Bellona and Enyo returned to find Gladius and Ares laughing about something. “Well, you two seem to be getting along,” Bellona commented.


    “We found some common ground.” Gladius replied.


    “And that would be?”


    “A secret.”


    “Oh really?”


    “Yep. What about you two? What have you been up to?”


    “That’s a secret.”


    Aejaz and Allie returned.


    “Oh, and what have you two been up to?” Ares asked.


    “Secret,” Aejaz responded.


    “The hell? Why is everyone being so secretive?” Charity returned with a grumpy Trew in toe. “And don’t you dare tell me it’s a secret.”


    “It’s private,” Ares quipped.


    “Oh haha.”


    “As riveting as this conversation is, shall we get going?” Trew moaned.


    “Sure… Ares? Where are you going?” Bellona questioned.


    “Just gonna go say goodbye to the animals. I’ve got some business with them before I leave. You can go on ahead, I’ll catch up.” Ares left and everyone else set off on their journey.


    They travelled for roughly a day before Ares eventually worked his way back to them.


    “Hey slowpoke,” Enyo greeted him.


    “Ha, hey. Where’s everyone going?” Ares looked around as the others had all just set off from the temporary camp they’d set up.


    “My clansmen are going out to hunt monsters to complete their mission, Aejaz and Allie are sneaking off to have a moment and, regrettably, I’m just stuck here with my thoughts and you.”


    “Am I really that bad?”


    “Worse.”


    “What kinda thoughts are you wrestling with?” Ares sat down next to Enyo.


    “The annoying kind.”


    “More or less annoying than me?”


    “Roughly the same, actually.”


    “That sounds quite troublesome then. Wanna talk about it?”


    “At least you’re self-aware. No, not particularly. I don’t think you’d be very helpful.”


    “Ouch, Fine. I’ll leave you be,” Ares stretched, yawned and much to Enyo’s surprise, boldly lay down with his head on her lap.


    Enyo’s helmet stared straight down at him and Ares looked straight back up at it.


    “...”


    “...”


    This pesky guy needs to be punished! Enyo thought. “What do you think you’re doing?”


    “It’s comfortable,” Ares replied sleepily. He thought she wouldn’t be bothered and that he could convince her to speak her mind so he could try and be helpful.


    “I don’t recall giving you permission,” Enyo spoke in a serious tone.


    “Oh… Sorry. I didn’t think you’d mind.”


    Ares started lifting himself up when Enyo grabbed his head and put him back down. “Stay,” Enyo ordered.


    “Uh, ok.” Ares was more than just a little confused. “Um, are you sure you don’t wanna talk? I enjoyed our last conversation, and I think it was really good to get that stuff out in the open.”


    “Fine. I’ve been wondering, how did you lie to my bloodline?” Enyo smiled maliciously under the helmet, Time to have some fun.


    “Ah, nothing’s perfect. Actually, there are a number of flaws with your bloodline.”


    “Oh really? Do tell.”


    Ares picked up a nearby stone and lobbed it at a tree.


    Clack


    “Ask me if I hit the tree.”


    Enyo obliged because she couldn’t tell where he was going with this. “Did you hit the tree?”


    “I didn’t hit that tree just now,” Ares spoke in an assured voice.


    Much to Enyo’s surprise, her bloodline told her he wasn’t lying. Had he actually found a loophole? Enyo still wanted to tease him, but this took precedence for now. “How on earth did you do that!?”


    “Technicality. It was the stone that hit the tree, not me. If you ask the wrong question, it enables someone to give you the wrong answer. If you’d asked ‘did you have anything to do with the tree that was just hit?’, then I would’ve been screwed. Also, if a person genuinely believes their incorrect answer is true, either because they know no better or because they’ve convinced themselves otherwise, then that would also work.”


    Enyo was completely astounded. Was it really that simple? This was actually incredibly useful information. “That’s really nice of you to tell me. Thank you.”


    “No problem, I’m just glad I could help with what’s been weighing on your mind.” Ares smiled.


    He really cares… But still, I want to see you squirm for what you’ve put me through!


    “Anything else?” Ares added.


    “Yes, actually.”


    “Ask away.”


    “How did you lie to my bloodline in the cave? I didn’t ask you any questions then, so it can’t have been done in the same way you just showed me.”


    “Ah, sorry, but that’s a secret. I’ll tell you eventually.” Ares chuckled. He was feeling complacent as he relished in his earlier victory.


    Laugh for as long as you can Ares, laugh for as long as you can. Enyo’s smile widened under the helmet as she revelled in finally getting her chance to play around with Ares for a change. “I bet you can’t do it again,” she spoke confidently.


    “Hm?” Ares raised his eyebrows before bringing out his trademark evil smile. “Wanna bet?”


    Enyo secretly mimicked his evil smile under her helmet and responded, “Yes, actually, I do want to bet.”


    “Well, aren''t you confident? Ok, what are the stakes?”


    “If you succeed, I’ll tell you a very important secret. Something I recently told Bellona. Something no one else knows.”


    “Ok, and if you win?” Ares spoke calmly as, in his mind, he truly believed there was zero chance he could lose the bet.


    “I want you to divulge your greatest weakness.”


    “Huh? Mywhatnow?”


    “Aejaz told me cute things are your second greatest weakness, and that whatever your greatest weakness is, it’s far more embarrassing than even the ice incident.”


    “Aejaz told you about the ice incident!?”


    “Betrayal is a slippery slope.”


    “...” Ares was silent for a while before he burst out laughing. “Hahahaha, I never, in a lifetime, would’ve expected you of all people to make a joke about that.”


    “What can I say? I guess I’ve been changing recently.” Enyo shrugged. And it’s all because of you.


    “Well, alright. So, we’re each putting a secret on the line? Fine by me.”


    “Alright then, go ahead,” Enyo encouraged him. Not only was she going to get to hear his secret, but she was also going to hear him say he loves her again.


    “Enyo, I love you.” Ares smiled warmly again.


    Enyo was giddy under her helmet and just enjoyed the moment while it lasted.


    All good things must come to an end though.


    As much as I want to tell you the truth, I think it’s time I put you in your place, you rascal! Enyo snorted. “I told you it wouldn’t work this time. You’re lying and I know it,” Enyo flat out lied. Her bloodline was telling her that Ares was being honest, and she knew he was as well, but if she just lied and said the opposite, how could he possibly argue?


    “What?” Ares was lost for words. Impossible, He thought. He couldn’t fathom how this was possible as he knew he wasn’t lying. “But…”


    But what, Ares? But what? Are you going to admit you weren’t lying and that you really do love me? Or are you going to accept the loss? SQUIRM ARES, SQUIRM!


    Ares kept cutting himself off every time he tried to speak as he struggled to worm his way out of this situation. But there was no out for him. He couldn’t understand how this had happened and found himself stuck between a rock and a hard place. It’s too early to tell her, guess I’ll just bite the bullet… Ares mulled on the situation for a while before finally sighing and accepting his loss. Not once though did he ever question if he still felt the same way as before about Enyo, he already knew that wasn’t the issue.


    “Well Ares?”


    “You win,” Ares spoke in a defeated tone which was practically heavenly music to Enyo’s ears.


    “Hahahahaha, you’re damn right I won!”


    Ares blinked repeatedly and pinched himself. Did Enyo just laugh? Hadn’t she also just made a joke earlier? What on earth was happening here!?


    “Spill it! Tell me your greatest secret!”


    “Ah, geez, fine. But first, I’ve gotta say, you have a lovely laugh.”


    Huh!? Enyo’s heart was all-a-flutter and her face flushed. She hadn’t been expecting Ares to fire back! You… You…. Every time Enyo tried finishing the sentence in her mind, she caught sight of Ares smiling at her and couldn’t help but lose her trail of thought. “That… That’s not relevant… Tell me your secret. Stop delaying, you sneaky wretch!”


    “Hahaha. Ok, but promise me you won’t give me a hard time about it?”


    “No! I don’t recall that being part of the bet. Hurry up!” Enyo couldn’t hide the excitement in her voice.


    Ares had delayed for as long as he could. “My greatest weakness...” He turned his face to the side to avoid looking directly at Enyo, or, well, her helmet anyway. “... is spiders,” he spoke in a muffled, quiet voice and was clearly ashamed.


    “Spiders?” Enyo was stunned and briefly thought she misheard him.


    “They creep me out… I hate them… One crawled on top of Huggles one night and it freaked me out. I nearly blew up a nearby shop with a Shock Bead ‘cos I was panicking and trying to kill it.”


    “Spiders?” Enyo still couldn’t believe it. A cultivator having a fear of spiders was nonsensical to the extreme, like an elephant fearing an ant.


    Ares shrunk as he curled up slightly and sheepishly muttered, “Yes. Ever since that day, whenever I go to sleep, I always put up a disintegration field that specifically kills spiders so I can sleep in peace.”


    “Huh.” Enyo looked around before conveniently finding what she was looking for. She lifted Ares, so he wouldn’t just fall over when she got up, and headed over to the thing she had found.


    Ares got up and walked after her as he was curious as to what she was doing. “Enyo?”


    If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    She didn’t respond.


    Ares walked a little closer and was standing behind her as she hunched over to pick something up. “Enyo? What are you doing?”


    “Ha,” Enyo let out a small laugh.


    “Ha?” Ares laughed nervously as he had a bad feeling.


    “Haha.”


    “Haha?”


    “Hahahahahaha.”


    ---------------------------------


    “Good haul. It won’t be enough just yet, but we should only need a bit more now,” Bellona counted the monster parts and reported back to the group.


    “Ah, Charity, I was scratched by one of the monsters. Could you check to make sure it’s not infected, please?” Gladius asked.


    “Again!? These monsters are weak, how the hell do you keep getting hurt? If I didn’t know any better, I would assume you were doing this on purpose,” Despite complaining, she pulled Gladius to the side and gave him a check.


    Truthfully, Gladius was intentionally letting himself receive minor injuries so he could talk to her on his own for a while. He enjoyed these moments but admittedly felt a little bad for hassling Charity to heal him all the time.


    As the two were conversing on their own, Trew walked over to Bellona to complain, “Did you really need me to come along? I would’ve very much liked to catch up with Enyo back at camp.”


    “She told me she wanted to be alone.” Alone with Ares, Bellona added in her head.


    “Then what about Ares? Wasn’t he there when we left?”


    “Yes. I imagine if she wanted him to leave, then she would have told him as such.”


    “I thought she found him annoying? Why she’s even tolerating him is beyond me.”


    Oh, how ironic. God I can’t wait for the day you see those two happily together you annoying schmuck. “They’ve been getting along fine as of late,” Bellona wanted to rub some salt in the wound, and did just that.


    “Tsk, anyway, we’re done here. Might as well go back.”


    “Go back? Don’t you want to let those two have their moment?” Bellona smiled innocently.


    “What!? What moment?” Trew replied hurriedly with a hint of worry in his voice.


    “They seem to be having a nice conversation over there.” Bellona nodded at Charity and Gladius.


    “Huh? You were talking about them?”


    “Yeah? Who did you think I was talking about?” Bellona gave it her all to resist the urge to start laughing at Trew.


    “Tsk, doesn’t matter. WE’RE LEAVING,” Trew yelled so Gladius and Charity could hear.


    Bastard! Gladius cursed inwardly. Just because you know you can’t be happy; doesn’t mean you should ruin it for other people!


    The Legion clan left the hunting area and ran into Aejaz and Allie on the way back to camp.


    “Hey, how’d your hunt go?” Allie asked politely.


    “Fine,” Trew vented bitterly as having to put up with another swooning couple was doing his head in.


    Aejaz narrowed his eyes and was ready to pick a fight because of Trew’s tone, but restrained himself as it would have been a bit of an overreaction. He wasn’t Ares, he had higher tolerance for these things and didn’t want to needlessly sour the waters. However, if Allie had been even remotely offended then there would have been trouble, but she looked unperturbed, so he let it slide.


    Funnily enough, the person who was closest to picking a fight with Trew wasn’t even Aejaz or Gladius, it was Bellona. She was seriously getting fed up with him. “It went really quite well actually; we even found some ingredients for Ares to cook with if he doesn’t mind making us a meal again.”


    “Really!?” Aejaz and Allie eagerly responded simultaneously, they both were thoroughly addicted to Ares’ drug-like cooking.


    “Yep.”


    “He cooks? Seriously?” Trew snorted in derision.


    “You make it sound like a bad thing.”


    “It’s a waste of time. He should spend more time cultivating instead of learning a useless skill, maybe then his cultivation wouldn’t be so pathetic.”


    “Clearly he makes it work,” Gladius poked fun at the fact that Trew had lost to him in spite of his cultivation.


    “I don’t respect him or his pointless hobbies at all.”


    Bellona was this close to beating the daylights out of Trew, but held back and responded in a way that was sure to annoy him instead, “It’s really good though, even Enyo seriously loves it. She even had a second helping and was smiling the whole time she ate.”


    “Enyo was smiling!?” Trew was grieving over this missed experience.


    “The way to a person’s heart is supposedly through their stomach. Guess cooking does have its uses after all.”


    The group walked back to the camp together, but paused outside as they could hear shouting.


    “HEEEEEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP.”


    Aejaz had his mouth open in disbelief. “Is that… ARES’ VOICE!? WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING!?”


    Ares was yelling, in quite a desperate voice, for salvation.


    Everyone arrived back at the camp and just stood motionlessly, stunned by what they saw.


    Ares was running circles around the camp, occasionally crying out in horror every time he looked over his shoulder. Behind him, Enyo was cackling like a mad-woman and chasing him down with a spider in her hands.


    “ENYO. PLEASE. I’M BEGGING YOU.”


    “HAHAHA, BEG MORE!”


    “BELLONA!? SAVE MEEEEEEEEEEEE. YOUR SISTER IS BULLYING MEEEEEEEEEEEEEE.” Ares ran over to Bellona and hid behind her in a cowardly fashion, shaking and quivering in genuine fear.


    “Hahahaha, nope.” Bellona stood aside and watched cheerfully as Enyo tackled Ares to the floor. Who was she to stand in the way of her sister’s fun? She had never seen Enyo this joyful.


    Aww, Enyo was still in a great mood, but a little disappointed when Aejaz stole the spider from her hand and tossed it away to save his brother.


    Ares had his eyes tightly shut and was wincing, dreading the spider, but slowly opened one eye when he realised it was probably gone. Instead of a spider, he saw Enyo straddling him with her helmet staring down at him. He smiled feebly and stared back, wishing the helmet wasn’t in the way of the moment, but still enjoying it nonetheless. Enyo had gotten completely lost in the moment too and had a brilliant smile hidden under the helmet as she stared down at Ares.


    Ahem


    Bellona cleared her throat. Get a room! Being all lovey dovey is great and all, but there’s a crowd here!


    Enyo finally snapped back to reality and hurriedly got off Ares.


    Ares got up as well, dusted himself off, and scratched his head. Ares was clearly embarrassed with slightly blushed cheeks, which was something Aejaz had never seen before and left him gobsmacked. Ares broke the silence, “Uh, so, how did your hunt go?”


    Bellona was the only one not still knee-deep in shock and responded as calmly as she could to try and change the subject, “Good. If you don’t mind, we found some ingredients that we were hoping you could cook something with?”


    Ares pepped up and restored his mental state back to normal, removing all the awkwardness upon hearing he would be able to cook again. “Of course! What did you find? What kinda ingredients am I working with?”


    “We found some ducks. We also picked a variety of fruits because none of us knew which ones would go well with the duck.” Bellona handed over a spatial ring with the ingredients inside.


    “Hmmmmm, ah! That’ll do,” Ares took everything he needed out of the ring and stored it in the Primordial Blade. “Oh, and I still have some dessert stuff sitting around, so I can make something for after too.”


    Aejaz’ eyes practically lit up and sparkled. “Ooh, ooh, is it cotton candy!?”


    “Ha, no. It’s a foreign sweet that I learnt about a while back. I’ll make you more cotton candy as soon as I can buy the ingredients though.” Ares figured he should treat his brother for saving him from the creepy crawly attack earlier.


    Trew regained his senses and was absolutely livid. He was seething with anger for a number of reasons, the main one being his image of the ever-proud Enyo crumbling down into ruin. “Enyo? What was that shameful display? If the rest of the clan saw you, they would be disappointed in your childishness.”


    Bellona was cracking her knuckles and taking strides toward Trew when Enyo spoke out abruptly, “I don’t care. I had fun.”


    “What?”


    “You heard me. Don’t make me needlessly repeat myself.”


    As fast as Trew’s image of a proud Enyo came crumbling down, it re-assembled itself before him, and he found himself speechless before Enyo’s absolute authority.


    “I can have fun when I choose and with whom I choose. You’ll watch what you say from now on. You’re treading on thin ice, Trew. It’s not hard to tell everyone’s fed up with you. The next time someone lashes out at you, I won’t stop them,” Enyo referred back to Trew’s fight with Ares, but also indicated that Bellona, Aejaz, and Gladius were all free to teach him a lesson as well as they seemed riled up too. “If you keep trying to tell me what to do, and who to be, then it might even end up being me that puts you in your place.” Enyo was still the proud woman she was before, but her attitude didn’t have to be unceasing. She could choose when to have fun. Her stoicism didn’t have to be a permanent fixture anymore, but it would sure as hell come back for situations like this.


    Trew dared not respond as he was fearful of agitating Enyo any further.


    Bellona was wiping a tear from her eye and trying to not to cry like a baby out of pure glee for her sister. Bellona had grown up with Enyo and only ever wanted her to live her own life in her own way and, today, Bellona had a chance to see her finally accomplish that and actually stand up for herself. GO SIS’!


    Ares needed no reaffirmation of the way he felt toward Enyo, but found it anyway. He sincerely hoped from the bottom of his heart he could make things work with her, she really was an incredible woman and he considered himself lucky to even have a chance.


    “So, what are you making?” Enyo turned to Ares and asked a question with a complete 180 in tone that left him bewildered for a second.


    “That’s a surprise.” Ares stuck his tongue out.


    Enyo pretend-sighed. “It would be tragically unfortunate if our campsite was overrun by spiders when everyone fell asleep. Now that would be a real surprise.”


    “Crispy Duck with plum sauce. Dessert is mint-chocolate honeycomb.”


    “What’s honeycomb?”


    “Brown sugar. Light, aery, and brittle.”


    “Sounds good! Get to work!”


    “Yes ma’am.”


    Enyo chuckled lightly. Now this is amusing! I do feel a little bad threatening him with something he has a crippling fear of though. Guess I’ll use it sparingly.


    Everyone sat around and enjoyed a pleasant conversation, minus Trew who didn’t say a word, until Ares finished cooking and brought out the table. It had only been roughly 30 minutes since Ares had started cooking, but time worked slightly differently in the Primordial Blade and, thanks to that, he could cook things way faster than usual. As for how exactly time functioned in the blade, he could slow it down as much as he liked, even bringing it to a complete halt, freezing everything inside. As for speeding things up like the cooking, there was a limit, but it was pretty generous. This was but a small part of the blade’s power and yet it bordered on the power of gods. Using such a power to store a kitchen and cook meals would undoubtedly have billions of people tearing their hair out if they knew about it.


    Aejaz and Allie were the first to take their seats, followed by the Legion clan, again excluding Trew who hadn’t budged from his seat, and finally Enyo. Ares brought out the food and the aroma was simply divine, borderline intoxicating.


    “Seriously, you’re way too good at this, my compliments to the chef,” Charity praised.


    “Thanks,” Ares gratefully replied as he subtly flicked an Echo at Aejaz.


    Aejaz rolled his eyes as he was all too familiar with this song and dance. He was about to get up when Enyo beat him to it. As it turns out, although Ares had tried to remain discreet, Enyo had been paying Ares a lot more attention as of late and caught him in the act. “It’s fine, I’ll go this time,” Enyo sounded more than willing to leave, much to everyone’s surprise. Enyo took her food and walked off.


    Ares thought this would be a good chance for him to go and spend some time with Enyo, and that maybe he would finally get to eat a meal in her company but, surprisingly, Bellona had stood up and walked over, putting her hand on his shoulder and pushing him back down into his seat. “Nope, you stay here this time.” Bellona went after Enyo and found her sitting by a lake with her helmet off, already eating. “That’s one hell of a massive smile you’ve got there, Enyo. Bigger than the last one, that’s for sure.”


    “I deserve it.” Enyo stuck out her tongue, just like how Ares would, and went back to eating her food.


    “You sure do.” Bellona sat next to Enyo. “So, what’s up? Usually, I’m the one who drags you off for a talk, not the other way around.”


    Enyo had sent Bellona a mental message earlier to follow her so they could have a chat. “Bellona, I have an answer to your question. I couldn’t kill Ares because I love him. I feel like I can be whoever I want around him and he’ll not just play along, but accept each and every change with open arms. I may struggle to figure out what kind of person I am, and what kind of person I want to be every now and then, but I know he’s always there no matter what answer I come to. Hearing him say he loves me again made me feel like I didn’t even have to care about figuring myself out anymore, like the me he saw was good enough. He makes me feel perfect. I… I…” Enyo started crying. “I’m free, Bellona!” Enyo hugged her sister. “I’m free from that stupid man and everything he put me through! I can finally live! I can do what I want! I can be whoever I want! I can fall in love, Bellona. I can fall in love!” Enyo kept crying.


    Bellona couldn’t hold back the tears any longer either and embraced her sister. “You deserve it, Enyo. For all the expectations that have weighed you down all these years, you deserve this happiness.”


    The two kept holding onto each other and crying for a while, eventually separating when all that was left was a few occasional sobs. Enyo picked up her food and started eating again with a few tears still streaming down her cheek, straight into the bowl she was voraciously eating from. She finished and still wanted more. Even just eating his food filled her with an indescribable warmth.


    Bellona had finished shortly after Enyo and also wanted more. She could tell what Enyo was thinking from the way she was fixated on the bowl, so she offered to go and get some more for her, “I’ll go get us seconds, ok?”


    “No. We’re both a mess, but I can at least put a helmet on. I’ll go. I want to see him again.”


    Enyo put her helmet back on and went back to the camp, only to find near-enough everyone missing aside from Gladius and Charity. Enyo interrupted their chat to figure out where the others had gone.


    “Aejaz and Allie went off for some peace and quiet, none of us know or care where Trew went or why, and Ares went for a walk in that direction,” Charity gave a rundown before pointing off into the forest.


    Enyo headed off and, after brushing aside foliage for the better part of five minutes, found Ares sitting on a tree branch, gazing at a gap in the trees where the moon and stars were fully visible overhead. It was serene and picturesque. How Ares had found this spot was beyond Enyo.


    Ares noticed he had a visitor and looked over. He couldn’t help but smile lightly when he saw who it was. The back of his foot coiled around one side of the branch and he leant over to dangle upside down in front of Enyo as he had done once before, “Yo.” Ares waved.


    “Hey, nice place you found here.” Enyo looked up at the night sky above.


    “Yeah, it took a bit of work, but it was worth it in the end.”


    “You did this?”


    Ares flipped himself and landed right way up as he talked, “Mhm, used some disintegration magic to remove some of the leaves and branches that were in the way.”


    “Impressive. I couldn’t even tell it had been altered. It looks perfectly natural.” Enyo was honestly surprised by his improvised handiwork and sense of aesthetic.


    “Thanks, I appreciate it. Is everything alright?”


    “Hm? Yes, why do you ask?”


    “Well, I kinda felt bad about you having to go and eat on your own. I was gonna go and make sure you were fine, but Bellona told me she would do it. I’m just checking because you’ve been in a good mood as of late and I don’t want anything to ruin that for you.”


    “That’s…” Why I adore you. “... Very thoughtful of you, but I’m fine, thank you. I just wanted to have a conversation with Bellona about something important.” You, you’re important to me.


    “Ah alright. It’s nice to see you getting along with Bellona, I heard about your argument before.”


    “Turns out she was right and I was just being stubborn.”


    “Everyone’s stubborn every now and then, it’s perfectly normal. But yeah, I don’t know what important thing it was you were talking about with her, but if you ever need anything, I’m always more than willing to help.”


    “You’ve already done more for me than I ever would have expected, so thank you, but, for now, this is something I want to keep a secret with Bellona. Things are changing for me, and I’ve got a lot of thoughts to sort out, that’s all.”


    “Well, I know that when I had a lot of thoughts to sort out, there was one thing that really helped me at the time.”


    “And that was?”


    Ares leaned close to whisper, “This.” Ares hugged Enyo. “It really meant a lot to me and I never did say thank you, so thank you for everything, Enyo.


    Enyo was giving her all not to burst out into a second round of tears and managed to eke out a reply, “Thank you.”


    Ares reluctantly let go and Enyo reluctantly accepted the fact that he had let go.


    “Anytime,” Ares spoke softly with evident care in his voice.


    “I’ll remember that offer but, for now, could Bellona and I have some more food?” Enyo took the two bowls out of her storage ring and held them out.


    “Hm? Haha, of course. The dessert is also ready, so I guess I should go and do some rounds and hand it out to everyone.” Ares filled up the bowls with more grub.


    “Nope, not on our end, hand ‘em over. Me and Bellona are having a private talk between women and you’re not invited.”


    “D’aww, spoilsport.” Ares chuckled. “Then in that case, here you go... Um, Allie told me you liked mint… So… I kept an eye out for some… You know… When I was catching up with everyone.”


    “You… Made this for me?”


    Ares scratched his head, “Uh… Yeah.” Ares smiled radiantly. “I hope you like it.” Ares handed over two more bowls that went straight into Enyo’s storage ring.


    “I… I don’t know what to say… Thank you. Really.” Enyo put the ring away and looked back at Ares. “When we get back to the sect, would you mind letting Allie and I come around for food every now and then? Your cooking is unlike anything we’ve ever eaten before.”


    “You and Allie are always welcome. If you ever want me to make you anything, just say the word and I’ll happily oblige.”


    “I look forward to it. I think my chat with Bellona is going to go long into the night, so I’ll say this ahead of time, goodnight, Ares,”


    “Goodnight, Enyo,”


    As Enyo was walking away, she called back to Ares, “And don’t let the bed bugs bite!”


    “Enyo!? ENYO! WAIT! NO, PLEASE! I BEG YOU!”


    Enyo snickered all the way back to Bellona.


    “If you’re giggling like a schoolgirl, I’m gonna assume it went well?” Bellona observed.


    “He hugged me and now I have permission to show up at his house for food. He even told me he would make me anything I want!”


    “Are you a stray dog?! Ha, I kid, I kid. Seriously though, lucky you, I’m gonna miss his cooking... Speaking of which, gimme!”


    Enyo handed the food over. “There’s dessert after too. It looks strange, unlike any dessert I’ve seen before, but I’m sure it’s going to be delicious.”


    “I''d be willing to bet Ares could make seawater taste good. You always did like mint, right? You must be over the moon.”


    “Mhm, he said he made it specially for me! In the future he can be like my housewife and cook for me!”


    “Haha, I can’t tell if he would be thrilled to hear that or not. I think the last thing he wants to be is a housewife but, then again, he would probably cook for you in a heartbeat if you asked. I was wondering, are you gonna tell him? Or are you gonna wait for him to open up to you?”


    “I’m going to enjoy this for as long as I can. I want to hear him say it, for real I mean. I’ll wait. I hope he doesn’t take too long, but I’ll wait.”


    “Fair enough, but don’t forget about what I told you previously, about the fact that mum will likely show up at the tournament. She’ll know that something’s up, Enyo. She’ll know immediately. If nothing has happened between you two by then, she might just force things to speed along if she likes him. You can maybe try convincing her, but you know how hard-headed she is when she gets an idea in her mind.”


    “Honestly? I can’t wait for him to meet mum. I just hope she likes him. She’s going to give him a hard time regardless, but I feel like Ares is oddly reliable and that he’ll manage.”


    “Love is blind and so too is your faith, but I also think he’ll pass her tests and requirements. Tyr and Deimos are going to absolutely detest him though. Well, maybe not Deimos, but it should be hysterical watching those three interact nonetheless.”


    “I swear, if those knucklehead brothers of ours try to get between us, I’ll knock some sense into them myself.” Enyo clenched her fist.


    “You aren’t the only one, Pele and I will also kick the crap out of them if they mess with you and Ares. Sister power!” Bellona shadow-boxed the air.


    “I know they mean well, but they’ll refuse to even consider the fact that Ares isn’t even remotely like Trew. They’ll see he''s a guy and that will be all they need to go on the warpath, those overprotective morons. I’m actually really excited to see him get along with Palioxis and Phobos though. If the way he interacts with Appa is any indication, he''ll be like a big brother to those two and can actually set a good example, unlike Tyr and Deimos.”


    “Ah, those little tykes are doing good by the way, all grown up. I imagine they’ll be happy to see you as they were always asking about their ‘big, strong sis’.”


    “And now I can be a proper sister to them. I don’t have to be so stuck up around them. They can finally get those hugs they’ve always wanted.”


    “Hahaha, I can’t wait for this new-you to absolutely weird everyone out. They’re gonna lose their minds.”


    “So be it.” Enyo finished the duck and moved onto the honeycomb.


    Crunch


    “This’ll be the first time we’ve all gathered in years. I really do hope mum shows up, it’ll be a nice reunion. You know, maybe there’s still a chance for us to be a normal family again. It all hinges on Ares but, like you said, he’s oddly reliable.


    Crunch


    “You two really lucked out with one another. You suit each other to a tee. Even your pillars are compatible, the ultimate defence and the ultimate offence. I’ve gotta admit, I’m a little jealous you’ve found someone so perfect.


    Crunch


    “Ah, and then there’s so much stuff in the future to think about. Marriage, kids, although I guess he already has a child, right? Appa? How do you get along with Appa anyhow? Good?”


    Crunch


    Sniff


    “Enyo?” Bellona looked over at her sister and finally realised why she hadn’t been responding.


    Enyo was completely obsessed with the honeycomb and crying as she scarfed it down. She wasn’t even listening to Bellona as there was nothing else on her mind other than the honeycomb. It was mint, her favourite flavour. It had been made for her. The ingredients had been found for her. It had been crafted with her in mind and she could tell. It had been made as close to perfection as humanly possible, all for her. Even the looming dread of running out was dwarfed by her desire to just keep eating. She just couldn’t describe the taste in any way that would make sense. She wanted to compare it to the time Ares had laid down on her lap. She wanted to compare it to both the time she hugged him and the time he hugged her but, above all else, she wanted to compare it to a kiss they hadn’t even shared yet. Enyo had always rolled her eyes whenever her mother made her food and said it was ‘made with love’, but if ever a dish could say ‘I love you’, then this dish was crying at the top of its lungs.


    Bellona had bit into it and instantly came to an understanding. It wasn’t even subtle how much effort, care, and devotion had gone into it. Bellona wasn’t the only one that could tell, everyone who ate it could. Allie, Aejaz, Gladius, and Charity all knew, and all it took was a single bite. It wasn’t just food. It was nothing less than a declaration of love.