*Bang*
It was the sound that broke my heart. I thought I was ready. From Xandros's tales, I was a powerful hero who could do nothing wrong, and maybe he would be right.
But not then.
Not when I was facing against Ares, the God of War. For the first time, I felt unequipped for such a battle. My thousand years of training, and my dedication and devotion were all for not when you had to face against a god.
From our first clash, I felt his overwhelming power, the chaos of the war was fueling him. It strengthened him beyond the records.
He was toying with me and I was helpless to do anything about it.
Worse, he was using Xandros against me. More than just a taunt, he was openly threatening his safety. Mocking my inability to protect my companion.
Then, everything turned from bad to worse.
The helplessness and guilt in Xandros's voice rang out. Instantly, everything came back to the present, as the cloud of blood painted the sky, and brain and skull fragments scattered the ground. And when Xandros's body tumbled forward in my arms, everything gave way.
I saw crimson blood, oozing beneath us. I heard his heart stopped beating.
My tears flowed, while my heart barely held on. The brief moment we shared had edged into my mind, what was once a heartwarming moment became a scar that would follow me for the rest of my existence. And I was hopeless to do anything.
"Why? Why was this happening?" I asked myself.
That was when everything clicked.
Ares.
Even if Xandros could see the future, he could never comprehend the power of a god, let alone the god of war when the world was in chaos. And when I saw the gloating in Ares' eyes, something within me snapped.
"Ah… I did not think he would do that. Braver man than most. Pitty he had to die such a meaningless death."
That was the last drop for my bubbling cauldron of emotions to boil over, a drop called grief.
An emotion an Amazon should not have toward any man because before grief was love. A few days were enough for me to understand my emotions and the strange attraction I had toward him. The veil of mystery he had painted for himself. His unrivaled knowledge of the world, yet cluelessness in many basic matters. And the clearest of all, his feeling toward me. Unyielding love proved through the Lasso of Truth.
But I had lost him.
And the being behind everything was mocking his sacrifice.
With the emotion, came a power I never possessed, how it manifested mattered not now. All I cared was I had it, and I was going to use it to destroy Ares.
"Ares. Face your death." With each of my words, the power within me came to life. The lightning-sparked. It danced to my words, climbing from one hand onto another before imbuing my blade with my wrath.
The wrath of the daughter of Zeus.
"At least killing you would ease my heart," Ares said.
When we clashed once more, I knew that even with my newfound power, I was yet to be his match. But it did not matter. This was not a fight I could lose.
For the sake of the world, and the death and torments I had seen. The grieving widow, the desperate mother to never see the children again, the orphan who lost everything to the war.
For me and everything I believed in. A world of peace. A place where everyone could truly live a happy life.
For him. the man I loved.
His axes swung mercilessly. Each strike left my arm trembling.
Even when my body was bruised from the impact, my arms bled from Ares' overwhelming power, and the shield I was placing my life in was seemingly not enough, I pushed on.
In his frenzy, I managed to find it, an opportunity I desperately needed. I charged forth, using my shield to set him off balance before landing a strike across his chest, tearing through his armor. A wound that his godly power could not heal.
"That bastard of a father did leave behind a weapon to kill me," Ares growled. Anger and amusement mixed.
"Xandros never lies. I will be the one to kill you."
"Xandros, a mortal who thought he could rival god. I had to thank him for giving me a chance to destroy my only weakness." Ares grinned, and his murderous nature burst forth.
"Or for me to kill you once and for all." I raised my shield and gripped my sword for one last exchange.
This time, however, even with his bleeding torso, Ares struck relentlessly. One. Two. Endless. He never stopped. Over and over again.
They carried his rage and his bloodlust. He had once again wielded the power he used to defeat Zeus thousands of years ago. He was stronger and faster than what I was ready for.
Before I knew it, my shield was torn from my arm, leaving it a bleeding mess.
"Are you ready to give up?" Ares asked, anger and rage brimming in each of his words.
"I will never give up on what I believe in." I stood my ground.
Raising my broken arm, even when my legs trembled and fear of death gripped my heart, I readied myself to face it.
"Then you will die like the rest, meaningless and forgotten."
I was still looking for an opportunity to strike. But the smirk on his face, as he lifted his axes upward, was telling me he was waiting for my desperate attempt.
And he was right. Everything I had. All of my anger, my grief, and my newfound power were instilled into this one strike.
"One chance…" I whispered to myself.
"You are no-"
In his moment of triumph, he failed to notice the cloud of toxin engulfing his face. A toxin that not even a god of war could stand against. The toxin burrowed into his eyes, melting it from the socket. His body reacted before his brain could. He dropped his stance and roared out with rage.
Everything came to a stop when my sword came out the other side of his head.
Thus, Ares had died.
Instantly, my body gave out. I crashed into the arm of the person I least expected, Xandros. His goofy smile, warmed my heart before unconsciousness took me in.
When I opened my eyes again, I found myself on a warm bed. My surroundings were foreign. Yet, when I took my first breath, my body melted back onto the cushion, allowing for exhaustion to fade naturally. It was his scent. The smell of rain after a scorching afternoon was a mesmerizing scent I had grown fond of.
Soon, and without me realizing it, I was wandering the bedroom I had found myself in. To put it simply, it was plain. No decoration. Not even a picture of his younger life. There was only the basic necessity, though, they were of the highest quality.
Everywhere else was the same, bare and basic. I would even go as far as to say that he had never truly lived here if it was not for the messy laboratory I had stumbled into.
Notes and papers covered the ground. Jars of unknown material. Shelves upon shelves of strange metal. And a gigantic fridge filled with tubes of blood, each labeled with great details. Especially the row called 'Metahuman'. Though spared, the explanation and detailed description opened my eyes to the future of humanity.
Then, my eyes landed on the only insight into his past, a picture of a smiling family.
"I see you find my mom and dad."
Was it pain I heard? I asked myself. But the question was lost when I spun around to see Xandros standing by the doorway, his smile infectious. The way he walked closer to me, I hoped that this was real and that the moment before my consciousness faded was not a figment of my imagination.
The moment I found myself in his warm arms, and my head resting on his chest, everything was right.
"How about breakfast then we can talk?"
"I'd like that."
The moment I sat down, I saw him conjuring up a table of gourmet. Steak steaming hot and cooked to perfection. And a dozen more dishes I did not recognize.
"You don't cook?"
"Why would I? It is a waste of time, and I could make practically anything with my thoughts. Texture, taste, color, temperature. You named it." He said pride was evident.
"Is this how you always eat?" I asked.
"Yes." He stated matter-of-factly and gestured for me to join him.
Curiosity took over, as I tasted his creation. And he did not lie.
It was one of the best-tasting foods I had ever eaten. But there was missing a human touch. The care and love that I would normally taste, whether it was Mother or Aunt Antiope. Adding in the thought of eating something so artificial did not seem right to me.
"Do you like it?" He asked expectantly.
"It tastes good," I said, avoiding mentioning anything else. After all, nothing he was doing was illegal, or even immoral. That was when I realized it. This was not his home. Maybe he did not have a place called home.
Not having Themyscira to return to, leaving me alone, wandering the rest of existence without a place to call home. The thought scared me more than the battle against Ares. And I could only imagine the pain he must be going through.
"Can you tell me how are you still alive?" I asked, hoping the answer was enough to distract my wandering thoughts.
"I fake my death, of course."
"But how? I heard your heart stopped." What I got in return was a mischievous grin, looking at it, and seeing how he puffed up his chest, and I wanted nothing else but to wipe the smug look from his face. Especially when my glare did not seem to work anymore. "Are you going to answer? Or am I going to pull out the Lasso?"
Seeing the smugness melted from his face, I felt a little bit better.
"The heart part is quite a feat I might add. I figured that to fool Ares, I needed to do something drastic, so, I replaced it with a death one. Brilliant, isn't it?"
But what he received was a knock on the head for his crazy idea. "What were you thinking? What if you fail? Do you know how stupid of an idea that was?"
"I know. That's why it was convincing. I just had to continuously replace my blood with new oxygenated blood. Then replace the dead heart with a new one, while making sure to remove all of the dead cells."
"The blood? The brain?" I continued.
"Those were easy." With a snap of his finger, blood, bones, and brain materialized before vaporizing into thin air again. "The difficult part was making them fly through the air."
I wanted to get mad at him, for the stun he pulled, for the emotions he had put me through, or even his cocky smile. But all of it faded away when he hugged me into his arms.
When our lips touched, I felt his care and the worries he masked behind his smile. The desire we had for each other was clear as day. The gentle kisses became hungrier and hungrier. And we lost in each other embrace for the rest of the morning.
"Thank you," I said after hours of comfort.
"For what?"
"For risking everything to help me, to stop Ares, and to stop the war."
At my statement, Xandros stiffened up, his eyes showed worry, as he continued, "The war hadn't ended yet."
It was the bomb that shattered what I had stood for.
"How?"