Ares Long Lost Love

The Fighting Clans

War. The beacon of his name, and the source of his employment. Another fight breaking out between the families of Minamoto and Taira in Kyoto, Japan. He is known by many names. In Greece he is Ares, in Rome he is Mars, but to the Japanese he is Hachiman. His preference is to be called by his Greecian name Ares, but he will answer to any name his summoners and followers choose to use. Of course he has bestowed upon his followers a small boon or token to have direct contact with him instead of performing a long and tedious ritual. The reason for this is during this time period Zeus's wife Hera had scolded him on his superfluous visits to the mortals, the gods only wondered why on earth she would do that, and had told him to set a requirement before going to the earth. So Zeus set a rule that all gods and goddesses must bestow tokens to have them be summoned in order to visit the mortal beings face to face or else they would have to wonder along their merry business and not interfere with trivial squabbles. By this Ares had explained to me was that the Gods and Goddesses were still free to roam the earth and watch over the mortals from a closer view, but they were forbidden from interacting with them unless the individual had summoned them personally. So Ares kept a large number of meaningless things in his pockets and pouches to give to new followers that he favored or that called upon him more frequently. But I'm digressing from the story so i apologize for my small sidetrack, anyway it must have been nearly 800 years ago since Ares descended once again to help his patron family. By patron family i mean that this family paid more homage to Ares than others in the region of Japan, their entire clan were devotees of the great and powerful Hachiman as Ares told me with a slight chuckle and grin, but anyway they had broken out into yet another feudal battle with the rival clan of Taira. During this battle a young Jonin, which is a high ranked warrior during this time of japan, challenged Ares in a fight for honor since Ares spared his life and therefore left the warrior with dishonor for not dying honorably in battle. Little did Ares know that this young mortal was loved dearly by a lesser goddess in japan named Ame No Mi Kumari. She was a water goddess and was watching over her dearest lover in the battle but alas she was not able to interfere with a warriors battle because that would only dishonor him more. So in regret and painful tears she watched from afar her beloved warrior challenge the god. Despite the warriors great effort in defeating Ares, he lost not only the battle but his head. The Goddess was enraged and cursed Ares for taking the life of her dear warrior, this was where the plot thickened for ares for soon the Goddess would seek her revenge on him through taking the life of his own dear love. Ares as the victor of the battle was begged by the leader of the clan to stay for the victory banquet with promises of jewels from the losers, good food, entertainment and alcohol. Now let me remind you that Ares was a God and probably had many things to do, and as Ares told me he recalled being prayed to by some little village in the north about helping with some trivial problem, but the many begging and bowing to him humbled the God so much that he agreed and was whisked away to the home base of the Minamoto Clan. Upon arrival Ares saw many colorful banners and beautiful women serving food and drink to the soldiers. A special plumped cushion was empty beside the great Shogun, who was the leader of the armies. Ares easily saw that this pillow was for him to sit upon and so with dignity and the removal of many weapons of strange design and form, he sat down and talked pleasantly with the Shogun. Poor Ares was bored, it was very hard to keep his attention anyway considering all the prayers flowing in and out of his head from his followers around the world but with a loud bang of the gong a woman entered the tent. Not just any woman either. Ares told me that she shone with the radiance of a thousand suns, that her hair even if it was strangely cut at a downward angle flowed beautifully around her sculpted face. Her eyes were the perfect almond with a rich chocolate center that just made his mouth stay agape ever so slightly the longer he stared at her beauty. She came to the center of the tent and kneeled upon the plethora of embroidered pillows and began strumming a small shamisen, Ares explained to me that this would be similar to what we called a three string banjo today and I couldn't help but laugh as i imagined her playing Camptown Ladies on the guitar. My laughter subsided and i urged Ares to continue his story. He told me that she looked so elegant playing the small banjo device and her voice was heavenly, he thought his sister Aphrodite could sing but clearly Kimiko could beat her in a singing contest anyway. I thought this to be a wild exaggeration but from the way Ares face softened when he spoke about her i wondered if her voice really did make him feel that way. He said that when she smiled it could melt snow off the top of any mountain and it was even more surprising that it made a God of War smile. He even chuckled and told me his cheeks hurt so much from smiling the whole time he thought his face would go numb. But what of her name our so called fearless warrior God asked himself when she came closer to his table at a shy request to the shogun. What was her name! The question was screaming itself over and over in his mind. Kimiko, Kimiko Matuyami daughter of a humble Musician and 22 years of age. I thought this introduction was rather, oh how should i put this.... revealing and long.. I thought introductions normally consisted of 'hi' or a even less formal, "what's up". Not in that time, in this time period you gave your name, your fathers work and your age. Ahh there i go side tracking again, i'll get back to the story. So her name was Kimiko, it was just as beautiful as she was to Ares. From that moment on Ares would spend his time loving Kimiko with more love in his heart than any mortal man could ever give her. For the rest of the banquet, Ares paid no attention to the others around him. His only focus was on Kimiko, he told me he had never felt happier than when he listened to Kimiko play music. Whether it was on a flute, the small banjo or just singing traditional songs. Ares would listen with eager ears so he wouldn't miss a single word or note of her sweet music. The banquet ended sooner than Ares wanted, and soon the two found themselves alone in the banquet hall. 'Happy travels and pleasant sleep' the dear Kimiko told Ares, but Ares wanted so badly to see her again that he withdrew a dagger from his own belt and placed it in her hands. Taking her hands in his own around the dagger he whispered to her. "Listen to me well Kimiko, call upon me whenever I cross your mind. Say to this dagger Ares i wish to see you and I will appear by your side." The poor woman was confused by the, as she later told him, ridiculous name of Ares. She said to him with the snow melting smile, "Why would i call for Ares, when I would want to see you Hachiman." Ares told me his heart nearly burst with joy from hearing her say she wanted to see him again as well. With bitter sorrow they parted for the night, but what Kimiko didn't know is that Ares watched over her from his own home in Olympus.