Midnight Swim ~Mars

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The Goddess walked along the pool within the Baths. The moonlight reflected off the calm water which stunk of chlorine. Diana glanced up at the moon with a smile upon her face. She loved her element of being the Goddess of the Moon, which she only got after the Romans adopted her, but it was still nice. Diana dipped her foot in the water, it was frigid. Too cold for a mortal to swim but for a goddess it was no big deal. Ignoring the "NO DIVING" sign along the outside wall Diana dived in to the deep end, which was only twelve feet. Even though water was Neptunes realm swimming had always had a relaxing quality on her. Besides, she was on good terms with her Uncle after she was decent to his Greek son.

She sat on the bottom for a minute, eyes wide. Sure the chlorine stung but it wasn't enough to make her dart up from the water. Finally she resurfaced and took a breath of air. It wasn't required that they breathed but Diana enjoyed the sense that they had the option to. It let her feel more connected to the mortal world, she was known as the one Olympian who was more associated with them. She knew their drinking and eating habits, even what was in fashion. Unfortunately in swim wear for women it was about as equal as undergarments. Though, for Diana it was no big deal because she could always kill-er-change a guy who stared upon her. She had down that before, back in the time of the Greeks when she had swam in the nude. Those were the days.

Diana floated upon her back on top of the water and stared at the moon and stars, even catching a glimpse of the fairly new constellation she had created, "The Huntress." Seeing that constellation reminded her that she probably should meet up with her Hunters soon. Though they were as tough as nails, she didn't need anyone straying from their path. Not that she didn't have faith in them, she just, well she cared for them. Since her virgin oath she has seen her Hunters as her own daughters. They called themselves sisters but that was generally how Diana felt, that her hunters were her children she had to protect from the big bad boy menace. Diana let out a relaxing sigh as her mind wandered, she closed her eyes and relaxed upon the water underneath the moonlight.

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notes: Mars!

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The day had been rather eventful, Mars thought as he took a deep breath. The camp was quiet and still, almost like the calm before the battle. But there was to be no bloodshed tonight. Mars would make sure of that. The legion needed time to rest and relax. The stars dotted the sky as Mars gazed upwards. He could easily pick out some of the constellations; he had spent much time staring at the skies with his twin sister. It felt strange to be back on the earth for such an extended amount of time, Mars couldn’t understand how some of the gods could be on this rock for so long. Sometimes this place could really get to a god and cause him to go nuts. But now that the day was done, his clothes and skin were dusty from the long day he had. He paused in front of the Roman Baths. Now that was something that Mars loved about this place. You haven’t lived till you had a roman bath in Mars’ opinion. Mars turned on his heel and headed into the Baths. The pool was his destination and this was really going to be a load of fun.

Mars scouted the edge of the pool, noticing someone else in the pool area. Diana. The goddess of the hunt was a powerful being in her own right and they didn’t always see eye to eye on most things, but Mars would always concede that her Hunters were strong and powerful. Mars admired them for their tenacity and their ferocity. Mars pulled off his jacket and gently hung it up on the wall. It was a nice Italian leather jacket and Mars loved it, so no water should be getting on it today. He pulled off his boots and socks before stripping off his tee-shirt and pants. He was just in a pair of boxer briefs before he took a running start and leapt off the ledge of the pool and cannon balled Diana. The splash was massive and of course he landed about a foot away from her. Mars had a little bit of niceness in his body, not much but it was there. HE could already hear the amount of swearing and insults and the attempts to turn him into a jack rabbit. That was one of Diana’s favorite things to do to boys.

“Nice to see you out and about.” Mars stated as he surfaced from under the water. He brushed his hair back and out of his face, He shook his head from side to side like a punch-drunk dog trying to rid his ears of water. “If you’re going to turn me into something, make it ferocious, like a gator or a crocodile. That would be nice.” Mars said as he kicked his feet up and floated on his back. “What no hunters?” He asked as he dove under the water once more, sitting down on the bottom of the pool for kicks and giggles.

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Diana snapped her eyes open and was about to move when she sensed Mars presence but she was too late. Suddenly she was drowned by a huge splash which made her lose her balance above the water. Diana could feel her blood, ichor, whatever boiling. She glared at mars as she pushed her wet hair out of her face. She was about to yell at him when he finally spoke with such a cocky statement. "I think a Kane toad would better suit you." Diana said with a smirk. The male Kane toad was known for anything but being smart. In fact it was a horny little toad. It had been known to even hump dead animals. In Dianas opinion ever time she looked upon the God of War she saw a toad. A cane toad humping anything, in fact.

At the mention of him bluntly asking of her hunters Diana smirked. She watched as the God dove under neath the water. He was as childish as a little boy who opened up presents on Christmas. Diana sighed and joined Mars at the bottom of the pool. "My hunters are out at the moment. And again, you're restricted from them." Diana said strongly under the water so that Mars would hear. She knew that Mars was semi pleased at her hunters, then again who wouldn't be. They were strong and could hold their own in a fight. In fact Diana would even go as far as saying her hunters were better then Mars descendants and she wouldn't even flinch at the statement.

"So, Mars. What brings you to New Rome. I thought you found this camp weak and an insult to the old Rome. Or have you softened a bit." Diana asked as she returned to the surface and swiped her dark hair away from her face. She glanced yet again at the moon. She always did love night, she probably loved it too much. On boring days her hunters would often find her up in a tree or on a hilltop admiring the night sky. Now during the daytime she was awake and all but it was never a part of her favorite time of day. It reminded her way to much of her ignorant twin. That was something her and Mars had in common, they were both twins."So hows the family?" Diana asked in a smirk.

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notes: Mars!

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Diana threatened to turn him into a toad. A fitting choice Mars had to admit, but unfortunately the godly powers didn’t work on other immortals. Olympus knows he tried on more than one occasion to turn one of his dysfunctional family members into something more worthwhile. “Jupiter goes around screwing everything with legs and a pulse and you think of me as the horny toad? Now how is that fair?” Mars stated.

Mars felt better underwater. Not that he needed to do anything useless like breathing, which was such a mortal fashion. He sat under the water when Diana dived under to tell him to keep his hands off her hunters. Mars snorted and a river of bubbles shot out of his nose. While being underwater was fun, it was hard to take someone seriously when they were bubble talking. No wonder why uncle Neptune didn’t have family meetings down in his kingdom. Really, how could you have a war meeting with bubbles streaming out of your nose like you were stuck in an overly pressured soda bottle? “I wouldn’t dream of touching your hunters. They have a lot more mouth then I like in my women.” He stated, another stream of bubbles came out of his mouth.

“New Rome is a bit soft; the old Rome is much more fun. A whole ton of debauchery and chaos just running through the streets, that was what made the old Rome much more fun.” Mars said. No lie, new Rome had become a bit more tame. “Besides what’s wrong with coming down and instilling a good bit of fear in the hearts of Romans.” He enjoyed terrorizing people and scaring them witless. That always made him feel a bit better. Now if he could bring Venus down here and hang out with her, this place wouldn’t be so bad. “You know how it is… Mother always likes Bellona best and mean old nasty Mars is mucking things up. I’m sure you know how it is to compete with an airhead. Unless you were asking about my kids….” Mars had a thought, maybe he should pop in and scare his children in the barracks and send them off on some strange and odd quest to go find some useless item.

“What about you? Recruiting people out of my Legion to join your eternal sisterhood of puberty?” Mars asked. Diana was always much easier to talk to, sure she could be a pain in the neck but she knew what it was like to have a twin that was such a pain in the ass. It was nice to have someone who could relate to you. “Any good kills lately? I hear the minotaur is out and about again. We should go put that bastard out of his misery. If you’re up for a challenge of course.” Mars said.

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Diana smirked at the retort he made regarding her toad comment. Well, they were both descended from Jupiter it was common knowledge that boys take after their fathers, in which case Mars was also acceptable to humping anything with legs and pulse, heck maybe he even did it to the deceased, it was a common occurrence once. "Like father, like son is all I have to say." Diana responded with a cheeky grin plastered on her face.

Her eyes narrowed at the response to her hunters. Mars was very old fashioned. He probably liked it back before the womens rights movement, which Diana may have had some help in. Back when a woman was to be seen and not heard and just stay at home taking care of the kids. Of course, there were periods when woman weren't accepting to mens dominance. There was the WASP unit in World War Two and also Spartan woman were trained equally in combat with the men. Diana pursed her lips."Hate to break it to you Mars but woman tend to have more say now. Those days of mens superiority are over." Diana said sternly. She was still waiting for a woman to become President. Then perhaps America wouldn't be in such political turmoil anymore.

Diana smiled at the comment on New Rome. Of course, she preferred this Rome then to the olden days. Everywhere someone turned in Rome they would be lead into a hoard of prostitutes. Even a noble family would send their daughters into prostitution in order to settle old gambling debts. It was disgusting! "Well you know how I feel about old Rome. Not my favorite time to be. This one is a lot better, controlled is the best word." Diana stated grimly. She had hated all those years being in Rome. Horrible time to be a woman anyways.

Diana laughed as she leaned against the pool wall. "Fear might do them good. Prepares them for real challenges in life. War, famine, plague. All the stuff dear old Uncle Pluto has to thank for his hoard of dead. Besides, a demigods life is never uneventful, they will always be associated with a challenge that can cause fear and death if they aren't prepared." Diana said. Sure it was morbid but she wasn't going to sugar coat it. Well she did to the demigods she sometimes met, they didn't deserve to know how horrible it was for them to be born into such a life.

Diana laughed in agreement to Mars. Did she know how he felt! Every time she had to ask Jupiter a favor he would never take her seriously. Something about her needing to grow up already. He had sworn upon the Styx to never force marriage on her but man, she could tell her resented ever making that agreement. Then there was her mother, Latona, not only did she sacrifice so much to please her she even helped her mom birth her brother. Still all the praise went to that dim-witted Roman Sun God. "Its horrifying. Just the other week Apollo went and torched a natural forest killing hundred of wildlife creatures and he only gets a stern warning. I swear he did that on purpose!" Diana grumbled. Out of all the Gods to be her twin it had to be Apollo. Though she was still a little curious on Mars descendants. "Well I did hear that two of your children have risen in rank here at camp. One a centurion and the other one of the two Preators?"

Diana rolled her eyes. Not all the girls in her Hunters were at puberty age. Besides all ill effects of mortal life banished once they pledged their oath to her. She hated when her hunters were referred to as the puberty brigade. It was insulting. "Now Mars, my Hunters come willingly. Most of them think if they stayed or ever attended this camp there life would be less enjoyable. Too many thick headed guys roaming around thinking they are all that. Please." She scuffed.

The Minotaur? Well that was a fun hunt, she had taken part in for a couple of times. It was a little surprise that he had already arisen again. The thrill of the hunt that could become was already shooting adrenaline through her vains. A smile curved on her lips. "A challenge? You insult me. It would be a challenge working with you, yes. Though a pleasant challenge nonetheless." Diana stated with a quick laugh. Any kills? Actually she hasn't really hunted anytime lately. Too busy roaming the world looking for new Hunters after the deaths of almost three fourths of them after the war. "Afraid to disappoint you. I've actually have hunted for awhile, been too busy recruiting. Too many hunters were lost during the war. My ranks aren't refilling fast enough." Diana muttered as she stared into the bright blue chlorinated water as the moon cast a light at the bottom showing the ripples. Diana sighed before looking back at Mars, the god of war. She often wondered whether or not he had enjoyed any sense of the last one they had endured. "You weren't all too happy about that war were you?" Diana asked softly to her half-brother and fellow Olympian.

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notes: Muse!!!

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“If you want to get technical, all the stories point to the fact that Juno birthed me by herself. No Jupiter needed.” Mars stated, correcting her about his miraculous and spiteful birth. That was always a story for the ages. “And for the record, I never EVER did anything with anyone dead. I don’t care what mother says. That is crossing a line. And to be honest I think Uncle Pluto would have had my manhood posted up on a wall.” Dead women were gross; they totally were not Mars’ thing. Not even something he wanted to think about. He shook his head. “I don’t know who started that stupid rumor. I bet it was Minerva, she’s been pms-ing ever since the Romans got into power.”

“Now don’t get me wrong, I love my girls with fire. Spartan women were really where it was at. The 1940’s also had some great women. They were strong spirited they were, especially the riveters that worked on the planes. I remember this one dame, her name Abby, she was quite a spirited one, I believe you tried to recruit her back in the day if I remember correctly….” Mars stretched his arms back and placed his head on his hands, floating on his back. He thought about many of the women he had flings with and the ones that really left their marks on him. Mars wouldn’t say much but there were some ladies that really had a lasting impression, a good woman could do that to a man in a brief moment.

“I truly don’t envy the demi-gods. But I think maybe we could send a few rampaging hell hounds through the camp, I don’t want anything happening to New Rome. New Rome has its ups and downs, but all in all the only thing I would change is that I wish there was just more going on. This place is boring.” Mars started to think of what he could do to the Camp to have them get a bit excited. Of course he didn’t want to overly depress the camp with something too hard, just enough to keep them on their toes. “hmm maybe what this place needs is a heard of Cyclopes or something. I think Ma Gasket has decided to reform.” Mars tapped his finger to his chin.

“I’m proud of my kids, Remus is making a great praetor but he still has much to learn. Charlie does too. But that girl is much like her mother. Sometimes I wonder if she’s really mine. But then I see her taking down Jupiter’s kids and there’s no doubt.” Mars let out a laugh. Most of his kids were really climbing up the ladder of camp Jupiter. His kids really had done him proud. “But that doesn’t leave this pool. Can’t have the rest of the family thinking I’m soft in the head now can I?” Mars said. Mars never liked to be thought of as someone who was soft, and then no one would take him seriously as a god of war. And this particular god of war was to be taken extremely seriously. HE didn’t want to have to start another world war just to get attention.

“To be honest, I hated that war. On both sides of the spectrum.” Mars said darkly. His brow furrowed. “I had never seen so much senseless death before in my life. Not since world war two. I lost many of my children in that fight. I had never seen so much blood before. I never want to do something like that again. I had never felt so horrible after a fight. Not only was I fighting two battles with a splitting headache, It was like every time a roman died, a part of my soul was being ripped apart. I hated it.” It wasn’t usual for Mars to hate and despise fighting. But that battle was stupid and it was awful. Mars didn’t care for fighting that could have been avoided. That damned greek boy was the cause of all those problems. “Never again… never again.”

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Diana couldn't help but laugh at how defensive Mars got on that statement. She gripped her sides from the laughter allowing herself to sink in the water a little. She pushed herself above the water again finally done with laughing. "Oh Mars, if anyone it was probably Vulcan who started the rumor. You are being fancy with his wife." Diana stated. "And seeing how dear old Uncle Pluto doesn't fancy anyone he would probably take more then your manhood." Diana sighed at the comment of Minerva. It was true, her Roman side was a pain in the butt to get along with. All because of that stupid Parthenon business. You would think that after a few years she would get over that but unfortunately that wasn't the case. Though Diana had overheard Venus saying that it wasn't the Parthenon at all but the lack of love in her Roman self. That just received an eye roll from the Goddess. "Minerva...yeah. She needs to really let that go. Its becoming quite a hassle." Diana said.

Diana scratched her head in thought. Abby....abby....abby. Ah! Abby had been a spunky young woman back in the late thirties. Diana was eager to recruit her but, she lost her womanhood to a man sharing the same pool as the Goddess. "Yes, if I'm not mistake you beat me to that one." Diana stated then pursed her lips as she watched Mars float upon his back. She splashed him. "Keep your women thoughts away from the Goddess associated with virginity." Diana stated with a light laugh. Even though Mars and her got along well enough it was still annoying when his eyes lite up when thinking of his past flings.

Diana thought. Hellhounds weren't a challenge enough. The cyclops was a good one but might be too deadly. If her memory served her correctly there were two children of the Big three in Camp Jupiter. "We need something bigger. Theres a daughter of Pluto and Neptune here. Though I doubt any campers here can surpass my hunters. What do you think?" Diana stated with a cocky smile as she took her turn to extend herself above the water and float in happiness. Most of her hunters have served her for hundreds of years. Even when they got a new recruit they became gifted with the skill of the bow. Anything else they had to learn on their own time. Which they had plenty of, unless they were unlucky enough to fall in combat. Some did get the misfortune of falling but that was usually after several hundred years. The shortest time a hunter spent with her was Bianca, but that was her Greek group. Her Roman group was tough as nails.

Diana pulled herself on the edge of the pool and let her feet soak as she listened to Mars explain his joy of his children. It brought a smile to her face. Even though she was mainly referred to as the Goddess of the Hunt, moon, and maidens she was also an adopted goddess of childbirth. It was out of place but she did enjoy seeing the connection between a parent and its child. She held up her hands defensively. "Don't worry. Your compassion secret is safe with me." Though she was glad to hear that his kids were doing well, even if one was a guy. At least he did well with Charlie. Diana still regretted she was unable to recruit her. "Well I'm proud of them and still regret being unable to recruit Charlie into the hunters. She would have been a fine leader within the ranks." Diana said matter of factly.

Diana nodded solemnly. That war was the worst of any she had experienced in awhile. Her hunters had all joined with the Greek demigods to protect Olympus. However many had indeed fallen. It was a tough time for the Olympians afterwards. Those who had children mourned, and Diana mourned for her Hunters. Then there was all the work that had to be done afterwards, the claiming and finding the scattered demigods of the world. "You would think with being immortal one would get used to the site of death and destruction. Each time it just makes you regret it more though."

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