42. Hera's Crimes

"Am I you're punching bag, War God!?" Spat Lamia. Ares had her suspended from the ceiling by a chain. She hissed at him, her serpentine body writhing.

"You're nothing but a snake." Ares retorted coldly. He unleashed his power once more, filling her head with the horrific sounds of war. "Now, answer my question!" He demanded.

Lamia hissed and shrieked.

"I have answered it!"

"You expect me to believe that you removed Sage's eyes, out of pity for her?" He asked incredulous.

"Not out pity!"

"But you said-"

"I said I took them because they were cursed. That's powerful magic, and I like power. Imagine the misery I could inflict if I forced those eyes into the head of my enemy." She cackled at the idea.

Ares pulled a face of disgust.

"You're nothing but a low-life monster." He ridiculed. She glared at him, her snake-eyes flashing.

"And you're a fool who got exiled covering up his mother's crimes!"

Ares froze, shocked. Lamia laughed in his face. "How did it feel? When she didn't even speak up for you at the trial?"

Ares didn't say anything. Lamia spat fresh blood on the dirty ground. "You thought I didn't know?" She licked her lips, soaking up the taste of her own blood. "Hera's been my enemy for thousands of years, I know every foul deed she's done."

Ares pressed the blade of his sword against Lamia's throat. "But you surprised me, war god." She continued; her voice softer. "When they put you on trial for murdering my children – you knew that the crime was Hera's. But you never said anything." Lamia and Ares studied one another. "You were a loyal son." Lamia winced, swinging painfully on her chains. "She didn't deserve your loyalty."

Ares pulled back his sword from the demon's neck.

"I may not have murdered your children." He spoke softly. "But I covered up the crime for years. I do harbour that guilt. And for that reason, I will let you go today."

He swung his sword and cut the chains securing her. "But remember this, demon. If you ever harm Sage again – I'll make you suffer for a thousand years for it."

Lamia held his gaze and nodded slowly.

"Understood." She hissed.

Ares sheathed his sword and turned to leave. "Did you ever wonder, War God?" Lamia called out. "Why Aphrodite accused you of killing my children?"

Ares hesitated. Slowly, he glanced back over his shoulder.

"Do you know?"

Lamia nodded.

"Hephaestus asked her to do it. They both knew that you'd take the fall to protect your mother. And they wanted to be the next rulers of Olympus."

Ares' jaw clenched. He'd suspected as much. Ever since Zeus' light had started to fade, he knew that the court was scheming.

"By protecting Hera, you handed your brother the crown on a dinner plate." Lamia sneered.

"They can have it." Ares retorted, turning his back on Lamia for the last time. "It's an empty treasure."

Ares left Lamia in the abandoned warehouse he'd found her in and took to the skies. The wind ruffled his hair and his expression was sombre and distant. His mind was preoccupied with thoughts of his mother.

"Enyalius, please don't tell your father." Hera had pleaded with her son. Ares had stared in horror at the two dead infants.

"Why?" He'd breathed, unable to looked away from the children's blank faces.

"They were Zeus' children." Hera had clutched at Ares' arm, trying to get him to look at her. "With the blood of a demon – they would have been powerful rivals for you."

Ares had finally looked at his mother, horrified.

"You did this for me?!" He'd shaken his head at her.

"You saw how your father doted on them!" Hera protested; her voice shrill. "He loved them more than he did you or me!" His mother's face had been drained of beauty and she'd looked like something else – something awful that only somewhat resembled a person.

In the end, Ares had hugged his mother protectively.

"What has father done to you?" He'd whispered softly as Hera wept in his arms.

"I just want him to love me." She'd sobbed and Ares' heart had cracked guiltily. His parent's marriage had been awful from the start. He realised then, that he should have taken his mother away from Zeus long ago - before the King of the Gods could break her to this level.

"I'll help you to hide the bodies." Ares had promised gravely.

"Thank you, Enyalius!" Hera had gazed up at him with tears in her eyes."If Zeus ever discovers what I've done..." She'd shivered. Ares was alarmed by how frail Hera felt in his arms.

"He won't. If the truth comes out – I'll take the blame for it. He's my father. I'm sure he'll forgive me..."

**

Ares landed on the street outside of the café. It was night time and he stared up at Sage's window. His heart splintered as he thought about her. She still didn't want to see him.

He wished that he knew what she was thinking. He wished that her knew how to make her love him. Or even like him again.

Sage was sat cross-legged on her bed, scribbling things down in her notebook. A knock on the door made her look up and she smiled distractedly at Jaz.

"What you up to?" He asked.

"I'm trying to come up with ideas on how to develop my... sight." She showed him the notes that she'd made so far.

"I didn't know you were so keen to embrace being an oracle." Jaz mused, sitting down on the bed beside her.

Sage sighed.

"I don't want to be unprepared again." She fiddled with her pen between her fingers. "If someone I care about is in danger, then I want lots of warning. And a clearer vision of how to prevent it. You said Oracles in the past were able to know everything. And answer every kind of question. I want to try and be like that." But she was a long way off at the moment. She still hadn't worked out how to trigger a vision happening.

"Sage, it's not your job to protect everyone."

"No, but... if you had the power to help people. Could you live with yourself if you didn't use it?" She held his gaze and Jaz sighed in defeat.

"No, I guess I'd struggle too." He read through her notes. "I think I can help with this. We can partition part of the café to be your fortune-reading stall."

"Are you sure?"

He nodded.

"Exposure to lots of different people will help with your gift. Besides, having a local oracle kind of fits with the vibe of the place."

"Thank you, Jaz." Sage pulled Jaz into a hug. He smiled and held her close.

"No worries, kid."

Sage turned the page of her notebook. She needed to plan how to arrange her stall. "Sage?" Jaz spoke up, his voice soft. "Are you doing ok?"

"I'm fine."

"Only... I... I hear you crying at night."

Sage went very still and wouldn't look Jaz in the eye.

"I'm fine." She repeated.

"What happened between you and Ares."

"I don't want to talk about it."

Outside in the cold night, Ares stood guard. Keeping safe the woman he loved.