Aries had been looking high and low for me. He went through every town, city and province. He at one point had considered asking Hercules to help. But he was a god! He had many different sides to himself. He also knew that his new bride was just now learning the same about herself.
He knew that now was the time to pull himself together. That was going to be harder done than said though. There were so many aspects and religions that believed in him. For instance, the Egyptian god of war was Montu, the Aztec god of war was Huitzilopochtli, Skanda was the Hindu god of war. There were way to many to name. Each having their own special powers and special jobs with each culture.
Aries ran his fingers through his hair. He was so frustrated! He had been flying for weeks on end. He had begun to lose hope. Then he had gotten word of a tribe from across the sea. They had found a Goddess and adopted her into their culture. This tribe claimed that there Goddess was new. She was just becoming loved by all the neighboring tribes. She has found her that she can control men's hearts through fire!
As far as Aries knew Joy had not found her powers out yet. She did not know what she would specialize in. She just learned how to split. This could be her. I mean she has not showed herself around a flame in front of him yet. She might have a unique power. Also, he did not know of any new gods that have been created of late. It pretty much had to be her.
Aries had a hard time believing this though. But it was a good thing he was a god. He did not have to worry about taking a boat anywhere. He snapped his fingers and was in the new land. Before he did anything else though he decided he needed to pull himself together.
Amazingly, all of his other copies agreed with his plan and before long the beach was filled with many different looking, speaking and acting copies of Aries. Their main difference's were in clothing. My Aries snapped his fingers making a milk crate appear.
He pulled up the milk crate, standing on it and shouted to be heard above the crowd and getting all their attention on him. "All of you know the situation. All of you have seen. It is time for us to pull ourselves together. We can go back to regular duties after we know Joy is safe. If she is here things could go bad quick. Especially if these people believe she is a god. So who is with me?!"
Several of his copies merged back with him. Several did not. He asked why not be merged and be one again. The response was interesting. "How do we know you will split again? Many of us like the division. It means less work for one person, and more time with Joy." He answered, "I want betray myself!" He had several head nods. "We have to find her first! More eyes can be better. But I am more powerful when I am all together. If this is her, I may have to be adopted into their culture too. In order to do that I will need all of myself pulled together." Several heads shook in agreement. The rest then merged with my Aries.
He thought about what the next step was. He knew he would have to change the way he did things for a short period of time so he could blend in. Once he had earned the tribes trust he had to prove himself in a combat situation. It was a good thing that this was the time for warring tribes. Especially since he was the god of war.
He quickly made friends with some of the most local tribes. He listened to the local legends. He trained, hunted and fought beside many different tribes. He did not call any particular tribe his home until he heard about the trials. The trials were to see who would be the husband of the new Goddess they had named Phoenix.
After hearing this, he picked the tribe he was currently with, getting in good with them. He had been through three tribes already. At the moment he was known as the wondering worrier. But due to this he was adopted fairly quick into most tribes. He had been at this for 6months already. Now he knew, there was no use in trying to hide his true nature. He had to pretend he was human. But he was going to whip out his whole arsenal. He went all out using his weapons knowledge, tactics, and cunning. Before long his tribe excepted him as a honored member of their society. After all, he was their best warrior.
It took time to earn the tribes trust. He did rise through the ranks quickly though. His whole tribe considered him the best warrior in the whole area, not just their tribe. Their chief, after a full year, considered him his second in command. The chief did not want to continue warring with the other tribes. He saw these trials as a means to an end. A means to peace and unity between the warring tribes.
Because of this Aries was sent to the council meetings. He was deemed ready by the tribe to go through the trials. Even though they were not sure what or how many trials there would be yet. Aries would be their representative. He was sent with two warriors to guard his back during the gatherings.
The best part of this whole thing was getting to see this Goddess in all her glory. He was so curious who this Goddess was. After all he had been through, he was going to be so disappointed if it turned out not to be his Joy. He sat patiently during the council meetings. He did not say much, except to chime in when the other men were demanding the current tribe produce this new Goddess creature. He agreed! They had, and he had been waiting patiently long enough.
He dang near exploded with relief when he saw me being placed up on the brush. Then he almost had a panic attack thinking I was about to be burned alive. He was waiting for his moment to swoop in and rescue me. However, when I began to do my sinuous dance, he could not think of anything or anybody else. He and all the other men could not tear their eyes away. When I had finished and came down from the fire, Aries had to step into the bushes to relieve himself. He was not the only one either.
He did not know I could control fire. He watched as I moved like an expert and lit the bonfire. Then I came down gracefully as well. I was acting different though to him. When I walked past him, I did not even acknowledge his presence, or any of the other men. It was like I did not know him, I was ignoring all of the men. It was almost like I was better than them.
He asked the elder where I came from. The elder said, "She is a Goddess. We worship her for power and strength. When she came to us she was distraught. We do not know why but her voice could be heard as she was flying over. It almost sounded like she was arguing with someone. She did not see where she was going and ran into a cliff. We rescued her from the river. Now though she does not remember where she came from nor who she was. My tribe has adopted her as family. Her marriage will bring forth peace and unity to the land. Who ever she marries will be known to the tribesmen as a god as well. They together will be the gods of strength, beauty, fire and power for all time."
Aries grinned! He knew, hands down that he could defeat any of the tribal men put before him. Although, when the Viking's chimed in he was a little worried. They spoke of bringing other Gods into the trials. Gods that the Greek's had not associated with in quite a long time. There are many deities out there that are similar to him. They could even be parts of him. But not all were him. They could be other deities splits. It might confuse her. Hell, he even gets confused about it sometimes. Plus, she has already split once. Right now there are only two Joy's.
He thought, if he were to remind me of some of the things that had happened since we have been together it might help. So he brought up the Trojan war. But the chiefs wife kept shuffling Joy off when the story had just started getting good. He could tell she wanted to stay. He came up with a new plan. He started crafting weapons and telling his stories. That got Joy's attention fully. But the chiefs wife was not having any of it. She found a new way to walk to the water that went completely around his camp.
About a week after the decision to have another bonfire, the women went to have a ceremonial bath. All the single women would bath together before a mass wedding. It was beginning to look more and more like that was where this was headed. This would unite several tribes all at once. Bringing the warring tribes all together as one in the local area. This was a very good idea.
After the women's group bath, he got some alone time with Joy. Although, he knew he had scared her off. He had talked to intimately with her. But he had missed her very much. However, the people in the area are very traditional. She is acting how they taught her to act.
She showed that she would honor the traditions by attempting to walk several steps behind him. He tried to show her she was equal to him. But it only made her blush. When he tried to tell her how much he had missed her, she bolted away. Yea he was doing really good in that department. He would be seeing what all his competition looked like tonight.
Just looking at the tents he did not think he had much to worry about. Some had knowledge, some had equipment, some did good just to show up. All of them were eager to see the Goddess and none of them were prepared for what they were about to see.
Aries helped to build the bonfire. They built it high and wide. With several fires around the main pile. On the smaller fires the women had begun cooking stews and meats. The smells were making all the stomach's grumble.
All the men kept a good eye on the horizon line. As soon as the sun had set the show would be on. As the sun was setting everyone ate. Joy was kept off on her own. He did not see her with the naked eye. The tribal women served all the men.
After everyone had ate their fill, the tribal chief walked up to the pile. Several children followed him up as well. Several of the tribes had different languages. The kids would act out the story as the chief told it. That way everyone could understand. He raised his hands and slowly told the story of how the Goddess Phoenix came to their humble village. He went into how they adopted her. They taught her their language. Then they found out she was lonely, and could not remember her life before the accident. The village elders put their heads together and came up with the trials. There will be no set number of trials. The trials will continue until there is only one man left standing. This man will be worthy of Phoenix's flower. This man will be her godly lover, and husband.
When the chief was through he went back over to his pile of furs and sat back down. Then the single women from each tribe came up. As a group they did a dance for the men. This was basically to show there were other options. There were many tribes that had sent their single women. So there were many many women dancing.
Aries had to remember to keep his aura down. Normally whenever he is in a room his aura overwhelms other men's. The women flock to him because of it. Of course, if helps that he is handsome and wears skin tight leather.
Aries made sure to have a couple guys between himself and the dancing girls. The girls were dancing in a circle around the bonfire. They kept circling so all the men could see each and every one of them. Aries on the other hand only had eyes for Joy.
The dancing girls continued dancing for what seemed like a very long time as well. The men whooped and yelled. They were all very entertained. When the drums picked up and began to get louder and faster, that is when Aries pushed his way to the front.
The other women had finished their dance and had left the front. Several of the men watching after them. It was finally dark enough! Joys fire would impress this world of tribal people to a degree they never knew. He was actually very proud of her. She had found her powers all on her own. Now she was starting to learn how to use them. She really impressed him. Now it was up to her to impress everyone else. Once she had her own following, she would officially be a God, just like him.