Allocate | Fated Four: Book 2

Chapter Twelve

I understood why Ryder was so apprehensive about killing Enyo. I remembered Ares' threat. But there was something else. A bad feeling that kept washing over me. I recalled my vision from earlier. Eris has been angry. She had blamed us. Did that have to do with us deciding to kill Enyo? Even with my powers becoming more stable, I couldn't be sure.

"If we kill Enyo and Ares tries to make good on his threat, would you be able to stop him?" Calix asked Aphrodite.

The Goddess of Love and Beauty shook her head.

"Ares and I don't exactly have the best relationship," she admitted as she hugged herself. Hera wrapped her arms around the younger Goddess. Everyone had always believed that Aphrodite was the only one who could soothe Ares' anger.

"What do you mean?" Nemesis asked. I saw that look in my sister's eyes and knew that she sensed something. Something was off.

Aphrodite was shaking in Hera's arms.

"You don't have to tell us if you don't want to," Clarissa told her, probably sensing the fear of the Goddess.

(AN: WARNING Aphrodite's next bit of dialogue contains small mentions of domestic abuse.)

"No, no, you deserve to know exactly what kind of monster the God of War is," Aphrodite replied. She swallowed hard and continued, "When I was with him, he treated me like I was a pretty porcelain doll. He showered me with gifts and was incredibly gentle with me. But that was in the beginning. Things changed after he came back from the wars. He'd accuse me of sleeping around and I hadn't been. I know that it's hard to believe, but when I was with Ares, I was seeing him exclusively. So he beat me and then he'd get so rough me that I had bruises all over my body. I was scared of him. I couldn't show my face in court because I was afraid that people would ask questions. For the longest time, I told myself that it wasn't his fault, he was just being rough with me because of the horrors he had seen in the wars, but part of me knew it was wrong. Hermes came to visit me. He and I had always been such close friends. He saw the bruises and demanded to know where they'd come from." Aphrodite started to cry and Hera held her tighter, trying to soothe her. "I told him the truth. I told him that Ares had been beating me. To say Hermes was furious was an understatement. He challenged Ares to a fight and won. Then while Ares was incapacitated, he took me to his area of the palace and helped me heal. He kept me safe from Ares and he, Artemis, and Apollo made sure that Ares stayed as far away from me as possible. We got Hera involved after Ares attacked me when I went out into the gardens to tend to my roses."

(AN: Alright we're good. Carry on.)

"Abusing a Goddess is a serious offence," Nemesis stated, "Why wasn't he punished?! He should have at least been removed from the Council!"

"I tried," Hera assured my sister, "But even as the Queen of the Gods, I don't have the power to strip Ares of his privileges. That power ultimately lies with Zeus. And my dolt of a husband refused to do anything to help. I doubt he even believed his own son was capable of doing such a thing. So Ares was never punished."

"I've been staying with Hermes ever since," Aphrodite replied.

"What about your husband, Hephaestus?" Rosalie asked.

"Hephaestus and I aren't together anymore," Aphrodite replied, "We split a few weeks after our wedding when he realized that I'd never love him as much as I loved Ares. So he set me free and I fell into Ares' arms and then this all happened. Gods, why did I ever think he loved me?"