Author's note: Nothing new, but as always, thanks for waiting! Also, forgive me if the reasons for this chapter's fight scene are nonsensical, but I tried to make some sense out of it.
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The next day, after breakfast, Lydia had went to see Marie in the training room. The German girl was just about to begin pulling off some advanced combos, when Freyja emerged beside her.
"Marie, are you still upset about that verbal fight with Lydia?" she asked.
"A bit...but I really wanted to apologize to her and settle things peacefully. Do you think I should do that?"
When Marie asked that question, the goddess of war seemed perplexed at first. However, she told her, "I think that it's best to tell her you're sorry for what transpired."
"Thank you. After all, it's pretty similar to the advice my parents gave to me."
Both of them smiled, before Freyja dissolved in front of her. At the same time, Marie heard the sound of footsteps, and saw that it was someone rather familiar.
"What is it, Lydia?" she asked.
"About what happened last night; I think it's safe to say that it's our fault for being so uptight about bringing up our relationships. I know you'll find someone to love, I know I probably have."
Lydia's words prompted Marie's eyebrows to furrow as she looked down. She then looked back up at her and asked, "Do you really mean it?"
"Yes, I do. And I'm sorry for the things I said." she replied.
The blonde let out a long sigh, before she smiled as she said, "I'm sorry for what I said, too."
Both girls then hugged out of respect, and Freyja would emerge in front of them. "So you've finally made up with Lydia; who knew my advice would work?" she told them with a sincere smile.
This prompted Marie and Lydia to chuckle a bit, before the latter left the room to allow the former to continue with her combos.
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A few days later...
Patroklos awoke, not to the sound of a soundless breeze, but rather to the sound of something breaking. He noticed that his shield was missing, and swiftly got out of bed.
Changing into his main clothes, he would then ask, "Who's in here?!"
It wasn't long before Ares emerged, holding the now damaged Arcadia Shield in his hand. "You rang?"
The blond was shocked as to how a god could ruin one half of his weapon, and demanded, "Ares?! Why'd you do it?!"
"Because Athena said that she and I would co-exist together as your mentors, and I didn't like that. So I intentionally broke your shield out of anger, and I got little to no regrets about it, either."
Patroklos grit his teeth, and exclaimed, "Athena's gonna find out about this when she sees you!"
Ares rolled his eyes, before the human man before him stormed out the room. "Oh, boo fuckity hoo. Get over it already!" he yelled.
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With their apology a success, Lydia breathed a sigh of relief. Now that it had been taken care of, she retreated to the study to get her fill of reading.
This time, she had taken interest in finding a book about romance. Just as she was about to start, however, someone came into the room, as well.
"Hey, Lydia."
She turned to see that it was Patroklos, who sat next to her. "Patroklos, it's you again. Anything good happen?"
He sighed as he replied, "Well...are you and the others concerned about Ares? I've a feeling he's starting to rebel against us."
"Why's that?"
"Some time ago, I awoke to hear the sounds of my shield being destroyed. To my shock, it was Ares that did it, and he said he wasn't planning on sharing the role of mentor with Athena." he said.
Lydia was surprised to hear this, and told him, "I thought he seemed to be a reasonable mentor to you. But I did have my doubts, what with him being reckless most of the time."
She had recalled either herself or any of their allies hearing of Ares or Athena, and they all had occasional encounters with them as well. Most of the time, it was usually the former, but sometimes it would be the latter.
"Perhaps you should get Athena to help you reason with Ares. Sound good?"
"I think so. Also, there's something else I want to bring up."
"Mm?"
"It's..." Patroklos sighed, before he continued. "It's Pyrrha. She might be closer to becoming Soul Edge's successor."
Lydia stood up, her eyes widening in shock. "Soul Edge?! Bloody hell, how was all that possible?!"
"It might have been the negative influence she got from the woman she encountered as a child; Tira, in other words. Hell, even those that defied us believe she's the one to handle its power." he replied.
"Shit..." was all that Lydia muttered under her breath. "What if she's the mole all along? Maybe Tira's pulling the strings on her!"
"It's possible it's both Tira and Nightmare." He drew a long breath, with him and Lydia providing each other very serious looks.
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Later on, in the evening, Patroklos was surprised that he hadn't seen Ares since the morning. Hence, he brought it upon himself to consult Athena.
Needless to say, he had no idea where she was until Marie brought up the fact that she was outside of Lasberg. And there Athena was, up on the hill, gazing at the town in all its almost miniature glory.
He headed there, and found her. "Sorry to have bothered you at a time like this, but...do you know where Ares went?"
The goddess of war looked over her shoulder to see Patroklos, and frowned. "I'm not sure...but he did mention something about getting drunk." she replied.
This perplexed him, so he said, "I'll try my best in looking for him, and if he's not around, he's probably traveled back to Greece on his own free will."
"That's exactly what was I going to say there. I've a feeling he may have went there, as well. But I can tell you this: he always donned a red cloak so as to not be recognized as a god in human form. So do be careful, okay?"
Athena's words of encouragement prompted a nod from Patroklos, before he took off.
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After having fruitlessly searched Lasberg, it looked like he was bound to give up. Thankfully, there was the forest that was nearby, and he was confident he'd find him there.
Patroklos would then hear a familiar-sounding voice, singing a drunken melody, and went to find out where it was coming from.
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The first to come in was a soldier and no captain ever looked bolder.
His gun on his right shoulder, his good broadsword he drew.
He said he'd fight with all his might
Before old England should be drunk dry;
And so they spent a rowdy night
When Johnson's ale was new.
As Ares tried to translate the song to Greek, it had appeared he seemed a little tipsy. Not only had he satiated himself with a few beers, but he was also happy to get away from his assumed 'allies'.
He could hear the sound of trees rustling, though, as he looked around. Before long, someone came into his field of view, and he grimaced at the sight of him.
"God damn...what are you doin' here for? I'm trying to..."
Letting a noticeably big burp, Ares did his best to stand himself up on his feet. "...to think about leaving Lasberg here!"
"What the hell's gotten into you?!" Patroklos asked.
"Screw you, man..." the god said as he finally summoned his swords. He had recalled fighting drunk during a friendly match whilst intoxicated with Dionysus's favorite brews, and was more than happy to fight like this.
With Soul Calibur in hand, he said to him, "If you want to get out of Lasberg for good, then you'll no longer acknowledge us as your friends. You'll even revoke your co-position as one of my mentors!"
Ares had let out a snort, before he brought out the Blades of Blood. Patroklos was the first to attack, bringing several slashes to the god's body.
He was close to finishing a combo when Ares caught him off-guard, counterattacking with his swords. "I've remembering training you a long time ago, kid. And yet you still have a lot to learn!" he said to him.
"I can tell you're being sarcastic about saying that."
"Oh, how'd you guess, pretty boy?"
As Ares brought his weapons down on Patroklos, bringing in a series of hits to his upper body. He ended with a knee to the stomach, causing him to clutch the area in slight pain.
"Bet you never did something like that, have you?" he asked.
"Of course not; and I sure as hell won't!"
When Patroklos said those words, he charged, a few more hits given to Ares before he parried. He gave him a noticeable smirk, before the Blades of Blood almost cut through him like butter, close to breaking his armor completely.
Remembering the numerous times he would use Soul Calibur in combat (whether for training or actual battles), he wound up fighting back. Soon, several more hits, as well as a stab or two, brought Ares down.
"You can't kill me! I'm a god and you know it!" he yelled.
This didn't faze Patroklos, however, as he finished things off with his Critical Edge. Once Ares had hit the ground, it was clear that he was still drunk, close to passing out after being beaten down by his protege.
Suddenly, Athena's presence appeared before both of them, and she helped Ares up, she told him, "You should've known better than to defy us!"
"Mmnngh..."
Ares's slurred speech made it nearly impossible for him to try and apologize for everything he had caused. Patroklos headed over to them, assisting Athena.
"Don't worry, Patroklos. I'll be taking over his responsibilities, and I'll be more than happy to make him own up for what happened today." she said to him with a smile.
"Thanks, Athena." he replied, smiling back.
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When they had finally returned to Lasberg, Athena assigned Ares to rest, and perhaps take time off from mentoring Patroklos. He had begrudgingly complied, and thus the goddess of wisdom would watch over the Alexandra siblings.
"So how long will it be before he comes back?" Patroklos asked.
"I'm not sure. But I'm certain it'll be a pretty long time, and I'm also certain he'll try his best to get along with me once we're back to mentoring you and Pyrrha together." she replied.
Patroklos was initially disappointed, but was confident that Ares could probably turn over a new leaf according to Athena. Perhaps...?
Suddenly, they heard Marie call out, "Hey guys! Dinner's ready!"
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Once supper had concluded, Patroklos saw that the only people present in the dining room were Helen, Lydia and himself. Everyone else had either returned to their bedrooms, or had other important things to do.
"So I took Pyrrha out on a date, and she asked if we can go walk around the forest together." Lydia said. "And I went, 'Sure, why not?'."
"And how did it go?" Helen asked.
Lydia was just about to reply, when Patroklos asked, "Hey, how come you're not leaving the room? Dinner's already over, you know."
The two girls took notice of him, and Lydia smiled as she said, "Oh, nothing out of the ordinary, I believe. How about you?"
"Well, Athena asked me to look for Ares. He told her that he needed some space, and so I looked around Lasberg. I seemed to have given up, but decided to trek the forest. You wouldn't have heard or seen him during your date, right?"
Lydia briefly pondered, before she finally said, "Not that I know of."
"I'm a little worried about his behavior since that morning, when he ruined my shield." he replied.
"Really?" Helen asked, eyes widening in surprise.
"Luckily, Athena and I were able to help him out, and it was also quite clear that he was seriously drunk. Not to mention that Athena will be my mentor for the time being until Ares gets himself together."
"A-ha..." Lydia said, raising an eyebrow. "I bet Athena will make a fantastic mentor to you. Don't you agree?"
Patroklos smiled as he nodded. "I believe so, and I'm more than happy to learn the ropes from her."
Both girls were just as happy as he was, before they all said their farewells and and left.
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As everyone retired for the night, Athena sat on the roof of the Mad Hearts Neo's base, looking out at the sky. Though she was alone and happy, another person had appeared in front of her.
"Freyja?" she asked.
"That's right."
Freyja smiled as she sat next to her, and inquired, "I do think we'll be getting along quite nicely, don't you think?"
"I hope so."
And thus, both goddesses conversed things such as the Mad Hearts Neo, the Alexandra siblings, and what not, through the night.
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Coming soon: Nightmare invades the Schwarzwind base! Will Patroklos and his allies stop them?
With love for my fans,
Chrissy