"Ares…Ares…wake up son."
A distant voice roused him, pulling him out of the incomprehensible abyss. Fragments of his conscious pieced back together. His eyes yielded to his command and fluttered open. His first view was of his father's face. He looked weary, eyes devoid of life, his expression desolate.
"We need to keep going."
He tried to sit up but couldn't, "father—I feel weak."
"Take my hand, we need to keep going. They will find us if we stay."
Ares frowned, "Who's after us father?"
He grabbed his father's hand, and he hoisted him up and onto his back and immediately began running Ares couldn't tell where.
The bouncing off of his body on to his father's as he jogged made him feel something strange. His father's spine constantly crushed into his chest, his hands on Zeus' shoulders touched only bones.
'How was it possible!' He never thought he'd live to see his father in the state he was in.
They were immortal, but without sustenance, they withered until nothing was left but bones. Yet even that wouldn't kill them, but the persistent feeling of hunger and thirst would drive one insane. The fact that his father even had enough strength to run was lost on him.
"What's going on father, you're scaring me?"
"We lost son, don't you remember. The Giants won."
"Where's mother?"
"They killed everyone, we've lost everything and everyone. Our home, your siblings, my siblings…your mother, I'm sorry Ares… I couldn't save her." He spoke through breaths.
"NO! It can't be, where's my mother?"
"We need to keep moving."
"How is it possible…we—we're immortal."
"They found a way… Kronus' Scythe."
"No father, I don't believe you. We are immortal, take me to mother."
"I'm sorry son but I can't. I lost everyone, I won't lose you too."
How did it all happen, they won the war. He knew it because he was there when his father declared it. ��My father would never run."
Silence.
"You're not my father—this isn't real—where are you taking me?"
"We have to keep moving."
"NO! I will fight," Ares snapped, and with the last bit of his strength, he pulled himself free of the frail husk that called itself his father. He landed on his two feet and immediately felt his knees buckle.
"Ares stop this, right now!"
"No, you run! I'm not going anywhere with you."
He felt a hand on his shoulder, but he grabbed it and threw it aside. "Don't touch me!"
From a distance, he could hear screams, and the ground beneath his feet trembled.
"They are here, get behind me son."
"No, I was born a Olympian, and I shall die as one," Ares stated as several Giants came into view, their screams and war cry deafening even the deaf.
Cold sweat dripped down his left eyebrow, knees trembling, but he held strong. The shaking of the ground now in full-swing tremors that threatened to throw him off-balance. Dust kicked up forming a cloud all around and up to the Giants' waists as they came to less than five hundred meters away from him.
Without thinking, Ares gave a war-cry of his own and charged towards certain doom.
Four hundred meters…
Three…
Two hundred meters…
One…
Everything went black.
Ares stirred once again, this time with a little familiarity with his state. A whirlpool still shambled up his conscious, but it was bearable. He could focus on his scattered sentience and began to slowly piece it together. Piece by piece, memories returned, he knew who he was.
His whole life flashed past him; a decade worth of memories and experiences all in the span of a moment. Ares pushed against the currents, powering through the waves. His conscious fully formed, he moved towards the surface. Head first, followed by hands and torso. His body now wholly reformed, he resurfaced.
"It is done."
"A god has awakened."
"The God of War."
The crowd heard the proclamation of The Fates. Zeus grinned, "that's my boy!"
"Just my luck, like having three warmongers in the family isn't enough," Hera chided.
"Athena, perhaps a demonstration?" Zeus spoke, ignoring his wife.
"You sure father? God of War or not, he's still untrained in combat."
"Afraid he's going to beat you?" Poseidon jumped in.
"Fine! Get a healer ready," She growled.
"Bag of gold says Athena humiliates him, any takers?" Dionysus turned to face the crowd of gathered gods.
"Someone is still salty, make it ten bags," Hades grinned.
"You're on," Dionysus responded, unperturbed by the slight remark.
"Can you even afford that much?" Poseidon added sarcastically, "I would've used your priced wine collection if I were you."
"It's better than dead tuna, and you aren't touching my wine."
"I could have it frozen for the rest of your eternal life."
"Before or after I have your home turned into my new wine collection."
Athena spread her hands to the sides whilst she approached the short figure beginning to appear through the mist with two crimson glowing eyes; giving his face a red hue.
Two twin daggers materialized in each hand, and she wasted no time in attacking the unsuspecting god.
A quick slash at his chest caused him to stagger backward as his hand reflexively clutched his cut chest. A small grunt escaped him as he appraised his opponent. Athena smiled; first blood was hers.
She resumed attacking, going directly for his throat, it didn't connect. Another two twin daggers appeared in her opponents' hands and were now blocking her attack.
"Impressive, try and keep up."
Pulling back her dagger, she feinted a left slash, going for his gut. Ares reflexively jumped back, drawing in his stomach and exposing his face. Athena blurred forward and swiftly slashed his throat; thick red blood splattered on the ground as Ares fell down onto his knees.
Athena turned towards his father, "had enough?"
Zeus just raised his right hand and pointed at her back. She quickly turned just in time to parry a slash aimed at the back of her neck. Her foe landed on his feet and jumped again deciding to press on. He came at her for a stab on her chest. But Athena was too nimble and pulled her chest back while kneeing him in the gut.
That sent him back to land on his ass several meters away. Athena only had a short time to regain her wits after the close call that had her on the defensive before Ares charged her again.
'That's not going to happen.'
She was the one to dictate the pace of the fight, not him. Athena pulled back her right arm and threw one of her daggers; Ares blurred to the side, sidestepping it and kept coming. She threw her second dagger, but he quickly ducked out of its path.
Soon he was on her going for left and right slash combo, his left never connected but his right nicked Athena's armor as she tried to evade. In response, she materialized another set of daggers and attacked, he dodged two slashes and one stab to the chest. But that was beside the point.
Ares' moves were somewhat familiar. Athena knew so because she just used them about a few seconds ago.
'That's not good.'
Athena knew immediately prolonging the fight to fully test Ares wasn't going to be a good idea; her opponent was coping her moves and adopting them as his own. With another miss added to a total of four misses in a row, she dropped her daggers, and a six-foot-long double-sided spear appeared in her left arm.
She weaved it in front of her to parry a stab towards her chest and grabbed it with both her hands. Her opponent took two steps back, and he also dropped his daggers, and a double-sided spear materialized, only this one was two feet shorter.
Growling internally, Athena took the initiative and used her longer reach to her advantage. She attacked with her spear, going for a stab but she hit nothing. Her adversary disappeared into a cloud of red mist.
"Ut auferat," Athena muttered almost immediately while she slashed at the open air. Her move nearly worked as she appeared behind Ares who had previously decided to teleport behind her; but again, he disappeared. Athena growled, not bothering to internalize it this time. She nimbly turned around to block only to find her opponent not there.
The sound of metal clashing with metal was accompanied by a collective gasp from the crowd. Athena had narrowly blocked a stab to the gut with a shield that she summoned in her right hand. Another smack was heard as Ares hacked away at the shield but couldn't get around it.
Athena heard a growl and almost immediately she saw him drop his spear in favor of a relatively large two-handed mace.
He struck the shield with inhuman force kicking up dust in the process due to sheer power behind the attacks. Athena's arm almost faltered. She grunted in return; he was too strong for a god of his age, but nowhere near her league. Another smack on the shield caused a dent, but Athena held strong.
Smack after smack resonated across the open ground as Ares tried getting past the shield, deploying all kinds of tactics ranging from forcing his way through it, to trying to find a way around it.
'In the end, with one to copy moves from, he was nothing but a brute at heart.'
Athena almost chuckled at his attempts, she hoped by now he'd realize overpowering her wasn't an option, but he didn't.
Almost in annoyance Athena dropped her shield and attacked Ares, taking him off-guard. Athena grabbed the mace and proceed to drive her spear into Ares. She was rewarded with a mouthful of blood before she dealt her final blow; a small dagger appeared in her right hand, and she went for the kill.
"Enough!"
Athena stopped her attack millimeters away from his throat and disengaged. She turned and went back to the crowd.
"I said enough!" The roar of thunder made everyone flinch and Ares to stop dead in his tracks. He was so close to hitting Athena when he was interrupted.
"Brothers it's time we talked, the rest of you may leave. Ares stay." He added, and two minutes later everyone was gone.