It wasn't something that could be put into words, like the way that a person was beautiful or the sky was blue. It was as if the concepts and ideas that made Athena who she was were made bare before him. If he were given the time, he could study her true form and know her inside and out. That wasn't what he was here for, though. In the centre of this form was the small sphere of a child that she was attempting to create. He wasn't sure what she meant by it all, but he could tell that it was just the process. It was off the steps for creating this child were all lined up, her hypothetical process lined up together to create the child. It had no form, no traits whatsoever. Purely an idea. It lacked a life…it lacked a soul. The spark of life could not be lit by her alone.
"...I see what you mean," he said, his eyes dimming, "it would lack a spark."
"Any ideas?"
"Honestly? I think you'd need a partner, in truth."
He tapped his legs, the white adamantite that had been hidden from human view on full display.
"I doubt you want your children to end up physically distorted like I was."
She stared at his limbs.
"...you are not your form, you know that, yes?"
He smiled, placing his hands on either of her shoulders.
"I know my friend. What brought this on, anyway? While I don't think you'd make a horrible mother, you never struck me as someone who wanted to raise children?"
She shrugged uncaringly.
"It is less about that and more about being able to."
She responded to his disappointment with apathy and logic.
"I put a block. The child would not be born unless I wish them to be born. I wish to understand the process, nothing more. Perhaps one day the desire to have children will come to me, but at the moment, it is mere curiosity."
She rubbed her stomach, molding some of the divinity. She lacked the skill of Hera to merely weave with a thought.
"Is it smart to just…keep that there?" asked Hephaestus, noting how she just kept the entire process ready to go, like a key ready to start the ignition, just needing a turn.
"It is protected within me for as long as I desire. I cannot seem to find the method to spark its creation. Without a framework, it simply will not take form either. Purely hypothetical, nothing more. This way, I can freely adjust the method and processing in real time as inspiration hits me."
He smiled, shaking his head at her impatient nature.
"What? Why are you looking at me like that?"
He gestured to himself.
"I'm just noting the lack of framework. You copied me, did you not?"
She looked at him like he was an idiot.
"You did not consent to that. Besides, the child is not formed, merely hypothesized."
She shrugged.
"I do not want a child at the moment. Instead, I've hypothesized the process within me, creating a facsimile of how the process would begin and end. You've stated that any experimentation between the three of us is to remain theoretical. I've merely kept to my word."
He shrugged.
"Like Apollo does?"
"...fair."
The comfortable silence remained. Yet…the idea would not leave her. For a moment, just a moment, she inputted the framework into her mind. Her traits. His traits. Both their templates and abilities intertwined into a mortal shell. At first, she assumed a god would be the hypothetical result. However, his divinity was not something that she could attach to. It was too imperfect for the process.
His mortal half however, the one scorched in the divinity that was incompatible? That framework was possible. It was a strange thing. Pure mortal didn't work. Pure God didn't work. But that strange middle that could be inferred from him…it worked. Only when his two components were overlaid together did the framework even come close to working.
There were still countless variables to consider in the far future…but she had done it…or at least she thought she had. She scowled as she noted a rather damning imperfection.
"Athena?"
She pursed her lips. She twisted a few more things, her brain countering countless 'calculations' in her imaginary process.
"Athena."
She blinked.
"...it doesn't work."
"...what?"
She looked at him.
"It doesn't work, even with your framework."
"...did we not just talk about that?" he stated dryly.
"It is theoretical. After all, I have the block."
"Yes, as you keep saying. Just…be careful, this isn't an exact science." drawled Hephaestus.
"Of course. I am never wrong."
She ignored the feeling to pout at the way he just stared at her. As if he knew her words were somehow false, which they weren't.
"So, it doesn't work?"
"The body is formed," said Athena, "but it lacks a soul. The process would wither before it even began."
"...I see."
She actually felt her heart sway a bit. The way he looked so down. Most of the time, for the Gods kids were a consequence. Yet, he seemed distraught at the idea that children were not in the cards for him. He didn't remain down for long though, turning his attention back to Athena.
"Did this curiosity have anything to do with Perseus?"
She smiled slightly.
"Yes, actually. He is strong, much stronger than the average demigod I've come across. A child of my own would be able to confirm if the divinity of the parent has anything to do with the potential of the child. Though that is my own impatience. I'll simply wait for the others to sire their own progeny for that confirmation."
She hummed a bit, rubbing her fingers.
"I was allowed to see Perseus for only a moment. The small babe was able to produce sparks. I remember the tingle on my finger. The poor mother gets jolted every so often while breastfeeding that child."
"Well, he is the son of…"
His voice went quiet.
"Hephaestus?"
His voice trailed off, a thought suddenly coming to him.
"Perseus."
The words echoed within his mind.
"He touched what he shouldn't have. Nothing more. I've resolved it…though it still burns at me."
His eyes slowly widened.
"...Athena…what did Poseidon do?"
She answered, uncaring of how it came across.
"He dared to seduce my priestess. Both were punished accordingly."
He turned to leave. She blinked after him, the thought of deleting her framework within her put aside for the moment.
"Hephaestus?"
He exited her domain and quickly exited her temple. She couldn't follow or wouldn't; he rightly didn't care which at this time. He was once outside of Athena's domain and back in the realm of men. He was still inside her temple when he came across a young woman. He put his hood up, not wanting to draw more attention to himself…though it did little to help. She shook a bit at the larger man towering over her.
"Excuse me," he rasped.
She instantly perked up.
"Yes, sir?"
"Is there a priestess by the name of Medusa?"
The poor girl seemed to wither before him, a weight she didn't want to be reminded of propped back on her shoulders.
"She left," she whispered, "she broke the tenants so she left."
He didn't like the way this was sounding. He knew that gallivanting off around Greece would prove fruitless for the most part. He was only one being, incapable of splintering himself across multiple places at once.
He had seen what a lifetime of servitude to the people could become…and he wanted nothing of it. He owed EMIYA that much. However, that wasn't to say that he was absent from the drives that drove the wrought iron hero. He wouldn't allow this travesty to happen in front of him if he could avoid it.
Yet…this wasn't his world. Was this Medusa like EMIYA's? Or worse, was she a normal girl turned into a monster? Was she somehow, strangely enough, just a monster to begin with?
He needed to confirm…only then could he take the appropriate action.
"Do you know where she went?"
The girl glared up at him but froze instantly at the sight of his golden eyes. They were not human. She had seen the Goddess Athena only once, when she swore herself to the service of her temple. The slight tingle she had felt with Lady Athena was present here with this man.
This was a God. She shivered a bit, pointing north.
"S-she sometimes went north towards the coast sometimes. S-said it brought her peace."
He turned, walking out of the temple. He couldn't help the eyes that followed him but they were not the hardest to avoid. A quick duck to a rather empty street and he jumped. The houses beneath him would not survive his weight crashing into them. Yet, at this height, he should be able to summon Ifrit without too much notice.
She unfurled around him, quickly moving him to the northern beaches. He analyzed everything he could see from Ifrit's wings, noting long trenches in the sand as he neared the coast.
There was no need for words. She banked to the right, bringing him down swiftly to the sands. She landed as softly as she could, furling into the cracks of his right shoulder that closed as she entered. He knelt beside the trench, noting the thickness was much wider than any snake native to Greece. It was a couple of days old, the sand having almost been blown away. He noticed that the trail went straight to the water, only to reemerge where he was kneeling.
"...she must have looked at herself in the water," He muttered, "or at least tried to."
Sea water was rarely reflective at the coast, but that would indicate a rather human level of thought. He looked to the left, noting the rocky caverns that the trail seemed to lead to.
He placed his hand on the surface, closing his eyes as his divinity filtered through the land. Athena was fighting him on this, more so out of confusion than anything. He couldn't hear her, the voice of the Goddess of War no longer in its human guise. He supposed he could elevate his hearing the same as he did his sight but…
"Honestly, at least try to figure it out," sassed Styx.
He only smiled in gratitude as the melodious notes he could faintly hear became much clearer. Music became words and Athena's dry tone echoed in his head.
"What are you doing? This situation isn't yours to meddle with. Leave and I will–"
He cut it off. He had always been hesitant with the idea of his…future knowledge. How much could he change really? Limited as he was? He could move faster and more efficiently than EMIYA could ever conceive of, but that did little to mitigate the fact that he was a singular individual.
He was not a true God in the sense that the others were. He couldn't split his consciousness across multiple bodies and exist simultaneously in multiple areas. Saving one meant sacrificing another…it was the hardest truth EMIYA had to learn.
A lesson Hephaestus had learned.
His answer?
Just because he couldn't save everyone, didn't mean he couldn't save those in front of him. His reach was vast…the least he could do was try.
"I will not ignore this injustice," muttered Hephaestus.
He made sure Athena heard him. Regardless of their friendship, wrong was wrong. He was not the hesitant man before the underworld, but he was no fool. Already, he was devising ways to protect Lemnos from any of Athena's retaliations that may come from this.
I am the Bone of my Sword.
His heart hardened as he looked towards the littoral cave. There was just enough land to allow someone to climb the surface and enter. The concerns for his people were heavy…but it was alright. He could endure that which others could not.
Steel is my Body
He could fight what others could not.
Fire is my Blood.
He could save people, help them. Yet…he refused to burden the lives of every mortal because that was a world of impossibilities. He would do as much as he could…like now.
I HAVE CRAFTED WEAPONS BEYOND LIMITS.
He felt it in his chest, something that churned within him. In the world of Unlimited Blade Works, the gears shifted ever so slightly, the blades all standing on the ground unobscured now, unhidden behind rock or tree. The once lush forests died away, becoming a more sparse Sahara. Yet even with the lack of trees, the world felt fuller, brighter, more defined.
It wasn't there yet, Hephaestus' UNLIMITED BLADE WORKS…but he'd get there one day.
For now, he had greater concerns and a woman to find.
It wasn't unreasonable to deduce that she retreated into the cave by the sea. It was out of the way and Athens didn't appear to have a port of any sort near this beach. It was probably free from people for the most part.
He turned, his scowl growing deeper. This close to the ocean and Athena's voice was muted, but instead, he was brought a new feeling. Like daggers lightly dragging across his back, the cold steel near his spine.
He was being watched. The cavern was dark but his sight could see further in, revealing a series of paths…and claw marks. The entire cavern was littered with the ravages of a tantrum, one with strength enough to leave gouges in rock.
His nose twitched, smelling the slight tinge of raw fish.
He took his hood down, kneeling on the floor. He closed his eyes and waited.
"HISS!"
He spun around, gripping his attacker by the throat. The look he gave Medusa did little to ease her emotions. Her face was human-like, somewhat. She had human eyes, a human mouth, albeit with fanged teeth, and an odd hairstyle of twelve sectioned rows close to her head, curling around her shoulders.
Her entire body was hued like shadow, an umbral tone that absorbed the light around her.
It was a perfect tone for something that hunted at night. Her eyes were a vibrant green, the irises practically glowing against the black sclera. While her upper body was human-like, her lower body was that of a snake.
Starting at her waist was a massive scaled tail, mostly black with bits of green seared into the edges of her scales.
Her eyes widened as her hair came to life, the once sleek sectioned hair rearing to life with its own snake heads. 12 in total stared into Hephaestus. His muscles twitched a bit, stiffening as her curse worked its way into his system. He quickly spun, dragging Medusa through the air to slam her back into the ground. He leaned forward, pressing his forearm against her collarbone to keep her pinned. Her tail lashed to wrap around his waist. He quickly dug his left hand into the ground beside her head, using reinforcement to maintain a grip. She hissed again, trashing as much as he could as she uselessly tried to pull him off. He scowled a bit, noting the ground was beginning to crack even with his reinforcement.
She hissed even more, exerting her eyes as the cracks of his body appeared. The crimson hue was a muted sort of heat, but more than enough to filter out her curse. It was powerful, almost disgustingly so, but compared to the Medusa of EMIYA's memories?
It was lacking.
"Calm yourself, I'm here to help you."
A hiss became a roar as her mouth stretched to reveal rows of teeth. He could see it in the way the teeth intermingled together along her mouth and throat. This transformation…it wasn't done. She was still metamorphosing into whatever the Gorgon Queen would become. There wasn't any thought behind her gaze, just pure instinct.
He conjured a second copy of Rule Breaker.
"Moments like this, I really wish I could trace Tsumukari Muramasa."
He grunted as the stone gave way beneath his left hand. He quickly grabbed Rule Breaker as Medusa's strong tail flung him into the other side. He slammed into the cave wall hard enough to reverberate through the tunnels. The echo made Medusa cringe slightly, unused to the strength of her current senses, her hands covering her ears.
"It would be so easy," muttered Hephaestus, lunging forward.
The ultimate blade, forged by the skill of Senji Muramasa. It was what many would call, complete bullshit.
Medusa swerved, her bulk obscuring the raw strength of her tail. She moved quickly, slithering across the ground flat on her stomach.
Hephaestus took a breath, flipping Rule Breaker into a reversed grip, eyeing the Gorgon carefully.
If there was ever a Noble Phantasm that EMIYA legitimately craved…it was Tsumukari Muramasa. In the darkest recesses of EMIYA's mind, he always assumed that Alaya ensured he'd never be able to copy it, for fear that he could somehow sever their contract.
Instead, he was stuck with the current weapon.
Still…this was no human, no servant, and especially no god. This was just a monster, running on instinct. So, it did what any cornered animal would do.
Attack.
She lunged again, but was quickly subdued as Hephaestus maneuvered around her lunge, gripping her neck in a one-armed hold. Her hands reached uselessly behind her to grab him, unable to exert the strength in her human limbs to throw him off. His legs wrapped around her waist in her shock, his hold unmoving amidst her struggles.
She screeched, thrashing into the walls to knock him off. He closed his eyes, stilling his mind of all thoughts…and stabbed.
It was a strange sensation, using Rule Breaker. It required that someone knew the flow of mana and the construction of whatever they were attempting to sever. It was what made Medea such a monster. Her intuitive understanding of magic allowed her to make the most of her one Noble Phantasm, leaving EMIYA and even Hephaestus only able to make a mockish attempt at her skills.
It was why he had given the blade to Hecate. With it, she was able to sever the bond between him and Aphrodite if he wanted. As far as he was willing to help Aphrodite in their shared circumstance, there was no way he wasn't going to figure out a means to escape if it ever became necessary.
The obvious issue was that he wasn't Hecate. He could feel the strands of this curse and it was nothing like what he knew. This was not a structure of sigils and runes. Nor was it the mathematical equations of other branches. It was a unique mess of divine intent, shrouded in divine law. Each line he metaphorically cut drained away at his divinity. It cost far more than he anticipated, not that he was in danger of running out. Rule Breaker's own origins revolving around the bloodline of Helios was the only reason it didn't simply shatter. It wasn't like his other Noble Phantasms that were sturdy and strong. It was delicate and precise. He could use his divinity to empower his weapons to their truest potential, but with this…it could only handle so much.
One. Three. Nineteen. He wasn't sure how much of the curse he was shaving away as he plunged the blade deeper into Medusa's chest. It must have been painful, the way he had to subtly twist the knife to cut other strands. He felt his hand grow hot, his eyes opening. His hand was cracking not with red, but white energy.
"Athena," He growled.
She was attempting to overload his own body? It was a funny thing to him in a way, the notion of filling his body with divinity. They had all assumed that he had never bothered learning to shield himself from it, that it simply flowed in him. Granted, it requires conscious effort, but it wasn't difficult to seal the "cracks" of his body. He felt disbelief as she was kicked out of his system.
Yet, she was no fool. It was instant when her own interference transferred from him, to Rule Breaker.
"NO!"
The blade shattered before he could finish. He could see it, Athena wrapping the curse so fully into Medusa that what was once visible strands was now a cohesive complicated puzzle. He felt Medusa squirm beneath his arms. He could hear the bones snap and her voice gurgle in pain. He held her close, trying anything at all to ease her suffering. His body shuddered, black lines flowing from his body. Something shifted…but it was out of place, like something was skipped or incomplete.
I (*WH ENDURE #$ C$#%E MA Y WEA#$N
He wasn't sure what he did, only that he had felt it just like in Styx's river. Her rattling voice softened as she sighed a breath of relief. It was a stinging pain, one that travelled up his arm and into his shoulder, but he had felt worse in all honesty. He could move and still talk normally if need be. As her bones finally stopped shifting, he noted a sense of power about her. She was not stronger by any means, but there was a greater mysticism to her than before.
"Are you conscious?"
The woman in his arms began to struggle and he let her go instantly. She shot to her feet, covering her bare chest. She stiffened as a crimson cloth wrapped around her body. It draped across her shoulders, long enough to drag around her feet if need be.
She turned, glaring at the God. She remembered everything.
Hephaestus sighed, eying her skin and face. She was even more human now, with the only inhuman parts of her being the snacks on her head and the glowing green eyes. Yet…there was more to her, that much he could tell.
"Are you alright?"
"Get away from me," she growled.
"I mean you no harm," He pacified.
She wanted none of it, backing up even more.
"I refuse to even entertain you like the last one. LEAVE! I've already suffered enough here."
Hephaestus looked above her head, noting Athena's power. He always wondered what divine law looked like. It wasn't visible in the sense that it could be seen, but there was a pressure there, something that Athena could not overcome, even with her own immense power.
The punishment had been laid…she couldn't interfere anymore…in theory.
"I only wanted to help."
"You helped," growled Medusa. Her teeth extended and the white of her eyes inverted to an inky black. He could see her fingers turn black as well, sharpening into scaled talons. Her legs, from what he could see, also displayed a scaled pattern.
"Polymorphism?" wondered Hephaestus.
"L-leave! GO!"
He moved closer, his hands raised.
"I'm not–"
"GO!"
He inched a little closer, eyeing the mass of energy that was above her head. When she went to open her mouth, she shrieked as she was grabbed and pushed aside. She averted her eyes as Athena's divinity punched through divine law, using a loophole to attempt to bring Medusa back to her domain.
Instead, she nabbed Hephaestus.
He shook his head, attempting to shake the nausea from his stomach. His vision settled, still slightly shaking as he locked eyes with Athena. Her mouth was straight, her expression stoic, but her eyes were wide open, her head already tilted to the left.
"...you've overstepped," she said simply.
"Have I?" he questioned, walking around her. His steps echoed with a deadly finality, the echo resonating with the silence between them.
"You know nothing," she stated, "meddling in affairs not your own. You only knew of this in passing."
"Passing?" he scoffed, "What does it matter if it was in passing or if I knew her for a century? Athena, you turned a woman into a monster!?"
"She desecrated my temple," she explained, "destroyed her vows right in the sanctity of my own domain. You believe she can break such vows without consequence?"
He walked right into her space, unafraid of the Goddess of War.
"You act as if she had a choice in the matter? I highly doubt Poseidon would simply leave with a no."
She blinked, staring at him.
"You've deduced her crime."
For a moment, he admittedly freaked out a bit. He kept his composure as he maintained his staring match with Athena. Her poor owl was…Hephaestus blinked at the utter rage her owl was exhibiting towards him. It was glaring at him, no longer was it a comical bird, but instead the picture of the omen of death that the Greeks believed owls to be. It was a strange contrast between Athena and her divine beast. It brought a certain weight that he didn't think it would. Like a small puppy that suddenly became a growling wolf.
"It wasn't that hard to figure out," bluffed Hephaestus, "you and I both know that there is no single way that Medusa would come out of that unscathed."
"She did nothing," scoffed Athena, "just invited him into my temple and fornicated with him!"
"So what if she did?" he said, stubborn in his stance, "does that justify–"
"It. Is. JUSTIFIED."
Her words echoed with steel, her eyes and body glowing to match the inner rage that was forming.
"It is my temple," she hissed, "my rules. My. Domain. Not yours! You do not get to intercede in matters that are not yours to see!"
"IT WAS WRONG!"
"IT WAS RIGHT!"
She snapped, her hair shining a light blonde. Her eyes darkened into a storm grey, her spear forgotten as she simply marched into his face.
"You and your arrogance!"
She peered down at him, a part of her detesting the way his calmness gave way to surprise. She couldn't be bothered anymore, the turmoil in her mind shuddering.
"You disrespected me!"
He could almost taste her anger, the way it lashed at him.
"You call yourself a champion of the people!"
Anger with a hint of jealousy.
"You say one thing and simply worm your way into another's bed the moment you can."
"Wait, what?" he muttered.
Her words caught for only a moment, Hephaestus lashing back with words filled with righteous anger.
"You speak as if you bothered to investigate anything!"
She shivered as his heat broiled over her, their emotions intermixing into an odd spiteful mix.
"I don't need to investigate! I need you to trust me!"
"Trust you!" he scoffed, "for what!? For you to decide that sacrificing a mortal for a petty revenge against Poseidon is just!? He interceded in your temple, surely there are other ways to get back at him!?"
"Are you calling me lazy?!"
"I am calling you inefficient!"
"HOW DARE YOU!"
She gripped his chiton and he gripped her wrists in turn. She shivered, feeling the raw heat under his head. His grip tightened to a point that it actually hurt her. In many ways, most forgot that Hephaestus was leagues stronger than most.
It itched a different part of her, the need for conquest and battle. The lust to see who would truly win in a battle between the two of them. It was the greatest disconnect between her and Ares. Her brother indulged his nature in the worst of ways, Athena avoided it…until now.
She shoved him into her workbench, her spear forming, along with a divine-crafted shield.
"...So we resort to violence," he muttered.
"Do not pretend you didn't overstep! You wanted to insult me, then suffer the consequences!"
A thrust, one that had easily pierced the likes of Apollo and Artemis, parried in a moment. A pair of hunting daggers that were formed, one white and one black. He threw one, her head dodged it without a problem.
"What is he–"
She ducked instinctively as her thoughts waned away, her eyes widening as the black blade returned to his hand. There was no divinity involved, not even magic in truth. It took her a moment to see that somehow he had created a sort of…spiritual magnetism between his two weapons. He threw the other one, lunging to her kneeled state. He slammed his metallic knee, meeting her shield with a resounding clang. She was launched off her feet into the trajectory of the white blade. She used her divinity as a foothold to adjust herself, pushing off against her own energy to divert herself.
She threw her spear at Hephaestus, both of them weaving to each other in a rapid confrontation.
She was absorbing everything he threw at her, using her divinity to recall her weapon in another piercing strike. He dodged of course, but she wasn't expecting the large two-handed axe that he conjured. He used the moment of his side step to slam the axe hide into her side. It only just grazed her, at the cost of her spear cutting his arms as she waved back.
She blinked, staring at her golden blood dripping on the tile.
She looked to Hephaestus, noting his crimson ichor steaming on the floor as well. The wound sealed shut just as hers did. Though she noted it was more regeneration than recursion.
A new blade took hold, one with a hoplite shield.
She felt her heart hammer in her chest. She had only felt this once before with the Nymph Pallas. She didn't know her original name, only that she had earned the right to call herself after the Titan of War. It was she who honed Athena into the weapon that she was in her earlier years, free of her father's skull.
Ares. Apollo. Artemis. Even Poseidon, the one time they fought. Each didn't drum her lust for combat in the same way. Ares was difficult, neither really having an advantage. Apollo and Artemis were ill-suited to her, losing greatly once resolved into a divine conflict…though…Athena always felt there was more to the celestial twins than they admitted. Poseidon, however…she soundly lost. Not in arms…but in power. She was too weak to overcome him just yet…hence her punishment for Medusa.
It worked, driving the knife into Poseidon's delusional head…but it lacked that punch that her friend Pallas always had before she died. One that had just revisited her today, especially as Hephaestus' fist rocked her skull. Her nose bled as it cracked, just as his own rib cracked from a knee strike. He was just as relentless as Pallas was, using everything to his advantage to win. He conjured a massive black bow, a massive steel arrow loading in. The idea of a ballista came to Athena in that moment, though she gritted her teeth as the arrow launched with a sonic scream. She parried it with her shield, throwing her spear again with every ounce of her strength.
He parried, but gritted his teeth as she used his own arrow as a second javelin, piercing his right shoulder.
"I HAVE YOU!" She declared.
Then came the fire. She had to actually jump back, the searing flames filling the room. She gritted her teeth, the memories of the one fight she had with Poseidon flooding back. This was the reason that she had lost. The difference between fighting a warrior…and a walking natural disaster.
The flames quickly dispersed, her eyes widening as he used the flames as a smokescreen just to get in close. It thrummed the strategic feeling in her core, the way this god walked a path not too dissimilar to her. Blades spawned all around her, launching with immense force. She was trapped and was forced to take a blow straight to her sternum.
She gagged, flying through her ever-expansive domain. She heaved on the floor, smiling to herself as Hephaestus hesitated for a moment when he closed it.
"GAH!"
A smaller blade, not too dissimilar to the knives he had formed, was driven into the point between his leg and stump. The metal shattered but it was her divinity that caused his leg to lose strength as it destabilized his own.
He was grappled from his weakened state, slammed into his back. She thought she had him; her leverage was dominant, her legs wrapped around his arms, and her elbows locked around his throat.
It was effective. As he rose, she simply snapped his arm horribly, splintering bone. The plan was to take the moment he exhibited pain to further her advantage. Instead, it was like he didn't feel it at all, moving his arm out of her grapple. She tried to reassert, only to have him slam his skull into her nose. She fought through the pain, but her own strategy was used against her and she felt his other hand wrap around her throat. She gagged a bit as he reversed their positions, spinning to slam her into the ground. He knelt over her, his other arm raised and already healing.
He slammed his fist into the ground beside her head and she stabbed a blade into his stomach. She flinched at his endurance to pain, wondering how it was that he remained so stoic. She and Ares were no strangers to it, their battles constant as their various aspects constantly honed their prowess.
"Enough," He growled quietly.
She glared at him, her hair fluttering into a natural brown. He noted that this seemed to be her most relaxed state. Nothing was sealed or avoided; her emotions ran free. His anger and hers.
His adrenaline and her taste for battle. She dug the blade even deeper into his stomach, ignoring the searing pain of the heat his blood gave off. She actually smiled. He blinked, noting the way it reached her eyes.
She was having fun. He stiffened, ready for whatever she was going to throw at him. He had leverage, but she was not a Goddess of War for nothing. Her grin turned savage, twisting in the way someone had when they knew victory was in hand.
This feeling was surreal. Someone who could fight her, talk on her level, and was not an idiot. She was open and so was he, their emotions intertwining in that chaotic way. If she was going to win…then she didn't really have a choice.
Restraint was only for the overwhelmingly strong.
He felt it in his spine, like she had gripped it and pulled; his divinity and hers screamed out, ready to elevate this further. He felt her hips as she adjusted to and her mouth opened as his fist was raised again.
"I HAVE Y–"
Her eyes widened as her core shook. The sudden absence of the tension made him pause. Her hair instantly became black, her eyes searching his face…no, looking beyond him. She was limp, her mouth closing as it all shut down suddenly.
"Athena?"
How maladjusted was he that he showed concern, even now. She was silent.
"...Leave," she said.
"What? Are you insane?"
She tilted her head.
"Divine law is clear. I'll simply use it."
"Wait–"
He was effectively punted out of her realm. It was insane to him, the way that she simply ejected him for nothing. He looked around, noting that he was left at the foot of the stairs of her temple, in the dead of night. He looked at his fist and then back at her temple.
He couldn't wrap his head around it. What had just happened? One minute, they were fighting because they were angry. Next, Athena's murderous intent skyrocketed, and then it all just dissipated.
He entered her temple again and demanded answers, but a force blocked him. Not just Athena, but something greater. He pushed against it for a moment. He realized that he could force his way in if he wanted.
"..."
Yet…she had used divine law to block him. The repercussions of Medusa had effectively been reduced to her kicking him out of her place. Why was she in such a rush? Couldn't she have done it without it? It was complete overkill.
"...What?" he muttered.
He crossed his arms, wondering what he was supposed to do. The anxiety of it was irritating…but standing around did nothing. So, in a flurry of feathers, he was gone into the wind. Intent on getting to the bottom of this when he could.
Athena was still in her realm, flat on her back. Her eyes were still wide, every ounce of fight removed from her. She slowly placed a hand on her stomach, lost in her own little world, countless designs and algorithms flowing in her mind.