The Bride of War God

Jill was still in the forest—somewhere in the mountains of Olympus. The trees were not too dense because the soil was a little barren. It rarely rains, the air was a little dry. The space between the trees allowed the afternoon sun to seep through the branches —so she could see the pebbles strewn in her path.

She still wasn't used to it. Since she was controlled the body of Portia—the most beloved daughter of the king of Sparta— who has rarely been physically active before. Only a few meters to go, her legs felt heavy to swing further. The ground she stepped on was contoured uphill so it was very tiring for her. She had to find twigs sticking out around her to hold on to.

Jill wasn't quite sure what era she was living in. About a week before, She woke up in the bed of a princess named Portia who had been in a coma for nine days. She didn't see the slightest form of advanced civilization in her room other than a bed with goose feathers and the pungent smell of honey from burning beeswax.

The day got hotter. Her beautiful body started to sweat. She walked aimlessly.

She felt sorry for the servants at Sparta's palace. They was tried to beautified her for days. They dressed her and repeatedly rubbed her body with sea salt scrub until Jill felt her skin might turn transparent.

But now she's such a mess. The dust of the sandy earth covered the hem of her dress. Made the white color change to ivory white like spilled tea. Her hair was loose and slightly damp with sweat. Even so, Jill believed her appearance is still as beautiful as it should be. Portia's nickname as Greece's most beautiful princess is no nonsense.

She felt desperate. What really happened to her? A weeks ago she was still Jill Adelaide-a Hollywood actress on the cusp of her popularity. She even just signed a contract to be a bond girl in the next James Bond movie. She only remembered slept in her cabin on her voyage to film around Greece. Then she woke up in Ancient Greece without knew anything.

Oddly enough, she could understand Greek-something she had always been too lazy to study seriously even though her grandmother was a native Greek.

Jill wanted to cry. She had been prepared when the Portia family said that she must be offered to Mount Olympus-to be married to the cruelest god there. But she did not knew that there would be an earthquake that made her horse panic and carried her away leaving the group of Ares followers—who was been escorted her. Her horse knocked her over as he frantically ran earlier. Luckily she didn't dislocate-although there was a small scratch on her calf.

Now she was alone and lost in the woods. She didn't know where she was going. She is tired and thirsty. Jill thought her luck was bad enough but it turned out that there was something else that could make it worse. She might never get to met the evil war god who might want to enslave and torture her on Olympus. Because she would end up being eaten by wolves.

Wolf is an animal that moves with its herd. When she saw one of them-Jill knew she had violated their territory. That meant she was definitely marked as their prey. Worse still—the wolf was huge. Probably almost as big as a cow. her slender legs turned limp. She hadn't shouted since she wanted to save her voice. But now she screamed and ran as fast as she could.

In her confusion. She saw something jump near her. a human figure dressed as an ancient Greek warrior and a metal helmet on his head was seen thrusting his spear valiantly into the head of the wolf; who was trying to pounce on Jill. The man twisted his spear, forcing the monster wolf to shrieked. Another pack of wolves withdrew because they did not want to face the ruler of Olympus.

The girl was shaked. She relieved that she would not die being eaten by hungry wolves. But she trembled since she was living in ancient Greece today. She knew that people at that time were very patriarchal. Not infrequently the women who were seen alone were forced to become wives or enslaved as they pleased.

"Luckily I found you soon. The earthquake earlier shouldn't have happened. maybe Hades was having a little scuffle with his monsters underground. I guess I should protest about that. Are you all right?" The man reached out. Asking Jill to stand up.

The girl stood up a little with difficulty and limped towards him. Is he one of the follower of Ares who was ordered to escort her from Sparta? It seemed that Jill never saw him.

"When you disappeared, my followers immediately informed me. Lucky I am the one to find you, not the satyrs or others. Olympus is a very dangerous place for humans like you. Because all the monsters here will immediately hunt you as soon as their noses smell the scent of humans." The man explained again while pulling his sharp-tipped spear from the fresh carcass of the wolf.

"Monsters?" She asked.

"This is Olympus, the abode of the gods. No humans can come here unless the gods allow it. We created monsters to keep humans from getting close." 

"Are you hurt?" he continued.

"I think I sprained my leg a little."

The mysterious man slowly pulled her arm and carried her in his arms. She screamed a little because it was so sudden. She felt a little uncomfortable because the man wasn't wearing enough cloth. She knew that was a common dress style for warrior men in ancient Greece, but she had never been carried like that before.

"Who are you? Where are you taking me?" She ventured to ask.

The man stared at her seriously for a while through his war helmet. She got nervous about it.

"You should know that no one else is allowed to touch you like this. Aren't you Ares' bride?" The man asked again.

"Yeah, but—I thought you were his follower or something."

The man changed the way he carried her, moved her into one of his arms as if she were just a light straw doll. He ignored her protests that she felt disrespected. The man then took off his helmet. He smiled at her. The girl couldn't stop the embarrassed expression that now crossed her face.

This was irrational. How could Jill blushed because she saw such a handsome person. That man was indeed very beautiful. Jill had no idea that such a person existed in the world. It's like he was created in a laboratory from the finest components. His hair was shiny black which looked tempting to touched. His eyes were slanted dark brown. Everything in there was perfect.

"I am Ares, son of Zeus. The god of war." Ares introduced himself.

She gulped. For weeks she regretted her fate and tried to face her fears. It was said that she would be presented as the bride of Ares—the immoral god and a war-crazy. She imagined a scary figure instead of a supermodel before. But he's still a ruthless villain, so she will remain vigilant.

"Now be a good girl. I'll take you back to my palace." Ares told her.

She wanted to ask again, will Ares continue to carry her all the way to his Palace? Because she was afraid that her heart would explode from beating too fast before they got there.