The Mouth Says No, But the Body Is Honest...
Setting aside Aphrodite’s bizarre misunderstanding for the moment, I gave everyone on the island a brief introduction to Ares.
“Z-Zeus’s son, you say?”
“This little brat?”
“My goodness… this child is Hera’s?”
Thetis and Nerites voiced their surprise, and even my “mother,” Eurynome—who happened to be visiting—joined them. Unlike the first two, whose reactions edged toward wariness, Mother’s face filled with quiet pity as she listened. She gently stroked Ares’s hair.
“How truly unfortunate. Even if you are Zeus’s son, to endure such hardship at so young an age…”
“N-no, it’s all because I was lacking…”
“That isn’t true. A fine boy like you has nothing to be lacking in. You have every right to take pride in yourself.”
“Th-thank you…”
Just as she had once been with me, Mother treated my little brother with the same gentle kindness. Watching her, I felt a fresh wave of gratitude. And, purely objectively, I couldn’t help thinking that Eurynome should have been the goddess of the household instead of that Hera woman.
“You’re truly certain it isn’t so…?”
“It isn’t.”
“R-really and truly?”
“Did you actually see me as that kind of man?”
“…Mmm… th-that’s not exactly…”
As a bonus, I had to soothe Aphrodite, who still refused to drop her suspicious glare after the nonsense Keres had spouted. Honestly, thinking of the original myths, I’d half-expected Aphrodite to fall for Ares at first sight—but the atmosphere was nothing like that. Far from love at first sight, she was looking at him with open disapproval, like a Chihuahua whose territory had just been invaded.
Leaving her reaction behind, I watched Ares, who was already chatting with the other death gods thanks to Keres’s introductions. I had no intention of revealing that I was his true older brother just yet. The circumstances of my birth were still known only to Hera. I didn’t want to burden Ares further with that knowledge, nor did I want to dredge up a connection I personally wished to sever and wound Mother Eurynome or the rest of the family.
Instead, for this boy in whom I could already feel a clear bond of blood, I resolved to seriously pass on everything I knew about a man’s true strength—something that went far beyond merely seeking a mother’s approval. The bearing of a real man. And for that, the boy would first have to make a clear choice of his own.
Late that night, after the sun had set, Ares stood alone with Hephaestus in the forge, where only a small brazier still burned.
“I brought you this far, but tell me—has your desire to grow stronger changed at all?”
“No. It has not.”
Ares answered Hephaestus’s question in a serious voice. Time had passed, yet he still had no intention of returning to Olympus. No—he couldn’t return. Not until he obtained the strength he sought, and with it, his mother’s recognition.
At those words, Hephaestus spoke in a grave tone.
“With that mindset, you will never grasp the strength you want.”
“What? What do you mean by that…?”
Ares asked, confusion and bewilderment plain on his face. Hephaestus fixed him with a gaze that seemed to flicker like living flame.
“Receiving another’s recognition feels good. But anything built solely for that purpose will always be shaken by a single word from someone else. Suppose you achieve some great feat and finally earn your mother’s approval—if she later speaks words of disappointment, won’t all your efforts until then become meaningless?”
“…That’s…”
Ares faltered at the unexpected point. Until now he had thought only of winning his mother’s recognition; he had never considered what came after. Even if he gained the strength he craved, what then if the fickle, exacting Hera still refused to be satisfied?
As Ares stood speechless, Hephaestus continued in the same earnest voice.
“True strength is not that. No matter how powerful a body you possess, without the will to guide it, it is nothing more than an empty suit of armor. And that will—that conviction—begins by setting your own standards, not someone else’s. That is the first step toward true strength… toward becoming a real man.”
“My own… standards… not Mother’s… but mine alone…”
Truthfully, Ares himself had sensed something of this already. Young as he was, he had traveled many battlefields, making his own judgments and decisions. There had been failures, yes—but successes as well. His father and other adults had praised him, and more than that, Ares himself had felt clear joy in those victories. Yet every such feeling had crumbled under a single scolding word from his mother. Constantly shaken by that, he had finally made his reckless choice. So Hephaestus’s words about establishing his own standards struck him all the more deeply now.
“You must speak and act according to the standards you set, according to what you yourself believe is right. Even if the other person is your mother—if you become certain she is in the wrong, you must be able to confront her firmly. For example…”
“!…”
And as Hephaestus’s following words reached him, a single resolve took root in Ares’s heart: the resolve to build his own conviction—not his mother’s.
“Z-Zeus… how long do you intend to keep committing this sin? If… if Hera ever learns of this…”
“And what would she do if she knew? I am king. It is my duty to spread the bloodline of the gods. Especially in dangerous times like these, I must sire many children to strengthen the divine lineage.”
Deep within Olympus, in a bedchamber, Demeter pleaded as Zeus once again prepared to force himself upon her.
“Please, stop. If Hera is not enough for you, go look for Metis, who vanished before. Why… why must you do this to me… nnngh!”
“Heh heh… Your mouth says no, but your body is so honest, isn’t it?”
“Z-Zeus…”
Ignoring the slightly irritating remark, Zeus continued to toy with his sister, intent on satisfying his lust to the full. Just then—
“L-Lord Zeus! Disaster!”
“! Urgh. W-what is it?”
“…Haa…”
An urgent voice from outside. Zeus felt a pang of regret; Demeter felt a flicker of relief. They hastily straightened their clothes and rose. But then—
“W-what did you say? Who… what has happened?”
At the nymph’s next report, both Zeus’s and Demeter’s faces drained into identical horror.
“Lord Ares… has been defeated.”
At the sudden summons, the gods of Olympus gathered in one place. When they finally assembled and heard the news, deep bewilderment settled over them. Young though he was, Ares had long held one of the key defensive lines through his powerful divinity as the god of war. His defeat was a loss Olympus could not ignore—yet an even graver problem loomed.
“S-so what has become of Ares? Wh-where is my son now?”
“Forgive me… According to the reports of the routed, he remained fighting in the enemy ranks until the end, and his whereabouts are now unknown…”
“Kh…”
Zeus clenched his trembling fist, thick with dread. Defeat was one thing, but as a father, not even knowing where his son was filled him with profound fear. Being a god, Ares would not die. Yet if his eldest son had been taken prisoner by the Titans, Olympus’s prestige would plummet to the ground—and the suffering the boy would endure in the process was unthinkable.
While Zeus and the other gods reeled under that heavy anxiety, Hera spoke in a voice thick with frustration.
“Honestly, what was that child thinking, doing such a thing? Attacking Atlas with no plan at all. Even if he is young and his judgment is still incomplete, how could he…”
The moment Zeus heard her, the patience he had been holding in check for so long began to crack.
“Do you… truly not know the reason?”
“…What are you talking about?”
Hera’s reply was laced with irritation and confusion. Zeus suppressed the sudden urge to strike his wife and answered in a sharp voice.
“This is all because of you! How hard must you have driven him for that child to make such a reckless choice?”
“W-what? Are you saying this happened because of my fault?”
“Are you claiming it isn’t?”
“How is this my fault?! You’re the one who spoiled him rotten and inflated his ego until he lost all sense of proportion and did this!”
“Why, you shrew—”
“Now, now! Everyone, calm yourselves!”
“This is no time for us to be fighting among ourselves!”
“Assigning blame can come later. Right now we must swiftly prepare countermeasures.”
At the intervention of their brothers and the lesser gods, Zeus and Hera were forced to break off their quarrel. Yet both were already thoroughly foul-tempered; they could not focus on the council and only ground their teeth at each other.
In the end, the meeting was led by Hades, their eldest brother and de facto second-in-command.
“First, the most urgent matter is to ascertain Ares’s exact whereabouts. We still do not know whether he has been taken prisoner or has fled somewhere, so I will dispatch nymphs and lesser gods to investigate.”
“Haa… that seems best.”
“And to prepare for any contingency, we will strengthen our watch against the Titans. Poseidon, I leave that to you, little brother.”
“Yes, elder brother.”
Under Hades’s direction, the situation was gradually brought under control. Just then—
“L-Lord Zeus!”
A nymph rushed in. But the emotion on her face was the complete opposite of a few days earlier—relief.
“Lord Ares has returned!”
“I-is that true?!”
The report instantly swept away the grim atmosphere. Deep relief began to settle over Zeus’s face.