Athena clasped her breastplate tight as her jaws. She strode uncaringly, snatching her helm in one hand and spear in the other as she left the confines of her Queenschamber out to the long night ahead. The hallway was clear and sad, dimly lit with torches at each marble pillar. The fires were so murky it almost seemed to have been lit for the souls departing from the ongoing carnage.
As her pace increased she heard sets of heels closely following behind her, the soft tinkling of armor, the scratches of weapon against the floor. She sighed, lowering her eyes and yet never looking back.
"Do not stop me," the Queen was stern, "Let me save what I can."
The steps went on to follow her, never slowing down. At last Athena sighed, halted and looked back only to find Artemis and her twin Apollo half smiling at her – clad in armor from head to toe and ready to dive into chaos.
The Queen stared at them, bewildered and alarmed. "You fools. Go back. This is between me and Ares."
"Ah shut it, your highness," Apollo was smirking beside his sister without much an apology. "We can't have you hogging all the fun, can we?"
Athena opened her mouth so to speak in both disbelief and protest. Yet she could but shake her head with an appreciative smile as she turned her heels and continued the trip, hearing the snigger from the loyal twins who would only reject her proposal.
They rode to the battle ground, descending amid black clouds which sparked heavily with sporadic bolts of lightning. The chaos below them had turned the sea dark red; they could hear the screams and ripping of flesh to bone from where they halted in terror. No armor was thick enough and no steel as hard enough to break the monsters' jaws. Decapitated bodies piled like leaves on an autumn day. As rain and seawater crashed on them, Athena's eyes brimmed with tears. Ares had taken this too far.
She saw him atop his greathorse prancing on a high rock. Even the rain could not wash the blood that ornamented his body.
As soon as they landed their weapons started to lash on the hellish beings they could not name. No mortal soldier was saved without a lost limb. If they would not die there, they will certainly die in a couple of days.
Athena slashed her way towards the King. The way his eyes burned at the sight of her gave out how unpleased he was.
"Bloody pest you are," Ares spat, "I said what I said! I don't need – "
"I am NOT here for you, you warmongering cunt!" The Queen raged, pinning a monster by the throat and hurling its dead body on Ares' ground. "This is your idea of victory? It's hardly a battle at all, this is SLAUGHTER! You came by when we captured Euryale, you know what these monsters are! How could you…" Athena's voice trailed off, choked by the tears that furiously escaped her eyes. And yet she paled at the sinister grin the King was poorly holding back.
"I know, alright. And I know just how to distract them too – human flesh."
In the light of her wrath, Athena gashed at Ares, hauling him off his horse and tackling him on the ground, successfully pulling off his helm and revealing a face plastered will glee. The Queen pulled off the sword from her back and quick as the lightning that crashed above them she pressed the blade on his neck with a growl, "I ought to finish you here. Or die trying."
Ares chortled, beneath the smug grin on his bloodied mouth she saw the uncertainty in his eyes. "Please, go ahead," his lips curled back in sarcasm and challenge, "I always knew there was a beast chained inside you. You're holding it in when it had been struggling to be free. Because you fear it. You fear it can overpower you and feast on the reasonings of your head. I know you love killing as much as I do…"
He moved his head nearer to hers, taunting the Queen as the blade bit deeper on his skin, "You just don't want to admit it. But I dare you – do it. Embrace. Your. Inner. Monster."
The Queen's grip on the hilt slowly loosened as Ares' words sank in her, the expression on her eyes began to reflect sheer terror. Her arms began to tremble as the coldness of the rain seeped through her skin. How true could that be? No. She had not lived this far to welcome the side of her no one would want to engage with.
"Oh Athena, sweet, sweet wife," Ares could only scoff with a sneer, "Kindness will be the death of you."
Everything around her seemed to drown where only her thumping heartbeats could be heard. At this a small voice rang loudly on her ear.
"Athena?"
She turned to the twins staring aghast at her, at the way she held a sword against her King, her husband. It was unlikely; the strangest sight one could have seen from the goddess they so highly respected. The Queen could only imagine their regret coming to aid only to witness her like this.
Athena moved her knees to stand. She suddenly felt heavy as if Gaia had fallen on her.
Suddenly an eruption from the highest mountain across them had snatched their attention. Rocks and molten lava flew across the skies. The ground shook, drawing splits on the crags and rocks which caused massive landslides, burying men and monsters both. The rain was not enough to cool the lava now threatening to entomb them all.
In the midst of smoke and ash spewing from the rocks, an eerie figure appeared from the distant cave above opening to the mountain. It was a huge shadow clad like death itself, looking down on them ominously though they could not figure its face. It entered the cave, disappearing from their sight.
Ares immediately jumped to his feet, snarling. "Cronos!"
As the King drew his sword to lay siege, Athena grabbed his arm.
"What are you doing!?"
"He has the weapon!" Ares shoved the Queen's hand off him, "I will drive that blade across his head and have this be done with!"
"You don't know that!" Athena screeched, "The last thing we need are your rash decisions, Ares, will you please STOP it!"
The King had only responded with a firm glare as he neared his face towards her, "By the end of this night, you will thank me." With this he called to his horse which pranced ferally reflecting his master – blood red eyes and a rabid neighing from its foaming mouth. Athena could only scream the King's name as he hastily drove ascending towards the cave. The thick black smoke had finally swathed them.
"What do we do?" Artemis queried in panic.
The Queen had to think. Fast. All the while her own panic was rising to her head but she had to do what was to save them.
She instructed the twins whilst still staring at the void that hid Ares' mad trail, breath hitching and mind racing with wild thoughts. "Go save what you can. Command the generals to lead the remaining armies back. Too much lives have been harvested tonight."
"And you?" Artemis asked.
Athena closed her eyes, tightening her grip around the hilt of her sword. She spoke with an air of conviction dubbed with embarrassment to admit, "I cannot lose him. Not yet. Not now. My duty is still bound to his shadow no matter how terrible that seems. We still need him."
She turned to her audience and in a sudden her face fell. "Artemis," she choked, "Where is Apollo?"
Ares descended from his horse a few leaps away from the dreadful entrance deeper to mountain. He could hear the hissing of the cracks that were gaping at his feet like mouths welcoming his fall. Ash blackened the air, making him squint. The heat was severe. As he slowed towards passing through the entrance, Apollo came rushing from behind.
"Ares, don't,"
Even in the dark, his golden curls glowed – a thing Ares had seen too ridiculous for a man. He had only been attracted to one with such gold silken hair but that was quite a history.
"Please. The Queen only vouches for your safety, please. Listen."
"Or what?" Ares turned to him, interested, "You will fight me?"
He loved the way color drained from Apollo's face, his mouth opened to speak but words fled. Ares quickly took this as personal triumph, "I knew it. Now remove yourself here or I'll have to do it for you – piece by piece." It was not a threat. It was a promise that dripped like poison which undoubtedly made Apollo's knees tremble as he watched his King enter the cavern.
Inside Ares had to squint his eyes further at the thick ash. Molten rocks flowed in all directions, searing his skin momentarily. It did not take a couple of blinks before he felt the most peculiar changes in his body.
Suddenly his armor was too heavy, igniting his hand to drop the sword as his muscles ached. The metal clangored on the ash-coated ground, followed by his own weakened knees. His chest heaved and he began to cough as the air wound around him tightly, making him sweat and claw in the ground for air. As his fingers scratched against the dust, the sight of a strange rock appeared beneath the grime and residue.
It was black, almost obsidian, but it sparkled as much as it smoked at the touch of his flesh. Its roughness sent a chill across his spine despite the heat the surrounded him. The element was rare, one that he had never set eyes on, and haunting as hell – feeding on his prowess like a vortex sucking on his life, leeching him to the bones.
He forced to stand, still burdened by the weight of his armor. Waves of fatigue crossed over his muscles. His wounds, small as they were, stung deeply. He could not feel his fingers, his extremities were too numb and for the first time he smelt the stench of his own fear.
Ares looked ahead he saw again the black figure floating over the lake of viscous lava. He made warcry enough for the rocks to crumble further and watched as this figure had begun to turn around to face him.
As their gazes met, the King's eyes fell in devastation and defeat. He knew the cold, almost colorless eyes, the pale snow skin and impassive face – now the face of a traitor. Its dark cape hovered like black wings, revealing metals irregularly shaped as lightning bolts and spears, all aimed at the King.
"YOU!" Ares built up whichever remained of his force and charged forward despite the shards ready to tear him.
It all happened, though, too swift and incomprehensible.
Ares heard a screech of beast from behind him. He almost saw its claws dig into his shoulders but was suddenly ripped off by a slash of whip – Apollo's weapon. The monster fell as the Sun god appeared before him completely hindering his path towards the Traitor.
He wanted to tell him; he wanted to scream the warnings of the place – the way power ebbed from his body at the entrance to the cavern, the way his bones turned brittle and his blood turned cold.
He wanted to push Apollo away before the metallic blade pierced his armor and impaled him thereon. He heard the breaking of metal and rupture of flesh. One blade punctured below Apollo's heart. And two others followed through his shoulders.
The King felt the Sun god's blood splatter across his chest before catching his frail body. Both fell to the ground as more of the warm dark liquid streamed from the gashes. The sharp metals that were buried in and out of Apollo's body had begun to dissipate as if they had not existed in the first place, the dust it had become merged with the now open wounds.
Ares had never seen a god bleed as much… exactly like a mortal. There is something in this place, in the blades, that unhinged him.
"A… Apollo…" Ares' lips quivered, lifting himself before bracing the wounded by the arm. As he raised Apollo's face, blood made its way from his mouth. The Sun god coughed, trying to open his eyes but in frustration. He saw the Traitor glaring void of neither satisfaction nor sympathy and thick smoke clouded him until he vanished from sight.
"Why…" the King clenched his teeth, shaking Apollo's shoulders, "You bloody fool… why!?"
Apollo could only sigh and cringe at the pain that had begun to sear his veins, crippling him. He never had felt such amount of agony in his thousand years. "The Queen… she…" a cough made its way through his throat. "She needs you – safe..."
A blazing shot of remorse began to spread across Ares' gut – a feeling he could not name. Silence befell him and none of the reproachful things he used to have in mind floated. All he thought at that dire moment was to get them out of the hell that would now be their graveyard. Ares wound Apollo's arm over his shoulder and limped, blood and sweat leaking from his body, towards whence they came from.
Athena's arms shot out from the awaiting exit, grabbing Apollo's body and guiding it towards the ground.
"What happened?" The Queen was frantic, searching an answer Ares could not provide. He could only stare at her, face wild with bewilderment and distress which almost turned the color of his eyes rust. He could hear her calling his name, and Apollo's name, but there his body was swept with all sorts of emotions he could not decrypt.
When at last the ringing on his ears cleared and the sounds around him became distinct, he came face to face with Artemis. She was out of breath, covered in blood and guts, and her eyes spoke exhaustion. Ares' mouth dried at the sight of her, at the way she looked exactly like her twin despite the variance of their hair color. He had been savage to him, threatened him, insulted them, and now –
"He's…" Athena's voice awakened him further, "He's gone…"
Two words played on his mind like a dream before hearing a blood curdling wail. Two words he caused.
He's gone.
A/N: Thank you for the continuous reviews and your congratulatory messages! Much appreciated. We're doing fine, as I hope you all are too especially in this crisis we all are in regarding the virus. Keep safe, everyone.
Again, here's Ares just being Ares again. With a twist.
Drop your thoughts!