Chapter 22: Coward Prince

1184 BC

As one would expect, Ares got bored.

It's been just over nine years since the battle on the beach in Yates and since then, Ares has had an itch not even Aphrodite could scratch.

The Achaean's had, like in the battle of Yates, destroyed and pillaged majority of the Trojan claimed cities, all except the main city of Troy itself.

No matter how much they tried, the Achaean's had no way of entering into Troy. Brute force nor cunning worked, and in turn, tempers were raised in the Achaean camp.

Everything came to a boiling point when after successfully occupying the city of Thebes, the beautiful Chryseis was presented to King Agamemnon as a prize.

Seeing her beauty, Agamemnon didn't hesitate and accepted the young Chryseis as his bed warmer. However, said girls father was a priest of Apollo, and at the behest of Achilles and other subordinates, the King of Mycenae was asked to give the young girl back to her father, if only to appease the God's.

Refusing to do so, Agamemnon not only frayed ties with the young Achilles but also angered the God Apollo, and over the next few weeks, a plague would ravage the Achaean camp. Only then did Agamemnon heed his subordinates pleas and release the young Chryseis to her father.

Feeling slighted at losing his prize, Agamemnon sought compensation, and soon his eyes landed on the most important warrior to grace the Greek armies, Achilles.

No, his compensation was not Achilles, but in fact the woman currently asleep in his tent. Not only was the young Chryseis a war prize, but there was another. Captured in the town of Lyrnessus, a place in which Achilles fought and killed its King, Mynes, was the beautiful blonde haired, and blue eyed, Briseis.

Threatening Achilles, claiming it his fault he had to relinquish Chryseis, Agamemnon demanded that the deliver Briseis to his tent.

Briseis to Achilles was not just a normal prize to use and simply throw away when he was tired of it. He in fact wanted to explore a future with her after the war. Although their initial encounter was not the best when it came to impressions, they eventually fell in love. The hate Briseis felt for the man who single-handedly destroyed her city had long dissipated and she too wanted a future with the young Achaean; but most dreams tend to lay unfulfilled.

The ensuing argument exploded with Achilles and Agamemnon almost coming to blows. If it wasn't for divine intervention, Agamemnon would have surely lost his head.

Achaean Camp, Thebes

"Achilles, calm yourself." A voice called out to Achilles, one he and his Myrmidons knew all too well.

"A-Ares?" He rhetorically asked, the God of War's index finger stopping his blade inches from Agamemnon's neck.

"Is this the type of warrior you are? To throw your achievements away for a woman." Ares spoke, his voice cold, and eyes narrowed.

"She's not just-" Achilles tried to speak, but Ares wasn't finished.

"What can she provide you that this battlefield cannot? Warmth? Blood can give you that. Security? Your sword and shield could give you that. Will she sing about you forever, have your name spoken about for millennia to come? No, only the battlefield can provide such a privilege." Ares finished, his eyes boring into the lowered head of Achilles.

The entire tent was silent. No one dared to move in the presence of this man, this God.

Moving his hand from Achilles' sword and gripping the young Achaean's collar, Ares spoke, "Don't bite your tongue."

"Wha-" with a single leap, Ares tore through the roof of the tent, and bounded over the entire camp, his destination a mountain range on the horizon.

"My King was that?" A soldier to the right of Agamemnon asked his unfinished question.

"We must not worry of who that was. What we must worry about is the Trojans finding out of Achilles' absence. There no telling what they would do if they did." Agamemnon spoke, ordering his men to somehow cover up the impossible.

With Ares and Achilles

Getting unceremoniously tossed to the ground, Achilles swiftly stood back up and glared at the God of war, "Why?!" He screamed. "Why is it always me?! As it is I'm fated to live a short life, and yet, the things I've earned with my own hands and shed my own blood for, gets taken away. No one cares about how I feel! They don't care about Achilles, they just care about his sword!" The young Achaean said, falling to his knees, his breathing ragged.

"Will you continue to fight?" Ares asked calmly, his back turned to Achilles overlooking the beautiful landscape.

"The only way I will fight is if my blade runs through Agamemnon's gut." Achilles growled out, getting up from his kneeling position and approaching Ares, standing by his side.

"What if I told you because of your absence, your dear friend Patroclus, posing as you, has perished?" Ares asked, from his peripheral he can see Achilles face twist in horror.

"Take me back!" Achilles screamed, grabbing onto the arm of the God of war.

To Achilles pleas, Ares simply turned his head to face the young Achaean, and with his voice calm as a lake replied, "No. Now wait here." Ares said, bounding off towards the Greeks.

Two days later, Achaean Camp, Thebes

"HAHAHA! Bring out your best warrior! Let me put him out of his misery!" The Trojan Prince Paris shouted from in front his Trojan army toward the Achaean troops.

"With the Gods as my witness, I, Menelaus, King of Sparta accept your challenge." Suddenly from deep within the Greek line, Menelaus's deep and gruff voice could be heard followed by many triumphant Greek shouts.

The once confident Prince Paris was now trembling, trembling so much in fact, his brother Prince Hector called him out on his cowardice loud enough for all to hear. Thanks to this, the young Prince quickly apologized and calmed his nerves. Instead of the shaking legs of a new born lamb, he stood in front of the King of Sparta like his equal.

With agreements reached, those being whoever wins keeps the spoils of war and gets Helen, the battle begun.

With a mighty throw of his spear, the Trojan Prince was the first to go on the offensive. Deflecting with his shield Menelaus too threw his spear with all his might, his spear whistling through the air.

Raising his shield, Paris intended to deflect the oncoming projectile but instead of deflection, it pierced through his shield and struck his shoulder, leaving a mighty gash.

No longer able to hold on, Paris dropped his shield and with a fierce battle cry charged the King of Sparta with his decorated xiphos.

The battle from this point on could be called anything but. The King of Sparta toyed with the young Prince of Troy, as the Trojan Prince would widely swing, Menelaus would calmly dodge, all the while his scowl directed at the young Prince deepening.

"Is this what she left me for?!" Menelaus screamed, as he dodged another wild swing and punched Paris in his stomach, causing the Trojan Prince to keel over, gasping for air.

"You! She left me for you!" Menelaus's face was now hauntingly dark.

Grabbing Prince Paris by the mohawk on his helmet, Menelaus proceeded to pull him toward the Achaean troops, who were already celebrating his victory the.

Dropping him feet before the Greeks, Menelaus turned both himself and Paris toward the Trojans and without hesitation swung his sword to decapitate the young Prince.

Prior to the battle, and even during, there was no wind present, it was as if the world stopped breathing. Suddenly as Menelaus brought his sword down, the wind whipped, and dust from the baron field they were on began to form dust clouds all around, the biggest surrounding Menelaus and Paris.

Unbeknownst to the King Sparta, since he couldn't see the happenings inside the dust cloud, he failed to notice the presence of a third.

"I knew you would come for me my Lady." Paris said weakly.

"I am not hear because of you. My Ares wanted me to save you and so here I am. Your use for me has long expired." Aphrodite sneered.

And before Paris could say anything more, he found himself away from the battle and in his tent.

"Come out coward! Show yourself!" When the dust settled Menelaus was actively searching for the young Prince. "Why Gods? Why must you punish me so?!" Menelaus shouted, his eyes never leaving the Trojan soldiers.

While Menelaus was searching for the Prince of Troy, another God made its way to the battlefield unseen by all.

"Glory, you want that right Pandarus? I can give you eternal glory, eternal wealth. Use your divine arching and resume the war. Strike the King of Sparta, and your wildest fantasies could be yours." Ares whispered to the gifted Trojan archer Pandarus.

Smiling wildly, Pandarus took aim at the still searching King of Sparta and released his arrow, piercing Menelaus bronze cuirass and lodging itself into his stomach.

All who saw the arrow were stunned. A war that lasted nine years could have finished with a simple duel between its instigators, and now it's at its peak once again.

Simultaneously, Prince Hector from the Trojan side, and Agamemnon from the Achaean side screamed, "CHARGE!"

(A/N: Hey guys, I'm planning on wrapping the war up in the next chapter. Is there any place you would like Ares to go? Or characters from different anime or manga to introduce? Let me know? Your suggestions are always welcome.'