Years had passed, a small window of time, when you were immortal.
Athena couldn't help but wonder, where the point was in immortality.
What was the point of living eternally, when nothing lasted forever? Why were immortal beings needed in a universe that, they all knew it, wouldn't be eternal?
Yet, she seemed to be the only one thinking and worrying about that.
Not that it was a surprise; Olympos had grown full and busy over time.
She had known, that her father couldn't keep it in his tunic, but this was getting absolutely ridiculous!
Not that she minded the new family members. They livened up their home and made it colourful.
Nearly all of the new gods were children of Zeus.
There were the twins of Leto, Artemis and her younger twin Apollon. They were still children, but everyone could see, that Zeus favoured them, almost as much as he favoured Athena (Hera on the other hand hated them).
He had already given them great responsibilities.
Artemis would become a goddess of the hunt and the wilderness, of maidens, childbirth, the light of the moon and the frost and dawn. Currently she was under the tutelage of silver-haired Selene, the Titaness of the moon herself.
She and Athena got along well, both being practical, virgin goddess, although Artemis was more cheerful than she was.
Apollon was to become the god of light, prophecy, oracles, shepherding, archery, music, poetry, plagues, medicine and young boys. Helios, the Titan of the sun, was his teacher and still drove the sun chariot across the sky.
Athena found him rather annoying, as he was selfish, kind of prissy and pretentious and the fact, that this attitude was just an act to hide his insecurities made it quite pathetic.
Hermes, son of Maia. He was new. He almost always had mischief on his mind, but he also was just as intelligent as Athena was (even though not as wise). His range of responsibilities was constantly expanding, as he couldn't sit still to save his life. Then, he also had that irresistible charm, that had everyone wrapped around his cheeky, thieving fingers.
Athena felt a certain fondness for him that was somewhere between sisterly and motherly (she wasn't quite sure).
And then there was … Aphrodite, the daughter of Ouranos … which technically would have made her a Titaness, if she had been Gaia's daughter, but she wasn't. Like Athena, she had been born an adult and with no mother, but that was where the similarities ended.
She was the goddess of beauty and physical love and acted accordingly. Athena loathed the older woman's flirty behaviour, how everyone was thirsting after her and playing with others' emotions seemed to be completely natural and okay to her.
She seemed to be especially interested in Ares and he was obviously heads over heels for her, but apparently was scared of actually giving into her advances. Athena couldn't help but be glad, that he wasn't naïve enough to take the bait. That woman was just too superficial and sooner or later would be repulsed by his twisted, volatile personality (just like everyone else).
But one thing Athena had to grant Aphrodite: she was experienced. If the love goddess was being serious about something, she could even be helpful.
Apollon had predicted the arrival of a few more gods and to be honest, Athena couldn't wait to meet them. Maybe she would get along with them like with all of her other siblings!
Well … almost all of her siblings.
There was one she didn't get along with at all.
Ares.
Ever since he had told her to leave as a young boy, their relationship had deteriorated.
Through all these years, the lanky boy she had first met had grown into a handsome young man with a tall, manly frame. He now wore his hair short on the right side of his head, while keeping it longer on the other and let it cover half his face.
It was the hairdo of an edgy emo teenager, but to Ares' defence, his hair concealed a nasty burn scar on the left of his face.
And he had finally got his patronages; he now was officially the god of the horrors of war, the bloodshed, violence and all the other brutal aspects.
And Ares fit perfectly into this new role, he loved his job!
He loved war for war's sake, was bloodthirsty and violent, something that disturbed gods and mortals alike. He had other, more agreeable patronages, but they were minor and drowned out by his appalling love for war.
His circle of friends found no approval among the gods either, as Eris and her children were still the deities he was closest to. On the other hand he was one of the few, who actually could talk to Hades. (Athena wasn't quite sure about all of the reasons, but Ares' fondness for Kerberos was certainly a part of it; Hades just favoured people, who got along with his three-headed dog.)
But even when Ares wasn't doing anything, most of the other gods were scared of him. He just provoked it. Everything about him was intimidating.
First off, the war god almost never smiled. Not genuinely, that is.
When he was on the job, he could grin and laugh like the maniac he was, but he never smiled.
Only three goddesses ever got to see a smile from him (even though it was rare): his sisters Eileithyia and Hebe.
Even now, with his defiled nature, his sisters still looked up to their big brother, even though Athena failed to solve the mystery of why. But Eileithyia helped their brother out of his armour and treated his wounds, when Apollon was busy (or unwilling) and Hebe drew his baths and filled his cups. Their faces brightened up, when they saw him, even if he was covered in blood.
And Ares adored his little sisters, his face and voice would soften around them, he smiled for them and them only.
Only once Athena had seen his smile and that was by accident; he had been spending time with Hebe and hadn't noticed Athena being there.
His smile had been beautiful, warm, gentle and fond and she had memorised it. After all, she had known, that she would never get to see it again.
Because Ares hated Athena.
He hated her with a burning passion, made it very clear and Athena knew why. To the other gods it looked like your average divine sibling rivalry, but it was so much more.
He hated her.
And she despised him.
She couldn't stand his defiled nature, his lack of wisdom or even common sense, his unnecessary violence. He was savage, unrefined, rude and noisy.
She hated how he called her "Smartarse", "Miss Perfect", "Goody-two-shoes" and other things.
But above all things, she hated when he called her "Daddy's Owl".
It was a perversion of her father's pet name for his "Little Owl-Eye" and Ares' way of mocking her status as their father's favourite. Athena was closer to Zeus than anyone, safe Hera.
Not so Ares. He despised his father and the feeling was absolutely mutual.
Athena still wished she could fix that, but there was nothing she could do.
So she kept indulging her half-brother in their absolutely ridiculous sibling rivalry, defeating him in fights, arguing with him on a daily basis and besting him in a variety of things.
Unlike Ares, Athena excelled at almost everything.
She desired nothing less than perfection and "Miss Perfect" was a nickname she often heard from the others, but out of Ares' mouth, it wasn't a compliment./p
She knew that their rivalry was absolutely ridiculous.
She knew that her half-brother Ares hated her.
But that was okay. Because she hated him too.