She wanted more, too. She always had.
But even in a life of excess, of reinvention, there were things she knew she could never have, and she knew it would be much less painful to accept those things, rather than chase something she could never have. For lusting after such things could drive anyone, human or God, absolutely mad.
Athena’s maddening thoughts traveled to Brian and the peace she’d felt only this morning, before reality destroyed everything once again.
A hunger blossomed in her core at the very thought of his dark eyelashes, of the feel of his hair brushing her skin as the light bathed them in its soft, romantic glow. And for a moment, she was not Athena, Goddess of War and Wisdom; she was not a legendary battle star.
She was just a woman.
A woman who, for the fraction of a heartbeat, had felt a serenity that had evaded her for thousands of years. But like the dawn fades into night, so did the modicum of peace she felt before it all turned to hell-in-a-handbasket.
Peace was not meant for Gods like them.
That, she was sure of.
“If it is peace you seek, perhaps you should not go challenging those more powerful than you,” she said.
Mars pursed his lips.
“I will never know peace if I do not fight for it.”
“Perhaps your fight is with the wrong opponent. Perhaps to find peace, Mars, you must first find it in yourself,” Calliope said softly.
Athena bristled at her words. They were too much.
“Zeus thinks there must be a cure. A way to break your current curse.”
Mars’s eyes fell along with his shoulders. He shrugged.
“If there is, I do not know what it is.”
“Perhaps we should do some research.” Calliope clasped her hands together, her face lighting up.
“Research?” Athena asked as she watched Aphrodite travel down the steps to the bar on the lower level, talking to the bartender.
“Yes. Our history has been recorded for ages by those like myself and the humans. They have countless books on us, you know. The university has quite the library, and I do believe they are putting on some kind of mythological exhibit next week.”
“You are suggesting the answer to solving my brother’s curse lies in the pages of a book or some college run exhibit?” Athena raised an eyebrow.
“Yes, I am. You could learn a lot from the university, you know. They have plenty of classes and activities, and...” Calliope’s eyes were practically glowing as she droned on and on about the one place she loved the most.
Though it shouldn’t have come to anyone’s surprise a muse would take up residence and collection with a university full of impressionable artists and musicians.
“Perhaps. It would be a good start,” Calliope said with a nod of her head.
Mars sighed.
“I’m willing to try anything, at this point. I don’t... I don’t want to lose my power. It’s... who I am. I don’t know who I would be without it.”
Athena felt a turmoil within her. She wanted nothing more than to tell this man, this pain in the ass, that perhaps for once he should reap what he had sown. It wouldn’t be the first time Zeus had called her in to fix things, where her brother was involved, and she’d grown long tired of having to be the person sent to rescue, sent to fix the problem. But despite being beholden to her father’s demands, as much as she hated to admit it, she felt sympathy for the man in front of her. As misguided as he was, he was only trying to find a way to settle his own demons, to set out on a path of his own and find peace and happiness in this eternal damnation of a life. It was a noble journey, and one she could not deny.
Hadn’t she done the same thing for the last century?
Hopping from town to town, country to country in search of a vice who could dull the ache in her heart, always coming up short, taking it for granted that perhaps that’s just what fate had in store.
Like her brother, she’d never known peace. She’d only known the here and now, the present. And there was rarely peace.
Not the kind Mars spoke of, anyway.
