On the way back home, the shaky shadow of the trees seemed to strangely fade from the background along with the hot dusty road stretching ahead and all the surrounding hills- an entire landscape obliterated by the crushing force of the God's words- that had managed to darken not only her reason but also the physical world itself….

"I'd kill an army of Phytias if I had to….." he had said, and, unable to block their constantly amplifying echo, the Warrior Princess stopped dead in her tracks and covered her ears for a few seconds, as if that simple gesture was all it took for her to turn her mind silent again…..It was a method that- just as expected- failed miserably, filling her with even more rage….

Indeed, her entire being was boiling with fury, not against Ares, not against his scheming and plotting, but against herself, against that soul decomposing feeling that made her want to scream her lungs out with each step that she took- for each new step pushed her even farther away from him and closer to a life she had never wanted for herself….Never before had she considered spending the rest of her mortal existence fetching drinks for men that were generally as stupid as they looked…It was beyond degrading...it was...unthinkable- and yet a reality she had consciously condemned herself to...

For the first time since Lyceus's death she felt helpless- helpless and weak….almost a coward actually to put it bluntly- and she hated every moment of it, just like she hated- with all her heart- those gods damned circumstances that had forced her to take that decision, throwing her in the arms of such a humiliating destiny that she would have loved nothing more than to be able to make herself disappear from the face of the earth...

Had someone seen her now- as she absently walked down that deserted road leading to the village, they would have easily noticed the panic and the tension engraved on her particularly beautiful visage….Judging by that slightly arched left eyebrow and the tightly pressed lips she was mad…really mad….and though he wasn't the cause of her wrath, that didn't make her feel any better….The thing was that she knew him well enough to realize that it was not out of malice and definitely not out of revenge that he had cunningly backed her into a corner- framing her for Pythia's murder- but out of despair…Deep inside, even though he appeared to be still far from accepting that truth that she had so loudly announced days ago , he could finally sense that it was over….that she had meant it- that she was not going back to that life in which he had been more than present-….Consequently, he reacted, doing the only thing that he was able to do – and which was as low and as unfair as any sane person would have perceived it- he tried to break her will and bend what was left of it in the direction he wanted, silently hoping that from that point on, it was only a matter of time until things got back to normal again…..

Obviously, she couldn't blame him for trying- playing dirty was part of his job description after all and she had always known that it was in his nature to fight tooth and nail for what he claimed as his…It was no wonder then that his alleged betrayal didn't hurt much , simply because she didn't perceive it as such….

What was actually doing all the damage was the fact that- from the minute she turned around and left- she was well aware that going back to him was not an option….He couldn't possibly understand her reasons, that much of the story was true, but she knew better- she knew what she had seen and she knew what she had felt during those accursed seconds in which the dark secrets of that bloody future had revealed themselves to her, mercilessly turning her universe into ashes along with everything she had taken for granted up to that point….

...There was no way in Tartarus she was going to be the center of his life if that involved ultimately his death- The mere idea of being the ax that was going to eventually chop his head off was unbearable, and only thinking about it made her skin crawl….

Despite the doubts and the pain though, one thing was the hardest to shake from her constantly screaming mind….the unearthly beauty of that breathtaking little girl….their baby…..their own flesh and blood….his child with her….Immediately and instinctively, those rapidly unfolding images sent her hand straight to her chest, pressing hard right over her heart where a new pang of pain caused a few tears to glide warmly down her cheeks…..

She angrily wiped them away as if by doing so, the ache itself would vanish as well, as if that undeniably shocking image of a strikingly helpless and mortal Ares- on whose flesh, fresh traces of a long, savage torture could be seen from afar- struggling to save them would also vanish along with them …The God of War sacrificing his life for her and their child….Imperceptibly, the rhythm of her heart changed at that thought, quickened in a way that left her even more agitated than before….

...By the time she finally managed to partly escape those haunting thoughts , she was already in front of the tavern door, and undeniably, the similarities with that accursed night in which she had decided to return were painfully striking to say the least…..- the same choking feeling of loneliness, of despair mixed with resignation….Her hand stopped on the cold metal handle without finding it in herself to enter though, as if waiting for something…for someone to save her, to take her away from that horrid place that she could no longer call home, but that had her trapped like a mouse- no way out, no nothing….

This time, what brought her completely back to reality, pulling her from that endless ocean of images she was drowning into again, wasn't precisely a slap across the face, but a warm hand on the shoulder…..The moment she turned around and her eyes met the fiery amber pair that was gazing at her, her breath caught in her throat and something inside her vibrated with need…It was like déjà vu…

" Excuse me….Do you happen to know if they still have rooms available here? I'm looking for a place to spend the night…..

She was flabbergasted…..

XXX

Miles away from his stubborn protégée, the War God's mind was also wrapped around that same conversation they had shared, and his mumbling hadn't stopped for one single second ever since he left Amphipolis…..- unintelligible phrases most of the time, yes, but every now and then one could clearly hear a distinct " ….gods damn it…." , a " should have handled it differently….." or " to Tartarus with everything I'm gonna drag her back to the Halls of War if that's what it takes!" ….- a very Ares like one sided conversation, one might add….

For obvious reasons, the handsome Olympian was not only restless, he was nearly bursting with worry and frustration…She had seemed so distant during their little chit chat, so cold and uncaring that her behavior actually managed to scare the living crap out of him.

Suddenly though, as he finally took a seat on his comfortable black leather throne- resting his head in his hands for awhile in the equally vain attempt to stop that accursed dialogue from replaying over and over again inside his brain- a new feeling washed over his heart, making him literally tremble without apparent reason….Menaced…that's what he felt like…threatened by something unexplainable….

He naturally frowned at this strange and rare sensation, and tried to push it out of his mind, as far away as possible….That was ridiculous…there was no reason for him to feel that way…no reason at all…..She might have been a bit distant that's true, but by Hades, maybe it was just a phase she was going through….Maybe he had actually done something wrong, maybe he hadn't fucked her enough lately….or who knows what in Tartarus was wrong with her…..

For the thousandth time that day, he started to go over the last weeks they had spent together…it had been a particularly calm period of their relationship, only a few minor disagreements over things that were otherwise unimportant- he concluded….What in the name of Zeus was still keeping her away from him now that Pythia was dead?!

He gulped nervously and materialized a goblet of wine in his hand when he realized that autosuggestion was no longer enough to numb his troubled spirit and that he needed something stronger...

Then, with a casual flick of his fingers, he opened up a portal. Despite the hurt and the freshly bleeding scratches she had left all over his heart, he needed to see her…. that would surely make him feel better…

"Show me my Chosen…"

...The goblet fell nosily to the floor the very following second, as, for a short but dramatically charged moment , the War God appeared to have lost all bodily functions….To say that he was stunned at the image he had before him, now that would be a terrible injustice since it didn't cover half of what he was feeling….He just couldn't believe his eyes….Once the shock began to wear off, a sickening, gut wrenching sensation in the pit of his stomach made him vomit instantly those few sips of wine that had comfortingly glided down his throat a little while before…..