She opened her eyes to the perceiving of dark words arriving at the doorstep of the Kingschamber. The room was faintly lit, a ghostly warm air gently caressed the fine hairs of her back, and she listened to the deep satisfied breathings of her husband.
Ares.
Slowly she was roused by shame at the memory of how she had gotten on that bed. Of all the many thoughts it was this she shunned, and quickly she rose towards the double doors without caring to look back. She grabbed from the floor her thin robe and covered herself.
As soon as Athena emerged from the door to meet the incoming messenger, Hermes was stunned. The Queen pretended not to blush, unwilling to admit she had come seeking the King's attention for the night. Hermes' emerald eyes sparkled, his lips gaped.
"Y-your diety…" the messenger god stuttered, willing to admit the shock to see her instead of the King. He looked away, off the daring cleavage partly concealed by strands of Athena's long locks. The Queen was decent enough to tighten her robe, too preoccupied with what could have happened that night she had forgotten how naked Ares made her to the world.
"What is it, Hermes?"
Her voice brought his attention back to her. He cleared his throat, "I was to summon you first, but your chamber was empty…" he trailed off realizing the discomfort having to explain. Athena was fervently waiting. Hermes shook his head and minded to just continue. "It's… Zeus… father… he seeks you."
The Queen felt a chill course through her, making her feet melt to the floor and hesitant whispers wanted to keep herself quiet but it was to the contrary. "What happened?"
"He… he's fading… your deity…" Hermes swallowed. She inhaled sharply, closing her eyes to utter disappointment on herself. She had been reaching out for the wrong directions while their father had finally succumbed to the ashes.
"I… I'll arrive shortly," the Queen lowered her gaze, unable to hide the tears that peeked through her lids.
"There's another, your Deity," Hermes pursed his lips until Athena looked back at him, unable to control the frown that pulled her lips.
"Uranus, my Queen. He's here."
The door creaked open, releasing the scent of death lurking in a corner. The Queen would not have wanted to push herself, but it was too late. Zeus had called her name and sent her body in silent convulses of anxiety. She never wanted to see this day.
"Father," Athena calmly replied, fully entering the chamber, only to see Hera rise from by Zeus' side with streaks of tears marring her face. Zeus lay still, unable to open his eyes and his good wife pecked a soft kiss on his brow before passing by the Queen without any utterance.
Hera left the door unclosed, and after her, Athena almost wanted to run back. Yet her feet had spoken another, moving towards the space where Hera had once been. She slowly bent to kiss his cold cheek and her fingers ran through his forehead.
"I haven't heard from you in a while," Zeus smiled, "I had thought you'd forgotten me after getting wed."
Athena scoffed weakly, brushing off the nonsensical jest. Her hand made way to his, fervently covering the cold tips of his fingers and raising them so she could keep them warm on the nape of her neck. "You're cold."
"You know what that means…"
"Father…" A tear finally slipped from her eye, making her bow her head. "Why can't I save you…?"
"There is no saving me, Athena, only saving yourself, and generations of lives," Zeus' voice had trailed into a whisper.
The Queen sniffed. "Where will you go, Father?"
Zeus was smiling again, faintly opening his eyes which was almost colorless. "Everywhere. In the air, in the clouds… remember the curse, my child. I am to witness the sack of Olympus, but…" Athena felt the tightening of his cold fingers. Such effort behind the pain and weakness was enough to break her. "But I will not… with my daughter as its Queen… I will but see how she will breach the curse and turn it into ash."
"Oh but I would…" Athena's lips trembled, "If it could bring you back,"
Zeus could only move his hand so his thumb could wipe away the tear that crept from her lid, "It may not, but it could bring back a dynasty… and power that could save you and your people… our people… our most precious creation."
Outside, Ares had been listening to their words as clear as daylight. As soon as Athena had opened for Hermes, his senses had been in its full vigilance, immediately trailing after her as she left for Zeus' side. He hid behind a pillar at the sight of his mother swiftly striding off at the opposite direction, and as soon as everything had once again cleared he remained at the door, earning enough courage to move in. Zeus is his father too, in some way, and him his estranged son.
"Is he treating you well…?"
Ares withdrew from the entrance at an invisible force that fed him hesitation. He could not understand why waiting for his wife's answer had roused a sudden feeling of guilt; her long pause had begun to vex him. And when she answered his world had stopped.
"Yes… father…"
The King felt bullets of cold sweat on his brow but his face had hardened he neither knew how to take her answer well. She was such a good liar. This bitch of a wife. He bit the wall of his mouth, a numbness dissipated to his stomach.
"Good," Zeus' voice was almost livelier, "I could leave in peace…"
Ares was laughing to himself at the sick illusions of a dying god. He would be a fool to believe his daughter, but he believed in his daughter in everything… thereby earning in him an undeniable rage of envy. Athena was the perfect heir, and he, a sour mistake.
The King felt an opposing force affront him, and he raised his head to see an eminent presence – too eminent it spoke to him of resentfulness he had been familiar with anyone else.
Uranus was staring at him unpleasantly, his lips in half a smile as he jeered at the King in disbelief. His great grandfather had always been Ares' most acrid fan, making the King scowl at memories of incessant insults. Uranus turned his back at the King, but Ares took the message they weren't supposed to start another measly conversation giving away the idea of how he had just been spying on his wife. The King growled with a slighted face as he followed where their great grandfather had just headed.
Uranus was perennial. Despite the stories of him overthrown by his sons he maintained in all a perpetual awe, and yet Ares could only look at between Uranus' legs and could not ease the thought of its emptiness there… more so he had been fucking the goddess his noble penis had become, having this peculiar feeling of banging against Uranus' balls instead. Some say it was but a legend, where Aphrodite came from, but he had been making secret jokes to himself. And perhaps because of this Uranus spited him so.
"A king… eavesdropping on his Queen… in his own palace," Uranus sneered whilst pouring wine on a flagon. They arrived at the balcony wide enough to accommodate an army in training. The night was almost ending; Ares could see the outline of gold against the dark azure of stars.
"That had made my night,"
Ares' attention turned back to his great grandfather approaching him. Uranus was an enormous being, standing affront Ares, the war god was only able to match his hard broad chest. He had hair and beard as dark as Ares', curly and long down to his shoulders. His heavy grey robes revealed only his brawny arms which would be enough to reshape the Earth. But why not. He had, Ares' naughty mind had once again surfaced amid the tenacity of the situation, been able to penetrate Gaia and procreate unimaginable creatures.
The King suppressed a foolish smile. "I was waiting for a secret heirloom from a dying old man."
Uranus scoffed before raising his flagon between them. "For you, oh great Olympian King," and all the while Ares' jaw hardened as Uranus spilled a mouthful of the wine on the marble floors before offering an insolent look at the war god while he drank the rest.
"I've never been fond of your father, yes, having been the son of the son who rebelled against me," Uranus started in a dark voice, "But I had forgiven him when I learned whom he placed on his throne."
Ares' breath hitched.
"Finally," Uranus closed his eyes, "Olympus could be saved from the perils of doom…"
"What is this sweet talk?" Ares raised a brow, only making Uranus undulate in laughter.
"Sweet talk? Don't be flattered, boy," the older god grinned, "I was not talking of you." He basked at the way Ares' face looked away in an anger he was managing to pull off from him.
"Oh I doubt you had in mind saving both divinity and humanity when you sat on the throne. I know you, boy. I had been watching you – all of you, from whence you were pulled off your mother's cunt to the day you first made a virgin whore bleed I know it all. You sick, sick bastard."
"If anyone had to be a bastard you have me to exempt," Ares spoke tightly between teeth. Heat was gathering quickly on his nape.
"If anyone had to be King I have you to exempt,"
Ares laughed, "You want the throne,"
"Oh yes I do. Everyone wants the throne, you fool. Everyone wants to rule the world," the universe was quick to admonish, making Ares swallow. "Your only voucher to wearing that crown is the pure blood that runs from my veins to yours."
The King's face calmed in defiance. "Then take it."
Although the words were supposed to inject certain shame on Uranus, the god's mouth curved in an incontrollable smile, "You take me for a witless fool as you are, boy? That throne, your majesty," he moved his face nearer to the King's that Ares could smell the spirits on his breath, "…is a trap."
Color had begun draining from Ares' face despite the best effort he could muster to look brave.
"Who do you think your father… that dying old man… would put in the light where monsters thirsty of revenge lurk in the surrounding darkness?" Uranus was all but smirking evilly, "He would place the weakest, worthless, most stupid of all… one who would willfully take the bait and take the first strike of a hungry blade."
"And after he is done with that useless pawn," the Universe continued in a voice truly meant to displease, "Then one equal to him would rule. One who had balls forged from steel, who had more nobility in a single finger than the whole of your body. The only fault in this most promising ruler is that she was born a woman…
"So yes, I would want that throne, but not now, and not when I am knowledgeable of who is really meant to sit… so keep it. And brag it to the millions of stars your Kingly blood. It is either that or you begin acting like the King you are… but no…
"You held parties and drank to unconsciousness undressed by prostitutes and mistresses… You made a fool of your queen; YOU raped her senseless and made a laughingstock of it, rejected her schemes… You are nothing… but a bling blind fool." At that Uranus spat on the floor as if his anger had just materialized in his dribble.
The taut muscles on Ares' jaw were visible enough to be drawn. Uranus made sure to see the angry, frustrated moist on his great grandson's eyes and hear the grinding of his teeth before passing by and knocking him shoulder to shoulder as he left the King in silent wrath.
Stripes of sunlight breached through the great pillars of the hall, but unable to warm the gloom draping on the gods' faces. Olympian divinity except Hera and Hades were huddled together either in pairs or alone, faces grim and cheeks streaked with tears. No amount of chirping birds or zephyr could hush the bland sighing and soft whispers that could be heard about.
The Queen held Artemis' head on her chest, kissing her temples and patting the huntress' heaving shoulders. Near them, Apollo could only sit by the steps leading to his throne, his head hanging in disbelief. Zeus' quick passing had made the daylight apocalyptic. The clouds surrounding Olympus were beginning to turn grey.
And as all were in synchronous grief, the heavy marble doors broke thundered open and in strode Ares donning the face of apathy. Heads turned slowly as he went straight to the table to pour himself a flagon of wine.
Athena's brows furrowed listening to the careless gulping of alcohol. Up to the last drop the King savored all, and proceeded to fill for himself another before finally speaking in a voice that never hinted compassion.
"Straighten up. We spar by afternoon till night at the arenas. Sharpen your blades."
Confused murmurs began to escalate, hardening Athena's face. Artemis in her arms had such a reaction that made her mouth agape.
"Hephaestus," Ares shot a look at the god without prior shame for himself. Hephaestus could only straighten his back; his face poorly hiding fury behind the unpleasant façade. "Make sure to examine everyone's weaponry. Every sword, arrow, mace and spear you have to forge or reforge if needed be. I give you permission to melt belts of mountains for steel if that is what it would take."
As he drank on from the flagon, Athena was by his side with hands on either of her elbows. She summoned calmness in the midst of wanting to break a marble jar on the King's head.
"What are you doing…?" she spoke in a hushed tone, enough so only Ares could hear. The Kings never looked at her. "You heard me."
"Ares," the Queen sighed, "Zeus has just died… give them a day or two… to grieve. He is your father too."
At this Ares laughed in full sarcasm, "Aren't you one who nags to keep the plans against this doomsday in order? I am doing my Kingly duties and you should only shut your pestering cunt to yourself."
Athena closed her eyes; an irate fume began to cloud her senses. "Ares, please." She spoke between tight teeth. "Let us do the passing ceremonies. Zeus deserves such… if you could not treat him as a father then at least give him the honor for a righteous burial."
At this Ares lurched in a jolt of madness, flinging the tin goblet at her feet and spewing its contents across Athena's dress.
"YOU WILL NOT – COMMAND ME!"
At the height of growling between gritted teeth, his voice matched the poisonous fury in his crimson eyes.
Yet at the brink of it all, Athena snapped, equaling the rage that made her husband and every onlooker's breath stopped as she raised her palm and violently strike Ares' face to the left. They have but seen how the flesh of his cheek blotched red. For millennia, none would have dared challenged the wrath of the war god. But there she was, bold and unflinching as steel.
Before Ares could even exhale and gather himself, again the Queen raised her other palm and swiped at Ares' cheek to the right. But before he could fall from humiliation, Athena grabbed hold of the collar of his robe and pulled his shoulders so he could face her once more. And there and then the Queen crushed her lips on his, furiously kissing him with her hand gripped on the back of his head while everyone's eyes had widened.
As Athena withdrew from his face, only Ares' deep calming breaths could be heard. The Queen held his face with shut eyes whilst her forehead remained between his eyes. Her palms held either side of his taut jaws as his trembling fingers made a fist around her thin wrists, gathering in them a force so intense it could bend a steel armor. Athena took the pain bravely, hiding the cringe very well. Her dress was splattered with cold wine that dripped to the floor.
Among the witnesses, Apollo could only look away. His only wish had been to unsee what had just transpired. In his mind it could have been tolerable to know how Athena had been married, been freed from the clutches of celibacy, and yet to see her take the move at a gesture had admittedly seared a pang of distress – hereby earning a nudge from her sister who had observed the sudden mood of his.
The Queen waited as Ares' grip on her wrists slowly loosed and she continued to hold him as a mother to a child on the verge of tantrums, only that this child had the capacity to slaughter the world at the peak of his wrath. Her wrists almost turned purple; her bones had throbbed.
"I am not commanding you," Athena spoke in frustrated anger, "I side with you, Ares. – I. Am. Not. Your. Rival… I am your Queen…" She sighed and kissed his cold mouth once more before whispering against his lips, "…and you're my King, Ares… I will serve you and Olympus because you're my King…"
Ares' face was warm against her palm which stung from the sheer force of striking. His eyes slowly opened amid creased brows. His growling slowly ceased equally with the force on his grip.
They remained that in the passing minutes… and none could deny the queer sight of the vulture being tamed. Yet even before Ares could grant with his Queen's request, Hermes broke into the hall with a fright-stricken face. Breathless, he shot straight towards the King and Queen and fell at their feet.
"Your deity… it's Hera!"
A/N: Thanking everyone for the wonderful reviews! It had been a very busy month and I had this rushed so minimal errors could be easily located... I warn you! xD Anyway, still holding on to this story. And I want you to know that your suggestions have been put to mind. Again, thank you very much. Please continue leaving reviews; I will get back on you one by one later on!