Reviews:

Yorkmanic88:

Think so? Just wait.

Ronnie R15:

Well, I've kinda hinted at a couple, but it won't happen quickly. I'm trying to avoid overloading it too quickly.

Sloksingh45:

Here you go.

Chapter 5:

A Fight for Life

The first thing Damon felt as he woke up in a makeshift bed in a cave modified to have wooden rooms was how sore his back was. It felt like a really bad sunburn. The second thing he felt was surprise that he was waking up with his clothes still on, save for his shirt. The biggest surprise for him was that lying next to him was Aphrodite and she was fully clothed too. Damon felt his heart lurch when he saw that there were dry tears crusting on her face. He gently wiped them off her cheeks before swiping her golden hair out of her face and behind her ear.

She squirmed slightly when he did before slowly blinking her eyes to clear before new tears started to form in her eyes as she cried, "Damon!" and threw her arms around him to kiss him on the lips.

After they kissed for a few seconds, Damon separated his lips from hers before gently wiping the new tears from her face.

"Now, Aph, there should never be tears on this beautiful face of yours," Damon said, "I won't allow it."

She sniffled, "I was just so worried about you! Even though I used my powers to heal you, I was afraid that you were too badly hurt."

"Well, I'm awake now. Just a little sore," Damon said, stroking her cheek.

Aphrodite then got a mischievous smile on her face before she pressed against him, "Then, maybe we could do something to help…loosen you up a little."

Before he could answer, the door to the room slammed open and Thor came stomping in.

"Ah, I thought I heard voices in here! I am pleased thou hast awakened!" he said boisterously.

"Yeah, thanks, Thor," Damon said, gently pushing Aphrodite a little away from him.

"If thou art able to stand, I'm certain the others wouldst like to see thou art well!" Thor said.

"Yeah, I should probably go see the others and find out the situation," Damon said, getting out of the bed while Aphrodite pouted at his leaving and putting on a shirt.

He walked out of the room with Thor and Aphrodite following behind him.

When he opened the door, he found Freya, Chiron, Cupid, and Guan Yu all waiting in the main room.

"Ah, good, you're up," Chiron said.

"Uh, yeah," Damon said, surprised by the centaur's appearance.

"I imagine my appearance is a tad surprising for someone not used to such things," Chiron said with a friendly smile.

"Yeah, sorry, most of the gods I've dealt with have been more humanoid in appearance," Damon said, "Well, besides the ones that tried to kill and eat us."

"Well, I can assure you that I don't plan to do that," Chiron said with a joking smile.

"Good, now what happened?" Damon asked, "The last thing I remember was telling Zeus off and next thing I know I'm waking up here."

"Well, I'm afraid that Zeus did not take your words well," Chiron said.

"'Twas quite foolish of thou to speak to him in such a way, especially to his face," Freya said with a smile, "Brave, but foolish."

Damon smiled and shrugged, "Someone needed to say it."

"And I appreciate it," Aphrodite said kissing him on the cheek.

"So, uh, what's our situation?" Damon asked.

"Well, I'd heard what you said to Zeus and felt you were the sort of man worth saving," Chiron said, "After I led your group to safety, I spotted Hermes running from the Greek's headquarters."

"Any chance they're deserting?" Damon asked.

"Doubtful," Chiron said, "Likely he was going to gather Zeus's allies so that he could track you down. He would not be satisfied with that one attack he hit you with. I would be surprised to find that he didn't want you dead."

"Great, so we have the whole Greek pantheon after us?" Damon groaned.

"Not likely," Chiron said, "As you no doubt know from speaking to Aphrodite, the Greek pantheon is not a unified force. Poseidon and Hades, for instance, while not being considered as important as Zeus, they will often refuse to join Zeus on his petty feuds, not to mention they are often far from the Greek camp. Nox and Terra are two members that not even Zeus can force to help him. The ones we will have to deal with are Zeus and possibly Hera, the twins, Apollo and Artemis, they are never far from Zeus, the same with Athena, and Vulcan. Ares will definitely join as well. He's never one to miss out on a chance to slaughter. Discordia would no doubt follow if she hadn't disappeared not long after the start of the war. The heroes left a while ago to explore the world and find adventures. Thanatos, well, no one can command him. Thankfully, he too disappeared some time ago. Chronos also refuses to join anyone, preferring to do as he wishes, the same with Janus and Sylvanus. Bacchus cares more about wine than anything else."

"Well, there's that at least," Damon said, "but that still leaves a good number of potential threats to deal with."

"And Chiron didn't mention one of biggest threats," Aphrodite said, "Nemesis will likely be sent out too."

"Great, so we have the goddess of vengeance on top of it," Damon groaned, "So, what's the plan?"

"I would recommend we leave the area," Guan Yu said, "It might be best if we head to the territory of one of the other pantheons. Reaching another pantheon's borders might even give Zeus pause."

"I concur," Chiron said, "I think that is our best option at this point."

"Alright, so where do we go?" Damon asked, looking at each of his companions.

"I considered the possibility of fleeing the area before we met," Chiron said, "The Egyptian pantheon is the closest choice. They are mostly peaceful so they may take us in."

"Alright, then we should head out now," Damon said, "The sooner we leave, the less time Zeus's supporters have to track us down and surround us."

"Wise choice," Chiron said, "Let us go."

The group left the cave and headed toward the Egyptian pantheon's territory with Chiron leading the way through the forest.

As they walked, Aphrodite, of course, was snuggled into Damon's right side with the two bringing up the rear. Freya, after they'd been walking for ten minutes, slowed her pace to match Damon and Aphrodite's.

"Is there something wrong, Freya?" Damon asked, looking at the queen of the Valkyries.

"Tis nothing. I'm just…glad thou art well from the attack from Zeus," Freya said, "It was truly brave what thou said to him and thou hast proven to be a brave and honorable man time and again."

"Uh, thanks," Damon said, uncertain what brought it up.

"I merely wanted to say such and to inform thee of my approval," Freya said, slightly blushing, "Tis all."

With that, Freya hurried her pace again to return to her former position in the group.

"Huh, that was a little weird," Damon said before turning to Aphrodite, "What do you think that was about?"

"I've been meaning to tell you something, my love," Aphrodite said, "Many gods regardless of pantheons have flings and multiple lovers."

"Yeah, I heard that before," Damon said, nodding, "So?"

"Well, long ago, I made a decision where if I ever found a man who I loved and loved me in return, I would allow him to have a harem of other lovers, so long as he loved them and never stopped loving me," she said, seriously.

"Uh, okay, what does that…wait, are you saying Freya likes me or something?" Damon asked in shock.

Aphrodite giggled, "Of course she does. It's quite obvious."

"Yeah, I think you're way off base here," Damon said, "But just to humor you, fine, if I should be in a situation where that happens, I'll consider it. Okay?"

"Okay, my love," she giggled with a tone like he was missing something obvious, snuggling into his side.

They'd managed to get another several minutes of walking in before Chiron held up a hand, gesturing for them to stop.

"Cupid, do you think that you could fly up above the trees and look around?" Chiron said.

"Sure thing!" Cupid said as he flew up and looked around in all directions before flying back down to them, "We've got a problem. Zeus and his followers are moving to surround us. Zeus, Hera, Artemis, Apollo, and Athena are come straight at us," he said, pointing to their right, "Ares is moving to cut off our advance and Vulcan is moving up from behind!"

"No sign of any others?" Chiron asked, "No Nemesis, Nike, or Mercury?"

"No, I guess they were either too far away or just staying out of the fight," Cupid said.

"Well, that's something at least," Guan Yu said, stroking his beard as he considered the situation.

"Yes, but we still have to deal with the others," Damon said, "How do we do it? Just charge forward and try to break past Ares?"

"I doubt that would work since, as a god of war, he is not someone to underestimate. His skill is beyond most when it comes to battle," Chiron said.

"Yeah, that's fair enough," Damon said, "Plus it would leave our back and flank exposed. So, what's the plan?"

"I can charge their main force and distract them from the rest of our group!" Thor insisted.

"A decent idea, but I fear even you will have trouble against such numbers," Chiron said, "That is why I propose that we lead Ares into an ambush. That will require one to act as bait and another to attack and, at best, incapacitate Ares. The rest of us will defend against the remaining Greek forces."

"Okay, so who shall be the bait?" Freya asked, "And who shall be the ambusher?"

"I should be the bait," Aphrodite said, "As skilled as Ares is in a fight, he's also arrogant, so if I call to him and say I'm going back to him, he'll believe it."

"Then I hope you don't mind me watching your back," Damon said, making Aphrodite smile.

"I wouldn't have anyone else and you can watch my front too," she teased, "It's just as nice."

Damon rolled his eyes at her attempt to embarrass him before saying, "Alright, we have our plan. Let's move out."

Aphrodite and Damon hurried in the direction they'd previously been moving until they reached a clearing.

"Okay, this should be good," Damon said, looking around before pointing to a wooded area, "I'll hide over there and you draw him in."

Damon hurried into the woods while Aphrodite gulped her nervousness before shouting, "Ares! Are you here!?"

"Well, well, I should have known you'd lose that pathetic mortal and return to me," Ares said, stepping out of the woods.

"Yes, I've realized that it was just too much trouble for me to have him for a bit of fun. Besides, he could never satisfy me like you could," she said, moving to press against the armored man.

While he knew she was playing a role as she said these things, Damon still felt his rage boiling up again.

"So, where is that mortal bug anyway? Father wishes his demise and I plan to make it painful and bloody," Ares said.

"Oh, he's over that way somewhere," Aphrodite said, gesturing back the way they came.

"Well, guess I better get going, but first how about a kiss?" Ares asked confidently.

"N-now? Are you certain you want to take time for such things now?" Aphrodite asked, getting nervous.

"It would only take a moment. Is there some reason why you feel uncomfortable doing such a simple thing?" Ares asked getting a slight suspicious tone.

"N-No, of course not," Aphrodite said, before standing on the tips of her toes to kiss him on his armored cheek.

Again, even though Damon knew she was trying to get Ares off his guard, seeing Aphrodite kiss him made Damon's rage explode and his body moved on its own. He burst from the trees moving faster than he ever moved before, the weird energy coating his hands.

Spotting him the instant he moved, Ares pushed Aphrodite away from him, readying his shield and weapon as he snarled, "There you are, Insect."

Damon, however, said nothing back as the world was viewed only through a bloody red lens for him. The only thing that mattered to him now was hurting Ares. Damon shot balls of energy from his fists at Ares, causing the war god to block them with his shield. Once Damon was in range, Ares swiped his sword at him, but Damon ducked under the attack while an aura of Bakasura enveloped his body. Damon swiped the aura's bladed arm, cutting Areas across his chest.

"Graah! You little bastard!" Ares shouted as he stepped back from the raging Damon, readying his shield to give him some breathing room.

Damon, still engulfed by the mysterious rage, was undeterred as he charged again, batting away Ares's shield with one hand before removing the shield arm at the shoulder with one swipe of his other bladed arm. Ares shouted in pain as he stepped back from the rampaging mortal. In pain and feeling fear for what felt like the first time in his life, Ares's attacks started being wilder and less skilled, but Damon easily dodged the attacks and delivered a powerful punch to Ares's helmeted cheek. The sheer force of the punch denting even the strong helmet and knocking the foreboding god to the ground, his sword flying from his grip. Damon straddled his chest to grab Ares's head with both hands before starting to squeeze it.

"N-No! Stop! Stop it!" Ares begged as Damon squeezed, the helmet caving in under the pressure. When he heard crunching and squelching between his hands, Damon summoned the Bakasura aura again before stabbing Ares in the chest again and again and again and again, over and over ignoring everything else, even the pressure he felt on his back.

"-on! Damon! Please my love! Come back to me!" a distant, familiar voice shouted to Damon.

Something about the voice drew Damon's focus and the rage finally started to cool. Once it did, Damon came back to his full senses and he looked back to see Aphrodite burying her face into his back, her arms wrapped around his chest.

"Aph? Wh-what happened?" Damon asked.

"Y-you're back? Thank goodness!" she said, looking up at him, tears streaming down her face.

"You're crying. Why?" he asked, confused, "Wh-what happened?"

"M-My magic affected you. I swear, I didn't know it would to this extent and I was afraid I lost you," she said, sniffling.

"How did it affect me?" Damon asked before he realized where he was sitting and looked down at the mangled remains of Ares, "D-Did I do this?" he asked in horror and revulsion.

"Y-Yes," she sniffled as the two stepped away from the body, "Remember how I told you that my magic can cause you to feel lust towards me and having sex dreams about me? Well, if I show affection towards someone else while you're still being affected by the magic, it usually just causes slight feelings of jealousy and frustration. Your reaction was…stronger than normal."

Damon looked down at his bloody hands, "Magic or not, I did this. I…I murdered him. True, he wasn't known for being the best person, but still, this…this is wrong."

Aphrodite wrapped her arms around him, squeezing him tight. They were like this for a few seconds and weren't paying attention, which proved to be a mistake. An arrow embedded in Damon's shoulder, making him cry out in surprise and pain.

Aphrodite gasped when she saw him hurt before looking in the direction of the shot to see an enraged Artemis.

"Murderer!" she shouted aiming another arrow at him.

"No!" Aphrodite shouted as she tried to move between them, but Damon kept his grasp on her and made sure his body was between Aphrodite and the archer goddess.

Artemis let loose the arrow, her aim true, and it flew straight at Damon's head. However, before it could make contact and kill him, an arrow came out of nowhere and knocked Artemis's shot out of the air. Damon looked to see a woman he didn't recognize aiming a bow with three strings at Artemis. Damon couldn't help but also notice that she and Aphrodite seemed to have the same stylist considering they both left a large amount of their skin exposed.

"What are you doing here, Egyptian?" Artemis snarled.

"Ra has declared that this man and his group be brought to him. Others are aiding the rest of his allies in their escape," the new woman said, smiling, "Your archery skills may be good, but so are mine. You might as well give up now."

"Never! He's murdered one of our number and insulted my father. He deserves death!" Artemis insisted.

"From what Horus saw, Ares and the rest of your number tried to kill him first, same with the insults," the Egyptian goddess said.

While her attention was away from them, Aphrodite sent her wave of doves at Artemis, knocking her back and stunning her in place while she fended them off.

"Come on!" the Egyptian shouted to Damon and Aphrodite, "The others will meet us later in our territory! Let's move!"

Aphrodite and Damon hurried after her as they all disappeared in the trees, having no choice but to trust the new woman.

Elsewhere, at the same time…

"He grows stronger with each victory," a man said, "We should end him before he becomes too powerful."

"Agreed," another said, "If allowed to continue, time itself will end."

"But how is he even this powerful?" the lone woman with them asked, "The rivers of fate were made to flow in a way to prevent that."

"Clearly someone altered the flow," the first man said, "Either way, if we do not stop him, all life is in danger. We must prevent that."

A short time later, back in the Greek territory…

Zeus was standing over the body of his son, Ares, as lightning streaked across the sky and thunder clapped above him and the rest of his family.

"That mortal insulted me, took advantage of my hospitality, and now has murdered my son," Zeus said, his fists clenched hard.

Hera stood by his side in silence. While she was never overly fond of the children she'd made with her husband, it was still her son that laid dead at her feet.

"I'm sorry I let him get away, Father," Artemis said.

"The Egyptians have decided to help him," Zeus said, "It is not your fault, but they have now made their choice. The Egyptians are now our enemies. They will suffer just as that damned mortal!"

A/N: And there's chapter 4! Please remember to review with any comments, question, concerns, or constructive criticism that you might have.