The door to his chambers opened, and his mother walked in. His room was dark, but he heard her mutter a quick spell and the lamps all lit up the room.
"How are you doing?"
"I'll be fine, you don't have to check up on me every passing second."
"And what mother will I be if I do that?"
"My mother I hope."
"Well, it's time. Come with me." Ares didn't believe her but a quick trip to the window and pushing aside the heavy drapes he was met with a dark sky full of stars.
"Mà tòn Día!"
"I thought you said you were fine," an amused Hera stated. She was answered with a growl. Grabbing his favorite cloak, he walked past his mother and headed for the door. "Let's not keep them waiting then."
The two walked all the way down to the basement. There they entered a particular room with double doors. Inside, the room was empty but what got Ares' attention was the floor.
There was a star-shaped drawing; it looked much like a pentagram, only the circle was in the star. It was large enough to fit a fully transformed god, but that wasn't all.
At the base of each point of the star were runes, each different from the other. As for the circle, unlike the star, it had no special features added to it. His mother walked into the middle of the ring before she turned to him and raised her hand, beckoning him to take it.
"Are you ready?"
She was however met with silence. Hera knew all too well what that silence meant. "Ares look at me."
He slowly angled his gaze up to match his mother's own. "What if I'm weak, Father will be angry."
"No, he won't, despite his flaws, there's nothing he loves more than his children. And you son are lucky you also have my love too. No matter what the outcome is, you'll still be our son." "What about you, does he love you?"
"Of course, he does, why do you ask?" Hera got out of the circle and crouched in front of a ten-year-old Ares.
"It's nothing let's go." Ares dismissed the topic and matched to the center of the circle, leaving Hera behind to contemplate his odd question.
In all his life Ares always had a curious mind, perhaps too curious for his own good. So, him asking if his father loved her made Hera begin to believe there was a larger scheme at play. She wasn't stupid, she knew from the very beginning when she married Zeus he was a pathological womanizer.
As much as she hated to admit it to herself, his antics got to her after centuries of cat-and-mouse chase. He was very good at it and had everything she was weak against; bravery, strength, daring, influence, you name it, he had it.
When she accepted his hand in marriage, she knew she had only one flaw to deal with, and she could fix him. It had worked for more than seven centuries. Four of which he spent wooing her; he was relentless. Another three spent on their honeymoon, that was when his first transgression happened.
He lusted after that mortal woman she could no longer remember the name. Unlike gods and all other immortals, mortals tend to populate like flies, and it didn't take long before she was pregnant.
Zeus kept it a secret until she accidentally discovered it. Out of anger, she tricked the poor woman to ask Zeus to let her touch his Thunderbolt. Hera even told her to make Zeus swear by River Styx. Funny thing was, he never breathed a word even after discovering it was her that orchestrated the whole thing.
Last Hera heard was she died but not without Zeus saving her son. He hid him well and threatened to strike anyone if they even dared to look for him. For a moment she thought he had learnt his lesson and all was good for at least another century. Now she had a feeling that something was up; she would get to the bottom of it.
Taking Ares' hand, she spoke, "You remember the Aether Spell?"
"Yes."
"Say it with me."
"Ut auferat dissipate peribunt infernum." The two gods said in unison and disintegrated into a brown mist.
Once they materialized, their view changed and Ares for the first time had his first glimpse of Hades. Memories of his mother's lessons flashed through his mind, he could still vividly remember every detail.
Around fourteen billion years ago, Kaos created seven progenies; Gaia, Ouranos, Aether, Erebus, Nyx, Tartarus and Hemera. Each representing a portion of reality and together they form the Cosmos.
There were however only four dimensions, Ouranos the dimension they lived in, Erebus; the darkness or dark dimension, Tartarus; Hades' dimension and Aether; the only dimension existing in all three.
They were now in Tartarus, the dimension with no stars but still had light at least near its boundaries that it shares with Ouranos, this allows Hemera to sip in through Aether. Though if you go deeper, it gets darker and darker until you reach the boundary between Tartarus and Erebus where Kaos resides.
Where they appeared wasn't far off from where they were going, River Styx. A mystical and the most sacred river in all existence. It is the source of all magic; one of the three powers that shape reality. Magic, Divine, and Cosmic powers.
River Styx flowed endlessly across all of Tartarus and into Erebus, no one knows where it ends—no one knows where Erebus ended, at least no one is foolish enough to go deeper into Erebus.
His mother began walking towards its source, Ares followed shortly after. He couldn't help but be mesmerized by the glittering colorless water. Its gentle flow enthralling him into a hypnotic stupor. Reaching out with his hand, he was about to scoop up some of it when his hand was stopped by a much larger hand.
"No, Ares. Remember your training, don't let the river overpower you." Ares shook his head and began to focus on his mantra.
As a magic sensitive being, being near the river flooded him with raw magic. The effects tend to get more bearable as one grew older and their magic affinity becomes more seasoned.
Soon they were at the Sacred Ground. They ascended onto an elevated ground that was flattened. He saw several familiar faces and a few strange ones. There was a total of twenty deities, his father and uncles were all present; donned in armor, they looked regal. His half-siblings were there too, not to mention his aunts.
"Keep walking," Ares heard his mother state before she let go of his hand and took her place next to his father. The crowd was separated into two, his family was on one side and the rest on the other side.
In the middle, there was a carved path that he was to follow and it disappeared into a cloud of fog. He trudged on until he was mere inches away from the cold embrace of the fog. He looked back at the twenty faces, each revealing their own range of emotion; some had dread written all over them, some jealousy, others were unreadable masks.
His father's face was however filled with pride and expectation. The feeling of disappointment began taking hold of his being, but a quick look at his mother's reassuring smile strengthened his resolve. He closed his eyes and let it be the last thing he would remember before his Awakening. "Yes, child."
"Walk into the water."
"Your fate awaits."
Three feminine voices spoke through the murky river as his next step had his left foot splash into the water, but there was no sound; only the feeling of wetness. The sense of power rushing into his being instinctively prompted him to begin reciting his mantra.
"No child."
"Now is not the time to fight it."
"Embrace your fate."
With his eyes closed, Ares winced as once again he felt the power creeping up his body. He was knee deep into the water as the power reached his torso.
'I can take it, I'm the son of Zeus.'
"Courage is hopeless."
"Fear is meaningless."
"Your fate is sealed."
Ares was about to shout at the voices to shut up when he felt something that no one prepared him for. He was up to his chest in the River when he lost all sensation in both of his legs; try as he may he couldn't feel his toes. His movement had also stopped, but it didn't end there, his body began to sink into the cold water.
Out of instinct, he raised his hands to force himself to remain above water, but what he saw made him ashen. His fingers were slowly melting away; both bone and flesh disappearing into nothingness.
He opened his mouth to scream, but water rushed in instead. His vocals soon disappeared, and all was left was his gradually dissolving head. It took a total of three minutes since he stepped into the water for him to completely dissolve into nothingness.
What was left of him, even he had trouble fathoming. He had no body, but he existed. All around him were glinting liquids, his mind a slave to the currents as they pulled him into a vortex. Spiraling his conscious into a drunken trance, slowly he let go, surrendering to the power of the whirlpool. His conscious ripped to pieces and sank to the bottom.
Ares knew then he was no more.