Percy Jackon) behind the head of the distracted Ekhidnades.

"Typhon knows War God. Ever since you and the others banished him to Tartarus again, he has been stirring. Plotting his revenge. Luckily I ran into him while I was attempting to escape. He is still very weak but believes killing you and the others will be essential for his return. Now really, I am growing tired of telling you all of this and I don't even know why I am. I'm just going to kill you anyway," Ekhidnades said and readied his blade. Ares saw that he had not noticed the giant sword floating in the air behind his head. Ares made a "come on" gesture with his hand. He wasn't just taunting Ekhidnades, he was commanding the sword to impale him. Unfortunately, Ekhidnades moved his head to the side, dodging the blade and it kept its course. Flying right at Ares's chest. Ares had to parry his own strike and doing so caused him to eat a strong punch to the face that sent him stumbling. Ekhidnades laughed.

"Killing you will be easy. No pesky chariot with your little kiddies or little sister to get in my way this time," he said and swung his sword at Ares. Ares caught it on his own and the blades locked.

"I WILL SHOW YOU WAR!" he yelled and shoved Ekhidnades back. The battle for his life had begun.

It was a battle the likes of mortals or gods had never seen before. Ares and Ekhidnades blazed across the battlefield neither combatant wavering in their attempts to kill the other once and for all. Ares fought for his life and was even managing to hold his own against this absolute monster of an opponent. He dodged, he counter attacked, he rolled out of the way of poison. He felt unstoppable...but then Ekhidnades began to retaliate. Every so often, Ekhidnades's sword would graze Ares's armor and left sizable gashes in it. Ares knew that if that blade made any sort of contact with his skin, it would be all over. He could not let that happen. He needed to buy Apollo more time to heal the Olympians. He had only been at Thermopylae for about an hour. At least that's what he thought. Not like he had a watch or phone or anything that told him the time.

"You fight well for a former mortal that just got his powers back about an hour and a half ago," Ekhidnades said, aiming a punch at Ares's head with his free hand. Ares ducked under it.

"War is my domain!" Ares yelled back. For several minutes the battle raged on. The green areas of the field turned black with the heat emanating from Ares's form and Ekhidnades's dripping talons. Eventually, Ares began to become reckless as he usually did in situations like this. Except this time it was much more dire. Ekhinades had fainted to the left and Ares fell for it and the blade of Ekhidnades's sword cut into his side and touched his bare skin. Ares howled in pain and dropped his sword to clutch at his side. Big mistake. Ekhidnades used this opportunity to aim a punch at Ares's face. Luckily, Ares's shield absorbed most of the kinetic energy but it still drove him back a few feet. It even amplified the pain even more. Ekhinades aimed another blow at him but he rolled under it and managed to scramble over to his sword. He picked it up but the searing pain in his side overpowered his desire to kill this giant and he howled in pain again. Ekhidnades laughed and swung his sword. Ares fought through the pain and parried the strike and retaliated with a shield bash to Ekhidnades's face. Ares heard the tell tale signs of bones cracking and the following scream of pain. He had managed to break Ekhinades's nose...a tall order due to the matted mess of hair currently in front of his face. How he could even see would be something Ares could never understand. Ares smirked but then winced again.

"Think you've won? This proves nothing!" Ekhidnades roared and charged again. Again Ares found himself barely able to lift his sword arm and defend himself. Soon enough, his opponent's blade managed to get under his armor 2 or 3 more times and he fell to his knees, wincing. Ekhidnades flourished his blade and laughed again but stopped when he saw Ares slowly rise to his feet.

"IT IS OVER WAR GOD! DROP YOUR WEAPON!" Ekhidnades yelled at him. Ares banged his sword against his shield and uttered 2 words in Greek. The same words his son had apparently said to the invading Persians before his untimely death.

"MOLON LABE!" Ares yelled through the pain. Come and take it asshole. Ekhidnades rolled his eyes and walked over to Ares. Ares tried to stop him but the pain was too powerful. Ekhidnades punched him in the face again. Ares stumbled to the side but Ekhidnades righted him and then punched him in the face again. Over and over Ares was punched in the face, coughing up more and more ichor with each blow.

"WHY. WON'T. YOU. DIE!" Ekhidnades screamed, extenuating each word with another punch to Ares's face.

"S...Spar...Spartans….nev...never SURRENDER!" Ares managed to say. Ekhidnades stopped punching him in the face...only to grab Ares's dropped sword which lay on the ground near his feet. Ekhidnades drew it back with a malicious smile on his face. Ares saw what was coming far too late to do anything to stop it.

"AHHHHHHHHHH!" Ares screamed in pain as his own sword was driven into his gut and out of his back. Golden ichor was flowing from both sides of the wound and he felt the world begin to blur. So this is what it's like...to die...

"You lose War God. I, Ekhidnades, Son of Typhon,have shown you war," Ekhidnades said and withdrew the blade from Ares's stomach with the sound of metal on bone. Ares, still clutching the gaping wound in his stomach, fell to his knees. In his delirium he thought he could hear very distant screaming. The voices were many and they were people he knew all too well.

"NO!"

"NOOOOOO!"

"Brother..."

"Son…"

"Leonidas...I...I failed…I'll see you...I'll see you soon," Ares croaked and fell forward. Ekhidnades threw his head back and laughed as Ares clung to life with everything he had. He felt the ground trembling and managed to painfully turn onto his back to face the sky. He at least wanted to see that before he succumbed to his wounds. Sure enough, Ekhidnades had to ruin that too. He stood over his kill with his own poisoned covered blade in his hand and a malicious grin on his face.

"Remember how I said I was going to kill you last? I lied. You pissed me off and now your little sister and your girlfriend get to WATCH YOU DIE!" Ekhidnades raised his sword to the sky and swung it downward, right at Ares's neck. Ares closed his eyes and waited for the sweet release of death. His last thought was that of Aphro- CLANG! The sound of a sword striking a shield made Ares open his eyes to see that there was a skeletal hand holding a shield over his head and body which had blocked Ekhidnades's killing blow. He also felt cold boney hands tending to his wound on his stomach.

"WHAT THE?!" he heard Ekhidnades yell and take several steps backward. Ares looked toward his feet to see that 2 undead Spartan warriors were tending to his wounds with what looked like the same stuff Apollo or Paeeon used in the past. He could feel the wound that was given to him by his own sword begin to heal. The skeletal Spartans were clad in traditional armor. They had barely any skin on their bodies and the parts that did were chalk white. One of them sported a very wispy beard and he was grinning at Ares while he tended to his wound...but you know, he was a skeleton so Ares couldn't tell what mood it was in regardless. He also heard the sound of many other warriors maneuvering around him, apparently keeping Ekhidnades at bay. The 2 skeletal Spartans looked toward Ares's face and nodded. They must be finished and Ares even felt a little better than he did about 5 minutes ago. Not 100% but at least 85, maybe 90%. The shields covering Ares were removed and his eyes fell upon hundreds of skeletal Spartans keeping Ekhidnades and his snakes away from him. 300 to be exact. One of the skeletons offered his hand and Ares took it. The skeleton helped him to his feet and Ares turned in its direction. He nearly fell to the ground again when he recognized the skeleton's armor (which sported arrow punctures), helmet and wispy beard. This skeleton's face had most of its skin but it was still chalk white. Even through that ghastly visage, Ares knew who this was.

"Leonidas?" he asked. The skeleton nodded. Ares couldn't believe it. He was standing next to his resurrected son...or at least the remains of his son. Leonidas touched his father's shoulder and Ares returned the gesture, trying not to break down entirely. The last time he had seen Leonidas, he had been lying dead upon this very field. Why just over an hour ago, he had torn the man that betrayed him in half.

"How...how are you even here?" he asked Leonidas. The other Spartans were still keeping Ekhidnades at bay as they awaited further orders.

"Spartans never surrender father," Leonidas said. It was the first time he heard Leonidas speak in thousands of years and he couldn't have selected anything better to say to his father. "Come now, we fight to the last man! SPARTANS, TO BATTLE!" Leonidas raised his spear to the Heavens and all 300 Spartans (including Ares) yelled war cries and charged forward.

Never in a million years did Ares think he was going to regain his godly powers and fight alongside his son in battle. At Thermopylae no less. Together he and Leonidas fought their way through Ekhidnades's new army of vipers. Nothing could stop the pair of them from reducing their numbers to dust. Ekhidnades meanwhile tried to hold his own but the combined efforts from the resurrected 300 were making that rather difficult for him. He still managed to reduce the number of resurrected Spartansby a large margin. Now there were about 100 left including Leonidas. Eventually (after killing a viper with his bare hands) Ares turned to Leonidas.

"How do you expect to win this one?" he asked, parrying another viper strike. He only asked that because he could feel the wounds across his body begin to throb with pain again. That remedy must have only been temporary.

"I, how you say, called in the navy," Leonidas answered and pointed to the sea. In the water, Ares saw an old Greek trireme with another familiar looking skeleton standing at the front. There was even the head of a statue mounted on the front of the ship. The head looked like a certain Smart Ass that Ares found out had been secretly assisting him for years.

"Lysander," Ares said, nodding. Ares saw Lysander glance behind him before giving the order for the spearmen and archers to fire a volley in their direction. Lysander yelled something else to his men and then disembarked from the ship and ran over to Ares and Leonidas.

"Uncle," Lysander said, bowing to Ares. Ares was still flabbergasted that this was even happening right now. There was no way Athena had sent them both to help.

"Where'd you come from?" Ares asked, stabbing a viper in the eye.

"Ekhidnades chose Thermopylae as a battleground like a complete idiot and deceased warriors on the losing side of a battle owe you. You clearly needed help so here we are. Inhabiting our remains instead of being in Elysium," Lysander answered. "How's mother?"

"She's fine...pissed at me right now but fine," Ares said. This was not the time for a cozy catch up. The wounds were beginning to hurt more now. Ekhidnades had reduced the resurrected Spartans to around 20 total and had sunk the ship that Lysander had arrived on. Still, they continued to fight. Ares looked at Ekhidnades as he tore a skeleton to pieces. He couldn't let this monster return from Tartarus again and pull this same kind of plan a thousand years from now. An idea struck him...which was surprising even to him as it didn't involve ripping Ekhidnades's head off. Seeing all of the snakes gave him inspiration. They reminded him of how Apollo had killed Python once and for all. Chaos. That was the only way Ekhidnades would never return to this world. He needed to open a portal to Chaos. Thankfully, now that he had his godly powers back, he could do that with relative ease. He relayed this plan to Leonidas and Lysander. Both of which nodded and charged forward to distract Ekhidnades. Ares made his way around Ekhidnades. There were only 5 Spartans left now but no more vipers. Ares managed to get behind Ekhidnades without him noticing and plunged his sword into the ground and raked it forward. He then used his hands to force open a portal high above the swirling void of Chaos. This was no easy task even for a fully powered Olympian god. Ares himself wasn't even the most powerful one but he still managed to do it either due to sheer will or determination to protect Athens and Olympus from this monster. Unfortunately, the effort in opening the portal caused his wounds to flair with pain and nearly blacked out once or twice. Even at this distance, Ares could feel the unsettling nature of it. It was even hard for him to focus on it entirely. It looked like a multicolored pool of stars. If he fell in, he would cease to exist for all eternity. Something Zeus had apparently threatened to do to him if he ever came back to Olympus. Ekhidnades was still focused on the remaining Spartans and hadn't noticed Ares doing this. Ares made his way back to his son and nephew who were now the only 2 Spartans left.

"YOU THINK YOU'VE WON WAR GOD?! THESE SPARTANS WERE YOUR TRUMP CARD?! I HAVE EASILY BESTED THEM WITH NO EFFORT?! WHICH OF THESE REMAINING IS YOUR SON LEONIDAS?! I WILL KILL HIM FIRST!" Ekhidnades roared. Leonidas threw his spear which lodged itself into Ekhidnades's shoulder and he roared in pain. Greenish goo began to flow from the wound. Lysander threw his sword into Ekhidnades's other shoulder.

"NO! YOU CAN'T DO THIS TO ME! I AM THE SON OF TYPHON HIMSELF! I NEARLY BESTED YOU BEFORE! I AM NOT ABOUT TO LOSE AGAIN TO A BUNCH OF PUNY SPARTANS! THIS IS MADNESS!"

"No...THIS. IS. SPARTA!" Leonidas roared and kicked Ekhidnades in the chest. Lysander did the same. Ekhidnades stumbled backward, right up to the edge of the portal to Chaos. Ares slowly walked forward toward Ekhidnades, who was now coughing up his own blood and struggling to stand on his own.

"I, have shown you war." Ares said. He saw the fear in Ekhidnades's face as he realized that there was a portal to chaos behind him.

"NO! NO! PLEASE! " Ekhidnades pleaded, falling to his knees. It was futile. The God of War does not show mercy. Especially to those that nearly killed his little sister.

"Another falls to the might of Sparta. Don't fret, I'm told ceasing to exist is painless. This one is for Enyo," Ares said and delivered his own mighty kick to Ekhidnades's chest. Ekhidnades screamed as he fell into Chaos and was vaporized into nothingness. He closed the portal as the final scream of Ekhidnades echoed throughout the battlefield. It was over. Ares had done it. He had saved Athens and Olympus. He turned to Lysander and Leonidas, both of which began to crumble to dust again. Before Leonidas disappeared he uttered

"You honor me father,"

"You honor me too son," Ares said as the pain from the wounds all over his body became too much for him to handle and he fell forward into the dirt again. Before blacking out completely, he heard the sound of beating wings and eventually felt the sensation of the hands of death wrapping themselves around him.