"What is it, Amatheus?" Hercules queried in earnest, seeing that it was not a natural swoon that overtook the high priest.

"The goddess . . . ," gasped the old man. "Ares has kidnapped her!"

"What!?" Hercules cried out in exasperated disbelief.

"Just now - don't ask me how he found her," Amatheus gazed out into space as he watched a vision to which only he was privy. "But, it is certain he has found the temple, and now she is gone and your friend is injured - "

Amatheus got no further, for Hercules quickly leaned the weary priest against a nearby tree and began a serious sprint toward the hidden temple at the coastline. Amatheus could only shake his head miserably as he watched the demigod go, knowing all the hero could do now was commiserate with his friend at the loss of the goddess.

At times, Amatheus despised his role as an oracle, for in such cases as this, he was unable to halt events that had been brewing for ages - in this case, since the birth of the goddess - , and he had sadly not foreseen this agonizing twist in the plot of Sorrow's life. And what was worse, he knew that from that point on, there was nothing anyone could do to change it.

When Sorrow opened her eyes, she saw she was no longer in her father's temple. She was now free from the mercilessly strong arms of Ares, but she was still his prisoner, for she saw that she was now locked to a stone wall by manacles that hung to each side of her head - manacles that could only have been forged by Hephaestus. It meant that she had been taken prisoner completely by Ares, and she immediately felt despair that she had not been born with the kind of power it would take to free herself. She would need the strength of Hercules and the tools of Hephaestus to get her out of the cuffs if Ares didn't intend upon setting her free at some point in the near future. Until either event occurred, or until her father returned and protested her abduction, she was essentially Ares' prisoner.

Looking about herself, she immediately guessed that she was being held in some sort of special prison cell that Ares had made for her within one of his temples. It was not the cell of a criminal, though, for the room was fitted out with everything a goddess could want - a large, luxurious bed covered in satin spreads and pillows, all sorts of artwork decorating the walls, and Elysian flowers of every kind scenting the room. A nearby table held a variety of food and wine, along with an ample supply of ambrosia. Beyond that, sealing her tightly into the room, was a huge door hewn from some ancient sort of wood, with Hephaestian bolts firmly securing the hold and keeping her locked inside. Sorrow could only imagine that Ares intended to keep her a prisoner within this decorated cell forever, and what tortures she would have to endure while locked inside remained to be seen and experienced.

She waited for what seemed like hours to find out what she was in for with Ares. Finally, she heard the door being opened from the outside, and her heart leapt into her throat. It could only be Ares, and her fear of him rose sharply as he unlocked the door and slowly pulled it open. Thinking only of Iolaus and what he would want her to do, Sorrow put on her bravest countenance for her enemy as Ares swaggered arrogantly into the room.

"Sorry to keep you . . . hanging around . . . so long," Ares smirked as he moved slowly toward her, his words sounding fairly menacing. He then spread his arms wide and proclaimed, "Welcome to my temple!"

"Forgive me if I'm less than grateful for your . . . hospitality," Sorrow spoke distinctly, doing her best to keep her voice from exhibiting her complete anger at having been kidnapped so unfairly.

Ares half-smiled, half-sneered in return, "You'll come to like it soon enough, I'm sure, since it is going to be your home for the rest of eternity."

"Oh, I see," Sorrow spat in disgust, nodding in complete understanding. "You can't have me by my own will, so you're just going to steal me away and keep me locked up forever, is that it?"

"Something like that," Ares agreed easily as a toothy, mocking grin spread across his face. "You see, Sorrow, I always get what I want."

"Even if it means going against the rest of the gods and my own destiny?"

Ares threw his head back and laughed with great hilarity, "Since when have I ever cared what the other gods wanted? And your destiny is now whatever I want it to be, my sweet Sorrow."

"Don't call me that!" she demanded, suddenly feeling her rage beginning to boil over.

"Why not?" Ares asked with a leading air. "Is that what your . . . lover . . . calls you?"

Sorrow's eyes narrowed as she closed her mouth tightly, for Iolaus had only ever called her "Sweetheart," but she was afraid that Ares might be completely aware of how far her relationship with Iolaus had gone, and she feared what he might do to her true love. After some quick thought, she replied, "You don't deserve to call me anything like that, Ares."

"Oh, no? Well, when you're my wife, I'll be free to call you whatever I choose," he said softly, but menacingly, as he closed in on her. "And, I'll be able to do whatever I choose."

Before she could protest, he was fully upon her, and she expected to be assaulted then and there. To her surprise, he just stood extremely close to her, sensuously taking in the seaborne essence of the daughter of Poseidon. He took great care not to touch her at first, deliberately lulling her into a false sense of security before he suddenly lifted his right hand upward, boldly cupping her left breast fully, and he began to gently caress it through the green satin of her gown.

"You're such a beautiful, young goddess, Sorrow," Ares murmured sensuously when he felt her body beginning to respond despite her mental resistance. "You should not waste yourself on a human like Hercules . . . he doesn't have what it takes to truly make someone like you happy . . ."

Sorrow's heart leapt anxiously when she heard him say that, for it meant that Ares had no idea that Iolaus had become her lover, and hearing his misconception caused her to feel such great relief that she inadvertently sighed aloud. Ares arrogantly mistook the reaction as a sign of complicity on her part and he seized hold of her, pulling her captive body to his roughly and kissing her hard on the mouth at the same time. He was obviously ready to take her at any time, and Sorrow began to fear for herself. She had never thought to share herself with anyone other than Iolaus, and truly believed that Ares would force her to lay with him if he had to.

Her mind raced over these horrendous facts unhappily, and yet her young body would not cease betraying her wishes, for Ares knew exactly what to do and how do it, and just the feel of his dangerous lips fluttering across her skin was enough to undermine her inexperienced resolve. She had made love with Iolaus only minutes before her abduction, and her thirst for the hunter had not been quenched in the least. Her desire for him still raged, and although Ares was not Iolaus, his touch and forceful kisses were apparently enough to arouse her again. It caused her great distress, and she unsuccessfully tried to pull away from him.

"Ares . . . stop," she gasped anxiously. "Please . . ?"

Ares looked up from exploring her decolletage and grinned lasciviously, "Sure you want me to stop?" He didn't think so, for she was breathing heavily with what he perceived to be the beginnings of lust for himself, and so far she had been cooperating against her own will most deliciously. It only excited him more to think that she might hesitate to give herself to him because of her loyalty to his half-brother.

"I - I can't . . . I won't . . ," she stammered, unable to summon the speech she needed to dispel him, or even discourage him.

Feeling particularly devilish, Ares ignored her pleas and deliberately dove for her neck, finding her to be unable to fight him in any way as she seemed to dissolve beneath his kisses. He continued to insistently massage her tender breasts until he was certain that she was overcome with her reluctant desire for him, and only then did he suddenly choose to obey her wishes and withdraw from her, stepping away and discontinuing his ministrations altogether.

"Okay, Sorrow, I won't push you," he said in mock-sincerity, uncharacteristically pretending to have her best interests at heart. "I don't want to rape you . . . I want you to come to me willingly. So, I will do as you ask and wait until you can give yourself to me as my wife."

At first, Sorrow just gaped at him in a mixture of shock and interrupted passion, unable to grasp the idea that she was not going to be assaulted by him after all. Even so, a moment later she was overtaken by a feeling of extreme shame that her own body had betrayed her so by conforming to his, making her almost want Ares to make love to her. It was a sore betrayal of the promises she had made to Iolaus and the love they had made together, and the moment Ares closed the door and re-locked it behind him, she lowered her head and wept miserably.

"IOLAUS!"

Iolaus heard the call and recognized the sound of his own name being yelled from somewhere far off, and he was pretty sure he recognized the voice doing the yelling. His first instinct was to answer, but he was unwilling to locate the source of it just yet. In his dream, he was too busy running from temple to temple in search of his beloved Sorrow, and there was simply no time to waste heeding the call of anyone who was not the Goddess of Lamentation. Plus, he had just spied Ares' Halls of War lying off in the distance, so he ignored the call and ran onward.

"IOLAUS, WAKE UP!"

"Wake up?" Iolaus muttered, still unconscious. In his dream, he was more awake than he'd ever been in his life, for Sorrow was the greatest love of his life. He could not believe that he had found her and joined with her only to lose her to Ares, and he was honor bound to find her no matter where the God of War was hiding her. So, waking up was not a necessity.

However, stopping the hand that was slapping at his face was a necessity.

"Hey, cut it out!" he protested as he reluctantly returned to consciousness, swimming away from his search and back to the hidden Temple of Poseidon. A second later, the throbbing of his re-abused skull crashed in upon him, and he winced in pain, "Ow, not again!?"

"Iolaus, what happened?" Hercules helped him to sit up. "Where's Sorrow?"

Iolaus blinked once or twice, at first unable to grasp the situation, but the memory of what had occurred soon returned. He looked up to his friend with a look of horror on his face, "Oh gods, Herc, it was Ares - he and his goons must have followed us here!"

"I figured as much," Hercules grumbled, his brow creasing with his growing anger. He helped Iolaus to his feet and started for the exit, saying, "He's got Sorrow, and I'll just bet he's got her locked up in one of his temples - "

"Herc, wait - ," Iolaus reached out and grabbed his friend's arm. Hercules looked back to him with full attention, and he continued hesitantly, "It's a little more complicated now . . ."

Hercules held up his hand to silence his friend's unnecessary confession, and smiled half-heartedly, "I know - you and Sorrow consummated your relationship."

Iolaus quickly launched into his nervous alibi, "Believe me, Herc, I wanted to wait for Amatheus to marry us, but Sorrow didn't want to take any chances - "

"Don't worry about it, Iolaus," Hercules assured with great sincerity. "Sorrow's a big girl now - she can make her own decisions, and she's decided she wants you. Besides, you were obviously meant for each other, so what say we go and get you two back together again?"

Holding his aching head, Iolaus nodded resolutely and proclaimed, "Let's go."

Ares felt pretty triumphant as he relaxed across the cold marble throne that resided upon the dais of his Thessalonian temple. Outside, the cheers and hurrahs of Testacles' men rang out as they sang the War God's praises, which didn't hurt his ego much, either. In gratitude for their swift and mostly competent effort, Ares had rewarded the soldiers with a full banquet and all the wine they could hold, and in return he was pleased to hear their revelry filling the darkening night. It would serve as a good warning to any would-be heroes that the temple was currently well-fortified at the moment.

Not that anyone, especially Hercules, could ever find the blue-haired goddess. Her cell was within a place filled with so many twisting and turning corridors and hidden rooms that even the demigod son of Zeus would be searching for weeks to find her. And, even if he did manage to locate her, there were still three solid barriers to get through in order to reach her - three heavy, wooden doors bolted with Hephaestian locks. Ares nodded to himself in great satisfaction that he truly had this situation well in hand at long last.

However, carrying out his particular plans for Sorrow was a completely different issue altogether, and he foresaw problems all around. Sorrow had turned out to be much more strong in her will than he'd suspected at first, and he could only anticipate more resistance like he'd met earlier in the cell. Sure, she had involuntarily begun to succumb to his wiles little by little, but she would never give herself to him willingly, and even he had to draw the line right there. The God of War was no rapist to begin with, and he didn't even want to consider the wrath of Poseidon if he were to bend what few morals he did obey. But, it was not absolutely necessary to his plans that Sorrow willingly accept him as her lover, although Ares knew more than one way to woo a woman who would not cooperate. He grinned widely at the thought of his past conquests, remembering well what it took each time to unlock an unwilling partner's passions and release their desire, especially one in particular. With time and effort, Sorrow, too, could surely be persuaded to find him irresistible.

"You so sure of that?" rang out Discord's voice over the din of the reveling soldiers, and she suddenly appeared atop him, with her legs straddling his hips closely.

Ares looked down to where their pelvic regions met, then back up into Discord's coal black eyes, and pronounced, "Oh, yeah, I'm sure."

"Don't think just because you've tempted the tightest virgins in town that Poseidon's ‘Little Princess' is going to just fall at your feet and spread ‘em," she said luridly, beginning to run her hands back and forth across his leather vest. Her eyes appeared to be feasting upon his well-muscled body, and Ares began to wonder what had earned him this sudden display of affection.

"The hunt is three-fourths of the excitement, Discord dearest," he replied gruffly, pulling her closer and making as though to kiss her, but instead he whispered menacingly into her ear, "and I think you're trying to distract the hunter, am I right?"

Discord growled and pulled back, "You sure know how to kill a mood, Ares."

Ares laughed, "Oh, please don't get offended, Discord - I truly would have been disappointed if you hadn't tried to distract me."

"I'm just trying to save you the humiliation, lover boy," she excused insidiously. "I happen to have it on good authority that the little goddess is already in love with someone else, and while her heart belongs to that someone else, you're never going to pry those knees apart. So, why don't you just save yourself the agony and let me bear your children? You can name them whatever the heck you want, and let ‘em wreak havoc all over eternity for all I care!"

"Now, see? That right there is exactly why I can't let you bear any of my sons," Ares pointed out. "You don't care, and well, frankly, I need someone who does care. I need that sort of blood influencing my boys, not your wild, abandoned attitude. I want to change the world, not destroy it!"

"Give me a break, Ares - you don't really think these stupid humans will conform to your ‘new world order', do you? They're completely unpredictable! And they hate being told what to do, which is why we favor the ones that obey us and play with the ones who don't. Why bust up a good arrangement like that when it's going so well for us?"

"Is that why everyone's so worried about me marrying Sorrow?" Ares queried in mild surprise. "Are they afraid a little military-backed peace and quiet, enforced by our children, will cut down on their tributes at their temples?"

"Wouldn't you be, if it were someone else's idea?" Discord asked in disgust. "Shifting the balance of power won't make you Mr. Popularity."

"Nor do I expect it to," Ares growled, seizing her by the waist and easily lifting her off of his lap. He stood and began to pace the length of the dais rapidly and unhappily. Discord fell back into his throne and watched him brood over what she'd said, feeling a small bit of triumph that she'd made him question his true motives. However, Ares was not easily moved, and he finally stopped pacing and declared, "I was promised four sons - sons who will follow in my footsteps!"

"Yeah, so you've said, over and over," Discord retorted. "But I still say you're not going to have them with that crybaby. She's already sold, if you get my meaning."

"And just what is that supposed to mean?" Ares glared without malice at his niece, his eyes narrowing as he considered what she had just said.

"Hey, I don't know for sure," Discord held up her hands innocently. "Like I said, it's the word on the Mount at the moment."

Ares nodded in great amusement, thinking of his brother wooing the young goddess while supposedly trying to get her home safely. However, he also had to consider that Discord was just trying to throw him off again. She had come to seduce him away from his plan of action, had she not? As he considered the possibility, a feral smile came to his lips.

"Well, that's news to me," he said, "but actually, it gives me a pretty good idea just how to ‘pry those knees apart', as you so eloquently put it."

Discord's jaw dropped in unpleasant surprise, "What!? You're going to pursue this anyway?"

"Oh yeah, I'm going to pursue this," Ares insisted. "I've got everything to gain by starting my ‘little family' here and now, and thanks to you, I know exactly how I'm going to do that!"

Discord frowned angrily and crossed her arms in spite, "You're a bigger fool than I thought, Ares. Go for it, then - see what ‘sloppy seconds' gets you!"

Ares' hand flew out to strike the impudent goddess, but she wisely dissipated before he could reach her, and he raged at the ceiling, "You're the fool, Discord - you'll see! I'll have my four sons, and I will change the course of history, and you'll be sorry you didn't stick around for the show!"

Answered only by his voice echoing through the temple, Ares fell to silence and brooding again, his feeling of triumph unhappily dowsed by his own Goddess of Retribution. By all accounts, Discord should have been cheering him on, but instead she had tried to undermine his confidence, and he subconsciously looked to the western wall of his temple as he considered the rumor Discord had repeated. Had Hercules touched the young goddess? It didn't seem possible that he'd had time, what with Ares' own men being close after them at all times. Plus, Hercules had left the hidden temple with the high priest himself, so obviously no marriage was performed, and Hercules was too much of a gentleman to take the goddess' virginity without marrying her first.

Even so, the rumor gave him all that he needed to get to Sorrow, and now all he had to do was wait for the right time to launch his plans.

Hercules literally had to stop Iolaus from rushing head first into the encampment of soldiers that lay about the front entrance of the Thessalonian Temple of Ares. The sun was about to set, and Hercules figured the men had just enough drink in them to make them welcome the presence of the demigod and his sidekick in the interest of a good brawl, and he was certain that they were sorely outnumbered. Any attack they launched now would only result in disaster, so he wisely held Iolaus back, and they now watched the army from the safety of the hill above the large temple.

"Iolaus, the odds of us getting in there now aren't good," Hercules reasoned with the pacing Iolaus. "There are far too many of them, and they're all drunk."

"But, we can't just leave her there, Herc!" Iolaus argued. "She's all alone, and who knows what he's doing to her in there?"

"Iolaus, calm down," the demigod pleaded as he lay a comforting hand upon his friend's shoulder. "There's no way Ares is going to risk the anger of her father - even he has some sense of self-preservation . . . I think. And don't underestimate Sorrow's own strength - you taught her everything she needs to know to protect herself."

Iolaus looked down at the ornate fighting staff he'd been carrying ever since they left the hidden temple, remembering how well Sorrow had used it in their battle the day before. Yes, it was certainly true that Sorrow had retained the fighting skills he had taught her, and for the moment that fact made him feel a bit better.

Seeing his friend's hardened countenance beginning to soften, Hercules continued, "We'll make camp here and get something to eat, and when the soldiers finally pass out, we'll make our move. Okay?"

Iolaus nodded reluctantly and went through the motions of setting up camp with Hercules, but he kept a serious eye on the revelry going on down below. He still wanted to charge the temple right then and there and demand Sorrow's return, and the soldiers be damned! But instead, he stuffed his rage back down inside himself so he could conserve it for later, thinking of what he could possibly do to Ares to pay him back for all the misery he had caused in just three short days.