In the Groove of Dodona, two gods lay on the ground. The goddess who embodied the very concept of beauty was completely breathless and soaked in sweat. Her flushed face and exhausted look gave her a unique charm that would ensnare anyone who glanced at her.
As for the god who lay by her side, he simply stared at her with an amused look, not looking any worse for wear despite what they had done until then.
"Hah. You really have a lot of stamina, Brolios. I simply couldn't keep up with you."
"Well, I am an Elder Olympian, and compared to all the stuff I did during and after the war, this barely qualifies as putting in any effort."
Aphrodite, the Goddess who recently condensed the domain of Beauty, glared at her companion at those words.
"I don't think I will be able to walk straight for a few days at least."
Brolios smirked at her words before brushing away the strands of hair that were covering her eyes.
"Well, you can't really blame me for your lack of experience and stamina."
At the edge of the clearing, various nature spirits, minor gods, titans, and a whole host of other creatures listened to the conversation with deep blushes on their faces. Their minds conjuring some wild imagery.
Yet, they dared not ever speak about the fantasies that their minds conjured up, because, unlike what those suggestive poses and words might imply, nothing indecent had happened between this pair of deities.
All that happened was Brolios Asterion, the God of Destruction, training the newly crowned Goddess of Beauty in the ways of Martial Arts and combat.
Many a spirit cursed the two in their hearts for painting such a beautiful fantasy in their minds with their acts, yet none of these curses were truly meant.
For it was just like this idiot of a god to ignore all the hidden meanings and signals in his and her wording, which would have had any other god jumping to crawl into this goddess's bed. The same goddess who had already been acknowledged as the most beautiful woman on Olympus, aside from Queen Hera, Lady Demeter, and Lady Hestia.
Getting off the ground, Brolios extended his hand to his friend, who took it with a pout.
"So? Any progress?"
Aphrodite shook her head as she focused inwards, feeling her divinity, and, much to her disappointment, felt no change.
"None. It is still stuck in that weird limbo."
Brolios nodded at her words in understanding.
Nearly ten years ago, right after that whole experiment with Perseus ended in a resounding success, Brolios finally decided to relax a little and hand over the control of the Demigod project to Athena and Prometheus while he focused on helping out Aphrodite.
The goddess in question asked her only male friend to train her in the use of her divine gift of Charmspeak as well as martial arts so that, when she is ready, she could confidently reveal her existence to the other Olympians who were still unaware of her existence.
She knew that she was basically signing up for a training regimen straight from Tartarus because she knew Brolios better than most and knew what kind of effort he demanded of others and what kind of hellish levels of training he put himself through most of the time.
Yet, she did not back down once in the past ten years. No matter how much Brolios pushed her, no matter how many times she came close to dying and going down to reform. She did not give up.
It was thanks to this effort that, finally, she managed to get her Charmspeak and her naturally seductive divinity under tight control even during intense combat just last year.
However, she still did not feel confident in facing the other gods and goddesses of Olympus despite this advancement in her personal power. That is why she continued training.
It was during one such training session nearly six months ago that the two friends stumbled upon a pleasant surprise. Something that gratified Brolios and made him proud of his friend, while Aphrodite felt a deep sense of gratitude and other strange emotions that she had never felt before.
Because, under Brolios's inhuman training regimen, Aphrodite had sown the seeds of gaining another domain within herself. A domain that was, without any doubt, related to some form of violence.
That was why they intensified their training even further ever since that discovery in hopes that she could speed up the manifestation of her new domain so that she could learn to control it and might feel a little bit more confident.
Seeing Aphrodite's slightly sullen face at the realization that today, just like every other day, there had been no progress in the formation of her new domain, Brolios patted her head like he had gotten used to over the years, making the goddess pout in annoyance and fond exasperation.
"Don't worry, remember what I said before? You cannot force domains to manifest unless you want to live a life of misery like Hera did until I made Zeus get his act together back then."
Aphrodite nodded. She remembered the horror stories of how things were back then, before Brolios did something and made it a rule that no one from his family is allowed to cheat on their partners unless their partners consent to this infidelity.
While nobody spoke about what exactly Brolios did to make Zeus, of all people, agree and abide by this rule to this day, Aphrodite had a fairly confident guess given Brolios's personality.
Shaking her head, she unceremoniously collapsed to the ground, spread-eagled, and stared into the sky while Brolios continued lying down as well.
"You know, I never thought I would actually condense a domain related to fighting in any way. Back then, before meeting you, I always thought the first domain I would condense aside from Beauty would be something like Longing, given my isolation at that time, or maybe even lust, because of what I learned from the Horae, who told me about how every man and woman out there would desire me."
"And yet, here we are, so many years later, with a domain related to fighting being the first one condensed into me."
Brolios chuckled at her deadpan expression.
"Don't sell yourself short. You are actually pretty strong, you know? And that fire of yours was always a part of you, even back when we first met. Something similar to a rebellious nature, if I were to put a label to it."
Aphrodite's gaze softened at those words.
In her life so far, Brolios was the only one who ever saw her for herself and not what his heart would desire of her. And, perhaps, it was because of this unique quality of his that he was the only one who knew her better than she knew herself.
'If only this idiot's head wasn't always filled with training and eating and actually knew how to have fun, how good would that be?'
'Then again, he wouldn't be Brolios if he did become like that.'
The topic of food instantly sent a pang of hunger across her being while she swallowed saliva at the mere thought of Brolios's cooking. One of the many arts that the God seems to possess a natural inclination for, and one that she had the privilege of witnessing all the time. An honor that nobody outside his family and his closest friends gets.
She turned to the side, watching the god slowly close his eyes and immerse himself in his domain of nature, instantly prompting all the plants nearby to sway gently and rustle in a rhythmic way, not because he prompted them to, but because they felt content under the protection of their god, while animals slowly emerged from the woods, happily prancing around before settling on the god as if he were some kind of a particularly comfortable bed made specifically for them.
Truthfully, Aphrodite felt a little bit jealous of this ability of his. While it is true that she needs only speak to make the natural aspects of the world do the same with her, she knew that it was because the world would respond to the commands of a Goddess like her, not because nature itself would love her, like it does Brolios.
With a sigh, the goddess completely let go of her guard and slept peacefully, knowing that she was safe with her friend nearby.
And so, the two divine beings slept soundly after a whole day's hard training.
Unfortunately, this peace would not last long, as just a few days later, Zeus would call all the gods and goddesses of the Greek Realms for an emergency meeting.
For Gaia, the Mother Earth, had awakened briefly and given birth to a new batch of divine offspring.
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Author Notes: Heh. I hope you guys 'enjoyed' that little tease at the beginning of the chapter.😏
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