Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Gundam Wing on Mount Olympus ❯ Learning the Ropes ( Chapter 5 )

Note: I'm using the Roman spelling of Hercules' name rather than the Greek spelling of Heracles because I think more of you know him by that name. But in general, I'll usually use the Greek names of the mythical characters.

Chapter 5: Learning the Ropes

“This is a beautiful forest, Artemis,” Trowa said.

They stood beneath towering broadleaf trees with an artful wildness about them, looking out into a broad meadow of deep grass dotted with wildflowers. The glades beneath the trees were laced with pathways. The open meadow allowed golden sunshine to penetrate far under the trees.

Artemis beamed proudly. “My maidens tend to the forest as part of their duties. I enjoy the pleasant, open warmth of a tidy forest.”

“I can appreciate that.” Trowa drew a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I love fresh air.”

Artemis looked around. “Do you overhear any beastly conversations here?”

“Yeah, lots of them.” Trowa pointed out into the meadow in front of them. “There are a dozen or so rabbits out there and a bunch of mice. I can also hear birds up in the trees.”

Artemis frowned slightly. “I have never had an interest in conversing with rabbits. And mice...”

“They may be small, but they're very observant. They have to be at the bottom of the food chain.” Trowa strolled out into the meadow and leaned over. After a moment, he straightened up with a tiny gray mouse sitting on his palm. The little mouse looked up at Trowa with bright black eyes. Its little nose twitched and it squeaked at him. Trowa nodded as he carried the mouse back to Artemis.

“They are rather cute,” Artemis noted. She leaned over to study the mouse. It blinked back at her and squeaked again.

“She thinks you're cute, too,” Trowa reported.

“What?” Artemis said. “It understood me?”

“Mice are quite intelligent.” The mouse squeaked again and Trowa chuckled.

Artemis frowned. “What did it say?”

“She said that since she can tell you're a female that you could at least return the courtesy when you talk about her.”

Artemis blushed bright pink. She obviously did not appreciate being chastised by a mouse. “I… uh… am not familiar with… ah… sexual features in mice.”

Trowa chuckled again. “It's not really that different. Males have testicle sacks and females don't.”

Artemis' blush deepened. “I am not in the habit of… uh… looking at… uh…that part of a creature's body. It seems… impertinent.”

The mouse squeaked again and Trowa clapped a hand over his mouth to stifle his guffaw. At Artemis' offended look, he waved his hand weakly. “I'm sorry!” he gasped. “It's just… Well… She said she supposed it was because human females had such prominent mammaries, making them easy to distinguish.”

Instinctively, Artemis covered her breasts with her crossed forearms. “How cheeky!”

Trowa had to fight not to laugh. “I'm sure she meant no offense.”

“Hmph!”

The little mouse suddenly squeaked in alarm and Trowa promptly returned her to the ground. She disappeared into the long grass. Trowa shaded his eyes and looked across the meadow. “She said there's a bear nearby.”

“A bear?” Artemis perked up considerably. “The bear is my patron creature. You will find that I am quite skilled in conversing with these woodland giants.” She strolled purposefully out into the meadow.

A shaggy black bear lumbered into view on the far side of the meadow. It ambled slowly toward Artemis and then plopped down on its furry backside.

Artemis walked right up to the creature with a smile. “Good day, Ursus.”

The bear waggled its paws, a bass rumble emanating from its deep chest.

“So you can tell this one is male,” Trowa remarked casually.

“Of course!” Artemis sniffed. “The conversation of male and female bears differs.”

“Oh? How so?”

“Well, males tend to talk more about food and about the possibility of mating. Females talk more about their cubs.”

The bear opened and closed his mouth, making a yawning noise.

Trowa responded. “I agree that a discussion of philosophy would be more interesting.”

Artemis stiffened. “What do you mean? Are you implying I am not interesting?”

The bear huffed through his nose.

Trowa had to stifle a laugh again. “I don't think that's what he meant.”

“But he just said I don't have any deep thoughts!” Artemis exclaimed indignantly.

“That's not true,” Trowa tried to mediate. “What he said was that his attempts to start philosophical discussions with you usually get sidetracked by trivial matters.”

“T…Trivial matters?!”

“You shouldn't take it personally. He really likes you.”

Artemis looked like she might hyperventilate. “I refuse to accept that you understand my bears better than I do! I have been conversing with bears for hundreds of years!”

“Of course you have,” Trowa said placatingly.

She wouldn't be so high strung if she mated, the bear rumbled. Raising young seems to take the edge off most females.

Artemis gaped in shock.

Of course, that might just be because raising young is tiring, the bear added as an afterthought.

Trowa blinked several times with his lips pressed together. Not speaking seemed much safer than anything else he might do. Artemis' face was bright red.

“My maidenhood,” Artemis began stiffly, “is not something I care to discuss. There are children enough in the world.”

Most of them offspring of Zeus, the bear muttered.

“Ursus!”

The bear rolled onto his feet and shook out his fur. He glanced at Trowa. I'm going fishing. You like trout?

“Sounds tasty.” The bear lumbered off and Trowa fell into step with him. He glanced back at Artemis. “Coming?”

Artemis glared at them with her arms crossed under her breasts.

“Come on, fresh grilled trout. You can't say no to that.”

“Oh fine!” Artemis stamped after them, still looking mortally offended.

Back on Olympus, Athena applauded delightedly as Quatre tossed a ball of blue flame back and forth between his hands. “That is very clever!”

“It's easy, too. It's one of the first spells I learned. Almost anyone can learn to do this.” He tossed the ball to Athena and she caught it tentatively between her hands.

“It's cool!”

“Yup. It's a fairly safe spell. More advanced sorcerers can make them bigger or add an element of heat. A sufficiently high heat proportion makes the spell behave explosively when the light ball impacts something.”

“Rather like my father's thunderbolts.”

“Precisely, although I suspect the mechanism of thunderbolts is different since the material for them is mined and smelted.”

“True.” Athena held the light ball close to her face and studied it carefully. “The color is so lovely. How long will it last?”

“A couple of hours if I don't make it go away.”

Athena began to snicker.

“What is it?” Quatre asked curiously.

“Well, I was just thinking,” Athena began slowly. “It's a rather naughty thought, really.” She giggled again. “But I thought it might be quite amusing to have one of these light balls suddenly appear when Aphrodite is engaged in some amorous nighttime amusement. Especially if it were to follow her about.”

Quatre stifled a grin. “Please don't suggest it around Roku. He's already been naughty enough.”

Athena inclined her head. “Of course not. My dispute with my sister goddess is appropriately kept between the two of us. But tell me, how is it that your son came to possess such advanced abilities at such a young age?”

Quatre flushed. “It's sort of a long story. I'll sum up by saying he was born with a sorcerer's power and knowledge, so it appears there's nothing he can't do. At least we haven't run into anything yet.”

“That is quite astonishing.”

Athena's study was in a tower overlooking the wide flowing meadow in front of the main hall. Outside on the lawn, numerous gods were reclined on woven carpets or low divans carried outside by servants. A sudden commotion made Quatre and Athena look out the window. A tall, handsome god with flowing waves of burnished gold locks spilling over his shoulders strolled purposefully across the lawn. His sleek, muscular torso was adorned with a short tunic that revealed his firm, rounded arms and taut, well-muscled legs. The lacings of his sandals accentuated the lean grace of his calves. The gods and goddesses leaped to their feet to offer deep bows as he passed.

“That must be Zeus,” Quatre remarked.

“Quite right,” Athena said. “My father is among the handsomest of gods.” She smiled proudly, but then her grin turned a little lopsided. “Of course, that is part of the reason he is so promiscuous. It is a source of great dissatisfaction to Lady Hera.”

“So I noticed.”

“We should go and greet him.” She led the way out of her tower and out onto the lawn, where Zeus was now accepting the greetings of the other gods. “Father! Welcome home.”

“Athena!” Zeus cried expansively. “My best beloved daughter!” He stepped close and clasped her by the shoulders, dislodging Horus in the process. He planted a warm kiss on her cheek. “How do you fare?”

“I'm fine, Father, and always better when you return.” Athena beamed at him. Then she turned and held out her hand toward Quatre.

“I would like you to meet one of the guests who have recently arrived to study on Olympus. This is Quatre, a mighty sorcerer.”

Zeus looked Quatre up and down and his eyes sparkled. “A sorcerer, eh? An art learned to aid in protecting your virtue, I shouldn't wonder. What a handsome lad you are.”

Quatre inclined his head. “I am honored, Mighty Zeus. I'm also spoken for.”

“Too bad!” Zeus threw his head back with a laugh. “So no dallying with a handsome boy for me tonight, eh?” Then he winked at Athena. “Unless I can beat Dionysus into Hermes!” He guffawed loudly at his own joke. “Well, well, let me find Hera and grovel at her feet for a little while to appease her temper. She'll have harsh words for me as usual, I expect.”

“If you wouldn't stray so much, Father, she would have less reason to be angry.”

“All too true, but how I am to resist the vast and varied charms of the mortals of this world? Each day, another stunning beauty is born whose delights I must savor. `Tis a weakness, I know, but even we immortals are flawed in some way.” Zeus chuckled happily as he strolled away.

Quatre lifted his eyebrows. “You father is an interesting character.”

Athena pursed her lips. “He is a little too happy about his shortcomings, if you ask me.”

“I know other people like that.”

“Shall we return to my study and resume our discussions?”

“All right.”

At dinner that night, Zeus made a great show of appearing contrite while Hera scolded him for staying away from Olympus for so long, but a mischievous smile kept creeping onto his face whenever she wasn't looking at him.

“He doesn't look very guilty,” Zechs remarked.

“Not in the least,” Treize agreed. “In fact, I'd say he is not even slightly apologetic, no matter what he might be saying to the contrary.”

Zechs fixed Treize with a fond smile. “I would never let you off the hook so lightly.”

“Nor would I expect you to, although the idea of straying from your side is so distasteful to me I choose to not even consider it.”

Zechs leaned closer. “So wherever I choose to make my bed, that's where you'll lie?” he purred.

Treize paled. “Zechs…”

“Because I don't think I could sleep without your warm skin touching mine,” Zechs murmured throatily. He rubbed a hand suggestively down his chest, stopping just above his pelvis.

Treize struggled to keep breathing. His mouth opened and closed a few times, but no words came out.

Sitting near them, Apollo watched this exchange with astonishment. “Upon my word!” he exclaimed. “I have seen Aphrodite need more words to reduce a man to gibbering desire!”

“Zechs has an advantage where Treize is concerned,” Duo said. “Treize is never more than two steps away from thinking about having sex with Zechs, so about all Zechs has to do is look at him and Treize is ready.”

“But even still…” Apollo shook his head. “Your companion wears his sex appeal as openly as Aphrodite.”

“But he only flaunts it for one man,” Artemis interrupted primly, “unlike some people who are charmed by anything male.” She cast a snooty glance in Aphrodite's direction.

Aphrodite did not notice as she absorbed the adoration of a group of a dozen or so appreciative gods, including Ares.

“I wonder…” Hermes spoke up. He was sitting cuddled rather close to Duo with a speculative grin on his face. “Some of those gods paying court to Aphrodite appreciate a man's beauty as much as a woman's. What do you think are the odds that your friend could charm a few of those gentlemen away from Aphrodite?”

A wide grin spread across Duo's face. He lifted his eyebrows questioningly at Zechs. “I'll cut you in on the action. Fifty percent of the take, since you'd be doing most of the work. Hermes and I will take the bets.”

Zechs regarded him evenly. “You expect me to flirt with other men so you can bet money on it?”

“Yeah! The more gods you attract, the better the odds. But we'll only count the males.”

Apollo was grinning too. “I'll shill for you for a fee.”

“Done!”

Zechs sighed.

Treize patted his knee. “Oh, why not play along? It will be entertaining.”

“Very well. You have five minutes to make your bets.”

Hermes and Duo immediately began strolling nonchalantly about the room, pausing every now and then to chat with this god or that. As soon as they left a group, those gods would immediately lean toward their fellows, whispering excitedly. At the same time, Apollo moved about the room, holding brief whispered discussions, pointing back at Zechs, rolling his eyes and shaking his head. After five minutes, the three of them returned to their seats and sat down.

Immediately, Zechs stood up. He tipped his head to one side and stroked his fingers slowly through his long silver hair, his deep blue eyes fixed casually on Aphrodite and her group. Then he strode toward the group with sinuous grace, coming to a halt next to Ares, who was seated closest to Aphrodite.

“Lord Ares,” Zechs said. “You are the God of War.” His voice was warm and his tone conveyed deep interest.

Ares regarded him with a suspicious frown. “That I am.”

Zechs smiled. It was not his most stunning smile, but it was surely a close second. “I am a soldier by trade, so one might say that you are my… patron.” His tone jammed all kinds of suggestive connotations into that word.

Ares' eyes widened. Around him, the other gods sat up straighter, their eyes fixed on Zechs. A small pout stole over Aphrodite's face as she ceased to be the main center of attention.

Zechs wet his lips with the tip of his tongue. “I have often found that the excitement of combat is not unlike the excitement of intimacy. Dueling one-on-one with another man; the close interplay of your swords as you parry, strike and thrust; the scent of his excitement; the wetness of his sweat on your skin when you lock swords; there is little that compares to it, wouldn't you agree?”

Ares stared with his mouth open. The other gods who had been fawning over Aphrodite now appeared to have forgotten that she even existed. Every eye was pinned on Zechs. When Ares didn't answer, Zechs leaned over and touched him lightly on his thickly muscled shoulder.

“Perhaps you will do me the honor of sparring with me later?”

Wu-Fei leaned over to Heero and whispered, “Do you suppose anyone in that group heard the word `sparring'?”

Heero shook his head. “Not a chance.”

Almost as one, every god sitting near Aphrodite leaped to his feet.

“I'll spar with you, sir!”

“Allow me to entertain you!”

“What say you to a friendly wrestling match?”

Offers were flung at Zechs one after the other and Zechs let them clamor for a moment before lifting a hand to silence them. Then he bowed his head slightly, producing his most stunning smile.

“I am so honored by all the kind offers. I have heard nothing but the highest compliments about the athletic prowess of the exalted residents of Olympus. I hardly know where to begin.” He glided to an empty divan a short way away. “Perhaps you should begin by introducing yourselves.” He sank down gracefully and focused his attention on the nearest person.

That lucky gentleman immediately leaped to a spot directly in front of Zechs and began to rattle off his name, family history and talents. The rest crowded around, eager to introduce themselves next. In seconds, only Ares remained in the immediate vicinity of Aphrodite and he looked like he wanted to follow Zechs, judging from the way his eyes kept straying in that direction. Aphrodite flushed a shade of red almost as dark as the wine she was drinking.

All at once, a great commotion rose up from the surrounding couches. Gods and goddesses leaped to their feet, most of them clamoring in dismay and trying to claim it wasn't a fair bet because they hadn't known anything about the newcomer. Apollo just shrugged sheepishly while Duo and Hermes trotted about the room collecting their winnings. When they went to collect from Zeus, he pinched Hermes on the bottom with a hearty laugh.

“Well done, my lad! There's a bet I don't mind losing! What a sight that was! I was ready to have at him myself and I knew what was going on.”

Hera gave him a dark look.

“Don't fret, my love,” Zeus assured her. “Only you shall have my attention tonight.” He patted her hip. “I'll give you a night of dalliance that will have you walking stiffly in the morning.”

“Don't be so impertinent!” Hera snapped, but a smile was tugging at her lips when she looked away.

Aphrodite however, appeared to have finally figured out that she was the butt of the joke. Her flush spread to her very ample bosom and stark fury marred her pretty face. “How dare you make bets at my expense?!” she cried. “I am a goddess!”

“So are we!” someone shouted back at her, “and I just lost my favorite broach for betting in your favor!”

Duo immediately turned to the speaker. “Madam!” he exclaimed gallantly, “I would never deprive a woman as lovely as you of something which you value so highly.” He presented the broach to her with a flourish. “I will gladly exchange this bauble for something of equal value that owns a less cherished place in your heart.”

The young goddess blinked at him. “Well… ah… I have this.” She removed a ring from her finger and held it out. Duo took it. A fat pearl sparkled in a wave of gold. He grinned at her. “A fair exchange, my lady.” He handed her the broach and she cradled it in her palm with a happy smile.

When he and Hermes returned to the others, they were giggling happily.

“A fat haul, Master Duo!” Hermes grinned.

“What about Zechs' share?” Treize asked pointedly.

“You can hold it for him,” Duo said promptly and he and Hermes set about dividing up their spoils.

“That's a lot of stuff,” Treize said. “Do you mind holding it for him, Roku? We can keep it for Alexa's trousseau.”

“Sure,” said Roku.

“What's a trousseau?” asked Alexa.

“It's a collection of things a bride takes with her to start a new home with her husband.”

“Daddy, I'm not old enough to get married.”

Treize laughed. “I know that, sweetheart! But it's never too soon to start planning for a child's future.”

“Oh.”

Roku frowned in puzzlement. “If a bride gets a trousseau, what does the groom get?”

“He gets a bride,” Heero said matter-of-factly.

“That's it?”

“For a lot of men, that's plenty.”

“For some men, that's too much,” Trowa added.

“Is that why you're scared of Miss Relena, Papa Heero?”

Heero went pale. “I'm not scared of her…” he said hastily.

“He's just petrified by the mere idea of her existence in the same universe with him.”

“Can we talk about something else?”

Zechs rejoined the group. “Well, I have three appointments for sparring with light swords tomorrow. A few of the fellows weren't too upset to find out they were part of a bet and played right into my hands. What did I win?”

“Roku's holding it for you,” Duo reported.

“Oh good. Thanks, Roku.”

“You're welcome, Uncle Zechs.”

“Daddy said it can be for my trousseau,” Alexa said brightly.

Zechs blinked at Treize. “She's much too young for us to even be considering marriage for her.”

“I'm just planning ahead,” Treize said with a smile. “Remember, I died. I don't have a fortune to pass on anymore. I have to start somewhere.”

“Good point.”

Treize leaned forward. “Now, about all your seductive promises… Are you planning to make good?”

Zechs ducked his head and regarded Treize through his eyelashes. “I am on fire with desire for you right now,” he purred huskily.

Treize took a deep breath. “Oh lord!”

“Alexa can spend the night with me, Uncle Treize,” Roku piped up immediately.

“That kid smells naughtiness faster than I can read their filthy, lustful minds,” Duo remarked. He grinned at Hermes. “Let's find Dionysus and bust open another wine keg. He still had a few coins in his purse last night when I rescued you from his clutches.”

“All right, but I'm not drinking tonight,” Hermes vowed. “It was rather pleasant waking up this morning without a sore backside.”

The two of them trotted out the nearest door, looking for the rotund god.

“You know, it just occurred to me,” Trowa said abruptly. “If you combine Zeus' lustiness and Hermes' love of gambling with Dionysus' passion for booze, you end up with Duo.”

Quatre groaned. “Thanks a lot, Trowa! Now I won't be able to sleep tonight.”

“Sorry!”