WARNINGS: In the near future this story will have a f/f relationship, if this bothers you then don't read. It's that easy. There will also be more violence. After all this story has the goddess and god of war
Athena couldn't stop the nagging feeling that Ares had beaten her at something. With a shake of her head she tried to push that thought away. Though she had never truly experienced love, she did know it was not a game with prize to be won. It was something to be savored and celebrated.
Sighing as she stepped into her house on Olympus she glanced wearily at the young man wearing winged sandals, hovering in mid air. He smiled at her and waved merrily. "Hey Sis, way to kick the crap of Ares's armies again." He said enthusiastically as he flew just out of her reach. He leaned back as if he were sitting on a chair and watched as Athena brushed past him. All attempts at figuring out what Aphrodite could possibly want were banished from her head quickly.
"Thanks Hermes." She said softly as she walked over to a map of Greece spread out on the table in the middle of the large room. Blue and red blocks of clay were positioned over her home land. They represented the various armies in Greece and the surrounding countries. Hermes flew behind her and they both watched in silence as a red block moved slowly away from Argos and headed toward Sparta, Ares's city.
Looking over her shoulder at her younger brother, she raised her brow. "Now what can I do for you?" She asked as she laid her helmet on the table then started to take off her beautiful armor and place it carefully on the wooden stand against the wall. In her head she was going over the hundreds of visits with mortals she needed to have before the sun set.
"Zeus sent me." He said as he landed soundlessly on the marble floor and walked over to her spear stand. Picking up one of the spears he held it in his hands and thrust it at an imaginary enemy. Athena glanced at him with a raised brow but let him play with her extra spear while she finished carefully dressing a wooden stand with her armor.
Though she could have easily used her powers to take off her armor, she liked doing it by hand. She prided herself on being a goddess for the people, and found that by doing simple tasks that her followers did she was able to come up with tools to help them.
Once done she wore only a thin white toga and a gold belt around her slim waist. Her hair, no longer held up by the helmet or pins now framed her face, the olive wreath rested on top of her head like a crown. On her wrists were delicate bracelets that Hephaestus had made her after she had helped improve his method of forging metals. She was no longer the fierce goddess of war, but the inspiring goddess of wisdom.
Walking over to her brother, who was still pretending to fight she daftly plucked the spear from his hands and replaced on the stand. She could only take him goofing off for so long before she became irritated. He had a message for her from Zeus and she wanted to know what it was.
As she walked to the marble altar in the corner of the room, a bowl of water appeared on it. "I take it since you still haven't told me what Zeus wants that it isn't time sensitive." She said as she bent over the blow and splashed some water on her face. A piece of soft cloth appeared in her hands that she used to dry her face.
Laying the cloth next to the bowl they both disappeared, and a jug of wine and bowl of olives replaced them. "He just told me to tell you that he wanted to see you when you had a moment. But Hera was hovering around." Hermes said with a shrug of his shoulder as he leaned against the table in the middle of the room and watched Athena pour herself a cup of wine.
Picking up her cup Athena shook her head then took a drink of the sweet wine. "I'm sure she is upset about something and he wants me to fix it." She muttered around the cup then took another sip. Expecting to hear a snort or a chuckle in agreement from Hermes, she glanced at him. When she found him eyeing her, she rolled her eyes and took another sip.
Hermes didn't realize he was staring at her until she cleared her throat impatiently. A blush crept over his boyish face and he lifted into the air. He wouldn't lie. Athena was beautiful. She didn't have the amazing breath taking beauty Aphrodite or Hera had, but she had a beauty of her own. And she had a body to die for, since she was never still for long and constantly in the midst of a battle or aiding some hero. He also knew that he wasn't the only god that liked looking at her. But he was one of the most trusted.
"Yeah, I'm sure." He said hastily then licked his dry lips nervously. After Zeus and Hera, Athena's fury was the worst and he didn't want to be struck by it. He watched as Athena shrugged her shoulders carelessly and took another sip of her wine. "Oh, Aphrodite wants you." He said as he remembered the goddess of love had asked to find Athena for her.
In shock and embarrassment Athena spit out the liquid in her mouth. She looked at Hermes quickly as her heart began to beat harder and faster. She wondered for a moment if he could hear it. But he was looking at her with a wrinkled brow and a look of confusion.
Of course he didn't know her true feelings toward the other goddess she thought as she wiped the wine off her chin with the back of her hand. No one knew. Only recently had Athena realized what her feelings truly were.
"You ok?" Hermes asked as he flew closer to her. She held her hand up to stop him and he obeyed the silent command. He studied her closely as she looked around uneasily and shifted her feet. It never occurred to him that Athena would have taken what he said in another meaning. She was after all a virgin and never passed a chance to let everyone know she was going to remain one.
"Yeah, sorry." She muttered as she turned her back to him. Her hand shook so much that as she placed her cup on the altar it rattled against the marble. Noticing how nervous Athena was, Hermes wondered if Athena had recently played some mean joke on Aphrodite. He didn't want to be involved or even know what was going on so he kept quiet.
"Ok, well I'll be off then. I have to go tell Artemis that Zeus is mad that her amazons aren't offering him enough scarifies." He grumbled with a roll of his eyes. "She won't be happy about that one. See you later!" Hermes flew quickly out of the room through the door leaving Athena staring at the untouched bowl of olives.
Exhaling loudly she turned and glanced over the room. Her armor on its stand needed to the dents hammered out of it, and her spear needed to be sharpened. Her sword was in perfect condition and hung proudly on a wall next to hundreds of olive wreaths.
"A lot of good they do me." She whispered regretfully as she slowly reached up and took off the new one. Holding it in her hand she glared at it as she remembered the sight of Ares and Aphrodite together and how much it had bothered her.
She let her thoughts wander as she tried to figure out why it had affected her so much. After a few minutes she shook her head as if tying to get rid of the thoughts. She couldn't come up with any reason except that she'd never seen them together after a battle and she had been filled with the joy of victory.
Walking to what she called her wall of victory she hung up the newest wreath then turned to the door. Knowing she needed to see Zeus first she fought back the urge to go find Aphrodite and see what she wanted.
"I know it isn't I." She whispered dejectedly. "She can have anyone she wants. And there is no reason she'd ever want me." Chewing on her lip Athena tried to think of an excuse she could use to avoid Aphrodite for a few years.
Last time she had done that poor Odysseus had his grand adventure as he tried to make his way home. That had kept her busy for ten years and away from Aphrodite. But Athena didn't want to have to send any of her heros' on long pointless quests.
"Zeus first then deal with her." She muttered. "I could always say I need to see her husband about fixing my armor." She decided as an escape. It was well known that Aphrodite was not happy in her marriage and avoided her husband at all costs.
With a firm nod of her head she pushed all thoughts of Aphrodite out of her head and left the room. Starting up the marble road that lead to the council chamber of the gods and Zeus's throne, she was glad to see that no one was around.
The sound of angry shouting was heard from behind the large oak doors that opened to Zeus's Throne room. Knowing the voices belonged to Zeus and Hera, Athena prepared herself to witness yet another battle of wills between the King and Queen of the gods.
Sorry the second chapter took so long. Ran into writers' block and had to try and get out of it as best I could. I hope you liked this chapter as much as the first! Please review and if you have any ideas or any gods you want to make an appearance I am always opened to suggestions! I promise the next chapter will be up soon!