𝑃𝐻𝑂𝐸𝐵𝑈𝑆. (𝑂𝑓 𝐺𝑜𝑑𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑀𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠)

seven - now

Now.

Aphrodite sat next to Ares as he lay in bed, his hand lazily running through the bottom of her hair. She hadn't been the same over the last few weeks since the disappearance of Adoria. She'd barely talked to anyone besides Ares and Persephone. But she didn't dare speak to Apollo. She was too ashamed.

"He's asked about you, you know?" Ares finally sat up, entangling their fingers together. The goddess of love instinctually leaned into the war god, laying her head against his chest as she sought out some form of comfort.

"How am I supposed to face him?" Her voice was quite and weak, void of its usual confidence. "I'm the reason she's gone."

"No, you're absolutely not," Ares argued with her. He was used to hearing her self-blame by now, and every time she would bring it up he made sure to shut it down right then. "Darling, the fates are uncontrollable, everything that has happened was supposed to happen. You heard Apollo at the council meeting, Hades said she isn't dead, that means she's out there somewhere."

Immediately, the goddess stood from the bed and began to dress with her back to her lover. "Then how has no one been able to find her? We're gods." Aphrodite grew angry, not with the man behind her but with the situation before her. "Anyone else on this blasted earth and we would've immediately been able to find them."

Ares was thrown deep into thought. He wasn't the most intelligent god, that title was already taken by Athena, patron goddess of that and battle strategy. But as far as Ares was concerned, this was war - his territory. Hera had declared it on every last one of them at a least one moment in each of their lives; but this time, she messed with the wrong god. She'd underestimated Apollo and how much power he truly had, simply because he wasn't a part of the original six. But even Ares wasn't stupid enough to not note how lethal the poetic god truly was. He'd gone up against many of the other Olympians at what they were known for at times and bestest them all. He'd defeated Hermes in a foot race, even beat Ares himself at a wrestling match. He'd scared off Diomedes with a single threat while Ares had been beaten by the mere mortal in the battle at Troy's walls. He rivaled Aphrodite in terms of beauty, was as sharp in battle as Athena, and together him and his sister were a master archery team; neither ever missed a shot.

More importantly, Apollo was the god to ward off all evil. Without him, evil would be free to run rampant across the mortal plane. So far things hadn't gotten that bad, but it was only a matter of time until Apollo unleashed hell on earth.

"I don't know," Ares reigned in his pride for what he was about to say, "but I think there's someone who may be able to figure that one out. But first, we need to speak to Apollo."

Aphrodite sighed, knowing he was right. "Ok," she pulled herself together and took Ares hands in hers, "time to face the music."

~~~~~~~

Hades was their first stop. Apparently Apollo had not come back from Delos just yet, worrying their godly host. "He's been spiraling," Hades revealed, "the longer Adoria is missing, the stronger his anger grows. I am having a hard time keeping up with the death toll, people are dying of starvation and I only fear it is bound to get worse. I've had to expand all three sectors of Tartarus. Hermes has had to take on volunteers to guide the souls to the Underworld. Charon has asked me to hire extra ferryman to take the dead across Styx to Erebus, something he's never needed before. I only have three judges for the dead that I trust and they're being overloaded with work."

"You think Apollo is going too far?" Aphrodite asked.

"To be honest, and don't think me completely insane for saying this, but..." Hades paused, "I don't think he has gone far enough."