Forever the Twelve of Them

~⚔️~ Chapter 1 ~⚔️~

{POV: Ares}

"Ares, have you seen my hair gel?"

"No Zeus I have not." I spoke, sitting on a cushioned grey couch to our apartment, looking towards the device called a television.

Zeus was looking around the entire apartment, patting at his hair as he pursed his lips forward; his hands ran through his dark hair, and he looked over to me with an annoyed look.

"I have a date with Alisha this afternoon. She likes it when I have my hair combed back." He pouted at his little predicament, continuing his search through out the apartment.

I sighed at this, sitting up on the couch with my elbow propping up on the armrest. I decided to give the man a spare moment of my time; "Which Alisha, Alisha with the glasses or Alisha with the shaved head?"

Zeus looked to me, his head practically whipping over as he now stood in our open kitchen.

Our apartment had a square layout opening around 700 feet, including two smaller sized bedrooms and a shared bathroom in between. The living room was the largest part of our home, holding a large window that overlooked the poor excuse of a city as the complex stood on the tenth floor of the building. Our home had a decent modern look to it in order to fit with the latest mortal trends. It accommodated to the rapid changing times, holding a monochrome look with a grey wooden floor boarding and painted white walls.

Zeus thought for a moment, seemingly to take in what I had said as he himself didn't exactly know what to say; "Alisha... No- no, it's Alisha with the blonde hair and the pretty mole by her right eye."

I rose a brow to this, now turning on the sofa to the face the donkey as I now grew irritated, "That's Alyssa, not Alisha..."

"Ah! You seem to remember names better than I do!" Zeus chirped at this, finding it amusing.

"You buffoon, I'm the one who has to deal with them crying when they walk out of this apartment because you called them the wrong name!" I now stood up from the couch, reaching for the remote that rested on the coffee table to turn off  the television.

"Why do you have a problem with what I do so much then, Ares? You never cared until recently." Zeus crossed his arms over his chest, the man bearing a toned build with light scars dusting across his arms and chest; where did they come from? I don't know, he always gets himself into trouble. Although reborn, nothing seems to change with this man.

"Put on a shirt." I'd say, crossing my arms over my chest as I now matched his standoffish exterior.

"No, tell me why you have been walking around with a stick up your ass lately?"

"Because first of all- Alyssa is my co-worker, second of all- don't you consider the unfaithfulness too extreme at this point?" I said, looking upon him with disapproval.

"Nothing ever seems to change, you go through this phase where you dare to date many women at once and then you-"

"Shut up! Stop bringing up 'unfaithfulness' already!" Zeus had cut me off, his voice violent as it had practically shook the exterior of the apartment- well not really, but it would've if he had still had his thunderous powers.

I was never intimidated by the man, yet I had paused- finding myself speaking nothing but silence.

"I am married to no one in this life, and I am certainly different compared to that old 'Zeus' you were so used too." Zeus had hissed this. Ah yes, I completely forget that comparing to me- Zeus had no memories of the past. He does have dreams of his previous lives, but they're too hazy to recall; I found this confusing at first, because I had always kept my memories of every life.

"I'll live my life to how I see fit, and you can't say or do anything about it."

"I know you're different, I'm sorry." At this point, I felt bad looking too far into my past. Though I didn't feel too bad, the similarities were still there. Old habits die hard, I believe.

Zeus flicked his fingers at me, a sign to shoo me away. I backed off, sitting back on the couch.

Walking out of the kitchen, Zeus walked to the door that was his bedroom; he turned to me, silent for a moment before speaking all-cocky like,

"Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get ready for my date with Alisha." He said with a smug grin.

"Alyssa." I corrected him, my voice now small and quiet.

"Whatever." Zeus waved at the air, stepping into his room before slamming the door shut.

Dealing with him gave me a headache. I reached back for the remote, turning back on the T.V. The screen flickered for a moment, powering onto the news channel. I sat there, recalling the first days I had moved in with him.

It took months of me reaching out to him through both phone and email; I remember how desperately I pleaded him to move in with me, or at least get to know me if he had felt it was a hasty decision. Zeus- or Henry at the time- was very weary of me. Of course, I was a stranger who begged him to "remember" who I was- although funny enough, he had never met me before technically.

Those months of begging, I felt I was transported back to the past; begging for my father's attention and approval, as my sister, Athena, at the time took most of the praise and attention. I was nothing but a brute to him.

Yet, this man was not my father.

It was someone who had fragments of him, his aura, essence, and assertiveness; it was him, but not him. It took long for him to get used to me calling him Zeus. Outside of this apartment he continues his normal life with his birth name, he considers 'Zeus' as a nickname of a sort.

I shook away from my thoughts, staring ahead towards the T.V. screen. I changed the channel, now browsing through the menu until I selected one random channel. It was a documentary, starring a young Asian women with her dark brown hair tied back into a tight bun; her dark eyes staring straight towards screen, and back to me.

The young woman appeared to be about in her early twenties, tightly grasping a microphone as she stood in a foreign place. Ruins stood behind her with what it looks like archeologist digging and dusting off the ground in the background. The scenery was open with the sky above them; if I could guess where they were, I would assume maybe somewhere in Northern Europe.

The women then spoke, "Behind me, archeologist are digging up fragments of what looks like used belong to a fallen structure-"

As she continued, her voice triggered this feeling I had, rumbling in my chest as I felt the air suck out from me. I squinted, leaning forward as I listened.

There was this sensation that pulled me more forward, now standing as I slowly walked towards the television. I had felt power in her voice, and as I stared more into her dark eyes- there looked to be an old and wise soul, the soul empowering her words as she spoke with knowledge.

"Athena?" My voice slipped from my mouth.

This was different when I had found Zeus.