God of War, Ares: Guardian

by Brandon Chen

  Ares looked at the hundreds of injured civilians that were screaming out in agony in the lower city. Those were the lucky ones that had survived the explosion. He raised an eyebrow, rather surprised that Ahriman didn’t care even the slightest about the deaths of other humans. After all, hadn’t he been mortal once? The god shrugged. It didn’t matter. This Persian was about to meet death soon anyway.

  ***

  Darien sat alone in a universe of darkness, sitting with his legs crossed before him. A tranquil pool of water was set before him, showing him all of the events unfolding in the real world through Ares’ eyes. The boy stared at the serene pool mindlessly, watching as hundreds of people died. The color from his eyes had faded and he looked much like a soulless doll, sitting there with purposeless existence.

  “You’re going to just let Ares wreak havoc like that?” Suddenly an image of young Tetsu from five years before appeared right next to Darien. The young boy squatted down next to the young Persian prince, peering into the pool of water, witnessing the destruction of Persepolis. “He’s going wild. He cares nothing for the people.”

  Darien said nothing.

  “H-he has no restraint!” Young Yuu sat down on the black floor on the other side of Darien. “I-I mean, he’s just so b-barbaric! He’s scary, don’t you think? Is that how you want to be, Darien? Scary?”

  “He’s irresponsible,” Darien’s father said, standing on the other side of the pool with his queen at his side. “He strikes with no regard for the consequences that come with his actions. As a god, he should control his own strength.”

  “He shows no mercy,” Aleysha said, appearing beside Darien’s father. She folded her arms and watched as Ares punched Ahriman through a building, murderous intent coursing through the god’s veins. “He’s not like you, Darien.”

  “You’re right,” Darien said, still staring at the pool of water blankly. “He’s not like me. He’s stronger than me. He’s not afraid and won’t let anything hold him back from achieving what it is he really wants, for he doesn’t care about any of these mortals around him. He’s the only one who can carry out my wish for vengeance.”

  “But is that what you really want?” Kira asked, standing beside Aleysha.

  Darien didn’t reply.

  Or is that what you think you want? Amon’s voice echoed in Darien’s head. The prince pried his eyes away from the pool of water and he glanced up to find the massive rock golem standing behind his father, mother, Aleysha, and Kira. The Guardian stood tall and snorted with a slight nod of his head. You think that it was your duty to go back to Persepolis, avenge your family, and reclaim your throne?

  “That is my responsibility as prince!” Darien barked.

  Not as a prince. Your duty as a prince is to lead your people.

  Darien gritted his teeth, lowering his head. “Then it is my responsibility as my parents’ son.”

  Your duty as their son is to move on from their deaths.

  “Move on?” Darien glared upward at Amon, rage rising in his heart. “How is it possible to move on from the brutal deaths of the two people who raised me since I was a child? They gave me everything! I was so lucky to have someone as caring as my mother and someone as hardworking as my father in my life. But I never thanked them for being there. Not once! All I ever did was pester them about how I thought I was too irresponsible for the throne and how I would never live up to my father’s legacy. I spent five years in the Lost Sands trying to forget my life as Prince Darien. And so I became Ares, someone that I’m not, in a futile attempt to leave behind the life I once had. But I’m not a barbaric god of war who loves fighting. I’m not a dauntless warrior who fears nothing and is fierce in the face of danger. I’m just a grieving prince who has locked up his suffering deep inside. I can’t move on, Amon. I’ve tried.”

  Amon tilted his head to the side and grunted. Do you think your parents honestly care at all if you slay their murderer? My young master, you are misled. Ares may have told you that they aren’t able to move on without Zahir and Cambyses’s deaths but do you think that is true? Ares doesn’t know your parents. You do.

  Darien lowered his eyes. His father wouldn’t condone violence as a solution to the issue. There was no doubt about that. His mother wouldn’t either. In fact … now that he thought deeply about it, he realized that neither of his parents would really care for redemption.

  You don’t have to be a fierce warrior. You don’t have to be dauntless, fearless, barbaric, careless, or wild as the old god of war once was. Darien, you are not him. You’re you. I remember the last request that you made of me, young master. You told me to stop you if you ever started to lose yourself. Well, here I am, Darien. I’m here to tell you that it’s okay for you to be human and be a god at the same time. It’s okay for you to suffer, to feel pain, to cry. It’s okay for you to be yourself.

  Darien felt tears beginning to rush to his eyes and he felt two reassuring hands touching his shoulders. He turned and saw Tetsu and Yuu both there at his side. The young prince sniffed, turning to see that Alkaios had appeared in the world of darkness along with his gigantic army of the United Eastern Nations of Dastia, creating a sea of supporters around the boy.

  Ramses was standing beside Alkaios and gave the young prince a slight nod of his head.

  Mithra appeared sitting on Amon’s left shoulder. The Persian god of war and justice smiled at Darien and winked. “You’re a lot different than the other gods, Darien. You care for your friends, you care for your Guardians, and you restrain your power to protect those around you. I think that’s remarkable, to have that much control. You once told me that you were an irresponsible person. But you use your godly powers more responsibly than any other deity I’ve met.”

  Darien smiled and saw that Ra was sitting on Amon’s other shoulder, taking the form of a young man with tanned skin. He wore a cap made of the carcass of a falcon and he wore strips of tattered clothing that curled around his waist and dangled down to his knees. “You’re here too, Ra?”

  Ra nodded. “This world is your heart. Everyone in here is a companion that you hold dear. They’re people that support you, are willing to fight for you, and they’re willing to die for you. Five years ago, I chose you to become the next god of war for the Hellas pantheon. Do you remember why that was?”

  “Something about being courageous, brave, and persistent?” Darien said, slightly unsure. “I had traits that the old Ares had.”

  “Ah, you did have qualities that the old Ares had. But you also had many that he didn’t. I acknowledged kindness, selflessness, and determination as a few examples back then. Your willingness to sacrifice yourself to help others is a trait that we need amongst our gods these days. We need heroes, deities who are willing to put themselves on the line. Because you were once human, you are compassionate and understanding of other mortals. That is a unique quality that none of the other gods have,” Ra said. “Before I put Ares’ corpse in Zerzura five years ago, I had a discussion with Zeus, the leader of the Hellas pantheon, your god family. Zeus was worried that an irresponsible mortal would claim Ares’ strength, one that wasn’t worthy. One that would abuse his almighty strength as Zahir is now.

  “I can honestly tell you, Darien, that you are the best choice that I ever could’ve made for picking an heir to Ares’ legacy. As Mithra said only moments ago, you are the one god who uses his powers sparingly. Do you see Ares as he is now?” Ra said, indicating to the pool before Darien. “He’s using his strength to destroy all of Persepolis, killing thousands of innocent people. All without a care in the world for their wellbeing.”

  Darien closed his eyes. “My friends are there as well.”

  “Then you must save them,” Ra said with a gentle smile. “Along with the other mortals that suffer under the wrath of both Ahriman and Ares.”

  “How?”

  “You fight back and claim what is rightfully yours: your body, your mind, your godly power, and finally, your throne.”

  ***<
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  Darien’s eyes slowly opened and he found himself standing inside of a gigantic temple made of stone and gold. Giant pillars supported a transparent ceiling that stretched hundreds of meters high. The young prince could see that it was nighttime in this alternate universe. He looked around and saw that the temple was located on a giant slab of land that floated in the middle of space where they were surrounded by billions of glowing stars. Braziers lit with golden flames illuminated the dark temple, revealing a gigantic statue of Ares that towered dozens of meters high. At the foot of the giant figure was a throne made of smelted steel that was tinted orange. Sitting upon the throne was the original Ares.

  The god had long, stringy hair that came down over his face. His lips creaked into a sly smile, revealing his white teeth. He was shirtless, revealing rippling muscles that were honed to perfection after centuries of training. He wore torn, brown shorts that looked like they belonged to a commoner. Ares tapped his bare feet on the stone floor of the temple, the sound echoing, and began to chuckle. “To think that you’d come here to my realm to challenge my place as the true god of war, Darien.” Ares placed both of his coarse hands on the arms of his throne and stood up, tossing his dark hair from his face, revealing his orange, gleaming eyes. “I didn’t think you had the guts, pampered prince.”

  Darien said nothing, rubbing his fingers against his clammy palms. His heart was racing but he knew that this was no time to be afraid. He was the true god of war. This power was his to control. The old Ares was dead, and it was time to cast away the ancient god once and for all.

  “This is my temple, placed upon an island in a private universe. Only a being’s soul may come here. If you die in this universe, Darien, your soul will forever be locked away and sealed within your own body. So, a duel, a challenge of skill. That’s how we’ll settle this. One soul against another. The winner will get to keep your body, how does that sound?” Ares said, snapping his fingers. His massive armory materialized beside his throne, thousands of weapons and armors filling racks upon racks. “No magic, no special skills, nothing. Just an honorable battle between warriors. Go on, pick a weapon.”

  Darien extended his hand to his spear and watched as the weapon flew from the rack and landed perfectly in his hands. He twirled the spear in his hand and slammed the butt against the ground, sending a bang ringing through the temple.

  Ares smirked. “How expected of you, Darien. You always pick the same weapon no matter what, don’t you? You don’t like to experiment and you don’t like to have fun! What a shame. The art of war is a skill that you should embrace and enjoy. After all, war is what we’re best at, isn’t it?” A two-handed sword that had a bright red blade raced straight into his right hand. The god gripped the hilt, wielding the gigantic sword with only one hand. Veins bulged from his muscular arms but he simply smiled as if the weapon wasn’t even heavy.

  Darien watched in disbelief as a second two-handed sword with a blade made of sapphires flew into Ares’ left hand and the god wielded both weapons with ease, slamming the blades against one another, sending blue and red sparks flying into the air. The prince spun his spear and took a defensive position, gulping hard. If this is all based on skill, I’ve only been training for five years. Ares has centuries of combat experience. I’ll have to find some sort of weakness if I want to best him.

  Ares sprinted forward, rushing across the temple with his blades trailing behind him. His eyes went wide, reflecting a crazed look, and he whipped both of his blades in a downward slash towards Darien. The prince sidestepped the blows, watching as the weapons cracked the stone floor of the temple. Darien’s eyes spotted the muscles in Ares’ arms still tense and watched as the god scraped his blades across the ground and tore them through the air towards Darien in a futile attempt to catch the boy off-guard.

  Darien ducked the speedy slash with ease and jabbed outward with his spear, smacking Ares straight in the gut with the butt of his weapon. There was a heavy thud as the god staggered backward, his eyes burning with rage. Darien spun his spear, spinning the weapon around himself and stabbing outwards from around his back. The positioning was so unexpected that Ares was barely able to dodge the jab. The prince whirled around and gripped the shaft of his weapon tightly, unleashing a relentless barrage of fast strikes that jabbed straight for Ares’ head. Hoping to pop the god’s head like a balloon, Darien continued to stab with incredible, blinding speed.

  Ares weaved around Darien’s speedy strikes, his teeth clenched. He was rather surprised that Darien had such expertise with the spear. The god grunted as the prince’s spear sliced his cheek, drawing a slight sliver of blood that streamed down his cheek. He’d gotten hit? By this fool? Ares’ eyebrows went up suddenly as he saw Darien’s spear racing straight for his face. The man crossed his swords in front of him, blocking Darien’s jab with a swift motion. “About time I took you seriously,” Ares growled, breathing fog onto his crossed blades.

  Darien winced as Ares’ swords swooped outward, nearly rending him in half. The boy staggered backward, sweat racing down his face. If he wasn’t careful, one mistake could be fatal. Ares rained down countless, fierce, blows that numbed Darien’s arms as he attempted to block the attacks with the long shaft of his spear. He’s too strong…!

  “Gah!” Darien grunted as a final slash sent the boy flying backward through the air and slamming hard onto his back. The overwhelming power of Ares’ strikes was far too much for Darien to handle. The boy was nimble, able to deliver attacks quickly and dodge. But when it came to enduring the vicious strikes that Ares unleashed he was at a loss. The boy was about to get up when suddenly Ares smashed his boot down on the prince’s stomach, driving the wind straight from his lungs. He gasped, trying to get his breath back.

  Ares tapped one of his blades to Darien’s throat, the cold steel sending a chilling sensation shivering through Darien’s body. “Oh, don’t tell me that it was that easy,” Ares said with a sadistic grin. He tossed one of his blades away, the weapon clattering to the ground loudly. He reached down and grabbed Darien by the collar of his shirt, lifting the defenseless boy up into the air as if he weighed only a pound. “Surely the gods could’ve chosen a stronger replacement than you.”

  Darien clutched the hilt of his spear tightly, his feet dangling a foot from the ground. He jabbed towards Ares’ torso but the god saw the strike coming and brought his sword slashing downward, severing the boy’s hand in a swift motion. The prince’s spear clattered to the ground and he stared in shock at the bloody stump where his hand had been only moments ago. His face paled and Ares released his collar, allowing the boy to collapse to the ground and cry out in anguish. Darien was surprised to find that losing his hand didn’t hurt. Instead, everything was numb. All that he felt was a warm sensation in the stump of his wrist where his left hand had been only moments ago. Blood hemorrhaged from the wound and splattered onto the stone ground, creating a thick pool beneath Darien. Salty tears spilled down his cheeks and he sniffed up the mucus that was about to stream out his nostrils. Darien could see it, the pale, unmoving slab of flesh that was lying right next to Ares’ foot. The pungent miasma of metallic blood filled his nostrils, causing his stomach to heave. He reached to his mouth with his right hand, about to vomit.

  “Are you that afraid of pain, Darien? So much that you’ll retch at the sickening sight of your own blood? Well, trust me. You’ll be seeing a lot more of it spilt,” Ares said with a bellowing laugh. He paced forward slowly, dragging his bloodstained sword across the ground. There was a scraping sound that pierced Ares’ ears, making him tingle. “It bothers me, Darien, that they chose a wimpy little child like you to be my successor. Did they honestly think someone as feeble as you would be able to control my power? Why didn’t they pick some legendary hero known for slaying thousands? Instead they chose a spoiled prince that was surrounded by nothing but wealth since birth. Never once did you experience hardship before your betrayal in Persepolis five years ago. And even after surviving for five ye
ars in the Lost Sands, you’re still the same craven that you were when you entered that forsaken desert.” Ares stopped before the prince, raising his sword into the air. “With this final strike, your soul will be severed and you’ll be locked away forever. Your body will be mine. This is goodbye, little boy.”

  Darien clutched the forearm of his bleeding arm, gasping. His head was lowered, his curly blonde hair falling before his eyes. How on earth was he going to muster the strength to defeat Ares? Was this really the end? The prince reached up and wiped the tears that soaked his face with the sleeve of his shirt, his heart rate slowing down. Could he somehow defeat someone who feared nothing? Someone who didn’t feel pain and had thousands of years of more experience than he?

  It’s okay for you to be human and be a god at the same time. It’s okay for you to suffer, to feel pain, to cry. It’s okay for you to be yourself. Amon’s words echoed in the boy’s head.

  Darien clenched his teeth, biting hard. His body trembled as he cast the pain out of his mind. He reached up with his free hand and gently touched the golden medallion that dangled from his neck. You fight back and claim what is rightfully yours. Ra’s words bounced around in his head. “It’s not over yet, Ares,” Darien growled, glaring up at the surprised god. “Out there I have friends that you’re endangering. I have an army that’s depending on me to defeat Ahriman, not you. In the real world, I have people who I care about and I refuse to leave them behind!” He lashed out with his hand and snatched his spear off the ground, swinging the weapon around in a sudden sweeping motion.

  Ares’ legs were swept out from underneath him and the god’s eyes widened as he fell backwards. Crashing hard onto his back, Ares grunted before feeling a surge of pain spike through his leg. He turned and saw that Darien had jammed his spear deep into the god’s leg, drawing a massive amount of blood. “Y-you bastard!”