[May 23rd] [Hercules: The Legendary Journeys] Pieces of a Whole

[shini02.livejournal.com]

Title: Pieces of a Whole
Day/Theme: May 23: I will put Chaos into fourteen lines.
Series: Hercules: The Legendary Journeys
Character/Pairing: Ares, Discord, Strife, Phonoi, Androktasias, Mahkai, Hysminai, Algea, Amphillogias, Ate, Dysnomia, Harkos, Lethe, Limos, Logoi, Neikea, Ponos; mentions of AresxAphrodite and implied HarkosxDike (if you squint a little).
Rating: PG
Summary: The children of Discord will help shape their youngest brother into the God he is destined to become.

Pieces of a Whole

Ares lounged in his throne, playing his fingertips against the stubble on his chin. His other arm rested on the arm of the chair, hand comfortably and gently grasping a skull that once belonged to one of his favorite warlords years ago. Ares' eyes wandered, watching the young Gods and Goddesses in his temple. Most had found a place to sit, others stood and leaned on whatever was available; Ares' personally didn't care if they had started walking on their hands, as long as they caused him no trouble.

“She should have been here by now.”

Ares turned his attention to the God that spoke, eyebrow cocked; it wasn't often Harkos bothered to voice his opinion.

“I'm sure Mother will be here soon.”

Ares glanced to the voice that replied and sighed. Another voice rang out a moment later, “What do you know, liar?”

“More than you, troublemaker!”

“Enough!” Ares suddenly shouted and stood himself up, hands clenched into tight fists. He didn't mind if the siblings bickered, but he couldn't handle it if those two in particular started up. They wouldn't stop until blood was shed. “Logoi, Mahkai,” he snapped, “one more word out of either of you and so help me...” Ares didn't need to finish the sentence to make his nephews pale just a little and nod in understanding. The God of War would waste no time in sending them flying across the temple and into the nearest wall if they persisted.

Sighing, Ares sat down again and ran a hand over his face. “I hate babysitting,” he mumbled.

“So don't watch us,” a young Goddess said, smirking at her uncle, “you don't have to if you don't want to.”

Ares chuckled against his hand before letting it fall to rest on his lap. “Oh really?”

“We're old enough to take care of ourselves.”

“Yeah,” he grinned at his niece, “I bet you could take care of each other real good, Dysnomia.” He knew these young immortals couldn't be trusted on their own. Being stuck together in such a small space, they would kill each other if they weren't watched carefully.

“Well, it is true,” she grinned back at the older God, then casually looked at her long blood red nails.

“Oh, I know. And that's why I'm not going anywhere, no matter how much it pains me,” he said jocularly, placing a hand over his heart and smirking cruelly at the younger Goddess. Dysnomia glanced up at him, wrinkled her nose and went back to inspecting her nails.

“You're not very nice, Uncle Ares,” she mumbled.

“Flattery will get you nowhere, my dear,” Ares chuckled before lounging back in his throne.

“She said she would be here,” Harkos spoke up again, glancing towards his uncle with intent eyes.

“And she will be,” Amphillogias snapped at her older brother before Ares had a chance to say anything.

Ares sighed heavily. He couldn't take much more of this; the younger deities were growing restless, beginning to bicker amongst themselves, and Ares himself was becoming rather aggravated.

“I am sorry, Uncle,” Algea murmured quietly, standing beside Ares now, looking at him with sullen eyes.

“Don't belittle yourself and apologize on behalf of those fools,” Ate rolled her eyes at her sister. Algea sighed quietly and nodded as she sat down beside her uncle's throne, legs tucked neatly under her and hands folded together on her lap.

Ares closed his eyes and leaned his head back against his chair. “This is too much,” he shook his head as he spoke to no one in particular.

“Isn't it?” Ponos grinned from across the room, tossing a skull up and down to keep himself busy.

“Shut up,” Ares muttered to his nephew.

“Yes, no one cares what you think,” Mahkai chuckled; Ponos tossed the skull at his head.

“No one asked you.” Mahkai picked the skull up and launched it at his brother, however it never did quite reach it's intended destination. The skull shattered and fell to the floor in fiery pieces, courtesy of Ares.

“Enough,” the God of War hissed through clenched teeth, hand still at the ready just in case. He opened his mouth to speak, to continue informing his relatives he was on his last nerve, but a flash of dark light in the corner of the room distracted him. He let out a small sigh of relief as he sat back down into his throne.

“Did they behave themselves?” Discord asked with a grin as she eyed her children. They all looked back at her, slowly standing and grouping together in a sort of semi-circle.

Ares laughed. “Did they behave?” He echoed and then waved the subject off, saying sarcastically, “total seraphim.”

“Perfect,” the Goddess of Strife grinned and chuckled as she walked over to Ares, shifting the baby in her arms just a little. The baby whined in response but quieted down when he noticed Ares looking at him with little amusement.

“So this is what we've waited for?” Ares questioned, leaning over just a little to look at his youngest nephew. “Another one of your brats?”

“Mhmm,” Discord beamed and proudly showed her son to her brother.

Ares wrinkled his nose as the baby reached for him. “And would you mind telling me why you wanted all of us to gather here?”

“Well,” Discord started and let her son grab onto one of her fingers since Ares wasn't about to humor him, “you know not all of my children are allowed on Olympus.” She glanced at Ate. “And the rest of them don't even like the Mountain so I figured, why not just get everyone together in one place and do this thing in one shot instead of going from one child to the next?”

“Anything to cause trouble,” Ares rolled his eyes. Discord knew her children couldn't be together for a long time period without getting under each other's skin. He shook his head, “whatever. Just get on with it.”

“Oh, you're no fun,” Discord pouted playfully before stepping closer to her kin.

The first to step forward to greet Discord and see the baby was Phonoi, one of Discord's oldest sons. He wrinkled his nose as he stared down at the small body, wriggling about in his mother's arms, making those wretched nonsense noises babies made and grabbing at the air in a vain attempt to reach his brother. The God of Murder sighed softly, giving in and allowing his brother to brush his small hand against his palm.

Discord glanced at Phonoi and Phonoi returned the look, giving his mother a smirk. Yes, he would teach the little one how to extinguish a life in the most creative ways.

Phonoi stepped back and Androktasias stepped forward. He grinned wickedly down at the baby and the baby shouted back at him, which only mad the God of Manslaughter laugh softly. “He's a fighter,” he said to his mother. Discord smirked back.

“I know.”

While Phonoi would show their youngest brother how to cleverly execute death, Androktasias would gladly show him how to run a man through without reason. He would teach him how to enjoy the spoils of a bloody, pointless death.

Next to see the infant was Mahkai. The God of Quarrel cocked an eyebrow when he saw his brother, canting his head to the side a little. The baby did the same, then reached up to take hold of the chain hanging around his brother's neck, tugging at it until it snapped. Mahkai's eyebrows rose and a grin claimed his lips. “Another troublemaker,” he murmured, “I like you.”

The little one may have been a natural born cause for trouble but Mahkai would teach him how to make it count. Trouble wasn't worth causing if a quarrel of some sort was not the end result.

“He can keep the chain,” Mahkai shrugged before stepping back. The baby played with piece of silver jewelry for a moment then casually tossed it to the floor, giggling like a fool.

“Or not,” Mahkai chuckled.

Hysminai shoved passed his brother, ignoring the punch to his shoulder for the moment as he looked at his youngest sibling. Ice blue eyes stared back at him and the God of Battle gave the little one a lop-sided smirk. Phonoi had been right, the infant was a fighter, he could see it as clear as day in his eyes. Hysminai knew as the child grew older, the demons lurking in the depths of his soul would become restless, driving him onward into glorious battles.

And Hysminai would be the one to teach him how to fight and live for the moment during the heart of each and every fight he fought.

As he stepped back, punching Mahkai back in the process, Algea looked down at her brother with the same sad eyes she had regarded her uncle with. She reached out and ran a finger over her brother's cheek; the baby blinked and whined before turning his head away from the Goddess of Sorrow's touch. She said nothing as she stepped back, as content as she could be with having seen her brother.

Unlike her brothers, she couldn't teach the little one the thrill of battle or death, but she would show him the wonder that came with depression.

Amphillogias took her sister's place and stared dully down at her newest sibling. She glanced at her mother, eyebrow cocked and running her tongue over her teeth. “I'm not impressed,” she said simply. Discord chuckled. The baby stared hard at his older sister then whined for a moment before shouting up at her, longer than he had shouted at Androktasias.

“Yeah, I don't like you either,” Amphillogias laughed and poked her brother's cheek now, earning herself a scream this time. Oh yes, the Goddess of Dispute would enjoy showing her little brother how to start an argument that could spread war over the world.

Amphillogias allowed Ate to step up. Ate cocked her head to one side and then to the other, looking her brother over thoroughly. As others had pointed out, he was full of trouble and fight and had a strong sense of will, but Ate could also see pride in her young brother. The demons in his eyes were proud ones and they would not let him be cast away without good reason. And, she could tell, if he ever was pushed to the side so carelessly, he would smite any who treated him as though he were nothing. The Goddess of Ruin admired that, for not even she had that much strength in her pride during her days on Olympus.

Ate would teach the little one the spiteful ways of the Gods so he could avoid her fate. And she would show him just how dangerous a weapon pride could be, how he could use another's sense of pride, no matter how big or small it was, to his advantage.

Dysnomia was next to lay eyes on her new baby brother. Though the others had simply looked at him, she took him from their mother's arms and held him out before her, ignoring his whines of protest. She smirked at the thrashing baby in her arms, laughing softly even as he managed to kick her arm once. “Such a brat,” she snickered when she gave him back to their mother, watching him quiet down once again slowly.

The Goddess of Lawlessness knew teaching the little terror how easily rules could bend would be fun. She looked forward to watching him do as he pleased, regardless of others and their so-called laws, to get where he wanted in life.

Harkos gazed upon his brother as he stepped forward. He, too, saw something in the infant's wild, icy eyes and it made the God of Oath smile. The little one was a force to be reckoned with, that was for certain. He could tell by looking at the baby's eyes that he would grow to be a God that could not be lied to. He would sooner strike a person down than forgive them for telling him a false truth.

Harkos would take great pleasure in teaching his brother how to deal with liars. Perhaps Harkos would even allow the lovely Dike, Goddess of Justice, to teach his brother a thing or two.

Lethe moved around her brother and smiled faintly down at her brother. He blinked up at her, giggling and soon reaching out to try and touch her. The Goddess of Forgetfulness chuckled and allowed the baby to hold onto two of her fingers.

She couldn't offer her youngest sibling much but as he grew older, she would teach him to forget. Forget the ones who meant nothing, who would never mean anything; forget the things that were trivial, silly things that could hold him back. Leaving the things that didn't matter behind without a second thought would only allow him to move forward at a quicker pace.

Limos was next to see his brother. As Lethe stepped back, he reached out with a thin hand to touch the baby's cheek. The baby gurgled in response and Limos found himself smirking. Of all the siblings in the room, he truly had the least to offer but the God of Famine would not allow his brother to go on through life without some of his tutelage. He would teach him the value of food and drink and how easily a starving person could be manipulated.

A man with an empty stomach would do just about anything to satisfy his hunger, after all.

Logoi smirked as he stepped up passed his frail brother and stared down at the baby. The little one looked tired, about ready to fall asleep as he nestled his head against his mother's breast. But when he felt a pair of intense eyes on him, he whined and started thrashing again.

“Faker,” the God of Lies grinned and poked at his brother's side, ignoring the violent kick that had been meant for him.

Yes, Logoi would take great pleasure in teaching the little one how to twist truths to get what he wanted and then revel in the pain the lies had caused.

Neikea came forward once Logoi had stepped back. He had listened to the baby whining and screaming and shouting at all of his other siblings and it made his blood boil with excitement. The kid was a natural complainer and, with some assistance from the God of Grievance, the baby's complaints would get him far in life as he grew older.

Neikea soon allowed Ponos, the last of the Lady Strife's children, to step forward. The God of Hardship watched his brother wriggle in his mother's arms again, giggling at something and grabbing at the air with both hands now. Ponos cocked an eyebrow and shook his head, snickering. It was kind of cute, in an annoying way.

But Ponos could replace that cute annoyance with something dangerous. When his brother was older, he would show him how to enjoy another person's back-breaking labor while he sat back and watched men work themselves into early graves for him.

Discord smiled down at the baby in her arms before showing him, properly, to Ares. The God of War rolled his eyes as he took a moment to look the baby over, wrinkling his nose. “So, does this brat have a name?”

“Of course,” Discord murmured as she started to rock her son to keep him quiet and still. “Strife.”

Ares laughed. “Takes after his mother that much, does he?”

Discord's eyes flash mischievously, “you have no idea. But you will.”

Ares rose an eyebrow. “I will?”

“You're going to help me raise him, the same way you helped raise the others.” She smiled widely at her brother, enjoying his shocked expression.

“Oh, no,” he shook his head, holding up his hands.

“Oh, yes,” Discord laughed softly. “It's only proper the God of War has a part in the upbringing of his House's members.”

Ares groaned and let his forehead rest in his hand. Now he had to juggle his own children and another of Discord's? It wasn't fair and Aphrodite would lock him out of her bedroom if he paid more attention to Strife than Demios and Phobos. Well, on the bright side, they were all going to be brought up under the same House's influence.

A small hand slapping Ares' cheek snapped him back to reality and when he opened his eyes he was face-to-face with his newest nephew. Strife giggled and started rubbing his tiny hand against Ares' beard, squealing every time the coarse hair pricked against his hand. Ares couldn't help the smirk as he took his nephew from Discord and sat him on his lap, both hands holding him steady.

“I can tell right now you're going to be a huge pain in my ass,” Ares snickered and Discord laughed, kneeling down beside her brother. She looked at her other children, her precious fourteen personifications of all things that helped make Chaos. She brought her attention to Strife and smiled as she touched his cheek with a finger, causing him to look at her and stop slapping Ares' hands and wristbands.

She loved all of her children dearly but Strife was special. He wasn't going to be just another force that helped create Chaos. No. Strife was like his mother; Strife embodied Chaos. And with the help of his brothers and sisters, he could quite possibly end up being good enough at what he was meant to do to work right along side Discord and Ares one day.

“Think you'll be able to handle him?” Discord grinned at her brother. Ares glared back.

“I have done this before,” he explained with a roll of his eyes.

Discord fought the urge to cackle. “Yeah, but I don't think you've raised anyone like him before, dear brother.”

-End