No one questioned as Ares walked around the castle carrying a sleeping man on her back, but they did give them looks when said man snored loudly while drooling on Ares' shoulder.

But it wasn't an unusual situation, the warriors would often lay down on the arena for a quick break and end up falling asleep, only waking up as they felt someone moving their bodies, before they would see it was their mother and would cuddle further on her arms as she carried them to their rooms.

The young siphoner was emotionally drained after their conversation and ended up falling unconscious on her lap.

While the goddess would love to continue there quietly hugging him, she knew it wasn't fair with the boy. He would need some space to figure out his emotions and having her breathing the same air as him would really disturb his thoughts.

So after laying Kai down on the king sized bed and tugging him under the covers, the goddess made a beeline out of the room with a deep sigh, closing the door behind her back.

"What to do, what to do..." blood red orbs looked from one side to the other and started to walk in a random direction, summoning a small dagger as she started to twirl it around her fingers.

The castle was enormous, but that wasn't a surprise, Ares always made sure to have a room done for every child she had so they would always be accepted with open arms if they needed her.

Standing in front of a specific room, the ginger paused and looked at the name marked on the door with an elegant cursive writing.

A familiar sequence of knocks stroke the door and Ares' lip tilt upwards when she heard the soft steps of someone running to open it.

It wasn't long until the goddess of war was met with the bright contrast of the female beauty in front of her, her features were soft, blonde curly hair, a big smile showing her pearl teeth and gray eyes shining on her face.

Behind her, a very light room, everything was either white or a very soft cream, differing from the castle that was made of black, gray and red.

Books, drawings and multiple documents were laying around the room in a messy way, but the blonde always seemed to know exactly where everything was.

"Hey sweetheart, what are you doing here all day? Everyone was fighting outside, I thought you'd have liked to join us" her tanned skin turned a soft pink at the ginger's words, placing her warm hand around Ares' sleeve as she pulled her inside and closed the door of her room.

"I was reading" Anna mumbled with a shrug, sitting down on her bed as Ares kicked her shoes off and threw herself on it as well, making the blonde giggle as she laid down with her head on Ares' stomach.

"What were you reading this time?" The goddess asked while closing her eyes, a smile growing on her lips as Annabeth started to tell her the whole story of the book she had read while making movements with her hands.

"Crime and punishment! You should read it as well, I think you'll like this one, it shows the psychology of a person after he kills someone, he starts going legit crazy"

"You got me at kill and crazy, pass me the book" Ares joked with a grin, making Annabeth grin back at her.

"I was thinking..."

"You don't say"

"Mom!"

"Fine fine, go on, sweetheart" The goddess chuckled at the blonde, while opening one eye, watching as the girl looked at the ceiling with thousands of thoughts passing through her eyes.

"You won't die, right? I know you said you can't because of the curse, but what if Zeus has something under his sleeve to use against you?" Annabeth questioned after a few minutes in silence, her words making Ares' bite her lower lip as she looked at the ceiling as well.

Annabeth and Nyx had always gotten along, so it wasn't a surprise how the ceiling was a perfect replica of a starry night, even moving from time to time.

It was calming, even for someone like Ares.

"I don't know, sweetheart"

It was true, she didn't know, she doubted Zeus would break the curse before the war started considering how Chaos was already walking to his death.

He wouldn't miss the chance of seeing her suffer one more time.

But did he have a hidden power waiting for her? She didn't know.

It was easy not knowing something around Annabeth, Ares didn't feel like being pressured into knowing something because that was Anna's specialty.

They stood in a comfortable silence for a long time before Ares spoke "You know, Day was looking forward to fighting against you"

"As if the result would be any different from the previous fights" Annabeth answered with a smug smile, making Ares laugh as she ruffled her blonde hair.

"So do you want to tell me the real reason why you didn't leave your room today or should we keep making small talk until you're comfortable?" Annabeth groaned while hiding her head on Ares' chest, making the ginger smirk.

"I didn't want to hinder you, it's just... you've been through a lot of things lately and I wanted to let you have fun with your children" The blonde admitted, receiving a raised eyebrow from the goddess.

"I will say something and I hope you get highly offended with this-" Anna gave her a look as soon as Ares muttered those words, but the ginger continued "You're being stupid, sweetheart"

"I-I'm not stupid!" The blonde exclaimed with a pout, making Ares pat her head affectionately.

"Then I don't know how you can't see that you're my daughter as well, blood or not" Anna frowned while looking down at her fingers.

"But we are so different, everyone is so powerful and I'm just... the bookworm" Ares laughed at her choice of words but stopped once she noticed Annabeth's glare.

"I don't want to be different" Anna mumbled quietly, making Ares give her a playful nudge with a soft smile.

"I don't want you to be normal, actually, I want you to be different, I want you to shine brighter than Apollo's disco ball or Nyx's constellation, I want you to stand out, okay? Be as different as possible, because that's what make you this amazing person you are!" Ares exclaimed watching as a smile appeared on Annabeth's face.

"I love how childish Mania can be and how snappish Penthesilea can get, I love how Damon is competitive, how Deimos is overprotective and how Phobos likes to scare the new ones" The goddess continued explaining at the blonde.

"I love how Harmonia always knows when you need a cuddle and how you always talk about the books you have read on that day, you see? I love each and everyone of you for different reasons and that's what makes you these exquisite beauties in my eyes"

"So please, never apologize for being different, sweetheart, I wouldn't ask anything else from a child of mine"

The goddess of war was taken back as Annabeth pinned her in a bear hug, adjusting the girl on her arms as she held her softly with a smile.

"I want to participate in the war"

"Are you sure? Athena will certainly be there"

"You're being the stupid one now, you've raised me, you were there for me when the monsters were chasing after me, not her... I'm less important than a stupid rule for her, you're my mom and I couldn't care less about her.

"Awww aren't you a cutie, sweetheart?"