Chapter 12:

“Make sure to keep your elbows tucked with your feet planted firmly. Also, make sure that you have your weapon on your target at all times,” Hera coached. She knew she was supposed to let Athena and Ares coach her, for that is what the original plan was, but after talking to Helia last night and learning that her daughter wanted her to contribute to her training, Hera could not help herself. Furthermore, Helia is her daughter, and she wanted to make sure that she received the best she could offer as Hera had done for Ares.

“Mom, we are supposed to be coaching her, not you!” yelled Ares from across the arena.

“Actually, I kind of asked her for her help as well, seeing as how she trained you. I hope that’s okay with you, Ares,” Helia nervously informed him.

“She told you that she trained me?”

“Umm-hmm, she told me how she helped you focus your anger and energy on something else, and battle training helped. Hera said that she was proud of you and how far you have come since the beginning, though you can be sloppy at times,” Helia giggled.

Ares couldn’t believe what he just heard Helia tell him. His mother was proud of him? I mean, she used to say it to him when he was younger, but he had stopped receiving that statement of praise many years ago. He had honestly thought that his mother hated him now. Though she never voiced it, her actions made him feel that she did. She had become distant and somewhat cold towards him, and if he were honest, he hated it. Ares was, however, beginning to see the ‘old’ her and how she was more pleasant to be around, though he had never really held any true conversation with her like he had in the past. When he was younger he could talk to his mother about anything without fear of being judged; she was his confidant. As time moved on though, things between them changed and the strong bond they shared was no more and the only conversation they had now was strictly Olympus related. So, it surprised him when last night when he spoke to her and even more so enjoyed it. It felt like old times and he didn’t realize how much he missed it until after dinner was over and he was left alone with his thoughts and craving for what he once had.

“Hey Ares, are you okay? You spaced out on us for a second,” came Athena’s voice. Athena would never admit it aloud, but she was slightly concerned when Ares had become quiet. It seemed as though he was processing what Helia had revealed, and though she understood, after a minute of him just standing there, she thought it was time to bring him back to the present.

“Um, yeah, I’m fine,” Ares replied, shaking his head as though his thoughts were visibly displayed for Athena and Helia to see, “sorry about that. I just got lost in thought for a minute there. Shall we get back to training then?”

“Ares, are you mad at me for saying that Hera could train me?”

“No, no, no, it’s fine.”

“Are you sure? I wouldn’t want to upset you and have you think that I don’t find you capable enough to train me or that I do not trust you.”

He saw the saddened expression on her face. He felt a pang of guilt hit him, for he believed he had hurt the small goddess’ feelings and kneeled down to her level and gently replied, “Oh no, Helia, you did nothing wrong. I was shocked that my mother actually agreed to help with training since she seemed to be against it last night at dinner.”

“You promise?”

“Yes, little one, I promise,” he laughed, repeating the nickname he heard his mother give her. Rising back to his average height, he asked, “Ready to get back to training?”

“Yes, let’s get back to it,” Helia gladly replied.

Before Ares started back up with the training, he quickly noticed where his mother stood, gave her a slight nod, before he looked back towards Helia, and picked up the training session.

***

Hera was concerned when she saw that the training had stopped for a few minutes. She wanted to run onto the arena grounds to see what was wrong, but she did not want Ares thinking that she did not trust him to handle the situation, so she calmed her nerves and observed what was going on. Besides, Athena had not made any sudden movements to convey a fight was about to happen, so Hera figured nothing of imminent danger was happening.

Even though Hera was relieved that there wasn’t a fight breaking out, she became more concerned when she focused on Ares’ expression and his still movement. He looked to be in disbelief and shock at what Helia had just relayed to him, and she desperately wanted to know what exactly was said. Though she couldn’t hear what was taking place, she had a pretty good guess at what it was and hoped Ares would not be upset at Helia wanting her help as well.

Ares still had made no move to continue training since he was stuck in a daze of some sort that lasted for a few moments more. He was only snapped out of it when Athena got his attention, and his body language gestured that he was claiming to be okay. However, it seemed the conversation took a more serious turn when she saw Ares kneeling before Helia in a comforting way, trying to convince her of something. She wondered what the intimate conversation could be concerning, but she would have to wait until she and Helia were alone.

She heard some laughter from the group and assumed all was well, but before the training continued, she met Ares’ eyes when he looked her way and gave her a brief head nod before turning back to Helia and Athena for training.