Athanasios for boy

[p]Athanasios had shown no ambition for a life in the fields. One of twenty sons (by his father's seventh wife), he had taken the only other option that was really considered acceptable for a boy his age.

[p]He had become a soldier.

[p]Months of sculpting his muscles and learning to walk in formation had earned him the honor of his first practice sword. He was no Heracles or Achilles, but he was certainly among the better pupils. Boys his age would often test their mettle against him. Some could force a tie to be called but rarely did he lose.

[p]Until the day he was matched with Asterios.

[p]He felt the god Cupid must be hovering over that boy's shoulders, mercilessly piercing Athanasios with arrows again and again. He very nearly did end up impaled. The steel that turned at the last second to avoid skewering him was by no means metaphorical.

[p]The training master screamed at Athanasios for a solid ten minutes. He muttered meekly at all the right moments, stealing glances at Asterios whenever he got the chance.

[p]So passed the remaining weeks before the escalating war forced every able-bodied boy to take to the field and march.

[p]They would sit up late into the night, pondering if Persian animals could really go weeks without water and if the fruits consumed in that foreign land were really sweeter than fermented figs. Asterios scoffed at the notion that Persian women were the most beautiful in the world. Athanasios was too taken up by his friend's beauty to do more than nod in agreement.

[p]Athanasios was thrilled when Asterios was placed in the same unit. To be fighting for King Leonida and to have his secret love at his side...could life be any greater?

[p]The first day of battle was a day for archers. Arrows sprouted in the air, so many deadly twigs that sprouted from trees of flesh and blood. The screaming was horrible to hear. The soldiers of Greece used the terrain to their advantage, taking down Persian soldiers in such numbers that their general was forced to order a retreat. Furious at his losses, the Persian king sent ten thousand of his best men...only to see them fall like so many stalks of wheat.

[p]The second day passed much like the first. Athanasios and Asterios saw fighting, but neither was in any serious danger. Their numbers were superior, allowing the king to regularly swap one unit for another and keep his men rested and ready for another round.

[p]Little did King Leonida know that on the third day, a traitor would hand his enemies the proverbial "keys to the kingdom". A little-known mountain pass gave the Persians an advantage they likely never would have discovered on their own.

[p]Realizing the battle would be lost, Leonida gave his men a choice, for he had never been a believer in throwing away lives needlessly. Many of the men surrendered their arms and turned back to their homes and farms.

[p]Athanasios and Asterios were not among them.

[p]They would stay for the sake of their courageous king. They would not show cowardice in the face of the enemy.

[p]It was on the third day of battle that Athanasios ceased to be just another boy in the crowd and made himself a legend.

[p]Not surprisingly, it was all for the sake of Asterios.

[p]Only three hundred men stood between the Persians and the land they desired. Athanasios and Asterios were at the front, their battle cries still ringing when the charge began.

[p]Athanasios saw the spear aimed directly for Asterios' heart.

[p]He didn't hesitate.

[p]His friend called out in dismay as the spear sank into his heart.

[p]Asterios was not the only witness to the brave Athanasios' death. The gods spoke in voices soft as rain and loud as thunder. His soul was encircled in a soft golden glow. Asterios saw his friend one last time, bathed in that divine light, before Athanasios was whisked up into the clouds to the top of Olympus.

[p]There he drank the sweet ambrosia that would make him immortal. There he swore an oath to look after the soldiers of Greece, whatever battlefield may be their place to stand.

[p]From the heavens he watched Asterios win many victories, have a family and grow old.

[p]His soul he gave for the good of all soldiers of Greece.

[p]But his heart had always and would always belong to just one man.

[p]Story by [user=Pureflower]