“Oh?” Ares moved forward, and everyone save for Kataida and Evander drew back instinctively. Ares climbed onto the table, and sand started to spill from the center of it, building into little dunes, streaming onto the floor. Ares stepped into a makeshift map of Arktos that built around them as they moved, and Castor shivered as a burning watchtower appeared in the center.
“War has always been done the mortal way,” Ares said, as the tower collapsed and burned to ash. They dug their fingers in the burning embers and licked them, tasting ash and fire, before turning to Castor. “Tell them who burned the watchtower down. Was it a god?”
“No. No, it was— They were soldiers in strange uniforms.” Castor swallowed heavily. “Arkoudai, and a man they called the Beast. He—He was butchering us, he had a helmet shaped like a lion and he was—he told me to tell you it was…”
“War,” Ares said. “It was a man who butchered your people. It was humanity that woke me. You don’t want me at your table, do you, Evander Akti? You would prefer me gone? Asleep? War will come to you whether I am awake or no. What will you do now that I am here?”
And with that, they pulled on their power, leaving the table empty save for gallons of sand spilling onto the floor. They slipped off the table, and Kataida, the only mortal following their movement, saluted to Evander.
“Strategos. I ask leave to step outside.”
Evander nodded to a young man at the door—Theron Akti, another of Atreus’ bloodline—and Theron stepped out first, giving Kataida room to leave.
“Summon Aleks,” Evander said, as Ares slipped through the door after them. “Secure them, if possible.”
“Kat,” Theron said, the moment the door closed. “What the fuck? What the actual fuck?”
“Shut up. They’re still here,” Kataida hissed, and looked at Ares.
She approached them with a mix of determination and wariness, and when Ares made to sink to their knees, she grabbed them by the arm and held them up, nails digging into their skin. The pain was slight, but it made Ares shiver, and Kataida met their gaze sharply before towing them toward an empty room.
“Get Aleks,” she barked, and Theron hovered for a few seconds before drawing back. Ares smiled, almost gleeful just to be touched again, and let out a soft gasp when Kataida threw them into the room. “We don’t need a war.”
“You’re getting one,” Ares said. “That man in the other room bears a seed of it, a spark that will ignite a flame. You don’t have to want war to have it.” They moved closer, wanting to kneel but unsure if Kataida would let them, and touched her cheek. “But you want it, do you now? I can sense something in you. Not just Atreus Akti’s spirit, but something else. Like fire drawn to powder. Like the metal that tore through me when that soldier fired his strange weapon.”
“Weapon? A gun?”
Ares shrugged. “I don’t know the name of it, but it tasted like this.” They slid a thumb over Kataida’s mouth, and her lips parted, tongue brushing over the pad of it before she stepped back with a sound of alarm.
“Gunpowder. How did you do that?”
“It is a weapon of war. A terrible one, at that. But it took too long to reload. Arrows are faster.”
Kataida went quiet, and Ares leaned in closer, examining her face. Her eyes were so much darker than Atreus’, her lips fuller. “I think I dreamed of you. A few times.”
Ares smiled. “You did? Memories of your old life, how you loved me once?”
“I…No.” Kataida looked away. “There was a fire in the desert. I couldn’t reach it, no matter how I tried. I think it was you.”
“His spirit calling to me,” Ares started, and Kataida’s eyes flashed, her dominance filling the air. Ares almost fell, but Kataida gripped them by the collar and shoved them into the wall to keep them upright.
“Myspirit,” Kataida said, gritting her teeth, fingers tightening around their neck with a slow, inexoerable pressure. “Whatever I was in a past life, my spirit is my own, and so are my dreams. Do you understand?”
Ares stared at her. They were standing on their toes, held up by Kataida’s grip on their throat alone. Atreus wouldn’t have done this. Atreus would have taken them in for tea, speaking respectfully, giving them space to kneel as they wished.
Kataida’s grip tightened, and Ares felt the thrill of battle lust course through them. “Tighter,” they whispered.
Kataida frowned. “I said,” she said again, dominance threading every syllable. “Do you. Understand.”
“Yes,” Ares gasped. “You’re…crueler, I think, than he was.”
A shadow passed over Kataida’s face, and she dropped them. “Why did you summon me?”
“I didn’t,” Ares said. “I was asleep.” They paused, rubbing their neck. “I do not summon. Others summon me. How strange, that you were called to me instead.”
“Atreus wasn’t called to you?” Kataida was frowning slightly, head tilted.
“No. I found him. He was a general of self-exiles in the ruins of my old empire, fighting on the front lines with his soldiers.There was a purpose to the war he fought. Of course, everyone always thinks war has a purpose.”
