Chapter 13: Argentum and Flamma
Argentum ran for Flamma as fast as he could. He hoped that nothing bad had happened to her while they were gone, and he wanted to see if she was awake. The Cerberus growled angrily as it thought about everything that had happened. The others were trailing behind him.
"Is he going to be okay?" Athena asked Ares nervously, seeing the angry look on the Cerberus' face.
Ares looked at it. "I don't know. It might not be after all it's been through."
"We got his son back, his wife will be fine. I don't see what could change him" Athena said, and Ares shook his head.
"It's what Argentum went through," the wolf told her.
"What do you mean?"
"His son was kidnapped and his wife poisoned. One of his best friends is now stuck in the Underworld forever. His son had to see his dad as a giant, three-headed dog fight another three-headed dog right in front of him, which would traumatize the kid. And his wife may never be the same either. Bundle all of that together, and tell me how you wouldn't change after that" Ares said.
Athena nodded. "I see. That's quite a shock."
"Yeah, so let's leave him alone for a bit. Figure out what to do next by ourselves."
"Et faciam illud, (I will do that)," Athena said.
The wolf smiled and walked up to its wife. "Tu es Deus sapientiam (You are the God of Wisdom), you should know this," Ares teased.
"Scilicet, mea voluptas (Of course, my love)," Athena said. She walked up to the large wolf and looked up at it. "Do you think the gods will ever have peace?" she asked, climbing onto the wolf's back.
The wolf looked at her. "I don't know," it said.
They arrived at the cave to see Argentum nudging Flamma. Hey Flamma? You okay, dear? he said, still nudging her. The griffin was still in a coma. The Cerberus whined and lay down next to it. Please get better soon, it said sadly, and quickly fell asleep.
Ares sighed and walked out of the cave. Athena followed the wolf and looked at it.
"What now? Mars still has his avatar and we don't know there next move. We didn't even see Proserpine there, so who knows where she was," she said.
The wolf looked down at her and transformed into a dog. "I have no idea," it told its wife.
"So we just sit around and wait for them to do something?" Athena asked, looking at the dog in confusion. It shook its head. "I must go to Mount Olympus and talk to Zeus about this."
It grew into a wolf and vanished, arriving at Mount Olympus to see Zeus standing there. It seemed like he had been waiting for the wolf.
"I have come to ask you for advice," it told the former god king.
Zeus nodded; he knew why Ares was here. "Mars is giving you a ton of trouble, and you have no idea what to do now. That true?" Zeus asked.
"It is," the king said.
"Very well. I can give advice, but not much."
Ares nodded. "What advice do you have?" It asked.
"Mars and the others have weaknesses, everyone does. You won't notice them unless you look. And I'm not talking physical weakness. Stuff that will get in their head, stuff that hurts them more then a blow to the back. If you can find and expose it, they will be at your mercy."
"What kind of weaknesses?"
Zeus smiled. "That you'll have to find out yourself."
The wolf nodded and vanished. It appeared before Athena, who looked at it.
"What did Zeus say?" She asked.
"Well...he said to look for their weaknesses," he said.
"Like, where it would hurt the most to strike?" she asked.
"I think so, yes. He mentioned emotional wounds."
"Emotional wounds?" Athena said, completely confused.
The god king nodded. "I'm not sure what Zeus meant by that. We'll have to find out."
She looked over to see Pandora sitting next to Flamma and Argentum, with Licinus at her feet.
"Are you okay?" Athena asked the spirit.
Pandora looked at her. "Never better." she replied with a smile.
The spirit smiled and vanished back into the box. Athena sighed and looked at the Cerberus. It was sleeping next to its wife.
"Wish she would wake up," Ares said, looking at Flamma.
"I hope so too," Athena said. "But it won't be for a while."
At her words, Argentum shifted. He slowly got up, stretched and saw his son. Licnus saw him and began to cry, cowering away from the Cerberus. Argentum quickly turned back into his regular form. Licinus saw his dad and calmed down. He began clapping and crying.
"You must have been so scared," Argentum said, picking up his son and hugging him tightly.
Licnus continued to cry and nodded. He looked around, wondering where he was. As Ares and Athena surveyed this, Flamma moved slightly. Argentum saw this and gasped.
"She moved a little!" He exclaimed. Everyone gathered around her as she moved a little again. "Is she waking up?" Argentum asked, hopefully.
"We shall see," Ares said, but he too was hopeful.
A few minutes later, the griffin stopped moving. Argentum frowned as he looked at it. "What happened?" he asked, looking at Ares.
The wolf growled. "She's still in a coma," it told him.
"Then what was all that moving about?"
"People often move sometimes in a coma. Their nervous system is still active."
Argentum's ears flattened. He whined and Licinus began to cry again. He turned into a Cerberus again and lay down next to his wife, cuddling next to her. Licnus looked at him and cried some more as he crawled towards the griffin. The Cerberus licked him, and the kid calmed down a bit. He then curled up next to his parents and soon fell asleep.
