Harry the god of war

Chapter 8

In a clearing in the middle of the forests of China, was a place called Jusenkyo. The clearing was filled with small pools of water, each of them containing a sign in Chinese. Suddenly the natural silence of the cursed springs of Jusenkyo was disturbed, as a weird sound was heard. They sound came from a cloud of silverish-blue dust that had appeared from nowhere. The cloud of dust spinned fast forming the shape of a human. The human was tall, maybe almost five and half feet, and was obliviously male.

The dust stopped moving, and melted to the corporal form of Ares, the god of war.

"Oh, that took longer that normal…" Ares said, while stretching his tensed muscles.

"Ranma, follow me!" A male voice could be heard a bit away, and Ares turned to the new voice, only to see a bald middle-age man, wearing thick classes and a gi. "I am not taking it easy with you this time!" The man continued to yell to the younger man following him.

"That's how I want it!" The young raven-haired boy yelled. The boy had nice, calm blue eyes, and he had his shoulder length hair on a pigtail. The man and boy then started sparring, trading kicks and punches for a while. The boy was hesitated for a moment, as he could have kicked the mans face in, and the man jumped back with a bit of shock in his face.

"Boy! Is that it! Have I not trained you for Saotomes school of anything goes, so that you could learn to fight!" At the boy's brief nod, he continued "...Then fight! How are you going to get better, if you ain't giving your best?" The man was interrupted as a leg appeared seemingly out of nowhere on his face, sending him flying to one the many springs of Jusenkyo below them. The man fell into the pool with a big splash.

"Sure thing pop!" The son of the man, apparently, yelled at the form that came to the surface after a few seconds. The blurry form jumped back to one of the poles sticking from the ground, and fell to a fighting stance. It wasn't until then the boy noticed that he was fighting against a panda. The clear form of a panda was standing at the pole. Momentarily shocked at the fact that his father had somehow turned to a panda, he let his guard down.

Ares had been disturbed by the name Saotome. He thought and thought and thought, and finally it clicked. Several centuries ago a seer said that the next men of men of the Saotome family should have the ability to defeat a god in battle. He had made the seer a promise to tell the men of men a message.

Ares turned his attention again to the Saotomes, deciding to have a chat with them. The panda had kicked his son to one of the pools too, and as the boy emerged to the surface he noticed he was now a she. Ares cringed at the thought. Poor pal, he thought.

The boy was obliviously shocked too, as the guide explained he had fallen to the nanniichuan, the spring of the drowned girl. The boy, now girl opened her shirt, and screamed at the new pair of breast he had gotten. She stared at them for a moment, but soon the shock turned into rage as the guide continued explaining that it was the reason Jusenkyo was called cursed.

The girl now, in oblivious rage tied her shirt again, and then attacked the panda. The panda, being martial artist had predicted the attack, and took off to the hills surrounding Jusenkyo. The girl shrieked in rage, and raced after her father, now panda. Ares was just about to follow them, to forward the message from the seer, when someone or something lunged at him, sending him to one of the pools. Absently he noted it was mauniichuan, the spring of the drowned cat.

Ares looked around, and had barely time to see his attacker before they went below the surface. The thing attacking him had been a Kalaath demon. Standing normally seven foot tall, the Kalaath demons were known of their excellent sword man ships. The demon had a pair of horns on its forehead, and it was covered completely by blood red scales. The Kalaath's came from china, being just a small tribe of demons, and their relationship with the Chinese fireball dragons had been questioned for years. The Kalaath were also known for their job. Working as assassins the Kalaath had gained worldwide reputation, as being brutal, and never backing down in a deal.

Ares was just cursing the idea of having the whole clan after him, as he realized that he was indeed now, underwater, looking at a ginger cat. Remembering then about the strong sorcery of the springs, he swam to the surface fast, and dragged himself on the shore. He then sent a surge of magic throw his body, and sighted in relief as he could feel the healing magic working throw his body. It wouldn't do to change into cat, now would it, he thought. A moment later the cat arrived on the shore too. Not wanting a angry demon, who could turn into a cat after him, he gave it a moments thought, and the beheaded the former demon, before it had time to use its magnificent and big cat claws to attack.

He saw something hitting the rays of sun, and glittering at the bottom of the clear-watered spring. He summoned the object, and groaned as he realized what it was. It was a sword, and more closely a sword here recognized, or rather recognized the maker. The sword was excellent in quality, and in the bottom was a carved picture of a forge and flames surrounding it. The mark was Daidalos, or rather Hephaestus mark.

Ares frowned as he realized what it was all about. Aphrodite was Hephaestus' wife. Now, the family relations of the gods were mainly ignored. After all, many of them, even Zeus had slept with their sisters and brothers. The selection was not so fide, and inbreeding was usual. Hephaestus and he had always hated each other, from the beginning. Finally Ares had taken it too far, and slept with Aphrodite. Aphrodite was his half-sister, as they shred the same father, but as said, it wasn't unusual. They had slept behind Hephaestus' back, and once even made the mistake of sleeping in the bed Hephaestus himself had forged.

The iron bed had sensed Hephaestus will, and trapped them into the bed. Hephaestus had invited all the other gods to witness their embarrassment, as he had discovered them. That was not the worst of it of course; it had been eons ago and long forgotten and buried. Or would be, had not Aphrodite give birth to a boy, cupid, called Eros. The rumours around the gods had off course been that Eros was Ares' and Aphrodite's love childe, and for that Hephaestus despised Ares. Aphrodite herself had never said was or wasn't, but Hephaestus was convinced he wasn't the father.

From that way onward the war had been on. Ares, of course enjoying a good battle had enjoyed the fight, and answered with equal power. At least once in a century they fought, using everything around them, from axes to bows to some mountains and trees; small things lying around them.

But, seriously, the destruction of Pompeii, was totally Hephaestus fault; it wasn't his fault the man couldn't hold his liquid.

Okay, so maybe he had gone little overboard with the Santorini volcano, and sinking Atlantis, but it was really Hephaestus fault for calling him names. So maybe he was a mother-fucker, but was it really his fault he had such a gorgeous mother? Neeh…

Ares grinned at the thought of the destruction they had done in the good days, and magicked his leather pants dry. So this was what it had come to… Well, two can play that game, Hephaestus… Ares thought as he thought of the insults he could lung at Hephaestus for hiring outside help. Besides, he did know a nice little demon clan in Brasilia…

His thoughts wondering off, Ares walked off to the direction where the Saotomes had taken off to. Now, where did they go? Ares thought, before noticing the trail of destruction obliviously left by the fleeing panda and raging girl.

He never noticed the small, black piglet he and the demon had pushed to one of the pools.

A/N: Sorry everyone, for the confusion. This is, as in the beginning said, a crossover fic, containing Buffy and Ranma. Thischapter is mostly how I brought Ares into the Ranma storyline. This also explains some of the relation ships in the story, mainly about Ares and Aphrodite. Besides, to those of you who don't know, maybe you actually learned something new! Joke, joke. I want to thank my BETA reader, and editor, Darkest Melody, and my favourite rewiever, Shikatanai, the one who brought my lack of knowledge of the Greek gods to my attention. Sorry for that! embarrassed

Thanks for one of my rewievers for the right name of the cat spring.