Ares And Mia

Chapter 7

"Hey, Ares?" I tugged on the sleeve of his hoodie and he looked down at me, his eyes the prettiest shade of silver I've ever seen. The fact that they weren't red soothed me, in the strangest way. Even though he wasn't angry now, it didn't mean that he couldn't get angry. So, carefully, I seek emotion in his eyes and his voice. And now, I think he's alright. Likable almost. "Am I ever going to be able to go home?"

He stills for a second, then looks away. That wasn't a good reaction.

His jaw clenches and unclenches, and my palms grow sweaty. "It's summer, isn't it? Are you planning to do something?" I blink and lowered my eyes to the marble floor once more.

"I was about to work and save up enough money to visit my brothers during Winter." I fidget with my fingers, fearing that it wasn't the right answer. He turns back to look at me, and he nods.

"I see. How much do you need to go?" Ares pulls out his phone--the latest model, of course--and he clicks the message apps as he speaks.

"Around seven hundred bucks." Exactly seven hundred and thirty-five bucks and nine cents. All I needed to do was work for two months and I'll be able to get enough, if I cut back on my spendings.

He gives me the smallest of nods and I swallow, unsure of what to do. He types something into his phone. I see another message pop up in response to his, but I could make out the words without making it too obvious that I was reading what he was texting.

"You'll be employed here." I blinked at him when he finally responded. What? "You'll work for Olympus and you'll be paid to accompany me and stuff."

"O-Oh. What will I do?" Working for Greek Gods? What in the world would they make me do? Dip roses into molten gold? Shine a shoe that most likely costs more than my life? Ares arched a perfect eyebrow.

"You'll be my assistant. Get my stuff together, manage my work, and," he pauses, adding emphasis to his words. "Stay with me at all times." He tilts his screen toward me, and my eyes catch onto the number displayed. "You'll be paid this much weekly."

My jaw drops. Weekly!? This was enough to pay for the flight, like, at least four times! "I-I..." But... can I still see my friends? My brothers? He weighs my reaction and takes a breath. I shrinked into myself slightly, afraid that he would snap at me.

"You can still go home, but you can't tell anyone about the prophecy. You'll stand as my assistant to the outside world." Ares compromises, his eyes softening slightly. I wring my hands together. "Is that okay?" 

I blinked, and let out a small laugh. "Okay? That's amazing. Thank you." Strangely, he seemed relieved, as if he were afraid that I would decline. Decline? That would be absolutely bizarre. Absolutely bizarre. Let's not talk about the repercussions of denying a God something, or about the amount of pay it was. Let's focus on what he could do to me right now. 

To be frank, he could kill me. Without batting an eye. 

"Alright. You're hired, I guess." I opened my mouth to say something else, but I'm cut off when another voice joins ours. 

"Mia, hey," I looked up to Apollo, my eyes connecting with his golden ones. I can see why everyone seemed to bow to him, he looked like a poster child for good looks. I can feel Ares shift beside me, also as if he were tensing up. "Are you alright?" He holds a water bottle in his hands, which he passes to me. I give him a grateful nod, and take a sip from the bottle. 

When he turns toward Ares, his voice changes. Into something stronger and far colder unlike the symbol of light he represented. "Hera wants to talk to you. You'll find her in her garden." Ares stands up, giving him an equally chilling glare. 

"Of course, she does. Probably wants to chew me out about her shrine." He grumbles, standing up and knocking shoulders with Apollo as he walked away. The Sun God watched him go with narrowed eyes, hostility radiating from him. But when he turns back to me, the harshness is gone, but replaced with soft concern. 

"Hey," He says in a quiet tone. I give him a small smile. 

"Hey." He held out his hand to me and I took it, letting out a little yelp when he pulled me to my feet. 

"We have a room reserved for you. I expect that you're quite exhausted. C'mon." He leads me through the halls and to a door that looked like every other door in this place. Apollo nods toward it, and gives me a wave. "Dinner will be served at 6, and it'll be brought to your room." 

"Thank you." I say, moving toward the door, knowing that he wouldn't trick me. He seemed to be one of the people that I could trust here. 

I turned the knob and he turned back to look at me. "Just..." I turned around, tilting my head toward his words. "Don't leave your room until I come and get you, okay?" 

"Alright." But despite the raging question in my mind, I knew that it would be better if I didn't ask any questions. And truth be told, I was dead beat. 

The second my head hit the pillow, I was sound asleep.