Started With A Dare - A POTHENA STORY ✔

Ares Sweeps Me Off My Feet (Literally)

POSEIDON POV

I crawled up as silently as I could. It wasn't easy with Sinis' gigantic backpack, but I managed not to wake Peleus the dragon up. How did Elijah even manage to get along with him? He was even more terrifying up close.

There weren't any campers nearby, so I decided to go in and at least find someone first. My body sluggishly moved forward but my mind had wandered to somewhere else. Was it okay to leave Athena with Ares? What would they be doing now? I bit my lip as I realised I felt a bit jealous. I shook my head in hopes of removing those thoughts - that didn't matter. That didn't matter at all. Focus, Poseidon. Get this thing to Chiron first.

I stumbled towards the cabins. I could see campers chasing each other and having mini sparring sessions in the distance. It made me envious to see them having fun, knowing they did every single day. Every single day during however long we'd been fighting for our lives. We didn't do anything particularly flashy, either - we needed a lot of help from current gods. First Hermes, now Ares. I shook my head as I tried to get the latter out of my mind...Athena was smart. She'd be fine. At least I didn't have to see Ares' face again.

Or so I thought.

As I stepped forward, my body suddenly froze. I struggled to move forward but instead, something seemed to be holding me back - it felt like I was teleported. I couldn't see where as something gripped my neck, suffocating me. A horrible nausea swept from the top of my head to the tips of my toes again. Faint, muffled voices rang at my side.

"Keep complaining and this guy dies!" I finally heard something clearly - that was the good news. The bad news: at that split second, I realised Ares was holding me hostage. The first thing that registered in my mind was the humiliation, but that was gone within seconds. I struggled to see and barely made out the person whom he was speaking to.

"Leave him out of this!" Athena shrieked. We held brief eye contact and so many emotions flashed in her eyes at once. Concern, frustration, anger...I contemplated struggling harder but there was no use. The more you struggled while getting suffocated, the more painful it would get. Besides, I didn't have my godly strength with me.

Athena stood up and crossed her arms. "You told Sinis not to kill him! That was the only reason I thought I could hear you out, but looks like you only did that so that you can kill him yourself. Why? You two never argued on Olympus. What happened that I don't know of?"

I thought Ares would let go at that - he wouldn't go to the point of actually strangling me to death, would he? He didn't loosen his grip at all. He only squeezed harder, but I could sense the hesitation in his movement. "Is it not obvious enough?"

That got me confused. I squinted to see Athena's expression and saw that she, too, was confused. What did I have that Ares didn't? The position of being one of the Big Three? That didn't give me a lot of perks other gods didn't have. Besides, Ares never seemed jealous of it. If anything, us Olympians envy only Zeus' unlimited power as we were pretty much equal with each other.

"Athena," Ares' grip was less hard but not to the point of giving me mercy. Athena perked up, a look of clear confusion on her face. It was as if Ares was a puzzle she was trying to figure out. Now that I think about it, that metaphor wasn't too far off the mark. "It's you. Is that not obvious enough?"

Her? Our eyes met and I could tell that only made her more confused. What about Athena? I didn't have anything of Athena's. All we did was have a quest together. What could he be hinting at? "Me? What do you mean?" Athena questioned, her eyebrows scrunched up.

"You and Poseidon. You went on dates and...well, I wanted..." It was the first time I heard the war god stutter. His hand didn't flinch but I could tell he was having a hard time explaining. I still didn't quite understand, but Athena seemed to. I thought she'd be at least a bit sympathetic or pity him as it was somehow related to her, but she wasn't. She looked disgusted. "What about Aphrodite?"

"Aphrodite?" Ares let out a short scoff. "We broke up long ago. She didn't like me trying to kill people. I didn't like her playing with words and feelings. It ended - it's that simple."

That was when I figured out his motive. He was jealous of me...and Athena? I would've chuckled if I could - that could never happen, could it? My memory chose that moment to flood back. I suddenly remembered our dates together. It all felt like a lifetime ago, as did everything I'd experienced before. I didn't remember much - everything we did together felt blurry. But if it was enough to make Ares jealous, it made me think as well.

Athena seemed to have come to a realisation. Her face turned into a deep shade of red, though it disappeared in seconds. An awkwardness passed between us.

"Now you've explained, will you please return our quest items...oh, and also him? I'll leave it to the lord of the universe to decide what to do with you." Athena was calm and collected despite the recent discovery. Or was she holding it in until it was appropriate for her to break down with a million questions?

Ares didn't let go. "No. It's your job to get this stuff and now it's on my hands. Fulfil your stupid quest yourself." He squeezed harder and I let out a soft whimper. How humiliating.

"This is no joke, Ares! Let him go now! And give me back that stuff!" Athena almost sounded desperate.

Ares only squeezed even harder - enough to be fatal in a matter of minutes. Would I even last that long? It felt like he was choking the life out of me. I could only comfort myself knowing Athena was still alive - she still had a chance of completing the quest. I'd lost all hope when a new but familiar voice called out,

"Ares! Stop it right now!"

(A/N: I'm so excited! The next chapter would probably be longer than usual as it will also be the last. Hope you enjoyed this story and I'm surprised you came this far - thank you so much for reading.)