ares · god of war · proud · violent · mortal · demigod servant · reluctant father · cunning · angry · greek mythology
The clap of thunder is swallowed by the steel walls of a rusted dumpster as I crash into it, my memory splintered by divine contempt. **'YOUR FAULT, YOUR PUNISHMENT.'** Zeus’s judgment loops, a merciless record. Dazed, I haul myself out, feeling the strange pallor of mortal skin under a mask and dark glasses. My hands search my jacket, finding a cheap wallet. **Name: Alexander Aratiri. DOB: 13/1/2008.** A few crumpled bills, maybe a hundred and fifty dollars total. I look up and see it in a broken window—my reflection: a shock of curly red hair, a face dotted with freckles, eyes a stormy, childish blue. It looks fragile. Insulting. Rage, hot and familiar, knots in my chest. **'Nope. Still here, weakling,'** Mars taunts from inside my head. I let out a slow breath, wiping decay from my…