ACT ONE. LUDUS

❝ her heart wears wisdom skin and wit warmed splendor, the echoes of a war cry holding its four chambers together ❞
—Nikita Gill

ONE.
MOUNT OLYMPUS

1989

"Oh, come on!"

Athena rolled her blue-green eyes, playing with her favorite dagger with her right hand. In Aphrodite's hands was a costume Athena found no particular interest in, "I'm not wearing that."

"Athena!" Aphrodite whined, her brown eyes wide, a pout forming on her beautiful face.

Athena groaned, "Dite, don't."

She continued to pout, "Please, I don't wanna go alone."

"It's a mortal party," she said, with a disinterested shrug, her eyes flickering down to her dagger. "Pester Dionysus, I'm sure he'll go."

"But I'm asking you!" Aphrodite stomped her foot on the marble floor, frowning.

A long sigh escaped her nose, glancing towards the corridor at the far end of the room, "Fine, but only to get away for a bit."

"Oh! It'll be fun!" Aphrodite squealed, clapping her hands together.

Athena pursed her lips, not entirely sure it would be. Maybe she would pester Dionysus for some good wine, and then perhaps it would all be worth it.

Aphrodite threw the costume her way, which she caught easily, "I'll ask Apollo if he'll wanna come! It'll be a party!"

Athena rose to her feet, quirking an eyebrow, "Again, why ask me if you're gonna drag him along?"

Aphrodite sauntered towards her, throwing her arms around Athena. "Because I love you!"

"Philia?"

"Of course, silly!" Aphrodite placed a kiss on Athena's cheek, "Now, go change."

Athena smiled, and did as she was told (not necessarily normal for the strategist). The costume was tight, like a body suit, with two straps that came up to come around her neck in a bow. It also came with bunny ears, which made Athena roll her eyes, but she put them on none-the-less.

When Athena emerged, she noticed Aphrodite in tight armor, that finished mid-thigh in a skirt. Instead of a helmet, she was wearing a crown that came across her forehead. Apollo adorned a toga, along with a pair of the big headphones around his neck she had seen him wear before.

"What in the Underworld are you supposed to be?"

Apollo grinned, "A hip Olympian."

Athena rolled her eyes, but she chuckled.

Ares walked out from the far corner, in what Athena could only describe as normal mortal attire — jeans, a blue tee-shirt and a leather jacket.

A smug smile stretched across his face, "I'm Ares."

Athena rolled her eyes at her half-brother, "You're so dumb."

Apollo glanced at him and agreed with a nod, "Kind'a lame,"

Ares stepped forward, "And your costume is any better? Why are we dressing up anyways? This whole thing is dumb."

Aphrodite looked momentarily hurt, "Well, you don't have to come!"

Athena crossed her arms over her chest, "No need to be a colossal dick, Ares."

"Oh, fight me, Athena,"

Athena's eyes lit up and a large grin spread across her face. The dagger that she carried everywhere extended into her spear. The action caused Ares to smirk, pulling a dagger from the back of his belt, and it extended into his sword (the two favored spears and swords, and were very rarely found without one of the two).

The two gods frequently found themselves falling into conflicts, fighting and siblings squabbles not a rare occurrence, at all. No obvious victor had been named or acknowledged, and thus, the brawls continued (mostly over little things).

"For the love of the Gods, you two," exclaimed Dionysus, walking into the room, his hands in his pockets of his costume (a 1920's gangster; prohibition time in America was one of the most amusing to him, but the speakeasies were fun, he admitted). "Always ruining a good time."

Athena frowned, her spear shrinking, holstering it back into the back of her costume. Ares followed suit, but they exchanged a heated look before looking back to the others.

"Well," Aphrodite sighed, bringing her hands together, "Let's go then."

The group walked out of the marble room, passing the stone columns, and out into the bustle of Olympus. A lot of different things lived on the mythical mountain other than just gods — nymphs and other deities. A lot was reminiscent of the old times, but they had followed with the times and had a lot of technology that mirrored that of the mortals. It was how they were able to still relate to them, while also understanding them. They were, however, more advanced — thanks to minds like Athena's.

Hermes started passed them, towards where they had just come from, "Where you all headed?"

"A party!" Aphrodite gushed, a smile on her face. "Do come with!"

"Gotta run a message to Zeus, but maybe I'll meet you there."

After descending into the human world, Apollo grabbed one of the cars from the extensive collection and the gods all got in. Apollo, being the most frequent visitor to the human world in recent decades, took to being the driver.

The party Aphrodite had heard about was in full swing by the time they arrived. Most of the mortals were already pretty drunk, which amused Dionysus, and Apollo quickly went to find the D.J.

Aphrodite had many admirers from the moment she stepped into the club, all practically fawning over her. Ares was right by her side, fending off anyone he deemed were getting too close. Dionysus began talking to the bartenders, probably going to sneak some of the good stuff into their tap — which would have anyone who was not drunk completely wasted in a matter of sips. He knew how to make the strong stuff, but also mortals were complete lightweights. And it wasn't long before Apollo had completely taken over the music, having everyone on the dance floor in a matter of minutes.

Athena was still surveying the crowd, sipping at her drink (tequila, but she did not particularly care, she was going to grab whatever Dionysus had snuck in soon enough). She needed to be at least a little tipsy to tolerate most of the mortals, anyways. She considered herself to be sophisticated and elegant, and this party felt particularly beneath her.

"You know, most people dance at parties."

Athena's eyes met the brown ones of the man who had spoken (American English, she noted). His messy brown hair was swept up and he was wearing a smile. He was dressed in a blazer, jeans and a t-shirt, nothing close to a costume. She guessed it was a trend.

"I'm not necessarily most people." she said, sipping her drink, using English, but she had a Greek lilt.

He rolled his eyes, "That makes you sound exactly like most people."

She laughed before winking at him, and sauntering over to the bar where Dionysus was standing.

Philia is one of the six forms of Greek love, standing for deep friendship (if you know them, you'll notice the acts of the book are named after three different ones!)