Athena x Nike

#32 * The Sting Of War

Beneat them there was only the mess of war. Above them only the blue sky. The wind blew through their hair and clothes.

Time seemed to slow down for Athena. She heard a peeping sound in her ears as anti-air ammunition exploded all around them.

She looked to the eight and saw Nike by her side. The angel's eyes focused on the space in front of her, her lips pursed into a thin line. A concentrated scowl replaced the happy expression she usually wore.

Then the wisdom goddess looked ahead again. She just had enough time to think 'Duck'. But she had ran out of time to actually carry out the motion. The next thought was 'This is going to hurt'.

And as usual she was correct. Couldn't she be wrong for once? Out of all the projectiles flying around her an arrow of all things found its way into a crack of her armor. Right in her shoulder.

It hit with force too. It was as if someone had punched her shoulder, making her lose balance. Athena stumbled back until she ran out of space to stumble back on (which wasn't a lot really). There was only sky. Next thing she knew the chariot was rising higher and higher from her sight. Or was she just falling?

The daughter of Zeus couldn't tell anymore. She could feel something spread through her shoulder as black spots danced in front of her eyes and the peep in her ears seemed to become louder with the second, overtaking everything else.

In the corner of her eye Nike had seen Athena fall. She had reached out, but she was too late to grab her by the wrist.

The victory goddess felt as if her heart exploded. In a split second dozens of scenarios ran through her head.

If the angel kept going she'd find the wisdom goddess as a pancake on the ground. Gods didn't die, but they did get injured and she'd rather not see what her girlfriend looked like if she met the ground at this speed.

If she took her chariot to catch her it'd take forever to navigate through the bombs, spears, arrows, whatever else that was flying around her head at the moment. It would take too long and she would be met with the same result.

So she did the only thing she knew would be enough. She let go of the reins in her hands and plunged in the deep after Athena.

Knowing the anemoi they would carry on a little longer without her. Once they noticed she was no longer controlling them they'd return to camp and wait for her there. They may be the spirits of the four winds, but they were quite obedient to Nike.

The victory goddess hadn't realised how fast Athena was falling until she had to catch up with her. It took everything she had to remain in the diving position while seeing the ground getting closer and closer.

She had to catch the wisdom goddess. As she got closer to the ground she could see the soldiers on the ground looking up and pointing at her. They seemed utterly both worried and surprised to see her dive after Athena.

Nike had to admit. This was not how she thought today would go... At all. She knew war was dangerous, but she hadn't suspected to be diving after Athena today. Let alone ever.

The angel reached out for the wisdom goddess. She was so close. But so was the ground. She had to catch her now or they'd both smash into the ground.

Just

...

A

...

Little

...

Further.

At the last second Nike managed to pick up Athena in her arms. She soared right above the confused soldiers. If they held up their swords they would actually cut her, that's how close she was to them.

Thank the fates none of them had such plans. The angel flew straight back to their camp, an unconscious wisdom goddess in her arms.

The victory goddess knew the daughter of Zeus had had her fair share of battles and that an arrow in her shoulder definitly wasn't the worst thing to happen to her, but she couldn't help but worry.

She landed right in front of the infermary tent.

"Apollo... Please..." Nike pleaded out of breath.

Apollo turned from a soldier with a cut across his face. His expression was pure surprise when he was met with a bleeding, unconscious Athena and an out of breath Nike.

"Asclepios. Take care of that soldier please." He ordered.

The young god had a nurse take over his job of giving a sedative and he tended to the wounded soldier.

"What happened?" The healer asked, taking his sister from the angel and taking her to an empty bed.

"She was hit in the shoulder by a flying arrow." The victory goddess explained.

"That can't be all. This is Athena we're talking about. Just an arrow wouldn't have this effect." Apollo said, inspecting the wound.

"Hygiea, could you sterilize my materials please?"

The healer posed it as a question, but really it was more of a command. Hygiea gave a quick nod and got to work as Apollo inspected the wound on Athena's shoulder.

"I really don't know. One moment she stood next to me, the next she fell... Maybe because she's low on energy? Wars do that to wargods." Nike tried.

"Mhm... Yes... That and..." Apollo said, pulling out the arrow as Hygiea gave him his material.

"Be a dear and put pressure on the wound please."

The minor goddess did as was asked of her and stelped Athena's bleeding.

"Look at the arrow and tell me what you see."

"Uh... A whole lot of blood?"

Nike wasn't sure what she was supposed to see here. If she knew what was wrong she'd already have changed it. Anything to help her girlfriend out of her current state.

"Obviously. But what color does it have?" Apollo questioned.

"Gosh, I don't know gold? I'm not a doctor, so Apollo please she's in pain, can we just get on with this?" The angel asked, slightly annoyed.

"Right hold this." The sun god said giving her the arrow.

The victory goddess rather didn't hold an arrow that was drenched in her lover's blood, but hey what can you do? Such is the life of a victory goddess.

As Apollo treated Athena's shoulder Nike studied the projectile in her hands. It was coated in golden blood. But as the sun god had mentioned the color was off. It was darker than she remembered, but she had no idea why.

"That should do it for now. Thank you Hygiea." Apollo said after a while.

The goddess gave a nod and went to the next patient.

"Now that you've studied the arrow the way Athena studies a battlefield let me know what you figured out." He continued, washing his hands and turning to Nike.

"Well... The ichor is darker than usual..." Nike said.

"Correct. Simple reason. That arrow you're holding is a poison arrow. See how the gold mixed with the green of the poison?"

Now that the healer had said it the angel could see the green undertone in the golden blood.

"I do. Will she be okay?" She found herself asking.

"Of course. First of all, she's Athena. Second, she's a goddess. She'll be alright, she just needs time to get the poison out of her system." Apollo replied in a casual tone.

"Now if you'll excuse me, I believe my twin ended up with a knife in her side."

He gave her a sarcastic smile as if to say 'I love my job'. It seemed rather odd to Nike. Once he left she sat down next to Athena, taking her hand in her own. It felt cold as it always did. The victory goddess liked the electric sentation she got from her girlfriend's touch.

She couldn't imagine ever being without it.