Ares And Mia

Chapter 18

I scoop some mashed potatoes into my mouth, feeling the thick texture of the potatoes against my tongue. It was perfectly seasoned with garlic and salt—minimal, yet still tantalizingly good. Could gods do everything perfectly or was there something that they couldn't do?

"So she just wanted to, and I quote, 'Get to know you better'?" Artemis says doubtfully, giving me an unreadable expression. It was a cross between shock and disbelief, almost as if she thought that I was lying.

"It was... weird." I nodded, confirming her question. Artemis stabbed at the peas on her plate absentmindedly, turning to face the large display of fruit in front of her. She then turns back to me, surprising me midscoop.

"And she said she liked you?!" I give her another wide-eyed stare. I had already answered this question three times, and I nodded for the fourth. "But-But-That's just not possible!"

Not possible?

"Wha—"

"Hera doesn't like anyone. And I mean, anyone." I gaze at her, blinking slowly. Did I just gain one of the most powerful Goddess's favor?

Or was Hera just messing with me to see if she could get to me...

"It's probably just a prank or some—"

"Not. A. Prank. Hera doesn't do pranks." Artemis faces the fruit display once more, stabbing incessantly at her dish of corn now.

Okay... Uhm...

"Should I be worried?" Artemis mixes the peas and corn together, tapping her fingers against the table.

"Maybe... I don't know what she has in mind. I don't know if it's a like as in you're a great person, or if it's a like as in I'm going to see what your brain looks like cut in half." A chill runs down my spine. They... they can do that?

Suddenly, the meal before me didn't seem so appetizing.

I set the spoon down.

Artemis's attention goes up, centering on someone else. I feel Ares's aura tense slightly and I swallow. This isn't good.

The man who they were looking at was tall and broad shouldered. He was dressed in a suit, with his black hair slicked to the side with gel. The resemblance between him and Zeus were shocking, the man before me was a bit leaner and tanner. His features reminded me of islanders, tattoos evident along his neck.

His eyes were a deep blue, like the waves of an ocean. They were sharp and cool, an air of leisure surrounding him.

Poseidon.

I gulped. The God of the Sea.

He takes a seat across the table from Ares, giving him firm look. "So, boy, I see that you've made your first ever affiliation. Never thought I'd see the day that the Blood King would ever lay eyes on a human." His voice is deep, with an undertone of... something like the crashing of waves.

Ares smirks at him, a wickedly sharp expression. I notice that his eyes are hued red. "Never thought that I'd see the day that the Puddle God would send henchmen to hunt down a single human." His words are rough, as if he were itching for a fight that he knew he could win.

But I knew that he couldn't win without consequence.

"Puddle God? That's a new one. And who are you to make such bold accusations of such things?" The creatures that came after us that night when Ares was feeding me his blood... were from Poseidon?

Another Olympian? Why were so many Gods getting involved...?

"Really, you're denying the truth? It would be so much easier if you just confess," I see Poseidon straighten up, squaring his shoulders. He narrows his ocean blue eyes at Ares, and when I turn to look at him, his eyes are blood red. "I guess I'll have to beat it out of you, old man."