Somewhere on mount Olympus
Three of the gods stood round a looking glass that lay on the floor, the first was Ares god of war, the second Hestia goddess of the hearth and the third was Hera wife of Zeus the god of all gods and goddess of marriage
"There he goes again, of into the past." Ares laughed as the three watched as midnight trekked the path they had made
"Give the child a break nephew, he is still finding his feet on earth after what the follower of Zoot did to him." Hestia said, Ares didn't reply he was deep in thought, silence fell over the two so finally Hera resolved to speak for she knew they would listen to what she had to say whether they wanted to or not for she was the ruler of all gods wife
"I believe that the young man the two of you seem s interested in is in need of action, he is a Warrior of great stature is he not Ares my son." Hera asked, she disliked her son Ares but knew he was wise as well as bloodthirsty
"Yeah he is, but what can I do? He has beaten nearly all of the greatest fighters in tribeworld." Ares replied, Hestia smiled at this
"But he hasn't beaten you has he? I don't recall you giving him that challenge, like you did Xena." She said, Ares thought about it before vanishing.
Down on earth Midnight couldn't help but notice that it had become dark sooner than usual
"Here we go again." He thought as the dark clouds that had been on the edge of the sky suddenly converged over head, Midnight stopped knowing this meant the arrival of an Olympian god, drawing his sword he placed the shield beside him on the ground along with his nap sack, quiver and bow.
As expected just as Midnight straightened up Ares appeared in a clap of thunder "Midnight, expecting me I see." He said walking round the young warrior as if survey goods
"As if you didn't expect me to expect you Ares, you're the god of war, I know all the signs of your arrival." Midnight replied, suddenly Ares drew his sword from his side
"I cam here to test your warrior heart, see if you were still worthy of my time or if I should send you to Hestia." He said before lunging at midnight that drew his own in a flash but wasn't quick enough
"Hestia, you can't be serious, you think I've slipped?" midnight asked holding his wound as the two clashed swords
"I gave you warning and yet I still caused you to bleed." Ares said shrugging towards midnight free hand was covered in the blood of his shoulder
"Yeah well, I'm tired, I'm bored, cut me some slack." He said leaping over Ares as the god of war went for his chest
The battle raged most of the night, neither surrendering for thought of dishonour
"Come on midnight you're mortal you can't defeat me." Ares complained finally
"Then you have to call it off, and admit I have regained my honour in your blood lusting eyes Ares." Midnight said, Ares stopped
"Drop your sword." He said dropping his own, Midnight didn't trust the god and so even though he did drop his sword he kept a telekinetic lock to it, he didn't like using his gift but he had no choice
"You have recovered your honour Midnight as I have my greatest warrior even if you fight for the honour of more than one." He said holding out his hand for midnight to take, midnight did so and they shook hands but not before Midnight had to shiver from Ares cold grip "see you again Kerovan warrior." Ares continued before vanishing
Midnight was left wondering what all that had been about
"Can't a guy get a little guidance around here." He said to the stars above him before they faded
After gathering up his weapons midnight went about Continuing on his way he spent most of the day thinking over what Ares had said about fighting for the honour of more than one,
Just then by the roadside he came upon a tavern, stopping he considered going in
"I haven't seen a human since Dakota." He thought before entering.
The Tavern was small on the outside but when midnight entered he saw that first impressions weren't everything, the tavern was as big as one from ancient Greece, it had posters of bands from before the virus dotted around, Midnight looked for signs of life, there were a few people sat at either side of the room and the noise they made was welcoming to someone who hadn't heard a real human voice in days but as the door behind him closed the noise died
"Hello stranger." The boy behind the bar said as Midnight sat down, he was tall with natural whitish hair he didn't have any war paint on
"what's your poison!" he asked, Midnight thought for a moment before replying
"Bat blood on the rocks." He requested.
End chapter 5