Chapter 6
In The Hall of Olympus

Duo cringed, grabbing his temples as the shouting of his father broke past the marble walls to resonate in the empty lounge room of Aphrodite. Pressing down hard, he gave a slight jump as the stone doors slammed open, Ares dark aura piercing the normal beauty and serenity of the hall.

"I thought Mneme was going to let you go, Democritus!" he growled, red eyes glittering with his rage, black hair floating around him on the waves of energy his body released. Glancing over to him, Duo looked his father up and down, onyx orbs coming to rest on the metal spiked boots that dug into the soft stone of the floor. A slight smirk graced his lips as he languidly quirked a laughing brow. "What are you smiling at?" Ares demanded, jaw twitching. Unable to stand still any longer, he began his normal agitated pacing back and forth from the chaise lounge to the tropical flowers. "My own son, a slave!" he ranted dramatically, shaking his head, hand moving out in front of him as if giving some Shakespearean monologue. "No child of mine should ever be a slave! What is your mother going to think?" he bellowed, golden statuettes to shaking with the intensity of his yells.

"Probably that you're a jackass for fucking up her floor again," Duo replied with a sigh. Giving one last, longing look to his beloved Dragon beginning to doze on the hospital bed, he reluctantly cleared the pool of the image and flopped down on the pile of down pillows beside it. Tugging slightly at the silver collar latched around the smooth pillar of his throat, he ignored his fathers growl as best he could. Ares was hot headed in the best of times and a raving lunatic in the…well…in the second best of times. Not that this wasn't a bad situation that warranted alarm. But it had been a bad situation since he had gotten into it thousands of years ago in the golden age of the Ancient Greek Empire. It irked him that neither his mother nor his father had cared much, until when they finally called on him—the should be feared God of Death—to fight in a war Ares was waging, and Mneme refused to let him go for their services. It was then that his enslavement became a "travesty". An "injustice". When Duo had been unable to perform as his father's little hand puppet.

The rant had been original the first few times, too. Perhaps even a little flattering. When Duo had heard it, he could almost convince himself that his parents cared, and could actually break the curse that Hades had put on him for daring to touch one of his sacrifices. But now? Now it was just damned annoying. All the old bastard ever did was nag, nag, nag. Bitch, bitch, bitch.

"Do you not realize the gravity of this situation?" Ares demanded. Oh, oh! There was the death glare! Duo smirked. It was a look that could have given even Heero a heart attack, but Duo wasn't phased. Nothing his father did impressed him much anymore.

"Well, Dad, I'm not floating, am I?" he deadpanned, warranting another enraged growl from the large warrior.

Ares opened his mouth to give the usual lecture about how Duo should respect him more, but was cut off by a loud smack that resonated through out the room, causing the black haired mans head to jerk forward in surprise. Demeanor immediately shrinking, he cringed away from where the invisible hit had come from, covering his head like a timid puppy who had been beaten.

Golden and white mist swirled in the spot he had just been standing in, slowly revealing the gorgeous form of Aphrodite. She stood before her ex lover, long, golden blond hair trailing in tight curls around her flawless features. Blue eyes burning with deep seated rage, her fiery stare drilled into the man in front of her with a hate that couldn't be matched. Before any man or army, Ares could rule supreme. But upon facing the wrath of any angry woman, he was as clueless and confounded as a preschooler in calculus. After all—an angry enemey can be killed. An angry woman has to be sated.

Duo watched with a snicker, hooking his hands behind his head. He had seen this show a million times—each time he was to return to Mneme, the same argument and rant occurred between his parents. Perhaps the words changed. Insults became more colorful as the vocabulary expanded and imagination increased. But the general content was always the same, and always entertaining. Aphrodite's breasts rose and fell with anger, fists clenching and knuckles white as she stared at her ex husband with a gaze so intense, Duo was sure it could melt Antartica.

"How many times do I have to tell you," she ground out, enunciating each word slowly through grit teeth. "No…spiked…shoes…on…the…marble!" Now that was a roar that could make even Zeus want to cry. An angry Goddess was nothing to trifle with. Unfortunately, Ares wasn't the type to be able to tell the difference between trifling and not trifling, which was the exact reason that had led to their divorce. Grabbing one of the pillows, Duo bit down on it viciously to stop himself from bursting out with laughter.

"But you can fix it by snapping!" Ares half accused, half whined. It was true. Fixing something in Olympus, for a god, was as easy as snapping your fingers. But that didn't make the response anymore acceptable to an enraged woman.

"I can also fix it by filling the cracks with your blood that will spill after I fix you with a scalpel!" she hissed, making a pointed thrust towards his crotch with her fist. Ares looked at her confused.

"But my blood isn't white…and I doubt it has the right consistency to fill the cracks…" he stated, the threat completely lost on him. Aphrodite stared in shock at the dense statement, once more recalling exactly why she refused to ever date a man who took brawn to be more valuable than brain. Biting harder on the pillow, Duo rolled to his side as his body was wracked with the suppressed giggles. God, his parents were so funny!

"Get out, Air. You're giving me a migraine," she sighed, shoulders slumping in defeat. There really was no use in having a battle of the wits when the other person didn't even know what the word "wits" meant. Confused, Ares stared at her curiously.

"But—"

"LEAVE!" she screamed, cutting off his feeble protest. Not wanting to give her a chance to attack him as she had done many times before (and also not wanting to risk the rage of Zeus if he fought back again), Ares made good on the command and disappeared in the swirl of black smoke, leaving Duo and his mother alone in the stale air of the palace.

Only then did Duo finally trust himself a little to calm his roaring laughs to overwhelming chuckles, letting them spill out of his throat as he wiped the tears from his eyes. Looking over to him with a loving gaze, his mother's tired expression became soft at the comforting site of her child. Walking over to him, she kneeled down by his curled up form as he gasped for air around the hiccups the joyous laughter had caused.

"I only thank Zeus that you turned out smarter than him," she sighed, reaching out to stroke her long fingers through his hair.

"Only by the Grace of Zeus, say I," Duo replied as he looked up, cheeks still red and grin still large as he scooted over to allow her more room next to him on the cushions. Taking the invitation, she moved to join him, lying beside him and wrapping a soothing arm around his chest. "How is my child?" she asked gently, placing a warm kiss on his cheek. Duo visibly relaxed, rolling into his mother's arms and curling up against her breasts.

"I miss my lovers," he replied sadly, all humor leaving him. Wistfully, he recalled the way Heero and Wufei felt wrapped him and each other at night, the memory of their peaceful expressions sending a stab of pain through his heart. Aphrodite scratched the back of his neck in a soothing touch.

"I know," she replied, nuzzling her cheek against the top of his head. Sighing, Duo snuggled deeper into her, grateful that the curse had no way to totally affect his parents. Sure, they really couldn't help him out or anything, but they could remember him and love him, and no matter how annoying they could be, was grateful for that small miracle. "Has Mneme been treating you right?" she asked gently. Duo felt himself wince inside, but managed to hide his reaction. Instead, he nodded.

"She really doesn't treat me wrong. She never has," he lied, looking up to her. It wasn't Mneme who had cursed him. Despite the fact that the Goddess of memory was currently his owner, it was Hades who had cursed him to this horrid existence. Though Mneme could have done something more to help him out of it, such as letting a mortal remember him so they could actually help to get him free. She was the only deity who could interfere without making it worse, though she did seem to take a sadistic enjoyment in his captivity. His parents didn't know that. He refused to be the cause of a war between the gods.

Instead, his parents had struck a deal with her. Whenever they needed him to be involved in an Earthly war, they would provide someone in his place to do her bidding until the war had ceased for the exact period of one year and six months. Upon that time, he would be allowed to say his final goodbye's to his parents, and the memory of him and his involvement would be wiped away, and he would once more return to his servitude as her complete and utter slave. Normally, he never tried to go against it, but never before during his time on Earth had he fallen in love.

To leave Heero and Wufei had torn him up inside, and since the day he had first realized the depth of his own emotions, he had started devising a plan to get free. So he called upon his old friend, Solo, the high priest to the God Loki, to help him out. The free-thinking, strong willed therapist seemed impervious to all attacks any god or mortal could place, and he sometimes wondered if it was because of his status with Loki, or if it was true that Solo actually had the blood of Zeus' father in him. After all, Chaos could never be reigned in or manipulated. It was why Democritus, under the pseudonym of Duo Maxwell, had begged his life long friend for help.

A twinge cut off his train of thoughts, the annoying buzzing beginning in his collar and spreading down his body. The silent electrical current trailing from the metal collar sent a cold chill down his spine, and he knew he had to get back to his Mistress before she made it painful. Heart dropping a little, Duo hugged his mom tighter, cursing Mneme for always calling on him whenever they were spending time together.

"I have to go," he said painfully, arms squeezing desperately. She responded in like, holding him close to her for as long as she dared, knowing how vicious Mneme could be if kept waiting.

Letting him go, the two exchanged quick goodbyes, before Duo took his leave.

ooo

Aphrodite swallowed hard as her son left, dragging her thumb across her lips. Democritus thought that he could hide the beatings and the abuse, but she knew her son and she knew Mneme. Death and memories were volatile combinations.

"Eros," she called out, glancing over her shoulder as she called to her youngest son. Nothing seemed to happen, but she could feel his presence slowly invade the air around her, letting her know that he had heard and he was listening. "Go leave the evidence for Jehova's Oracle, and make sure the General doesn't see you." Purple sparked in the air--his sign of understanding and affirmation of orders, before the energy seemed to swirl and retract like a rolling fog in reverse. Slight goosebumps formed on her arms at the sensation of her sons spirit brushing her skin as he disappeared, and she glanced over to her scrying pool. She moved to stand beside it, staring down into the glossy reflection of herself in the calm water. Waving long fingers over the surface, she summoned back up the location that was last seen and felt her heart clench.

"For your sake, Democritus," she murmured, studying the image of the lost, orphaned Dragon, "pray you are free before we are all punished for this..."

All right! So there's some clue as to why Duo is how he is, and who and what he is...but the who and what should be pretty obvious.

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! As per usual, I own none of the Gundam Boys (except maybe in bed O.o) and, well...I don't think I'd want to own any of the Gods. They get annoying--what, with all that pacing on the marble in Ares Stilletos...

Okay, so they're not exactly high heels, just really spikey boots, but whatever. hehe!