The Romance Seru
Ares and Athena

According to his calculations, his bride-to-be would arrive at noon. Therefore this morning Ares brought some demigods of his followers to hunt in the forest. He was intent on capturing something for the Spartan princess.

Ares carries his favorite spear as well as a special shield made of titanium. All his hunting devices were made by his brother Hephaestus. It had been hundreds of years since his brother was willing to make a weapon for him. Their relationship was really bad after Helios the sun god caught Ares having an affair with Aphrodite.

The enraged Hephaestus managed to humiliate Ares and Aphrodite after the blacksmith god trapped them both, in a bed that Hephaestus had designed as a trap.

Zeus was angry over Ares' affair and banished him from Olympus for several decades. Ares did not think, did not Zeus himself as his father often exemplify immorality? I don't know how many women even men who have become the impingement of his lust.

Hera's biological mother Ares as the goddess of marriage was unable to dampen Zeus' cheating hobby. So the goddess vented her anger by harassing Zeus's illegitimate lovers and children like Hercules.

Ares himself is not kapok and does not intend to stop his activities with Aphrodite. Since then Ares has found it difficult to acquire new weapons, he feels that the swords and spears made by other blacksmiths are not capable of receiving their power and are not comparable to the weapons forged by Hephaestus.

"Whoops!" A female demigod exclaimed. He told me that he had found the target.

Ares and some of his followers immediately approached the call. They also found a three-horned bull, which was twice the size of an ordinary bull. The animal looked savage and was grazing peacefully.

"What do you think?" One of his followers asked.

"The bull tastes bad, the meat is hard to swallow. But this is a very tough bull, I'm going to chop off his head for a gift for the Spartan princess" Ares said.

"Are you serious? Gifting a woman with such a thing? Wouldn't women prefer jewelry and gold?" One of Ares' followers whose hair was dyed red tried to prevent Ares with a confused look.

"I am the god of war and destruction, giving women jewelry and luxury is not my trademark" Ares insisted.

No need to wait in agreement, the war god unsheathed his spear and moved quickly but without friction for the monster to be unaware.

When he stood at the right distance, he jumped and slammed his spear into the neck of the bull, who seemed oblivious to his arrival.

A loud whimper was heard as the bull tried to stay alive. Ares' spear successfully hit his vital pulse. The blood of the monster bull poured out profusely turning the green grass into red.

The bull thrashed and with the rest of his breath tried to escape with the spear still stuck. Ares valiantly jumped forward and punched the bull's nose hard to prevent it from escaping.

The bull slumped to the ground, Ares used his stocky arm to carry his neck. Ares forced his bleeding by pulling out his spear. The bull finally gave up on death without any meaningful resistance.

"That is the god of war, killing the monster bull alone, so great" there was the sound of a cynical clap of hands near Ares' entourage.

It was Athena, the goddess of wisdom and war strategy. He was also an eternal rival of Ares because they were both gods of olympus worshipped by humans who were about to fight.

Man prays to give courage and strength to Ares. Men also prayed to Athena for victory.

"This forest is not your territory. Why are you here?" Hardik Ares is upset.

"If I were, I'd use my poison-tipped arrow and let it die slowly" Athena told me.

"I'm not a coward like Athena, I always fight on the front lines" Ares replied cynically.

"You sound like Ares' emotion, have you been grieving me since the Trojan War, when Diomedes hurt you so badly?" Athena deliberately upset Ares.

"The hurt caused by cheating and deceit does not mean that I am weak. I killed Diomedes in a fair fight after I recovered" Ares did not accept being humbled.

"What is fair? He's just an ordinary human being whereas you're Ares the mighty war god hundreds of years old, aren't you ashamed?" Athena refuted.

Area took a breath, he knew his sister. He was good at twisting facts and making many people directly side with him. Whatever Ares says will be broken.

"Go away, I don't want to argue, nor do I care what you're here for. Go before I force you out" Ares said. Area and Athena had never fought directly one-on-one, but everyone thought Athens was stronger. All because in every war, the party defended by Athens usually won.

"I heard from Hermes, saying you wanted to marry a princess, and I just found out that she was my loyal devotee. What's your plan, Ares?" Athena probes.

"It's none of your business" Ares answered curiously while watching his followers who were trying to behead the bull.

"Are you trying to take Zeus' heart? Trying to get her to like you?" Athena guess.

"Once again, this is none of your business" Ares asserted.

"I won't let Ares, as long as I live you'll still be known as a pitiful and unwanted loser god. While me? Well.. Did you hear that the people of Athens want to build my statue the size of a hill?" Athena bragged.

Ares acted relaxed and left his sister without looking back again. Any intimidation from Athena had been accustomed to her for hundreds of years she had been a god. The more Athena responded the more noisy it would be so Ares should give up and move away.

On the other hand, Jill and Alastair witnessed the meeting of the two gods by accident and heard some conversation between them. Jill had just arrived in Olympus and had begun to enter Ares' territory when she caught sight of the meeting.

"I did not expect that a wise Athena could say anything cruel" Jill whispered to Alastair commenting.

"Ares and Athena have been competing for a long time. Athena always tried to beat Ares and prove him better in every way. Usually Ares would not respond" Alastair responded.

Jill nodded in a sign of understanding. The rivalry between the two gods is recorded in the stories of Greek poets. Ares was full of wrath and Athena was wise. Ares who was hated by the whole of Greece and Athens who was adored as flawless.

It turns out the truth is not that simple. Infused with pity in Jill's heart towards Ares whose character is always misunderstood, but Jill chooses to ignore him because it's none of his business. Jill was already grateful enough that the man she was about to marry was not a hundred-year-old grandfather.

Although Jill only had the opportunity to see Ares from behind, she could feel that Ares was a tough figure and liked brutality but not a vile criminal.

"We set off again, princess, to the Palace of Ares" Alastair guided his party back to gallop, after a while they deliberately stopped their advance in honor of Ares and Athena's presence in their tracks.