Chương 28: Chapter 28: Gravity & Blood
Sikelia
It wasn't much of a fight to be fair.
Ares landed in front of the screaming Polyphemus, and without delay, swung his chained swords toward the cyclops, cleaving his head from his shoulders.
'Disappointing.' Ares thought shaking his head. 'I mean… I know he was blind, but still, it shouldn't have been that easy. Well, at least there's one positive.'
Looking at the headless corpse, instead of a fountain of blood, from the stub of its neck down, stone could be seen slowly encasing its body.
"Was that you?" Ares asked looking down at his swords.
Vibrating lightly in his hands, Ares smiled at the conformation before sheathing his blades on back.
"I wonder what else you can do?" He spoke aloud receiving a series of vibrations.
"Praeco, scout the island from the air. Any caves you find and suspect to be inhabited, I want you to explore. If you find other cyclopses or other inhabitants and they surrender, bring them to me, and if they don't, you may kill them. I expect these cyclopses to be a docile bunch, but I would still advise you to proceed with caution." Ares ordered his companion.
"As you wish master."
Nodding fervently, Praeco took off from Pontes' head, hoping to make her master proud.
——
It didn't take long for Praeco to return with quite a few contingents of cyclopses and nymphs.
With specks of blood staining her black feathers, Praeco informed her master that majority of the cyclopses acted as he suggested with only a few raising arms.
After explaining the events that transpired to the wary eyed cyclopses, they seemed somewhat relived that Polyphemus was dead.
Apparently he would steal sheep and other livestock from his brethren, constantly antagonize the island's nymphs, and trick the unfortunate humans who found the island into his cave and eat them. According to the cyclopses, Polyphemus was the only one of their kind to eat humans, while the others only eat plants and certain animals.
Putting the matter of Polyphemus aside, Ares and the remaining cyclopses conversed for a while longer before one of them asked what would happen now since Polyphemus was their de facto leader.
With a smile Ares replied, "You have the option of leaving but I doubt you want to since you would have by now. I plan to make this Island one under my name, rivaling the likes of the mainland city states and eventually Olympus. Stay and build, stay and guard, stay and live. You're all more than welcome here in Arestia."
At the end of Ares' speech, there was a roar of approval and stomping of feet from the cyclopses present.
Turning to Praeco, who shortly after they landed turned into her human form, Ares gave his command.
"You are in charge. I'll be heading back to Olympus and collecting the others. Make sure work gets done Praeco. I'm counting on you."
Nodding her head, Praeco turned her attention from Ares to the cyclops and began barking orders.
"Pontes, to Olympus." Ares said, already on his steeds back.
——
Mount Olympus
Arriving at the gates of Olympus, Ares searched and found Zeus and his mother's aura in the council hall, steering Pontes in that direction.
"My son! Are you coming to see me? Do you miss your mother?" Hera asked lovingly, rushing to Ares and enveloping him in a hug.
"Actually, I'm here to see Zeus." Ares replied softly, hugging his mother back.
Pulling away from him and looking him in the eyes, Hera nodded her head before letting go.
Approaching Zeus, who was seated on his chair, Ares spoke, "The "pest" is dead. It seems before even I got to him humans made my job easier. All I had to do was behead him. He was blind after all?" Ares finished, shrugging his shoulders.
"Blind?" Zeus asked?
"Yes, blind. They stabbed him in the eye to escape. Like I said I only had to behead him."
"What of-"
Before Zeus could finish, Ares interrupted hm, "I know what your going ask; and no, I won't be killing them. They are no threat to Olympus." Standing just feet in front of the seated Zeus, Ares spoke in a playful tone, "The pest is slain Zeus. Now, don't you do have something you owe me."
A confused expression crossed Zeus's face before he suddenly widened his eyes.
"Right." Zeus said sighing. "Bring them to the dinner tomorrow night and they'll have their immortality."
"Perfect. Now if you will excuse me, I have to see a witch about magic."
Turning to leave, as Ares was halfway to the council hall's exit, he heard Zeus's voice.
"What will you do with it?" He asked, genuinely curious.
"It's called Arestia." Ares said as he continued to walk toward the exit, leaving Zeus and his mother to ponder his words.
Opting to teleport, leaving Pontes to trot to Aphrodite's temple, Ares emerged directly in front of an open door.
"Do you get a kick out of this?" Ares asked sarcastically, stepping into Hecate's wooden home.
"On occasion." Hecate replied haughtily, a smirk on her face. Straightening her face she continued, "This will take time Ares. I hope you have your affairs in order because if not, they won't be attended to for sometime."
Hearing Hecate's warning, Ares began to think but quickly shook his head, "Nothing could be more pressing than this. My time is yours." Ares finished, bowing his head slightly.
"Good. Now, gravity magic allows the user to manipulate or gain access to magical, mystical, and arcane aspects of the force we call gravity. You will be able to attract and repel things or people, and when mastered you will be able to adapt to, defy, or even detect fluctuations in the gravity around you amongst many other things. Gravity magic, or rather manipulation, has so many ways it could be used from mundane to deadly. Ares, I ask you this, are you ready?"
"I am. But before we start, while I learn gravity manipulation, could we also explore hemokinesis? I don't mind spending more time either. Just like I feel gravity manipulation is suited to my divinity, so too is hemokinesis. There is no battlefield without blood, and it would be a waste if no one used it." Ares smirked.
'With gravity manipulation and hemokinesis I could control an entire battlefield or just one man to do my bidding. I say kneel, and they have no choice but to. I say fight, and they will. I will be unstoppable." Ares thought, already looking forward to his future endeavors.
"Are you sure Ares? You wont just spend days learning." Hecate cautioned.
"I'm sure." Ares replied resolutely.
Receiving a wary nod to his conformation, Ares, the God of War began his training in gravity manipulation and hemokinesis with the Goddess of Magic, Hecate.
——
Unknown Location
"Look at what he's done to me! Mother, allow me my revenge, that God is within our grasp. If he dies Olympus will surely follow suit."
"Shh, my child. Yes, Olympus will fall but not through that child. Although that is how those ingrates came into power I will not stoop to their level. Ive learned from the mistakes of the past. We must not be at haste when thinking of Olympus's comeuppance. Rest my child. With time they too will know what it means to feel pain." Gaia sneered, stroking the feathered head of her daughter.
'Yes they will.'
(A/N: Shorter chapter this time. Sorry about the wait, I wasn't really feeling motivated.)
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