Upon leading the Trojans to the Achaian ships, Zeus became neglectful to the bloody battle because he left his favored Trojans to fight unceasingl, Zeus was too much thrilled by the battle

Because of the neglect of Zeus, Poseidon Earthshaker took the great advantage to help the helpless Achaians. Poseidon encouraged the Achaians to push back the triumphing Trojans.

Zeus is easily manipulated by the presence of women. Evidently, he has many wives other than Hera, his queen. When Zeus caught sight of Hera, Zeus was effortlessly enticed by her. His heart is easily seduced by his wife. Then, together they went to bed, and Sleep did what is to be done.

He is easily entreated. Zeus was persuaded by Thetis Silverfoot to help his son Achilles, strongest hero of the Greek army in the Trojan War. 

Here we are back to the same old questions, to tax or not to tax or more precisely, who pays and who doesn’t. The wealthy class uses to same old argument “we paid at the office” meaning we pay our workers enough money to cover both our taxes and workers. We shouldn’t be double taxed.

Workers on the other hand (I prefer to label them customers) only organized for better wages to buy the goods they wealthy pay them to make. Customers are called upon to pay for the upkeep of the nation’s infrastructure and purchased a goods sold by their bosses who would rather sit in their luxury boxes watching like Zeus and his buddies. Unfortunately the limitations of both sides are catching up.

The wealthy class won’t hire customers list all taxes on them are permanently repealed and there made exempt from ever paying them. The problem with this thinking is no hire’s means no products, no customers, and no profit. This means the wealthy classes are proffered killers.

Sure the wealthy can outsource to China to a certain point but the customers there are not demanding better wages, and as a result some companies are now beginning to move their businesses to India, and word is Africa is next.

One solution being proposed is to dismantle the labor/social net infrastructure of the 20th century to create third will economic conditions that benefit the wealthy class to return jobs to America.

Another solution is to buy time by redistributing resources (the wealthy class only have so much) but these resources will run out eventually, unless the customer class seriously start to innovate solutions with an eye on mass production.

My idea is to merge Harvard business school with MIT and pair of geek with a business student as roommates and classes to create the next Thomas Edison or Howard Hughes or Tony Stark.m

In this modern age of technology, where humanity now has the ability to date things via their chemical composition and climate comparisons over millions of years, there is no doubt whatever that archaeological and paleological finds can be scientifically proved to be of the stated age, meaning, inevitably, that changes have occurred in the physical forms of many species OVER TIME, exactly what happens in the evolutionary process.

Ah but, I hear those detractors cry, that word has surfaced again, you know, the one that cannot help but expose the truth of history – science. What is there to fear in knowing the truth of how things came to be, through cosmic chemicals gathering together and interacting until that which would become life came into being, single cell organisms that would, over billions of years, multiply, diversify ans evolve into the untold multitudes of life as we know it on earth, with possibly much more variety in shapes unfamiliar to us around the vastness of the universe.

For me, the argument is very simple, in that evolutionary theory is not riddled with confusion, or steeped in gether  supposed mystery. Chemical compounds come together and reactions take place in an endless chain that can branch out in myriad directions, depending upon various factors. Everything on earth is made up of elemental particles, however they might be arranged, and eventually all of this get recycled again and again in the endlessly repeating pattern that is existence in nature.

Religion, on the other hand, seeks to assert that the whole of creation is the work of a megalomaniac scientist of unimaginable scope, so powerful that it can create and destroy worlds at will, and anything but benign. The followers of differing branches of religion, all of which are supposedly rooted in the idea of ONE GOD, have for centuries slaughtered each other in the name of religious faith, yet never actually gained the upper hand.

This god figure was created by humanity tens of thousands of years ago in an attempt to explain away the vagaries of nature, but as time went by, people began to truly imagine that some more potent being than man himself was the one pulling the strings of the natural world.  Humanity was ALWAYS seeking to improve itself, to explore further into the unknown, using this faith as an excuse for and explanation of their own dreadful behaviour in the world.

We now live in an age where more is discovered about our real ancestry all the time, and the clearer it becomes that Darwin was right on target with his ideas, the more entrenched become the fundamentalist ideas of the religious, fearful that everything they have held so dear for millennia truly is no more than a house of cards. It seems to me, as terrible as it might be for the faithful to accept, that no god-head which condones man treating other men with such cruel indifference can be called benevolent.

If god is love, the mankind is often the polar opposite, and I believe that far-sighted ancient scribes decided that the only way to rein in the inhumanities committed by mankind was to invent a kind of spiritual leader. With names as varied as Gaia, Zeus, Ra, Buddha etc, these figures have continued to serve as examples to be emulated over millennia, but humanity always comes up short.

It is we that are the figures we pretend to worship, unreal ambitions of perfection of mind and spirit being the normal way of life, and violence being a word alien to our lives. We are our own devils, and our own gods, and our lives are shaped by the paths we tread.  There is nothing wrong with wanting to be better than you already are, but creating a god to excuse your own inadequacies is not, and never was the answer.

Family/Lovers/Children

In the former Greek Mythology the God Ares was known for being the God of War, he was the son of Zeus and Hera.  Ares had an unstable relationship with his lover Aphrodite who he soon enough had an affair with.  Ares intentions with Aphrodite were only to give the best to her, but she was married to Hephaistos.  Ares admired Aphrodite to no extent and he even went off killing Adonis, which was another lover of Aphrodite.  As far as children go with Ares and Aphrodite, they only had five together, but not five in total including any other Gods or Goddesses.  Their children were recognized as, Deimos God of Fear, Anteros God of Love Reciprocated, Eros God of Love, Harmonia God of harmony, and lastly Phobos God of Panic.  

Birth/Creation/Death

Ares birth wasn’t an exciting feeling for his father Zeus because he didn’t have a part in Ares conception or birth.  Hera who was the mother of Ares created him through a magical herb which managed to get herself pregnant, of course with the help of Zeus.  The reason why Hera did this was to get back at Zeus for having a child on his own Dionysus.  Zeus didn’t literally have the baby on his own, but his wife Semele was dying as she was giving birth so Zeus took the baby out who was Dionysus and kept it under his thigh until the baby was ready to come into the world.  Moral of the story is that Zeus never had the passion to care for Ares because he felt like he contributed nothing towards Ares birth, so he let Hera worry about what would happen to Ares.  Of course Ares never had a date set for death, since he was an immortal God.  He will exist eternally without a possibility of dying.

Good/Evil + How so?

The Greek God Ares was not evil, however he wasn’t necessarily considered good either. As far as his intentions go he only fought for causes and partially personal gain, but that was a rare situation.  Ares would only be considered evil because the other Gods would not trust him because they were blind towards his intentions.  To be evil there has to be an underlying cause, but Ares had a chance to be looked at an evil perspective only because he was being portrayed as it due to not being trusted.  Ares knew the distinction between right and wrong and stood by right, but what some people found right was the opposite of what he found right, so conflicts evolved from that and gradually with misconceptions the Gods start pointing fingers.  Calling Ares evil or good would only be valid depending on who’s perspective you were looking at it from, the other Gods or from a humans view during a war.  Ares would pick the side that was right, but of course all the Gods have their own interpretations on right and wrong so to them he could not be trusted since to them, they thought he misinterpreted what actually was good.  Conclusively Ares wasn’t evil, he was just being looked at in an evil perspective from the Gods due to them not trusting him and his intentions.  The Gods also hated him because he killed humans.

Friends + Enemies + Why?

Ares had enemies amongst the other Gods like Zeus, Helios, Hephaestus, Aphrodites Olympian consort, Otus and Ephialtes the chthonic giants.  However Ares wasn’t completely without companions he had Deimos and Phobos his children born by Aphrodite.  Sister Eris the Goddess of discord or Enyo the Goddess of war, bloodshed and violence; the minor war God Enyalius his son by Enyo, Nike the deathless spirit of victory; Kydoims, the demon of the din of battle; Makhai, Hysminai, Polemus and his daughter Alala the Goddess of the Greek war-cry; Ares sister Hebe who drew his baths for him.  These are the main people who despised him, and the main people who actually loved him.

Purpose

Ares was the Greek God of War. His purpose was to preside over male passion, to provide the weapons and preparation for a war, defense and protection of the cities, to be rebellious and to give civil orders, and lastly have personal courage.  Ares had a simple motive and he would always do his job properly and efficiently.  Just because he did it efficiently and properly doesn’t mean every war he sided on won, it just means he was knowledgeable and knew great tactics.  The purpose of Ares was to provide all that, but he never had a set purpose to always help the good side or bad side, he chose by his own will and then he would help whom ever he liked more.

Connections/Significance to Greek culture/society

Ares had a great significance and important reflection to the Greek culture in terms of an interesting deity in the Greek pantheon.  His courage and will is very inspiring and admired by the Greek warriors.  To fight with courage and honor is the way Greeks feel everything should be done by, and Ares is exactly like that which is why he plays a significant role to them.

Places Associated With?

Ares is associated and came from the Greek Mythologies.  He is the God of War and he originated from other Greek Gods, so he has been associated with Greeks.

Stories/Legends

The legend has it that Ares intentions were to always be the most powerful God among the rest of the Gods.  Ares sustains his power by creating wars and then supporting one side helping them win, this way slowly but surely he gains more power.  Ares went from having affairs, being kidnapped, to having battles and wars.  Ares wasn’t born naturally the best fighter, at first he lost many battles, those losses gave him more experience and gave him more situational awareness.  He became very tactical and used all his powers to his advantage and it was successful.  The motivation for Ares came from all the hate people and Zeus had on him.  Everyone looked at Ares as some kind of vengeful God who is just trying to be vicious, but Ares was actually instinctual, primitive, and passionate.  His motive was not to be recognized as a hero, but because of all the hate he receives.  Ares went through a time when he was kidnapped and held imprisoned behind bronze bars by two chthonic giants named Otus and Ephialtes.  Luckily Hermes eventually rescued him and the tactics of Ares pursuing combat began.

Objects/Items/Rituals Associated

Ares was rarely included with the Greek rituals.  The rituals were mostly directed towards Enyalios, where youths sacrificed young puppies before engaging battle at the Phoebaeum. 

He spoke, the son of Kronos, and nodded his head with the dark brows,

And the immortality anointed hair of the great god

Swept from his divine head, and all Olympos was shaken.

I got this verse from Wikipedia.

Image via Wikipedia

When Phidias completed his work of art, there was seated before them, the god of thunder, Zeus. He sat over 40 feet and occupied most of the temple that was built to house it. It was made out of ivory and gold plated bronze. This would become to be known as one of the greatest wonders of the ancient world.

The reason for its creation goes back to the Olympic Games. The Olympic Games were held in honor of the King of gods, Zeus, every four years. The site of the games was at a shrine to Zeus in a region on the Western coast of Greece, Peloponnesus. The site consisted of the stadium and a sacred grove that contained many temples, including the one to Zeus. Over the years, as the games become more important, they felt that the temple needed to be rebuilt to truly honor the King of their gods. After the Temple of Zeus was completed, they decided that the temple alone was not enough, despite its remarkable design. This is when Phidias was contracted to sculpt the statue of Zeus, which would take him about twelve years to finish.

The statue, unfortunately, is lost to us now. The only way we know of its existence and descriptions is because of those writings that have been found. Once again showing why it is so important to keep your writings alive.  The date and means of which the statue was destroyed has always been in much debate, as well as the date the statue was actually created. After finding remains of Phibias’s workshop in the 1950’s, we were able to finally determine the dates at which this statue was erected by dating the tools and other items that were found. As for the deconstruction of this magnificent piece of work, some say it was destroyed in a fire. Some say that a Roman Emperor had ordered all such statues be brought to Rome, so that their heads could be removed and his could replace them. There have been writings found that also suggest it was carried away to Constantinople. Unfortunately, we do not know how it happened exactly, just that it is lost to us, along with the stadium and much of the temple that housed this magnificent work.

            Zeus replied “No Poseidon. The horse is my most prized creation. I cannot allow you to have one, especially if it was to be kept in your underwater kingdom.”

            Angry at this, Poseidon decided to challenge his brother to a competition.

            He said “I bet I could make a creature that surpasses your horse in beauty and power, and if I win, I will be able to keep this creation for all eternity.”

            Zeus did not want to look weak and not except Poseidon’s terms, so he agreed.

            Poseidon went back to the sea, thinking about ways to create such an animal, but he couldn’t think of anything that could beat Zeus’s horse. Suddenly, it hit him. If he couldn’t beat the horse on land, then he would have to beat it underwater. He started to create his new creature. He called it the Sea Horse.

            Poseidon went back to Zeus to challenge him. Zeus said “I have decided the fairest way to test our creations skills is to have a race. My horse against your seahorse.”

            “Agreed. Since you picked the type of competition, I get to pick the location. I choose the sea. I will allow your horse to breath under my waters, but no more than that.”

            Zeus reluctantly agreed to his terms and in the end lost the race because Poseidon’s seahorse was built for the sea, and not for the land. His horse could barely move under the water, while the seahorse sped across the finish line. And so, Poseidon got his horse, more or less.

The Romans referred to him as Hercules , Heracles is the greatest of all Greek Heroes . Many tales were told about him , mostly about his super human abilities . His ‘ 12 labours’ were his own repentence for having murdered his own family . They included stealing the girdle of the Amazon Queen Hippolyte and subduing Cerberus , the at the gates to the Underworld .He is also often depicted with the skin of a lion . He slew the Nemean lion as his first labour and wore its skin as his token .

                                                                  Prometheus 

The creation of mankind is credited to Prometheus . He created clay models of gods which charmed Athena so much , that she breathed life into them . He also wanted to grant them all knowledge but Zeus forbade it . Prometheus opposed Zeus ; he stole a spark of fire from the smithy of Hephaestus and brought it to humanity . Zeus was so enrages that he pegged Prometheus to a rock on Mount Caucasus where a vulture would come to peck his liver everyday .

                                                                     Europa 

Zeus took liking to this Phoenician princess , he went to the place where she and her hand maidens were picking flowers disguised as a bull . The bull seemed so tame that Europa garlended it with flowers . She also had the courage to sit on its back . At this Zeus plunged into the water and went to the island called Crete . She later married the king of Crete and also bore him a son who became King Minos .

                                                                       Phaenthon

Over ambition is the title of the story of Phaenthon . He was the son of Helios , who was the divine charioteer whose horses drew across the Sun and heavens each day . Phaenthon begged his father to let him drive the chariot . Helios relented , but Phaenthon could not control the horses and the chariot was out of his control .it came so close to the Earth that it dried up the rivers and scorched the land . To prevent disaster Zeus struck Phaenthon dead with a thunderbolt .

                                                                         Sisyphus

This cruel and evil king if Thessaly won the kingdom by cheating his brother . Once Sisyphus tried to dupe Zeus himself and was sentenced to death by the gods , – but the wily Sisyfus managed to fool Hades into letting him out of the underworld . Eventually Hermes the GOd of Trickery , dragged him to the Underworld where he was forced to toil at rolling a boulder up a hill forever .

• How did the kiss?

I wonder where did the kiss, a familiar and beloved by all forms of communication? After all, we kiss a hundred times a day, without even noticing it (shaking hands with friends and family, thanks to someone for their assistance, leaving and saying goodbye) And here is where it all began, few people remember! Finally, the mystery will be solved! More …

• When was your first kiss?

When was your first kiss? In the Garden of Eden between Adam and Eve? Or in the smoky cave of mammoth hunters? It is believed that the development of a kiss was laid about 3000 BC. er. when people worship the gods sent them kisses. More …

• Origin of a kiss

Kiss in its origin is not atavistichen not innate in the child, because he learns he is only with time, it – repeating the sucking act, as Darwin thought. More …

World Day of Kisses

On this day, everyone can “share their souls,” the full right to: July 6, the World Day of kisses (World Kiss Day or World Kissing Day), which was first invented in the UK.

           It was my once in a lifetime day off. Hera had ordered me to take a day off because the day before I got nearly flattened by Dionysus. You see, what happened is that I was chatting with Artemis about Greek history. I had opened up a closet to get a vacuum, and I’m guessing Dionysus was passed out standing up against the door. This wasn’t the first time it happened, but usually I was paying attention and could step out of the way. This time, however, I had looked away to look at Artemis. When I turned back, I saw Dionysus falling forward. I only screeched before he landed on me.

         Dionysus had woken up when he began to fall and sorta caught himself. But most of his weight was on me. “Ow!” I yelped. Dionysus was not a lightweight. He got up and started muttering apologies. I attempted to get up, but the wind was knocked out of me. At that moment Zeus walked around the corner and said, “Hey, Sky what did you scream fo-” He looked at Dion, who was crouched at my feet and at me, who looked like I just got punched in the stomach. “Dion…” Zeus said very seriously, “Would you mind telling me what you did to poor Sky?”

         Dionysus looked embarrassed as he replied, “Uh… I’m not really sure. One minute I was having a lovely dream involving lots of babes and alcohol, the next I’m on top of poor Sky. Oh crap, that sounds really bad…” He got up, and offered me a hand up. I accepted it and got up kinda woozily. “Did he… harm you at all, Sky?” Said Zeus, grabbing me and pushing me behind him so I was away from Dionysus. “No, Zeus, I’m fine.” I said, glaring. I do not like being treating like I’m breakable. I left in a huff, hearing Zeus lecture Dionysus on manners around woman.

         ”Do you need a day off?” I looked up to see a mildly worried face. It was Hera, but she usually didn’t care about that type of stuff. “No, not really.” Hera shook her head and replied, “Well, I’m giving it to you. You work too much and you always do an excellent job.” She handed me the week’s paycheck. “Take the rest of the week off. You need it.” That’s true. I have been running on caffeine for the past two weeks. I’ve been working on a project that I was intending on giving to Hades as a gift. Unfortunately, I’ve staying up too late and lost sleep.

           “Honey, your early!” I had startled my mother in the middle of a phone call. “I got the rest of the week off. Heather thinks I need it.” “You do. I hear you up until 11 pm, and awake at almost 6.” “Great, I’m going to take a nap.” I hurried to my room and fell asleep.

           I decided to go for a jog the next morning. That was a bad idea. I had been running for about ten minutes and stopped for a breath. Then someone ran up and stopped next to me. “Hey there.” I said, trying to be friendly. “Hi, how long have you been running?” She said. I looked at her. She was about a foot taller than me with red long hair. “About ten minutes or so. You?” “About an hour. I’m Echo.” “I’m Sky.” She stood up to her full height (Dang she’s tall) and smiled. “Sky? I’ve heard of you. You wouldn’t happen to be the Sky who is employed with a Zachary Speice would you?” It took me a second to remember that the Greeks last name. “Uh, yeah.”

            Echo smiled even bigger and said “I have heard of you. I would figure you’d be working.” “I got the day off.” I said, shrugging. “I better get going.” I said, straightening myself up and beginning to start jogging. I was stopped by Echo’s hand digging into my shoulder. “Youch!” I said, turning around and glaring at the odd girl. “There’s a reason not many people know the Greek’s secret nowadays. None of them are alive.” I looked scared and attempted to remove Echo’s strong grip. On an odd instinct I kicked on of her legs. All I heard was a metal clang. “Hey, what’s on your leg? Metal?” I said. “It actually is metal. Ever here of an empusa?” Echo said. I gulped. “This means your other leg…” I reached out and kicked the other leg. “Youch!!” Echo let go and grabbed her leg, which was a donkey’s leg.

           That was my exit to run for my life. I took off like I was running for a marathon. “Wait- the key!” I grabbed it and pressed the yellow button. In a couple seconds I heard a familiar voice. “Nice morning for a jog.” “It isn’t when you have an empusa wanting to eat you!” I said, trying not to freak. Hades looked mildly shocked when I said empusa. “Are you sure?” “Um, no, there’s another reason there’s a girl with a metallic and donkey leg chasing me!!!” I said, trying not to be sarcastic, but failing.

            I turned to look at Hades to see him pulling out his cellphone. “What are you doing?” I asked. Hades ignored me and dialed a number. “Hey, Pan? Are you still in town? You are? Start playing the Empusa’s Melody…. Why? I would tell you, but not enough time, just do it.”

           “I’m coming for you, mortal! No one kicks me and doesn’t expect no reaction!” I turned for a glance and saw Echo. Her hair had turned into flames. Just like a real one. Greeaat…

            Then I heard the flute. It was kinda a catchy beat. I almost stopped to listen, but then I remembered the hungry empusa out to kill me. So I continued to run, but I still listen for the flute. I glanced at Hades and found I had left him behind. He was leaning over the seemingly passed out Echo. I stopped and glared at him. “How long has she been like that?!?” “Three minutes.” “Why didn’t you stop me?” I said, glaring. “Because you look cute when you run.”

            I just shook my head at Hade’s off the wall comment. “What did you do to her?” “More like what I did to her.” I whipped around to see Peter. “Peter? Wait- your Pan aren’t you?” He smirked and lifted up a small thing of pipes.                              

           ”Are those…” “Yup. When an empusa hears the melody, they just pass out.” Pan placed them in a small bag. “So… how many empusas are in the city?” I asked, mildly curious. “Lets just say about sixty percent of the hookers in town are passed out.” I blinked. “You know what, Pan… wait- your a satyr!” “Yeah, so?” “So where the heck is your antler things? Or your goat legs?” Pan shook his head and lifted up one of his pant legs. “Oh…” “Yes, magic hides it from normal human sight, unless they are intelligent enough to figure out the secret of the gods.”

           I saw Hades pick up Echo. “Wait- why aren’t we killing her?” I said. Hades looked at me like I was an idiot and said, “I have a gut feeling someone in a higher position wants you dead. She might know.” Hades slung the empusa over his shoulder. “Lets go to the manor.”

           I stayed quiet during the walk. Pan took out his pipes and twiddled them a bit before Hades glared at him. “What? I liked the song.” I said. “You might wake Echo up.” Hades said. When we arrived, Hermes went to greet us (Yes, Hermes was Hector) and stopped in mid-skate to stare at the empusa. “Dude, why are you bringing THAT in here-” “Shut up Hermes.” Hades said as we headed in the house. “Heph!!” He yelled as we arrived in the house.

          ”Trust me, we all heard the pipes.” Hephatasus said as he brought a golden chain and collar thing. “Wait- whats that thing for?” I asked, suspicious. “Its to hold the… thing… in place.” Hephatasus replied as he clamped the thing on her neck. “If we knew its name…” “Wait.” I said. I stepped up to her and said, “Echo, you awake.” “No.” She said, growling. “I knew I was an idiot to tell you my real name.” Echo sat up. Hermes looked impressed. “Wow. I guess you have the power over her now.” Echo pushed Hades away like she was disgusted.

          Hephatasus handed me the chain. “Watch her- empusas are pains in the-” He was cut off by Zeus’s worry wart voice. “Sky!!! Did this horrendous monster harm you!?!?” I back away from Zeus. “I’m fine Zeus. I don’t know about Echo though.” Echo had been pushed over by Zeus when he came to look at me. I bent over. “You okay Echo?” Echo just glared. “Meeting room. Now.” Zeus said. Everyone headed in the direction of the door to the meeting room. “Come on Echo. Lets go.” I said, teasingly pulling on her chain. She got up and glared. “Quit glaring or I’ll tie you to a post and have Zeus get at you.” Echo looked horrified and immediately followed.

         “I was kidding, Echo. I’m not that mean.” I headed in the room and sat on the couch. Echo went to sit on the ground before I pulled her chain and said, “Sit down.” Echo looked surprised. “Uh… okay.” Zeus glared at me as Echo sat down. “Alright, you… who sent you?” Echo glared at him and hissed. “Echo, answer the question.” I said gently. I kinda liked Echo, even though she tried to kill me. “I’m not sure which one… but I think it was a Titan.” Echo said, then ducked as Zeus attempted to throw a lightning bolt.

         “Zeus!” I scolded. “She is a Titan follower!” He said, still holding the lightning bolt. “I don’t care. Don’t kill her.” “Monsters don’t die though.” “I DO NOT CARE. PUT THE LIGHTNING BOLT DOWN.” I said, more like yelled, but whatever. Zeus grumbled something in Greek (Which I will not repeat) and the lightning bolt vanished.

           Echo breathed a sigh of relief and replied, “I can tell you what he looked like though.” Athena perked up, (She had been glaring at Echo this whole time) and said, “Describe him. Thoroughly.” Echo sat back and closed her eyes. “I can’t say what his face looked like…” Athena groaned. “But he wore a sun medallion.” Athena brightened up and grabbed Apollo. “Hey!!!” He said. “Did it look like this?” Athena fingered a small medallion. Echo looked at it. “Yeah, except his was bigger…” “That’s what she said.” Ares muttered. “I heard that, War God.”

           Athena sat back. “Its Hyperion.” She said. “Good news- he isn’t too dangerous. Bad news- this confirms our worries from a couple months ago.” I looked around. “What worries?” I said. “The titans are escaping. Hyperion was the first.” I thought for second. “Wait- WHAT?!?!?!” I said, more like yelped, but whatever.

           “Whats so bad about that?” Echo said, leaning back. “Of course that’s what an empusa would say.” Ares grumbled. “Will you shut up, Ares? The titans weren’t all that bad-” I heard a thunder clap right above my head. Echo shrieked and ducked. A quick beam of light zoomed over where her head was and hit the wall. Then I felt someone covering my eyes. “Zeus, remember we have a mortal in the room!!!” I heard Dionysus in the room. “Please, resume your mortal form.

           ”Sorry, just monsters really piss me off.” I could see there was a lot of light, but not a lot else. I felt Dionysus slowly remove his hands. I saw a very scared Echo hiding behind the couch and all the gods looking a bit scared as well. “I just lost my temper, ok?!?” Zeus said. He was sitting in the middle of the living room with his hands covering his face. In shame. “Its ok Zeus, you didn’t kill me.” I said calmly. “The point is, he could’ve!” Dionysus said.

            Zeus got up. “Meeting adjourned. Dionysus, help Sky deal with… that.” Zeus said, gesturing toward Echo and getting up. Everyone else went off in their own separate ways. “Don’t tell me. You want her to stay alive.” Dionysus said. “Um… yeah. If she was just carrying out orders…” “She didn’t have to follow them.” “Actually, I did.” Echo said, getting out from behind the couch and standing next to me. “When you know a… mortal creature’s true name, you receive some power over them.” Echo said, looking at her feet and looking bashful. “Exactly, you knew that if you gave me your name, I’d have control over you.” I said. Echo nodded. “I’m not like my empusa sisters. I’m okay with just… being a normal teenager.”

             Dionysus looked at me, then at Echo, then he groaned. “Fine! I’ll give Echo a room here. Zeus is not going to like this though…” Echo made an odd purring noise. “Thanks! I hope to set a new standard for my kind.”

            That night I flung myself on my bed. “Man, today was long. I’m going to go to sleep. No working on the picture tonight-” Riiing! I grabbed my phone and looked to see who was calling. “Huh? Why would Dionysus call me…” I answered the phone and said, “Hello?” “Hi… can you drive?”

           I managed to sneak out before my mom asked me where I was going. I headed down town towards the club. I usually didn’t head that way, but Dionysus sounded urgent. When I managed to get there, (I walked, dumb I know) I saw Dionysus, not drunk, with Hestia on his shoulder. “Hi Dionysus, whats up with Hestia?” “She’s drunk.” Hestia was passed out on his shoulder, grumbling something in Greek. “Yeah, why am I here?” “To keep her from trying anything.” Dionysus walked up to his car and sat her in the back seat.

             I sat in the front seat next to Dionysus. I sat there silently for at least twenty minutes. Finally I said, “So… what happened?” Dionysus smirked. “Every now and then one of my Greek companions tag along. I hate when its Hestia’s turn.” “Why?” “She’s one of those girls who… tends to become much more affectionate when she’s drunk. She won’t do anything when your here though.” I decided to push my boundaries and say, “What kind of affection?” Dionysus stayed silent for a bit, then replied, “She tries to come on to me. I mean, shes hot and all… but shes a virgin goddess and tradition is important. Plus, she’ll regret it later.” I thought for a minute, then replied, “You like her, don’t you?” “No!” Dionysus said a little quickly. “Ok… kinda… but she doesn’t like me… at least, not when she’s sober.”

           Dionysus then added, “Don’t worry, I’m not drunk. I have a feeling you have a thing against drunk driving.” I looked down and blushed. “Yes. Because it kills innocent people.” Dionysus replied, “I have a gut feeling you know one of those innocents.” I nodded. “My dad. Drunk guy wasn’t watching where he was going… hit my dad. My dad died… and the other guy walked away.” I turned away to brush a tear off my face. “It still hurts.” “And now knowing the God of wine… I can see why you don’t like me.” Dionysus said. “I wish I could stop all the drunk idiots from driving… but we all swore on the Styx not to get too involved with human affairs. That doesn’t stop me from pushing the don’t drink and drive campaign.”

            We stayed silent till he dropped off Hestia at the Manor, and me at my house. “Thanks for chatting with me.” I said. “You’re not all that bad when your drunk.” Dionysus chuckled, then handed me something. “That will come in hand for later.” He drove off. I looked at the small object. A metallic wreath of ivy. It made me smirk. I attached it to the chain which had the key on it.

            I bounded inside. I expected my mother to be in bed. She wasn’t. She was sitting in the living room. She stood up and put on the mom stance. “Darling,” She said. “We need to talk. NOW.” Uh oh…