Love & War
tria.
Aphrodite spent a week trying to fix the mess Ares had made of Thebes. All the death weighed heavily on her as she tried to mend what she could, spreading love through the ranks, longing for home until everyone dispersed and all that were left was the bodies of the dead.
“Aphrodite, you must rest,” Athena said when she appeared in the field full of bloodshed and death “The war has dispersed.”
“Why are you here?” Aphrodite asked as she looked around the battlefield, her eyes trailing over the dead men in sadness, so much loss of life. So many men who had yet to experience the gift of true love.
Athena set a hand onto Aphrodite’s shoulder, “It's peacetime.”
“And where were you when Ares was running amok? You must keep your brother in line otherwise he is going to plunge Greece into a chaos I could never pull it out of.”
“You know I cannot be in the presence of Ares on a battlefield. The violence alone would plunge Greece into the ocean like Atlantis, and we do not need a repeat of that ordeal.”
Aphrodite scoffed angrily, “To Tartarus with him then! Zeus help him next time I come across him deliberately instigating the bloodshed with his presence.” Then looking to Athena her expression softened just a bit, “He threatened me, you know, with his sword.”
Shocked, Athena gasped, “Truly?”
“Yes, he held his blade to my throat as if he meant to lay it open. You need to rein him in, Athena. I cannot keep cleaning up these wars, spreading the seeds of love and just have him muck everything up again.”
Athena nodded in agreement, “Of course, I will speak to him… If he isn't receptive I will speak to my father.” Then with a pause to look around the field again Athena said, “Hephaestus has been looking for you.”
“He can rot in Tartarus alongside Ares for all I care,” Aphrodite spat venomously, “I am the Goddess of Beauty, the most beautiful woman of alk and I will not be bothered by that ugly man. I will not be bothered no matter what marriage degree Hera forced Zeus to put in place. I will never be his wife.”
Athena seemed to look on Aphrodite sadly, “For a Goddess of Love you do not seem so open to receiving such.”
“I receive love from those I wish and take my lovers when I please. You bother yourself with me when really we must worry about you, Athena. Now, run along, don't you have any Athenians to attend to?”
“Their prayers echo in my ears as we speak, and I will speak to Ares.”
“If he is not going to stay out of my path I will be forced to take matters into my own hands and it will be not pretty. Hera will not even recognize him once I am done,” Aphrodite threatened before returning to her temple to have her handmaidens help cleanse herself.