[b]Alexa![/b]

"Show me yours and I'll show you mine?" said a voice like a slouch. An eye like the devil burned in the depths of the opponent's tunnel. "How could I refuse an offer like that?"

He steps out onto the field, a twink on twinkletoes, cracking his knuckles together before hoisting his long rail rifle over his shoulder. He wears a black butterfly earring and a smile like imagining the coming pain is the most relaxing thing he might ask for. A wreath of gold and fire crowns his head, and Hestia and Poseidon walk in his trail, scattering petals of fire and rainbows beneath his glowing feet. 

The crowd booed him. They have come with banners showing your face, Alexa. You have either a great reputation or your opponent a terrible one for such an outpouring of affection. Only one amidst all the stands has a banner unfurled with the name ZAGREUS, and to him the demigod pauses and salutes in passing.

"But obviously you're not serious," he went on, a hardening threat to his voice. "You're here to steal my dog? You really think I'll let you get away with that?"

[b]Dolce![/b]

"My domain?" Mars looked flattered, rather than wrothful as he might have. Evidently he considered the invitation to talk about himself desirable and did not hold it as a slight. "My domain is peace itself, little sheep. Take your little bar fight. Imagine how the bar might adapt if the last such brawl had left ten people dead on the floor. Imagine the imprint it leaves in memory, in society, in art, in culture. I am the shadow of terror. I am the hand on your shoulder reminding you that none of this is a game. I am the voice in the head of every president and daimyo. I am the one thing that a trillion people can agree on, the common ground upon which civilization is built. What could unite the warriors of Ceron, the knights of the Azura, the murderers of the Kaeri, and a thousand other cultures if not the memory of me burning their worlds and devouring their children?"

He picked up Jil's drink, swirled it, raised it in casual salute and then took a sip. "Though I do not need to tell [i]you [/i]the consequences of failing to heed me," he said. "Rather, that is why I think you would make a marvelous adjunct. You were born and raised within the graveyard of those who dared forget my name."