Bitter Sweet

Ares felt panic overwhelm him as he flashed into his ex-daughter in-laws temple. He couldn’t sense anything except an almost bitter crackle in the air, not Psyches presence or Nemesis…..

He could sense Evander though. Sheer relief flooded him and he sagged slightly as Anteros appeared next to him, vibrating with anxiety.

Ares straightened up, slightly ashamed at his selfish relief, he had to find Psyche and Nemesis and see his son was all right first. Without pausing to scan the room he focussed on Evander and snarled clenching his fists as he felt his powers dampened. He heard Anteros curse and realized his son was also unable to go to the toddler.

“I can sense him, he’s all right.” Ares murmured shortly as he strode through Psyches temple concentrating on his sons’ whereabouts. As his ears caught the faint cries of the toddler he broke into a run and shoved open one of the heavy doors leading to Psyches bedroom. He cursed as it caught and swung back in his face catching him full in the nose; anger flooded through him and his hands were already crackling with power when Anteros grabbed his arm sending the pitifully power dampened fireball into the floor.

He turned to glower at his son as Anteros knelt at the bottom of the door his hand twisted around it. With effort showing on his face he pushed at the object and the door swung open. Ares strode inside, his eyes focussing on Evanders position.

All the colour drained from his face as he took in the sight of his ex-lover slumped in front of Psyches gold ornate wardrobe, her body poised in defense. In an instant he was at Nemesis’s side gently maneuvering her onto her back, he swallowed hard and missed the strangled cry of his son from behind him and the thump as he fell to his knees in bewilderment and pain. He ran a hand over her face, closing her wide terrified eyes and reached into his pocket removing two coins which he softly paced on her eyelids.

He traced the bloody marks around her throat the indented tooth marks, not deep enough to kill just enough to hurt. He could feel the wrongness in them- the creature hadn’t just killed her it had drained her of her life force as she tried to protect her child.

He hadn't loved her but he had at one time been very fond of her and seeing the mother of his child dead before her time infuriated him. He clenched his fists ignoring the small part of him that wanted to tear up and lay waste to the room and temple and gently carried her body to the bed, laying it down.

Stiffly he walked over to the wardrobe, the pathetic claw marks in the door told him everything he needed to know. He pulled it open, his gaze softening at the sight of his son bundled in clothes and curled in a ball at the back. His eyes were wide and filled with fear and he whimpered slightly and stiffened as Ares scooped him up.

Ares held Evander close, keeping the clothes wrapped around his face, not wanting his son to see the tragedy around him, he inhaled his sons’ scent feeling relief and immense protectiveness flood through him.

“Dad?”

He heard the pain in Anteros voice and turned around to see him bent over the prone figure of Psyche lying behind the door, almost blocking it. Ares felt acid at the back of his throat and swallowed hard realizing what he would have done if Anteros hadn’t stopped him. Evander was wailing now but Ares didn’t want to let go of him, to let him out of his sight. He closed his eyes and for the first time in centuries mentally shouted for both of his parents.

In twin subdued flashes they appeared, their combined strength able to penetrate the twisted power in the air. Ares watched dispassionately at the looks of horror that flooded their faces before gently handing his bundled son to his mother. At any other time he would have marveled at her show of compassion as she took in first Psyches and then Nemesis’s bodies, the latter causing her to pull Evander close and murmur soothingly to him before flashing away.

Ignoring Zeus’s attempts to console him he stepped forward and knelt next to his son who held Psyches head in his lap. Anteros was stroking her hair and murmuring softly to her, he stiffened as Ares crouched down next to him and Ares saw him blink back his tears.

“She’s dead.”

Ares shook his head unsure what to say to his son as he took in Psyches injuries, they told him everything he needed to know. Where she was lying….

“She was trying to block it from coming in” he murmured

The gouges to her arms and upper body

“She fought it giving Nemesis time to hide Evander, it must have blocked them from leaving or calling for help.”

The deep fang marks around her neck, the lack of power in her body

“It hurt her and drained her power.” Ares murmured realizing the bitter truth.

Her wide blank eyes.

He frowned slightly and scanned her body; Nemesis had been terrified, Ares had seen it in her eyes. She and Psyche had fought to the end to protect Evander because they cared for him, the idea of the creature hurting him had terrified them so much they’d both fought tooth and nail. Yet Psyches eyes were blank, devoid of any emotion, almost as though…he drew in a sharp breath as he realized what he was sensing and Zeus picking up on his increasing horror quickly scanned the goddesses body.

Ares closed his eyes, his mind and body screaming out at the sickness of it all, every fiber of his body and godhood angered and promising revenge. The creature had attacked Psyche to almost the point of death but she’d still been alive and watching when it went for Nemesis; unable to help, unable to move she’d watched it torment her friend before making a half hearted attempt to get to Evander. The gouges on the wardrobe spoke volumes; it hadn’t been after Evander, it had just wanted to hurt the pantheon and it had attacked what it saw as the weakest link.

It had taken Psyches powers and used them to take her form and trick Hercules hoping he would dispose of the symbols it was so against. It could have taken Evander from the wardrobe once in her form but it hadn’t cared about him, Nemesis or Psyche or who they were it had just wanted to hurt and have a body to use and it had.

He heard Anteros murmurs and felt his sons’ pain as he realized how deeply Anteros cared for the Goddess in his arms and the woman on the bed. He put his arm around his son as he broke down, turning to sob on Ares shoulder.

He closed Psyches eyes as Zeus ran hands over her face murmuring slightly. She wasn’t dead, drained to the point of death but locked in her own mind by the creatures’ power, her own godhood working against her. Ares wasn’t sure death would have been worse, at least it was more merciful. There was no telling what would happen to the goddess now, all they could do was to slowly feed her power and hope to pull her from her shattered mind.

All Ares could do was comfort his sons, the one who had lost his mother and the one who had lost…..He bit his lip, not to mention his grandson and Eris who had once been Nemesis’s best friend.

Ares vowed to hunt down the creature and the thing controlling it and make War.