[PG-13] Mantis [Ruki and Shrub]

Meesha huffed, frustrated at Roxy's childish behavior. They had a list of items to buy, and they weren't even halfway through!

"Come on Roxy! We seriously need to get this done, or Athena's going to be even more angry!" Meesha said with an exasperated sigh. Roxy simply shook her head and held up the hourglass again.

"Ugh, we don't have time for this!" sighed Meesha as she held up her fingers and began counting off their list. "We need tents, food, water, parchment, ink, more quills...are you listening?"

Roxy once again shook her head, grinned, and pointed at her hourglass. Meesha shrugged and turned around, her back to Roxy.

"Fine! If you're going to be like that, I'm going to buy the supplies myself!" declared Meesha. She started to walk off in a huff, angry that Roxy was slowing them down like this.

She's normally so agreeable...why is she being so frustrating now?

Roxy watched Meesha stomp out angrily away, disappearing in the crowd. She didn't know why she was so angry and in a rush. Didn't she understand Athena was the goddess of war and target practice basically equated to "I hope you are good at running away and hiding because you will die if you stay still and fight."

But at the same time, not showing up would be even worse and would be something Roxy would like to avoid.

Looking around the square, she realized that without Meesha, she had absolutely no idea where the hell she was. She became unsettled as Common became louder to her, mocking her and the faces of the people started to look the same.

She swallowed hard, unconsciously playing with her hourglass on her neck. It couldn't be that hard, navigating through the town despite her limited knowledge of Common, right?

Without Roxy, Meesha's speed picked up dramatically. She zipped from stall to stall, quickly honing in on the necessary supplies. After each purchase, she ticked off the item in her head. In only two hours, she bought a tent, several rolls of parchment, two new ink bottles, two new quills, a large supply of various food (bread, cheese, meat, and fish), had refilled her water canteen, and had saved her money numerous times by haggling the prices down.

I feel like I've made a lot of progress today, Meesha thought to herself as she approached the west gate. Indeed, despite her quarrel with Roxy, things had gone well. Her good mood dropped, however, when she saw Athena.

Decked out in her armor, which glistened in the sunlight, Athena stood next to Aphrodite. She held a large, thick branch in one hand, and her shield in the other. A devilish grin spread upon her face when she spotted Meesha exiting the town.

"Ah, so good of you to join us, Meesha. Where is Roxy?" she asked with a wry smile. Meesha gulped, the sight of Athena's large practice "spear" sending her into a panic.

"Ah--um--s-she was acting like a child, so we separated," Meesha stammered. Athena gestured for them to walk down the path towards the hot springs, and they joined the trail as they talked.

"Oh, really? Well, she'd best hurry up, or she'll be spending some quality time with Aphrodite," Athena remarked, followed by a bitter laugh. Aphrodite winked at Meesha, who became overcome with guilt.

Yeah, Roxy was being difficult, but she didn't deserve this! Maybe I should have kept a closer eye on her... she pondered.

Halfway down the trail, Athena led them off the beaten path. They were now positioned southwest of the town, in the open fields. They were far enough away from both the town and the hot springs that nobody could clearly tell what they were doing. Athena turned around and adopted a battle stance, her blunt tree branch held like a spear.

"Prepare yourself!" she commanded, leaning down on her legs as if ready to pounce. Meesha barely got in position before Athena struck, bringing the branch down on the mage's left shoulder. The strength of the blow caught her off guard, and she whirled around in pain. Athena followed up the attack with a stab, but Meesha used Right the Light and created some distance between the two of them.

I can't keep avoiding her forever! Meesha thought with a groan. She was definitely going to develop some bruises before this was over.

To say Roxy was lost would be the understatement of the century. She had managed to get a few things done like get some food and fill up her canteen, but that was about it. She didn't know what many of the wares were, and her attempts at conversation with many of the shop owners left both parties frustrated and confused with no sale coming out of it.

The sun dipped below the sky, and Roxy had begun to panic. All the shops were closed, and many had retired for the evening. While she knew west was in the direction of the setting sun, the winding streets had Roxy all turned around, and now with the sun gone she didn't even have the luxury of that little hint. She had used freeze time to buy her some more time to find a way out, but due to her lack of direction it was just 30 minutes wasted.

She soon found herself at the fountain where she had filled her canteen earlier. It was her fifth visit back here and she had no more clue as which way to go then her earlier four visits.

I'm going to die if I don't find my way out of here soon.

It had been a little over an hour now, and the sun was setting over the horizon. Much to Meesha's relief, Athena tossed aside the tree branch, and sat down on the ground. Meesha also opted to sit, nursing her injuries on the soft grass. The left half of her face was swollen from a particularly hard swing, and she had some nasty cuts on her arms. Underneath her clothes, several patches of skin were already blotchy and purple, turning the same color as her robe.

Suddenly, Athena summoned her actual spear into her free hand, which made Meesha jump back in fright. Athena smirked, but otherwise ignored this reaction.

"Ares approaches," she said simply. Indeed, when Meesha turned her head towards the hot springs, she saw an armored man striding towards them. He wore part-leather part-metal armor, and upon his head he bore a steel helmet, complete with a red crest on the top. Upon his left arm he bore a large, round metal shield, which was red in color and rimmed with gold plating. In his right hand, he wielded a simple steel sword. About three feet long, the blade looked extremely sharp. The handle was wrapped in leather strips, presumably to improve his grip. He seemed to radiate power.

Meesha shrank back, standing far away from Athena. Ares approached them quickly, his paces even and long. Aphrodite ran towards him, and he stopped momentarily. She gave him a kiss on the arm, and whispered something into his helmet. He nodded, said something back, and continued his journey. Aphrodite stayed behind to watch from a safe distance.

The two deities were now facing each other, their legs bent in a warrior's stance. Meesha and Aphrodite were on opposite sides of the scuffle, and watched from afar.

"We settle this NOW, Athena!" Ares demanded. Athena nodded in turn, choosing not to verbally reply.

Everything was ready. The duel was set. The only question remaining: who would make the first move?

Athena slid down into a fighting stance, her spear point facing towards Ares, glimmering in the moonlight. The two stared at each other, tension saturating the air, but she didn't make any move to attack him; Ares was very impatient and all she had to do was to wait for him to get bored. It took a total of 30 seconds for this to happen.

Frustrated by Athena's lack of action, he rushed towards her with an inhumane yell, brandishing his sword held over his head, leaving his right side wide open. Athena rolled her eyes; he never learned. With his strength and godhood made him a warrior to be reckoned with, he relied too much on pure strength and never put too much stock in simple battle tactics. Or in the case, simple common sense.

All it took was a quick a simple jab in his exposed area to halt Ares in his tracks, her spear buried in his side. Grimacing, he grabbed the spear and yanked it out, before pulling it forward. Athena went along with it.

Ares let's go of her spear in an attempt to attack her right flank now that she was within his reach. However, Athena had anticipated this and swung Aegis over her head to block the attack, the two metal hitting against each other with a resounding crash.

This left Ares open again, and Athena took full advantage of this to skewer him once again in the side, this time driving the spear in deeper into his side, making Ares yell out in pain as his sword scrapped against Aegis falling downwards towards his side.

No longer needing to protect against Ares sword attack, Athena swung Aegis to the left, crashing the shield against his helmet, the head guard resounding soundly like the bells which had begun to annoy the small group within the last few days.

Ares shook his head, trying to dispel the ringing effect inside his helmet. Athena thrust a stab straight at his gut, but he twisted his body to the right and dodged it. He grabbed Athena's spear, which was now outstretched, and ripped it from her hands. The god of war tossed the spear away, where it landed within five feet of Meesha, who yelped and scrambled for safety.

Before Athena could react, Ares leapt on top of her. His sheer body weight forced her off her feet. She fell onto her back, and Ares landed on top of her stomach. He raised his sword with both his hands, and sent it plunging down towards the goddesses chest. The action was so quick, she barely had time to raise Aegis and deflect the attack. It slid down the length of her shield, narrowly avoiding her arm. Ares raised the sword again, which glinted in the moonlight. He cast it down on Athena, whose shield once again absorbed the blow.

If I just sit here, he's going to win, thought Athena. She was fighting gravity, while he was working with it. Additionally, his heavy frame was slowly crushing her stomach. With a mighty roar, Athena grabbed Ares' sword arm with her free hand, resisting a third strike. Using her shield as leverage, she attempted to push him off. Unfortunately, his strength and weight were too great, even for Athena. His sword slowly descended towards her unprotected face, the sharp point within inches of her eye.

This is NOT how it ends, Athena thought defiantly. In one fluid motion, Athena whipped her shield out from underneath, and smashed it into Ares' helmet. At the same time, she jerked her head to the left. His sword buried itself in the ground, and the ringing metal once again dazed the warrior god. Athena pushed herself to her feet and summoned her spear.

Ares looked up, a throbbing headache now developing. His furious gaze was met with a spear point. Athena stood triumphantly over him, her body covered in sweat and blood.

"Victory," she simply said, a sly smile curling on her lips.

Aphrodite clapped her hands upon Athena's victory, cheerfully striding over to the other woman and wrapping her arms around her neck, not at all disturbed by the blood and sweat which covered her body. Although, sleeping with Ares all the time no doubt made her get used to it considering how blood thirsty he was.

"Well, guess Athena is my lover now," Aphrodite cooed, playing with the short strands of her blonde hair which peeked out of Athena's helmet. This simple statement resulted in the exact same look of appall and shock cross the war god and goddess face, although for two completely different reasons.

"I never agreed to this!" Athena protested, pushing Aphrodite away and vehemently shaking her head while doing so. "I just agreed to fight him!"

"And Ares fought to win back my love," Aphrodite replied silky. "And he lost. So that means then Athena has won my love." She paused for a moment thoughtfully. "Well secured it. I did always like the strong and passionate."

Athena's cheek's flared red. She wasn't sure if she was being come on to or complimented. Or both. Knowing Aphrodite, it was probably both. And while it did stroke her ego a bit, coming from Aphrodite it was just so wrong.

"You will rue this day," Ares spat, shoving Athena's spear which was still in his face violently off to the side. "Both of you."

Getting up angrily, he gathered his items and started to stomp off before turning around and pointing menacingly at the women. "RUE IT!"

There was an awkward silence as all of them watched Ares stomp off, disappearing in the inky darkness of the night. Aphrodite was the first one to speak, and much to the shock of everyone it wasn't something sexual in nature.

"Where is Roxy?" It was then and there that Athena realized that her ward had never shown up. Scowling as she willed her weapons to disappear, she shook her head.

"Probably back in the hotel," she growled, anger rising again. Although, it felt good to beat the ♥♥♥♥ out of Ares, her fury was far from subsided, and Aphrodite had sparked it again. "Come, let's go."

Once I get back there, I'm going to let her have it.

-------[Roxy]---------

Roxy, contrary to popular belief was not in the hotel. Hell, she was no where near it, not that she knew where it was. In her wanderings, she somehow managed to find herself in a shady part of town, and had no idea how to get out.

Looking around, she noticed women on the street corners who wearing about the same amount of clothing Aphrodite did when she first came into their room. Every so often a man would come over, and with the flash of some money, the women would follow them into nearby buildings and alleyways.

In addition there was some suspicious looking people lurking the shadows, talking in hushed whispers and exchanging items after a look around to see if anybody was watching.

Roxy kept looking around nervously as she walked, unable to shake off the feeling of people staring at her from all angles. Her grip on her spear was so tight that her knuckles were turning white, and she was playing with the hem of her shawl, ready to whip out her sickle and castrate anybody who made any move towards her at a moment's notice.

"Where IS she?" cried Athena as they entered their little room. Roxy was nowhere to be seen, and the room looked undisturbed, indicating that she hadn't returned yet. For once, Aphrodite took the situation seriously. In fact, she looked worried. She lay a hand on Athena's shoulder.

"Come on, we'll start searching the town. I'm sure she's just gotten distracted or something," Aphrodite said reassuringly.

Meesha noted how out of character Aphrodite was acting. She must really care about Roxy, Meesha thought to herself. Athena whirled around, and stomped her way out of them room.

"Let's find her before she gets into more trouble!" yelled Athena. She tried to put on a brave front, but both Meesha and Aphrodite knew that she was legitimately worried for Roxy's safety. They looked at each other, and Meesha bit her lip. She felt incredibly guilty for leaving Roxy behind, even if it was partially the Atlantean's fault.

The three of them walked out into the night. It was a crisp evening, and the position of the moon told Meesha it was a little before midnight. First they checked the marketplace, but found it deserted. A soft wind gently provoked a nearby wind chime, its eerie melody the only sound in the entire plaza. They quickly checked the other landmarks in the area, but found nothing.

"Maybe we should check the residential area," suggested Aphrodite. This sounded like a solid plan, so the trio set out for the other side of town.

At first, they checked the wealthy section, but saw nobody on the streets. As they moved further towards the base of the mountain, the buildings became more and more decrepit. The beautiful brick houses of the rich were replaced by the hastily constructed huts of the poor. Some shady transactions were taking place down the alleyways, and there were numerous prostitutes scattering the street.

As Meesha gazed down an alleyway, she saw a figure walking past it on the other side. She only caught a glimpse as she passed the narrow street, but there could be no mistaking such an outlandish outfit. It was Roxy. Meesha quickly notified the goddesses, before taking off ahead of them and bounding through the alley. It was thankfully one of the only deserted ones in the area. Rats scattered out of her way as she ran, before returning to nibble on the local garbage. Meesha rounded the corner and ran towards Roxy, a grin on her face.

"Roxy!" she cheered, reaching up to tap her on the shoulder.

It was getting later, and Roxy was only getting more and more lost. She had never got lost when she liven in Atlantis, not even when she went out into the ocean. The fact she was getting lost here in a rather small area was a serious blow to her pride. That is, it would be if she wasn't so terrified at the moment.

She was switching between freaking out about the obviously shady nature of the neighborhood she found herself in and what Athena was going to do to her once she found her. If she found her. She wasn't sure which was worse.

"Roxy!" Whipping around, she was ready to castrate or shank until she saw who it was; Meesha.

Relief through her body. She was found. Somebody had found her.

Don't cry. Remain calm.

However, salty tears of repressed fear and overwhelming relief started to escape from her eyes. She tried to fight them for a total of a minute before giving in and burst out crying, throwing her arms around Meesha and sobbing into robes.

Meesha was surprised by Roxy's outburst, and gently patted her head. She returned Roxy's hug, trying to transfer a sense of comfort and security.

"I'm sorry..." Meesha said softly, her guilt now overwhelming. If she had just stuck by Roxy, this would never have happened. She felt someone come up from behind them, and titled her head to see who it was.

Athena stood behind them, the look of anger in her face dissipated. Meesha looked back at her, her eyes sad and tired.

"Let's get back to the room, and we can discuss what happened tomorrow," Athena suggested, her voice tense and sorrowful. Meesha nodded and gently withdrew her embrace, motioning for Roxy to follow the group. In that moment, Aphrodite turned the corner and saw Roxy. Meesha swore she could hear the goddess's heart breaking.

"Oh, Roxy!" she cried, bursting into tears of her own. She ran forward and gave Roxy a sweeping hug, holding her close as they sobbed together. Meesha and Athena stood next to each other, their faces stony and silent. Perhaps, Meesha thought, Aphrodite could embody love in more ways than one.

Soon, the party found themselves back in their room. No one really talked, as they were all exhausted: Athena from her duel, Meesha from being target practice, and Aphrodite and Roxy were exhausted emotionally. They sauntered into the room, and collapsed into sleep. The bed wasn't big enough for all of them, so Meesha elected to sleep on the floor, curled up in her woolen blanket.

Roxy awoke the next morning between the two goddesses. Somewhere in her sleep, Aphrodite had wrapped her arms around the smaller girl, although much to her surprise she somehow wasn't molested in her sleep. In fact, there was something completely innocent about the gesture which threw Roxy for a loop.

Sitting up in bed, the sheets fell slightly to show she was still wearing her clothes from last night; it was too emotionally and physically taking for everyone to even bother to undress. Even Aphrodite didn't try to get in the nude, which was said a lot.

Looking over to her side, she noticed Athena sitting at the edge of the bed, not meeting her eyes and finding the fireplace alter very interesting. Roxy looked down at the sheets, picking at the red threads, guilt from last night surfacing.

"Athena, I-" Roxy started, stammering a bit, trying to collect her thoughts together. To explain herself.

"What were you doing?" Athena's voice was quiet, but with the disappointment in her voice, Roxy honestly preferred if she was shouting. At least then she would feel fear instead of this horrible sense of guilt and shame. Anything had to be better then this.

"I got lost," she mumbled, her words soft and hard to understand.

"Meesha said she split up with you because you were being childish," Athena said, turning to face her making Roxy flinch. It was one thing to hear the disappointment, but it was even worse to see it in her stormy grey eyes. "Why?"

"I didn't want to die," Roxy said, finding the blanket very interesting. "So, I didn't want to complete the shopping fast. However, she was flying through everything, so I dug my heels in the ground and we fought and she left. I thought I would be able to find my way to the west gate myself, but I got lost in the maze of the town." She looked up at Athena, trying very hard not to cry again, although her eyes were shimmering with repressed tears. "I was going to though! I just didn't want it to be so soon..."

"The fact is you still didn't come," Athena said sternly, making Roxy look down in shame. What she said was true, and no matter how many excuses she made, there would be no getting around that fact. However, what Athena said next took her by surprise. "Although, you must have been very scared. It must have been emotionally draining."

Roxy looked up at Athena, half terrified what was going to come out of her mouth next.

"However, it wouldn't be fair that Meesha followed what I said and got punished and you ignored it and didn't. So, today when we are traveling through the mountains, I'm going to be training you. Rest assured, it won't be easy, and quite honestly, you desperately need it. I can't come running to your rescue every single time you get in trouble."

Relief flooded through Roxy's body. She wasn't going to die! She was going to live. Unable to speak, she just nodded dumbly. Athena's hard gaze softened, as she leaned forward and wrapped her arms around Roxy, pulling her into a gentle hug.

"Don't ever do that again," she murmured. "I was worried about you."

Roxy was about to say something, but soon found herself in another pair of arms.

"Aw," Aphrodite cooed, nuzzling up to both Roxy and Athena, effectively ruining the moment. "You're so cute when you aren't being an emotional tight ass Athena!"

"APHRODITE!" Athena hollered, both embarrassed and angry at her cousin's antics. However, true to form, Aphrodite simply ignored her protests.

"Hey Meesha! Get up here! We are having a group hug!"

"APHRODITE!" Athena hollered, breaking Meesha out of her sleep. Set sat up, rubbing the weariness from her eyes. Her body ached all over, no doubt from the beating she had received yesterday. She groaned as she tried to turn herself over and go back to sleep, but Aphrodite's voice kept her awake.

"Hey Meesha! Get up here! We are having a group hug!"

Now she was interested. Sitting up once again, Meesha glanced over at her traveling partners. Roxy seemed ecstatic as she hugged Athena, Aphrodite had a giant grin on her face, while Athena just looked angry. Meesha laughed softly, the sight both humorous and endearing.

"No thanks, I think I'll pass," she said, stretching in an effort to dispel the sleepiness away. Her body was stiff and tender, and she knew multiple bruises had developed underneath her robe. She stumbled into the bathroom, disrobing and checking over her body. Numerous purple welts had developed overnight, their hue similar to in color to her clothing. She winced, imagining the trek through the mountains with such injuries.

Meesha left the bathroom and packed up her things, her three traveling companions still in their group embrace, with Athena trapped in the middle. Once everything was placed in her satchel, Meesha headed over to the door. She paused in the doorway and turned around.

"Once you three lovers are done, head downstairs for some breakfast with me," she teased, a mischievous grin upon her face. Athena looked like she wanted to stab her.

"We are NOT lovers. I'm merely trapped," she growled.

Meesha took off down the hall laughing. She knew that Athena could easily overpower the other two women and break free if she really wanted to. She suspected that Athena actually liked being hugged, as hard as it was to believe.

Upon reaching the dining room, Meesha ran over the the cooking area. She wasn't hungry yesterday, but today she was starving. She took some scrambled egg, bacon, toast, and a glass of milk. Seating herself back down in the corner, she began to eat her breakfast. She knew the journey through the mountains would take several days, and she needed to increase her energy.

I wonder what's taking them so long up there, Meesha wondered.

Athena groaned irritability as both Aphrodite and Roxy moved at a rather slow pace. They were trying to get the wrinkles out of their clothing since they spent the night in them. Athena didn't see what the big deal was; it was just clothes. So what if they were a bit wrinkled? They would just get wrinkled and dirty anyways.

Finally, they were ready. Or according to Aphrodite in a whispered remark to Roxy which Athena happened to overhear (she wasn't eavesdropping, really!) "because we don't want to tip her off the deep end again."

Making their way downstairs, they found Meesha shoving her face full of egg, bacon, toast and milk. As Aphrodite and Roxy ran off to get food, Athena sat down at the same table as Meesha with a tired plop.

"You are the only sane person here," she informed the young woman with a tired sigh.

Meesha looked up as Athena flopped down onto a chair next to her. She looked exhausted and defeated.

"You are the only sane person here," she informed the young woman with a tired sigh.

Meesha had a mouth full of bacon, so instead of replying she simply reached out and patted Athena's hand. She knew how Aphrodite and Roxy could get, and Athena had her full sympathy.

She finished swallowing her food, and looked around. The owner of the inn was passing their table, so she stopped him with a hand wave.

"Excuse me, but has the morning bell sounded yet?" she asked, taking a sip of her milk. The innkeeper looked annoyed, but grudgingly answered her question.

"Yes, about an hour ago," he replied swiftly, before hurrying towards the storage room. Athena groaned.

"Ugh, we're so far behind schedule!" she complained.

"Well, we are up late last night, and we were all exhausted," Meesha countered. Athena knew she was right, but didn't want to give up the opportunity to berate Roxy and Aphrodite.

As if on cue, the two soon returned to the table, their plates laden with food. Athena eyed the bacon angrily, knowing that she couldn't eat it lest she become ill. Instead, she snatched some of Roxy's bread and began to eat. Unlike Meesha, she had no qualms with talking while her mouth was full.

"We're going to be late!" she said, clearly annoyed with the delay. Aphrodite dismissed her concerns with a wave of her hand.

"We'll get there on time, cuz. We were tired! Give it a rest!" Aphrodite protested, before digging in to her breakfast.

"We need to get moving soon, so eat your food quickly...and don't call me 'cuz'!"

"Am I not your cousin?" Aphrodite countered, wiggling her eyebrows as she took out a bite out of bacon. Athena raised her eyebrow at Aphrodite's complete disregard of the rules which still held them bound. Well, if she got sick later, she would deserve it. Athena let her know as much.

"When you start throwing up, don't come crying to me," Athena told her, swallowing the bread before stealing another, this time from Aphrodite's plate. Aphrodite gave Athena a lewd grin.

"I'm used to meat," she said slyly. "If you know what I mean."

Athena rolled her eyes in response, now munching on her new piece of bread. By this point, she knew better than to respond and give Aphrodite what she wanted. They sat in silence for a moment before Meesha spoke up.

"Do we know the route through the mountains?" she asked, her plate now clean and off to the side. Athena nodded.

"Yes, I think I have an idea. Let me see your map again," Athena responded, still nibbling on her slice of bread. Meesha dove into her satchel and retrieved the map, laying it out on the table. Athena leaned over it, tracing an outline with her finger.

"We'll go through the Maatu mountain pass near the back of the village. I've heard rumors that an important monastery lies just off the beaten path, so we'll see if we can find it before continuing on. Beyond that, I can't say," Athena said, before pulling away from the map. Meesha leaned over it, studying their route.

"I suppose we should prepare for some long nights in the cold," she said with a shudder. Meesha hated the cold. Athena nodded as she finished off the last piece of her bread.

"It's going to be a very uncomfortable journey. Perhaps if we can negotiate a stay in the monastery, we can rest before conti--Aphrodite! Stop playing footsie with me!" Athena yelled, jerking her feet away from the table. Aphrodite giggled in response, sipping on her orange juice.

After a few minutes of eating, Athena stood up.

"Well, I think we need to get going. Bring any leftovers with us, you can eat it on the way up the trail," she advised.

Meesha threw the satchel over her shoulder, straightening her robe. The next few days were going to be a challenge.

Roxy stared up at the mountain, craning her neck upwards in an attempt to see the top, her shock and awe growing larger by the second. Even though she had seen it plenty of times in the distance and from town, she never fully realized the full magnitude of its height. She had of course heard of mountains and seen the painting when she was learning about the past, but it simply didn't do it justice.

"It sure is something, isn't it?" Roxy turned to look at Athena who had an unreadable look on her face. Roxy remained quiet. She knew Athena and the other gods used to live on the top of Mt. Olympus, but she didn't know if it was still the case; it wasn't exactly something Athena enjoyed talking about. Still, she wanted to know more about her guardian and the other gods situation. She wanted to understand better. She made a mental note to try her luck with Aphrodite later.

"Alright, so we best get going," Athena announced suddenly, realizing that Roxy was staring at her. "Now Roxy, what we are going to be doing is sparing around this trail. Do not leave this trail. The mountain is treacherous and you are hardly an accomplished mountain climber. Do you understand?"

Roxy nodded her head. Pleased, Athena smiled.

"Good. Now, since you are more used to your spear and seem to favor its use over your sickle, we'll start with that on the way up. You might want to take off the obsidian spear point since it breaks a lot."

"If it breaks, why doesn't she just turn back time and fix it?" Aphrodite, who had been keeping quiet surprisingly, spoke up surprising the two. There was an awkward silence as her words sunk in as both women's face grew into a "can't believe I didn't think of that" look. Aphrodite looked between the two, before a sly smile crossed her face. "I can't believe neither of you thought of that.'

"Shut up," Athena growled, turning her back towards her perverted cousin with an irritated huff as Roxy's shoulders dropped as Aphrodite simply laughed. She turned to Roxy and sighed. "But she does have a point. Plus, it can teach you to work on your feet."

Summoning her training spear, she gently pushed Roxy towards the trail.

"I'll give you a head start. Now go!"

Roxy took off in a dead spring up the trail, her feet hitting hard against the small stones which littered it. A minute later Athena took off leaving Aphrodite and Meesha alone together.

Meesha chuckled as Athena ran up the path towards Roxy. She knew it would only be a matter of time before the goddess caught up to Roxy, and then she would be in a world of pain. Deep down, she knew that she wanted some petty revenge against Roxy for avoiding yesterday's target practice. Her smile faded the moment she turned and locked eyes with Aphrodite. They were alone. Aphrodite's grin widened.

"So, how are you today, Meesha?" she questioned, slowly drifting closer towards Meesha as she spoke.

"J-just fine, thanks. I don't like the cold though, so this journey will be a pain," Meesha responded, trying to steer the topic away from anything remotely sexual. It didn't work.

"Well, we'll just have to cuddle up together at night to stay warm!" Aphrodite said slyly, now uncomfortably close to Meesha. Noticing this, the mage picked up her pace.

"I'm perfectly alright with my tent and blanket!" she hastily replied, her footsteps quickening in an effort to maintain some distance. Aphrodite matched her speed, pulling closer by the second.

"Come on, Meesha! It'll be fun! In fact, why don't we practice right now?" she asked, now almost at a full on run.

Meesha didn't waste any time replying. With a leap, she had thrown herself into the air and cast Ride the Light. She almost tripped on some stray rocks as she found herself ten meters ahead on the trail, but managed to recover and press on. She heard Aphrodite calling her name behind her, running surprisingly fast.

"Meesha! Come back! I'm sure your tent is big enough for the two of us! Maybe three, if Roxy is up for it!" she called, scrambling up the trail.

A few seconds later, Meesha once again cast Ride the Light. Now she was at least twenty meters ahead of Aphrodite, and could afford some breathing room. Ahead of her, she saw Athena sprint up the hill, her long strides carrying her at an impressive pace. Roxy was little more than a dot, far up the mountain, struggling to find her footing.

Roxy stumbled up the mountain. She was hardly used to traveling on inclines. She stumbled a bit, and noticed a shadow hovering over her, and managed to roll out of the way as a large staff crashed into the ground where she was a moment ago. Even though she managed to avoid Athena's attack, she fell down the mountain a few feet feet rolling down the grassy incline into some shrubbery. The branches scraped against her skin and pulled at her clothes.

Yanking herself free as drops of blood began to form on her skin curtsey of her new scratches, she looked upwards only to see the sun was blocked. By Athena. Who was about to wail on her with on her staff. Quickly raising her spear up, she managed to block the blow, but the shock waves due to Athena strength made her loose her grip and fall further down the mountain, landing ungracefully on an outcropping of a rock.

"Get the hell back on the trail and take the high ground from me!" Athena yelled down at her, returning to the trail. Roxy groaned as she rolled over, pushing herself up. It hadn't even been 20 minutes, and she was already hurt and exhausted, and there would be no respite until they stopped for the night.