Growling like a wild, wounded beast, Ares dived for the sword, rolled to his feet with it, glared at Ephus then vanished.
Ephus stared at the spot where Ares had been, then sank to his knees. A moment later the Egyptian woman appeared.
"I am afraid I took more than I should have. Your energy is so different, it was so hard to resist." Here she raised her other hand to gently touch Ephus's shoulder. A moment later she nodded then vanished.
Ephus stood then turned, waving a hand making the six gods reappear. Sinking into the only empty seat, the other five could only stare at him with astonishment.
"I know that you have a power unlike one that has ever been seen." Zeus started, "I did not think that it included the Swordsmanship we just witnessed."
"Well," Ephus started then saw that the green-clad female appeared. Putting a hand on his shoulder she shook her head no. "I had a very good teacher. Anhur the Egyptian god of war, his lessons were intense. I learn rather quickly, especially when I have to."
Ephus saw that the female was smiling, nodding her head yes, then vanished.
"You might want to get more lessons," Hera spoke up. "You surprised Ares this time, though the next he won't underestimate you again. The next you meet he will come at you with everything he has."
"I have to agree with her," Artemis stated as she stared at the green sword in the scabbard on Ephus's belt. "Not only have you defeated him, thereby embarrassing him. You also injured him, an injury that is going to take far longer than he wants to heal."
"If I know my brother, he is even now trying to think up a way to wrest that sword from you. Another thing? You are the only other that I know of that has knocked a weapon from him. He is going to be far angrier than he probably has ever been."
Ephus turned toward Artemis, "his injury is going to take longer to heal?"
"Not a lot is known about the two swords. There is a legend that states that they were a brother and sister. A brother and sister that found favor with the Titans, a rarity for humans to be sure. The legends state that they both betrayed the Titans who punished them making the both of them into the swords." Artemis explained.
"The legend states that only a god of pure heart, through an ultimate sacrifice, can ever hope to release the two of them." Athena continued taking up the story. "It has been said that they are far older than all the present gods, father and Hera included."
"It has also been said that the swords take energy from their users to become more powerful. It is the main reason not many try to wield them." Aphrodite added.
Ephus was nodding his head it almost made sense, that plus the obvious knowledge they both had. When the female didn't show up to confirm or deny Ephus guessed he was right.
Ephus started to stand then found that he was indeed far weaker than he thought. Falling back into the seat he thought a moment then concentrated. At first, nothing happened, then he felt a small twinge deep inside. A twinge that started to grow larger and larger.
'So,' Ephus thought, 'I can do this, after all, I thought it was just a stray idea.' A few moments later all the others were staring at Ephus as his skin and eyes started to glow.
"So, it appears that you have found your internal power," Zeus stated as they all backed away slightly, as Ephus felt himself starting to feel more normal.
Ephus let out a breath, nodded, as he returned to normal. "I'm not sure what that was, really didn't know I could do that."
"You have what might be defined as a well of power inside you. We all have it though, in the last two thousand of your years, we had exhausted it, having really nothing to bring out." Zeus explained.
Ephus nodded at the explanation as he sat there a few more minutes. Though he felt more normal, he still wasn't where he wanted to be.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Ares landed inside the building that was his headquarters with a loud, hard crash. Putting a hand to his chest he winced at the... was this what pain was? Interesting, then he quickly decided that it wasn't for him.
Looking in a mirror he almost gasped when he saw that the wound was hardly healing at all. So he thought, it was true about the swords. If cut it took much longer for a god to heal.
Touching the slight cut he winced again seeing that the seepage had started to stop. Well, it had 'til he'd touched it.
He stood, then quickly fell to the floor, finding that one of his legs was folded under him at an odd angle. Again there was that feeling though this time it was far more intense.
Growling he sat there concentrating feeling the pain subside in his leg, then he felt it right itself. A slight smile came to his lips as he touched the cut on his chest.
For the third time, he winced as he saw that it was hardly healed any more than it had been. What the hell, he was the god of war how in all the realms had the godling defeated him?
As he sat there he reviewed all the moves he'd seen the godling use. Many Ares knew though, not very advanced they were deadly. They were also mostly familiar, many he recognized from his Egyptian counterpart.
So that Egyptian bastard god of war was helping the godling, possibly training him. Nodding, Ares thought, 'He'd gone too easy, the next time he would use everything.' When they finished the next time he, Ares, would be the only one standing.
A few moments later Deimos and Phobos appeared both shocked to find their father injured. Then they noticed that Ares wasn't healing like he usually did.
They both looked at each other and then at the black sword that was at Ares' side.
"Father what has happened? Why are you still injured?" Deimos stated as he moved next to Ares. Extending his hands he started to send healing energy. A moment later Deimos was shocked as he felt as if he were swatted across the room. Not only did he impact the wall extremely hard, he then found himself going through the next wall.
When he appeared a few moments later Ares looked at him with a slight grin. "Might not want to do that again. One has to heal on their own when it comes to an injury inflicted by one of these swords."
"Father?! You lost the sword; how did this happen?" A shocked Phobos asked.
Ares looked at Phobos growling, "I was disarmed for a moment, it will not happen again. I far underestimated the godling, that also will not happen again. That and the fact the godling has the sister sword of the Caspian god killer."
Both Deimos and Phobos felt relief, finally, their father was starting to take this seriously. "Have you thought of anything to counter and defeat him?" Deimos asked after seeing the wicked smile that suddenly came to Ares' lips.
"ERIS! You contemptible bitch!" Ares yelled, startling both of his sons. A moment later Eris appeared standing in front of Ares. "On your knees bitch! I know not how the godling broke the bonds allowing me to hear your thoughts. He will not break any others. I SAID ON YOUR KNEES BITCH!" Ares' voice rang throughout the room.
With a strangled gasp Eris crumpled to the floor as if a great weight was on her shoulders. "What do you want, you piece of sh..."
Ares' eyes glowed red a moment, then he made a backhanding motion. This propelled Eris toward the wall where she impacted with a crashing thud, sliding to the floor.
"You obviously need another lesson, slave!" Ares said with a sadistic smile on his face. Eris had been struggling to regain her feet when she again crumpled to the floor starting to gasp with her hands on her throat.
"No matter what you think, the godling can't do a thing to help you. Why should he help the most traitorous bitch in all the realms? You are my greatest work; you really think I would release you when I can have everyone blame you? No sister, I will never release you, enjoy the small, very small victory you have achieved." Ares stated then started to laugh at Eris.
"You are wrong, Ephus will defeat you easily if you think him that easy to defeat. He..." Eris started then was quiet as Ares twisted his hands, this caused Eris's neck to snap. Ares started to laugh even harder seeing just how helpless Eris was.
Ares thought it was a grand thing, his laughter ringing off the walls, then he noticed he couldn't move.
Both Deimos and Phobos were also taken unaware as they were suddenly nowhere near the building they had been in.
Ares was astonished, he was obviously hurt far more than he at first thought. "Too afraid to face me, you pathetic human?! I would rip you..."
Ares' eyes grew large when Ephus appeared in front of him. "I really think it's about time you shut the hell up," Ephus stated as he drew the green sword. Ares' eyes grew extremely large as Ephus drew Ares' tongue out, then slowly sliced it out.
Ares tried to scream with only the sounds of grunts and groans coming from his own throat.
"Ah, so much better. I am not here to destroy you; I am not here to replace you. What I will do?" Here Ephus raised his hand bringing an unconscious Eris to him. Passing a hand over Eris, Ephus growled turning back toward Ares. Ephus' eyes were glowing as he reached to Ares snapping both the male's legs in several places. He repeated this to both of Ares' arms.
Ares was trying to scream, why was he feeling the pain? It was beyond anything he'd ever felt. 'I will make the godling pay for this,' was the only thought that was going through Ares' mind.
Ephus then drew Ares' attention to Eris as he reached down within her, then he started to easily snap more than half of the bonds that Ares had. Each one that broke was like a gut punch to Ares as Ephus started to break the bonds faster and faster.
A mere ten minutes later, well over ninety percent of the bonds were gone.
{I will destroy you, everything that you hold dear, godling. When I finish with you, the god realms will erase you from their very memories. This will not go unpunished you will never escape my wrath,} Ares thoughts shouted as Ephus.
Ephus could only shake his head. Even after he'd been as completely defeated, as he was now, still, Ares was issuing threats.
"Just like I thought, you really are the complete dunce of war. I could destroy you right now, still, you think that you can win? I fail to see where exactly you think you have a chance to carry that out." Ephus looked over to Eris who was starting to stir. Ephus was about to leave when he turned back to Ares. "Oh yeah, a present, for your present treatment of Eris." Here Ephus slapped his hands together, there was a sickening snap then Ares started to gag as his head flopped to the side.
Ephus nodded his head seeing that Ares had passed out, waving his hand he and Eris vanished.
Both Deimos and Phobos were astonished when neither could get within a half-mile of the building they had been in. They were repeatedly tossed back each time they got to within a half-mile. Then as if nothing had happened they were both tumbling on the floor of the building.
Both of their mouths were hanging open when they saw their father. He was lying in a crumpled heap, his arms, legs, and neck were all turned at an odd angle. They both breathed a sigh of relief when they could still feel his power.
Deimos tentatively placed a hand over Ares' neck sending a little healing energy. He was relieved when he wasn't again slung against the wall. Motioning to his brother they both started to pour energy into healing Ares.
Almost an hour later Ares jerked awake seeing both his sons standing over him. He was shocked when he couldn't talk. Then the memories flooded back to him.
Growing in volume Ares' thoughts told both his sons to stop. As the anger took over him, he felt his own healing ability kick in. Within minutes his neck and throat were back to normal. His arms and legs were taking longer than he thought they should.
Looking at his chest he could see that it was only half-healed. Then there was the fact that his tongue hadn't grown a bit.
Both of Ares' sons were astonished, they had never seen their father defeated as much as he was. A few minutes later Ares finally managed to get both of his legs healed and working as they should.
Ares sat with a heavy thud, there had to be something that he could do. So far nothing had helped, plus it seemed as if he may have also lost his sister. No, he had to rid the realms of this godling.
Both his sons sat nearby, they knew when their father was like this, he might not speak to them again for days.
With all the gods who owed him favors there had to be at least one deceitful... Ares' eyes opened wide as a truly evil smile lit up his face. Of course! They both owed him many favors.
Concentrating hard Ares searched the heavens finally finding who he'd been looking for. {"Dolos, Apate I have need of your services!"} Ares thought yelled.
A few moments later Ares felt the approach of two powerful gods. A moment later a tall black haired male with a twisted, misshapen face appeared. Beside him, a short stooped over female appeared.
The male stepped forward patting his chest with his fist then holding it out to Ares. 'Well, we heard you, the damn cosmos heard your bellowing. Who needs destroying now?"
*"I think you'll like this; I have a bothersome godling that I need out of the way. I know that it has been a great deal of time since you two were last here. So,"* Ares started.
