His Undoing

A Raging Storm and a Calming Sea

Zeus marched up her, hand around her throat, and picked her up to slam her into the back wall. 

"Who are you? Who sent you? Don't give me your bullshit about not remembering, you f*****g b***h," he all but spit in her face. 

Mara still held the staff, and she smiled at him, "I am a Goddess with an affinity for your weapon, apparently." 

"You think this is a f*****g joke? NOBODY WIELDS MY WEAPON! ITS MINE!" he screamed in her face and the building around them shook with the force of it. It was enough to scary any weak God or Goddess, but she wasn't weak. 

She met his eyes evenly, but there was no smile on her face now, "Put me down or I will remove your hand from your arm." 

Zeus scoffed and tightened his grip. Flames danced in Mara's eyes, and she stared him down. She reached up with a flaming hand and grabbed ahold of Zeus' wrist, gripping it firmly. 

"I will not ask you again. Put. Me. Down. NOW," she said calmly, but the fired roared around her flaming hand and Zeus broke her gaze and yelped, holding his hand and falling to the floor. A gasp came from the doorway and a beautiful woman looked from Zeus to Mara. She smiled warmly at Mara and walked into the room, a gorgeous red cloak floating behind her. 

She walked right up to Zeus and sneered down at him, "Looks like women aren't just weak little playthings afterall, huh?" She extended a hand towards Mara. "I am Athena. And you, my dear, are a legend in the making." 

"Mara," was all Mara could manage. She gripped the staff with white knuckles, clinging to it for dear life. Athena extended a hand out to Mara and gestured for them to leave. With one last glare towards Zeus, she did just that, taking his weapon with her. 

"How about some lunch?" Athena asked, nonchalant, as if Mara didn't just bring down the man who defeated the Titans. 

"Sounds great," Mara lied, her stomach twisted in knots. She didn't care where they went, though, she just wanted to get the f**k away from that insane man. She tried to turn to look back at him but Athena stopped her. 

"No, love. Don't look back, just leave him be," Athena admonished lightly. 

"How did you...." Mara began, dumbfounded. 

"Josephina. I purposely had Josephina run your test today," She said, folding her hands behind her back as they walked. 

"But why?" Mara asked. 

"I can feel you, Mara. I have felt your power churning inside of you since the party last weekend. I knew you were capable of this, so I had Josephina include me on the live stream from your test. That's how Zeus knew, too, and as soon as I saw your eyes staring at that beautiful weapon, I knew he been usurped. And I knew how he would react," Athena shook her head, embarrassed. 

"So...what else can I do?" Mara asked. 

"I believe you can become a mermaid, if you need to, you can command animals, both of the land and the sea, you can open and close the earth upon command, and you can take Zeus head on and win," Athena said as they approached the doors of the dining hall. They each went to the buffet and grabbed a plate. Mara inhaled deeply and filled her plate with various seafood dishes. Athena eyed her plate and smiled a knowing smile. Then she lead Mara to a booth on the far side of the room, and sat down right next to... 

"Poseidon.." Mara whispered. His head snapped up and his eyes met hers. Athena slid into the booth across from him and gestured for Mara to follow. Mara leaned the staff against the side of the booth, easily accessible from where she sat. He watched her every movement until she was right in front of him and he ran his hands through his hair then shot a look at Athena who played coy with a grin. 

"Afternoon, Mara," he said quietly, but just her name on his lips again sent a jolt of pleasure through her body and made her cheeks burn. "Quite a toy you got there. I take it my brother was pissed?" 

Mara nodded solemnly and looked at her plate of food, then looked across at his and a small giggle escaped her lips. They had the exact same plate, even arranged the same way. Poseidon looked down, noticing, and a small smile played on his soft lips, and she couldn't help but picture herself biting that lip and making him groan with his huge, tattooed hands in her hair. The thought made her press her legs together and whimper quietly. The sound did not go unnoticed and Athena struck up a conversation with Poseidon. 

"So how're the seas these days?" Athena asked him, but his eyes were locked on Mara who had her head down, fidgeting with her hands in her lap. He had a bewildered, hungry look in his eyes and his lips were slightly parted. Then he seemed to snap out of it and dragged his eyes from the new woman over to Athena. 

"Huh?" He asked, confused at her expectant expression. 

"Do you two need a room or something?" Athena asked, not beating around the bush. 

Poseidon's face drained of color while Mara's filled with it. 

"A room for what?" His deep voiced was confused but held a silky edge to it. Mara squeezed her legs tighter until her hips ached. She picked up her fork and dug into her seafood platter, starting with crab cakes. As if mirroring her, Poseidon did the same, stabbing a crab cake and bringing it to his mouth. Their eyes met quickly and then the two looked away. 

Athena arched a brow and stared at Poseidon. 

"Oh, I don't know, since you're eye-f*****g my new friend over the table," she said, irate. Poseidon choked and gave her an incredulous look. 

"Excuse me? Eye-f*****g?" He laughed and flashed his bright white teeth at her. 

"Yes. Eye-f*****g. You are f*****g her with your eyes like a desperate man who hasn't been laid in decades," Athena said to him, eliciting a scowl from him. Athena turned to Mara and said, "And don't let him fool you, either. I know for fact he had a sea nymph in his bed after his party, along with a few mortals at least in the last week." 

Poseidon turned ash white and looked over to Mara, whose face showed a brief flash of pain and then corrected itself. 

"Why should I care?" She asked, though her tone implied she did. 

"Oh, I suppose you shouldn't then. If he really doesn't affect you," Athena said, and then turned back to her salad. The three ate in silence from then on, Poseidon kept looking at Mara with a longing expression, but she just ignored him. Finally he stood with his plate, towering over the table. 

"Have a good day, ladies," he said, not looking at either of them. 

"Goodbye, Poseidon. Have a nice trip," Athena called. Poseidon rolled his eyes and stalked off. 

"What the hell was that about?!" Mara turned on Athena as soon as she thought Poseidon was out of ear shot. 

Truthfully, Athena wanted Mara to be like a stronger version of herself, with no men to distract her from her target- being the Queen of the Gods. But she would never admit that to anyone. 

"He's a player, Mara. Don't let him get inside your head," Athena's voice was harsh. 

"What the hell does that even mean?" Mara asked, frustrated. 

"It means he f***s around with anything he can get," Athena rolled her eyes.  

Mara's eyes followed the route that Poseidon had taken out, an ache in her chest.