Bitter Memories

By JinXavier

Warning: This story contains scenes of graphic consensual sex between a man and a woman. If you are under 18, or this is illegal where you live, please read no further.

The characters of Hercules, Iolaus, Hephaestus, God of the Forge, and Ares, God of War, belong to Universal Studios and Renaissance Pictures. No copyright infringement is intended.

Author's Note: This story takes place between seasons three and four on Hercules: The Legendary Journeys. It takes place after Serena dies in "Judgment Day" but before Ares sires Evander with Nemesis in "Two Men and a Baby."

The sun was just peeking over the horizon as Hercules finished throwing dirt over the fire he'd built the night before. He checked the area carefully to make sure they'd left it clean, then glanced over to see his traveling companion regarding him solemnly. Hercules suppressed a sigh. He would be so glad when things got back to normal. Iolaus had been treating him as if he were made out of glass ever since Serena had died.

"Ready to head out?" he asked.

"Just a minute," Iolaus said with a yawn, not rising from the log he was sitting on.

"We really need to get a move on," Hercules pressed. "I want to check out those rumors about an army heading toward Pella."

Iolaus groaned and ran his fingers through his tousled blond curls. "I don't know why you always want to go looking for trouble, Hercules. It seems to find us easy enough without having to go look for it."

"Well, this is different," Hercules explained. "An old friend of mine is magistrate in Pella. You have to watch out for your friends, you know?"

"Okay. Okay," Iolaus griped. "I just hope it doesn't take too long to get there. I'm hungry for some real food."

Hercules couldn't help but laugh. Trust Iolaus to be thinking with his stomach. "Don't worry. Phaon runs the inn in Pella."

"Phaon! Does he still make that wonderful stew?" When Hercules nodded, Iolaus hopped up, his expression brightening. "Well, that's more like it. What are we waiting for? If we hurry, we'll make it in time for lunch!"

Hercules grinned and shook his head ruefully. He and Iolaus set off down the road, and although Hercules wouldn't have admitted it, he was hoping there really WAS trouble in Pella. Anything to take his mind off Serena. What the legendary hero didn't realize was that he was about to get his wish, in spades.

Hercules and Iolaus arrived in Pella just before noon to find a crowd of people gathered in the main square. It looked as if every single occupant of the small town was present.

The hero began weaving through the throng, peering over heads as he tried to determine the cause of the ruckus.

Suddenly, he came to a dead stop. Distracted by the sight before him, he barely heard the expletive breathed by his friend when Iolaus ran into him. Hercules could see the center of the square now, a communal water pump surrounded by a low wall of gray stone. Perched up on this wall were his friend, Phaon, and a woman.

Phaon was a very tall man of slender build. His blond hair fell straight to his shoulders, and his full beard glinted with red highlights in the noonday sun. His face was all sharp angles and planes, his eyes a faded shade of blue. His outfit was made of brown leather and gleamed brightly with touches of gold; Phaon had obviously done well for himself. Usually he wore an expression of utmost friendliness, but just now, his face was tight with uncharacteristic anger as he glared at the woman by his side.

She was the reason Hercules had halted in his tracks so abruptly. She was just as angry as his friend, and she glared up at Phaon with her hands planted firmly on her hips. She was tall for a woman, slender as a willow, dressed in a simple dark blue gown with a silver tie at the waist and an intricate silver band encircling her upper right arm. Her deep brown hair was pulled back in a gentle braid that reached well past her waist, but two ringlets had escaped to frame her heart-shaped face. Her eyes were the color of the deepest part of the ocean, very large and outlined with thick black lashes. Her red lips were full, her nose pert, her skin the hue of finest alabaster. Hercules' heart skipped a beat and then resumed its normal rhythm. Short of his sister Aphrodite and his nephew Cupid's wife Psyche, he didn't believe he'd ever seen a more beautiful woman.

Hercules could see the woman's mouth moving, but over the noise of the crowd, he couldn't hear what she was saying. Iolaus finally noticed her, and Hercules heard his friend breathe an awed, "Wow!"

"No kidding," the hero muttered.

"Quiet!" Phaon roared at last, silencing both his companion and the crowd before him. "This is not up for debate. We have no choice."

"There's always a choice, Phaon," the woman countered. "War is NEVER the answer to anything."

Phaon groaned and held his hands up to his temples as if to quell a throbbing headache. "Nova, I know how you feel, but there's no other solution. Give me another option, and I'll be more than happy to try it."

"We could try talking to them . . ." she began, but Phaon waved her words away.

"WHY would they listen to us? We're nothing to them. We have to fight."

"But we're not soldiers," one man in the audience shouted. "How can we defeat an army? Especially an army fitted with weapons like that!" The man pointed to a sword that had been implanted point down in the dirt in front of Phaon and his companion.

Hercules glanced at the indicated weapon, and his heart sank. The sword was made of a bright shining metal that seemed to glow with an unearthly light. The hilt was beautifully ornate; it looked more like an object of art than a weapon. There was no doubt in Hercules' mind that the god Hephaestus himself had forged the blade.

"We have to find a way," Phaon implored the crowd passionately. "If we run, we'll have nothing to come home to. They'll take what they want and destroy what's left in the process."

The people began arguing amongst themselves, and at last Hercules made his way to the front of the crowd.

"Can we help?" he asked with a twinkle in his bright blue eyes.

"Hercules! Iolaus!" Phaon cried joyfully. He jumped down from his perch and clasped his friend's arm in greeting. "Thank the gods! Your timing couldn't have been better!" He released his friend, then held up his hands and shouted, "People of Pella. Listen to me."

The crowd immediately grew still. It was obvious to Hercules that his old friend commanded much respect from the townsfolk of Pella.

"This is my friend, the great Hercules," Phaon explained. "He's offered to help us."

The people gaped at the hero for a second in shock, and then they all began to talk at once.

"Phaon is right. We can't abandon our homes. And with Hercules' help, we WILL triumph!"

"Hercules? We're sure to win now!"

Phaon held up his hands and signaled for quiet again. "Please, my friends, let me talk to Hercules, and then we will make plans for the defense of our village."

The townspeople began to disperse slowly, and the woman hopped down from her place on the wall, irritation plain on her beautiful face as she glared at the demigod. "What gives you the right to interfere here?" she asked. "You don't even know what's going on."

Phaon turned to the woman with a pained expression on his face. "Nova, please," he begged. He glanced back at the two heroes and made introductions. "Hercules. Iolaus. This is Nova."

Hercules and Iolaus greeted the woman, and then the son of Zeus plucked the sword out of the ground and examined it closely. "Well," he said in answer to her earlier remark, "It sounds to me like you're in the pathway of an army armed with these weapons. Where'd you get it?"

Phaon's expression grew grim. "We've been hearing rumors about an army massing north of here. We sent out scouts to see which direction they were marching. One of the scouts just returned with this. He says that not only is the army headed this way, but they are also outfitted with swords and shields like this."

"It's Hephaestus' work," Hercules pointed out to Iolaus. "I'd recognize it anywhere." He shook his head ruefully. "And if there's an army involved, then more than likely, Ares is behind all this." His jaw tightened in anger at the mere thought of his brother and the hell the God of War had just put him through.

Iolaus groaned. "Great. What are we going to do?"

"I really need to talk to Hephaestus," Hercules replied dryly. "He needs to find something more creative to do than outfit Ares' armies. I'm getting tired of cleaning up the messes."

Nova snorted. "Like he'll listen to you."

Hercules gazed down at her, his expression outwardly stoic, his emotions in turmoil. He didn't know why, she certainly didn't look like Daenaira, but something about the way the woman held herself and her whole demeanor reminded him forcefully of his early encounters with his first wife.

"He'll listen," he assured her. "Hephaestus and I are pretty good friends. With a little prodding, I think I can convince him to help us out."

"Stay out of this, brother," a deep voice growled from nowhere.

"Ares," Hercules snorted as the tall, menacing figure of his half brother appeared before him in a bright glare of blue light. "I knew it."

The hero glanced at his companions. Iolaus looked disgusted, but that was common enough when he was around Ares. He and the god had never had much use for each other, and things were bound to be worse after the way Ares had used Strife to kill Serena. Phaon looked confused; it was obvious he couldn't see the god. Then Hercules realized that Nova was staring straight at Ares, an odd expression of confusion and unease on her face. She could see him?

Ares hadn't noticed the woman, and other than a sneer in Iolaus' direction, he pretty much ignored the blond hunter. His furious gaze was fixed on his brother. "You don't want to tangle with me again, Hercules. Last time you got hurt. Or should I say your wife got hurt. Permanently. Maybe this time it'll be your little buddy there."

Absolute fury shot through Hercules. His hands clenched into fists of rage as he tried to squelch the urge to punch his brother right in his godly face. "One of these days, Ares," he growled.

"Ooooh," the God of War said with a feigned shiver. "I'm so scared."

"You will be," Hercules promised him. "Just wait until I talk to Hephaestus. By the time I'm through with him, he won't make you a toothpick, much less a sword."

"Cute," Ares snapped. "Like it matters what you say to him. Hephaestus owes me. He has no choice . . ."

The god trailed off as he finally noticed the lone female in the small group. If he hadn't been so furious, Hercules would have laughed as his half brother's mouth literally fell open.

"Nova?" Ares breathed.

The woman's eyes widened. "How do you know my name?" she asked faintly.

"What's going on?" Phaon demanded suddenly, and Iolaus leaned over and quietly began to explain the situation to the confused man.

Ares ignored the men. His dark gaze was fastened on the woman. "You don't remember me?" he asked incredulously.

Nova shook her head. "No," she assured him, but something about the way she was looking at Ares made Hercules wonder if she was telling the whole truth.

The god gazed at her in puzzlement that was rapidly giving way to anger. Suddenly, he strode toward her, and Hercules instinctively moved to block him. He expected his brother to stop and fight as usual, but so intent on his goal was he, that Ares simply shoved Hercules out of the way so powerfully that the hero went flying across the square. He regained his feet just as the god reached the woman. Ares cocked his head as he studied Nova, and then he reached up and almost gently touched her right temple.

Nova blanched. Hercules could see that she was struggling, but something seemed to be holding her in place. "Stop it," she whispered desperately.

"Ares!" Hercules yelled as he ran back across the square to attack his brother again, but before he reached his foe, the god dropped his hand and took a step backward.

"You really don't remember," Ares mused, his eyes narrowing as he contemplated the woman. "Interesting."

"Get away from her," Hercules growled, inserting himself between Nova and the god.

"Oh, get a grip," Ares snarled. "I didn't hurt her." He finally dragged his gaze away from the woman to focus on his brother, and an almost happy smile crossed his lips. "You don't want to get involved in this one, Hercules. I'm warning you now, you're in way over your head here. You've stepped into the middle of something that is much bigger than you are. I suggest you leave it alone, or you'll be visiting Hades permanently this time." Despite the warning in his words, the god seemed rather pleased by that prospect.

Hercules opened his mouth to make a scathing retort, but there was no point. Ares had already vanished.

"What in Tartarus was THAT all about?" Phaon exclaimed. He went to Nova's side, concern and something a bit deeper etched on his face as he put an arm around her.

"Are you all right?" Hercules asked her. She still seemed a little dazed.

"I'm fine," she said at last. "It felt like . . . like he was inside my head." She shivered suddenly and wrapped her arms around herself as if to ward off a chill.

"Like who was inside your head?" Phaon asked.

"That . . . that was Ares?" she asked Hercules in a faint voice.

The hero nodded. "You could see him, couldn't you?"

Nova nodded slowly, and then she looked up at Phaon. "You couldn't see him?"

"The only thing I saw was Hercules flying across the square and you standing there with a terrified expression on your face."

"Ares is behind all this," Hercules informed his friend, indicating the shining sword.

"But how did he know me?" Nova persisted.

"He knew you?" Phaon echoed.

Nova nodded, and Hercules studied her closely. She seemed genuinely confounded by the appearance of the god and his strange behavior. It was obvious, however, that Ares had known her, and even more obvious that he had expected her to know him. Even odder was the fact that she had been able to see the god. What did it mean, and did it have any bearing on the situation at hand?

"I think I need to go talk to Hephaestus," he mused. "Maybe he'll know what's going on."

"You'll be back, though?" Phaon asked, obviously concerned that he and his fellow townspeople were about to be deserted.

"You know I will," the demigod assured his friend. "Come on, Iolaus. If we leave now, we can be back by nightfall." Ignoring his friend's groan at another lost lunch, and with one last puzzled glance at the woman, Nova, Hercules set off with his friend toward Mount Aetna and one of the few gods of Olympus the demigod actually cared for.

"Hephaestus!" Ares roared as he appeared in the open throne room of the God of the Forge. He glared around the room. He HATED it here. Why Hephaestus chose to live in this pitiful mountain was beyond him. The only saving grace was the weaponry that lay strewn about on every conceivable surface.

Ares' scowl deepened when he noticed the throne that sat against one wall of the room. It was the throne his father used when other gods were punished or tried. He himself had been forced to sit in the blasted thing once when he'd been accused of attempting to kill Hercules when his hated half brother was still a boy. For reasons known only to the god, Hephaestus now used it for his own throne.

"What?" the God of the Forge asked impatiently as he appeared before Ares. His once handsome face, now marred by burn scars on the left side, was black with soot. "I'm busy, Ares. If you want me to finish the rest of your weapons, you'd do well to leave me alone."

"I need those weapons now," the God of War demanded, watching his fellow god closely to see the effects of his next words. "My army needs provisions, so I'm diverting them to Pella. The townspeople have decided to fight."

Hephaestus paled noticeably. He turned away from the God of War and walked over to a pedestal as if to buy some time. He touched the silver mask lying there and idly traced the lines of the design that had been etched into the fine metal. At last he said in a faint voice, "Pella? Isn't that a little out of your way?"

"Not at all," Ares assured him. "Pella had an extraordinarily bountiful harvest this year. My army needs it."

"But isn't there someplace else, someplace closer, they can . . .?"

"What do you care about a town full of mortals?" Ares snapped, cutting off Hephaestus' words. "Unless . . ." He paused, and a chilly smile crossed his lips. "Unless there's something . . . special about Pella."

Hephaestus shook his head quickly. "No. Nothing special."

Ares stalked over to his fellow god, suddenly tired of playing games. "I've seen her, Hephaestus."

"Who?" the god asked faintly, although it was plain he knew EXACTLY who Ares was talking about.

"Nova," Ares retorted. "She's alive. And don't try to lie to me about it. I've just seen her."

Hephaestus refused to meet his eye, but at last he sighed and said, "Okay. She's alive. Happy now?"

Ares shook his head in amazement. "I can't believe you deceived me. Zeus will have your head. She belongs to me."

Hephaestus' head shot up in anger. "You leave her alone. She's got a normal life now. She doesn't even know who she is. Just stay away from her."

Ares gazed at the god thoughtfully. How pathetic was this, that Hephaestus' love for a mortal would be his downfall. He had deceived not only Ares, but the King of the Gods as well, and Zeus was not in a forgiving mood right now. Despite the fact that Strife had been the one to kill his bastard half-brother's wife, Zeus was blaming Ares. His contempt for his trueborn son seemed to have doubled over night. This new development might work in Ares' favor. The more anger Zeus expended on Hephaestus, the less he would have left over for the God of War.

"That's impossible, I'm afraid," Ares informed the deformed god pleasantly. "Even now my army stands ready to march through Pella and raze it to the ground."

"No!" Hephaestus shouted, his hands clenching into fists of rage. "Go around it or something. You leave her alone!"

Ares smiled grimly. "It's too late for that. We need those provisions." His smile widened ferally. "But you needn't concern yourself with Nova. I'll see that she's safe AND that she takes her rightful place in my temple. If you have a problem with that, I have no qualms about taking this situation before Zeus. Your vow was binding. Father will agree."

Hephaestus glowered at the God of War in uncharacteristic fury. "Ares, you have so many mortals. Why can't you leave this one alone?"

"Not this time, Hephaestus," Ares growled. "You stole her mother from me. You won't take Nova, too." He glared menacingly at his fellow god, and then he disappeared in a contracting burst of blue light, his mind busily plotting how best to turn this situation to his own advantage.

When Hercules and Iolaus reached Mount Aetna, they found the God of the Forge pacing almost frantically to and fro in his throne room. Hephaestus stopped when he saw his friends, his expression suddenly guarded. "Hercules. Iolaus," he greeted them warily.

The two heroes greeted the god, and then Hercules raised the sword that he had carried to the mountain. "Recognize this?" he asked.

Hephaestus sighed deeply. "I know. Ares was here earlier. How'd you get involved in all this?"

"A friend of mine is magistrate in Pella," Hercules explained.

Hephaestus sat heavily on the stone stairs that led to his throne and put his scarred face in his hands. "Why?" he muttered. "Of all the towns in Greece, why did he have to choose that one?"

Hercules and Iolaus exchanged confused glances, and then Hercules came to sit beside his friend. "Who is she, Hephaestus?" he asked softly.

Hephaestus jumped up and strode across the room as far away from the hero as he could. "What? Who? I . . . I don't know what you're talking about." He paused, and then he turned back to look at his friend. "Are you going to help them?" he asked with more than a hint of pleading in his tone.

Hercules nodded slowly. "I was planning on it. But I was hoping you would help too." He indicated the shining sword. "Can't you do something about these? Destroy them or take them back or something?"

Hephaestus began to pace again. "You don't understand. If I do that, Ares will be furious. He'll . . . he'll make me answer to Zeus on this one."

Hercules' eyebrow arched skeptically. "Since when does Zeus care about war?"

The God of the Forge gazed at the hero blankly. "War? Oh, the weapons. I doubt Zeus cares overmuch about the weapons."

Hercules looked at Iolaus in utter bafflement, but his friend simply shrugged. Obviously, he didn't understand what was going on either. "Then can't you do something?" the hero prompted the god.

"I suppose I have to," Hephaestus said at last, almost to himself. "I can't allow anything to happen to . . ." He trailed off, glanced up at Hercules, and concluded, "the town."

Hercules didn't think that was what Hephaestus had originally meant to say, but he didn't push it. "So you'll help?" he asked.

Hephaestus nodded. "I've changed the formula for my weapons," he explained. "I added a special ingredient. With a command from me, it'll render them useless." He grinned suddenly, and his face lightened like a small boy's. "I did it because of Ares. Just in case he ever tried to pull something like this." His grin died away slowly. "I'll still have to answer to Zeus, though," he said in a low voice. He paused, and then he straightened his shoulders. "But it'll be more than worth it if . . ." He strode forward and grabbed Hercules by the arm. "You'll make sure . . . the townspeople are safe, won't you?"

Hercules cocked his head and studied his friend. "We'll do what we can, Hephaestus, but they're going to have to fight. I can't watch them all. Unless there's someone specifically you're worried about?"

Hephaestus rubbed at the soot on his face, and Hercules thought for a moment the god wouldn't answer, but at last he said, "There's a woman who lives there. Her name is Nova. She's . . . well, her mother, Adara, was my apprentice a long time ago. Adara was very special to me. I wouldn't want anything to happen to her daughter."

"Ares seems interested in her," Hercules pointed out.

"Ares," Hephaestus snapped. "He just can't leave well enough alone. He had completely forgotten about her, but now . . ." He stopped and gazed at the hero pleadingly. "Hercules, for Nova's sake, don't ask me anything more. And don't tell her any of this. Just take care of her for me, please?"

"I'll keep an eye on her," Hercules promised.

The God of the Forge took a deep breath. "Thank you. And I'll do my part. I'll change the weapons, but I'll wait until right before the fighting begins. That way his army won't be able to reoutfit themselves. They'll all be fighting with useless weapons."

Hercules grinned. "That sounds like a plan." He clasped Hephaestus' arm. "Thank you, my friend. And I promise that I'll keep Nova safe."

The god inclined his head in thanks, his dark eyes full of gratitude. Hercules and Iolaus bid Hephaestus farewell, and then they headed back toward Pella, their hearts lighter. The townsfolk would still have to fight to keep what was rightfully theirs, but the odds were more than in their favor now. And sooner or later, Hercules would discover why the two gods were so interested in a mortal woman.

Nova moved around the small cottage she called home, straightening things that didn't need to be straightened, trying to calm the unease that had taken hold of her when the God of War had appeared in the town square earlier. She knew that she had never seen him before. She'd never seen ANY god before today, but there was something about him, something that preyed on her mind and made her head ache in an old familiar way.

She couldn't stop thinking about him, and the fact that he knew her and seemed to think she should know him baffled her. The oddest thing, though, was for a moment, just a tiny moment, she'd felt a tug of recognition. Then it had disappeared as quickly as it had come. Of course, it was impossible that she would know the god. Her aunt had hated all the gods, but she had harbored a special abhorrence for the God of War. Aunt Tessa had never explained her feelings, but she'd been more than happy to pass them along to her son and her niece.

Irritated with herself for not being able to put the matter to rest, Nova picked up a piece of jewelry that she'd been working on and examined it closely. She immediately noticed a flaw in the silver, and she swore softly and began to work at the soft metal to fix the unsightly error.

Suddenly, she heard a faint sound, and she dropped the necklace in shock when the subject of her ruminations appeared inside her small cottage. She immediately backed as far away from Ares as she could, although he wasn't even looking at her. His dark gaze was wandering around the interior of her home, and it was obvious he found it lacking.

"What do you want?" she asked, but other than a slight glance in her direction, he said nothing. He noticed her workbench, and he walked over and examined the contents. He shook his head slightly.

"So this is how you put your talents to work?" he asked, a faint hint of ridicule in his voice.

Nova stiffened at the implied insult. "This is what I do," she said simply. She could have told him that her jewelry was famous throughout this part of Greece because of its beauty and intricacy, but she held her tongue, not wanting him to know how much his words wounded her. Then she wondered WHY they wounded her.

"What are you doing in Pella?" he asked.

Nova's brow furrowed. "I moved here when my aunt died."

"Tessa's dead?" he asked vaguely, as if he wasn't too interested in an answer.

His words startled her. "You knew my aunt?"

Ares picked up the silver piece she'd been working on and examined it closely, rubbing his thumb across the small flaw. "A little," he admitted. "I knew your mother better."

"My . . . you knew my mother?" Nova cursed herself inwardly. She sounded like an idiot, echoing his every word.

Ares nodded distractedly. "And your father," he added. He looked up at her curiously. "Do you remember him?"

Nova shook her head quickly. "He died before I was born."

Ares' eyes widened, and then he threw back his head and laughed loudly. The sound sent an uneasy shiver down Nova's spine.

"Oh, that's a good one. No, your father is alive. Alive and well. I spoke to him just a while ago."

Nova stared at the god in shock, and then a sudden sharp pain pierced her head, drawing all her attention. She raised her fingertips to her temples, her eyes filling with tears at the unexpected ache.

The god noticed her distress. He came to stand before her, much too close for comfort. He raised a hand and lightly brushed her cheek, sending an involuntary shiver through her body. "Does it hurt?" he asked sympathetically.

Nova nodded slightly, although even that simple movement sent another bolt of pain through her head. She moaned softly, and Ares replaced her fingers with his own, lightly rubbing her temples. Nova shut her eyes and sighed deeply as the pain at last began to fade. When she opened her eyes, his face was hovering scant inches above hers. She held her breath, waiting, until at last he gently pressed his lips to hers.

For some reason she didn't quite understand, she didn't pull away. As his lips explored hers almost delicately, there was something so familiar about the sensation, something so right, that despite herself, she began to return the kiss. She slid her arms around his neck and molded herself to him, aching in an odd, almost familiar way. He groaned into her mouth and pushed her back into the wall, grinding himself into her. She could feel him, long and hard against her thigh, and a sharp stiletto of desire pierced her body. Her hands moved down to explore the firm muscles of his chest, but as she began to tug at the leather vest he wore so that she could explore further, a sharp knock at the door startled them both. Aghast at her behavior, she pushed away from the god and moved across the room so that the workbench was between them.

"Who is it?" she called in a shaky voice.

"Nova? It's Hercules."

An expression of fierce hatred crossed Ares' face. His hands clenched into fists of rage, but then he visibly suppressed his anger. His dark eyes bored into hers for a moment, and then he said in a low voice full of promise, "You will see me again." With a small smile, he vanished in a flare of light.

Nova straightened her clothing and tried to calm the mad beating of her heart. She went to the door and opened it to find the son of Zeus waiting beyond.

"Are you okay?" he asked immediately, obviously noting her distress.

Nova had no intention of telling Hercules anything; for reasons she didn't quite understand, she did not trust the demigod, but the concern so evident in his bright blue eyes dissolved her defenses. "I don't know," she admitted. "Ares was just here."

"Why am I not surprised?" Hercules muttered. He glanced behind Nova as if to assure himself that his brother was truly gone. "Look, why don't you come down to the inn? Iolaus is down there eating, and we'd really like to talk to you."

Nova thought about it for a moment, but at last she nodded. She ran to fetch her cloak, and then she locked her door and followed the hero down into the town to Phaon's inn.

As he had stated, Hercules' friend was inside, deeply engrossed in a bowl of Phaon's famous stew. The innkeeper himself brought two more bowls, and then he took a seat beside Nova as she and Hercules ate.

"Well, things are looking a little better," Hercules assured them. "We'll still have to fight, but we won't be fighting against those weapons."

Phaon let out a sigh of relief as Nova asked incredulously, "Hephaestus is going to help us?"

Hercules nodded solemnly. "Yes, he is. He seemed quite anxious that nothing happen to the town."

Nova and Phaon exchanged confused glances. "The town?" Phaon echoed. "Why would Hephaestus care about Pella?"

Iolaus downed the last of his ale. "I think he was more worried about something happening to you, Nova."

"Me?" Nova said faintly. "Why me? I don't know Hephaestus."

Hercules was watching her closely. "You're sure? You've never met him before?"

Nova shook her head forcefully. "I've never met any gods. My aunt . . . well, she didn't much care for the gods. I've never even been inside a temple."

Hercules leaned back in his chair and regarded her curiously. "Your aunt? What about your mother?"

Nova shrugged. "My mother died when I was born. My aunt raised me. I lived with her up until two years ago when she died. My cousin inherited her shop, and I moved here to try to make it on my own."

"Shop?" Iolaus repeated.

"She was a seamstress. I sold my jewelry in her shop, but I felt uncomfortable staying on after she died, so I moved here."

Phaon leaned forward and gently took her hand in his. "And we're terribly glad you did," he said.

Nova blushed at the obvious sincerity in Phaon's words and in his eyes. She had known for a long time that he felt more than friendship for her, but he'd never been quite so blatant about it before. She cared for him, too, but she wasn't sure just how MUCH she cared. For some reason, she had always kept men at arm's length. It wasn't that she didn't like men; it was that the only times in her life she'd actually felt anything resembling desire for a man, something inside her had stopped her before things went too far. Stranger still, afterward she always felt guilty.

She started when Hercules cleared his throat. Iolaus was hiding a smile, and Nova gently disengaged her hand from Phaon's. "So," she said briskly, changing the subject back to the matter at hand. "We still have to fight."

"Not you," Phaon countered immediately. "You'll go up into the hills with the other women and children."

Nova's natural stubbornness kicked in. "I will not," she announced.

"Yes, you will," Phaon insisted. "You can't fight. You've never held a sword in your life."

"No, I can't fight," she admitted, "but I can help with the wounded."

"No," Phaon stated firmly. "I won't risk anything happening to you."

"Phaon . . ." Nova began, flustered by her friend's insistence.

Hercules intervened. "He's right, Nova," he assured her. "It's probably for the best that you go. Hephaestus was quite concerned for your safety. It'll be better all the way around if you go to the caves."

Nova gaped at the demigod. "Why on earth would Hephaestus care about what happened to me?" she asked.

Hercules shrugged. "I was hoping you could answer that for me."

Nova shook her head. "I don't understand any of this. First Ares. Now Hephaestus. What's going on?"

"Don't worry about it," Iolaus said around a mouthful of stew. "If anyone can find out, Hercules can."

Nova nodded absently. She rubbed her temples lightly as a faint echo of the pain she'd felt earlier throbbed in her head. She still didn't trust Hercules completely, but she would keep her mouth shut for now. Somehow, she had to find out what exactly was going on here.

Nova went through the motions of packing all her valuables and even went so far as to load them in the last cart heading up into the mountains. Phaon was on hand to make sure she really did leave, and Nova could tell when he said good-bye that there was more he wanted to say to her. Thankfully, he said nothing except that he would see her later. She was relieved. She didn't know what she'd do if he made a declaration of his feelings for her. She was so confused. She truly cared for him; she thought she might even love him, but something held her back. All the while there was an emptiness inside her that she ached to have filled. She wondered if Phaon's love would fill it, but she was hesitant to try. Just the thought of a life together with him sent the oddest feeling of guilt shooting through her.

She took her place on the cart, and it began to roll away from the village. Nova gazed behind them as Phaon receded into the distance. At last, they rounded a curve and she could see him no more. She turned back to face the front of the cart, chewing on her lip anxiously. The further from the village they rode, the more restless she became. She couldn't believe Phaon and Hercules had sent her away. Her friends were about to fight for their homes, and here she sat riding away to safety. No, she couldn't fight. She didn't have the first clue about combat. But she could help with the wounded, and if push came to shove, well, she could wield a stick as well as the next person.

She signaled for the farmer driving the cart to stop. He tried to argue with her, but Nova's temper was legendary, and he didn't protest for long. He stopped the cart, and Nova jumped down. She began to walk back toward the village, feeling better with each step she took. Pella was her home now. She had to do her part to defend it.

She was nearing the outskirts of the village when an odd sound filled the air around her. She paused in mid step as Ares appeared before her. The god seemed rather amused about something.

"I thought Hercules sent you away," he said, a small smile wreathing his full lips.

Nova shrugged. "I decided I would be of more use here."

Ares' smile widened. "I'm glad to see you're not the coward Hercules thinks you are."

Nova stiffened at the implied insult. "I'm not a coward," she retorted hotly.

Ares' inclined his head, as if acceding her point. "Of course you're not," he agreed soothingly. "But you know, this whole situation is pointless. I could stop it with a single command."

Nova's eyes widened, and her heart filled with hope. "You could?" she asked.

The god nodded slowly and crossed the small distance between them. "I could. And I would. But I need something in return."

Her brow furrowed as she considered his words, and her guard immediately went up. She didn't much care for the sound of that last statement. "What?" she asked at last, steeling herself for whatever demand he might make.

"It's very simple, Nova," he explained as he almost casually ran his hands up her bare arms. "I want you."

Nova stared at Ares in shock. Whatever she'd expected him to ask for, it certainly hadn't been this. She simply did not understand why he seemed so interested in her. "What are you talking about?" she asked in a shaky voice.

"It's very simple," he continued, caressing the sensitive skin of her shoulders lightly, maddeningly. "You were promised to my temple at birth. Your father tricked me into believing you were dead. Now I simply want what is rightfully mine. You."

Nova's head was spinning. "My . . . my father? Your temple? I don't understand."

His dark eyes burned into hers as he said fervently, "You could stop it all, Nova. I'll send my army in another direction. Your village has no chance against my men. They will be slaughtered. But no one need fight. If you'll just come with me now."

Nova shook her head slowly, unable to comprehend this turn of events. Her head was beginning to ache again. "But why?" she whispered.

"I'll explain everything to you when we reach my temple," Ares assured her softly, moving even closer to her and cupping her face in his powerful hands. "Just come with me, and your village will be saved."

"But . . ." she began, but the god stopped her with a soul-searing kiss. Soon she had forgotten all her questions and protests as she lost herself in the way his lips felt against hers. She melted into him as he drew her close into the protective circle of his arms. It felt so right being with him, so perfect. He broke the kiss and began to move his mouth along the curve of her shoulder. "Come with me," he implored her fervently.

Nova opened her mouth to agree, but suddenly, a loud voice broke her from whatever spell the god had cast on her. Phaon was storming toward her with anger marring his handsome face. Nova slipped out of the god's embrace to confront her friend.

It was clear that Phaon didn't see Ares. His furious gaze was locked on Nova. "What are you doing here?" he exclaimed. "We sent you away so you'd be safe."

"I couldn't stay there," she explained. "I can't let you fight while I'm hiding away."

"Nova," Phaon groaned. "Why do you have to be so stubborn?"

"My thoughts exactly," Ares interjected. "If you'd just . . ."

Nova cut the god's words off with a savage slice of her hand. "Just stop it. I don't trust you, Ares."

"Ares?" Phaon quizzed, looking around them curiously. "Is he here again?"

"I could kill him with a thought," Ares growled.

Nova stiffened, and she turned to face the God of War. "If you did, you'd never touch me again," she declared fiercely.

Their gazes locked, and oddly enough, despite the anger so evident in his dark eyes, Nova thought she detected approval there as well. At last he inclined his head slightly. "This isn't over," he declared softly. He glanced at Phaon one last time, and then he vanished.

"What's going on?" Phaon asked.

"Nothing," Nova assured her friend, although her brain was whirling from the god's words. What had he meant about her father? "I need to talk to Hercules," she said.

"He's down at the inn," Phaon informed her. "But Nova, you really should go . . . "

Nova ignored him and began to walk toward town. She heard her friend give a deep sigh, but at last he admitted defeat and came to join her.

They found Hercules in front of the inn just as one of their advance scouts ran up. The man informed them that the army was less than a day's march away, and Phaon sent him inside to freshen up. The magistrate ran his hands through his fine blond hair in agitation.

"So they'll be here tomorrow," he mused.

Hercules nodded. "We're as ready as we can be," he assured his friend

"So long as Heph . . . " Nova began, but Hercules waved her to silence as a familiar sound filled the air around them. Ares appeared in front of them, and Nova knew from the gasp she heard that this time even Phaon could see him.

"Getting your friend's little town prepared for the slaughter, brother?" Ares asked Hercules scathingly.

"You'd think gloating would be beneath a god," the demigod retorted.

Ares' eyes narrowed. "You're a fool. You're going to get all these people killed."

"No," Hercules countered. "This is all your fault. If you'd turned your army, none of this would have been necessary."

Ares regarded his hated half brother consideringly. "I could still turn them," he announced.

"What?" Phaon breathed. "How?"

Ares smiled thinly at the innkeeper. "Oh, not much. Just a small . . . trade."

"Trade?" Hercules echoed suspiciously. "I don't believe you."

"Believe what you want. It's the truth."

"What do you want, Ares?" Hercules said with an aggravated sigh, and Nova stiffened, prepared for the worst.

"The girl," Ares announced. "Give me Nova, and I'll make sure the army goes around Pella."

"No!" Phaon shouted immediately, moving in front of Nova to protect her.

Nova stepped around Phaon in mild exasperation. "Why are you doing this to me?" she asked the god.

"I told you," Ares replied. "You belong to me. I'm simply reclaiming what's mine." He moved closer to her. "You could end it all right here, Nova. No one would have to get hurt. Just come with me now, of your own free will, and your village will be saved." He held out a hand to her. "Nova," he said, his voice low and full of promise, "you know this is the right thing to do."

"No," Hercules disagreed. "She's not going anywhere, Ares. And certainly not with you."

"Hercules," Nova began to protest, but the hero turned on her.

"Don't listen to him, Nova. He lies. He'll take you and attack Pella anyway."

Ares said nothing in reply; he continued to gaze at her, compelling her with his eyes.

"That's enough," Hercules growled, stepping in front of the god and crossing his arms mulishly over his chest. "Nova isn't going anywhere."

Ares glanced at Nova one more time, but she dropped her head and wouldn't meet his gaze. "Then every death in this village will be on her head," the God of War said coldly. He raised a hand. "And on yours as well, brother," he added as he disappeared.

Nova paled at his words, but Hercules came over and tilted her chin up so that she was forced to look into his sapphire eyes. "Don't believe that," he said softly. "Ares will do and say anything to get what he wants. Believe me, Nova. If you had gone with him, it wouldn't have changed anything."

"But why?" she said. "I don't understand any of this."

"Neither do I," Hercules admitted. "But I'm sure it has something to do with Hephaestus. As soon as we're done, we'll go talk to him, okay?"

Nova gazed at the demigod for a long moment, wondering why she didn't trust him when he was so obviously sincere, but then she nodded. "Okay. After this is over." She shivered slightly. "If we're still alive, that is."

The next day dawned clear and warm, and the remaining townsfolk prepared for the upcoming battle. There was a great field near the village, and there the people gathered to defend their homes. Nova took her place at the healers' tent that had been set up on the far side of the hill overlooking what would soon be the battleground.

Soon enough, she heard the advancing army. Nova couldn't help but go to the top of the hill to watch the army as it took up position. She tensed as they prepared to attack, but then a shocked silence was followed by a roar of fury as the glittering weapons the men carried began to melt. Her own people began to cheer, and Nova breathed a quick prayer of thanks to Hephaestus for keeping his word.

She ran back to the tent and busied herself preparing for the wounded, although part of her wanted to be on the other side of this hill fighting for what was hers. She still felt so guilty. Despite what Hercules had said, she thought Ares had been sincere. If she'd gone with him . . .

Then she stopped worrying about it as injured men began stumbling to the medical tent. The army obviously had other, more mundane, weapons beside the ones Hephaestus had forged. Nova did what she could for each man, although she grew ill inside at the carnage. Why did men feel so compelled to fight? She would never understand that. Soon enough, though, she was too busy helping the healers to think of anything at all.

Suddenly, she paused in what she was doing as dread rose up inside her. She'd tried to ignore it, but she just couldn't shake the feeling that something terrible was about to happen. Moved by some intuition she couldn't explain, she headed for the top of the hill so she would have a clear view of the fighting.

As Nova reached the crest, she heard the horrible sounds of steel striking steel, the screams of wounded men, the high pitched whir of arrows sailing across the field. Below her, chaos ensued. She caught a glimpse of Hercules throwing a man through the air so he knocked down two others, and then he was obscured from view. Iolaus fought close by the demigod's side. A grim smile played about the blond man's lips as he ducked a man's flying fist and caused it to crash into the hapless attacker standing behind him.

Nova pulled her gaze away from the two heroes, and her eyes scoured the battlefield, searching for whatever it was that was causing this awful feeling inside her. Suddenly she saw a familiar tall blond figure. Horrified, she recognized Phaon just as a behemoth with a jagged knife as long as his forearm knocked her friend to the ground. He held the knife up over his head, preparing to bring it down for a killing blow.

"No!" she screamed. Calling on skills she wasn't even aware she possessed, Nova sprang into action. Running faster than she would have thought possible, she flew down the hill toward her friend. Nova screamed, drawing the soldier's attention. A horrible feeling of utter hatred overtook her, and she glared at the man with all that hate. His eyes widened and his weapon faltered, and then he dropped the knife and clutched his chest. He went to his knees, gagging horribly, and then he tumbled to the ground at her feet.

Nova barely acknowledged the man's death. She knelt beside Phaon to check his wounds. He was bleeding heavily, his face was deadly pale, and, although he was alive, incoherent fury overtook her. All she wanted to do was to punish these men for harming her friends and neighbors. She stood and began to walk calmly through the carnage, picking out the enemy, glaring at them with all her rage, and dropping them in their tracks. Men fell before her as she moved across the field, cutting a lethal swath through the battlefield without raising a single weapon.

She reached the other side of the fighting and turned back, breathing heavily now. Men lay scattered to either side of the path she'd walked. She gazed at the carnage, and suddenly, like a crushing blow, she realized what she'd done. She gave a high keening wail and looked down at her hands, expecting to see blood everywhere, but her hands were spotless.

Suddenly she was whirled around in place. Ares, God of War, stood before her, his eyes alight with a frightening passion. He pulled her into his arms, and when she put her hands up to his chest to keep him at bay, she could feel the wild beating of his heart.

"That was magnificent," he breathed. He bent his head and covered her mouth with his for a bruising kiss.

Nova was so startled by his sudden appearance and assault that she didn't even fight him. As his mouth devoured hers, however, the strongest feeling of déjà vu rose inside her. Now she was sure; she had felt these lips before, these hands exploring her body. But how was that possible?

The sound of fighting disappeared, but she barely paid it heed. All she could think of was the god in her arms. Her hands slid up his muscular chest and under the weight of curls on the back of his neck to dive into the thickness of his hair. She returned his kiss with growing passion, awash in strangely familiar sensations. He bent her backward and lowered her to a soft surface. Startled, she opened her eyes to see thick tapestried curtains above and surrounding her. Somehow, he'd transported them from the battlefield to a bedroom that also struck a chord of familiarity within her. Then as his mouth began to blaze a heated trail down her neck, Nova stopped wondering and gave herself over to the wonderful sensations he was stirring inside her body.

His lips moved over every inch of her nude form. She had no idea where her clothes had gone. She had no memory of him removing them. He might have caused them to vanish for all she knew or cared. All she was concerned with right now was the feeling of his mouth on her breast, and the growing heat inside her. She ran her hands over his naked body, reveling in the feel of the muscles, wondering again why this all felt so right. He positioned himself above her and plunged inside in one quick thrust, and she screamed in ecstasy as her body immediately began to contract in orgasm.

He thrust into her in a regular rhythm, deeper and deeper with each stroke, until he seemed to be penetrating into her very soul. Almost of its own volition her body rose up to meet each thrust. Their skin began to glisten with a fine sheen of perspiration, and still he pounded into her. An incredible sensation was building up inside her, spiraling higher and higher, until at last she cried his name aloud as another climax exploded within her, blinding her with its intensity. This time he joined her, slamming home one last time, then groaning as his seed shot deep inside her.

He collapsed on her, but even the weight of him seemed somehow right. Stunned by the passion he'd aroused in her and the curious feeling of familiarity about everything, she couldn't resist stroking his dark curls as their breathing returned to normal. He pulled back then, gazing down at her with an almost tender expression on his face. His hand reached up and brushed her forehead.

"You're hurt," he said softly.

Nova reached up and touched her temple. Somewhere in her mad march across the battlefield, she'd taken a sharp cut across her forehead. She could feel the wound and the dried blood around it. Her nose wrinkled in distaste, but Ares simple chuckled.

"Let's take care of that," he said cheerily as he slid off the bed and swooped her up in his arms. He took her over to a wooden tub full of steaming hot water. He gently placed her inside, and then he slid in beside her. He pulled her onto his lap, kissing her deeply again, and then he washed her gently, taking his time, building that familiar heat inside her. When he had washed every inch of her body, he shifted her over onto his lap and took her again, up, up to the lofty heights until she was gasping for air and breathing his name over and over as her body shook with inner convulsions.

He pulled from her and stood, lifted her into his arms and stepped from the tub with feline grace. He carried her back to the bed and made love to her again. Afterward, she fell deeply asleep, exhausted from the battle and the lovemaking that had followed.

She woke many hours later to find Ares propped up on his side, gazing down at her with an almost frighteningly possessive expression on his face. The fierceness melted away when he saw that she was awake, and his lips curled into a pleased smile.

"Your wound is healed," he pointed out.

Nova raised a hand to her forehead. He was correct; the cut was no longer there. She shrugged slightly. "I've always healed fast," she said, somewhat defensively.

Ares nodded as if he expected this. "There's a reason," he said. "For this and what you were able to do on the battlefield."

Nova eyed him warily. "What?"

"Let me start from the beginning," Ares said. "With your mother."

Nova started in surprise and opened her mouth to ask a question, but Ares shushed her with a gentle finger to her lips. "Just listen," he commanded.

"Your mother, Adara," he began, "was a priestess in my temple. Your grandfather was one of my most devoted warriors, and he had promised her to me at her birth. At eighteen, she joined my temple." The god's eyes glazed slightly as he thought back to that earlier time. "Adara was one of my most beautiful priestesses, although you far surpass her in beauty. She was happy serving me, and then we discovered that she had a talent for working with metal."

Nova stiffened. She knew absolutely nothing about her mother. Her aunt spoke of Adara seldom, and no amount of begging on Nova's part had elicited much in the way of details of the dead woman's life. It had never crossed her mind that she might have inherited her talent of working with metal from her mother.

Ares noticed her reaction and smiled slightly. "You work with metal to make jewelry and adornments," he said. "Your mother was a master at weaponry." He pointedly ignored the frown that crossed Nova's face at that comment. "I realized that there was no one in my temple who could teach her the proper techniques, so I sent her to Hephaestus for training."

The god's expression darkened. "If I had known what a mistake that would be, I would never have done so. She was supposed to study with Hephaestus for a year. When that time was up, I called for her."

"Imagine my surprise when she didn't come. I went to Hephaestus and demanded that release her, but he refused. The fool had gone and fallen in love with her. One of MY priestesses." Ares paused, his beautiful face tight with fury. "I went to my father, and he intervened. Once a person is initiated into a god's temple, they can not be released except by that god. I had no desire to release your mother. I needed her. Zeus demanded that Hephaestus produce your mother, but by then it was too late. Only then did we discover that she had borne him a child and had subsequently died."

"Me?" Nova asked, although somewhere deep inside her, she already knew the truth. Now Hephaestus' concerns about the battle made sense. He hadn't cared about Pella; only her, his daughter. She understood so many things now, her quick healing, her love of working with fine metals. Then she shuddered as she remembered the other power that came from being the daughter of a god. The ability to kill a man with her thoughts.

Ares didn't seem to notice her reaction. He was still lost in the past. "I was devastated of course, by your mother's death, and I demanded retribution."

Nova glanced at the god, her eyebrow arching delicately. She wondered if it had been her mother's death that had affected him so, or more likely, her mother's defiance. She said nothing, however, but allowed him to continue his tale.

"I demanded that the child be given to me to raise, but Hephaestus intervened with Zeus. He agreed that you would join my temple at eighteen, but until then, he wanted you to be raised by your family."

"My aunt," Nova supplied faintly.

"Yes. You lived with your aunt and your cousin from the time you were born until you were thirteen."

Nova's forehead furrowed with confusion. "Thirteen? But . . . I thought . . . I was living with them until a few years ago."

Ares shook his head. "Your father decided that he didn't want you to serve me, so he persuaded Aphrodite to allow you to live in her temple. He hoped you would choose service with her instead of with me."

"Aphrodite?" Nova echoed. "I lived in her temple?"

Ares nodded. "From the time you were thirteen until just before your eighteenth birthday."

"I don't remember any of this," she observed.

"I know," he said softly, brushing a loose tendril of hair away from her face. "Hephaestus took all your memories away."

"But why?" Nova asked.

"To hide you from me," Ares explained. "He couldn't stand the fact that you loved me." He smiled down at her in fond remembrance. "You were such a stubborn child, Nova. You almost drove Aphrodite out of her mind. You did exactly what you wanted, when you wanted, and most of the time you did things that had been expressly forbidden to you." Ares seemed quite pleased by her rebellions.

"I visited you at my sister's temple often, and in time, we fell in love. I told you about your father's wishes, but you had no desire to serve Aphrodite. You loved me. You knew that you belonged with me."

"What happened?" she asked.

"You came to my temple a month before your eighteenth birthday." He smiled, and a spark lit deep in his dark eyes as he leaned over and brushed her lips lightly with his own. "We made love for the first time. Here. In this bed."

Nova stiffened. "So that's why . . . " she trailed off, blushing hotly.

"Why what, my love?" Ares asked, caressing her face in a most distracting way.

"I always thought I was still a virgin, but when we . . . earlier . . . there wasn't any pain."

"That's because I took your virginity many years ago," Ares explained. "You wanted to stay here with me that day, but I wanted no argument from your father. I made you go back to Aphrodite's temple." He shook his head solemnly. "If I had known what was going to happen, I would never have allowed you to leave."

"What happened?" Nova asked.

Ares watched her closely as he said, "I don't know. Hephaestus told me you were dead. He said you'd run away from the temple and some men had attacked you and killed you. He showed me the bloodstained clothes you'd been wearing. He was so distraught; it never crossed my mind to question his sincerity. I can only assume he had Mnemosyne take your memories from you. He never wanted you to enter my service, so he removed all memory of me from your mind and hid you away."

"But he must have taken me back to my aunt," Nova mused, "because I was still living in Eion until a few years ago."

Ares shrugged. "When you lived with them as a child, you lived in Olynthus. Hephaestus must have forced them to move as well to keep you hidden from me."

"He hates you that much?" Nova asked.

"Hephaestus doesn't hate me," Ares countered with an aggrieved sigh. "I don't know why he did this. Zeus will be furious when he finds out."

"No," Nova said quietly.

Ares cocked his head. "No?" he repeated. "No what?"

"You won't tell Zeus. Not yet. I want to talk to my father first."

"Nova," Ares began, but before he could complete his thought, a knock came at the door. "What?" he shouted. He slid from the bed and stalked over to the door, regal in his nudity. "I told you I was not to be disturbed." He threw back the door to reveal a priest. The man was cringing, obviously dreading his master's wrath.

"I'm sorry, Lord Ares," the man said, "but your brother is demanding to see you."

"My brother?" Ares asked impatiently. "You want to be more specific here?"

"Excuse me, my Lord. I meant Hercules."

"HERCULES!" Ares thundered. "Why would you interrupt me for HIM? I don't want to see him."

"But I do," Nova said softly, rising from the bed and wrapping a black silk robe around her naked body. She went to Ares and laid a hand on his arm. "I need to speak with him."

"No," the god argued. "He's come to take you away from me. Can't you see that? Hercules delights in taking things from me."

Nova cocked her head and studied the God of War closely. "I'm not a thing, Ares. And how can he take me from you? I don't belong to you. Not yet, anyway. I may have been promised to you as a child, but I've made no vows to you."

"Nova," Ares implored in a low, compelling voice. "You know you belong with me. Can you deny the way we are together?"

"No, I can't. But there's still so much I need to know. I need to talk to my father."

"Fine," Ares stated flatly. "I'll take you there."

"I still want to talk to Hercules," Nova insisted. "I need to know about . . . Pella."

"Pella's fine," Ares informed her grumpily. "Your little townspeople defeated my army."

Relief flashed through her, but there was still one other question she had for Hercules, a question she was hesitant to ask the god. She turned to the priest who had been watching the exchange with open-mouthed fascination. "Please ask Hercules to wait," she commanded. "I'll join him as soon as I'm dressed."

"I don't want you to do this," Ares complained, but Nova could tell by the tone of his voice that he wouldn't stop her. He finally nodded his compliance to the priest, and the little man scurried away.

Nova removed her robe and began to dress. There was a full wardrobe available for her, overflowing with dresses in every hue of the rainbow, each tailored to fit her perfectly. Ruefully, she realized that Ares must have been very sure that she would join him.

She chose a blue gown the exact shade as her eyes, and then she moved over to the mirror to plait her hair. Ares came up behind her, watching as she fixed her hair, and when she was done, he pulled her back against him and brushed the curve of her neck with his lips. "Don't leave me, Nova," he breathed. "I can't bear to lose you again."

Nova turned in his arms. "You won't lose me," she assured him. "I just need to talk to Hercules. And then you can take me to my father. I want to know why he took my memories from me." She frowned slightly and added in a low voice. "And I want them back."

Hercules paced around the throne room of his half-brother's temple. He grimaced at the implements of destruction all around him. Ares really needed to redecorate. Any other day, Hercules might have given him a hand by smashing things up, but today his mind was busy elsewhere.

He hadn't even noticed when Nova had taken to the field during the fighting. Iolaus had called it to his attention after the blond hunter had noticed Phaon fall. The two men had watched in horrified awe as the young woman had stalked across the field, men dropping to the ground before her in death. Then Ares had appeared and whisked the woman away, and Hercules had needed no more proof. It was clear to him now that Nova wasn't completely mortal. She wasn't a full god, but one of her parents had been immortal, and he would bet a hundred dinars he knew exactly which parent and which god.

He heard the sound of approaching footsteps, and he tensed, expecting the worst. To his surprise, Nova herself entered the room, followed closely by a glowering God of War.

"Hello, Hercules," Nova greeted him. "How are you?"

He could tell she was asking more than those three words, and Hercules' expression grew grim. "I'm fine. Pella is safe. There were a few casualties, but not many. The fight went out of them when you . . ." He paused, wondering how to tactfully put the destruction she'd caused, hating himself for the expression of self-loathing that flitted across her face. "When Ares left," he amended.

"What about Phaon?" Nova asked faintly.

"He's alive," Hercules assured her. "He lost a lot of blood, but the healers assure me he'll be fine. You were the first thing he asked about when he regained consciousness. That's why I'm here. We were worried about you."

A slightly guilty expression crossed the woman's face. She glanced up at Ares and then back at Hercules. "I'm fine, Hercules."

"Yes, brother, as you can see, she's perfectly all right," Ares interrupted. He looked down at the woman by his side. "Are you finished with him now?"

Nova nodded, and Ares crossed his arms mulishly over his chest. "Good. You can go, Hercules."

"Wait a minute," the hero protested. "I'm not leaving here without Nova."

"Nova's not going anywhere with you," Ares growled. "This is her rightful place. She was promised to my temple. If you don't believe me, just go ask dear old Dad. He'll tell you."

"Nova," Hercules implored. "Listen to me. It doesn't matter if you were promised to his temple or not. You still have a choice. You don't have to stay here. He can't keep you here against your will."

"It's not against my will," Nova announced.

Hercules looked from the woman to his brother. Ares was glaring at him triumphantly. The hero looked back at Nova. "What about your father?" he asked.

Nova's head shot up. "What . . . how . . .?"

Hercules shrugged. "It wasn't hard to figure out. You're obviously not completely mortal, and Hephaestus was so concerned about you. The tone of his voice when he talked about your mother was a big clue. It's obvious he was in love with her."

"He told you about my mother?"

"Just a little. That she was his apprentice."

"She was my priestess," Ares snapped. "NOT Hephaestus' apprentice."

"Nova," Hercules persisted. "It was very obvious that your father didn't want you to be with Ares. Don't you think you deserve to know why?"

"That's enough," the God of War growled. "Get out of my temple now, or I'll throw you out." He began to advance on Hercules, but he halted in mid-step when Nova spoke up.

"He's right, Ares. I have a right to know."

The god turned back to face the woman. "Nova, I told you I'd take you to see him."

"Then take me there now," Nova insisted.

Several fierce expressions flitted across the god's face. Anger. Impatience. Irritation. But underneath it, Hercules thought he detected a faint note of fear.

"I'm going, too," the demigod announced.

Ares whirled on his brother. "No way!" he snarled through clenched teeth.

Nova laid a hand on the god's arm, obviously trying to calm him. "Ares, it will be okay. Just take us there. Please?"

Hercules waited for his brother to explode, but obviously he didn't want to lose his temper in front of Nova, because at last the tenseness went out of his body. He sighed deeply. "Oh, very well," he growled. "Let's just get this over with."

He raised his arm, and Hercules felt the familiar dizziness of being flung through the aether. He shut his eyes against the odd feeling, and when he reopened them, he and his two companions stood in the open throne room underneath Hephaestus' mountain.

He heard a low moan behind him and turned to see Nova rubbing her temples as if she was in a great deal of pain.

"What's wrong?" he asked, concerned, but Ares moved between him and Nova, blocking his way.

"She'll be fine," Ares assured him gruffly. "It's just her memories trying to come back." The god looked around, and then he roared, "Hephaestus." Nova started, and the god looked down at her sheepishly and muttered what might have been an apology if it had been intelligible.

A strange scrapping sound came from one of the passageways leading to the throne room, and the three of them turned expectantly. A huge shadow filled the doorway, moving closer and closer. Hercules heard Ares mutter an irritated expletive under his breath as a form finally solidified in the doorway. Hercules was pretty sure it was Hephaestus, but the god had covered his scarred face with an ornate silver mask.

Hercules glanced at Nova curiously. She was pale as a ghost. Her gaze was fixed on the mask, and as Hephaestus made his way into the throne room, she pulled away from Ares and went to meet the God of the Forge. The two of them stood face to face about a yard apart, gazing at each other in charged silence.

Nova closed the distance between them and raised a hand to touch the silver markings on the mask. "I made this," she observed in a low voice. "I recognize my work. Why are you wearing it, father?" she asked.

Hephaestus stiffened at her words. He looked at Hercules and Ares, and then back down at his daughter. "I didn't want to frighten you," he explained in a miserable voice.

Nova undid the clasp of the mask and pulled it away to reveal the god's hideously scarred face. She didn't turn away, however. She cupped his deformed cheek in her hand and said, "You don't have to hide from me."

Hephaestus' eyes filled with tears. This time when he raised his gaze to meet Hercules', it was full of gratitude. Hercules elbowed Ares.

"What?" the god growled in annoyance.

Hercules nodded toward a doorway leading away from the throne room. "Let's give them some privacy," he said.

At first he didn't think Ares would comply, but at last, the god nodded shortly. The two of them left the throne room, leaving Nova and her father to a private reunion.

Nova couldn't take her eyes off Hephaestus as they sat on the stairs leading up to his throne. His scars didn't bother her; she was simply astounded to discover that he truly was her father. As happy as she was to finally meet him, there was much she needed to know. "Why?" she asked at last.

The God of the Forge sighed deeply. "Nova, believe me when I tell you, it was for your own good. You were ill. I thought you were dying. It was the only way I could think of to save you."

"Taking my memories," she stated flatly. "How could my memories keep me from dying?"

"I don't know," he admitted in a miserable voice. "I think you were willing yourself to die. It worked anyway. You didn't die. I made your aunt move to Eion, and she nursed you back to health."

"Why did you make her move?" Nova inquired curiously.

Hephaestus shifted uneasily. "I wasn't sure if Ares believed you were really dead. I was afraid he'd go looking for you."

"Do you hate him so much?" she asked in a low voice.

"Nova," the God of the Forge cautioned her. "He was using you. He took advantage of your youth and naivete because he wanted . . . " Hephaestus trailed off as if unwilling to complete his thought.

"What?" Nova insisted. "What did he want?"

Hephaestus wouldn't answer. He simply shook his head.

"I want them back," Nova announced.

Her father gaped at her for a moment in confusion, but then understanding dawned on his scarred face. "Your memories," he supplied.

Nova nodded. "They're mine, father. You may have had good reason to take them from me, but I'm an adult now, and I want them back. I'm tired of having this empty place inside me. I'm tired of the headaches I get whenever I think of the past. I think I deserve to know the truth."

Hephaestus gazed at her for a long moment, but then he nodded slowly. "You're right, Nova. You deserve to know the truth." He shut his eyes for a moment in obvious concentration, and when he reopened them, a woman appeared at his side. She was tall and stately, with long flowing dark hair and piercing obsidian eyes. A deceptively simple white gown shot through with gold thread clung to her shapely form. She was the most beautiful woman that Nova had ever seen, and she realized that this must be Mnemosyne, Goddess of Memory.

"Are you sure?" she asked Nova in a musical voice. "Some of these memories will be painful."

Nova nodded forcefully. "They're mine," she insisted. "I want them back."

"Very well, child," Mnemosyne agreed. She came to sit beside Nova and took her hand in hers. "Close your eyes, and remember." She raised a hand and lightly touched Nova's forehead.

The little girl stepped from the modest cottage, the handle of a bucket clutched tightly in her pudgy little hand. A calico cat followed, twisting sinuously between the stout little legs. A tow-headed youth was chopping wood out in the yard, and the child tilted her pert little nose with its dusting of freckles high into the air and marched across the dirt yard. The cat kept pace, its green eyes glittering in the morning sunshine.

"I'm going to fetch water," the girl announced loudly.

The boy didn't stop his work. "So what?" he said in a bored tone.

"Aunt Tessa said I could do it today," the girl insisted.

"Big deal," the boy snapped. "So go do it and leave me alone."

"I just wanted you to know," the child continued. "I'm getting bigger now. Pretty soon I'll be big enough to do ANYTHING you can do."

The boy snorted and stopped his chopping. He leaned on the ax and glared down at the child. "Well, if you're so big, Nova, why don't you just chop this wood for me?"

Nova glanced at the ax and bit her bottom lip anxiously. It was longer than she was tall. "I can't," she said at last. "Your mother said I was to fetch the water."

"Yeah, right," the boy snarled. He picked up the ax and began to chop again. "You better go do it, then, if you don't want her to yell at you. Again." He chuckled cruelly.

A glimmer of dismay crept into the child's deep blue eyes. Without another word, she scurried across the yard, the cat on her heels.

"Brat," the youth muttered under his breath, chopping his wood with renewed vigor.

Nova hurried down to the creek. She bent down by the water's edge and filled her bucket, and then she tried to pick it up. It was heavy! She was determined to do this right, though, so she hoisted it as best she could and struggled up the hill toward the cottage.

Unfortunately, the cat chose that moment to wind its way between her feet. The girl tripped and fell to the ground, and the bucket tilted over. Nova watched in dismay as the water gushed out and down the bank.

"You nasty cat," she fussed at the creature. "You made me spill it!"

She picked up the bucket again and headed back to the creek, but the cat seemed determined to thwart her in her task. He raced through her feet, tripping her so that she went down on her belly in the cold water of the stream.

"Tallus!" Nova yelled in exasperation. She stood, dripping water, and glared at the cat. It completely ignored her. It had discovered the handle on the bucket and was batting it playfully back and forth. The child stomped out of the creek and reached for the bucket, but when she did, one of Tallus' sharp claws caught her hand, scratching a narrow funnel down the plump flesh of her palm.

"Ouch!" she yelled, staring down at the wound as it welled bright red blood. "You ROTTEN cat!" She glared at the cat, and something in her face changed for just a moment. A look of absolute hatred flashed across the innocent countenance, startling in contrast. The cat made a horrible choking noise, and then it staggered a few steps before falling over onto its side.

Complete silence blanketed the area. The birds stopped chirping; the frogs stopped croaking. It was as if the entire animal kingdom was holding its breath in shocked outrage.

"Tallus?" the child whispered uncertainly. That awful look of hatred had fled to be replaced by anxious worry. "Kitty? I'm sorry. You're not a rotten cat."

The animal didn't move. Not a breath of air disturbed its fur or whiskers.

"Tallus?" Nova called, louder now. She hurried over to the fallen creature and knelt beside it. "Get up, kitty," she urged. "Please get up. I'm sorry. I won't be mean any more."

Tallus didn't respond, and Nova finally picked him up in her arms and began to rock him, crying piteously.

Back at the cottage, the boy had finished his work and was stacking the wood into a basket when the door to the cottage was flung open and a harried looking woman with rapidly graying hair stormed from the house. "Where IS that child?" she yelled. "Ari, have you seen your cousin?"

The tow-haired youth glanced up. "She went to get water," he informed his mother sullenly.

"That CHILD," the woman snapped. "How long does it take to bring a bucket of water from the creek?" She stomped angrily across the dirt yard toward the small creek that ran behind the house.

"Nova? Where are you?" The tone of her voice grew angrier with every call.

The sound of the creek became audible, and then something more, the sound of sobs.

"Nova?" the woman repeated, fear creeping into her tone. "Where are you?"

She followed the sound of the crying until finally she located her niece. Nova knelt beside the stream, her cat, Tallus, clutched in her arms, tears flowing down her cheeks.

"Oh, baby," the woman cried. "What happened?"

Nova raised tear filled eyes. "He died, Aunt Tessa. He scratched me, and I got mad, and he died."

Tessa stared at Nova for a moment as the information filtered through her tired brain. A look of horror grew on her face, but oddly enough, it was accompanied by another emotion, something resembling expectation.

"What do you mean?" she quizzed her niece. "You got mad, and he died? What did you do to him?"

"I didn't do anything," Nova sniffled. "I just got mad, and he fell over."

Tessa grabbed the child by her arm and pulled her roughly to her feet, shaking her so hard that Nova inadvertently dropped her dead pet. Tessa went to her knees before her frightened niece, squeezing the child's plump arms.

"Don't you EVER do that again," she hissed. "Do you hear me?"

"What?" Nova wailed, startled by her aunt's vehemence.

"You killed that cat, Nova," Tessa informed her.

Nova shook her head slowly from side to side. "But . . . I . . . I wouldn't kill Tallus. I love Tallus." The child began to cry again, and at last, Tessa pulled her into her arms and held her.

"It's okay, baby," she said soothingly, tears staining her own face now. Bruises were already forming on the child's fair skin from where she'd shaken her, and guilt suffused the woman's plain features. "I'm sorry, Nova," she said. "I didn't mean to hurt you." When the child's sobs had tapered off somewhat, she pulled away. "But it's very important that you listen to me now, okay?"

Nova nodded, her blue eyes wide at the seriousness in her aunt's tone.

"You must never, ever think bad thoughts about anyone like that."

"You mean . . ." The child looked down at the dead animal. "Did I really kill Tallus, Aunt Tessa?"

Tessa's expression was grave as she nodded slowly. "I think you did, baby. Nova, you must listen to me. You are very special. Your father is a very special man, and because of him, you can do things that others can't."

"Is that why Ari hates me so much?" Nova asked miserably.

The woman started visibly. "Arion doesn't hate you," she objected.

Nova didn't reply, but it was plain from her expression that she didn't believe her aunt. "Where's my father?" she asked instead.

Tessa looked around nervously. "He's busy, child. He . . . he has many important things to do. You'll see him when you're older."

"How much older?" Nova insisted.

"A few more years, Nova. That's not important right now. What's important is that you realize that because you can do these special things, you have to be very careful. You wouldn't want anything bad to happen to anyone, now would you?"

"Bad?" Nova echoed uneasily.

"If you got mad at me, for example, and did to me what you did to Tallus."

The child's eyes widened until they were as large as saucers. A look of abject horror crossed her tiny face, and tears welled up in her eyes once again. "I wouldn't," she promised fervently. "Oh, Aunt Tessa, I wouldn't ever . . ." She trailed off and began to wail at the top of her lungs.

Tessa pulled Nova back into her arms and held her tightly, rocking the child until her tears tapered off, her own tears wetting her niece's deep brown locks. "It's okay, baby," she whispered. "It'll be okay. Just don't think bad things about people. Okay? Promise me."

She held Nova away again and forced her niece to look into her eyes. "Do you promise me?"

Nova nodded her head emphatically. "I promise, Aunt Tessa. I won't ever think bad things about ANYBODY. I promise."

Soft hands smoothed her brow. "Don't cry," a sweet voice said. "These are only memories, child."

"I killed Tallus," Nova said miserably.

"Hush, now," the voice insisted. "And remember . . .

The girl ran along the path, her long brown hair flying behind her. Her right hand was clenched into a fist, and a gaily-colored band trailed from her tightly knit fingers. She ran up to a cottage, yelling at the top of her lungs. "Aunt Tessa!"

She slammed through the door and looked around, panting slightly from her long run. "Aunt Tessa?"

"She's not here," a sullen voice came from the darkness of the hallway.

Nova stopped dead in her tracks. "Why weren't you at school today, Ari?" she asked warily.

Her cousin stepped out of the shadows. Time had done Arion no favors. His hair had darkened to a muddy blond, and a faint hint of stubble made his face seem more dirty than anything. Light blue eyes holding more than a hint of malice glared at her. "School's for losers," he said. "Like you." He glanced down at Nova's hand. "So you won after all."

Nova nodded slowly. "First place," she bragged, opening her fist and displaying the small medallion she'd won in the craft contest.

Arion sneered. "For a stupid tin man that could walk. Big deal." Before Nova could stop him, Ari grabbed the medal from her hand and peered at it closely. "It's not even real." He squeezed his hand together in a tight fist and when he opened it, the medal had bent into a curved mass.

"Ari!" Nova cried, devastated that her hard-won prize had been ruined. "That was mine." She grabbed for it, but Ari held it out of her reach, laughing cruelly.

"You don't deserve this thing anyway," he snarled. "It was a stupid project. I can't believe you actually won." He paused, and a look of hateful consideration crossed his face. "Unless maybe you won for another reason."

"What?" Nova asked, wanting to reach for her medal but more than a little afraid to get too close to her cousin for reasons she couldn't quite put a finger on.

"Your teacher," Ari mused. "Maybe he gave this to you for a different reason? Maybe it's 'cause you do other things for him, too."

Nova stared at her cousin in utter confusion. "What are you talking about, Ari?" she asked, exasperated.

Arion stepped forward, his eyes shining malevolently. "You can't tell me you don't know what I mean," he said. His gaze tracked over Nova's form in a way that made her extremely uncomfortable. She'd grown several inches in the last few months and her dresses were all getting too short. Her body had begun to change, too; she'd noticed this morning when she'd pulled on this dress that it fit a little tight up top. She began to back away from her cousin, not much caring for the look in his eyes.

"Give me back my medal and leave me alone," she said in a low voice. She held out her hand, appalled by the way it shook.

Arion grinned and took a step closer to her. "Come and get it," he taunted in a low, suggestive tone.

Nova took a tentative step closer. Then another. She held out her hand. "Give it here."

Ari grabbed her and pulled her close to him. "Only if you give me some of what you give your teacher," he snarled, grabbing at her chest.

Furious, Nova shoved him away. A red haze seemed to drop over her. Her blue eyes went flat, and she stared at her cousin, her expression full of uncharacteristic hate.

"NO!" a voice screamed from the doorway.

Nova whipped her head around to see her aunt. Tessa was staring at her, a horrified expression on her face. Nova shook off the odd feeling that had enveloped her and glanced back at her cousin. A lone drop of blood was dripping from Arion's nose, and his eyes were wide with fear.

"He broke my medal, Aunt Tessa," Nova tried to explain, but Tessa just brushed past her and went to her son.

"Go outside, Nova," the older woman commanded.

"But Aunt Tessa," Nova began to protest, but her aunt cut her off.

"Now, Nova. Get out of here. Wait for me in the front yard."

Nova bowed her head and complied. She went out into the front yard, scuffing her sandals in the dust as she walked. It just wasn't fair. Ari got away with everything. He was always doing stuff like this. One time, she'd saved some money so she could buy some silver to use to make a bracelet, and after she'd finished it, the beautiful bracelet had vanished. She KNEW Arion had taken it, but he swore to his mother he hadn't, and Tessa had believed her son.

Nova paced outside in the yard, still angry despite a curious queasiness in her belly. She felt like she'd done something wrong, but she wasn't even sure what it was.

At last, Aunt Tessa came out to the yard. She didn't look mad. She seemed more scared than anything. She came to stand beside Nova.

"He broke my medal, Aunt Tess," Nova said in a low voice.

"I know," Tessa replied in a tired voice. She held out the prize to her niece.

"Why did his nose start bleeding?" Nova asked curiously.

Aunt Tessa stared at her for a minute. "You don't remember, do you?"

"Remember what?"

"Tallus," came the short reply.

"Tallus?" Nova echoed. "My cat?"

Tessa nodded. "Do you remember how he died?"

Nova's forehead wrinkled in concentration as she thought back, but then she shook her head. "How?"

Aunt Tessa sighed. "It doesn't matter, Nova." She glanced back at the house, and her expression darkened. "I've been to see your father."

"My . . . my father?" Nova breathed. "Where is he? May I . . ."

Tessa waved her to silence sharply. "He's not here. I went to see him. That's where I was earlier. We've decided . . ." She paused, and then she took a deep breath. "Nova, you'll leave in the morning and go to Aphrodite's Temple."

"What?" Nova exclaimed. "Aphrodite? Why?"

"Because that is where your father wishes you to go," her aunt pointed out implacably.

"I want to talk to him," Nova demanded mulishly. "He can't send me somewhere I don't want to go. If I'm going to serve a god, I'm going to serve Hephaestus."

Tessa stared at her, and Nova watched in confused concern as the color drained out of her aunt's face. "Why Hephaestus?" she asked in a strangled voice.

"Because I could learn from him," Nova explained. "How to work metal and stuff. I can't learn anything from Aphrodite. I won't go."

Her words seemed to ease her aunt in some strange way, but Tessa refused to back down. "You will, child. You have no choice."

Nova stared at her aunt in disbelief, and then she burst into tears. "I won't!" she declared hotly, and then she ran out of the yard and down the road as fast as her legs could carry her.

She ran to her secret place, a grassy bank close to the stream that ran behind their cottage. She collapsed on the grass, her entire body shaking with sobs, a stitch in her side burning hotly. She cried for what seemed like hours, and then she rolled over onto her back and gazed up into the afternoon sky, wondering miserably why her life had taken this sudden twist.

"Are you all right?" a voice broke the stillness of the afternoon.

Nova sat up and looked around wildly. A man was leaning against one of the trees that stood along the bank of the stream. He was gazing at her with a concerned expression on his handsome face. He was dressed all in black: black leather vest edged with silver studs, wide black belt studded with more silver, black leather pants and boots. A huge sword hung by his side. His long hair was glossy black and showed a decided tendency to curl. His mouth was lush and surrounded by a clipped goatee and mustache. Nova stared at the man in awe. She'd never seen anyone like him. He could have been a god.

The man stooped down beside her, his expression growing even more concerned. "Nova, are you okay?"

She nodded quickly, wiping at her tear-stained face, and then her eyes widened. "You know my name."

A small smile flitted across the man's mouth. "Of course I know your name. I'm a friend of your father's."

That definitely got her attention. "You know my father?" she asked.

He nodded solemnly. "Very well. He . . . makes things for me. I knew your mother as well."

Nova's eyes widened even further. As little as she knew about her father, she knew even less about her mother, other than the fact that she'd died when Nova was born. Aunt Tessa refused to discuss her sister.

"Tell me what's wrong," the man implored in a soft, soothing voice.

Nova looked down at the medal she still held clutched in her hand. "Arion ruined my medal, and now they're sending me away."

The man took the medal and examined it closely. "You won this?" he asked.

Nova nodded. "I made a little man from tin. He was jointed, and I put strings in his arms, legs, and head so I could make him walk. We had a contest at school, and I won." She sniffed inelegantly. "But Ari ruined my prize."

"Where are they sending you?" the man asked casually, his gaze fixed on the medal.

"Aphrodite's Temple," Nova replied with exasperation. "I don't want to go there."

A tenseness that she hadn't even realized was there seemed to go out of the man, and he smiled softly. "Now, why not? It's not a terrible place."

"You've been there?" she asked curiously.

The man nodded. "Many times." He paused, as if considering something, and then he added, "She's my sister."

Nova's jaw unhinged. "You . . . your sister? Then you . . . you're a . . ." She gazed at the man in awe. She'd been right before. He WAS a god.

He laughed softly at her obvious shock. "Yes, little one. I'm a god. My name is Ares."

Nova's awe drained away slowly, and her forehead drew together in a decided frown. "The God of War," she supplied.

"Does that bother you?" he asked curiously.

"I . . . I don't know. I never really thought about it before. My aunt doesn't like gods." She clapped her hand over her mouth, dismayed at herself. What was she saying? This was a god. If she didn't watch her mouth, she might get her aunt in trouble. "I mean, Aunt Tessa doesn't . . ."

Ares waved her to silence. "It doesn't matter. I'm not overly concerned about your aunt's worship habits." He gazed at her silently for a moment, and then he said, "Nova, it's for the best for you to go to Aphrodite's Temple. You can't stay here anymore. Not with Arion . . ." Ares trailed off, and a fierce expression crossed his face for a moment, startling Nova with its intensity, but then it melted away to be replaced by concern. "Just believe me, it will be for the best. And if you'll go and not give your aunt any trouble . . ." He paused, and then he grinned widely, his dark eyes sparkling. "I'll take you to meet your father."

Nova's heart seemed to stop for a moment. "You would?" she whispered. She wanted to meet her father more than anything in the whole world. "You promise?"

Ares nodded solemnly. He placed his hand over his heart and said, "On my honor as a god, I promise to take you to see your father."

Nova's face lit up, and a huge smile wreathed her lips. "Okay," she promised. "I won't give Aunt Tessa any trouble. I'll go."

"NOVA!" a voice called from the trees.

"There she is now," Nova said, climbing to her feet. The god followed suit, and although Nova was already taller than most of her classmates, he towered over her.

"I should be going," he said quickly. "Don't say anything about this to your aunt," he warned.

"Why not?"

Ares sighed. "She doesn't want you to meet your father," he explained. "All these years, she's known where he lived, but she never took you there, did she?"

Nova shook her head slowly.

"So, don't say anything, and after you get settled in at my sister's, I'll stop by and take you to see him."

Nova nodded quickly. "I won't say anything," she promised.

Ares handed her back her medal and closed her fist around it. "I'll be seeing you then," he said in a low voice full of promise. He stepped back, and with another wicked grin, he disappeared.

Nova looked down at the medal in her hand. It had been restored to its original state. She smiled happily and ran to meet her aunt. She'd do as Ares said. She'd go to Aphrodite's, and she'd FINALLY get to meet her father!

So she did. The temple was nice, but Nova didn't much care for the Goddess of Love. Aphrodite was a little too flighty for her taste. Her duties within the temple were extremely boring, too. Still, she was given a private tutor so that her education would be complete, and she was able to bring all her tools and supplies with her. Things settled into a routine, and after a few weeks, Nova realized that she was fairly happy here.

Then, one day as she was studying, she heard a familiar sound. She looked up to see the God of War appear inside her room.

"I'm not intruding, am I?" he asked, a small smile playing about his lips.

Nova shook her head and closed her book quickly, her heart thudding rapidly.

His smile widened at her reaction. "A promise is a promise," he assured her. "Are you ready to meet your father, Nova?"

She nodded, and he held out his hand. She stood and went to him, taking his hand tentatively. With a smile, he squeezed her hand, and in the blink of an eye they had disappeared from her bedroom to reappear in a dark smoky cave.

Nova gazed up at the god, her eyes dancing with delight. "That was fun," she observed with a grin.

He returned her grin, his own delight sparkling in his deep brown eyes. "We'll have to do it often," he promised.

Suddenly, behind her, she heard a faint sound. She turned, and she saw a shadow moving inexorably toward them. The accompanying footsteps were odd. A step, then a drag. Another step, then a drag. Nova shivered and instinctively moved closer to Ares. He put a comforting arm around her as the figure stepped into the light.

"Ares?" the man asked, obviously not expecting visitors. Then he saw Nova standing at Ares' side and he turned his head quickly so that half of his face was in shadow.

"This is Nova," Ares introduced her. "She wanted to meet you."

The man said nothing, and at last, Nova pulled away from Ares. She walked over to her father. He tried to keep his face turned away, but she wouldn't let him. "You're Hephaestus," she said.

He nodded slowly.

"You're my father?" she asked.

Again, he nodded, his blue eyes full of something resembling fear. Fear of what, she wondered. Fear that she'd reject him? That was ridiculous. Her heart was soaring. She couldn't think of another person she'd rather have for a father. Now her love of metalworking made sense.

She smiled tentatively. "I'm Nova," she introduced herself softly. And then, without thinking, she stood on tiptoe and planted a quick kiss on his horribly scarred cheek. "I've wanted to meet you for so long."

Hephaestus lifted a hand to touch the place that she'd kissed, his eyes sheened with tears. He raised them to Ares, and Nova could plainly see the gratitude there.

"I'll leave you two alone to get acquainted," Ares murmured quietly. "I'll come back for you later, Nova," he promised.

"Thank you," she said, and the god winked out of existence.

So began the first of many visits to her father, visits filled with wonders and delights. Hephaestus always had some new project that he was working on, and he often let Nova help him solve problems with his gadgets. He furnished her with better tools and metals, and soon her work was almost as good as his. She even fashioned a silver mask for him to wear when he had visitors, but she made him promise that he would never wear it in front of her.

Scenes flitted by, the months and years she'd spent in Aphrodite's Temple. For the most part, they were good years. Aphrodite was often put out with her because she refused to participate in most of the temple functions. Nova preferred to work in her room or read in the sacred grove. After a while, the Goddess of Love pretty much left her alone; when they ran into each other, Aphrodite almost seemed to have forgotten who she was.

Nova visited her father regularly, with and without Ares. Sometimes, the God of War simply came to see her, a fact that pleased her more and more as she grew older.

Her body changed as well, and she grew more and more beautiful as each scene flitted by. What was obvious, as well, was the growing attraction she bore for the God of War. It even seemed that the attraction was returned. At first, Ares was almost another father figure, then he became a friend, and then . . .

The scenes of the past stopped on a warm summer day in Nova's seventeenth year. She was pacing back and forth in her favorite of Aphrodite's sacred groves, her forehead creased as she contemplated the announcement the Goddess of Love had made to her that morning. So deep in thought was she that she didn't even notice Ares appear behind her until he spoke, startling her.

"What's wrong?"

Nova started and whirled to face him. "You scared me," she said with an embarrassed laugh. Her face immediately heated up. For some reason lately, whenever Ares was around, she grew tongue tied and clumsy. She hated it, but she seemed helpless to stop it.

"You're upset," he observed softly. "I could feel it."

Nova looked up into his deep brown eyes and became ensnared there for a moment. She was suddenly having trouble breathing, and when he crossed the glade and took her hand, her heart began to beat painfully in her chest.

"What is it?" he urged.

"Aphrodite told me this morning that when I turn eighteen I have to decide whether I'm going to serve her or not."

Ares' expression grew stormy, frightening her just a little.

"Ares? What's wrong?"

He released her and began to pace in the soft green grass. "I think I may need to have a little chat with my sister," he muttered in a low, dangerous voice.

"Why?" Nova asked curiously.

Ares whirled around, his expression fierce. "Do you want to serve Aphrodite?"

Nova's eyes widened. "N . . . no," she admitted. "Not really. I never realized that I had to serve anyone. If I do, I'd rather serve my father."

That didn't seem to please the god either. He stalked over to a tree and stood there, his back to her. "Is that really what you want?" he asked in a low voice.

"Ares?" she said, coming over and standing behind him. She could see his tenseness in the taunt musculature of his back. She tentatively raised a hand to touch him, and then she jerked back when he whirled on her.

"Is it?" he demanded.

She took a step back, startled. "I . . . I don't know. I hadn't thought about it. I didn't realize . . . that is, no one told me . . . I didn't realize I was supposed to MAKE a choice."

He turned away from her again and said in a low voice, "I had hoped you might consider my temple."

Nova stared at the god's back, unsure of how to respond. "I . . . I . . ." she stuttered, cursing herself inwardly for a fool. "I never . . . Why . . . What would I DO there? I'm not a warrior."

"Not all of my priestesses are warriors," Ares assured her in a low voice, still refusing to face her. "And you have other talents."

Nova shrugged. "I'm better at making jewelry, Ares. The few times I've tried to make weapons, I've failed miserably."

"You could learn," he insisted.

Nova couldn't stand the fact that he wouldn't look at her. She came to stand behind him and lightly touched his shoulder again. "Ares, please look at me."

The god turned to her reluctantly, misery plain in his dark eyes.

"Ares?" she breathed, aching to take away the pain he was obviously feeling. "Do you really want me to join your temple?"

He took her hands in his and gazed down at them, his voice full of emotion. "It's not important what I want, Nova. You should do what YOU want."

Nova disengaged one of her hands and lightly touched his cheek. He raised his gaze to hers, and then took her hand and brushed his lips across her knuckles. Nova shivered at the feel of his lips, and then she watched in fascination as his head bent toward hers. He whispered her name, and then he lightly touched his lips to hers.

Even though she had lived in Aphrodite's Temple for over five years, and although she understood what went on between men and women, Nova was completely inexperienced. She had been sheltered, so she had no idea what to expect. She'd read a lot, but nothing could have prepared her for the fire that ignited within her when Ares kissed her.

She moved closer to him, wanting more, and he obliged. He put his arms around her and drew her tight against him, and she curled her arms around his neck, pulling his mouth harder against hers. His tongue slid out and gently parted her lips, and Nova moaned as it slid inside. His hands were moving over her body, leaving a trail of fire in their wake. Something awakened deep inside her, a need she hadn't even truly been aware of before. She melted into him, aching for him, but suddenly, he pulled away, leaving her breathing heavily and shaking. He released her and turned away, and Nova had to lean back against the tree to keep from falling.

"Ares?" she asked in a breathless voice. "What's wrong?"

He shook his head slowly. "I shouldn't have done that," he said in a low voice.

Nova went to him on shaky legs. She circled around to face him and gazed up into his beautiful face. "I wanted you to," she told him softly.

His dark eyes captured hers, and his hand drifted up to caress her cheek. "Still," he countered. "I had no right. You're just a child."

Nova stiffened as if he'd slapped her. She backed away, her eyes narrowing dangerously. "I'm not a child," she snapped, fighting to hold onto her anger to keep the hurt at bay. I'm almost eighteen."

Ares chuckled softly as if her anger pleased him. He stepped forward and drew her to him again. He touched her hair and then brushed the back of his hand down her cheek. "No, I suppose you aren't. But for someone who has spent such a great deal of time in Aphrodite's Temple, you are amazingly innocent."

Nova shrugged uneasily. "I was never expected to participate in . . . " She trailed off, blushing hotly.

"Good," Ares said approvingly. "At least my sister did SOMETHING right." He kissed Nova gently on the forehead. "I must leave now," he announced.

"Leave!" she exclaimed. "But you just got here."

"I know, but I'm afraid if I stay . . . " He paused, and a devilish gleam leapt into his dark eyes. "Let's just say it will be for the best if I go."

"But . . . " she began, but Ares held up a hand to stop her.

"I really must go, Nova. I have some things to attend to. I do want you to think about your birthday, however. It's a very important decision, and I want you to think about it carefully. Don't make a choice to please Aphrodite or your father. Do what's best for you. Will you do that for me?"

Nova nodded quickly.

"Good," the god said, brushing his lips against hers once more, just a small touch, but enough to set her senses singing once again. He released her and stepped back, and then he disappeared in a burst of blue light.

Nova sank to her knees in the grass, her heart beating frantically in her chest. But now, instead of the feeling of panic that had overtaken her when Aphrodite had made her announcement, she felt a keen sense of anticipation instead. A priestess of Ares. She believed she liked the sound of that.

"Atrian, wait!" Nova called, running out of the temple to stop the priest. Atrian was her favorites of Aphrodite's priests, and he indulged Nova shamelessly. When she'd heard that he was traveling to one of Aphrodite's temples in another town, she'd decided to join him. For on the way, they would pass by the temple of the God of War, and she had an important task there.

"What is it, child?" Atrian asked, feigning impatience. "I have to be gone, or I won't be back by nightfall."

"I'm coming with you," Nova announced. "I have an errand to run."

Atrian's eyebrow arched high. "An errand?" he echoed dubiously.

Nova nodded quickly, praying that he wouldn't quiz her too closely. The gods must have heard her prayers because Atrian sighed and indicated for her to follow him. She should have known. If she had asked the priest for the moon, he'd have done his level best to wrest it from Artemis.

The pair walked together, chatting companionably, although Nova's mind was far away. She wasn't sure of the reception she would receive at Ares' Temple, but she was determined to do this. Her thoughts never strayed far from her upcoming birthday. She already knew what she wanted to do; today she would make her final decision.

When they reached the road to Ares' Temple, Nova called a halt. A disapproving expression immediately crossed her friend's face, but Atrian knew better than to argue with her. He simply instructed her to be waiting for him in this spot four hours hence, and Nova agreed quickly. She watched Atrian walk away, and then she flew down the road toward Ares' Temple.

How different it was from Aphrodite's. She saw several priestesses on the grounds, but no one stopped her as she ran for the front door. She pulled back the massive door, then slipped inside.

The interior was even more different. It was very stark for one, and offered no comfortable seating for petitioners. Reds and blacks dominated, weapons and armor of all type lined the walls and floors. Nova found the main throne room and entered, breathing a quick prayer of thanks that no one was about. The overall theme of the temple was continued here, although this room was dominated by a throne, a heavy, almost brooding chair, the seat of the God of War.

"Ares?" Nova whispered, frightened suddenly. Maybe this hadn't been such a good idea.

She heard the familiar sound of the god appearing, and she turned to him expectantly. Thankfully, he wasn't angry, although he did seem a bit surprised.

"Nova? What are you doing here?" he asked. He glanced behind her as if expecting to see an escort, and when he saw none, he seemed even more surprised. "You're here alone?"

Nova nodded. "Atrian had to go to one of the other temples, so I went along so I could stop by here. I . . . I have something for you."

Ares cocked his head, curious. "And what might that be?"

Nova handed him the small package that she had clutched in her hand all the way from her home. It was wrapped in silvery material and tied with a silver band. Ares stared down at the package in consternation for a moment, and then he looked up at her with a question in his eyes.

"It's for you," she explained. "I . . . I made it. As thanks. For all you've done for me."

"Nova," he admonished her softly. "You didn't have to do this. I haven't done that much for you."

"But you have," she insisted. "You introduced me to my father, and you take me to visit him whenever I want. You visit me. I just wanted to . . . I had to . . . Please, Ares, just open the thing."

The god chuckled, and then he quickly untied the string and unwrapped the silk. He held the uncovered item in his hand and studied it closely.

Nova had fashioned the pendant from pewter. It was a simple shape, a curve atop an enclosed X. She wasn't even sure what it meant. The shape seemed to have formed itself as she had worked the metal. She had fastened a circle of black leather behind it, and hung it from a black leather cord. It was simple, but powerful, and it seemed to embody the very essence of the god.

"It's beautiful," he said. He fastened the cord around his neck and fingered the pewter symbol. "I shall wear it always." His dark eyes caught hers, and Nova could see his pleasure in the small gift there.

She took a step closer to him and raised a hand to touch the cool metal, her heart singing with happiness. "It suits you," she observed. She ran a finger along the pendant, and then she inadvertently touched the warm flesh underneath. Forgetting herself completely, she touched his chest, fascinated with the feel of the soft fuzz that covered the steel of his muscles. She could feel the heat of him radiating from his body, could smell his leather and another scent, an entirely male scent. Suddenly, her heart began a frantic beat. She raised wide eyes to his.

His dark eyes were gazing down at her, a fire smoldering deep in their depths. He took her hand, brought it to his lips, and kissed it softly. They stared at each other for a heartbeat that seemed to last a lifetime, and then his mouth descended on hers.

His lips consumed her, reducing her to nothing more than a bundle of tingling nerve endings. Her body began to ache in that familiar way. His arms surrounded her, pulling her so close to him that it was as if they were one person. The ache inside her intensified to almost painful levels, and when Ares pulled away, she almost groaned in agony.

"We shouldn't," he said, his voice rough with passion. "You'll be eighteen in two weeks, and then we can . . ."

Nova cut him off. "I don't care," she declared. "What does it matter? I want you, Ares." She laughed shakily. "I don't want to wait two weeks. I want you now."

His dark eyes bored into hers, searching for the seriousness behind her words. It must have been plain, because he nodded slightly and pulled her back into his arms for another searing kiss. A faint wave of dizziness enveloped her, and when she reopened her eyes, they were in a bedchamber dominated by a massive poster bed covered with black silk sheets and surrounded by tapestried curtains. Ares gently lowered her to the bed, his mouth claiming first her lips, and then every inch of her body. Her clothes vanished somewhere along the way, and as he explored her flesh with his mouth, Nova began to writhe beneath him, aching for him. Just when her need had reached painful levels, he moved above her. His gaze captured hers, and he whispered her name as he very slowly and very gently eased inside of her.

A sharp pain accompanied the movement, but it was soon replaced by a feeling of pleasure so intense that when Ares began to move faster within her, she matched his strokes, arching her body high to meet him. She ran her hands over his nude form, marveling at the perfection of his skin, his muscles, the dark hair that fuzzed his chest. She played with the damp curls lying on the back on his neck, but then all of her attention was drawn to a fire that had igniting deep within her. It grew and grew until at last it exploded, leaving her gasping for breath as her body convulsed madly. Ares groaned and thrust home one last time, and she felt a deep heat within her. She clung to him, whispering his name, their hearts beating rapidly as one.

After a bit, he rolled off her and propped himself up on one arm. He gazed down at her with a small smile playing about his lips. Nova turned to face him, idly playing with the pendant that still hung around his neck.

"Did I please you?" she asked.

Ares chuckled and pulled her into his arms. "I would think that it was pretty obvious that you did," he observed.

Nova snuggled up against him, her entire body suffused with happiness. "Ares," she said after a bit. "Why can't I just stay now?"

Ares pulled away and looked down at her. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"I don't want to go back to Aphrodite's Temple," Nova explained. "I want to stay here with you. Forever."

Some strong emotion slid through the god's dark eyes, something that resembled triumph, but it was so quickly replaced with delight that Nova decided she must have been mistaken. Ares hugged her close, but when he pulled back, he was shaking his head.

"We can't," he said. When she began to protest, he held up a hand to stop her words. "I know, Nova. It sounds silly, but it's important that we follow the rules on this one. I do not want to give your father any excuse to keep you from my temple."

"He won't," Nova assured the god. "He wants me to be happy."

Ares' expression grew grim. "Trust me, Nova. He won't be happy about this." He kissed her softly on the brow. "But on your birthday, during the ceremony, if you announce in front of everyone that you wish to serve in my temple, he won't be able to say anything."

Nova's brow furrowed slightly. For some reason, it seemed like they were deceiving her father. She didn't much care for that. Besides, she really didn't think he'd be that upset. He loved her; he wanted her to be happy, and he should be able to see how happy Ares made her. "He won't mind," she insisted. "He likes you, Ares."

"Nova," Ares said with a deep sigh. "Your father does not want you to serve me."

"How can you possibly know that?" she asked.

"Because you were promised to my temple at birth," he informed her.

Nova stared at the god in shock. "What?" she breathed. "No one ever told me that."

Ares nodded grimly. "I know. I thought Hephaestus would tell you, but he never did. That's why I'm so hesitant for him to find out about us. I'm afraid he'll try to keep you away from me."

A slightly stubborn expression crossed Nova's face. "No one is going to keep me away from you, Ares," she assured him.

He hugged her close, and then he made love to her again, slowly and gently, taking her back up to the heights until she cried out his name in ecstasy. And in the afterglow of love, she vowed to herself that she would be his, forever.

The next few days seemed to crawl by. Nova wanted to be with Ares, but he had made her promise that she would stick close to Aphrodite's Temple. He seemed terribly worried that her father would discover that they were lovers and try to cause a rift between them.

After a while, though, her father's deception began to nag at her more and more. Why had he never told her that she was promised to Ares? At last, she could stand it no longer, so she slipped away from the temple and hurried to her father's mountain. For her own peace of mind, she wanted to know why he had kept this from her. And despite Ares' fears, she knew there was nothing Hephaestus could say to make her stop loving the God of War.

She made her way to the forge, expecting to find her father working there, but he wasn't about. She was about to go in search of him, when she heard voices filtering down through a pipe in the wall. She eyed it curiously. Hephaestus had told her long ago that he had invented it so he could call his apprentices without having to leave the forge. It also worked in reverse, however. She could hear her father locked in heated conversation, and with rising curiosity she recognized the voice of his guest.

"I know exactly what you're doing," she heard her father say. "You're taking advantage of her youth and inexperience to make her fall in love with you."

Ares snorted lightly. "I'm not taking advantage of her, Hephaestus. She came to me."

"She doesn't know any better," the God of the Forge snapped. "If she knew the real reason why you were so interested in her, she'd have nothing to do with you."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Ares retorted in a chilly voice.

"Don't play dumb, Ares," Hephaestus growled. "You weren't the least bit interested in Nova until you found out about her little talent."

There was a charged silence, and then Ares observed, "She's not even aware of what she can do, Hephaestus."

"I know," Hephaestus agreed in a sad voice. "Tessa scared her so badly as a child that Nova made herself forget her powers. After the incident with her cat, Tessa was always very careful not to let Nova get too upset. But then Arion started bothering Nova, and Tessa became worried about her son's safety."

"Is THAT why you sent her to Aphrodite?" Ares asked dryly. "I always wondered."

"She couldn't stay with there with Arion around."

"You should have killed the little bastard for daring to touch her," Ares declared heatedly.

"None of that matters now, Ares," Hephaestus said impatiently. "Stop trying to change the subject. I don't want Nova serving in your temple."

"You promised her to me," Ares reminded him. "Your vow was binding. Zeus will agree."

"If I were to tell Zeus about her powers, he wouldn't let you within two feet of her," Hephaestus snapped.

There was another charged silence, and then Ares snarled in a low, feral voice, "But he's not going to find out, is he, Hephaestus, because he'd be just as angry with you for keeping that little fact from him."

Her father sighed deeply, and Nova could almost see him rubbing his scarred face with his hand, a gesture he did only when he was very tired or very upset. "This is getting us nowhere," he said. "I wouldn't mind this so much if I thought you really cared for her. But I know you don't, and I know exactly why you want her so much."

"Do you?" Ares inquired skeptically. "I doubt that."

"Oh, Ares," Hephaestus said in a disgusted voice. "You are so transparent sometimes you don't even realize it. I was telling Nova about Hercules the other day. She didn't even realize she did it, but when I said his name, she wrinkled up her nose like she'd smelled something bad. You've been feeding her nonsense about him, haven't you? Trying to make her hate him, so that sometime later, when the time is right . . ."

Ares cut off her father's words with a snarl. "Just shut up."

Hephaestus sighed again. "I'll go to Zeus, Ares. Don't push me on this."

"Even if he demands her death?" Ares asked coldly.

There was a shocked silence, and then Hephaestus stuttered. "He . . . why would he do that?"

"Think, Hephaestus," Ares declared. "A mortal who can kill with a thought. And who knows, it might not just be humans she can kill. She might even be able to kill a god. If Zeus thinks so, he'll put her to death."

"That's ridiculous," Hephaestus countered, but Nova could tell through her own shock that he believed Ares' words.

"Don't push ME on this, Hephaestus," Ares warned. "If I can't have Nova, no one will. I'll put a buzz in Zeus' ear that will scare him so badly he'll have her put to death in a heartbeat. So leave it alone. Nova is mine. The sooner you accept that, the better."

"Do you care for her at all?" Hephaestus asked in a low voice.

Ares laughed loudly. "Don't be ridiculous. She's a mortal. She's just a weapon. That's all. You'd be a lot better off if you remembered that you are a god and they are sheep. Your love for Nova's mother was almost your downfall. Do you want a repeat of that?"

Nova never heard her father's reply, because when Ares announced his true feelings for her, she fled the mountain. Sobs wracked her body as she made her way through the rocky terrain and down into the trees. Branches tried to snare her hair; roots tried to trip her. Before she'd gotten too terribly far, she was a mass of cuts and bruises. But she didn't care. Her heart was breaking; that pain was far more terrible than the ones being inflicted on her now.

At last, she broke through the trees, and she fell to her knees, sobbing harshly. She felt like such a fool. Ares had deceived her so completely. She didn't really understand what power they'd been talking about, but it was obvious that the God of War thought he could use her and it.

Suddenly, loud voices broke through her misery. She looked up to see a pair of rough looking men heading in her direction. She didn't much care for the expression on their faces as they came toward her. She glanced down to see that her gown was torn in several places, revealing much more of her body than was prudent. She rose to her feet, but before she could run, they were upon her.

"Got us a pretty, don't we," one of them crowed, a nasty hulking brute with a heavy brow and oily dark hair. His breath would have knocked over a mule.

"Gonna have some fun," the other one, a wiry young man with dirty blond hair and a scruffy face that reminded her uneasily of her cousin, Arion, announced.

"Leave me alone," Nova warned, fighting as they grabbed at her, but they only laughed and pulled her to the ground. She screamed as the larger one fell on top of her and began to rip at her dress. As his hand circled her breast and began to squeeze painfully, absolute fury rose inside her. Her whole world seemed infused with a red glow, and she sent all the hate inside her out toward her attackers. Hate for Ares for duping her, hate for herself for falling for him, even hate for her father for allowing this to happen.

Suddenly, the man on top of her began to choke. His body jerked, stiffened, and then went still. She shoved him away in disgust to see the younger man holding a hand over his heart while blood gushed from his mouth. As she watched in horror, he went to his knees and then fell on his face. Nova crawfished away, but not before his blood splattered her torn dress. She stared down at the dark droplets, and suddenly, she realized what she'd done. She'd killed them both.

Nova opened her eyes. Her head was aching terribly, but her heart hurt worse. Mnemosyne smiled gently and softly stroked her temple.

"The pain will not last," she said in her musical voice. She turned to Hephaestus. "Was there anything else?" she asked.

The God of the Forge shook his head, and Mnemosyne disappeared. Hephaestus eyed Nova warily. "Are you okay?" he asked.

Nova nodded, although she wondered if she would ever truly be all right again. Her eyes felt like they were made of glass, and her head still pounded.

"I found you that day," he explained. "You were sitting there, staring into space immobile with those two dead men at your feet. You wouldn't speak to me. You wouldn't move. I took you back to the mountain, but you wouldn't snap out of it. You wouldn't eat, either. I was truly afraid you were dying. I thought maybe, if you didn't remember what happened, you'd be okay, so I asked Mnemosyne for her help."

"You told Ares I was dead?"

Hephaestus nodded. "He came to me on your birthday and accused me of hiding you. You were so far gone by that point it was as if you didn't really exist. He couldn't feel your presence anywhere. I was convinced you were dying anyway, so I told him you were already dead. He didn't believe me at first, but I managed to convince him. I was . . . very distraught."

"And you sent me back to my aunt."

"Yes, under the conditions that if your cousin ever laid a finger on you again, he would pay with his life."

Nova laughed hollowly. "So that's why he stayed far away from me all those years." She shook her head. "How did Ares find out about my . . . talent?"

"He was here the day your aunt came to me with her fears for her son's life. I think he'd forgotten you, but he remembered Tessa, and although I thought he'd disappeared, he must have stayed around and listened. He came to you the first time that day, didn't he?"

Nova nodded. "Yes. I didn't want to go to Aphrodite's Temple, but he talked me into it."

Confusion sketched across the god's brow, but then his face cleared. "I suppose he knew he'd have free reign there. 'Dite . . ." He trailed off and glanced around a little nervously. "Well, I doubt 'Dite much cared who you talked to."

"As long as I stayed out of her hair," Nova finished dryly. A stricken expression crossed her father's face, so she added. "She wasn't cruel to me, Father. She was usually nice when she saw me. We just had very little in common."

Hephaestus nodded sagely. "Yeah, I can see that. Reading and working metal aren't on 'Dite's top-ten list of fun things to do."

Nova couldn't help but smile. "You love her," she observed softly. "I'm happy for you both."

Hephaestus shrugged uneasily, as if talking about something so personal made him nervous, and he quickly changed the subject. "I did what I thought was best, Nova. I didn't want to lose you. This was the only way I could think of to save you."

"I understand why you did it, Father, although I wonder if it might have been better to let me die."

"Nova," Hephaestus said, coming to her side and taking her hand. "Don't say that. Yes, you have a terrible burden. This power of yours is frightening. But you are a wonderful person. In all your life, the only times you've used that power against a person has been in self defense."

Nova shook her head quickly. "Not this time. On that battlefield, I killed all those men . . ."

"Men who were trying their best to kill your friends and neighbors," Hephaestus pointed out. "It was a war, Nova."

"It makes no difference," she assured him in a dead tone. In her mind's eye, she could see those men falling before her, and the most horrible feeling of self-loathing filled her.

"Of course it does," Hephaestus assured her. "People kill in war. Even Hercules has killed men before using his strength. But he doesn't let that hold him back from doing all the good he can. You just need to learn to control your power, that's all. Not realizing that you even had it hindered you, I can see that now. In the future, you'll be aware of it and be able to recognize the warning signs."

"The future," Nova said with a sigh, and then her expression turned angry. "Ares. He knew what I could do and he wanted me as a . . . a weapon. But I don't understand. He's a god. He can kill mortals as easily as I can."

Hephaestus' expression grew grim. "But there is one mortal that Ares CAN'T kill."

"Hercules," she breathed. "All of this heartache to kill one man."

Nova stood, swaying slightly before she caught her balance. Her head still ached, but the pain was finally receding. "I'm tired, Father. I think I just want to go home. I need to check on Phaon."

Hephaestus' stood with her. "What about Ares?" he asked. "He's still here you know."

Nova smiled mirthlessly. "I might as well get this over with, I guess."

Suddenly, the room around them shuddered slightly, and Nova glanced at her father in confusion. He shrugged ruefully. "They're fighting. I just don't understand it. You put Hercules and Ares in a room together, and they're going to end up trading punches."

"Well, let's go put a stop to it, shall we?" she declared, linking her arm through her father's.

They left the throne room following the noise, and sure enough, in a small antechamber, Hercules and Ares were hard at it, trying their best to beat the life out of each other. Nova watched them for a moment with something resembling amusement, and then she said, "Would you two grow up?"

She hadn't spoken very loudly, but obviously it had been loud enough for them to hear her. The hero and the god stopped in mid punch to stare at her. Nova kept her expression still, although the sight of Ares tore at her heart. Her eyes dropped to the pendant he still wore around his neck, and grief filled her for what she knew she was about to lose.

"Hercules," she requested softly. "I need to speak with Ares alone for a moment."

"Uh, Nova," the hero countered. "Do you really think that's a good idea?"

Nova smiled at the demigod crookedly. "Oh, I think I'll be okay. Could you just go away for a bit?"

Hercules glanced back at Hephaestus, but the god simply shrugged. Reluctantly, the hero followed the God of the Forge out of the room.

Ares took a step toward her, but Nova held up a hand to stop him. "Wait."

He obeyed her, obviously startled at the command in her tone. "You remember?" he asked.

"Oh, yes, Ares, I remember everything. Even things I managed to suppress when I was a child."

Ares' expression grew guarded, and Nova couldn't help but laugh. "Oh, yes. My little talent. Quite a handy one to have around, too, at least if you happen to be bound to the God of War."

"Nova," Ares began, but again she stopped him.

"Don't. Just don't. It's so clear to me now what you were trying to do. Back then I was too young and naïve and . . ." Her voice broke, but she forced herself to continue. "Too much in love to recognize it, but you were never interested in me. You just wanted me around to kill for you."

"I never lied to you," he declared in a grim tone.

Nova laughed again. "No, you didn't. Oh, you danced around the truth several times, but you never flat out lied. And if you'd had your way, you would have filled my head with tales about Hercules, and one day, I would have killed him for you."

"You belong to me," Ares growled. "You are vowed to my temple."

"Am I?" she asked. "I don't recall making that vow."

"You love me," he continued.

"What does that matter?" she countered. "You don't love me. You never did." He opened his mouth to disagree, but she held up a hand to stop him. "Ares, I heard you talking to my father. I was down in the forge the day just before my birthday when he tried to talk you into leaving me alone."

He stared at her for a moment, obviously not understanding, but then memory must have seeped in. She could almost hear him playing back the conversation in his head.

At last, he shrugged defensively. "It doesn't change the fact that you belong to me," he insisted. "Zeus decreed . . ."

"I think we should leave your father out of this, unless you'd like me to tell him that the reason you were so interested in having me in your temple was so I could kill his favorite son for you."

Ares stiffened. He glared at her with growing anger, and then he stalked across the room to tower over her. "You wouldn't dare," he growled.

"Don't try me, Ares," Nova said in a tired voice.

She could see his rage rising, could almost feel the air of murder surrounding them, and she laughed softly. "Do you want to kill me now, Ares? Aren't you afraid? You seem to think I could kill Hercules with my powers. I wonder if they would work on a full god?"

Her words seemed to defuse him somehow. He took a step back. He gazed at her for a long moment, and then he reached up to touch the pendant at his neck. With one savage tug, he broke the thong holding it in place and threw it to the ground. "This isn't over," he growled, his voice full of promise, and then he vanished from sight.

A great sadness enveloped Nova, tearing at her heart, but then she straightened her shoulders. It was time to get on with her life. A real life, free from any hold Ares might have had on her, free from the emptiness that her lack of memory had caused. She left the room to find Hercules, leaving behind the symbol of her love for the God of War. The pendant glowed softly in the flickering torchlight, and then suddenly, it vanished from view as if it had never existed.

The End