Chapter 9

Ares appeared in one of his temples. He began pacing back and forth, his thoughts consumed with this amazing woman warrior. She was good, that was as clear as daylight, and though her technique could use some work she had a lot of potential. With the right amount of training she could become... Ares immediately stopped his pacing at that thought. What was he thinking, he didn't train women warriors. They were never of any use to him. But there was something different about her and the fact that Athena had her, only made him even more jealous. He began the pacing routine again, still lost in his own thoughts, so lost that he didn't realize that he was no longer alone.

Aphrodite had appeared in a flash of pink light on a nearby couch seconds before. She lounged there for a moment watching Ares pacing back and forth a few feet away from her, deep in thought. She had never seen him this distracted before and wondered what could be wrong. Whatever it was, it sure must have been something big since he didn't even sense her presence. She noticed that there was something different about him too, but could not quite figure out what it was that had changed in such a short amount of time. She continued to watch him, trying to figure out what it was.

In the meantime, the War God continued to pace as he thought about her.

" What is it about her?" he thought furrowing his brows. His mind then drifted back to earlier when he had watched her in battle. There was a passion and fire inside her that had simply captivated him. She clearly enjoyed what she was doing. He knew Athena would never be able to tap into half of the power that she possessed, she just lacked the skills to make her into the warrior he knew she could be. Again, he wondered why he even cared about that. His thoughts shifted to another moment during the battle, when she seemed to have felt his presence. He had no idea how she was able to do that. And the fact that she had distracted him…that was something else. He couldn't deny that she was a beauty, but at the end of the day, she was a mere mortal. To think that she had such an impact on him as to have him lose focus on the battle confused him.

In addition to all that, he couldn't forget her reaction to him. His presence had distracted her as well and nearly got her killed. He felt his anger grow as he thought about how his soldier almost killed her. Again, he wondered why it had bothered him so much. He thought of her face and her bright blue eyes. Her expression when he reached out to touch her aura. A smile formed on his face as he remember it… . Unwillingly, he began to rethink his silly code of not training women warriors. He couldn't seem to let this one slip through his fingers.

"She could be the exception." he said aloud still not knowing that he was no longer alone.

Aphrodite couldn't believe that Ares still hadn't noticed she was there. Usually, when someone showed up he knew.

'This must be major.'she said to herself with a low chuckle.

As she continued to watch him to see if she could figure it out what that was all about, she finally spoke. It intrigued her way too much that it had been a woman to capture the War God's full attention, to keep quiet. She wondered who it was.

"Who is she bro?" she asked him, hoping to get him to spill the beans.

Ares was startled a little that there was someone else in the room with him. He turned around to see Aphrodite lounging on his couch as if she owned the place.

"Dite! What in Zeus' name are you doing here?" he asked her with a bit of a bark. He didn't like not knowing she had been there and wondered how long she had been watching him.

Aphrodite simply smiled at him. "Can't a Sis just come and visit her favorite bro once in awhile?"

Her smile grew bigger.

Ares raised an eyebrow at her. "No." he told her firmly. She was up to something he could tell. She was being way too happy.

Aphrodite ignored his comment and continued to fish for information. "So.." she said in a inquiring tone "who is she and why are your thoughts consumed with her?" she questioned, giving him a bright smile.

Hating the fact that she was poking around, he decided to act as if he had no idea what she was talking about. "Who's who ?" he said, casting her a confused look.

Seeing that the answer she was looking for wasn't going to be offered willingly, Aphrodite stubbornly pushed more to get what she wanted.

"The girl that you were obviously thinking about. You didn't even notice I was here. She must really be something to have distracted you like that."

Ares frowned at the awareness that she had caught him off guard.

"There is no she. You must be imagining things."

Aphrodite shook her head at his ridiculous denial and decided to change the subject.

"So how did it go with Athena today?"

"It was off to a very promising start." Ares smiled as he remembered some scenes from the battle

"So does that mean that you won?" she could see she would have to drag the information out of him. He was never one for gossip.

Ares' smile faded as he remembered that he lost to Athena. But it didn't seem to bother him as much as it usually would since it was her that caused his defeat.

"No." he simply stated, refusing to give up any more details.

"No?" she asked in shock. "How could you not have won? I thought you had everything planned out to ensure your victory?"

"I got a little distracted and lost focus on the battle." he was getting annoyed with her questions.

"Wait, let me get this straight." she paused, completely shocked by the fact that something had distracted the God of War from a good battle.

"You... Ares, God of War lost focus in the middle of a battle against Athena?" she didn't give him a chance to respond as she kept on with the questions more to herself then to him. "How could that be? I mean it must of really have been something for you..." her words died on her tongue as she began to make the connection. He was distracted when she first got here and over a woman of all things.

A smile began to form on her face.

"Did this distraction have anything to do with the woman you were thinking of earlier?" This made her want to know who this woman was even more if she had managed to make her big bro lose focus in a battle, especially one against Athena.

"As I said before, there is no she. You are going delusional." Ares did not want to have this conversation with her so he tried to change the subject. "So is there a real reason why you came here? Don't you have a hair appointment or something to get to?" he asked hoping she will take the bait.

As if being snapped back to reality, she completely changed her mood. "Oh Zeus, yes I do have some place to be." she had a bit of urgency in her voice. "But I seem to have a little problem."

Hoping that if he could help solve her problem it will get her to leave sooner, Ares inquired:

"What might that be?" he said, trying to show some interest.

"Well there is this party and I need someone to go with.." but she never got a chance to finish.

Ares interrupted her not liking where this new topic was going. "Stop right there. I don't do parties." He turned away from her and made a goblet of wine appear in his hand.

"Oh come on Ares! I know you hate her and now she has this win over you to gloat about, but Athena said I could bring whoever I wanted and since you never get invited I thought I could change that." she said with a bit of a plea. She was hoping she could convince him to go. She didn't like that their family always excluded him from everything.

Bringing the goblet up to his mouth, Ares stopped mid way at the mention of Athena's name. His thoughts immediately went back to her. "A party for Athena huh?" he asked. 'Maybe she will be there.'he thought to himself. He turned back around to Aphrodite. "Who is going to be at this party?" He asked her with some interest in his tone.

Seeing that she had his undivided attention, Aphrodite replied

"Oh you know the usual. There is Zeus, Apollo, Artemis, Hephaestus, Hermes, maybe some priestesses since it is at her temple, possible worshippers and her elite warriors are always there."

A small smile spread on the War Gods face as he finally heard what he wanted. 'She will be there.' Making the goblet disappear he came closer to his sister. "Alright Dite , I guess a little fun had never hurt anyone"

Aphrodite bounded off the couch and hugged Ares. "Oh you won't regret it Ares I swear. We are going to have so much fun. You just wait and see."

Still a bit uncomfortable with his sister's embrace, Ares peeled her away from him.

"Ok... enough of that….When do we leave?"