I struggled against the guards that had their hands circled around my arms about half way to Olympus.  The other half I was carried over one of their shoulders, the heavy silver cuffs denying me the strength I needed to break free.  Alian had given up after 5 minutes, walking without needing to be pushed or prodded.  You could it in his face; he had lost hope.  Whether he lost hope in being free or in me, I have no idea.  I wouldn't blame him either way, but I must admit I was disappointed in him, too. Hours earlier a mortal with moxxy and an aggressive need to avenge his fallen city stood before me, and though I was annoyed, I was impressed as well. For him to walk side by side his captors, a willing prisoner of war... Disappointing to say the least. Perhaps I was wrong about him, perhaps he wasn't very different at all.

I could tell we had reached the city when cobble stone pavement came into my downward view.  A few minutes later, the person carrying me pulled me back over his shoulders and stood me on my feet facing him.  I wobbled for a second, not used to bearing my own weight, but the man steadied me.  I looked up to his face, seeing him give me a small, pitying, friendly smile.  I smiled back, thankful for a small act of kindness when lately everyone had been so hard and cruel.  I was yanked away from the nice guard roughly by my shackles, and turned around to face multiple Romans.

Vesta, Mercury, Mars, Minerva, and Neptune all stood in front of me.  We were right by the entrance to the temple, next to a couple of pillars.  Mars was the one that grabbed me and also the one that was now squeezing me to his chest, giving me a cold stare.  This close to him, I could tell how small I was compared to him.  He was huge!  As big than Ares.  Strong as Ares.  Identical to him in every way. A familiarity passed between us, perhaps only on my end. I wished he was Ares. After all the times in the underworld that my mind had traveled to him, even though this wasn't him, it was close enough. As dangerous as I knew the situation was, being near a replica of Ares was comforting.

"Well, well, well... Look who it is guys!"  Mars teased, rubbing his one of his hands all the way down my back innapropriately.  All of them either grinned or let out a small laugh.  My illusion was destroyed. This grotesque god in front of me was not Ares. I tried pushing against his chest to get away from him, failing.  I was in their hands.  At their mercy.  And that was not a place I ever wanted to be.

"Get your hands off me and let him go!"  I yelled quickly.  Mars smacked me just as fast.  My head fell to the side, and I pursed my lips, hearing Alian yell something unintelligent at him.  Damn, did that get old very quickly.  Mars forcefully backed me up to a pillar away from the others, though I was sure they were still listening intensely, and slammed me against it.  One of his hands pressed against my chest, and his other arm pushed my neck back, cutting off most of my air. I started whipping around, trying to get free of his grasp, but any force I could muster was sluggish and useless.

"Lets get one thing straight, kid.  Cause I'm really sick of you being disrespectful towards me when; A, I'm stronger than you, how do you like those cuffs, eh? And B, you're not the one with the upper hand, here!"  He stopped for a second and looked away from me, quieting his tone when he talked again so that surely only I could hear him.  "You are so close to dying right now, Athena. You're lucky you made it this long, they've been trying to kill you for the past year."  He said with pity in his voice as he watched my thrashing slow, like he really didn't want me to die.  When his eyes were drawn back up to mine, I saw sadness in them.  "And I really, really would like for you to walk away from this as unharmed as possible.  But you've got to help me out, kid.  Please stop being so difficult. You're making me look bad. Promise me you'll cooperate."

"Why do you care so much Mars?!" I hissed.

"Ma-what?  You... You can't tell?"  He asked, his eyes piercing into mine.

"Can't tell what?!"  I demanded, keeping quiet.

"... Nothing... Just stay quiet and co-operate..." 

Realizing this was my only option, I calmed down, letting him know that I was ready to cooperate with them.  "Just don't hurt him, please." I begged Mars, who straightened and turned to look at Alian.  Alian had his head lowered shamefully.  As if he actually needed to carry any of my burden.  I told him not to follow me.  I told him what would happen.  Look at what such great things happen when you don't listen to me.

"Did you get a new boyfriend so soon, then?"  He asked sounding jealous.  I glared at him, silencing the issue.  "I make no promises." Mars grabbed my arm, this time a tad bit more gentle, and led me back over to the group of Romans. if he would make no promises, neither would I.   As I said, I knew this was my only option, but it still didn't feel good to give into the Roman scums that had destroyed my city.  If my father found out I had even thought of such treason, I would be banished.

"Have a nice little pep talk over there, Athena?" Minerva teased.  She walked around me in a slow circle, twisting a piece of my curly hair in the fingers tauntingly. "Tell me, how's it feel to still be breathing?" 

"It's good to see you too, Minerva." I forced a sarcastic smile at her. "How long has it been? 96-97 years?"

"96. Battle of Khrotiga." She glared down at me, sensitive at the thought of Khrotiga, only a few inches taller in some black platforms, scuffed up, dirty and inappropriately worn with her battle armor. The Battle of Khrotiga was a minor war, barely taking up 2 months. In that time, we Olympians were able to do quite a lot of damage to the Romans. No matter how much damage we do, though, its never enough.

"Mm. Still hurting from that one I see." I smiled at her as her face reddened. "And yet here you all are, repeating history again and again. Still haven't learned your lesson."

"Aw, come now.  You're not looking too cooperative.  Besides, this time is different as I'm sure you're well aware. Maybe a little more reinforcement is in order?"  Minerva whipped out her blade, making me close my eyes in what little self defense I could muster, and pressed it to my cheekbone, but I didn't feel it cut into my flesh.  When I opened my eyes again, curious, I realized the reason for this was because of Vesta, with her hand snarled around Minerva's wrist.

"Lady Minerva.  You will remember your place."  Vesta warned in her ever-calm voice.  Minerva ripped her hand from Vesta's grasp, rubbing her wrist.  Vesta turned to look at me.  She gave me a warm smile, which made sense, since fire is her element.  "Let us go somewhere private to talk, shall we everyone?"  The other gods nodded, looking towards the temple, as it seemed to be a designated spot.  "And your friend can stay here, Athena, since I know you don't want him around us.  No harm will come to him if you are cooperative throughout our interrogation, my dear.  I can promise you that."  

I felt a wave of relief pass over me.  Alian could stay out here, away from us.  He would be safer here than in there.  I looked over to him, my need to protect him burning inside of me.  He didn't even look back up at me.  "I'd prefer if you let him go entirely." I countered Vesta respectfully.

"I'm sure something can be arranged inside." She returned, her eyes glistening. She gestured with her hand toward the temple, inviting me to join them.

"Come now."  Mars whispered in my ear, gently tugging me by the arm behind him.  I pulled my arm away after a few steps.  "Athena-"

"I can walk."  I stated, interrupting him.  To prove I was able, I started walking up the temple steps, Mercury ahead of me and Mars close behind me, making sure I wasn't going anywhere.  But if what he had told me was true, I wouldn't need to.  I would be just fine.  So would Alian.

When Mercury reached the door he pushed them open.  As heavy as they were, he showed little effort before they flew open.  I reached the top of the stairs and walked into the temple.  The same dimness of the room was there, as were the thrones.  They were seemingly untouched.  But when I saw what else was in the room, nothing else mattered.  Not myself, not Alian, nothing. Everything outside of the temple faded away compared to this.

My family, all 11 of them, lined up on their knees with gags in their mouth and chains binding their wrists and ankles.  Guards stood behind each of them, two guards for each god or goddess with huge, sharp spears angled down at each of them.  Something had made all of them weak, for all of them were slouched over, their heads hanging low.  They didn't even look up when the door opened.  I stopped dead in my tracks. Mars walked up behind me and placed his hand on my back, urging me forward.  "Athena..."  He breathed in a warning tone. "Just keep walking, love."  I ignored him, and my eyes immediately shot to Ares, who was the only one who raised his head, staring back intently into mine.

"No... Ares!"  I screamed, running towards them, my wrist knocking against my bum as I ran towards Ares. He lifted his head up as I got closer, his eyes were bright red and tired looking, just as his cheeks had stubble all across them, more than usual.  He looked so... different.  So... worn down. I crumpled to the ground in front of him, taking in his appearance more. In his face was only confusion mixed with anger.  No love or longing towards me whatsoever. I looked back with an equally confused look. "What have they done to you?" I asked, pleading for an answer, though of course the couldn't very well answer with a gag in his mouth.

Suddenly a strong arm went through my arms and around my waist, hoisting me up off the ground.  "Let me loose!  Let me go!"  I screamed, tears pouring down my cheeks.  I needed Ares!  I needed to talk to him.  He would know what to do.  He was always my partner in battle, he and I were Olympus' last hope just as much as I was. There was no doubt in my mind, regardless of emotions or feelings, that Ares and I could find a way to defeat the Romans together.  I needed him.

"Shut up, will you!" He growled in my ear.

"You fool, I knew we should have brought her in the other way.  Now shes fucking hysterical!"  Mercury growled from below me, his words directed at Mars.  He hurried me into the same room we were in earlier, forcefully plopping me down on a different chair.  Once he had set me down, I tried getting up again, only to find him trying my hand cuffs down to the chair backing.  

I bowed my head down, remembering the look Ares gave me.  It was like he didn't even know who I was.  Like I was a stranger.  And if he did know, he didn't mean good things towards me anymore.  Gods, I had missed a lot while I was gone.  Had Ares and Aphrodite gotten back together?  I knew Ares wasn't capable of waiting for me.

The other Romans filed in, sneers across their face.  "Well then."  Vesta spoke with a hint of laughter behind her warm voice.  "Now that we're past that, let the interrogation begin."

Right so tell me what you guys think about this book so far.  Athena kinda back at square one, huh?

What did 'Mars' mean when he asked her if she knew or not? 0.o

Find out soon!(:

Also, if you could like this chapter if you liked it, that be great.  It would help me out as a writer, so I know what you guys like, and also it ll help us get more readers.

Thanks guys!