Slowly, the sky began turning lighter and lighter, fading from black to blue, and red, orange, pink, violet, and yellow as Apollo raised the sun again. It looked like a rather cloudy day, and it smelled of rain. He hoped there won't be a storm, as that would make traveling less pleasant, but he had no say in that.

Glad that he managed to get the attention of the other Gods on Andreas and his little case, but at the same time, worried about their reaction, Apollo made his way to Olympus. The Council was gathering under the watchful eyes of Zeus and Hera, their opinions obvious from the way he rolled his eyes every so often and she kept her lips pressed tightly to one another.

Laughter caught his attention as Apollo passed by Hermes and Dionysus.

"I swear, he did! 'I'll die a happy man if you kiss me!' - that's got to be the best pick-up line of the century," Hermes laughed.

Eros was also hanging out with them. "So sweet of him," he said with sarcasm in his voice. "It makes honey seem sour."

The god of wine and excess caught the youngest of them and ruffled his hair. "Don't pretend you aren't happy for him! It's been ages since Apollo had a lover."

Struggling, Eros managed to free himself. "Yeah, I wonder why is that," he continued his ironic comments as he took out a lead arrow.

Apollo smacked Hermes over the head and took the arrow from Eros. "You need to stop following me, and you need to get over the damn thing! Does your mother know what you're trying to do? The last time I checked, she didn't allow you to play with these," he said as he snapped the lead arrow and it turned to dust.

Enraged, Eros frowned at Apollo. "Oh, really? Are you going to act all mature now? I told you before - you will never find love, and I mean it! Never," he hissed. "The only reason she likes you back is because of me, and I only allowed this so I could watch your face when I make her run away from you - all over again! Except, this time, you will have your chance to love and you will fail!"

Annoyed by the commotion, Aphrodite came to pick up her offspring. "Why is everyone talking about that darn mortal girl all of a sudden? What, does the world not provide you with any other topic?" She then turned to Eros. "And what did I tell you about the lead arrows?"

"Ares says she's a bitch," the young god quickly defended himself.

"That...!" Apollo caught himself before he could say anything that would anger Hera.

"That what, you bastard?" Eros mocked him from behind Aphrodite. In response, the Goddess shot him a look but didn't do anything else to discipline Eros.

The word made his blood boil. That's when Dionysus and Hermes got between them.

"Come on, let's go. Let's drink some wine. Apollo, let's go," Hermes said as he more or less dragged him along.

"Yeah, this year's wine is so rich - you'll love it," Dionysus said as he pulled Apollo's other arm. There was no point in arguing, much less with a child. "You can tell us about the girl. If you want, of course. I don't think I met her, but I did spend some time in Rome recently. They made this festival for me, though they call me Bacchus there. How odd, huh? I wonder how they got to that name."

Apollo groaned and went with the two against his will. "You talk too much, Dionysus..."

That's when the three met Ares. He was in a very good mood and had blood on his spear. "Apollo, good morning, half-brother," he mocked him. "How's life as a widower?"

It was then that he noticed... Hades was absent. He was late to a meeting involving his name, which could only happen when he received the souls of the recently departed.

Back on earth, Andreas had butchered the host and the General in their sleep, striking at the crack of dawn. That's when Mars had informed him that they would be at their most vulnerable, and Apollo won't be around to cause him any trouble. He then walked upstairs in silence and sneaked into the girl's room. He overpowered her and cut her open like a sacrifice.

"If I can't have you, whore... nobody will," Andreas claimed as he watched the life drain out of her. "You say I'm not good enough for you?! Watch me from the underworld then! I will conquer Rome and I fuck each one of your precious slaves! I will fucking eat their hearts for supper!"

"Andreas," Carina whispered, "I curse you... I curse you never to find what you're stealing from me. I curse you to never know love, and if you have offspring, to never have an heir. I curse you to ruin Rome so that I could raise it from the ashes..."

Fear began to creep upon him. Andreas knew from the few times he spent with his late grandmother that there was nothing worse than the curse of a dying human said with their last breath.

"Shut up!" He stabbed her limp body brutally, again and again, as the curses kept spilling, her whispering voice coiling in the depths of his soul. "Shut up, shut up, shut up! Shut the hell up! FUCKING DIE ALREADY!" Mad with rage, Andreas ended up slashing her throat so many times and so deeply, that he detached her head from her body. Yet, he couldn't escape the harsh judgment of her eyes.

The man couldn't stand to look at her decapitated head. She was dead, but at the same time, her green eyes were alive and watching. Andreas felt punished by her gaze, so he took the knife and stabbed them until he felt the blade piercing through the bone and slipping deep into her brain. Only then could he breathe...

As soon as Apollo realized the meaning behind Ares's words, he rushed back to Delphi. He couldn't care less if Hermes tried to stop him, or what Zeus was going to think, or even of the way he might appear before Eros. He ran with lightning speed to the house where he had left Carina less than an hour ago, dazed by his kisses and his words, willing to accept him into her life even as a commoner - a street artist without a coin in his pocket.

He found the tiles of the living room flooded by red. Through an open door, he caught a glimpse of the house owner's arm. It resembled a strainer with how many cuts it had, obviously defensive. Expecting the worst, but still trying to hold onto faith, the God walked upstairs. He found the body of the General spread on the stairs, his brains and blood dripping off the wall. His sword was still close to his hand, having slipped downwards once his grip had loosened. The brutality with which his head had been smashed into the stone pillar of the home baffled him - it was something he had only seen at Ares before. As if that wasn't enough, his guts were also hanging down the stairs from a deep wound in his side.

Apollo heard heavy breathing coming from Carina's room. He busted the door open but then froze in the doorway. Blood was absolutely everywhere. The walls and the ceiling were covered in splashes, the bed was soaked, and the floor had gathered it into a wide puddle. Her mirror which faced the bed and the window from which she had jumped into his arms had smudged blood all over it, and he saw the footprints of the murderer on the carpet and on the wooden floor, on the edges of the room, where Carina's blood hasn't reached yet. He had jumped out just now, but Apollo couldn't possibly follow.

In horror, he approached the bundle of covers on the bed. Somebody had tried to hide the body, but that couldn't be Carina. No, he refused to believe that. Trying to trust his own thoughts, Apollo pulled the covers away. Immediately, his stomach turned and he felt nauseated. Carina's mutilated head was by her side, face-down, while her body had been reduced to a mass of bones and blood.

Grief fell over him with the weight of the entire universe and Apollo fell to his knees. He would have preferred anything else - he would have felt less sad to know Carina happy with another man, a mortal even! He would have given her up if he knew it would save her from her fate... His eyes filled with tears as he felt his heart breaking into pieces and his chest becoming cold and heavy. Apollo reached for her hand, but it was detached from her body. He laid it back down, unable to think of anything that he might do.

The presence of his friend earned him no reaction. The god was motionless, silent, as tears rolled down his face, burning like hot coals.

"...Zeus wants you back so he can start the-!" Hermes stopped. "Oh...! Oh, my...!" The small room was dark and stuffy, to the point where Hermes was able to taste the girl's blood in the air. It was disturbing even for him, who was used to visiting battlefields and even the underworld. He slowly approached, but then stopped at the edge of the blood pool that had formed under and around the bed.

"...He can start without me," Apollo whispered after a long moment of silence.

"Apollo, we'll find him and throw him into Tartarus! Please, brother, there's nothing we can do... Not even you..."

The god remained silent. His grief was so deep, that it reached Olympus and the Underworld, and was felt by the other deities. The sun's brilliance had faded and the world saw darkness in a full day.

Artemis felt his pain like none other, as they were twins and the connection they shared was deeper than one could word. She lowered her head and nature went silent. The birds stopped singing, the insects stopped buzzing, and the animals remained quiet.

"What have you done this time, Ares?" It was Athena who dared to question him. The rest were silent, struck by the feeling that overtook them.

"What?! Why are you all looking at me like that? I killed three mortals - big deal! Mortals slaughter each other all the time and nobody turns day into night over that!"

Defeated, Hermes returned to Olympus alone. When he saw Ares trying to paint the incident as just another death, he flew in front of Zeus and pointed at him.

"He had that spiteful human mince the girl that Apollo favored! The bloodiest of wars are nowhere near the cruelty that took place in that house!"

Finally arriving, Hades and Persephone looked deeply displeased. The Underworld Lord was holding his wife. He was mad, Persephone looked devastated.

"I support Hermes in his argument. That girl was murdered in an excessive fashion - I would say that Ares was trying to show off for some reason. It was unnecessary and excessive by nature, an abomination!"

Hera stood up from her throne. "Are you calling my son abominable?! Over a mortal?!"

"I am calling his acts an abomination, but you're free to judge the implications on your own!"

Aphrodite had chills when Hades presented them with the image of the body, and not the good kind of chills. Even so, she crossed her arms over her chest. "So, what? It's still a mortal! You're not going to punish your own son over a mortal, are you?" she addressed Zeus.

Although not usually on the best terms, Hera decided to agree with her. "That can't happen."

"I say this proves it - Ares is too deranged to be left roaming freely!" Poseidon stood up. "You've spoiled that brat way too much. Do you remember his thirst for human blood when he was a teenager?! You should have imprisoned him then - that would have served as a warning for future slaughter."

"Why does everyone forget so conveniently that Ares didn't kill the girl? It was that insufferable mortal who happens to be your fan, Posseidon!"

Faced with Aphrodite's accusations, the Lord of the Sea slammed his triton down, causing an earthquake. "Under the influence of your lover! He's not even my worshipper, but his!"

Hades glared at the beautiful goddess to demand her silence. "Imprison both into Tartarus. Look at the state of Apollo and do it for his sake, if nothing else, but such cruelty surpasses every border ever set since we had defeated the Titans!"

"Imprisoning my son for a bastard? As if!" Hera bickered, angering several deities.

"Enough!" Zeus said. "The mortal will live. Carina had cursed him with her dying breath and so, I name Aphrodite to fulfill the curse! Once he dies of natural causes, he is yours to do as you see fit, Hades. As for Ares, I will not imprison him. What I will do is cast him out of Olympus, if this is what you will vote. I will refrain from voting, as usual."

Aphrodite frowned. "Why should I carry out this curse?"

"Because you are the one fit," Zeus answered her, "or are love, peace, and conception foreign to you? Now, let's vote!"

"I refuse to do anything if Ares is cast out! One can only wonder what kind of king you are, banning your own son because of a mere mortal quarrel!"

Although usually quiet, Athena felt obligated to speak. "A perfectly fair king! Too kind even, if I may. I would have thrown him into Tartarus for the way he butchered that poor girl and I wouldn't have asked for any votes! It's typical of this monstrous God with the face of a man to slaughter without provocation, or without any reason, but this is too much even for him!"

"What do you know of a parent's love and devotion to their child?! You think you're too good for men!" Hera snapped.

"Silence!" Zeus called again and the mountain shook. "Who wants Ares to be cast out of Olympus?"

"My husband, you can't do this..." Hera pleaded with him.

"I would have done it much sooner if it wasn't your son!" Zeus yelled. "He deserves much worse for all of the blood that he's shed! Be grateful I am not making this decision on my own!"

"This is unacceptable!" Hera stood up against Zeus.

"And ridiculous," Aphrodite dared to say. "Maybe you didn't understand what I said earlier. If Ares is banned from Olympus, I swear I will leave the hearts of men colder than ice, and none will know love!"

"You can't do that! People will stop being born!" Poseidon pointed out.

"Of course I can! If she can leave the earth barren for half a year, I can leave their hearts barren for eternity," the Goddess of love pointed at Demeter.

Faced with his own previous decision, Zeus clenched his fist around the armrest of his throne. The gods began talking among them, while Hera was eyeing him with a small victorious grin. Who knew Aphrodite had a brain?

"You can't just use my mother's agreement as you please! I will never allow you to see Adonis again!"

Aphrodite gave Persephone a look of superiority. "Of course I can! Why would you be the only one special, you pretty little flower child?" she mocked her origins.

This had Hades boiling with rage. "Aphrodite... don't say something you may regret."

"Olympus is full of bastards, but nobody ever sees their flaws! Yet, if Ares kills two little, insignificant, no-name humans, and leads another to kill a stuck-up little girl, everyone is suddenly furious! Why don't we kick out some of those bastards instead of Zeus's legitimate son? It's getting crowded, anyway."

Artemis stood up and pointed her arrow at Aphrodite. "Somebody shut her up before I do!"

"Fine! Ares will stay, but only on one condition. The next time I hear of something similar, I will exile him and punish anyone who tries to oppose me!" Zeus looked at everyone present. His wife was not going to be an exception. "This is my final decision and I don't want to hear about this topic again!"

Hades, being his brother, dared to come up with one final question. "Would you allow her to walk the earth again? I think that's what she asked, isn't it?"

Sighing deeply, Persephone nodded. "She wants to be born again, into a tine and bloodline of her choice."

"What, first a curse and now this? Who does that little bitch think she is?" Aphrodite snapped.

"Who cares?" Poseidon rolled his eyes. "She wouldn't be the first one allowed this. It's not even that much of a favor. As long as Hades agrees... Personally, I couldn't care less."

"Same here," Dionysus said. "We probably won't even notice."

Artemis sighed. "If she wants to experience birth and death again..."

"Let's end this meeting already," Hera pleaded.

Zeus seemed equally drained by the debates. "Whatever you and Persephone decide, brother, but I'd like to know. If you do let her return, I will have a word in that."


Author's notes:

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