The Soul of War
By Sunraven

It was a lovely spring day, and the warm Grecian sun was shining down on me as I walked down the trail. The wild flowers made the fields around the road shimmer with a blanket of color. My heart lifted at the beautiful sight.

As my feet beat a rhythm on the packed earth, I daydreamed of making love to Iphy and Ares on that Gods-blessed blanket of flowers. Ares and Iphicles would look wonderful with flower petals all over their naked and sticky bodies. I saw myself licking each bright petal of their bodies, sucking as I went...

I laughed then. Fat chance, that. Iphicles, upon discovering the joys of lovemaking with the God of War, had thrown himself wholeheartedly into the pursuit of sensual pleasure with Ares. I had been a little jealous of their mutual preoccupation at first. I mean, someone had to run Corinth, and raise our son, and there was my healing programs to take care of. I had played with those two for a few days after the workshop, but then Hermacles had gotten the catarrh, and the village of Oraneus had an outbreak of swine fever, and... Well, to say the least, I would be glad when the newness wore off of the fun and life got back to normal. It isn't like they were neglecting me, or anything like that. But I missed my partner and King for the everyday things, like playing footsie under the table at the boring Council meetings, and admiring Hermie together, you know, little things like that.

I looked at the landmarks around the road. I had about two miles to go to get to Sinea. There were several people there who had the shaking sickness, and the herbs I'd gathered would help them quite a bit.

I glanced over at the flower field again and stopped. /What in the ...?/

"Iphicles?"

Darn if it wasn't. He was limping through the field, flower petals sprinkled in his hair and over his shoulders. He would have looked adorable except for the fierce glowering expression on his face.

He heard my call and looked up from his path. Then he blushed for some reason, and came up to me.

"Hi."

"Hi. What are you doing here? I thought you were with Ares?"

"Yes, That damn God of War!"

I motioned him to a tree stump to sit down, and said, "Tell me."

Looking at his feet, he did. "Once I let Ares, you know, love me, it was like I couldn't get enough of him."

I patted his leg. "I know, he's rather addictive that way. I felt the same way when I first let him love me."

"Helly, he's absolutely incredible. What he can make me feel like, it's like, like..."

"Like loving a God?" I asked gently.

He sighed. "Yah. Well, today I guess I just woke up from the dream. We'd loved three, no, four times already since the morning. My dick's sore as Tartarus, and I'm tired, Helly. Just physically and emotionally exhausted. I miss you, and Hermie, and all the boring things that come with running Corinth. I love Ares, the Gods know, Helly, I do. But he's damn tiring to be with all the time!"

I laughed. "He is that. So how did you end up here?"

"Well, I told him I wanted him to take me home, that I'd stuck you with running the kingdom long enough. He got mad because he'd wanted to take me to see something called "The thirteen forbidden secrets of Babylon," whatever the hell that is."

I started laughing then.

"What's so funny?" He asked crossly.

"I'm sorry! It's just that Ares has wanted me to go see that thing since we've been together. When I asked Dite about the exhibit, she said it would make Lust's chief temple look boring, and I'd probably hate it, because it was so kinky. But she also said that that exhibit always gets Ares as hot as Hephestus' fires. I haven't had the courage to go so far, knowing what turns him on like I do."

"Hmph. And then he'd make love to me five or six more times, and I'd be bleeding out my ass for a week."

"You could get him to heal you, you know."

"He offered, but all I wanted to do was to take my sore butt home." He shrugged. "Well, to make a long story short, when he couldn't coax me to stay with him, he got pissed off, and dumped me here to walk back to the palace."

I stroked his face. "Are you okay to walk home? You're in pain, I can see that."

He rubbed his face against my hand like a cat. "I am pretty sore. He doesn't play gently." Then he grinned. "But neither did I!"

Annoyed with Ares rather cavalier treatment of our husband, I used my God voice then. "Ares! Come here. Now!"

He delayed a few minutes just to show how independent he was, but he did come. He glanced at Iphicles, only his eyes seemed as though they passed right over our mortal husband. I could feel Iphy's hurt feelings at the freezeout, and I could see the hurt in Ares' eyes as well. It was obvious that he had taken Iphy's actions as rejection, like I thought he did.

"Yes?"

I came up to him. "Ares, why did you just dump Iphy out here so far from the palace without healing him first?"

"He didn't want me to heal him!"

"I didn't want you to heal me so we could make love again, Ares! That's why I said no."

"Ares, please heal Iph, okay?"

"Okay." He waved his hand, and Iphicles sighed in relief.

"Thanks, Ares."

I put my hand on my War God's arm and smiled. "Now would you send him back to the palace? After spending so much time with such a randy and well hung War God, I expect he could use a good long sleep in the royal bed, alone."

He looked down at me, a smile starting to force his pouty lips up at the corner. "Okay. Bye, Iphicles. Sleep well, lover." He waved his hand again and Iphicles disappeared. Then he turned to me, crossed his arms over his chest, and leaned against a tree. "I guess you're going to fuss at me now, aren't you?"

"I probably should. That wasn't a very nice thing to do to him, you know. He's mortal, Ares. You know damned well he can't keep up with your sexual pace. And he'd burst his heart trying if he kept at it because he doesn't want to let you down. He loves you quite a lot, War God."

He smiled then, a sweet, evil, and very sexy smile that of course melted my bones to water. "He did do a pretty good job trying, though. And I would have revived him."

I laughed then. "You're just terrible, you know that?"

"It's why you love me so much, isn't it?"

I moved over to him and ran my finger down his bare arm. "One of the many reasons we both love you."

Taking the invitation, he pulled me into his arms and kissed me. I pulled away finally, sighed, then pinched him on his shapely leather-clad derrier.

"Don't tempt me, War God. I've got important work still to do today, and I can't take the time right now, much as I'd like to. Haven't you been neglecting your wars and stuff with all of this seducing of our poor husband?"

"I suppose." This was rather grudgingly said.

I kissed him on the lips again and said, "Then be a good little God and go do your duty, and let me do mine, okay? But if you want to pop in tonight, I might be coaxed to show you how much I've missed you both snuggling with me in my bed."

He gave me a mock glare. "Little God? I don't know why I let you disrespect me like you do." Then he shrugged, and continued. "It's a date for tonight. But why don't you let me take you to where you're going, Hellfire? You know it's not safe for a Queen to wander on her own. Both Iph and I have told you that, I don't know how many times before. You should have guards or some of my men with you."

I tweeked his nose. "And I've told you both the same amount of times that I won't be shepherded like I'm some kind of expensive sheep! I need the time alone. Now you stop fussing at me! Go cause some mayhem somewhere, War God. I'll see you tonight and you can cause some more with my body."

He grinned, stepped back, and disappeared, and I went on my way.
 
 

I delivered the medicine, then headed back towards the palace. I was about three miles away from it when the lights that signaled a teleporting God appeared in front of me on the road.

Cupid God of War from the other universe appeared, to my astonishment. I hadn't seen him since the love workshop.

"Cupid? Aren't you a little off your usual beat?"

He just stood there for a few seconds looking at me very intently in a way that made me distinctly uncomfortable. It wasn't lust, or hatred, or anything like that. It was a very hungry look.

"What's the matter? Why are you just looking at me like that?"

"I want to see my soul. Show it to me!" Then he moved over to me and pulled me roughly in his arms and kissed me. It was a very brutal kiss, and my lips were bleeding by the time he was through.

I used all of my half-God strength to push away from him, then I hauled off and slapped him across his beautiful face.

"How dare you touch me like that, Cupid! My Ares will kill you if he finds out you did that!"

"I don't care!" He yelled, then grabbed me and my Greece disappeared in the lights of teleportation.

When I could see again, I was in the Halls of War. But the martial décor was subtly different than my Ares' Hall. There was more disarray here, and more horrible weapons as well. Anger, hatred, battle lust, bloodshed, all of it shouted from the walls.

Cupid threw me down roughly, but instead of landing on the stone floor, I landed on the War Bed. A dirty, stained and smelly version of the War Bed I knew. Ares would never stand for these filthy conditions.

"Cupid, what are you doing?" I know. It was completely obvious what he had in mind. But it never hurts to hope it was something else.

He waved his hand, and our clothes disappeared, my knife with mine. "Ares screws you and you show him his soul. I'm going to do it too!" And he flew at me on the bed.

Well I can tell you that I was off that bed in a heartbeat, and out the door before that winged monster even landed on the bed.

In my strongest Voice I yelled, "Ares! Help me!" I knew my husband would come if he heard that.

Cupid bellowed behind me, and I ran even faster. I grabbed a wicked looking brown-stained serrated sword from the wall that was almost as tall as me, jumped behind his ugly purple throne, and waited for him to catch up.

It didn't take him long. But just as he flew up to the throne, pink lights appeared and Ares GOL appeared in front of me. Cupid ran smack into the God of Love, and they both fell on the floor in a feathery heap.

Cupid backwinged up off of Ares with a screech of rage. Ares also jumped up, saw what was going on immediately, then moved between Cupid and me. I was never so glad to see that sexy white backside in my life, even though I could tell that the God of Love was as scared as I was.

"What's going on here? Helly, I heard your call, you sounded scared to death!"

"Move out of my way, you white marshmallow! She's mine!"

Feeling much braver now with Ares here, I stepped out from behind the throne and moved behind and to one side of him, my sword ready. I hadn't used one in battle for over six years, but I still kept in practice and knew how to handle it.

"This maniac abducted me from Corinth, Ares! Then he tried to rape me. When my Ares finds out, he'll kill him, Zeus' law or no Zeus' law."

"I haven't even started to try, yet, bitch. You'll regret calling me that!" He moved forward, but Ares put his arm out.

"Stop, Cupid. This is stupid, man! She's right, you're no match for the other God of War. He's a millennia and half older than you, and could kill you with a look!"

"I don't care!"

Under my fear, my brain started working again. I needed my Ares, and I needed him now. Ares GOL, brave and gentle soul that he was, was no match for this ruthless Godling.

I held the sword higher, and stepped out in front of Ares. "Go get my Ares, love."

"No! Hellana, I can't leave you to him! It'll take me too long to make a tunnel to the other universe."

"Ares, we're no match for this nut, even together, and you know it. My Ares is our only chance. I'll hold him off, now GO!" I used the Voice on him, and he disappeared.

Cupid grinned. "So, you think you can hold me off with that toy, woman?" And his Godsword materialized in his hands. Then he came at me, his black wings buffeting, and sliced with his sword.

That sword strike would have meant the loss of my head, if it had connected. I managed to thrust aside the damn wing feathers and swung my sword up to counter Cupid's move. God of Fire-forged metal shattered my more mortal blade, and my wrists went numb from the power of the blow.

So I stood there, still managing somehow to hold on to my broken blade, facing a be-feathered and completely erect God of War experiencing full battle rage.

Things didn't look too good for me. I had been an experienced soldier, and knew when to let go. It was time to change tactics before this angry and lonely God killed me. I could take whatever he dished out until my two Ares came to help me. I was a big girl, and a half-God, I told myself.

I dropped the sword from my hands, let my hands fall to my sides, then said tiredly, "Okay, Cupid, you win. You no doubt want me alive for whatever it is you want to do, so I give up. What do you want of me?" I glared at him. "If it's rape you have on your mind, though, I must say I don't understand why. You're a damn beautiful God, and can have whoever you desire. You could have just asked if that was what you wanted, you know!"

My sudden surrender had the desired effect. He resheathed his sword and just stared at me for a few minutes again with that same hungry look.

___

When Cupid continued to not say anything, I finally decided to take matters into my own hands.

"Are you hungry?"

"Wha..."

I sighed patiently. "Cupid, don't just stand there gawping like a baby chick! I asked if you were hungry."

"Uh, yeah, I guess so. Do you want me to create some food?"

I winced. "No way. I cook my own meals. I don't like the taste of God-created food." At his look of total cluelessness, I added, "One of my God gifts is cooking, Cupid. I'm one of the best cooks in my Greece."

"Uh, okay. What do you want me to do?"

"Well, for one thing, give me back my clothes, including my herb bag. Then take me to your temple kitchen, and chase away any pesky priests that might be hanging around. Oh, and put on your clothes because I don't like distractions when I cook."

He did so, and we appeared in an absolutely filthy kitchen. It almost made me sick to smell and look at it.

"By the Gods! I hope you don't eat what comes from here, this place is a pig sty!"

He started to bristle at my tone, and I gentled my voice a bit. He was like an almost-trained stallion who was still shy with his rider. "Could you clean it up until it's spotless, Cupid?"

He frowned, then waved his hand. The place looked good then, and I continued with my requests. Meanwhile the God of War just stared at me like he was mesmerized, or something. Or like he was a half-wit.

"I need some cow cheese and goat cheese, some cabbage, some ground lamb, tomatoes, lemons, grape leaves, ..." I smiled after I listed them all. "And don't manufacture them, Cupid. Get the real stuff, okay? If you want me to show you your soul, it should be after enjoying a good meal."

His eyes narrowed suspiciously. "You're trying to send me away so you can get away, aren't you?"

"Where would I go? This isn't my universe, and I haven't been able to teleport since Hermacles was conceived." I pointed out.

"Oh."

He disappeared, then soon reappeared with hands full of the ingredients I ordered.

"Now why don't you sit over there at the table and keep me company while I cook?"

He did, but he didn't say much. He just watched me warily, as though waiting for a blow.

/How in the world must he have grown up, to have that sad paranoid look on his face? Who put it there?/

"Here, Cupid, why don't you tear up this lettuce and chop up these vegetables, okay?"

I handed him a knife, and he came up beside me and proceeded to do so, not saying anything.

"Cupid, who are your father and mother in this universe?"

He frowned mightily, but he finally answered. "Zeus is my dad, and Demeter is my mother."

"What does Demeter do here?"

"She's the Goddess of the Underworld."

"You grew up down there?"

Suddenly he slammed the knife point down into the wood of the counter and shouted, "No! Zeus raped her, and she couldn't bear the sight of me! Why are you asking me these things?"

Well, at least he hadn't buried the knife in me. That was some improvement, I guess.

I couldn't bear this young man's pain any longer. I gently and slowly reached up my hand to his shoulder. He flinched when I touched him, but he didn't pull away. He was like a great wounded raptor, who sensed that its wing needed healing before it could fly free.

My hand moved to his face, and I stroked it gently. "Because I have to know you to show you your soul, War God. It's the only way."

I let him be for a bit, and put him to chopping the tomatoes up. We prepared the rest of our dinner in semi-peaceful silence.

When everything was ready, I set out two plates and was serving it up when I heard Ares GOW's voice bellowing at top volume from the Hall.

I saw Cupid bristle and get ready for battle, but I again put my hand on his head gently as I got up. "Let me handle this, Cupid. Don't try to fight him, because he'll kill you right now with what's happened. Trust me on this."

We went into the Hall and the beautiful sight of my two husbands and Ares GOW lifted my heart. But then I saw Ares GOW's expression, and the red berzerker eyes, and knew I had to do something fast. Ares was past reasoning when he got like this, and sometimes even I couldn't stop him from destroying the object of his wrath.

"Ares! Iphy!" I ran to them, and almost slammed into Ares. He was eyeballing Cupid, and growling. I threw myself on him and said in the Voice, "Ares, love, no, don't hurt him! He didn't hurt me!"

I wasn't getting through. He pushed me none too gently away and pulled his God Sword.

"Ares, Iphicles, help me stop him!" I knew that if my Ares killed the God of War, this universe's Zeus would kill him.

Iphicles growled, "Stop him? I'm going to help him!"

"No! Stop it, Ares!"

And I jumped on him again. This time my sweet Ares GOL jumped on him too, and Iphy, finally realizing that something wasn't right, gave in and did the same.

We wrestled Ares to the floor, and I straddled him finally. I then kissed him as though my life depended on it. Cupid's life did, as a matter of fact. Bit by bit his rage turned to lust, though it was a close one, that's for sure.

There was nothing to it but to let him make love to me right there on that filthy floor in front of the others. I did, and he was especially rough, even brutal. But when we were done and he'd spilled his seed inside me, the sanity had finally come back into his beautiful eyes.

I smiled up at him and stroked his handsome face. "Thank you for coming, love."

He bared his teeth at me for good measure, then got up from the ground and helped me up. He waved his hand and healed me of the bruises and bite marks he'd caused. Next he cleaned us up and dressed us again, as he had torn my clothing off me completely in his impatience. Ares then growled, those cold God of War eyes focused solely on Cupid. "What in the Tartarus is going on here?"

Suddenly I remembered my meal. "My dinner! It's cold by now." I dragged all four of them back into the kitchen and made Ares heat up the food again. Then we all sat down and ate it. We didn't talk during it, so as not to take away from the appreciation of a good meal.

Ares GOW sat back, belched contentedly, and asked, "Now, Hellfire, why shouldn't I kill this upstart who thinks he's a God of War for kidnapping you?"

Ares GOL piped up with, "Not to mention almost raping her!"

Cupid was bristling, and I caught his eyes. "Cupid, don't get crazy, please. They have a right to be angry, and you know it." I carefully kept my voice gentle in order not to upset him.

Surprisingly enough, he settled down.

"Guys, Cupid did bring me over to do what Ares said. But he did it because he wanted me to do the same thing for him as I did for you, Ares. He wants to find his soul." I shrugged. "And he thought I would show him it if he had sex with me." Then I really stunned them all. "And I've decided that I'm going to stay with him for a bit and help him find it."

The noise in the room was deafening after that, but I finally got my protective males calmed down so I could continue.

"Because Cupid still has quite a temper, I want both Ares to stay here with me and help us."

I looked over at Iphy. "Iphy, you've been away from Corinth too long. Our country needs its King too badly to ask you to stay as well."

After he reluctantly nodded, I glanced at Cupid. "Cupid, what brought all this about? The kidnapping and all?"

He blushed, then mumbled, "Seinos left me. He told me I was a souless bastard, and that I needed help."

"Okay." That answered a lot of question I'd had. I looked at Ares GOL. "Love, we have a love affair that needs to be put right as well. That's why I need you, too."

I looked at my Ares. "Ares, it won't hurt Greece too bad if you're away for a few days, will it?"

He shook his head. "If it's only for a few days, no." He was still glaring at Cupid, though. Well, maybe this would call for some Tough Love before the end.

I smiled at all of them. "So it's settled. Let's have desert."

I kissed Iphicles goodbye, and Ares GOL took him through the remade tunnel and back to Corinth. In the meantime I kept a close eye on my Ares to make sure he didn't sneak off and kill Cupid behind my back.

What I didn't know until later was that he had managed to get Cupid away in private for a few minutes. Apparently he very painfully told him that if he ever laid his hands or anything else on me or Iphicles again, then Ares would cut them or anything else off. Cupid got the point, and I think also realized just how close he had come to dying that day.

After I got the three Gods to magically clean the chambers we'd be sleeping in, I suggested that we all take a bath. I put in some soothing herbs and soapweed for bubbles, then herded the three Gods into the bath.

"Cupid, will your feathers have a problem if they get wet?"

He blushed and shook his head. So I slapped him on his shapely backside and said, "Then in with you, War God. You need to get some tension relieved, I think."

I followed them in, ignoring the intent male stares at my body. There was time enough for that later.

"Cupid, here, turn around and put your back to me."

He narrowed his eyes in suspicion. "Why?"

I sighed. "Because I'm going to get the knots out of your back and wing muscles is why."

He finally did, and flinched a bit when I touched him. Gentleness seemed like an unknown quantity to this poor lad.

The strong ropy muscles around his wings were knotted up like old trees. I worked on them until my fingers were tired, then got Ares GOL to finish up the massage. By the time we were finished with him, Cupid had an erection to be proud of, and was as relaxed as a dishrag everywhere else. Ares GOL had an impressive hard-on as well. But then again, he always did.

"There, you poor thing. You must have been in pain from those wing muscles knotting up like that."

I sat back down, then said, "Now, Cupid, lean back here against me."

"Hellana..." Ares GOW growled, jealous eyes pinning me like a butterfly.

I shook my head over Cupid's shoulder, and he subsided, barely.

Cupid finally let himself lean against me, and gradually relaxed until our bodies were spooned.

"There, that's it. Just relax and enjoy the feeling of someone holding you for no reason other than that they want to."

I let him lie like that for a bit, then said quietly, "Who ended up raising you, love, if your mom didn't want you?"

He only stiffened a bit at the question, and I was able to soothe him back into relaxation. "Aphrodite. But she hated it, and me. Zeus made her do it." He growled rather half-heartedly. "I wanted to kill her so many times!"

"I can imagine. It must have been horrible for you as a little boy."

Ares GOW spoke up then, his voice surprisingly gentle. "Who trained you in the arts of War?"

"My father's chief warlord. Zeus didn't want to be bothered."

Ares GOW's eyes sharpened. "A mortal taught you the Art?"

"I said that, didn't I?" There wasn't much belligerence there, though, which was a change for Cupid.

Ares GOW nodded decisively. "Tomorrow morning, you'll start working with me. There's things you need to know that only a God can show you."

"But, why? Why would you want to help me, after what I did to your wife?" I could hear the confused quiver in his voice.

Ares GOW sat forward, his brown eyes intent. "Because you are a God of War, Cupid. You owe it to the mortals you rule to get it right, and not by trial and error. Zeus should have done it, but since he didn't, I'll do it. Because it needs to be done. And because, kid, I can see you've had a tough time of it."

I caught Ares' eyes and smiled, my love for him filling me up inside. I knew he would know what Cupid needed even better than me.

My legs were getting numb and my mouth and nose full of feathers after a while, so I finally asked Cupid to move. I smiled at my God of Love, and said, "Love, do you think you can help Cupid relax in other ways tonight?"

I could tell he was scared at the thought, but he nodded. "If Cupid wants me to, I'll be glad to, Hellie."

"Now Cupid," I admonished, "Don't do any rough stuff tonight. You're relaxed enough now to just let Love, here, do what he does best. Just sit back and enjoy it, and repeat something to yourself during it for me. Tell yourself "I deserve to feel this good." Can you do that for me?"

He nodded, blushing. And we went to bed.

___
 

I took off my tunic, wincing when it rubbed against my milk-logged breasts.

"Zeus' balls, my breasts are sore!"

Ares came up behind me, slipped his arms around me, and answered in my ear, "If you have to curse by a God's balls, Hellfire, then they'd better be mine!"

I turned and slipped my arms around his neck. "Oh, yah? Jealous of that old man, Ares? Shame." I sniffed, and took in his familiar musky scent. I really liked how Ares smelled when he didn't smell like War. "I just hope that Iphy remembered to get Hermie's wet nurse in for him."

He nuzzled my neck. "Well, if he didn't, then I expect that Hermacles will let him know it in no uncertain terms soon enough. Babies do that, you know." When I winced as my breasts touched his stomach, he added, "Do you want me to empty them for you?"

I smiled up at him. "Would you, please?" Of course, I expected him to just wave his hand and they would magically drain like he's done before when we were on the road. Instead he picked me up in his arms, laid me on the bed, and started sucking on my right nipple. A shiver went through me as it opened and the milk started flowing, and I sighed in relief as the pressure eased.

After a few minutes Ares lifted his head and grinned, drops of milk glistening white in his black beard. "This is the true ambrosia of the Gods." And went back to what he was doing.

When he was finished with the right breast, I expected that he would do the same with the left. Instead, with a mischievous glint in his dark eyes, he took the nipple, milked it a bit to get the flow started, then turned it upwards and squirted me with it!

Laughing and wiping milk off my chin and neck, I said, "Ares, stop it!" But my God of War wasn't through. He then took the nipple and squirted milk across the bed. His grin got even bigger, and I swear he looked like a big kid right then as he shot milk around like he had a squirt skin.

Once that breast was drained, I said, "Are you through playing, now, my child-God?" He nodded, waved to clean up the mess he'd made, and kissed me. He disproved what I had just called him by making long and leisurely love to me, and afterwards we just lay there in each other's arms.

Ares always liked to cuddle and talk after lovemaking, which was something I loved about him. Iphicles, on the other hand, would plop right over on his side and start snoring away as soon as he'd shot his wad. I know. It's not nice to compare him to a God. But it was difficult not to at times like this.

"You know, I'm glad that you didn't let me kill that punk Godling, Hellfire. Listening to him later made me realize that the kid has had a really hard time of it."

"Because his mother hated him?"

"Nah. My mother hated me, and I turned out okay. It's the thought of him trying to learn his War duties without another God to teach him. At least I had Hades and Zeus. He isn't much of a father, but he did make sure that I got what I needed to learn about my duties."

"I thought that you were Hera's favorite."

"Her favorite? My mother hates everyone but herself. Maybe in degrees she might hate me less than, say, Hercules."

"Thank you for taking Cupid under your wing, Ares. I was proud of you for doing that."

"Well, if you're going to show him his soul, then I figure that it was the least I could do to instruct him how to be a good God of War. This out of control I'm-a-crazy-maniac approach isn't the right one for what he has to do."

"Well, you should know, you've been War for forever and a few centuries."

"Yah. Two thousand years, give or take a few hundred. And now I wonder how I ever did it without you."

"The same way you do everything, War God. With sass and a whole lot of panache!"

He laughed and hugged me. "Yah, I guess so."

"Ares?"

"Hmmm?" He was nuzzling my neck, tickling me with his beard as he answered.

"Would you have killed Cupid if he had raped me?"

He stopped his playing and looked at me, suddenly intent and totally serious. "If he had touched a single hair on your beautiful head with the intent to hurt you, Hellana, I would have torn him limb from limb without even thinking about it. No one touches what is mine and lives."

I just looked at him, then smiled. "I do have to keep reminding you that I'm not your property, War God, don't I?"

He grabbed me and kissed me hard then. "You're mine! You always have been, and always will be!"

I kissed him back then, my evil and possessive God of War. He was right. I was his now and forever. Oh, and Iphicles' as well.

It wasn't long afterwards that we fell asleep after a very, very long day.
 
 

Horrible screaming brought me sluggishly out of sleep later. Seconds after that a naked Ares GOL appeared in our room, shock and horror on his face. Ares GOW jumped out of bed into a fighting stance, his sword in his hand at the same time.

"Hellana! It's Cupid! He's gone completely nuts! I think he's having a nightmare, or something! Help him, please!"

"Take me!"

We all appeared in Cupid's room and I rushed over to the bed. He was striking out with his arms and legs violently, screaming through a voice that had gone hoarse. There was such terror, such hatred and anger in those screams, that I had to stop them! I was just about to launch myself onto the bed when my Ares grabbed me and pulled me back to him.

"No, Hellana! He'll kill you if you touch him now! Orpheus has got him."

"Then you go, Ares! Wake him up, now, or he'll hurt himself."

"He's a God, he can't hurt himself!"

"Please! Or I'll do it!"

Ares sighed, made his sword disappear, then jumped on Cupid on the bed.

"And don't hurt him!"

Cupid shot up, Ares on top of him, still screaming. Cupid grabbed Ares around the neck and started choking him, bending wrists in such a way as to break an assailant's neck. He appeared to finally be awake, but was running on automatic pilot.

Using the Voice, I said, "Cupid! You are in no danger! Cease and desist! Friends!"

At the sound of the Voice, a bit of sanity came back into his blue eyes. He dropped Ares to the bed, and my God of War shook out his decidedly crooked-looking neck with a wrenching snap, and turned to me.

"Don't hurt him!?"

I was already crawling on the bed with them. I checked Ares' neck briefly, which was okay, then turned and took Cupid into my arms as though he was a small child. Which really, for a God, he was. I just rocked him, and crooned to him with little thought to what I was saying or doing. To tell you the truth, I was operating on instinct now.

"It's okay, love, We're here. Nothing can hurt you now." Over and over I repeated it.

Ares GOL joined us as well, and took us both into his arms. He added his soothing voice to mine, and we just surrounded that terrified young man with our strength and caring to the best of our abilities. Even my Ares stroked a wing or two during this.

Tears finally started pouring out of Cupid, and he was sobbing like he'd lost all hope. I held him closer then, and let him cry it out.

Once the tears dried to just sniffles, I said gently, "Tell me."

In a dead-sounding voice he said, "I dreamed I was on the other side, visiting my mother, I guess. Strife and Deimos had caught me and had taken me to the darkest part of Tartarus. Then they hung me upside down by a tree, and cut me with knives over and over. I was bleeding from everywhere, and healing, and they cut me after I healed. They stuck the knife up me and told me to enjoy the f__cking, because it was the only type I would ever get. They made me suck on them, and it was choking me! And no one, not my mother or father came to help. It hurt so bad!"

"How old were you when they did this to you?" I asked.

"The first time was when I was six years old. It lasted till I got too big for them to do it to anymore."

Ares GOW growled, "Did you get revenge for it?"

He peeked up at the older God of War. "I ...I forgot about it, until now."

My War God put his hand on the younger man's shoulder. "Your first lesson on War will be how to pay back bullies and torturers with their own medicine! You hear me, son?"

His eyes got bigger then. "Yes, Ares. I hear you." Then he pulled himself back into Ares GOL's and my arms in a little ball and just let us soothe him.

He fell asleep again soon after that. I shifted and let Ares GOL take the Godling's weight on him, since my limbs were falling asleep.

"We'll sleep here with him for the rest of the night. Ares, will you make the bed a bit bigger?"

My husband nodded, and did so. Soon all of us had fallen asleep again, cradled protectively around Cupid.
 
 

I woke up the next morning with the feeling of Hermacles sucking my breast. Then my eyes flew open, and I saw Cupid, still mostly asleep, contentedly nursing.

I glanced around, and caught an awake Ares GOL's eyes. "Ar, how did this happen?" I mouthed in order not to wake the Godling.

"He must have gone to it on instinct." He grinned. "I would have after the scare he had last night." He shrugged. "Of course, I would have anyway."

I looked down at the winged God, then winced when a tooth scraped me. "Cupid! Cupid, wake up, love."

Sleepy eyes opened, and he smiled. "I had the greatest dream."

I wiped the milk from his chin and said, "It wasn't a dream, kiddo."

It was actually funny to see him turn so red-faced when he realized what he had done.

"You're just lucky you didn't use your teeth, or I'd have turned you over and spanked you." I said playfully.

"Sorry, Hellie! I didn't mean..."

"Hey, it's okay, Cupid. The only problem now is that the other one's still full. Ares, drain it for me, please?"

"Can I do it the same way Cupid did?"

"No! It's too damned close to big white teeth for my taste."

He sighed, then waved his hand and the pressure eased.

I kissed Cupid's forehead, then turned and woke my Ares up by slapping him lightly on his shapely bare derriere. "Ares! Wake up."

"Wha..." He sat up and grabbed his neck. "Gods does my neck hurt!"

I had the other Gods fetch my medicine bag, and I gave my Ares a good long massage with a painkilling cream, concentrating on his sore neck. Then I started working on Cupid again, and finished on Ares GOL. The poor love God was as knotted up as wood from all the tension he had experienced the night before.

I looked around at my almost comatose companions afterwards and said, "I would just love a massage too, hint, hint."

Cupid, surprisingly enough, was the one who did mine. He was wonderful! He had strong fingers that seemed to go right to the sore spots. At the end he ran some of his feathers lightly over my back to stimulate the nerve endings, and I found myself as wet as waterweed and excited as hell by the time he was finished. Feeling his erection rubbing against me wasn't helping that, either.

When he was through, I turned over, glanced at my Ares significantly, who shrugged with a small smile. I reached up and pulled Cupid into my arms.

"Thank you, love. That felt heavenly." And I kissed him for all I was worth. I had a lot of experience in rousing Gods, and I put all of that into the kiss. I also put all of the gentleness I had in me into it as well. For that was what Cupid needed to learn. He needed to learn that gentleness was its own strength, and there were times when it was the best thing to love with.

I could feel his fear side-by-side with his excitement, and his beautiful body was shaking when we finally parted.

"Do you want to make love to me, Cupid?"

He glanced warily at my Ares for a second, then nodded at me.

I caught his eyes. "Cupid, I'm the one who decides who loves me. Not Ares. Though he likes to think that he has that control." And I flashed a quick grin at my husband. "I want you, but I want you to be gentle. I'm no God, and I could break, and then Ares would really get annoyed at you. Can you do that?"

He started shaking even more, but he nodded. I could see it in his eyes as he experienced a fear of hurting someone, perhaps for the first time in his life.

I kissed him again. My tongue opened him up, and danced with his for a while. Finally I pulled away and started down his body. Like all of the Gods, he had a splendid body. I wasn't used to blondes, as I usually like dark-haired men. But I had loads of fun playing with his golden plume of hair at the root of his cock. He was shaking like he was having a seizure by the time I was through playing, and I could tell that he was fighting the impulse to just grab and f__k with everything that was in him.

My Ares, deciding that I was teasing him too much, said impatiently, "Hellfire, quit teasing the boy!"

I glanced at him playfully, then looked at Cupid's face and shrugged. "Okay, Ares."

Then I took Cupid's erection into my mouth and lightly nibbled on the foreskin before moving up and down the shaft with my lips. He groaned, his hips thrust forward insistently, and I tightened up the pressure of my lips a tiny bit. Then I took him completely into my mouth, which wasn't easy, considering his size. Cupid made a noise like he was in pain, then he thrust strongly and came hard and fast. I swallowed his juices, they tasted sweet as nectar, then let him remove himself from my mouth.

He fell back on the bed panting, and I glanced up and saw two identical and extremely aroused faces staring at me.

I put my arm arms out to them both and said, "Oh, all right, you two, come and give me some sugar!"

To say they jumped on me would be putting it mildly. My Ares growled half-heartedly at the God of Love when that Ares went down on me, but fortunately the War God was too interested in getting his own considerable needs met to be really jealous.

I will tell you, that was the most incredible f__k of my life! Both those ancient Gods were so skilled at lovemaking that I think I came about twenty times or more by the time I was done.

I was lying there half-comatose afterwards. Cupid moved up and started kissing me again. He must have taken a few moments to catch his breath, then had watched the three of us make love. Now he was ready again, and I wasn't sure I was physically up to it. But instead of turning him away, I just went with the flow of it, responding and concentrating on his pleasure primarily. I was rewarded when, for a moment as he was climaxing, he actually lost consciousness because of the power of it. When he opened his blue eyes and looked at me, his sweet haunted face was at peace for the first time in his life.

Ares GOW and Cupid left not long after that to settle some old scores. I, on the other hand, fell fast asleep in Ares GOL's arms and slept like the dead after all the exercise. When I woke up, I nuzzled AresGOL and started kissing him, and we made love again.

"This has been an unbelievable time for me, you know that?"

I smiled. "It has been nice. You're a stupendous lover, Ares. But of course you already know that, don't you?" I kissed the dark hair that lined his chest.

"Making love to someone you love deeply adds something to the act that can't be faked, and that's what you felt from me." He turned to look at me. "What you've done for Cupid is amazing, Hellie. He's like another God altogether."

"Was he real violent with you last night?"

"Not too bad, surprisingly. I've felt sorry for him in the past and made love to him because he was so damn horny and everyone was scared to death of him. And I'll tell you, he almost killed me, and I'm the God of Love! But that boy didn't know what the word meant. It was only extremely brutal sex is all. I honestly didn't think he was capable of anything else. But he kept holding the urge to hurt back last night, as much as he could, of course. It was actually quite pleasant."

"But not as pleasant as later, eh?"

"Of course not, you vixen!" And he kissed me again.

___

We passed that night with the opposite partners. AresGOL stayed with me, and my Ares stayed with Cupid. Ares said that he wanted to show Cupid how two Gods of War should have sex. I just think he wanted to get really rough, and knew he could do it and take it as well from Cupid.

The two of them had come back at the end of the day with hard-ons the size of flagpoles and blood, gore, and assorted nasties smeared all over them. I made them clean up, fed them, then wished them well and retired with my gentle God of Love.

The next morning early I got up to pee and peeked into Cupid's chamber to see how they were doing. Cupid was curled up with Ares' arms around him protectively. The two of them looked bruised and scuffed up, but satiated as well. It looked as though it had gone well, and there had been no nightmares at all.
 
 

At breakfast later, I asked gently, "Cupie, what was your mother doing when those two godlings tortured you, that she didn't hear your cries?"

His jaw tightened, and he said angrily, "She did hear me. She deliberately ignored me. I could feel her there with me, when I cried for her. But then she just went away again without doing anything."

"Have you ever confronted her about not protecting you?"

He looked at me, his blue eyes hard. "I haven't talked with my mother since I was thirteen, Hellie. I was too afraid I would kill her if I did."

"What about Zeus?"

"Same thing. Only I was a little older when I stopped talking to him. I hate him too much for so many things that I was afraid I would kill him if I was in the same room as him."

"Cupid, do you trust me?"

The blue eyes never left mine. "For the first time in my life I can actually say yes to that question."

"Then will you go with me to confront your parents, one at a time?"

He blanched. "I'm afraid of what I might do to them!"

"The two Ares will be there too, love. They'll keep you from doing anything rash."

"Will this help me find my soul?"

I nodded. "It's absolutely necessary before you can find it, love."

"Then I'd follow you into Tartarus blindfolded if you asked me to, Hellie."

I smiled and said, "Did I ever mention how much I like you, War God?"

He grinned back, and my heart pinged loudly then. This was the first actual grin that I'd seen yet from Cupid. It was a measure of how far he'd progressed, that grin was. And it made him look like the lovely God he really was.
 
 

We appeared in front of Chaeron at the Styx, startling the boatkeeper almost into a heart attack.

After he argued half-heartedly about letting an alive half-mortal like me through, he took us to Demeter's castle.

She looked just like her counterpart in the other universe, only a darker, colder version.

"Why have you brought outsiders and a half-mortal into my domain, Cupid?" She glared at the young God without looking at him, which was quite a feat.

"Actually it's us who have brought him." I stepped forward.

"How dare you address me, you mongrel. I was speaking to my son!" She loomed over me to show how bad she was. I absolutely hate being loomed over!

"You have no right to call him your son, Demeter. You bore him and gave him birth, but that is all you did."

"I was raped by his father! I did not bear him by choice."

I said something then, and was only told by Ares later just how deadly I sounded. "And you refused in your selfish pain to do what every child has a right to expect from its mother. You refused to protect him from being tortured and hurt. Well, Goddess, I have come to tell you that you have neither the right nor the privilege to call him your son any longer. I claim Cupid as my son by choice and by adoption. He will no longer bow to your insensitivity as his mother."

She stepped forward, a fireball starting to form in her hand. "How dare you! You cannot take my son from me!"

Ares GOW moved forward almost faster than we could see, and he grabbed Demeter from behind, quenching the fireball as he did it. He growled into her ear, "That's my wife you're aiming that fireball at, woman. Be still now. At this moment you are very, very close to losing your pathetic life."

I turned to Cupid then. "Cupid, it's your right to choose who to call mother. I want you to be my son. Will it be Demeter, or will it be me?"

He looked at his birth mother, then looked back at me. "You've taught me what it means to be strong, Hellana, and have helped me become whole again. You have been more of a mother to me in the two days you've been here than this woman has for my entire life. There is no choice." He moved forward, bent down and kissed me on the cheek. "Mother."

I smiled at him, and reached up a stroked his cheek. "Son."

Then we turned and left the underworld as quickly as we had entered.
 
 

"Where to next?" AresGOW asked.

"Where else? Now we go see Zeus."

"Hellana, Zeus is a lot stronger than Demeter. He could hurt and kill you easily, and I couldn't stop him."

I smiled at my husband. "Why, I have two Gods of War and a God of Love with me, Ares. No one could touch me, not even Zeus!"

He laughed and hugged me. "You sure have style, Hellfire. Lead, and we poor males will just have to follow." Quieter, he asked me so that Cupie couldn't hear, "Am I to assume that I'll soon be acquiring another son name Cupid who has wings?"

I smiled and kissed his chin. "As always, love, you read my mind. Do you really mind so much?"

He glanced at Cupid thoughtfully. "No. He came out pretty good despite the odds against him. He's a survivor, like me. I'd be proud to have him as a son, if he chooses me." He grinned then. "Not to mention that he's absolutely hot in the sack!"
 
 

Soon we were face to face with Zeus. But this time my Ares spoke. He walked up to Zeus.

"Hello Zeus."

"You're from the other universe. Why have you come to this side?"

"I came, unfortunately, to do your job. Your son Cupid told me he's never had a God to teach him his duties. I've decided to do that."

Zeus took immediate umbrage. He jumped up off of his throne and came down to us. "You dare criticize me on how I raise my children?"

Ares wasn't allowed to finish.

It was Cupid who stepped forward to answer the King of the Gods. "He does dare, Zeus! Because you didn't do the job a King of the Gods and a father should do is why. You've never liked me much, you never protected me from bullies and torturers when I was a kid, and you never taught me what I needed to know to be a good God of War. You don't care about me, it's just your precious pride you care about, as usual." He looked at AresGOW.

Ares looked right back at him. "Cupid, I'd also like to be able to call you son. Your lookalike is my son in the other universe. I wouldn't mind having two bookends with wings, if you'll take me as your father." He shrugged then. "After all, what's one more child when I've already had over a thousand?"

"I would be proud to call you Father." And he bowed. Then he turned to the King of the Gods. "Goodbye, Zeus." And we left to return to the Halls of War.
 
 

We were all sitting around the table in the Halls of War just looking at each other with silly smiles on our faces.

I let out a breath. "Well, now that that is settled, we only have one more thing to take care of." I turned to the God of Love. "Ares, do you think you can talk Seinos into coming and talking with Cupid?"

He thought about it, then said, "I think so. Let me be about my business, then." And he disappeared.

Ares stood up. "I have a few things in my world I need to check. We left the tunnel open, so I think I'll just head out and do my duty."

He smiled at me, and stroked my face, said a quick "bye, Cupid," then disappeared.

So I was left alone with my new son. "So, Cupid, what have you learned about yourself?"

He looked at me with that serious expression that hung so well on his handsome face. "Well, I've learned that there are times when violence isn't the way to do things, like when we confronted Demeter and Zeus. It was much more satisfying to reject them than to kill them." He took a breath, looking off in the distance. "I learned that there is a lot to learn about War, and that I don't know everything. I learned what it's like to feel grateful, to... uh, to love, and to trust. And I learned that my new Father is the most imaginative lover I've ever had." Then he grinned.

I smiled back. "That he is. He's certainly had enough experience at it. Here's what I've seen in you, Cupid. You're unbelievably strong and brave. Despite all the odds, you've managed to make a pretty neat life for yourself. You're fierce, yet you can be gentle, which was a nice surprise. I'm proud to have you for my son."

He blushed then. It was obvious that he was not accustomed to getting praise. Then he reached out to me shyly. "I would like to make love to you, Mother."

"Then let's do it, Son!"

He started kissing me as soon as we got to the bedroom. I smiled at his impatience, and started undressing him slowly. Once I was finished, I looked him over.

"My you are gorgeous, do you know that? Do you want to undress me, Cupid? And not the Godly way. The old fashioned way."

"Y... Yes." And he did. Slowly and sexily he undressed me, lightly touching me in different parts as he did it. Then he bent and sucked on both nipples, one at a time. Only a little milk came out since they had recently been drained by Ares. But he swallowed every drop as though it was ambrosia. Then he moved down to my navel, and kissed it lightly. I gasped as his tongue went in it, then he moved down to my privates. He pulled the hair there a bit, then spread my legs wide so he could get closer. His tongue touched my sensitive spots and moved around them, then he pushed his finger in me at the same time. The tingling grew to a roar inside, and my whole nervous system exploded into blessed fire. I screamed, and pushed his face closer to me. But he didn't want to stay there. He moved up abruptly, separated my legs even more, and thrust inside me. I groaned, but I wrapped my legs tightly around him in response. The feeling of his massive cock inside me started me going again, and I peaked again. Then I moved my hips to match his rhythm, and when he came, he shouted, his voice straining to let the excess of feeling out.

We just lay there for a few minutes, catching our breath. He held me to him tightly, and I held him as well. I could sense how much it meant to him for me to cuddle him, and I did it for a long time. We only got up when I heard Ares GOL call out to us from the main temple area.
 
 

He had Seinos with him, and I could tell from the Shining One's face that Ares had made him come against his will.

"Hello Seinos."

He stared in surprise at me. "What are you doing in this universe?"

Right then, with all his instinct for perfect timing, my Ares appeared as well.

Seinos looked at him and asked, "What are both of you doing in this universe?"

Ares GOW came over to the Sun God and looked him up and down. "We came to give a hand to Cupid."

"A hand?"

Cupid looked at his love, his soul in his eyes. "You told me I was a souless bastard. So I brought Hellana back here to help me find my soul."

AresGOL stepped forward. "Seinos, I can feel your love for Cupid. It's so strong that it's practically radiating out of you."

Seinos snarled then. "Yes, I love this bastard! But all he did was play dominance games and hurt me on purpose, Ares! He doesn't know the meaning of love."

AresGOW stepped in then, his hand on his Godsword. "If you loved him, Seinos, why didn't you see the hurt in him? It goes down deep, but it could be healed if someone just cared enough to find it and help Cupid work it through." I could see the anger in my husband's face at this cavalier treatment of his new son.

"But, I thought that it was because he really didn't love me at all." The young God said back, now totally confused.

I put my hand on my Ares' arm. "Ares, love, Seinos is a young God. What you and Love saw in Cupid, he didn't."

"But you saw it, Hellfire! And you're not a God at all."

I smiled up at his fierce face. "Yes, but as you've told me many times, it's a special talent of mine." I turned to Seinos. "Seinos, we have helped Cupid find the pain, and helped him deal with the source of it. Please, before you give up on him, just sit and talk with him for a while first, okay?"

The Shining One looked at me, then looked at the two Ares. Then he looked at Cupid. "Do you promise not to hurt me if I do?"

"Yes. I've learned to love without always hurting, Seinos. Please talk with me?"

"Okay. To tell you the truth, I've missed you, you winged monster, you!"
 
 

I turned to my Ares with a smile after we watched the two Gods walk away. "Well, Ares, I miss Iphicles and Hermie, and I think it's time we went home, don't you?"

"Sure."

I turned then to AresGOL. "Ares, until we see you again, take care of yourself."

He smiled a sad smile, his heart in his eyes. "You two, both of you." Then he disappeared.

"Hellfire?"

I looked back at my husband. "Yes?"

"There's no chance you're carrying either of their children, is there?"

"No. I'm still taking my tea in the morning. You know I didn't want another child so soon after Hermie, Ares. Why?"

He grabbed me in his arms then and growled quietly, "Because I want to be the father of your next child. You're mine, and I want you to have my baby!"

"Then your baby I'll have, Ares. When the time's right. Not now, and I don't care how persuasive you are! Now come on, War God. Let's go home!

The End