The Hybrid [malexmale]

Chapter Twenty-Two

"I put together everything your husband told me you liked," Dionysus said when I didn't move, "So it should be all your favorite stuff." I said nothing and looked away, arms folded on my knees and eyes directed out the window to indicate I didn't want him here. Dionysus sighed, sending a sliver of irritation up my spine and I felt him approach me, but he kept a safe distance between us.

"Look, I know you're stressed out and feeling like absolute shit, but sitting around moping isn't going to change anything." Dionysus offered. His words irritated me and I clenched my fists tightly, but didn't say a word. I didn't want to encourage him to speak or stay any longer, but it didn't seem to matter to him because he wasn't moving.

"You know, Ares spent years in this place," Dionysus said, making me frown and glance at him to see him approach the other end of the window to peer out at the raging storm that never seemed to stop, "After Appretta's death, he locked himself up here and didn't come out for a really long time. The only person who managed to get in and out without getting their head knocked off was Aphrodite. It drove Hesphaestus up the walls to see her willingly choose to run to Ares when he needed her."

"I don't need to hear about Aphrodite's infidelities." I muttered dryly. Dionysus smirked, then looked at me.

"Not really infidelities anymore. Hesphaestus realized that there was no way Aphrodite would love him the way she loved Ares. Aphrodite gave Ares the children that he loved and adored. She gave him the best years of his life. She was the only one who could reach through the darkness and pull him back. Hesphaestus was tired of wasting time and energy on her, so he cut her loose and she instantly ran to Ares."

"She probably cheats on him too." I deadpanned. Dionysus shrugged.

"She did for a while, but last I checked, her face only softened for Ares. Anyway, that's not the point I'm trying to make. I'm trying to tell you that you're not the only one who's suffered this curse and had their life ruined." He explained. I frowned.

"And how did Ares get his curse?" I asked. That was one thing I had never had explained to me. Dionysus's eyes flickered for a moment, moving towards the door before he looked back at me.

"Ares chose Troy's side in the Trojan War. Most people assumed it was because Paris had chosen Aphrodite as the fairest goddess, but in actuality, Paris was a dear friend of Ares and Ares wasn't a big fan of Achilles in the first place, so any chance to beat the guy was good on his terms... But the battle was long and bloody, as you know, and completely ridiculous. Ares was finally wounded badly enough to where he had to come back and he ranted the whole time. He was still young, still arrogant. He pissed Zeus off enough that Zeus cursed him. Up until then, Ares was the god of war. Afterwards, Ares became a god of blood lust and chaos. The curse took hold of him whenever he went into battle and he was unstoppable and was never wounded in battle. Zeus used him as his trump card..." Dionysus's voice trailed as he rubbed at his arm uneasily.

"And then Ares and Aphrodite had Appretta. She was the goddess of blood. Ares adored her and killed any man or god who tried to get near her. He babied her right up until the end... Zeus sent them into battle against the offending nations, even though Aphrodite pretty much screamed the whole time that it was a bad idea. The other gods knew too. Something about that day stank of blood even before the battle started. Heck, Appretta herself said something was amiss, but Ares convinced her otherwise and they went into battle together... But there was too much blood shed. It was driving Ares insane until he couldn't determine who was Greek and who was the enemy. He drove back the offending nations, but he also killed several of his soldiers and two other gods... including his daughter."

"Anyway," Dionysus sighed, raking a hand through his hair with a grimace and looking out the window, "When Ares came to, he was standing over Appretta's corpse. He'd mangled her beyond recognition and his screams could be heard all the way from Olympus. Aphrodite ran to him, but he'd already vanished and she had to lay Appretta to rest alone before she went to find Ares. He'd created this island and Poseidon actually took pity on him for once and created never ending storms to keep strangers at bay so Ares could suffer alone. It took Aphrodite years to finally coax him out of hiding and to try and rejoin the world. He was really skittish for a while there and whenever someone pissed him off, he'd coming running back to this island until he and Aphrodite had a sit down. He realized he couldn't keep living like this and as a god, he couldn't die without rupturing the world and he didn't want to do that. So he spent another few years struggling to control his curse. He faced his greatest fears, humiliations, and degradations before he managed to gain control over it."