CHAPTER XVIII:The Quest In The Bermuda.

I sat on the cliff edge, looking over Elysium. After recovering, relatively quickly I might add, I decided to take a walk to my favorite spot in Elysium.

The moon rose high over Elysium, and the rivers glowed silver, and flowed with black streaks. Plants sprouted and glowed silver under the moonlight. The guards continued their training, as Leonidas barked orders to the legions of soldiers, and I saw Odysseus in the mix. However, I didn't see the Argo or Jason from our adventure in the Bermuda Triangle. The Argo usually sailed through the rivers with Jason on board. However no one had seen him or the Argo since Seth summoned it for our brief quest.

The legions marched out for the night, and divided into teams for guard detail. Leonidas stayed behind and sat down with his spear in hand. He took his helmet off to reveal short cut salt and peppered hair, and he set his spear down next to him. Just then I saw two bright red eyes cutting through the night like high beams on a car, Ares. He wore Spartan armor similar to Leonidas', and carried his two knives which emitted his red glow. He sat by Leonidas, and I ran down to them.

I cut through silver grass and plants down the cliff edge. When I got there Ares and Leonidas were talking like old friends. This was Ares' monthly report on all conflicts above ground, and if any were effecting Olympus. Ares told Leonidas about the conflicts in the world, and what caused them. I stood close by and quietly and listened. It was mostly conflicts in the Middle East, but I wanted to know if my previous quest was in the mix.

I kept listening, and leaned against a tree. I closed my eyes and imagined the brutal images of war, they got more and more vivid as Ares' presence flooded over me. I could hear death, gunfire, and metal clashing against metal. I felt surges of bloodlust, and overall violence. I put my weapons next to me and kept listening, to not do something stupid, and tried tried to keep my calm. Ares looked over at me, and he smiled.

"Hey Dead Hair, you doing ok over there?" Ares asked.

"Hey Ares. You mind taking you war and violence presence down a notch?" I asked.

"Can't Dead Hair, you know that. Try the necklace, it'll help." Ares answered.

I took it out of my pocket, and put it on. Almost immediately his presence faded, or it became natural almost. The surges of bloodlust were gone, the constant images of war weren't maddening, and the sounds were gone. However, I felt like I could take on twelve legions of Roman soldiers with an arm tied behind my back.

Leonidas smiled "Feel like a Spartan yet kid?" He asked.

I nodded as I rubbed the charm with my thumb.

"So Ares....I heard you don't like being called Mars..." I said.

"Are you kidding me? My favorite place in the world got destroyed by those Roman bastards." Ares said, Leonidas nodded in agreement.

Ares of course meant the expansion of the Roman Empire into Greece. The Romans destroyed most of the country, Sparta included, in their quest to make a large empire. The Romans, of course, succeeded and built the largest empire the world had ever seen.

"They're good soldiers though. Except the ones that worship that Jesus guy, they won't kill." Leonidas said.

Jesus, a son of Apollo, born in 0 AD. He managed to get a lot of people to believe in god before being crucified, and made a lot of contributions to Apollo's power. It's a shame the Romans didn't realize that Jesus was preaching about one of their gods, and that the Bible got translated wrong so many times now.

"Yeah. Their sword skills are unmatched though." I said, Leonidas nodded in agreement again knowing I was right.

"Hey Ares. Do you know where the Argo is?" Leonidas asked.

"It's back in the Sea of Monsters. It's on a mapping mission." Ares said.

I thought about it, and realized no ones mapped the Sea of Monsters since it was the Mediterranean.

I leaned against a tree, as the conversation continued, and took my necklace off. The power I felt suddenly left me, and I slowly passed out as all of what happened today caught up. As I fell asleep I prayed that another dream wouldn't come, but as always, one did.