CHAPTER XX

WARNING: Dark, Mature Themes.

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Author's Notice!

Thank you all for waiting patiently for this chapter to come out as it is a little late. I am currently starting up my own business so I'm incredibly busy. However, I would like to upload more regularly and get more feedback from you guys.

I've noticed that the last few chapters have been very long (I guess I was excited to get back to writing!) and while this is enjoyable, it also means that it takes a longer time to get out a chapter and gives me less time to edit errors. Moving forward, chapters will be of a shorter format for faster and more consistent uploads. I am aiming to upload every weekend/Sunday, so please look forward to this. I also have something exciting coming up for those who are interested in the lore and history of this particular mythological universe.

I enjoy reading your reviews, comments and theories, so I encourage you all to share your thoughts in the review section on each chapter if the chapter moved you to do so.

Thank you for all the engagement, I'll be seeing you next week!

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In the late hours of the morning, a cloak of grey clouds hung above the turrets of Athena's temple. Light rain washed over the cool marble and left a film of shimmering dew across the temple grounds.

Drowsy owls had already returned with bellies full from the night's hunt. They dipped through the breezy arches of the foyer and perched themselves in high places, escaping the morning's light in the dark recesses of temple, their wings still a little damp.

Hidden away, deep in one of the wings of the temple, were the humble private quarters of the temple's patron. Within one quiet room, two forms huddled closely together beneath a mess of white linen sheets and a carelessly placed quilt.

Athena burrowed her head out from beneath the sheets before taking a deep breath. Strands of hair clung to her damp face and she could feel beads of sweat trickle down her back. Ares, even deep in his sleep, was like a furnace. Throughout the night, his skin remained as though it had been warmed by a brutal sun. While this warmth had kept Athena positively comfortable during the coldest hours of the night, it was now proving too much to bear.

The air was cool on Athena's face. She glanced around the room with muggy vision. The light that poured in from the window could only illuminate so much of the room. She could hear the rain against the temple's marble. Peering down at the form beside her, still well hidden and fast asleep, Athena slowly pushed back the quilt – one a drowsy Ares had found in the night when Athena's shivering roused him from his slumber – and then the sheets. They exposed a sea of flaming locks before Ares' face came into view. Athena's belly fluttered.

There were many things that needed Athena's attention today and sleeping until this hour was sure to set her back by half a day's work. And yet, as she laid beside Ares, the look of pure repose upon his face as he slept, she could not help but imagine spending the entire day like this with him.

The last time Athena had seen him so peaceful, his bones had just been mended after being shattered, so perhaps that peacefulness was not necessarily voluntary. Athena's fingers hesitated briefly before gently touching his chin. Her fingertips brushed his lip as she watched him intently.

Now, this tranquillity was something in which he allowed himself to indulge. Beside Athena, no less.

Inching towards him carefully, Athena dared with some hesitation to press her lips against his. She would allow herself this one pleasure before Ares awoke. Before his eyes could fill her with doubt, uncertainty and unbridled desire, she wanted to enjoy this one pure pleasure.

Just as she pulled away, Ares' eyes fluttered opened. Athena smiled, smoothing back a curl above his brow.

'We've been asleep too long,' she said. Ares' eyes followed the features of her face before a light of recognition and affection returned to them. Shutting his eyes again, he groaned, burying his head further into his pillow.

'Is it really alright for someone like you to sleep so carelessly, and for so long no less?' Athena lightly brushed her fingertip against the tip of his nose.

Ares grunted in amusement.

'Someone like me? I thought I was in good company,' his voice was deep and raspy and its rumble made Athena's ears prickle with delight.

'It's already late,' Athena began to pull herself up from the mess of sheets. Taking the opportunity to gaze out of the window, she saw the silver showers that bathed the dry earth of her temple grounds.

'What's the rush?' Ares' sunk further into the sheets; his brows furrowed. She sighed, her own voice a little raspy from disuse.

'There could be another beast sighting, another one of those faceless creatures could attack, any number of other imminent dangers,' she looked at him, 'you're not even in the least bit moved by this?'

Ares watched Athena for a moment. It was only the late morning and she was already so restless. He shifted among the sheets.

'Whatever 'imminent dangers' arise, we shall spring to action the way we always do,' Ares' broad hand found the small of Athena's back beneath the sheets, 'until then – come here.'

He allowed his fingertips to snake up her back, tracing lines across her skin as her wild, winding locks brushed against his knuckles. A shiver crawled up Athena's spine.

'Regardless,' Athena nudged his arm away, 'I have work to do.'

'Oh? Like what?' Ares teased with feigned interest. She was not amused.

'Like,' Athena frowned, 'analyse the data we've collected about the beast attacks. Find patterns, correlations–'

'And how is that working out for you?' Ares ran his fingertip along Athena's neck lightly. She caught his hand, unamused. Even as the two laid beside one another, Ares still knew how to push Athena's buttons the same way he had been doing for centuries.

A gentle smile appeared on his face. Athena's grip loosened, allowing his fingers to explore the curves and lines of her face. She shut her eyes and felt his thumb brush against her lip. The surface of his hand was a little rough, somewhat like her own, but naturally it emitted an inexplicable warmth. Athena kissed the palm of his hand, feeling outside of herself.

'Analyses, correlations, data,' he shook his head, a little amused, 'We're together. Surely, the answers can't be too far.'

Athena's heart panged as his touch roamed her face, her neck, the contours of her collar bone. Feeling something dangerous pool deep within her, she caught his hand again. Ares did not resist.

'What about Aphrodite?' Athena looked away, 'Surely, she should be looking for you by now. How did you manage to convince her to let you leave anyway?'

'You needn't worry about that. She won't be waking up any time soon.'

Her eyes met Ares' and he saw the sudden horror that befell her expression.

'Sleeping draught,' he rolled his eyes, 'maybe a greater dose than necessary, but nonetheless she is in a peaceful slumber in the safest corner of what is left of her palace, guarded dutifully by my best men.'

She couldn't tell if Ares' words were the truth or not, but the story was absurd and reckless enough for her to believe it.

'I still have work to do,' she said after a short pause, 'which means you have to leave.'

She hadn't noticed it while curled up beneath the covers but her body ached, and she felt it most as she tried to swing her legs over the edge of the bed.

'Why do I have to?' Ares laughed at her curtness.

'You put my servants on edge,' Athena stretched, 'and I refuse to leave you roaming the halls, unsupervised while I'm making my rounds.'

Her remark went unanswered. Glancing over her shoulder she found Ares, arms sprawled across the bed and his eyes firmly shut. The faintest hint of a smile played on his lips.

'You're an idiot,' Athena sighed. He stifled a chuckle before returning to his corpse-like rigidity.

'Ares–'

'I'm asleep. You'll have to wake me up if you want me to leave.'

Athena felt her head throb. With much effort, she poised herself to stand.

'You have until I get dressed to–'

Ares wrapped his fingers around her wrist and locked it into a vice grip.

'Will you–' Athena huffed, tugging at her arm. The more she resisted, the less Ares could hold back his laughter.

'I told you,' his eyes were still shut, 'you have to wake me up first.'

She stood up in a fruitless effort to escape his grip but was swiftly returned to her seat as her legs gave out beneath her. With another deep sigh, Athena slumped at the edge of the bed.

'You really will never change, will you?'

'Athena.'

The grip on her arm loosened. His voice had changed. She peered over her shoulder hesitantly. A tenderness filled Ares' eyes that she had not seen before and almost immediately, she felt as though a weight had been placed on her chest.

'Come here.'

His voice travelled to her ears as though they had not come from him, but instead from every corner of the room.

These moments seemed almost surreal between the two. Athena, despite herself, returned to the bed, slithering beneath the sheets and atop Ares as his arms encircled her. Their gazes did not part once as she did so.

In the mess of linen, their legs entangled and she could feel the gentle rhythm of his heartbeat against hers.

'You're a cruel, cruel, goddess Athena,' Ares' voice rumbled through her, 'to discard me so thoughtlessly without even affording me,' he kissed her, 'your warmth,' another kiss, 'some idle chatter on this rainy morning.'

Their lips met again and this time Athena would not allow him to part from her. The morning fog that had filled her mind only thickened as Ares' tongue found hers. His rough hands wasted no time in travelling across her skin, exploring every curve and crook of her body. It had only been a few times that she felt the hunger of his curious fingertips across her flesh, and yet she could not imagine ever getting tired of it. The shivers that ran up her spine, the fluttering in her belly and the warmth that pooled at her hips were all summoned by him. She would never get tired of it.

But, would he?

Athena pulled away. Ares, bewildered and impatient, searched her eyes for an answer. A cloudiness had misted them and her heart drummed.

'What?' he whispered as he tried to read her.

Her mind reeled as a familiar feeling of doubt filled her chest.

'I…I really do have work–'

'I can tell that you were overthinking,' he smoothed a wild curl on her head, 'just now. You were overthinking something. The look in your eyes is always the same.'

Athena said nothing. The tip of Ares' nose lightly brushed the tip of hers and she desperately wanted to kiss him again, but resisted.

'How long,' Athena muttered, 'has it been? With you and Aphrodite, when did it start? Millenia ago, I'm sure.'

She shifted downwards and placed a tender kiss on the end of his collar bone. Resting her head on his chest, she stared into the grey darkness that engulfed the rooms ends.

'Is that how long I have?'

'Athena–'

She smiled bitterly.

'That's not enough.'

A silence filled the room. Ares eyes fixed upon the ceiling as he laid his hand upon Athena's head. Suddenly the air had become thick.

'I want you to stay. I do. But there are things I must attend to today, urgently.'

Athena pushed herself from Ares and a brush of chilly air rushed over his skin where the warmth of her body left him. With some effort, she returned to her seat at the edge of her bed. Ares watched her as she stood, tossing a few stray sheets from the ground back onto the bed.

Urgently? He thought for a moment. The previous nights events flooded his mind once more just before the image of his young, timid, sentry came to the fore.

'Did you manage to make any headway last night,' he sat up, 'after inspecting the woods?'

His words seemed to sound a little colder now in this room that had been almost ablaze the night before. Athena's words sounded no different.

'We found nothing of great significance, Artemis and I,' she found her dress bundled on the floor, 'if what we were told was true, and the beast that attacked you did indeed attack Aphrodite, then it performed the same disappearing act it had done in the past. We discovered an opening in the forest where something large must have thrashed about, but there was no visible exit point.'

Dusting the dress off, Athena realised it would hardly appropriate for the patron of this temple to be flouncing about in a nightdress at noon. Usually, Maija would come to wake her mistress at dawn with a freshly pressed outfit for the day. Out of politeness – and quite possibly disdain for the guest – she had refrained from waking Athena this morning. However, this courtesy left Athena to fish through her musty closet for something at least half-way appropriate in Maija's absence.

Ares made little effort to find his discarded night clothes. Still seated and wrapped up among the sheets, he mused over Athena as she tossed dress after dress out of closet, equally unsatisfied with the next as she was with the last. He remembered that not so long ago, Athena was hyper-conscious of her bare body and would withdraw as soon as Ares laid his eyes upon her. Now, she was almost completely oblivious to his gaze.

'You know, my many eyes and ears around the palace overheard a conversation between you and Apollo,' he said and Athena promptly paused, 'a covert one.'

She peered over her shoulder before returning to the closet. Spotting an older dress she had once been fond of, but was a little outdated now, she drew it out of the mess of clothing and gave it a good shake before inspecting it. Yes, this would have to do for now.

'I'm going ignore the fact that one of your men was eavesdropping and let it go for today. However, if I find him…'

Ares smirked. He enjoyed it when Athena took this tone.

'I'll give him a stern talking-to on your behalf. What had you so bothered you were sneaking about, talking in hushed tones?'

Athena sighed, suddenly reminded of the previous night's chaos.

'After Artemis and I returned, I interviewed the servants well enough to give their testimony of events. Those that saw glimpses of the creature reported a beast similar to the one that attacked you: large, with great speed despite its sloppy appearance and oversized belly. Many reported a nauseating, rancid odour travelling through the palace before the beast's rampage reached them.'

'In the palace? From where did the beast enter?'

Athena turned around, stepping into her dress.

'That's what I was going to ask you. Did Aphrodite not tell you anything about when she encountered it? Where it came from; how she evaded it?'

'She was more concerned with erasing the whole ordeal from her mind; I couldn't get much out of her. I'll have to try again when she's awake.' Ares rubbed his eyes. The thought of visiting that ruin of a palace again suddenly drained him of the little energy he had.

'In truth,' Athena gazed out of the window, 'where the beast entered isn't so important. If it can appear and disappear out of thin air the way it did in the past then we can assume it did the same here. What concerns me most is that last time I was sure I had destroyed it. It was a mangled mess of flesh by the time I was done, but what if that wasn't enough? What if this is indeed a different creature, belonging to the same race of beasts that…that has suddenly appeared as a result of Typh–'

'Athena.' Ares said. She turned to him not realising how tight her throat had become as she spoke; how a heat grew behind her eyes, threatening to escape her. She breathed for a moment, placing her hand on her chest. Her heart was beating faster than it needed to.

'Come sit.'

Athena hesitated. She knew if she returned to the bed and allowed Ares to coax her back into the sheets, escaping him would be even harder the second time around. Tentatively, she walked over and sat at the edge, careful to keep some distance between herself and him.

'One step at a time.' Ares nodded. His voice was calmer and silkier than she had ever heard it. There was reassurance in it. There was warmth. Athena nodded too.

'I know, I know. I just can't help thinking…something is truly amiss. These particular creatures are unlike anything we have seen before. They aren't deterred by the divine energy surrounding our temples – surrounding ourselves. What if they are being created and spawned purposefully? What if…and I know it sounds ridiculous, but what if they are… agents of Typhon, sent to weaken us before his arrival? To shake our resolve?'

A small smile appeared on Ares' lips.

'That does sound ridiculous,' his hand moved across the bed and found Athena's, 'but equally, if not more ridiculous things have occurred in Olympus in the past, so I don't fault you for having such thoughts.'

Ares threaded his fingers between Athena's. Once again, she felt the roughness of his skin, the ridges of old scars, the callouses.

'Those creatures almost destroyed two gods but could not. Typhon almost claimed Olympus as his own, decimating us all but we brought him to his knees. Olympus has been saved from the brink of peril time and time again, thanks to you,' Ares traced the skin on Athena's palm, 'and she has been brought to the brink of peril time and time again, thanks to me,' Athena laughed despite herself, 'and yet still she stands. What makes you think any of that will change?'

Ares gripped Athena's hand.

'I won't allow it.' He looked up at her and she caught his flaming gaze. It bore into her.

'I'll have you forever and nothing will change that. I won't allow it.'

Athena's blood grew warmer in her veins. She wasn't sure if his words quelled her fears or simply bred more, but she was certain that they ignited something within her she had spent the entire morning tying to douse. She gazed down at their hands, riddled with scars, roughened by war and battle and desperately clasped together.

Ares spoke with finality.

'Athena. Come here.'

With clumsy, urgent fingers, she loosened the belt of her dress.