Warnings: OOCness, AUness (if you haven't noticed...), lack of spellcheck (ah, the pains of using Wordpad), etc.
Notes: Though this is basically Heimdall, I've chosen to use "Ares" in reference to him. The naming system will vary depending on which god I'm talking about. I hope you'll enjoy this chapter! Be sure to have read the story thus far before trying this chapter out. Posted 8/7/08!

The Mythical Detective Mayura

VII: War

"Ares, what do you propose to do to her?" The woman with flowing pink hair asked, glasses glimmering in the light of the globe. "Haunting nightmares is hardly your style."

The purple-haired man growled at her viciously, turning away from his looking glass to stare into her face. "Eris, you know nothing of politics. Athena and I have been fighting for centuries. I want her dead! I don't care what I have to do to her."

The woman shrugged in response. "Doesn't sound like politics to me."

"Then you've never met a politician." He replied, showing her his back.

X

Loki sighed, opening the agency's door. "Detective, any cases?" He called out, entering and heading upstairs to the study.

"Achoo!" Mayura replied from behind her desk. "Sowy," she mumbled, "I hab a cob."

"A cold..." Loki translated for himself and sighed. "Goddesses can get colds?"

"Indeed." Yamino nodded sadly.

"Well," Loki made a grand gesture of sitting on the couch. "That's too bad, because I have a case for you...a big one."

Mayura snapped to attention immediately. "Yeah?"

"Apparently there are issues at the zoo. The birds have been acting strange...they've been attacking each other. Breaking out of their cages to do it." Loki explained, frowning. "The keeper I talked to said it's mostly the doves and the hawks, but yesterday the situation worsened. The cages were all blown open by some explosions, and the animals escaped."

"Did they get them back in?" Yamino asked, concerned.

The blonde nodded. "Yeah, most. They got the more tropical birds but they didn't recover the hawks or doves. Most of the other animals are back too, except a lion is still missing."

Mayura frowned. "A kibby?" She sniffed.

"No, not a kitty." Loki sighed. "Lions are very dangerous. And this one...he's not known for being gentle."

Mayura glanced at him, considering. "Okab, lebs go look around da zoo for clues first."

He stared back. "Do you think this is supernatural?"

She sneezed in response.

X

"That's mysterious..." Mayura said seriously, staring at the shattered glass that surrounded the lion's former cage. "Glass walls broken by the lions...if they were capable of this all along, why did the wait until now to escape?" She wondered.

Loki shrugged before noticing something. "Your cold...?"

"Lots of medicine! My special recipe, made with ingredients ordered from America and Brazil." Yamino chimed in, watching as Mayura entered the exhibit. The zookeeper who had let them in watched uncertainly as Yamino followed the detective.

"Wait, tantei--" Loki glanced back at the zookeeper before running behind the two into the exhibit.

The other lions were somewhere else temporarily, leaving the model of an African plane empty. It was almost frightening, especially considering the exhibit's size.

He felt stranded--it was hard to imagine that civilization was only a few yards away. That this was inside a zoo...

Mayura stopped before two trees that seemed intertwined at their branches. She nodded at Loki and Yamino before stepping between them, and she vanished.

Loki would have been more surprised two days ago, but nothing about the detective surprised him anymore.

He took a deep breath and passed through as well, emerging in...

Greece?

Were they in a colosseum?

He looked around the strange white building and deduced that they were indeed in a colosseum, in the very center, on the battle grounds.

Hawks hovered over the colosseum like vultures over a corpse. Something was wrong here.

"Detective..." He whispered.

"Mayura!" She corrected, crossing her arms and pouting.

"Mayura," he gritted his teeth, "where are we?"

"In the colosseum, of course." A new, deep voice arrived, carrying an air of pride and hatred for its target.

Loki and Mayura turned to look up at the seat where kings traditionally sat. Sitting on the throne was a tall man with short purple hair and red eyes.

Mayura glared at him. "Ares, are you here to kill me too?"

"I'm here to challenge you." he replied, floating off the platform and landing a few yards away. "To a battle of swords. Certainly you can handle a swordfight on horseback."

"I don't have a horse." Mayura replied. "Even if I did, why would I want to fight you?"

"Because you and I are two halves of a whole." He answered, appearing much closer to her. She stepped back to avoid hitting his nose with hers. "Just like Artemis governs the moon and Apollo governs the sun, you govern peace while I prefer war. We are destined to eternally battle."

"Don't compare us to the twins." She moved closer to the nervous Loki. "I despise you more than Artemis could ever hate Apollo. I won't fight you."

Ares chuckled, swinging an arm in the air. "Yes, you will. Or your precious mortal will forever remain a horse."

"What?" Mayura turned around and shrieked. In Loki's place was a yellow horse with a shiny mane and annoyed eyes.

"Oh my gosh! Loki, I am so sorry! Mou, Ares, you'll pay for harming my assistant detective." Her staff appeared and she rushed at her brother, who stopped her with a red sword.

Smirking darkly, he aimed for her foot but missed. "This sword is covered in mortal blood. Beautiful, isn't she?"

Thrusting her silver staff at the god of war, Mayura began to cry as she realized how heartless her brother was. "How can you be so cruel? Ares!" She swung her staff insanely, but he blocked every attempted blow.

"Athena, you are such a fool." He whispered, leaning in close to her face as their weapons locked. "You think I am the only one hunting you? Hades has killed Zeus, killed Artemis and banished Apollo. Everyone else will come down to kill you--an entire pantheon of gods awaits your death! You shall never find peace, even if that is your domain." The purple-haired god laughed at her, his head rolling back.

Still crying, she drew her staff away and he stopped, wondering what would come next.

Bent over, Mayura sobbed softly and dropped her staff. It vanished as it touched the ground. "Ares..." She muttered, clenching a fist.

"Yes, Athena, my dear sister? Ready to give up? You can't beat me. You aren't strong enough. In fact, you barely qualify as a goddess. Your wisdom comes and goes, and you remain in that weak young form despite centuries of life. Why don't you just die and let me have my fun?"

A hawk swooped dangerously close to her face, talons extended.

She ignored it but another flew down, scratching her cheek.

"You're wrong." Mayura said, standing up.

Ares smirked. "No weapon, crying and lying to yourself. Can you fall any more, Athena? I don't think it would be possible."

"I'm not weak, I'm not foolish. I'm not the smartest detective ever, but I'm a detective all the same." She held a hand out before her and a silver sword rose from the ground, stopping as its handle reached her hand.

He began to frown. Where had this confidence come from? A detective? What was she talking about? "You fool...you honestly think you can defeat the god of war! You're the goddess of peace, Athena."

Mayura smiled, pointing the sword at him and shifting her feet to an offensive position. "As I said, you're wrong." She began to attack with her sword. "I happen to govern over war, not peace. I just prefer smarter war, unlike your brutal fighting."

She nearly hit him multiple times with her blade, but he narrowly dodged most lunges.

Ares drew back, realizing his mistake, but an owl appeared and came down from the sky, hitting the back of his knees and forcing him to fall to the ground.

"Ares!" Mayura announced, throwing the sword into the air and watching it spin. It transformed into her staff and she held an arm out to catch it...

And missed.

Sweat-dropping, she picked her staff up from the ground and held it above his head. "Ares, you have no compassion for mortals. You've become a heartless beast and general jerk! I, Detective Mayura Daidouji, shall free you from your sin! Ares, thy sin's name--"

He vanished before she could announce it. Loki turned back into a human and ran to the detective, who fell to her knees.

"I couldn't purge his sin..." Mayura said with a sigh. "Ares is gone."

Loki shrugged. "At least I'm not a horse anymore. I think you did okay, detective."

She smiled slightly at him before realizing that her cheek was bleeding. "EEK! BLOOD!" She passed out on the ground and Loki sighed heavily...

Fortunately, the spell had broken and they were back in the zoo.

Yamino watched them arrive and picked Mayura up. He smiled sincerely at Loki. "While you two were gone, we found the lion. As soon as the cage is repaired, things will go back to normal."

Loki smiled slightly and ruffled Mayura's hair. "With this one? I'll never see normal again."

Yamino shrugged in response and they headed back to the agency.

X X X

Ah, the first appearance of Heimdall/Ares! Forgive any mistakes in the mythology, my sources tend to disagree on some points...also forgive my bad battle scenes. I'm not very good at them...;-; Anyway, I'll see you again in a week!

In case you're wondering the point of the cold, it should make you realize that gods/goddesses can get colds. More on that later.

Next chapter, a new character and a brotherly discussion:

"I actually met a girl I'm quite fond of."

"Why didn't you tell me how many mortal girls were hotties? I could've been hanging out here for centuries!"

"Apollo will come next."