The Hound of the Baskervilles [Ares]

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Belle had only one particular thing in mind. Finding the Library. Being it was an Academy, she knew there had to be a plethora of old tomes she could explore. This world was completely new to her, full of wonder and the adventure she was searching for.

As it turned out, the Library was a building all it's own. Belle smiled brightly as she near bolted for it. Thrusting the doors open, (as quietly as she could, it was a Library after all) she took everything in. Rows upon rows of books, shelves lining the walls stuffed full of them. She hardly knew where to begin. Should she start with Fantasy? Perhaps an Adenture novel? Or maybe a Romance...She spun around giddily before traipsing down a row.
Her head was filled with conflict as she began plucking books randomly off the shelves. Shakespeare, Doyle, Poe, Dickens,Austen! So many to choose from..

After grabbing nearly ten, large and weathered books, she sat on the floor, legs crossed beneath her. She set the stack down gently, taking the first one off of the top."The Hound of the Baskervilles" was emblazoned across the cover. She was practically vibrating with excitement. She cracked the book open, page after page, she turned and turned and turned. Her eyes could hardly keep up with her.

It didn't take her long to become completely immersed in the world the author had created. Slowly the Library disappeared around her, the grounds of Baskerville hall surrounding her in it's stead. She could almost smell the dense fog, hear the wind dancing through the trees, and the eerie howl of the evil Hound.
Tucking a strand of hair behind her ear she brought her knees up close, holding the book up with both hands. Her eyes darting across the pages, a beaming smile plastered across her face.

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Ares was in a particularly nasty mood. The events he had come down from Olympus to be a part of were not as exciting as he originally thought. It was just a school, with a bunch of flamboyant boys and prissy girls that - as if his brothers and sisters didn't give him enough of that. The war brewing was the only thing keeping him planted here in this human form; he was the God of War, after all, it was his duty to hang around and see it through.

But seeing as nothing exciting was happening anywhere at the moment, he was randomly roaming throughout campus. Ares wasn't even sure where he was going. When he opened the doors to the library, he scrunched his nose and scowled a little. Books filled shelves, and quiet was eerie. He only knew what kind of things these tomes held. Definitely nothing like the scrolls Olympus kept. Was there even any real history here? Well, of course there was some, but was it actually correct, was the question.

He picked a random isle to walk down. Rubbish, Rubbish, Rubbish...all of this was rubbish!

Turning the corner into the next aisle, not taking his eyes off the rows and rows of rubbish books, he eventually found something that could be considered factual in the middle of the aisle. He grabbed the book, and laughed heartily at the title. "The Trojan War". He paid no attention to the 'shh' noise he heard around him. He would stop laughing when he felt ready to, which was sooner than later, luckily for those around him.

It amazed him how much authors thought that research could do them. Obviously no one would know about the Trojan War better than Ares himself, so as he skimmed through this so called 'historical text', it was hard not to cast it into the fireplace right then and there. He thought that only by real story-telling - meaning mouth to ear, direct, could stories really be told correctly. Books did nothing - books could be wrong and no one would know the difference, but they would believe it anyway.

Instead of throwing it in the fire, he instead just shoved it back on the shelf, bending a few pages and making it look completely disheveled. As he turned the corner to leave, already done and fed up with this building, there was a crunch under his shoe. He looked down to see he had stepped on a book - what else. Not only one book, but what looked to be a small sea of books. Following their trail, his eyes fell on a girl in the middle of it all. He narrowed his eyes. How rude of her to just sit in the middle of the floor, blocking his path. He took his foot off the book he had stepped on, and kicked it aside. "Are manners lost on you? Obviously all of this rubbish has rubbed off on the population. They have tables for all this...crap." he growled.

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Belle was ripped out of the books world by a sudden thunk. It was a book. She looked around and noticed a tall blonde boy, who was bringing his leg back
"Are manners lost on you? Obviously all of this rubbish has rubbed off on the population. They have tables for all this...crap." he growled. She was taken aback. Both by the book being kicked and the sudden animosity from the stranger.

"Excuse me? These," She gestured around her."are not crap. They're books, and you've no reason to kick them." She retorted. She had been sitting there for nearly an hour, and those who had previously passed down the isle were rather pleasant. They would ask what she was reading or how she was. Her books were certainly not in anyones way.

"And where do you get off speaking to me like that, anyhow?" Belle shot indignantly,closing her book and standing to face him. The manners of some people. Belle didn't expect special treatment from anyone as she wasn't a princess or something, but some basic manners and politeness were expected as she showed them to others, and should be a constant in everyday life. It wasn't often Belle got fired up, but she just couldn't fathom why some people insisted on being so rude.

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Hmm, Ares didn't think about this; a little princess (for all he knew, they were all princesses here) with a giant mouth and no respect for those that could easily ruin her life. It was really quite humorous, and it was that fact that kept her from smiting her down with a bolt of lightening. Okay, that was his father's job, but he could do something about it...like start a whole war against her. He did it with Helen, he could do it with this one.

He decided moving to that conclusion right away would be a little harsh on Belle, even for him. The fact that he had to be reasonable and...boring...while he was in human form made him angry. He was almost always angry, but not being able to use the extent of his powers was just ridiculous. He was a God, and may he be damned to the Underworld if he couldn't smite a wench every now and then.

"Excuse me!?" he started, a small rage noticeably building up. He was never talked to in such an ungrateful manner. Just as Hera gave life, he could take it away, and he was ruthless about it - he had taken lives for much less than how this girl was talking to him.

"Books, crap...what's the difference, really. It's not like any of it is true. Especially the stuff that claims to be quote on quote, 'historical' or 'non-fiction.' You humans are absolutely pathetic." Obviously. It was ridiculous to think otherwise - humans were always an inferior species, not just to Gods. He was certain he'd seen dogs smarter than some people.

"And I have every right to talk to you however I want. Unless you want me to just kill you know. I had plans on watching a whole 'nother war unfold, but taking time out of my busy schedule to get rid of a pesky mortal is usually worth the inconvenience it causes on the rest of my day." Okay, so he said he wasn't going to go all harsh and violent - but that was who he was. Violence was his second language, and one he practiced frequently; unlike his sister, he took being a "God of War" seriously. War meant fighting, killing, hurting, torturing, begging for mercy. Not intellectual thinking and reasoning.

"I suggest you be a little nicer to me, Belle." He said the name with a scrunched up nose. As a God, he was known to just randomly show up, and know the name of anyone he was talking too almost immediately. It was one of those 'all-knowing' kind of things. Although he didn't care too much about the human race and never really used that power to his advantage. Unless it was necessary. And adding her name to the end would creep her out. So he hoped.

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"Excuse me!? Books, crap...what's the difference, really. It's not like any of it is true. Especially the stuff that claims to be quote on quote, 'historical' or 'non-fiction.' You humans are absolutely pathetic." He raged at her. Belle raised an eyebrow at his callous and abrasive demeanor. She really hadn't expected to run into someone so angry, everyone she had met thus far was rather pleasant.

"And I have every right to talk to you however I want. Unless you want me to just kill you now. I had plans on watching a whole 'nother war unfold, but taking time out of my busy schedule to get rid of a pesky mortal is usually worth the inconvenience it causes on the rest of my day."

"If you have problems with the historicals and non fictions, then take it up with the people who wrote them. Leave the fictitious works out of your little...temper tantrum. And if I'm some kind of 'inconvenience', then why don't you just leave! You are being completely intolerable." What right did he have to talk to her like that? She hadn't done anything to him, and if he had watched where he was going he certainly wouldn't have bothered her pile of books. It was absolute nonsense, the audacity of that man. Going on a tirade on someone he had just met?

"I suggest you be a little nicer to me, Belle."

She scoffed at him, rolling her eyes. "I might be more inclined to be nice to you if you would control your temper. You'll have to forgive me as I don't have the...pleasure.. of knowing your name. Good day. " She replied gathering her books and walking past him to put them away. She had no intention of staying in the library if this ridiculous man would be there as well. She didn't want an enemy, and she vaguely hoped she had met him on a bad day, but in any case, she knew at that time, she wouldn't tolerate him if he was going to be so brash and rude.

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The fictitious books were just as bad as the non-fiction, claim-to-true pieces of nonsense, on the grounds that they were all based off of something real, just fantasizing it to make poor, illogical humans have hope for something other than the world they lived in. This girl was obviously one of those. Ares could tell by her apparent...obsession..with the written word that she was easily absorbed into everything she read. He viewed that as a weakness - but maybe that was just because he was one of the most cynical beings on Earth and/or otherwise.

And she didn't know his name!? What mortal did not know the great God of War's name!?? Then again, he wasn't in his usual form. His true, God-like from would kill a mortal if he revealed it. But even now, the blonde pretty-boy disguise did its part in keeping him unnoticed. It was just a pain when, in times like these, he wanted to use his reputation and name to get his way without having to talk about himself. Not that he was against talking about himself.

"Why don't you move your little fantasy session onto a table, where, although still highly pathetic, is at least out of the way? Women and their books." he snorted. "Just like Athena. But even my sister knows how to be a little more tactful and respectful to those who deserve it." So that was possibly stretching the truth. He didn't get much respect from Athena, in all honesty; more often than not they were yelling at one another. Sibling rivalry and all that, you know. They never actually came to any agreement, and in this Belle girl he saw some of his sister's temper.

And yet she said he was the one with a temper?? Ares had a temper, there was no doubt about it, and it was common knowledge to everyone but himself.

He watched her get up, and move as if to get around him. "Allow me to introduce myself. Although I feel it should be unnecessary. I'm Ares." He answered her, stepping in her way and blocking her path. He had a bad habit of...playing...with humans. He viewed them as toys, for the most part, and as he smirked down at the young woman, he could tell she wanted nothing to do with him right now. That was perfect. He loved making people angry, miserable, or uncomfortable.

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"Allow me to introduce myself. Although I feel it should be unnecessary. I'm Ares." Unnecessary? Had he expected she be psychic? Or perhaps he was conceited and believed himself to be well known. She didn't know who he was, and the name did nothing to help that. To Belle, he was just a temperamental and snobbish boy.

Belle sighed as he blocked her path. She could tell he was getting enjoyment out of this...Wonderful. Apparently he was a god or something, as he kept calling her mortal and human. It made no difference to Belle, He was uncouth and snotty, so she wanted nothing to do with him. God or not. If she could just get out of the library, she could get away from him, but getting out was the problem. She intended to sound matter of factly, but in retrospect she had come off more so indifferent and irritated.

"Yes, well... Now that thats out of the way, I'll be leaving now. Good day, Ares." She insisted, turning around and attempting to leave in the opposite direction.

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Belle wanted to leave? Already? How rude - they had just gotten started. Unfortunately the greatest of his powers were some how cut short here in this place. He had found it to be true with most of the others too - their powers remained, the magic and such, but the real dangerous things were taken away from them. Which left Ares practically useless, although he could use quite a few handy-dandy skills, such as changing form and popping up when and where he felt like it. Yes, quite handy.

Ares was in front of her, blocking her path again in a blink. He wasn't done yet...they had just met. Besides, she was a beautiful girl - the best of the best when it came to God's playthings. Although as conceited and self-absorbed as Ares could be, he was suddenly grateful that since she didn't know of him, she obviously didn't know that little fun part of history. The historical types were always a killl joy. But this one was fun and, although she reminded him a little too much of his sister, it was worth the shot of trying to get her to come around. He was the God of War; he loved challenges in all forms.

"Oh, come on. You can't leave now. We just met. Talk with me." He perched himself on the edge of a table, making it clear, without words, that if she tried to leave, she would be followed anyway. And he had already proved he could pop up at the most inopportune times for her. Really, whenever and wherever he wanted.

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"Oh, come on. You can't leave now. We just met. Talk with me." He perched himself on the edge of a table, making it clear, without words, that if she tried to leave, she would be followed anyway. She jumped at his sudden appearance and shot him a look mirroring her thoughts which were 'You've got to be kidding...'

Belle shook her head helplessly (if a little irately). "What would we possibly have to talk about?" She asked exasperated. First he threatens her, and now he wanted to sit and talk with her. Confound these people, they confuse her so.
She sighed, giving up. She might as well humor him now, rather than have him buzzing around her all day just because, though she didn't doubt he may do that anyway. It was like she was an entertaining new toy and he just couldn't leave her alone for a minute.

Belle walked next to where he was perched and leaned gently on one of the massive bookshelves, hands shoved in her back jeans pockets, eyes focused on him.

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What did they have to talk about? Yes, that was the question, wasn't it. She seemed to understand him, finally, when she stayed put, leaning against the bookcase - she couldn't get rid of him easily. He smirked, glad to see that his newest friend got along so well with what he wanted.

Ares thought for a second before answering her. "We could talk about anything. Really. Talk about yourself, if you want. Yeah - come on, tell me something I don't already know." He suggested. So he realized that may have come across as a little creepy, considering it led on to the fact that he was all-knowing and what not. Which he was, for the most part, when he wasn't in human form. However, he was, so that particular power had been sacrificed. He could only know little things such as her name.

He couldn't help but continue smiling, though. He was waiting for her to say something, but in the mean time he enjoyed that irritated look that she had on her face. It wasn't that he liked to be perceived as annoying, irritating, or an asshole - it just happened that way, and he made the best of it.

Ares sat casually on the table, not caring about the narrowed stare the librarian woman was sending his way - he rarely cared about much anyone else unless they served a purpose. Or entertained him. Like Belle did. She should really consider herself lucky.

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Talk about herself? Belle really didn't know where to start..she was really never one to talk about herself. She had to admit, he had a habit of coming off rather ominous and unsettling...'Tell him something he didn't already know.' What in the world was that supposed to mean, and how much did that leave her available to tell him..

She shifted slightly as she leaned, thinking of what to say, her brown hair cascading over her shoulders as she leaned forward. Eventually she settled for basic information.

"I'm twenty. Until I came to Tintagel, I lived in a small village in France, nothing extravagant, just a village. I love to read, but I'm sure you've concluded as much given you found me holed up in the library..As I'm sure you can tell, I'm not exactly one to speak at length about myself, so I'm not quite sure what to say...Is there...anything in particular you would like to know?" She finished, somewhat self consciously.

If he had no intention of leaving her be, they may as well get to know what they could of each other. Though Belle sincerely hoped his first impression wasn't the only side of him. Temper and irritation would not last long with her.

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A young girl from France who loved to read. Ares could have guessed that even if he hadn't seen the girl and just heard a name. He wasn't even really listening to her as she explained the self-explanatory, mainly because, although he asked for it, it bored him when people talked about themselves. But she did admit that she wasn't big on talking about herself. Well that wasn't going to be any fun, and as much as it tickled him to see her awkward and uncomfortable with it, it wasn't really worth either of their times for her to continue talking.

He ran a hand through his blonde hair, one because he had to do something with his hands to prevent looking bored, and two because he wasn't used to having this long, blonde, pretty boy persona. When his head registered that she was no longer talking, he raised an eyebrow in her direction.

"No, no. That's fine. Twenty, France, girl, likes to read. Got it. But you mean to tell me you've read all of these books, and still don't know who I am? Well, seeing how it's quite unfair that I know you, but you don't know me, let me brush you up on some history." He suggested, his usual self-absorbed self, although he tried to make it seem like more of a favor to her, letting her know about him.

Reaching out towards a book shelf, and motioning with his hand, a book flew from it for him to catch. Ares opened it, moving the pages with his eyes until he got to something about him. Then he handed the book out to her - seeing as she was a reader, she would probably prefer to read about him rather than hear his voice talk about himself, which was his preferred method.

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"No, no. That's fine. Twenty, France, girl, likes to read. Got it. But you mean to tell me you've read all of these books, and still don't know who I am? Well, seeing how it's quite unfair that I know you, but you don't know me, let me brush you up on some history." He suggested.

Reaching out towards a book shelf, and motioning with his hand, a book flew from it for him to catch. He opened it and flipped through a few pages and then handed it off to her. Taking it, she looked over the pages he had opened to and read.

'Ares: God of War. Overwhelming, insatiable in battle, destructive, and man-slaughtering.' Well... quite the violent man he was. Belle raised an eyebrow and cast a glance upwards at him..He didn't look like a man slaughtering God. Though he was disturbingly handsome, she couldn't quite picture him in the throes of battle. Then again...his eyes..they told quite a different story. They were serious, and almost hungry looking. He certainly had the eyes of a great warrior. But his looks were deceiving.

Belle suddenly realized she had been staring into his eyes for a few moments, and shot her gaze back to the pages of the book. She read on about his victories and what have yous, and then handed the book back to him.

"And just how accurate is this? I only ask given you earlier...outburst against the biographies. " She said in reply.

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Did she really just suggest that what he showed her wasn't an accurate depiction of himself? Did she think him stupid enough as to show her something false? He knew what was true and what was not - mostly because the things that were true, he helped the author write back in the day. Whatever. He may not look like it, but overwhelming, insatiable, destructive, and man-slaughtering he was, indeed.

As she read out loud, he couldn't help but beam lightly, giving off an aura of absolute pride. The look she gave when she looked back up at him told him that she believed what she had read - even if just a little. Smirking, he kept her gaze for as long as she held it, and chuckled a rather dark sounding chuckle when she turned away.

"That particular excerpt would happen to be correct. I mean, I'm sure it's all up to opinion, but...really, no one denies it. God of War. It's a title that speaks for itself." Of course his sister was sometimes called the Goddess of War and she was completely different...more the intellectual, strategy side of battle. Ares was the stereotypical steel on steel, running spears through peoples' hearts and jumping in bloody rain aspect of war. Here, in human form, he tried to keep the raining blood down to a minimum. Most things that would disturb, gross out, anger, or be considered savage to others were fun to him. They were a part of every day life for him, ever since he was born of Hera and Zeus. Everything else was boring - including the reading this little brunette beauty was so involved with. She did bore him, yes, but it was also fun that she was so naive about him. It gave him the chance to bring out some surprises.

Ares took the book back from her, and lazily just threw it down on the table. He could admire her skepticism in the subject.

"It's the ones that were written without any...guidance...that you have to worry about. Mostly things about the wars. Homer's tales, although technically fiction, is probably one of the most accurate depictions of that era. Of course it got twisted and turned over the millennia, but the original was pure truth. Handed to him by us. It gets quite annoying having to hear stories that aren't true about myself." He explained, shedding some light onto why he responded why he did when first stepping into the library.

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Belle looked him over, still trying to picture him in the heart of a battle, sword blazing through enemies. She could almost picture it. Almost.

"Forgive me for saying, but if you're a God, what are you doing here?" Belle's reasoning for coming here was simple to a point. She wanted adventure. And a mysterious looking portal that led to an unknown land was too good to pass up. when she found out it was an academy, she had decided to stay.

But a God? Surely a God had more important things to attend to? He didn't seem at all interested in this place from what she had seen. Then again, she had only just met him, so perhaps he just didn't like the Library, which of course, Belle didn't understand either, but such is life.

She had recently come to the conclusion that she didn't find him completely appalling and irritating. Though he did need to work on his manners...But she figured that she may as well make the best of it. She was sure he could be unfathomably irritating if he wanted to, like if she had resisted his attempts and tried to leave.

Would they be friends? It was open for debate, but for now, she was content to sit and listen to him and talk with him.