No More Olympus

Chapter 3

This was the last place Ares anticipated seeing his most annoying sister.
The last Ares had seen of Zeus's favourite child. She had been clad in bronze battle armour forged by Hephaestus himself. Having just killed hundreds of men in minutes, she was quick-witted enough to beat their uncle Poseidon in a gamble for the city of Athens. The one who cursed Arachne and Medusa to roam the earth in monstrous forms for their heresy against her. The goddess of war and wisdom who feared nothing and had worked her way up through the ranks of the Olympians to being Zeus's right-hand woman, a position of power and pride that all of his other children were envious of.
Yet Ares had just found her working in a small hardware store, nursing a child that she had with a seemingly insignificant mortal.
He noticed the blood had fallen from her face, which was now displaying a look of shock and fear, both of which being expressions that he had rarely seen on her in the past.
"Let me go grab your torch," said the mortal who claimed his name was 'Jacob.'
He casually walked out of the room and far into the back of the store.
Athena quickly stood up and closed the door to the backroom, separating them from the mortal.
Then, in the blink of an eye, she raised her arm, and the letter opener flew off the nearby counter, hovering an inch in front of Ares's throat. All while she used her other arm to shield the child that clung to her chest.
"What the hell are you doing here!" Athena demanded in a hushed yet furious tone.
"I could ask you the same thing," Ares said casually, completely unflinching at his sister's blade, "This is the last place I expected to find you, Goddess of Wisdom."
Athena's stone colour eyes narrowed even more at the sound of her old title.
"Do not call me that," Athena spat.
"Well then, what would you like me to call you?" Ares asked mockingly, "Patron of Heroes? Mrs. Bauer? Destroyer of Olympus?"
"Shut up," Athena demanded, "You're not supposed to be here, leave now."
"I am a paying customer am I not," Ares argued before a look of realization, "He doesn't know... oh, Athena how deceptive of you."
Athena looked like she was about ready to use her knife to open his stomach, but the moment before she could step forward. The backroom door swung open, her blade quickly darted from his throat to the small of his back, and she assumed a more innocent position, all while never taking her arm off of the child.
"And here it is," Jacob said as he strained against the weight of the torch, placing it by Ares's feet.
"Does it not have packaging?" Ares asked.
"No," Jacob explained, "These things come in crates of four. I hope that's not an issue."
"Oh, not at all," Ares said, "I did not care to deal with the wood anyway."
"There are silver linings to everything, I guess," Jacob chuckled.
"Not necessarily," Athena said aloud before she could stop herself.
Jacob noticed this, looking back and forth between Ares and Athena.
"Do..." He began, "Do you two know each other?"
"No, we don't," Athena said immediately.
"Yes, we do," Ares contradicted at the same exact moment.
Athena aimed a death glare at her brother.
"Athena?" Jacob asked with an eyebrow raised.
"He's a..." Athena thought quickly for the perfect lie, "Orphanage friend."
Jacob nodded in understanding.
"Orphanage?" Ares asked, confused as to her meaning.
Both Athena and Jacob stared at him for entirely different reasons.
"Yes..." Ares agreed with a devious smile, "Orphanage."
"Hold on," Jacob said, taking a step back, "You both are from the same orphanage, and you both are named after mythical Greek gods."
"The... nuns had a sense of humour," Athena excused with an uncomfortable laugh.
"Nuns?" Ares questioned.
Athena telekinetically poked him with the letter opener out of Jacob's view.
"This is incredible," Jacob gushed, "Two people who met on one end of the world meeting up on the other end thirty years later, what are the chances?"
"Believe me. I'm asking that myself," Athena cringed.
"Have you guys kept in touch at all, through Facebook or something?" Jacob asked.
"What's Facebook?" Ares asked.
"Let me get you a cup of coffee," Jacob offered, "I want to hear what this one was like as a kid," he pointed at Athena.
"Well, the first thing to know," Ares began, much to Athena's dismay, "Is that Athena was always a grown woman."
"At heart-," Athena quickly added with an awkward fake smile, "I'm sorry, honey, but I think Ares here has places to be."
She stabbed the tip of her knife into Ares's back, he barely flinched, but he seemed to get the message.
"She's right," Ares agreed, sounding mildly defeated, "I have a business to run."
"Oh, of course," Jacob understood, "Hey, why don't you come over for dinner this Friday?"
Athena sent one final, subtle death glare her brothers' way.
"I would love to," Ares said, getting the last laugh.
"That's fantastic!" Jacob cheered.
"Yes, fantastic," Athena agreed, barely able to hide the venom in her voice as she walked back over to the cashier's desk.
Ares then handed Jacob an envelope of cash, picked up his welding torch, and very easily threw it over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.
"See you Friday," Jacob waved as Ares walked out of the store,
The room was quiet for a moment.
"Well, wasn't that a surprise?" Jacob said aloud, "How are you doing, honey? You seemed a little uncomfortable there."
Jacob turned toward the cashier's desk. Athena was nowhere to be found, Odessa had been left in her basket fast asleep, and the letter opener was back in its usual spot.
"Athena!" Jacob called out, "Honey?"
There was no answer.