Chapter 2: Visits

I had been unable to sleep after returning to Mount Olympus. I did not want our secret meeting to end.

"Sesshomaru," I said the name aloud.

It rolled off of the tongue. A name was the first thing she had given me. The first thing anyone had given me. I had not wanted to leave her presence. The moment I had, what I feared had happened. That unquenchable thirst for bloodshed returned. I could feel it slowly creeping up on me. Looming over me like a dark ominous cloud. I found myself walking the halls of the temple. I was tired of staring at these same walls. There was nothing that I wanted here. Only her; she plagued my every thought, and I didn't want it to stop.

"So, you've finally decided to show your face, Ares."

I scowled. "Aphrodite."

I hated everything about her. From her beady red eyes to the feathers in her hair. A Goddess of beauty no doubt, but she was rotten to her very core.

"What do you want?"

She folded her arms across her chest. "What do I want? That is no way to speak to your wife Ares!"

"You are not my wife. You will never be my wife. Whatever my father has promised you, is between the both of you. I have no interest in someone like you. If you wish to wed so hastily, I am sure there is some undeserving welp whom you can bide your time with. If you wish to marry this badly go find some poor unsuspecting mortal."

She clenched her jaw. "There is no one more beautiful than I. Any other God would kill to marry me."

"That is where you are wrong. I have come across puddles of blood with more depth than you shall ever have. There is no other God that wants to marry you, let alone deal with you. Your father is trying to pawn you off to whomever. So, he may get rid of you. No one, most of all myself cannot stand to be in your presence for longer than a simple moment. Even that minuscule amount of time is too long. No doubt my father tried to toss you to me because he thought I would not object. As for your looks, even that does not matter because there is someone more beautiful than you. I have seen her with my own two eyes. I enjoy being in her presence. I welcome her company, unlike yours." I said brushing past her. I could tell by the look on her face, that attacking her looks was what had really gotten to her. She cared for nothing if not her looks. It was all she had, nothing else. No doubt she would find some way to pay me back for what I had said. However, I did not care. I had more pressing matters that I wanted; no, that I needed to attend to.

I had left my armor and chariot behind. I wore simple robes as I walked through the town. The bodies had been cleared from the rubble. With each visit, I found that the majority of the residents had gathered what little they had left and escaped. I continued down the road, reaching the base of the hill. I climbed it quietly. I peered through her window. As I had done so many nights before. Most times I visited I would need a glimpse of her. Then I would leave, and it would hold me over for another night. Now, she sat in a chair, reading a book. Her thick tresses had been pulled back and tied up. Her skin was flush and her hair damp. She wore a white loose-fitting nightgown, that was hiked up to her thighs. A part of me wanted her body to shift so that I could see a bit… more. Perhaps I had more of my father in me than I wanted to admit.

She pulled her nightgown down to her ankles. "You may come in."

I pushed open the door of the hut, entering and closing it behind me. "A woman should not leave her door unlocked."

She smiled. "How can I lock it when I know you will come and visit me?" she asked, gesturing to another chair.

I sat across from her. I wondered if she had been aware of every day or night that I had visited her. Knowing her she probably had.

"I can see you thinking. If you are wondering about what I think it is, the answer is yes. I am aware of every time you have come to visit me. I leave the door open just in case you decide to stop by and say hello. If you come and say nothing. I lock it after you leave. Besides, whatever people are left in the town, are too afraid to come to this place. I am perfectly safe."

"Hn." I looked down at her book. "You read."

She smiled, not looking up from her book. "You sound surprised. Did you think I was unable?"

"I have never met a mortal woman who reads. Nor the men. Mortals are very… illiterate. Who taught you all of this? Reading, priestesshood."

"My mother taught me and my sister all these things before she died."

"You are not an only child?"

It was the first moment I had seen a sad expression on her face, and it bothered me.

"I wasn't. She died the same night as my mother."

"How did they die?"

She shut her book, putting it to the side. "It is not something that I wish to talk about," she said, forcing a smile.

I leaned forward, taking her chin between my fingers, forcing her to look at me. It had caught her by surprise. The gesture surprised me as well. It was the first time I had touched her. The feel of her skin under my fingertips. It was soft and warm. I'd forgotten what it was that I wanted to say. Cupping her cheeks, my thumbs stroked her cheeks. Her eyes watched me through her thick lashes. I was becoming more like my father with each passing second. Becoming infatuated with a mortal woman like this.

"Sesshomaru?" her small voice said.

Her cheeks became a deeper red. She suddenly pulled away, leaning back into her chair. The silence between us was thick. I knew she wanted an explanation as to why I touched her. That was an answer that I could not give her. Simply because I did not have one. She would have to settle for something else.

"Would you like to hear a story?"

Her eyes left the spot on the floor, and she slowly looked up at me. "A story?"

I nodded. "Yes. A story that no mortal has ever heard."

I could see the intrigue on her face.

It almost made me smile. "A thousand years ago, when Prometheus had been tasked with creating man, with the help of Athena. He molded you mortals, from clay. One half in the shape of a man, the other in the shape of a woman. Giving you four arms, four legs, and two heads that are conjoined; asking Athena to breathe life into you; his greatest creation he had said. The two should be together because no living thing should spend its life alone. Androgynous is what he named you. However, one day my father used the magic of the Gods to change things. He secretly feared your kind and for a reason unknown. Possibly because he secretly fears all things. You see, my father thought that Prometheus had given man some kind of gift, to overthrow him. To this day we have yet to see the great power he thought that they held. He could not believe the rate at which they were progressing. He thought that warranted his fear. He split your kind into two separate parts. Condemning you to live the rest of your lives in search of the other half of your body and soul. However, splitting them in two only backfired, because then they began to multiply. Creating this troublesome thing called the human race and that frightened him more than anything. With their numbers increasing he feared an uprising. Maybe once upon a time, they could have accomplished such a great feat. However, humans now are pathetic. Now, for every person that is born, their half is being born elsewhere simultaneously."

I could see her hanging on every word, seeing the gears turning in her head; trying her best to make sense of it all.

"Is that a true story?"

I nodded. "I do not lie."

"Where is Prometheus now?"

"He is being punished at this very moment. It is obvious that Prometheus loves you mortals. More than us Gods. My father thought it to be the ultimate betrayal. Even more so, than him stealing fire and giving it to the mortals."

"Being punished?"

"With each passing day, an eagle swoops down and pecks at his liver. Only for his liver to regrow. My father says his punishment will end when his liver is no more. We all know that that is not a possibility"

"I see… how cruel."

"Hn.."

"Does that mean that my other half is out there looking for me?"

My eyes widened slightly before I regained my composure. "Yes. You too do have another half roaming around somewhere."

"I wonder where he is, or what he looks like. I wonder if I have ever come across him, and how many times I have."

How could I have not realized it while I was telling her that story? Every mortal had another half. Including her… and that angered me.

"Has someone ever found their half?"

"I have seen it only a handful of times. When they do find each other, they never physically conjoin, but only spiritually emotionally… and sexually. They love, they live, laugh, and procreate. It happens. However, it is a rarity." I explained.

I noticed her blush when I brought up the matter of sex. Was she always this easy to read? I could not help but wonder if she still had her maidenhood. The thought of another man having had her left a disgusting taste in my mouth.

"Are you a virgin?"

Her face had turned a shade of red that I had yet to ever see. She had not answered my question. Perhaps she was not a virgin, but something else.

I clenched my jaw. "Are you by chance a whore?"

She shot up to her feet, pointing towards the door.

"Get out."

"Have I said-"

"I want you to leave," she said turning away from me.

She was angry. I stood, making my way out of her hut. It mattered not. I will be back. I had nothing but time.