Author's Note: Another lull in the course workload, so here's another chapter.

Chapter Seven: Xenia

Rain poured down as Amber and I walked into Athens. The city, usually bustling with people, now seemed almost deserted as the rain pushed everyone inside. With a flash of lightning temporarily blinding me as we walked to an overhang and took shelter there, I felt the rough hand of a farmer grab my wrist and pull me forward. I felt Amber give some resistance until another bolt struck closer and made her jump. Xenia… I told her. Athena and Zeus would come down hard on this man and his family if he harms either of us.

She glared at me as the lightning created a dangerous backlight to her eyes. Zeus also likes to play dress up around beautiful women.

I nodded. Alkmene sprang to mind and made me growl under the roar of the storm. The story turned my stomach every time I heard it. With the thunderstorm around us, my fears felt more real than they should have. Passively, I wondered what pissed off Zeus this time. Could it be frustration? My mind offered. I wanted to laugh at the thought of The Lord of Sky on blue balls, but a shiver rolled through me instead because of how I suspected he would deal with such a situation.

"(Welcome, strangers,)" the man's wife walked up to us and appraised us. "(Come. You must be chilled to the bone!)"

I smiled and followed her to the small hearth where a pot of what looked to be soup of some kind boiled. My ears twitched as thunder boomed. I heard a young boy no older than six scream and was on the move to find him before I could stop myself. The boy's mother looked to the sound and looked at me.

"(Please, don't trouble yourself,)" she urged. "(I'll tend to my son.)"

I nodded and stayed put. My instincts railed against the command, though.

Amber grinned at me in the light of the hearth. "I thought you hated kids."

I took a deep breath and watched the flames dance around the pot before I reached and stoked the flames a little to distract myself from the soft crying of the scared boy. "I have complex feelings when it comes to kids. I like kids, but when they are harbingers of insanity like my nephews, I want to chew them out and make them mind. Unfortunately, back home…" I sighed and poked at the fire a little more.

"…they don't listen to you and run over you?" Amber finished.

I nodded, "My former disability seems to make my family see me as a twenty-nine-year-old teenager: not enough to be an adult but not a kid, either."

Amber nodded and sniffed the pot, "Smells like beef stew."

My stomach rumbled at the thought of food. Normally, I wasn't a fan of beef stew, but my tastes had changed drastically since arriving at Thermopylae. I could see myself wolfing down enough for four just by myself. With a passive look at the pot, I blinked when I noticed the pot was unusually large for a three-person family. The thought made a stone drop in my stomach. Amber's arms around me from behind startled me for a moment. I smiled and melted into her embrace even as I heard the mother come back with her son leading the charge. I smiled at the boy's eagerness to eat as he ran and grabbed bowls. The mother smiled and pulled half a loaf from somewhere I couldn't see in the dim light of the candle and hearth. Once she placed the bread on the table, the mother looked at the boy and handed him a bowl. "(Go fill the bowls for our guests, Lysander.)"

I sighed, "(Be careful, boy. It's hot.)"

Amber raised an eyebrow. I wonder if I should start calling you Kratos.

I gave her a slight shake of my head hidden in the shadows of the candle. It's customary to not introduce ourselves or they to us until after we eat.

Amber looked like she wanted to murder me, What else? I know we don't get something for nothing.

I grinned and held back laughter, News… I said to her. Travelers give information and in return are fed and housed for the night or until the travelers prepare to leave.

Amber growled, "Penelope's suitors…"

"…abused xenia."

I looked over and saw a young girl tending the flames of the hearth as the pot still boiled above her. I smiled when I saw her and took my bowl and crust of bread over to her. I then bowed my head and smiled with my eyes downcast as I offered her my bowl and bread. The Goddess of the Hearth laughed and put a hand on my shoulder.

"(I know you don't demand ceremony like the rest of your family, Lady Hestia,)' I said with a slight blush. "(However, that's exactly why I respect you and tolerate the others with the exception of Posieda.)"

Hestia looked at me with a shocked expression the name. Then, the goddess got up and walked over to the table with a new bowl and more bread in her hands. When we sat together, I felt myself relax for the first time since I was dropped in this period of history. We talked and just calmed down after the tension of the past few days. I found myself passively wondering why Hestia wasn't the goddess of hospitality instead of The Lord of the Sky and The Grey-Eyed One. With a deep sigh, I pushed the thoughts away and continued to eat and noticed Amber seemed to feel a similar ease as me.

After eating, I thanked our hosts and had to stop myself from trying to find a sink to wash my bowl out of habit. The lady of the house took our bowls and quickly moved them from the table with practiced ease. Then, the master of the house smiled at us. Then, his eyes caught my swords fashioned at my belt, "(What is the news of the world, miss?)"

I nodded, "(Xerxes retreats,)" I tensed and reached for my blades without a thought at the name. "(Rumor has it 300 Laconians and a band of 1,000 Greeks pushed him off the coast into retreat.)"

The man raised a brow, "(Athena bless us!)" He looked visibly shaken. "(The stories say the Persians are a mass of demons who do not stop unless every force against them breaks.)"

"(The gods were with us,)" I said with a stunned expression. "(One dropped from the sky in Zeus' fury and cut into the masses with ease. Another bashed in Xerxes' head when he felt desire towards her.)" I shook my head. "(The fool king then challenged King Leonidas to single combat and lost with everyone able to see the mortal in his veins.)"

The mother looked horrified at the description and glared at us. "(Who are you?)"

I leaned forward, "(I am Nichole of Sparta. This is my sister, Amber. The battle took her voice.)" I said gently. "(Father bribed the officials to put us in the Spartan way of warriors.)" I shivered and hoped our kind hosts misread the involuntary action. "(I think he hoped the trials would kill us.)"

"(Why would a father…?)" The lady of the house covered her mouth and looked between us. For a moment, I thought she could detect a lie. Then, she shook her head and gave an uneasy smile, "(I am Semele.)" The mother said with shining eyes full of worry. Then, she put her hands on her son's shoulders and introduced him, "(This is our son: Lysander.)"

The boy nodded and waved. Then, he shot off with his eyes fixed on my blades. As he reached for them, the older man cleared his throat in warning. I was surprised when the boy backed off and retreated back to his mother without a word of argument.

I raised an eyebrow at the almost immediate shutdown. My nephews would have argued down until they got their way.

The man's irritation at his son vanished almost instantly. Then, he stood up and bowed kindly to us, "(I am your host, Orpheus.)"

I grimaced at the name and felt a wave of discomfort flow over me from the story attached to it. I knew this man couldn't be the mythical counterpart because the story was already known at this time in history. However, prodding from The Current urged me to keep an eye on the man. I looked up and smiled at Semele when I heard her walk back into the room. She nodded to us as I got up followed by Amber. Then, we followed the wife to a small guest room at the back of the house with a candle as the only light. She then handed me the candle which I used to light one next to the bedroll. Then, I handed it back to her with a smile and helped Amber into the bed before I pulled a quilt over us and drifted off to sleep with my arm around Amber protectively.

A thunderclap woke me. When my eyes adjusted to the gloom of the interior room of the house, the form of a massive man moved in the darkness. As he drew closer, the smell of ozone filled my nose. With effort, I remained as still as the dead while he continued to bear down on me like a lion stalking his prey. "(You dare to insult the lord who allows you to come into his land and not face consequences?!)"

The voice boomed in my head. Large with gravitas and pomp, part of me wanted to laugh at Zeus. I would be lying if I said I wasn't terrified, though. I could feel Zeus godhood dangerously close to my inner thigh. "(Touch me at your peril, Lord Zeus,)" I managed. "(My lover serves a goddess from an up-and-coming power called Rome.)"

Zeus laughed, "(You bluff!)" He said with a sneer. "(I can sense the Wolf in her. Clearly, she is a common MUTT of Lycaon's stock!)"

I smiled as I felt Amber move like lightning when she heard Lycaon mentioned. In the darkness, I saw the gleam of someone reaching into Ygdrasil before a spearhead rested against The King of the Gods. I sighed in relief with Amber placing the tip flush against the base of the god's member. She growled in a mix of Latin, Russian, and German. "(I am sure The Queen of Heaven would love to know I castrated her king and kept him from being able to ever cheat on her again!)"

Zeus growled and backhanded Amber. "(You DARE threaten me, BARBARIAN?!)"

With her out cold, rage overpowered fear by a massive margin. I took a deep breath and slowly got out of the bed to meet Zeus eye-to-eye. "(I do not want to dishonor my and my beloved's hosts by destroying their house to teach you NOT to touch her!)" I gripped the god by his tunic and hissed, "(Outside. NOW!)"

Under normal circumstances, I wouldn't be fool enough to challenge a god, but I hated bullies and tyrants of Zeus' ilk: entitled brats who thought they were untouchable just by virtue of status. I could feel The Bogan surging within me. It rolled and tossed inside me with the strength of a Category 5 storm. I knew I couldn't remain this deeply enveloped in The Bogan for long lest it sweep me away and leave a lifeless husk in my place. "(You like lightning, Zeus?)" I roared with pure rage as I moved to collect the massive influx of Bogan to my pointer and long fingers. Booms cracked and rolled as red, jagged arcs gathered on my fingers until a blood-colored ball the size of a small Christmas ornament glowed at the tip of my fingers. "(I SHALL SHOW YOU LIGHTNING!)"

As soon as the bolt left my fingers, I felt consciousness begin to fade but not before I heard Zeus yell a string of Greek curses as the mass of energy thew him away from me. As my vision grew blurry and began to darken, I faintly heard Amber yelling my name. With a weak smile, I turned towards the sound of her voice and whispered, "It's over. You're safe…"

Please Read and Review. I *really* hate Zues, so this was cathartic for me.

What are your thoughts?