you don't belong here

"ATHENA, ARE YOU AWAKE?"

Zeus's voice came from the other side of her bedroom door and she bolted upright from her hunched-over position in the middle of the floor. "Shit," She looked around the large room her father had given her in his palace, her eyes falling to her closed door.

"Athena?"

Her father's voice comes again and she looks at her pile of messily drawn timelines across multiple pieces of paper, cursing under her breath as she scrambles to straighten herself out. "Hold on! I'm getting dressed,"

She runs into her closet, yanking a deep blue dress from the racks of clothing, and quickly throwing her pajamas off carelessly to the side. She inhaled, bending her arms to zip it all the way, her teeth gritting when she looked in the mirror to find it wasn't completely zipped.

She shook her head, letting her hair fall down to cover the haphazardly-done zipper as she ran back out of her closet. She fell to her knees in a pile of fabric and hastily stacked the papers together, shoving them under her mattress and straightening the covers over the side.

Athena picked up her dress and ran to her door, swinging it open with a breathless grin that fooled her father, much to her internal surprise and gratitude. "Hey, uh, what– what's up?"

"Iris is looking for you," He grins, eyes full of a pride that had yet to lessen in her week here. "She seems to have taken a liking to you, Athena."

"Yeah," Athena's pulse spikes and she nods, a twinge of frustration sparking in her chest. "I like her. She and Hermes are making the adjustment a lot easier, you know?"

Zeus nods, watching his distracted daughter. "She was going to come to you, but I wanted to speak to you before you went about your day,"

Her brows raise and she faces him with a curious look on her face. "Oh? What did you want to talk about?"

Zeus's brows tick momentarily and he shrugs, appearing nonchalant and ignorant to her hesitant tone. "Listen, I know it seems pretty, uh, carefree, here,"

She narrows her eyes at his odd start.

"There's a few things going on right now that I just–" He sighs, shaking his head frustratedly when he catches sight of her suspicions. "I don't want you getting mixed up in the wrong things, Athena. You've come here to be happy, and I don't want this to be like your time on Earth. That being said, in order for things to be perfect for you, I have to devote my attention to these problems. I hate to ditch you so early on, but–"

"Dad," She holds up a hand, a look of understanding on her face. "I get it. You have a duty to these people, you can't put it all on hold to help me adjust. But I'm fine, I promise. I knew what I was getting into by coming here, alright? Don't worry about me. I have all the time in the world to get comfortable."

"Thank you, Athena," He sighs, relief flooding his features as he nods. "You really are perfect, aren't you?"

"Yeah," She smiles, shifting her weight from heel to heel. "That's me."

"I'll see you later, sweetheart. And if you see anything weird, come find me, okay? I'll send somebody to check on it," He cups her cheeks, leaning in to kiss her temple before he steps away and begins the trek down the hallway.

She grins, waving him off. As soon as he turns the corner, her smile falls and she steps into her room, shutting the door tightly again. She lets out a long breath, her hands wrapping around her ribs as she paces anxiously.

She winces, throwing her head back. "I'm gonna vomit,"

"You better not," Iris's voice comes, making Athena startle as she spins to face the goddess. "I can't handle vomit."

"What are you doing here?" Athena shifts, wary of her presence.

"I figured we could go out today," Iris purses her lips. "I'll actually show you the city instead of bombarding you with Hermes."

Athena raises a brow. "Really?"

Iris nods, her eyes roaming Athena's figure. "What are you wearing?"

"What do you mean? I'm wearing a dress," She huffs, gesturing to the corseted dress on her frame.

"Well we can't go very far with you looking like a descendent of Aphrodite, you'll draw too much attention. Do you have clothes from Earth?"

She furrows her brows as Iris walks into her closet, glancing down at her dress. "I am a descendent of Aphrodite– what are you doing?"

"You need pants. Pants, and– and flat shoes, maybe,"

"Okay, first of all," Athena stormed into her closet, frowning at Iris. "I am not wearing flat shoes, that's like asking me to kill a cat. I'm not doing it. Second of all, if we're just going around the city, I don't need to dress like I'm about to steal some old lady's purse, or– or look like I'm in a Mission Impossible movie."

Iris furrows her brows, looking unhappy at her stubbornness. "I don't know what that is."

Athena groans, throwing her head back dramatically. She bends over and picks up a pair of silver heels, holding them up for Iris to see. "I'm wearing these, or we're not going."

Iris groaned, rolling her eyes. "Fine, fine! God, you're stubborn,"

"Yeah, I think it runs in the family," Athena shifts, sliding the heels on and lifting her skirt to look at them in the mirror. "How do these look?"

"They look amazing, but I can't imagine why you'd want to walk around in them for hours at a time," Iris smiled slightly, her mind drifting as Athena slid her shoes on.

"The day I can't function in heels is the day we all die, trust me," Athena says the words without thinking, but she stops short and frowns at the sudden déjà vu that washes over her. She thinks of the day that they had to save Bonnie from that dingy motel room, and the way Stefan had fussed over her well-being afterwards, as if she was the one who had been kidnapped.

She shudders, shaking off the desolate feeling that accompanies the memories, and the movement catches Iris's attention.

"Athena? Are you okay?"

She nodded her head, giving Iris a slightly shaky smile. "I'm fine. Let's go before I lose interest completely,"

──────

"So, where are we going?" Athena looked around at the older buildings lining the streets, all appearing to be at different levels of abandoned or just run down. She realizes now, looking around, that they must have already walked quite a distance past the temple and the main city. People aren't filling the streets anymore, and the temple isn't looming above it all anymore.

"Oi Archaíoi Drómoi,"

"The Ancient Streets?" Athena furrowed her brows, looking at Iris confusedly. "What does that mean?"

Gone were the pristine cobblestone streets she was growing used to seeing. The fluffy, ethereal clouds had shifted, now an off-white and dark gray in some spots instead of the usual golden glimmer they held. It looked like a storm was brewing in them, but Athena hadn't ever thought about if it would rain here.

"Loosely, it means that these were once the main streets of Olympus in its early days. When Zeus first took power after the Titans, he said it was time that we as a people moved on from our tragic past and became what we were always meant to be– gods. Now, this is where the underground business of Olympus takes place."

Athena hums, nodding slightly. "So, why are we here?"

Iris nudges her slightly towards the building they were standing before. "We're meeting someone here– or, at least hoping to meet someone here. He's not usually very forthcoming with his help,"

"I'm starting to think that no one in Olympus is actually helpful," She comments off-handedly, giving the girl beside her a feigned look of apology. "Besides you and Hermes, of course."

Iris gives her a deadpan look and she huffs, rolling her eyes back forward. "Tough crowd. Say, who's the dark and broody dude standing ten feet in front of us, staring menacingly?"

"What?" Iris steps forward, her brows furrowing before realization sets in. "Oh, shit. You know, I don't think he was expecting us,"

"What the hell is going on, Iris?" Athena smiled uncomfortably. "He's walking towards us. I don't even know who this is– who the hell–"

"Ares!" Iris laughed awkwardly as the man stopped before them, glaring at them reproachfully. Athena examined his dark stature, his chin-length dark hair sat in curls and he had scruff that seemed maintained to be purposefully disheveled. He's got dark clothes on and dark eyes, and he's just– dark. His sudden presence makes Athena almost frightened, and she doesn't like feeling like that. It makes her feel weak.

"You're stupid, you know that?" He ignores Hermes' attempts at friendliness and comes out of the gate with a tone that makes Athena flinch internally, an action although subdued, she thinks he still notices. "Zeus isn't fucking dumb, and you and Hermes have practically been running through the streets yelling treason. And now you come to me, hoping to get information on where that sneaky little shit has run off to, and I'm not telling you!"

Athena frowns, looking at Iris over her shoulder and seeing the woman standing with an apologetic frown on her face.

"And you," Ares finally drops his gaze onto the short brunette before him, his eyes narrowing. "Who the fuck are you?"

It feels like Ares has sucked all of the sun out of the sky, and Athena feels small beneath his scathing gaze. "I'm Athena,"

The man's eyes widen but he quickly schools his shock, taking a step back. He points an accusing finger at her, but his gaze is still moving between her and Iris, so she's not sure who he's scolding. "You shouldn't be here,"

Athena swallows roughly, her throat suddenly dry. "Why?"

"Because you're not safe here," Ares shakes his head, and Athena thinks he looks pitiful for a moment, but the look disappears as quickly as it comes. "Our father doesn't like things he can't control. You'll be lucky if you survive here long enough to learn that."

Athena's jaw drops and she takes a step back from Ares, who turns on his heel and stalks away in a blur of dark fabric. The two girls stand in silence for a moment far too long to be considered comfortable, and Athena slowly turns to face Iris with a glare.

"I'm going back to the palace,"

She pushes past them, clenching her fists at her sides as she tries to contain her tears.

"Athena, wait! Come on, he's just an asshole! Don't listen to him!"

She shakes her head as she turns to face her half-brother again. "I need a minute. Just– just find out what you can and come get me later."

She ignores their calls of her name and continues walking through the old cobblestone streets of what was once the blossoming heart of Olympus. So lost in her mind, she doesn't register the dark presence reaching for her from the alley, and her yelp of surprise falls on deaf ears as she's pulled into the narrow passageway between two brick buildings.

Her fist comes up and she swings it at the figure, her panicked mind watching as he ducks beneath her fist and clasps her wrist in his hand. "Athena, stop it. Stop fighting."

Athena pushes away from the man, her chest heaving as she stares into the same dark eyes from moments before. "Ares? What the fuck are you doing?"

"Helping you,"

"You don't just grab people– wait, what? Helping me with what?"

"With finding Future. They've been waiting for you. I would've been nicer, but those two idiots you're hanging out with can't keep their mouths shut for anything. A piece of advice for the shit you're trying to pull off, kid? Don't trust anybody."

Athena narrows her eyes, looking at him warily. "Then why should I trust you? You're Zeus's son, too, how do I know you aren't turning me over to him and telling him about this?"

Ares seems to smile at that– or at least smirk, she isn't quite sure the man knows how to smile with how severe his face seems to always look. "Now you're getting it. Come with me,"

Athena contemplates her options for a moment. On one hand, she could go with him and probably get more answers than Iris or Hermes could. She has no doubt that they're plotting some sort of ridiculous plan, or Iris is already running off to find Hermes and bicker back and forth like children about Athena's stubbornness and Ares' unwilling nature. On the other hand, she could walk away and sulk in her bedroom like she was going to, and wonder about what Ares could possibly know about any of this, vying for answers she'd probably never get because she ran.

She heaves in a deep breath and meets her half-brother's gaze. "Let's go."

──────

author's note; trying to make this stuff more coherent and interesting bc the first time I wrote it I ended up hating all of it... 

originally published;  4.15.21. 

edited: 12.5.23.

- liz