The War Gods

Waves of cheers and wild applause drowned the brightly lit Arena as the sound of voices, clashing metal, and stamping feet blended into a thunderous roar.

Far above, a patch of dark clouds swirled in the sunlit, blue sky, cracking with magic. The next moment, a column of shimmering rainbow lights descended from the sky onto a raised dais and faded away to reveal an aging man with an eyepatch clad in golden armor, a long spear held in his hand. 

Next to him, two young men stood, both barely out of adolescence. One with flowing blonde hair and excited blue eyes, as he raised and waved the huge hammer clutched in his hand. The other gave the crowd a mischievous smile, sweeping his dark, raven hair back before straightening his green robes. 

Behind them, a lady clad in silver armor stood rigid, a sword strapped to her back.

The cheers of the audience intensified as the golden spear was raised in acknowledgement.

Suddenly, above them, the whole sky darkened and rumbled, the sunlight fading away. Lightning flashed in the sky, and the blonde boy looked up to the heavens with wide eyes, a smile forming on his face.

A bolt of golden lightning flashed and struck the ground on the other side of the ground in a mighty boom, blinding all that were present. As the lights cleared and the sun shone again, a man clad in Greek armor and chiton was revealed, a long bolt of lightning held in his hands, flickering with tendrils of electricity. 

And the audience seemed to be loving him.

“Father, is he—”

“Zeus, the king of Greek gods— Olympians.” Odin’s single eye flashed. “And the god of thunder, much like yourself, my son.”

Thor’s face split into a beaming smile as he looked at Zeus before glancing at Mjolnir in his hands.

“I suppose we won’t be the ones fighting today, Father, will we?” Loki drawled.

“No, my sons. Your friend, Lady Sif will be our champion for this century’s tournament.” Odin glanced at the woman behind them, who shifted, her Uru sword glinting in the sunlight.

“And what about the Greeks?” Loki questioned. “Also, why are they on a higher dias than us?”

“Because they won the last tournament, Loki.” Odin’s eye latched onto the muscular man standing behind Zeus. “Their champion— their god of war, Ares is a mighty warrior with a few peers. Though I’ve heard that Zeus’ other daughter, Athena, is even better. Unfortunately— or fortunately, she doesn’t like to fight needlessly for entertainment. She doesn’t crave the battle like he does.”

Across the arena, Zeus raised his bolt, and thunder boomed across the arena, quieting the audience. Thor smiled excitedly.

“Gods and Goddesses! Lords and Ladies! Welcome!” Zeus boomed. “Welcome to the Centennial Pantheon-wide Pankarion!”

The cheers from the audience became ear-splittingly loud. Many raised their weapons to the sky, and multicolored beams of light flashed across the ground. Winds howled, and the fires roared around the arena.

Thor too, held his Mjolnir high, and blue lightning flashed across the sky. 

From across the arena, Zeus caught his eye, staring straight at him with a neutral expression before he raised his own bolt. 

A moment later, thunder boomed, a golden flash shaking the arena.

“LET THE PANKARION BEGIN!” Zeus boomed, raising his cracking master bolt to the sky. “CHAMPIONS!”

Several people, including Sif, strode onto the ground while Ares leaped from his dias, landing in the center of the arena. The ground shook slightly, cracks appearing in the mud where the god landed.

“It seems like Zeus has passed on his habit of showing off to his progeny,” Odin muttered to his sons.

Ares stood up, a great broadsword appearing in his hands.

“He looks like he could snap Sif in half,” Loki said worriedly. “His sword is bigger than she is.”

“She’ll be fine.” Odin declared. “I’ve faith in her and her training under Tyr. For she, too, is on her way to become the prime goddess of war in her own right.”

“But Ares is a god of war, Father.” Loki’s green eyes remained on the champion of the Olympians. “And Sif is only a little older than we are. And she’ll be facing him sooner or later.”

“Have faith in your friend, Loki. And if she loses, it will be a learning experience for her.” Odin smiled. “These are games, after all.”

“A game which has resulted in the Greeks sitting higher than us.” Loki narrowed his green eyes while Thor looked between his brother and father. “Winning this seems important.”

Odin smiled at his son, pride shining in his eyes. “Someday you’ll make a great statesman, Loki.”

Loki beamed at his father.

“First up, my son, the reigning champion, will face Lady Sif, the champion of Asgard!” The exploding crowd drowned out Zeus’s voice as Sif strode forward toward Ares, who raised his sword toward the crowd.

“Oh no,” Loki muttered while Thor leaned forward excitedly.

The other competitors backed away as the two war gods turned to face each other. Sif unsheathed her sword while a silver shield popped out of her left vambrace. 

Ares grinned at her in response, his eyes hollow pits of fire. His bronze sword glinted with a red tinge, like an aura of blood.

“The champions duel till one of them surrenders or is no longer capable of fighting.” Zeus boomed as the other champions retreated to a side. “Let the duel… BEGIN!”

Loki and Thor held their breaths as Ares and Sif charged toward each other in a blur of silver and red. Ares’ sword cleaved downward toward Sif, who moved away from the blow, slashing her sword at Ares’ thigh. A thin line of golden blood trailed down Sif’s sword, drawing cheers from the crowd.

Ares whirled around, unbothered by the blow, swiping his sword at her. Sif danced away from it, backing away as Ares slashed at her relentlessly, deflecting a few with the tip of her sword.

“She’s on the back foot,” Thor told Loki, clutching his hammer tighter. “Come on, Sif. Fight back.”

The goddess slid forward, ducking under the flash of red-tinged bronze, scoring another gash above Ares’ ankle. She swiftly rolled away as Ares stabbed downward, missing her by inches.

In the stands, Thor and Loki cheered, their father smiling at their champion below.

Ares growled at Sif, who smirked at him. The smirk was wiped away as Ares took a step forward, swiping his sword in a wide arc toward Sif, who barely dodged the strike. As she tried to slide into his guard, a foot lashed out, catching her in the chest.

Sif flew across the Arena, bouncing in the mud until she hit the walls. Her head felt heavy, and the world spun for her.

“Father,” Loki stood up from his seat.

“There is nothing you can do.” Odin watched as Ares strode leisurely toward Sif, his sword dragging in the mud behind him. “She got overconfident and paid for her mistake. The best she can do is fight back or yield.”

“But it is not fair.” Thor rose to his feet. “He has far more strength than she does. And he’s far more powerful and older.”

“Battle, my sons, is never meant to be fair. And neither is war,” Odin said grimly. “Not every opponent will fight you fairly. Neither will they honor you like you might honor them. And here, Lord Ares did nothing of such sort. He responded to her attack with equal ferocity, treating her as a worthy opponent rather than a little girl.”

Across the arena, Sif got to her feet unsteadily, clutching her head. She winced with every breath, her armor cracked in its middle.

“That was a mighty blow.” Thor gulped. “It cracked Uru.”

“Ares is said to possess the raw strength of a thousand warriors,” Odin said. “He’s the eldest of Zeus and Hera. But Sif is agile and fast. If she recovers in time… she could defend herself.”

“Or maybe she just needs a little help,” Loki muttered to Thor.

On the battleground, Sif feebly raised her sword as Ares neared. With a swift stroke of Ares’ sword, Sif’s sword clattered to the ground, several feet away. Before Ares could bring his sword to her neck, she rolled away, scooping her sword up.

“Brother, that’s cheating,” Thor whispered back furiously. “This is a game of honorable fighting.”

“Do you want to see Sif win or not?”

“I do—”

“Excellent.” Loki grinned, his hands glowing a faint green in the pocket of his robes.

On the battlefield, Ares froze in mid-strike, swerving to avoid something invisible, putting himself directly in the way of Sif’s strike. The sword dug into his flesh deeply, and ichor flew out of the long gash that ran down his bicep.

Ares roared, a wave of red energy flinging Sif away from him.

Thunder rumbled, shaking the Arena as Zeus got to his feet, the master bolt cracking with electricity in his hand. Thor shifted in his seat, clutching his hammer tightly.

“HALT!” Thunder drummed over the arena. “Magic. Trickery! Asgard’s champion has broken the rules!” 

Odin immediately glanced at Loki, his face paling. “My son—” 

“I did no such thing.” Sif stepped past Ares, her eyes furious. “I swear on my honor. I’ve not used any magic.”

Odin closed his eyes and rose to his feet, banging the Gungnir on the ground. 

“Lord Odin.” Zeus’ eyes hardened. “What is it?”

“I’ve something to say to you and all those present here.” Odin took a deep breath. “It was not my champion who employed trickery. She is an honorable warrior. It was my youngest who didn’t want to see his friend lose. He’s a mischievous lad, you see? But since he helped my champion— which is against the rules, I will withdraw my champion from this fight and yield victory to Ares.”

“But father—” Loki murmured, only to stop by a glare Odin leveled at him. 

“I will make sure he doesn’t do such a thing again,” Odin said.

“Well,” Zeus looked between them. 

“I have heard your son, Hermes, Lord Zeus. He, too, is rather adventurous and mischievous like my youngest here,” Odin continued. “Surely you can understand.”

Zeus huffed, thunder rumbling in the sky as if mirroring the god. “Very well. Your champion is withdrawn from this fight and two fights after this, based on the condition that both of your sons are sent home to prevent any further mischief. And that you reprimand them sufficiently.”

“I will make sure of it.” Odin smiled. “Heimdall! Take my sons home!”

And a column of rainbow lights descended on them.

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AND… DONE! Hope you all liked the story!

In this story, I portrayed Loki and Thor pretty young. Like, the Asgardian equivalent of 14-15-year-old boys. (Thor was 1500 in the MCU when he appeared. So this is wayyyyy before.) In this story, Odin is older than Zeus, but the children of Zeus are a lot older than Thor and Loki were. (Artemis was some 4600 years old in The Trials of Apollo.)

While I am not comparing these timelines or taking them too seriously, it is pretty obvious that Thor and Loki were a lot younger than the Olympians were. Sif, while older than both Thor and Loki, was not in Ares’ league yet. Ares was a lot more experienced, powerful, and not to mention, his raw strength surpassed hers by a wide margin. 

Oh, and I have another idea on this premise(the pantheon wide duel/ competition). I am basically thinking of a Thor v/s Percy fight in a LoSP side story set post the Titan war, but just before Thor’s banishment in the MCU. 

So, we will have a very powerful Percy(come on. LoSP Percy is damn powerful) facing an arrogant, but yet again, powerful Thor who has seen battles and is capable of fighting armies and all.

It would be a very interesting fight, in my opinion. What do you think?

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A huge thanks to Mughil and I_amaSWITCHbot for betaing this story.

So, feel free to express your thoughts on this. And if you liked it, please drop a like (the heart symbol).

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Stay Happy! Stay Safe! Keep Smiling! Keep Reading!

HPfanfictioner66