1. Black rose and drops of blood

**In the beginning there was War… **

**(Xentrya)**

**Disclaimer: **Sadly….I own nothing….I wish I did though...

Daybreak. As soon as the first rays of light shattered the dim darkness surrounding the camp, the apparently sound asleep Warrior Princess opened her eyes as if someone had commanded her to.

As always, she hated wasting time, so lingering in bed was as rare as a friendly one eyed Cyclops, especially given the unbelievably tight schedule she needed to keep up with, for this wasn't any ordinary day. It was the eve of the battle of Kalamai, the last city she needed to take in order to ensure her domination over more than half of the Greek lands. Next on her list were Argos, Corinth Megara, Thebes and last but not least, Athens.

She had decided to write down the Goddess of the three W's - Wisdom War and Weaving- city on the bottom of her wanted territory list, aware that it was wiser to place the prosperous area under a long, hard to endure siege - thus debilitating her adversaries both physically and psychologically than opting for a premature, unexpected attack in which, there was always the possibility that while placing her stake on the element of surprise, leaks of information could very well make her strategy blow up in her face, thus giving the Athenians enough time to built some pretty difficult to break alliances…..Going up against all the North Eastern cities at once was not option, and she knew it. Taking them down in turn was still the safest bet….The Roman's "divide and conquer" old saying had more than one meaning after all….She was planning to stick to it….

Casting one brief glance towards the other side of the bed she noticed the empty half where but a few hours ago the gorgeous War God had been sleeping, and she lazily reached her hand to pick up the delicate black rose he had left behind for her on the pillow, just like he always did when for some reason or the other he had to leave before she woke up.

She only sketched a displeased grimace before she carelessly sent the rare flower flying to the floor, without as much as bothering to watch where it landed, as if it meant nothing at all, her eyes ice cold and her face devoid of any type of emotion.

"Well good morning to you too." Ares's voice suddenly broke out as he stepped out of the aether in his usual flash of blue light. In less than a second the rose vanished from the ground and materialized in his hand instead.

"I think you might have dropped something…"he stated throwing her a rather accusing look, on a tone that would have made any mortal's blood freeze inside their veins.

After having watched the spectacular magic trick with utter disinterest , and as soon as the God closed in the distance between them and personally offered her the flower, Xena rolled her eyes in exasperation, tossing the covers aside to get out of bed.

"Thanks" she muttered, placing the rose on a nearby table, showing not even the slightest intention of touching it more than she needed to, and clearly without giving a rat's ass on Ares feeling offended by her gesture or not.

Behind her, the God frowned, a flash of anger glistening on the surface of his amber like eyes. No matter what he did, nothing seemed to please this woman, and despite the fact that he did own her body, as some sort of mutual, unspoken agreement in exchange of his constant support and favor, he was thousands of miles away from any chance to owning her soul too.

Whenever they were together, sex was awesome, she was like a volcano, passion and desire burning inside her like inextinguishable flames, and her mere touch could stir inside him sensations so unique and strong that he had never felt before in his long immortal existence. The moment she left the comfort of his arms though, it was as if nothing had happened between them. She turned back to the "as cold as marble statue" routine, subtly making it crystal clear for him that it was all about business. She had something he wanted and him….well….he had a lot more than she cared to admit- even to herself- and that she needed badly…One didn't have to be a rocket scientist in order to get the drill...

Still, he was so attracted to her that more than once, he was barely able to control the craving of whisking her from wherever she was , the sight of powerful presence, organizing her troops, training her men or making battle plans with her generals and the sound of her sonorous, commanding voice, so very similar to his own, making his entire body vibe beyond control.

She possessed a surreal beauty, and moreover a completely alluring personality. In that entire army, there wasn't one single man who wasn't secretly fantasizing about her day and night, just to respect and fear her at the same time worse than they feared the pits of Hades' Tartarus.

Fearless, determined, skilful, extremely bright, hard headed, obnoxious and definitely unpredictable and cunning, his Princess as he liked to call her, was the kind of woman who didn't take "no" for an answer and who certainly didn't tolerate mistakes. She was very explicit about what she wanted and expected from everyone around her and at her turn she showed the same respect even to the lowest in rank man.

On the battlefield….she was a legend. Nothing could stand against her blade, she was one of a kind. No wonder her soldiers would shout more often her name in battle than the one of the God of War… He couldn't help adore her for that.

Consequently, it is needless to say that he wanted her to be his and his alone and that he was as possessive and jealous as hell whenever someone even looked at her implyingly….While Xena…she usually humored him, letting him believe that his crappy attitude didn't bother her much, tolerating at times his jealous outbursts….As long as that meant having another ace up her sleeve it was fine with her. Gradually becoming his weakness, she was sure of two things: he could never hurt her in any way, and…more favors of course…..The good thing about it all was the fact that the balance was apparently equal and that each of them knew where the other stood….nothing could really take them by surprise, but still the God was getting impatient. He had never met such a hard headed woman in his life….

Watching her now, that naked body of hers passing him by provokingly seductive, his pulse began racing maddeningly fast.

His heart along with his immeasurable pride ached to possess her completely…

"I had to leave last night…You were sound asleep. I didn't wake you up….."

She just gazed at him arching an eyebrow, considering weather to reply or not to that incredibly stupid line he had just finished uttering.

"I noticed" she finally said on a leveled tone, while pouring herself a glass of water from a silver jar.

'And…?" he added.

This time she didn't say anything else, she just displayed an inquiring expression that was meant to spare her the trouble of voicing her question.

"Don't you want to know where I was?"

"I'm not your mother Ares, so you don't actually need to explain your each and every move, ok? Plus, I couldn't care less about your whereabouts " she lied, simulating total indifference with such an enviable easiness that the God couldn't help wondering if she was really serious about it or not.

"Is that so?" he questioned chuckling softly. "What if I told you that I was with some hot-headed blond and that we fucked all night long?"

"I'd say that you're a terrible liar and that you should definitely have a long chat with Aristotle. You were with me half of the night. Now….. unless you have dualizing powers as well, you couldn't possibly have been with her for more than a couple of hours. As for the lying part, that could be fixed too….I could give you some private lessons….Some say I'm quite talented….." she retorted, a mischievous smile playing on her full, velvety lips.

Catching the last part of her phrase, the War God repeated slowly, as if entranced:

"Some?"

"Well, aren't you the cocky one ? Don't tell me you actually think that military skills alone are enough to hold an army together, War God….We both know that no leader can properly control such a large mass of people without the complete submission of his generals who should be loyal, dedicated and who should follow closely his exact commands….Isn't that what you've thought me?" she nonchalantly asked, taking the cup to her lips.

Before she knew it though, the God had already blown it off her hand, and grabbing her by the shoulders he growled like a wild beast against her lips:

"Unless you want to walk into battle tomorrow with five generals missing I strongly advise you to…."

"I dare you…." she cut him off, breathing raggedly against his lips, no trace of either fear or discomfort shading her stunningly sapphire moons…."Though….do such thing and we'll most certainly lose ground….I don't think that you're willing to risk that out of a stupid fit of jealous rage of some second hand rated mortals…." she added biting her lower lip, while making sure her body got even closer to his own so that her bare breasts were touching his chest now through the opening of his black leather vest…..

Her eyes locked on his, it was unable for her not to see his irides changing their color from amber to pitch black, while his muscles tensed to the point that they looked on the verge of snapping.

All this time, Xena was grinning widely. She couldn't lose this…

By the time he transported himself on the training ground, Ares was hitting the roof. It only took a few seconds before he turned the five men into ashes, firing first, asking questions later, despite having known all along what she was trying to do….She was his Chosen, he obviously knew her better than she could have ever imagined…..

About one minute later, he materialized back inside the luxurious tent, behind his clever Princess who had just put on a black nightgown, and was already standing behind her desk, fully ignoring the cries of terror coming from outside, carefully studying one more time the surrounding hills of the region and the main lines of attack, as well as the possible areas of ambush.

With a firm pull the God ripped the silky material off her, pushing her face down against the map, his fingers clenched into her hair, and, bending over her, he murmured in her ear, on a surprisingly calm tone:

"Done. Now….I don't care how you do it tomorrow but you will win that battle for me, if not, I swear it on Styx, you're as good as dead, Sweetheart….."

With that, he vanished again into a flash of blue, leaving an unspeakably satisfied Warrior Princess to savor her victory in silence…..She did hold some power over him, now she was sure of it, and what she was even more sure of is that he wanted her to know that…..she was important to him….a very useful card if played correctly….


	2. Wistful thinking

As soon as the God reached the Halls of War, the roaring sound of a thunderous explosion caught the attention of about a dozen soldiers and a couple of priestesses in charge with guarding the place.

In less than a minute they were all barging in the main hall, where chunks of marble had been scattered right about everywhere by the force of the explosion, all their senses alert, fearing like Hades the nightmarish possibility of some surprise attack coming from Athena's troops- which have ravished the place on more occasions than one, usually each time their Lord had wiped off the face of the map some of his sister's temples or base camps.

They could finally fetch their wind though the instant they spotted their patron God standing in the middle of the large, dark room, a feeling of utter relief washing over each and every one of them, feeling that unfortunately left them as fast as it appeared the very moment they realized what had actually happened, immediately identifying the source of that deafening sound that had almost split their eardrums: the Warrior Princess' life size statue previously standing on the right of the War God's throne had been blasted to little pieces….

In less than a blink, an expression of utter terror and panic settled on everybody's faces, all of them being more than aware by now that whenever the cocky Olympian got into some sort of fight with his moody Chosen- which at least in his priestesses' opinion was nothing but a two faced slut that made a hobby out of using their Lord, bewitching him with her demonic beauty- that pretty much equaled with painful deaths for any of those who, only Fates now why, had the misfortune of being in the wrong place at the wrong time….

The result of such terrible awareness was of course the faster than lightening egress of even the last soldier from the room, without waiting for the enraged God to turn around and see them all gathered there like fleas around a filthy dog.

By the time Ares had launched yet another fire ball, aimed towards his own statue this time, there was no one else lurking around the premises. No one dared.

"Damn her to Tartarus! " he burst, running his hand through his short dark hair, more out of an impossible to control reflex –given that he had just recently adopted this new sexy look, after centuries of the Love Goddess' ceaseless, absolutely unbearable comments regarding his antique hairdo, than out of the utter necessity of keeping it out of his face.

Despite the fact that he had only allowed his ditsy baby Sis' mess with his "precious coiffure"- as she used to call it- out of the sole reason that he could no longer stand her irritating insinuations each and every time they crossed paths, he couldn't deny though the effect that his hot bad boy look seemed to have on women, the distinct image of his stupid priestesses- blushing and giggling each time he summoned them for one thing or the other, suddenly invading his mind. The concept amused him beyond limits.

He had honestly believed that those naive women have reached the ultimate level of desperation when it came to him, but no….an ordinary hair cut had proved him wrong

….This unexpected stream of thoughts brought him back to his Princess of course….She would have never given him the satisfaction of knowing that he held such power over her, that she actually felt something else for him besides lust, not even if her own life depended on it…..She was much to proud and calculated to let him have the upper hand in their relationship…..

…..By Zeus, she was something else. All his worthless servants piled up together, no matter how beautiful or alluring, couldn't have been a match for that cunning witch of his….

As a goblet of wine appeared in his hand, his still worked up brain began replaying a certain encounter that they had but a few weeks before, one that was strikingly similar to the last part of that morning's fiery events.

_She had just returned to her tent, after a long, tiring day under the hot summer sun, the prolonged swelter drying the air to the point of rendering it impossible to breathe. _

_Exhausted and ruffled because of the hardly noticeable progress of her new recruits, she was on the verge of snapping when one of her lieutenants saluted and started reporting the latest news regarding the inception of an uprising in a southern city that she had conquered not long ago….The rebels were gradually gaining ground and the Warrior Princess was left with two possibilities: either sending reinforcements-hoping that her generals would manage to solve the problem, or simply going back there with the complete effective of men, butchering everything in sight, thus offering an example to the surrounding cities and discouraging any other acts of valor. _

_Both options were a drag though given that she had planned to expand her dominion with at least two more key points until the end of the following full moon, thus having elbow room towards Mycenae, Megara and Thebes….Either way she was now forced to cancel their march there for at least one week….and then there was the battle of Kalamai which she was bound to win in order to be able to finance the rest of the military campaign- at least until they reached Sparta where Ares would ensure them a significant part of the needed supply ….. _

_Waving her hand flippantly , she dismissed the concerned lieutenant, ordering him to gather the generals for a flash meeting at first light in order to inform them on the modified campaign strategy._

_Despite having initially fancied taking a bath and going to sleep as soon as possible, leaving the idea of having dinner completely aside-she rarely considered it in the first place-she abandoned every intent of doing any of it soon, and she headed towards the desk instead, where a large map of Greece was spread. _

_A long, sleepless night was laying ahead of her and she was already beat….With a deep sigh of exhaustion, her mind began racing, looking for an effective enough battle plan to squash the revolt without delaying to much the established dates of the initial campaign_

…_.Her temples where throbbing in pain though, and, despite her best efforts, she found it impossible to ignore that irritating sound of swords clashing, still echoing inside her head….She was just too drained for anything right now….._

_With a sudden gesture of utter abandon, she threw her head back, uselessly trying to loosen up a bit, searching for at least an ounce of energy that she could use in order to come up with a decent solution for everything. _

_Hardly had her eyes closed though, that she felt the War God's strong arms wrapping like snakes around her waist, pressing her back roughly against his chest as his lips began drawing an invisible blazing trail of fire from her ear till her neck and further down towards her shoulder, sensually licking the salty surface of her skin with a lust hard to ignore. _

_To all appearances, the passionate God had every intention of blowing her mind away with a naughty enough fuck that was certainly meant to make even the last bit of stress melt from her overly rigid body. Despite his stimulating ministrations though her muscles seemed to be tensing even more. Still, he refused to stop even when her ragged voice broke out on a rather bored tonality. _

" _Not really in the mood Ares. Business before pleasure remember?" _

"_I don't recall having asked whether you were in the mood or not….Business can wait. Plus, you look like you could need a break…. the God murmured lowly while with a thought he made the heavy and rather uncomfortable armor vanish from her body, along with any other piece of clothing she had on, leaving her completely naked in his arms , the sight of her perfectly sculpted body making a predatory smile curve his lips yearningly. _

_Before she even got to realize what was happening he was already sliding a hand into her hair, entwining his fingers into her long silky tresses and firmly pulling her head back until he could reach her lips, brutally forcing them open with his tongue, in what proved to be a long, extremely demanding kiss to which, despite not having resisted, the Warrior Princess refused to respond. _

_The instant they broke apart, the God just bit his lips angrily, while staring displeased at the thin layer of ice covering his Princess' flawless visage like a mask, not even the slightest shade of pleasure lightening up her features, despite being physically able to feel her arousal, waves of desire making her body vibe at his every touch. _

_Watching her deep in the eyes again, he finally let go of her waist and moved to her face instead, gently caressing her jaw line. Her blank expression stayed the same._

_Seconds later though, noticing that he made no other move except looking at her expectantly, she finally inquired, completely disinterested about the answer he was about to give her. _

"'_Something wrong?"_

"_No" he replied promptly, turning her around to face him, and with a swift move, he lifted her up the desk in front of him, parting her legs with a remarkable easiness just like he would have done with any ordinary whore, and the mere idea almost made him wanna slap her . _

_He did want her with every fiber of his being, but obviously, not like that. _

_Getting one step closer to her tempting body, he pulled her roughly towards him, and, grabbing her arms, he placed them around his neck, so that her mouth was now but a breath away from his own. _

_At this point he could sense the rhythm of his heart gradually increasing, drumming louder and louder against her chest…..Her sapphire moons though were revealing the same arrogant indifference as before….._

_Slowly, torturously slow his fingertips began gliding up and down her back, tenderly making way through her dark cascading hair, fondling every inch of her skin, and, the moment they reached the back of her neck he could feel her nipples hardening against his chest . _

_He didn't mention anything about it though, preferring to say something else instead: _

"_Tell me about the rebellion" he ordered, arching an eyebrow inquiringly when he noticed her perplexed expression. _

"_It broke out in Pylos sometimes this morning and our troops there could barely make a stand against the first two waves of attack. It seems they had weapons and that they were extremely well organized. I still don't know the name of their leader." _

"_How many men did you leave there?" he asked, stroking her hair._

"_Around 150. We couldn't afford more. Not before Kalamai anyway. " Xena replied carefully analyzing the rapidly changing shades of his liquid mahogany eyes , unable to tell that in the God's highly alert brain various scenarios of confrontations had already unfolded, each one ending with the victory of her army. _

"_I could send reinforcements first thing tomorrow, I was thinking 200 men….?On the other hand it would be much better if..." _

" _Shhh….." he suddenly silenced her, covering her lips with his own, this time in such a delicate embrace that, had she closed her eyes she might not even felt it. _

"_Put it out of your mind….." he whispered , both of his hands fixing on each side of her head, forcing her too look at him. " Let me take care of this for you" he added, kissing her forehead. _

_She just gave him a scandalized gaze in return, a light frown announcing the presence of a pungent enough retort as to match the ridicoulness of his insinuation. _

"_I'm not brain damaged Ares. And I certainly don't need you to bail me out of anything. I'm more than capable of doing it myself." she snarled at him, removing instinctively her arms from behind his neck. _

"_Oh I know that, trust me I do….but you're way too tired to make any valid decisions right now…."_

_With no other further notice, before the totally opposed to the idea Warrior Princess got the chance to open her mouth, the God had already transported them to the Halls of War, into a luxurious marble bathroom, with a huge tub placed right in the center, and by the time Xena's vision- still a bit blurry because of the intense lights of the vortex- cleared, Ares had already lifted her into his arms and placed her into the warm, tuberose scented water._

"_There you go" he stated, watching the dark haired beauty leaning back, a resigned look on her face. _

_She knew Ares far to well to realize that there was absolutely no point in contradicting him when it was not the case. She would have only wasted her words for nothing…._

"…_.Now…let's see….." he muttered, narrowing his eyes, while obviously chewing in silence on some last minute details that he wouldn't have wanted to skip….._

_It only took a light touch of the water's surface for countless soft rose petals to make an appearance, covering it entirely in a soft crimson blanket, contrasting hypnotically with Xena's raven tresses. _

_A casual wave of his hand followed, and soon, the broad edge of the tub was covered with a multitude of amazingly adorned and colored little bottles containing body oils, various lotions, aromatherapy essences, bathing salts and floral hair masks. _

_Needless to say that the Warrior Princess was anything but impressed by what she had just witnessed,on the contrary, Ares's unusual methods of trying to force her into doing what he wanted by carefully wrapping his inflexible orders into a nice looking package- tied with a golden bow and all- getting on her nerves more than anything else. _

_It was no wonder then that his actual purpose of digging gradually his way to her heart without making a full of himself in the process- purpose that he was heavily trying to achieve, in a rather clumsy way, that's true, but he was trying- stood little or no chance._

"_I hope you don't expect me to applaud the cheesy magic tricks" she snarled at him on the most ironic tone she could come up with. _

_He just gave her a brazen smile in return, his eyes intently resting on her full breast for a couple of seconds before replying, their gazes interconnected: _

"_Enjoy your bath. I'll be waiting for you in bed."_

_The following moment, he was gone, leaving a fuming Warrior Princess to literally boil in rage.__That irkingly, eternally patronizing, cocky attitude of the damned Bastard was killing the life out of her. And what really annoyed her till the moon and back was the fact no matter how hard she tried , she couldn't block the immediate reactions of that traitorous body of hers whenever he was around her….His gaze alone could make the blood run harder through her veins…._

_Despite herself, her eyes closed for a minute, and, before she knew it, the tip of her __fingers were caressing her lips, imagining the God's mouth crushing over her own…_

_She snapped out of it faster than lightening though , the moment his last line echoed inside her mind again, a disgusted grimace being instantly painted on her figure. _

_She hated being treated like an object, as if she were his little dolly to play with….at the same time, to her own utter amazement, his extreme possessiveness could turn her on like nothing else could._

_About an hour later, her body and mind completely relaxed, Xena got out of the tub, dried her hair, and, carefully selecting a bottle out of the countless that Ares_

_had materialized, she began rubbing part of it's content on her skin. The scent was absolutely divine….almond and lilac….she loved it. _

_Once that was over, she put on a black, fine lace nightgown that the highly imaginative War God had chosen for her…..One thing was beyond clear judging by it's translucence: he didn't want to leave anything to imagination. _

_Right before she left the spacious bathroom, heading for his chambers, while passing by the mirror she couldn't help studying her reflection a bit, unable to hold back a loud gasp….She was unbelievably sexy…..Actually she was more than just sexy, she was stunning….._

_Slowly, with languid, almost hesitant steps, she walked out of the room, and, crossing the long hallway, she reached the huge ebony doors that led to the God's room. _

_When she entered, Ares was laying on the bed, staring at the ceiling, a rather serious expression painted on his face…._

_Seeing him, Xena's heart literally skipped a heartbeat: if she looked stunning, the God looked amazing. He was wearing only a pair of black silk pants, and his bare, perfectly chiseled chest had of course drawn her attention from the first moment she stepped into the room, being__ barely able to restrain a loud gasp, biting her tongue hard the moment she sensed that it was impossible for her to keep herself quiet any longer. _

_The truth is that the whole situation was a bit __uncomfortable, especially with the God's incredibly insisting gaze directed her way. He was genuinely scanning her from head to toe._

"_You look divinely…." he finally stated, a seductive smile playing on his lips. "Come here…" he then ordered extending his hand, motioning for her to come. _

_From the door to the bed he couldn't help staring at her, marveled by her surreal beauty…..She had everything he had ever wanted in a woman: looks, presence, spirit…..and in the dim light of the candles that were placed about everywhere, she strangely resembled some out of this world Goddess….._

_Arching an eyebrow at Ares's obviously captivated figure, Xena advanced towards the bed, the elegant movement of her body making the God unconsciously bite his lower lip…He was burning to have her…._

"_How was your bath? " he inquired when she finally grabbed his hand and sat down beside him . _

"_Relaxing" came her brief answer , ready to turn her gaze away from him when he cupped her chin, forcing her to keep her eyes on him._

"_Good…" he whispered, claiming her mouth in an extremely passionate, bruising kiss , that hid behind it's violence more love and tenderness that the Warrior Princess could have ever suspected._

_Despite her previous reluctance, Xena soon found herself slipping more and more into the fiery universe of chaining sensations that the God was opening up for her with every additional caress, the intricate dance of his tongue pulling her more and more towards a complete abandon of her any worries and thoughts…He was irresistible…_

_Right when things where starting to heat up though, every fiber of her being screaming for him, he broke the kiss, placing another light one on her shoulder, and gently brushing her cheek with the back of his hand, when she least expected, he pushed her backwards until she was completely laying beneath him._

_As her hands began roaming up and down his chest though, the God, caught her hands in his, and, rolling onto his back too, he pulled her into a protective embrace at his chest, kissing affectionately the top of her head. _

"_You're tired. You should go to sleep, Princess" _

_Shock and silence followed of course the God's surprising line. _

_Xena just looked at him inquisitively….more than failing to understand his behavior, her pride was hurt…Did he actually turn her down? And if he was the one to turn her down did she just make a move on him?_

_Expertly deciphering the perplex expression on her face, Ares began tracing with his index the contour of her lips….their full, tempting shape was driving him up the wall…_

"_Trust me, you'll thank me tomorrow" he explained, winking at her. _

"_Tomorrow….." she repeated slowly closing her eyes as the map of Greece suddenly started unfolding inside her mind, pushing her tired neurons too look up for the best way of attack the following night when they were due to arrive in Pylos…_

"_Don't…." Ares murmured against her ear the minute he sensed her body tensing again. _

"_I already said I'll take care of that for you, ok? You have a meeting with your generals tomorrow don't you? " the question left his lips. _

_She just nodded silently. _

"_First light?" _

"_Yeah." her monosyllabic answer followed right after. _

"_Ok…..I'll wake you up an hour earlier so that we can make up a new strategy. Is that fine with you?" _

"_ it would have been better if you had let me do this myself, Ares…"Xena mumbled already half asleep" _

"_See? I knew you'd like my idea." he jokingly retorted chuckling softly. _

_The Warrior Princess failed to hear the God's last remark though, as she was sound asleep by the time he finished his phrase. _

_Encasing her protectively into his arms, Ares attentively materialized a fluffy blanket on top of her, covering that ultimately delicious body of hers, sighing mentally at the lost opportunity of that night…..Every night without making love to her was a lost night…..and still, gazing at her now, sleeping so peacefully on his chest, he secretively wished for her to never leave his side….._

"My Lord Ares!" the ragged voice of a soldier broke out, brutally interrupting the stream of thoughts spinning around his head.

He threw an inquisitive gaze back at the barely breathing soldier. Most likely he had been running like crazy, Ares said to himself.

"I have news about the Warrior Princess.I kept an eye on her just like you ordered."

"And…?" the War God insisted, his eyebrows coming together in a frown.

"I'm afraid you're not going to like it My Lord…."


	3. My Lady-I mean your Lady

Hearing the insolent mortal's personal comment, Ares closed his eyes for a few seconds, a deep, low growl betraying the savage impulse of burning him to a crisp.

It had to wait though….he still needed to find out what had that walking dead body discovered about his Chosen….

"If I were you, I'd start talking….and fast…." he couldn't help mentioning anyway, staring coldly at a blue orange fire ball that had just began forming in his palm….He was getting impatient and, given that up to then, that particular day hadn't been like the rosiest of his immortal life and that simply blasting some marble statues to smithereens didn't quite manage to quench his thirst for gutting someone, on the contrary it only inflamed his passion for utter destruction and killing even more, that idiotic looking soldier appeared to be like the ideal piece of meet to unleash his wrath upon.

"Y….Yes Lord Ares" the man replied shaking like a leaf, his eyes refusing to leave the mesmerizing, divine weapon that Ares was now playing with, throwing it absently from one hand to the other as if it burnt….The truth is that, being a God he couldn't even tell it's incredibly high temperature…to him, it was as if he was holding a snowball …

"My Lady….I mean **your**…**your **Lady" the terrified soldier rectified the instant he realized just how impossibly wrong uttering his Commander's title must have sounded in the War God's mind. "She….left camp last night…."

"Last night?" Ares inquired narrowing his eyes.

"That's right. It was two hours till daybreak I think. I was guarding her tent when I heard her slip through the back, so I followed her"

At that point, the barely breathing mortal made a short pause, swallowing a couple of times, having one eye glued to the visibly enraged God's face and the other to the temple door which now seemed like a million miles away from where he was standing.

"So where did she go?! " Ares finally snapped, more pissed by the man's cowardice that by the actual idea of his Xena doing things behind his back, hiding stuff from him….

"To..to the temple My Lord. Athena's temple." he ended, on such a low note that he considered repeating the last part again, just in case, but dismissed the thought the instant the Olympian did it for him, anger and death reverberating from his voice.

"…..Athena….?"

"Yes….I saw her going inside the altar room, the Goddess was waiting for her in front of a large table. There was a map. They began studying it. Athena was explaining something to her, pointing towards different areas….I couldn't quite make out what they were talking about though, I was too far away…."

By that time, the God's blood was literally boiling inside his veins. He was obviously seconds from exploding.

"How did you find Xena?" he questioned stressing each and every word, suddenly feeling his bones too heavy to move. The mere concept of his Warrior Princess siding up with his sister against him, gave him a headache. He would have ripped that luscious body of hers limb from limb and she knew it

…..No...It couldn't be... He refused to believe that she could be that stupid.

"Uh….beautiful?" came the soldier's very uninspired answer.

"Beautiful..." Ares murmured above a whisper, scanning the temple walls as if he were looking for something. "She's not beautiful you Gods damned moron! She's fucking gorgeous!" he yelled seconds later from the top of his lungs, his voice echoing like thunders across the main hall. "And I was asking about her state of mind!"

This time the poor man didn't get the chance to add anything else. He did part his lips to agree with the God's opinion but it was too late. In less than a blink there was nothing left of him, except for a pile of ash…

Ares inhaled deeply….the air smelled like sulphur now…..Invigorating….

Waving his hand, he opened up a portal. His chest hurt like Tartarus despite not having the slightest clue what Xena and Athena's little chit chat was all about….What he did know was the fact that right after he had left her bed- only because he needed to spice up a conflict in Northern Greece, enough to generate a war- she had taken off, using his absence as an excuse to double cross him…..

Unconsciously, he slipped a hand under his vest, rubbing feverishly the skin over his heart, and he could feel it drumming so loud as if it were about to jump out of his rib cage…a very unpleasant sensation even for an immortal….

Staring blankly at the portal depicting his Princess choosing her new generals, the thoughts where whirling like crazy inside his head, as if in an endless race that had as prize some kind of understanding on how did that vicious mind of her work…

…..He also failed to understand her reaction from earlier that morning when she threw the rose on the floor as if she had just noticed it…

"Maybe she was too much in a rush to notice it when she left…..Or maybe it was because of the darkness….." he said to himself, chewing pensively on his lower lip while considering each option…..

Another casual wave of his hand, and the previously broken statues were in place, the whole room cleaned up perfectly as if nothing had happened…..

With a thought, he transported himself back to the raven haired beauty's camp, no special effect, no nothing, and, grabbing her arm forcefully, they both vanished from sight instantly, not before he barked a harsh command to the five new generals to whom the Warrior Princess was talking to.

"Everybody at their posts! Now!"


	4. You only die once, Princess

Within seconds, they were back in Xena's tent, the War God still clutching her arm angrily.

Eyeing him with a glare able to induce instant heart attacks, the visibly pissed Warrior Princess shoved him brutally, trying to free herself from his iron grip, but it was useless. He would have rather broken her bones than let her go, and, had she analyzed that very expressive frown darkening his features better, she would have quickly reached the same conclusion, wasting no more time with melodramatic gestures such as that one.

" As I can see you're making a habit out of dragging me everywhere as if I were a broken dolly. I strongly suggest you'd stop doing it…."

"Or what?" Ares barked, his vexed tone letting her now that he was not exactly in the mood for smart retorts.

"Or I'll make you wish you would have spread your seed on both mortal and immortal ground more…" she groaned in frustration, the previously azure nuance of her irides gathering more and more metallic shades by the minute. "Let go of me!" she added through clenched teeth, getting so close to his face that, when the words literally exploded from her mouth it looked as if she was about to take a bite out of him.

"You listen to me, you obnoxious little **vixen**…" the War God began, tightening even more his grip, so much that he could hear her hold her breath in pain.

The truth is that he was on the verge of loosing even the last ounce of patience still left in him for the day, all his energy being now channeled into fighting and winning the fierce inner battle that he had going with his proud alter ego, thus restraining himself from calling her a **"whore"** then and there.

"…you might just wanna mind that cheep tavern language when addressing me or I'll make sure to cut off that sharp tongue of yours. You will keep on being as useful as you are now, don't worry about it, but you'll do us both a favor by learning to keep your mouth shut." the phrases evaded from within him, cutting, slashing and burning into the Warrior Princess' soul deeper than any mortal or divine weapon could.

"…..As for the dolly part…" he continued pulling her even closer so that he could now feel her hot breath on his lips"….you are exactly that, whether you like it or not, just like all those pitiful soldiers fighting in my name and just like any other damned mortal for that matter….maybe with a few more privileges, yes , but a pretty dolly nonetheless…..so deal with it already!"

Watching him dead in the eyes, she stopped jolting for a few seconds, seconds that for Ares equaled with a couple of long, endless eons. Their gazes locked, their breathing uneven, imaginary lightening bolts and daggers leaving simultaneously their irides, they just stood there fantasizing about ripping the other to pieces.

Moments later, after that frosty trademark smile -that the War God had grown so accustomed to and which he hated from the bottom of his mangled heart- seized the raging Warrior's lips, she finally retorted, her voice so glacial that Ares could feel it's coldness gliding up and down his spine, paralyzing him completely, and while the first part of her line was uttered more to herself than for him to hear, the second one definitely had him as main consignee.

"A pretty dolly….that's good to know…..You Gods damned Son of a Bachae, you listen to me and listen to me good, don't you dare ever call me your Chosen again, or I swear it on the head of Zeus, I don't know how I'll do it, but I will skin your godly ass alive, did you get that?"

This time, the War God obviously wasn't expecting that uncommonly rough push as he wasn't expecting that full force kick in the groin whose impact had made him drop like jelly at her feet, either.

"And keep out of my way! " she additionally growled, passing the fallen God by, on her way to the training ground again.

Nonetheless, hardly had she managed to take two or three steps, that Ares threw an energy ball at her back, so powerful that she flew straight to the other side of the tent and into the wooden desk that she involuntarily broke into pieces the instant she landed into it.

"On all Olympus, you are so freakin' lucky that there are no walls here, or you would have spilled your lungs out! " Ares barked while closing in the distance between them, and, bending down over the barely moving Warrior Princess, he cupped her chin in dissimulated gentleness.

The instant she managed to properly open her eyes, he added:

"Now….let's get down to business shall we, since I'm a rather busy God and I don't have all day…?"

He didn't bother to wait for an answer, she was still a bit out for that anyway, so he just kept talking, making sure from time to time that she was listening and following his words.

" As I've heard, you'd been keeping yourself busy in more ways than one…..Now…it's not that I have anything against fun, me and entertainment, we kinda go hand in hand you know….? But still…..I thought that maybe you'd like to share with me what kind of unavowed fellowship might bound you and that sneaky, two faced sister of mine that would make you two have secret rendezvous at nights behind my back….?"

The Warrior Princess frowned for a moment and then, as if her body weren't aching from head to toe worse than as if she had fell into a 150 feet deep pit, she started chuckling lowly.

"I understand that shivering idiot had finally summoned the courage to come to you and spill out the beans? I honestly thought he was going to die a couple of times before getting to call your name. He was a good laugh, come to think about it….Too bad he's dead….."

Ares just gave her an inquisitive look.

"Come on Ares, it doesn't take a genius to tell that with your temper, the poor guy's ashes has been already scattered over both the Ionian and the Mediterranean….."

"Don't forget the Aegean…"

"My mistake" she retorted ironically, the corners of her lips curving slightly into a grimace

"So…" Ares restarted as if he hadn't even noticed her reaction. " Athena…..What did she want?"

"Why don't you ask her…? She is your sister after all!"

"And you're my Gods damned Chosen and the Commander of my armies! And stop testing my patience Xena cause you're walking on thin ice, here!"

"Oh really?!" the Warrior Princess asked, licking her lips lasciviously. "…And…..just how thin….?"

Next thing she knew, Ares was already clutching a hand into her hair, parting her lips with his tongue, flicking it right about everywhere, searching for her own, taking his time in tasting every inch of her mouth, letting out a low, wanting groan the moment her fingers began caressing the back of his neck.

"How about we talk about this somewhere more….private….?" the God inquired, breathing raggedly when they finally broke the kiss.

"I'd say I still have a war to plan and that given the fact that you killed my generals I need of course to instruct the ones that I've just picked if you want me to win tomorrow. Athena can wait, trust me, it's not important. If it were, you would have known." Xena replied, delicately caressing his jaw line, and making sure to stress the last sentence.

"Xena….I only hope that you are aware…."

"I know" came her short, straightforward answer.

"Good…I'd hate to kill you….."

"Well…You'll kill me anyway if I loose tomorrow right? So…..maybe you should make a list, Ares…..You've threatened to kill me so many times and on so many different occasions that I'm afraid you've lost count….Hades, I know I have….." she retorted a cattish smile on her lips.

Staring at her proudly as if she had been some priceless trophy that in order to own he had to pay with his own blood, the handsome War God got up, carefully helping his Chosen do the same, waving his hand over her bruised arm to make the unaesthetic black and blue mark miraculously disappear.

"You only die once, Princess…" .

"I don't know about that….."came her final retort that made the God arch an eyebrow pensively…


	5. There's always tomorrow

Arms folded tightly across his chest, the War God materialized in his sister's large, absolutely breathtaking throne room in Parthenon, her new favorite temple in all Greece.

Ever since the overly expensive, exquisitely adorned construction had been built-Phidias having done wonders with decorating the place- Athena was barely seen up on Olympus, spending more than ever her precious time amongst the mortals to whom, in exchange for their worship and devotion she would grant wisdom, victories in battle and of course her divine protection…..more than any human could have asked from any son or daughter of Zeus, the all mighty King of the Gods.

"My, my 'Sis! I know that women love luxury but …this? It looks like a freakin' Museum! " Ares began while carefully scanning the place, shaking his head disapprovingly the instant he began walking towards the impressively looking throne, his eyes resting for a few moments on the craftily sculpted armrests, silently wondering why in Hades's name did that intricate pattern decorating them seem so strangely familiar….. They were covered in gold, silver beads and crimson rubies adorning it on each side…..

It finally hit him though: it was en exact replica of their Father's throne….He couldn't hold back a wave of laughter not even if he tried…..

"…I swear it on Chronos's bones, if Daddy dearest sees this...blasphemy... he will burn this place to the ground! "

"Don't like what you see, Brother?" Athena inquired a broad smirk playing on her lips while making herself even more comfortable on her royal seat.

The War God simply returned the smirk, and, with a daydreaming expression on his face, he replied while lightly stroking his goatee, his pretty excited brain already imagining the vast construction in flames…..if Zeus' lethal lightening bolt would have still let one stone standing and if something might have actually burnt in there, given the fact that it was all marble and metal, that is.

"Well…..the priestesses are lookingggg gooooooddddd! Are they all virgins?"

The Goddess of Wisdom gave him a harsh enough look before answering, making sure that he would get the message.

"Yes….and I do intend to keep them that way….! So don't even think of it, Ares!"

" Oh Sis come on! Torturing the poor creatures like this! What did they ever do to you?!"

"Will you just shut up and get to the point? They can't miss what they don't know!"

"Sis, trust me, deep inside I'm sure they suffer horri….."

"Ares, HUSH!"

"Fine, fine! …Just …Promise me that if you ever change your mind on this, I'll be the one who gets the honor of delivering them the good news..."

At this point Athena rolled her eyes in exasperation. She just couldn't stand her skirt chaser, two faced brother. The mere idea of physically being in the same room with him for more than ten minutes could make her head spin worse than a whole bottle of Dionysus' accursed wine.

"You're probably wondering why I'm here….." the God restarted with a deep sigh, guessing that considering Athena's tensed muscles, she was but seconds away from snapping.

...It wasn't like he wouldn't have enjoyed the sight of her volcanic temper bursting out of her every hole, but that was not precisely the purpose….He was there for something else-getting answers, and, obviously, grating on her nerves was not the best way to do it…..

"….well apart from wanting to find out the exact date and time of the housewarming party…I was kinda wondering…..-and unless you want that roof to crumble to pieces on your head, I would strongly suggest that you give me a straight answer- why in Tartarus would you and **my** Chosen have a private get together in the middle of the night?"

Waiting for her Brother to finish his sentence, in a very ladylike manner, Athena stood up from her throne and, slowly, but very sure of herself she descended the four or five steps of the pedestal, closing in the distance between her and the visibly frustrated War God.

"Why Ares, I must say, I'm surprised! I genuinely thought that you and your mortal toy shared everything…..apparently it doesn't go both ways…..I must say, from outside, one way streets look kinda pathetic….." she uttered, softly caressing Ares' shoulder.

The War God just clenched his teeth. The stingy comment hurt more than he would have ever cared to admit.

"But don't worry brother. I'm not trying to snatch her away from you….She's much too cold and savage for my taste….You can have her…Plus, I can't take what you don't have…Where would be the fun in that?!"

Another soft chuckle and the Goddess of Wisdom was gone in a shower of golden light, leaving a fuming War God wishing from the bottom of his heart to just give in his barely able to control wrath and ravish that damned place already, blasting it from the face of the Earth or worse….

"Athenaaaaaaa!"

Then again, the direct consequence of acting on his impulses would have meant being forced to deal with Zeus and the other Gods, and now was so not the time for super shows…

"There's always tomorrow…" he murmured taking a long gaze at his balled, burning fist.

…..Within a blink he vanished too, leaving but a couple of young, naïve priestesses to stare in awe at the place in which he had stood…..

"He is gorgeous…..!" one of them sighed, her green eyes shining like diamonds, her ear to ear smile making the others chuckle softly…..

"I wonder what his type is….." another one broke out, her cheeks turning crimson even before the words left her mouth.

"I bet he is a very romantic guy , and that he likes to take long walks in the garden under the moonlight…So he probably likes fine, educated young ladies…." the first one spoke again, biting her lower lip.

All the others seemed to agree …..

From behind a high white marble pillar, Aphrodite was having the time of her life…..She had never heard such a ridiculous statement in her life….Ares enjoying romantic nights...That gave her idea though…Undetected by anyone, she dematerialized too, in a shower of rose petals, squealing happily…..


	6. The sweet taste of revenge

Back at camp:...Xena's tent... Xena's desk... Xena's map... Xena's four new Generals... Battle plan debate.

"So, here's how it goes….." the obviously impatient Warrior Princess began, pointing at the center of the map. "We're here, right?"

"Right" came the enthusiastic answer of the four eager to write history, men.

"Ok…This is Kalamai…" she continued her slender fingers moving towards the black point depicting the city.

As you can see, the entire area is surrounded by hills….If we're smart enough, we can use this to our own advantage…If we're not, we will be certainly captured and slaughtered there….

"Nobody can outsmart the Warrior Princess!" one of the four broke out, distinct indignation in his voice.

The other three just gazed expectantly, waiting to see their Commander's reaction.

"I haven't called you here to pay me compliments Alexios…..I have Ares for that. " she retorted, without the usual explosion and fireworks that she was known for, casting but a short, irritated glance towards the overly confident in her abilities General, and her tone alone would have been enough for the man to realize how important it was to only speak when questioned, there was no point in glaring daggers at him too.

"I understand My Lady. My apologies. "

The others silently resumed their incoming chuckle to an ear to ear grin, nonchalantly directed towards their friend.

" 'Think that's funny? " Xena snapped the instant she noticed their bemused expressions.

"No Commander" came the thunderous replies right before the generals' gazes lowered again despondently towards the surface of the map.

"Well stop grinning like idiots then!" she sneered, annoyed by their infantile attitudes.

"_Sometimes men are too much like babies" _she said to herself, shaking her head in disbelief.

"The army will be divided into five different legions. Each of us will be in charge of one. Me and my soldiers, we will attack first, distracting the enemy and opening the path for you to rush in. It will be a trap of course but we will give them exactly what they want, walking straight into it , making them believe that we had no idea about it, convincing them that they have us….If we give them enough rope, they might just hang themselves if you cath my drill…"

"Do you really think they would fall for something like that, Commander?" Iairos couldn't help asking, his focused gaze refusing to leave the map, as if afraid to watch Xena in the eyes.

"If I ride into battle first, yes. Under the heat of the moment, they will assume that I wouldn't risk my own life by acting this foolishly. " her line soon broke out, conviction and power reverberating out of her every word…

Kadmos didn't seemed very satisfied with the answer though.

"Forgive me My Lady, but I'm afraid that our enemies might be right about that one. Isn't this a bit too hasty and risky? Maybe you should reconsider your strategy… I know we desperately need the element of surprise to take them off guard somehow, but…. you running into battle exposed like that…..? That's madness….There would be arrows and…."

"I appreciate your concern, General, I do, but this is war. ...Swords, arrows, spears, daggers-they are a must if you want to draw blood, you know…" she hissed through clenched teeth. " Plus, I'd say that after the battles I've fought thus far, I'm quite capable to take care of myself, thank you. You just make sure that you don't die and that your men stay alive….."

This time her voice could cut right through steel shields with no effort what so ever...

Kadmos didn't answer back. He could tell it was not the case if he valued his life...He just gazed at the rather temperate Warrior standing before him and nodded curtly, being still obviously convinced that that the whole plan was nothing but a dreadful mistake, his brain already estimating the casualties...

"It's all about timing" Xena began speaking again, addressing them. "The instant I get to the middle of the battlefield with my men, we are most likely trapped in between those hills. Now…..their Generals are not stupid either, and it's best if we presume that they are smarter than us, and so, looking for alternative tactics might be like the very best thing, just in case…They will most likely expect a new wave of attack, knowing that my effective of men is larger than the legion I'll open the battle with. So, minutes after the bloodshed starts, Minos, you must attack with your troops from the Western hills, got it?"

"Yes Commander."

"Good… Right after Minos rides in with his men, the rest of Kalamai's army will unmistakably join the assult, and Alexios, that's when you and Iarios will circle us all from the Northern and Southern hills.

"How about my men , My Lady?" Kadmos asked, a hint of concern in his eyes.

"You General, will only intervene if you notice that the balance is not precisely turning our way. So make sure to keep your eyes on the battlefield, understood?"

"Of course" came the determinate, short reply.

"Good, now about the location…..Given the fact that we are but a couple of miles from the region, we can start moving in about two hours' time. I want you all to ….."

Suddenly though, another voice interrupted the Warrior Princess' line, on a grave, maybe a bit alarmed tone. It was one of the soldiers guarding her tent that day.

"Commander! " the man shouted, instantly captivating the fierce woman's attention."There's a messenger from Kalamai requesting your presence! "

"Really?" Xena replied rhetorically, drawing her perfectly sharpened sword out of it's scabbard. "It was about time...This should be entertaining" she murmured in disdain, contemplating the clean blade of the weapon she was holding. "Don't go anywhere, I'll be right back" she formally addressed the others, sketching a cold smile right before she stormed out of the tent.

The very minute she was gone , Kadmos, gathered the other three closer to him and whispered, on such low tonality that he himself could barely hear his voice.

"Finally. I thought she'd never leave. Now…..Minos, as soon as the meeting ends, you're the one to go to Athena's temple and tell her all about Xena's strategy….Don't forget to ask her weather we should send someone tonight to the leader of Kalamai with news, or if she'd like to take care personally of that matter.

"Me?! But…why me? What if she sees I'm gone…?"

"She won't, we'll take care of that" Alexios joined the conversation, trying to calm his agitated friend.

"And just think about the favor that you'd be doing to the entire humanity, getting the world rid of this vicious monster!" Iairos decided to add, as flatly as he could, patting Minos on the shoulder, while he himself fighting with a powerful wave of unspeakable fear.

"Plus….we'll be on the move again soon, it would be literally impossible for her to notice your absence….." Alexios continued his previous idea, his eyes glued on the tent's entrance, following each and every shade, terrified like Tartarus of the perspective that somehow, the clever Warrior Princess might overhear them .

"Fine, fine…I just hope this works…." Minos finally mumbled, sighing nervously,

"Don't worry about that. It has to." Kadmos uttered staring at the map thoughtfully. " She will be hacked into pieces just like she did with so many innocent fathers, sons and husbands. There will be no reinforcements for the Bitch tomorrow!"

"….And call it luck or Fate or however you want, but she'll take her gang of faithful murderers with her too…..What more can one ask from life?" Iairos said more to himself than for the others to hear and agree, and still, he got vociferated responses out of all three of his friends, every single one of them rubbing their hands in anticipation…

"They do say revenge tastes sweet….." Minos' pensive statement came as some sort of closure to the dangerous conversation, only managing to fill the air with even more tension though.

"_Not really….." _the Love Goddess whispered beneath her breath, a look of compassion and utter despair written all over her face.

She was there for about a half an hour or so, waiting for the proper moment to catch Xena alone and put a magic spell on her, one that would have given her the chance to see if her big Bro' did hide any trace of romance underneath that tough macho mask after all….

It should have been the funniest thing in the world to watch…..And now, unknown to her, it had suddenly turned into the tragedy of the millenium...a real nightmare...….

…..She liked both Alexios and Kadmos…..She was the one who hooked them up with their wives in the first place. She even remembered the spells she used…..

And Minos…..he was the youngest of them all….He was only 19 ….he was still a boy in more was than one…..

Iairos….she knew nothing about him but he looked sooo incredibly hot….For the scantily dressed Love Goddess it was more than enough…

…..And to top it all, Xena, "the cruel evil monster", "the beast", "the butcher", "the implacable killer" was straight in the middle of it all...It wouldn't have been a problem if she had been just that though ,but, so that the situation could be even more difficult and hard to manage, the Warrior Princess was also for the few ones who really knew her the honest, loving, kind hearted, special, funny in a strange kind of way girl that has captured the Studmuffin's heart…..That couldn't be ignored either…..

"_Ohhhhh!"_ Aphrodite growled inside her mind, hardly keeping her voice down ….._"I hate having to choose sides…..This is so unfair…!"_


	7. Yesterday's news

After about twenty minutes of pacing back and forth in her temple in Lesbos, in between her favorite pink couch and the three naked, illegally good looking guys laying in pink fluffy chains on a plush rug, eating grapes and throwing her the dirtiest looks ever imagined, the Love Goddess finally snapped in despair:

"That's it! I'm done with this! It's not like I'm about to miss my hair appointment too over some stupid life and death issue…They have….Hercules for that! Isn't it enough that my nails are the same shade of coral as they were this morning?! I mean how many things does a girl have to sacrifice in life….."

There was no hair appointment whatsoever of course, because, fortunately, no matter how ditsy the blond Aphrodite seemed to be, she did have a heart….and, believe it or not, in addition she also possessed something very rare for a God: a conscience, that, during that day, simply refused to hide in some faraway corner of her brain and leave her alone….

"…..I definitely can't go to Xe and warn her or anything, she would just kill those poor souls in the blink of an eye, and it's not like they are not right or anything, I mean she has been a baddie lately….I certainly can't go to Ar either…. he would pulverise them too-but probably in a slower and more painful way….Athena can't be reasoned with, she doesn't feel either pity or remorse and she hates both the Warrior Babe and the Studmuffin….

Gods…. making decisions is so not right! This almost feels like that time when Hera threw that ball up on Olympus and I had to choose between that silk fuchsia and that cute baby doll rose dress….I thought I was going to die then too..It was the worst day of my life!...This is such a tragedy!" her high pitch voice broke out on such terribly high note that a vase was blasted to pieces the second after.

A gaze of utter amazement in her eyes, Aphrodite turned around with a jolt, staring at the valuable artifact as if she was attending the funeral of an old, beloved friend.

"Who died?" Ares asked, making an entrance, passing his sister by and slapping her ass on his way towards her large, extremely comfortable sofa, where he decided to plunge like a silly kid in a waterbed.

"It's my vase, Ar! It's broken!"

"Oh! A terrible loss indeed! My condolences!" the God replied with a mocking figure, placing his right hand over his heart and bending his head in feigned respect.

"Very funny Ar, but stop teasing, I'm bumped enough as it is! That vase was 7000 years old! I have it ever since dad took us in Mesopotamia, that summer, remember?"

"Well, you know what they say Sis, time heals all wounds, so don't worry about it. Look at the bright side, you can always get a new one….I've heard Egyptian artifacts are a must have these days….."

"Don't say! " the suddenly bubbly Aphrodite replied, her eyes glistening with joy.

"Yeah…..Cleopatra is making a fortune selling them…..But I'm telling you, they don't come cheap and she certainly refuses to just hand them to anyone! " Ares added, biting ferociously his lower lip while doing his best not to burst into laughter, amazed himself at how the quality of his lies had improved across the eons.

"Well, it's a good thing me and Cleo get along fine then….I'll just sell her some hot beauty tips and trust me, by tonight, all my temples will be full of …Egyptian stuff…."

"That's a girl!" the God exclaimed grabbing absently a grape from the table, while silently wondering how could any family of his be so…..air headed at times…

Hardly had he reached out his hand that he suddenly felt a warm palm caressing his forearm, and he almost smiled slightly at the thought of some hot, foxy priestess of Love wanting him like crazy, when he sensed the force of what had gradually turned into a quite uncomfortable grip.

"Aren't you a savage little…" he started, screaming in horror the following moment when he noticed the perfectly shaped man who was apparently intending to kiss his wrist.

"Dite, Dite! Get this creature away from me!"

"Relax, Ar, it's just Marcus…He's just trying to be friendly….."

"I can see that! And I'm not interested in this type of "friendship'!"

"Gods you were always so obtuse when it comes to real fun…..So you still haven't tried…the other side of happiness I take it…." The Love Goddess began, moving closer to them and tracing a delicate line on the man's back with the tip of her fingers. He reacted instantly of course and now, the War God's eyes were literally glued to Marcus' fully erect penis.

"I think I'm gonna be sick " he mumbled turning his head towards the window, and when the very aroused man tried to touch him again, his hand moving now slightly up on his inner thigh, he just formed a round energy ball in his palm and gave Aphrodite a threatening look.

"I swear it on Styx, if this monkey touches me again, I'm gonna zap it!"

The Love Goddess just started laughing merrily, a tricky smile playing on her lips once she calmed down. A wave of her hand was all it took for all the three slaves to vanish in golden sparkles and lights.

"I guess we're even now…"

Ares just gave her a puzzled look.

"For breaking my vaseeeee! " she retorted pointing explicitly towards the pile of glass on floor while studying her brother's reactions. " You don't really think I actually considered having done it myself, do you? And that Egyptian crap story…that's like yesterday's new Stud! Every decent girl knows that Indian accessories are in fashion this month so…..nice try but next time you should do some serious research before you decide that you wanna play your sick jokes on me."

"I don't have the slightest clue what you're talking about" Ares replied while chewing carelessly on the particularly aromatic grapes he decided to taste.

"Right….and pigs fly…" came his sister's snarl, and before the War God opened his mouth to take another bite from the juicy fruit, Aphrodite made it dematerialize from his hand, leaving him to bite the air instead.

"Hey! " Ares protest was launched with no delay. "Where's my grape?"

"Next to my vase!" Aphrodite answered with a slight frown.

"Ok, ok…I'm sorry….." the God growled snapping his fingers , fixing his sister's precious artifact. "Better?" he asked grinning widely.

As a response she just made the grape appear in his hand again, and despite her best efforts, she couldn't help the waves of laughter overpowering her again when she saw her brother's face. He was so happy to get his food back that he pretty much looked like a five years old boy that had just received candy from his mother.

"I swear it, Ar, you are so cute at times that I almost forget you are the God of War!" she said in between chuckles.

"Who, me?" he inquired with a silly face, making his sister chuckle some more. He loved to see her laugh….

Before he knew it, Aphrodite was sitting on his lap, her delicate fingers caressing his cheek.

"So….wanna tell me why are you here? I'm pretty sure it's not because of the grapes…." she asked in a low voice.

The God was quiet for a few moments and then he whispered back almost inaudibly…..

"I just felt the need to see you….."

He was obviously sad….

Aphrodite gave him a worried look and, with infinite softness she captured his lips in what she had intended to be a long, passionate soul searing kiss.

Ares pushed her gently back though, breaking it far too soon in the Goddess's opinion, and brushed his lips on her forehead instead.

"Not like this….." he added, shifting his gaze from hers as if it hurt.

The Love Goddess took a good look at him , instantly decoding the cause of his heartache…..

"It's Xena isn't it…..?

"I don't know what's wrong with me, Sis…..I mean she's just another freaking mortal…bitch…..I should just fuck her and….."

"Well you are already doing that …but it's not enough is it? " Aphrodite interrupted rising an eyebrow inquiringly. She could tell what the War God's problem really was, she just wanted him to face it too…..

Ares was silent, his amber eyes shrouded in a thick layer of uncertainty mixed with a drop of fear….

"It should be" he finally uttered, staring blankly at some invisible point in space." But it's like every time we make love I want her to…."

"You….**make love...**" the Loved Goddess repeated incredulously. "Wow! I can't belive you didn't use the **" F"** word, like you usually do…"

The God just rolled his eyes.

"Well that certainly doesn't change anything. Not in her opinion anyway. She's just using me. Pure business….She wouldn't give me…..**us**….a chance not even if her life depended on it…..Hades, why does she have to be so Gods damn stubborn? "

"A woman using you….Bro' you have to admit, this is a new one even for you….." Aphrodite said patting him compassionately on the back.

"Yeah, I think that's what makes her so special…"

"Did you try flowers like I told you?"

"Didn't work. Don't mean to offend you but it was a lousy advice Dite…."

"Romantic dinner?"

"Checked"

"Compliments?"

"Every day"

"Reaction?"

"It depends on the mood she's in."

"Oh….." the Goddess murmured waiting for her love drugged brain to send her some clever, unmatchable idea that could actually do wonders for the couple. "I know! Presents! Lots and lots of presents. Women love that!"

"I already gave her the chakram…." Ares replied with a shrug, sighing loudly in defeat.

"What? That round killing thing?! That's not a present that's a …weapon….."

"Well…..what would you like me to give her a …..diamond ring?! She's a Warrior for crying out loud! She doesn't wear jewelry , she hates dresses unless they are leather and made for battle, she doesn't need any perfumes because her skin smells already divinely as it is…."

"I swear sometimes men have the brain of a mosquito! Just because she doesn't wear jewelries or perfume or dresses doesn't mean that she doesn't like them Ares! She's a woman after all…Just give her something symbolic…..something that can make her understand how much you care…"

"And what might that be, my heart on a plate?!" the God's smart, cutting line left his lips.

"No need to patronize me you cry baby!…I'd go for the ring…..Not a diamond ring anyway…See, I happen to know that your precious Princess loves roses….So just ask Hephie to make you a silver rose ring…..She'll love it, I'm sure…"

"A ring….." he said on a pensive tone..." Isn't that a bit to…."

"It's not like you're asking her hand in marriage, Ares! "

The handsome War God rolled his eyes again and rose from the sofa, getting ready to leave….

"Ar wait….." the Love Goddess hurried to utter, grabbing his arm. "There's something you should know…."

He looked at her expectantly.

"I happened to be in Xena's tent today…don't ask why" she added with the expression of a guilty child.

"Go on….." Ares encouraged her on a low but agitated voice, obviously interested on the subject.

"….She was with her generals discussing some battle plans…..whatever…..and at one point her presence was requested by a soldier, there was the arrival of some messenger. And when she left the tent the generals started talking... something about telling Athena about the strategy and betraying the Warrior Babe. They said something about her not getting any reinforcement tomorrow…"

Not even one muscle flinched on the War God's face.

"But please don't kill them Ar, they are good people…I know …And don't tell the Warrior Babe….."

"Thank you, Dite" he replied, vanishing in less than a blink in his usual shower of blue light.

"_Glad that's over! I'm finally getting my nails done….!"_ the Goddess said to herself breathing in relief, but still wondering deep inside her mind if she had done the right thing...


	8. Closest thing to family

The sun was ready to set. It had been quite a long day and the army was still at least one hour away from the place where Xena was determined to locate it.

She was riding ahead, surrounded by her most faithful soldiers , the men which she had first recruited when Ares had made her the "generous offer" of becoming his Chosen.

They had been there at her side from the very beginning, discovering together step by step the cruel price of bloodshed and glory, and despite the fact that she had never said it aloud, they were the closest thing she had to family….

Casting a brief, unperceivable glance behind her, the Warrior Princess smiled bitterly…..They were all so young when she had first allured them with promises of power , riches and never ending fame…..most of them looked now at least ten years older than their normal age…..And each time she laid eyes on them , she was doing her best to ignore those deep, ugly scars marking both their faces and their souls….. she failed every single time though...

Her men….Half of them or so, were already dead inside... They wouldn't have been able to enjoy a normal life not even if they had benefited of all the comfort and freedom in the world…The problem was that they had become way too addicted to violence and that certain amount of adrenaline rushing through one's veins when danger is near so that any of them could give up that pitiful life by her side any longer.

…Moreover, her presence was stronger than any possible drug and she knew it…Every soldier would go to sleep each night having in mind those hypnotizing sapphire moons of hers and those very moons were the first thing they would search throughout the camp the following morning…..Just like a snake would stare in awe at his charmer for hours…..they were pretty much the same….

So much blood...What ever for? Lately, for some unknown reason, she couldn't help asking herself that question more often than she cared to admit even to her own troubled conscience.

For a moment, the Warrior Princess closed her eyes as if wanting to chase away that useless reality she was living in…..They were all fighting every day…..sacrificing even the last ounce of humanity they had left inside them…. but was there a real goal to it? Was there a purpose behind that reckless existence they were all sharing each minute, living with the awareness that Celesta was always but one step behind them and that she was just waiting for the right arrow, for the right stab, for the wrong move to take them to Hades's Underworld with her? Had there ever been one to start with? Were they fighting for the glory of Ares? For conquest? For honor? For revenge? For fun? Sometimes she doubted that there was even a point to it all….

"You seemed troubled My Lady" a soldier uttered the instant their horses got close enough for him to see her face. "…Worried about the battle ?"

Xena turned her head and analyzed the soldier's tense jaw for a few seconds. He was nervous….. A quick scan of his background was all it took for her to remember his name: Lyndros…..a brave young man who strongly believed that they were fighting for the ultimate purpose of uniting the entire Greek territories under the reign of one powerful trustworthy ruler-her, out of all people….

He was but a mere slave when she had first met him, she had bought him in Corinth and spent a fortune to own him. That obvious sparkle of intelligence and distinction gleaming in his eyes was what rapidly captivated her attention…..Obviously, a fine, educated boy who was destined for much more than becoming some old repulsive nobleman's favorite pet.

…..She freed him a few hours later, telling him that he should make use of his knowledge and ambition…He refused to leave her, swearing eternal allegiance to her and her patron God, asking permission to fight by her side for the higher purpose of witnessing the rebirth of his homeland…..He wouldn't take no for an answer…..She accepted…Looking at him now she was sorry she did…..That kid could have had a beautiful flourishing, long life….

"No….maybe a bit tired….How about you? Are you ready for what tomorrow has in store for us?" she asked in return, scouting ahead as the very familiar hills of Kalamai appeared in the distance.

"Yes My Lady, I am. I feel like I've been waiting for this moment my entire life! I was born for it!"

"You were born to die?"

Her question was launched on such a glacial tone that the young soldier was speechless for more than she would have wanted him to.

" For a great cause, yes….But I'm not scared…..Not with you around….!" He exclaimed proudly, a warm, candid smile playing on his lips.

"You do know that on the battlefield we are all together but at the same time we are more alone than ever, don't you? During a fight there's just you and your enemy…..and between the two of you there's Death herself, just waiting there, anxious to grab either the one or the other….

"It would be a glorious departure then, fit for any Hero. That's how the legendary Achilles died and Agamemnon and…"

"Do you have a family? " Xena cut him off before he finished his phrase.

"No My Lady. They were all killed during a raid, a few years before... Corinth... "

There was melancholy in his voice, and maybe a little sadness too.

"You are all the family I have."

"Thank you" she whispered lowly, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder, urging her horse to go faster the minute after.

Lyndros bowed his head respectfully.

"My Lady!" he added right before she took off ahead.

"Yeah?"

" Maybe….you should get some rest once we get to the hills…"

Xena just nodded in agreement and smiled back despite the fact that it was the dumbest thing she had heard all day….. She still had a million things to do once they sat camp…..

The minute she was far enough for Lyndros to see her, Ares materialized on her horse behind her, obviously invisible to the rest of the troops since no one began to panic like they usually did when he was around.

"What do you want?" she spitted out on a rather disgusted tone the moment she felt his arms around her waist.

"What's up with you and that boy?" he questioned tightening his hold on her as if wanting to remind her that she was his property.

" Don't tell me you intend on turning my entire army to ashes right before the fight just because some soldier actually dared ask me whether I was concerned or not about tomorrow...?"

"Are you?"

"Not really…."

"He was smiling at you…."

"He' s just a kid , Ares, he was just trying to be nice…..Plus I look the way I look what would you have wanted him do?"

"He should know his place! They all should…..These scumbags aren't even allowed to look you in the eyes when addressing you, Xena .I thought I've made that clear enough when I last blasted that entire legion to Tartarus a couple of weeks ago….Maybe they need a reminder….."

"Would you just shut up already and get down from my horse before I throw you down?" the Warrior Princess snapped, turning her head slightly back so that she could see the God's face, a gesture that he cunningly used in his advantage of course, cupping her chin and parting her lips with his tongue the second after, giving her no time to protest, and the next thing she knew, the raven beauty was literally fighting for air, her pulse racing and her mind screaming that she shouldn't have given him the chance to get so close to her in the first place.

"You're so damn sexy when you're mad…." he whispered lowly when their kiss ended, his other hand moving slowly from her waist to her thigh, softly caressing the velvety skin exposed in between her boot and the leather skirt….."I love it…" he added while his lips began descending an invisible path along her neck , and as much as she fought it, she couldn't help wishing they were someplace else the very moment she sensed the tip of his fingers brushing lightly a few long tresses from her shoulder…..

"I've missed you…." he continued on the same thick seductive voice, and it's safe to say that his entire body began burning as if it were on fire when he suddenly felt her leaving her guard down, allowing herself to lean into his embrace…..

"How comes…?" she finally replied, placing her silky palm on the back of his hand, covering it delicately with such a suave touch that, taking a deep, long breath before answering her, seemed like the best idea for the highly aroused War God.

He didn't get the chance to do it right away though for her line continued a bit more….

"….Getting bored of fucking your priestesses ?"

"I'd rather fuck you any time….." came the brash answer that was usually supposed to have as direct consequence a flash fist straight in between the eyes or even better right in the nose…The smarty Warrior Princess preferred nonetheless the power of words instead of brute force this time…..It could slash deeper and she was well aware of that…

"That's too bad…cause I'm in the mood for someone different tonight…" she uttered playfully biting his wrist…..

"Are you, now?" he inquired, but his muffled question was hardly audible, the God being way too preocccupied with sucking and nibbling his Princess' ear as to worry about that too, and he would have genuinely patted himself on the back if both of his hands hadn't been that busy, the instant he noticed her body tensing visibly as a flow of adrenaline washed over her with the speed of light. "I'm sure you'd want to reconsider that…." he added with a grin.

Before she gave him a proper answer though, one of her generals yelled from a few yards away:

" Commander, would you like us to split right away or in the morning? "

" It's better now….." Ares murmured, his hands refusing to unwrap from her vibrating form.

"Do it now!" she ordered, gazing pensively around her, wondering if there was something she might have missed while planning the attack…..

"I'll see you later ok?" she whispered as she turned around and placed a soft kiss on the War God's lips.

He just caressed her hair affectionately like a loving father would have done to his little girl…

"Behave yourself…"

Despite herself, she let out a bemused chuckle….


	9. Godly deals

Nails done, curls looking at their best, dress having the right shade of pink and all the accessories fitting perfectly the fancy outfit, Aphrodite was soon back at pacing back and forth before the two portals she had opened, one showing the four trouble making generals having a rather intense argument on a subject that she was very familiarized with by now, somewhere in a clearing, faraway from Xena's inquisitive, eagle like eyes and the other one showing the Warrior Princess herself sitting around a fire with her men, laughing and having a surprisingly good time given the fact that there was a high enough chance for them to be all dead before noon the following day..

She didn't seem neither tense nor upset…Something was terribly wrong with that picture…

Her gaze lingering some more on the portal showing her brother's Chosen, the Love Goddess frowned a little at the strangeness of the situation, quickly touching her forehead and staring into a mirror the second after as if wanting to check if that reckless reaction of her muscles had tragically left behind a deep, horrific looking wrinkle or not…To her indescribable relief, her skin was still flawless…

"Good Gaia!…..If I keep up living in this stress much longer, I will end up like Hera injecting ambrosia right about everywhere…!" she exclaimed, barely caressing her face with the tip of her fingers as if she were touching a Chinese porcelain doll's delicate and easily breakable visage, scared that it might crack somehow under any amount of pressure applied on it's surface…..

"I should definitely ask aunt Demeter for some of that magic, natural cream that she uses…..her skin always looks so fresh and moisturized…..I bet she was the one that gave Artemis the recipe last decade when….."

The stream of her thoughts broke though unexpectedly, when, all of the sudden, she heard Minos uttering something that literally left her breathless:

"_I'm telling you, there is no risk what so ever. Athena vowed on the head of Zeus that the War God agreed to stay out of our way, that everything's under control. Plus, come to think about it, it is said that Ares never interferes on the battlefield for any warrior, let alone for his own Chosen who should be more than capable to take care of herself…I'd take a chance here Kadmos and say that you were right all along and that things might just turn out the way they should….." _

"_The Bitch is as good as dead….." Alexios added spitting in disgust on a ground that the following day was supposed to be soaked in their Comander's filthy, venomous blood._

Aphrodite was more than shocked. At that point she was petrified.

"This is like so totally out of this world ….No…Athena must have lied…..But… she swore on the head of Zeus….." the Love Goddes mumbled on a shaky voice, her eyes widening in utter surprise and disbelief.

"… Nobody swears on the head of Zeus…Lying with something like that equals a lethal, irreversible dose of extreme wipeout …Unless of course…..But that would mean…that would mean that Studmuffin had actually…..No…like not in a quadrillion eons…" she whispered violently shaking her head.

Despite of what all the rest of the world thought, the Love Goddess knew her brother better than anyone….Heck from the beginning of time they had been brothers, friends, lovers, confidants ..She could tell more things about him than she could tell about herself , and in her heart there was no doubt…. he loved Xena and he would have never allowed anything to happen to her.

…..As much as she tried to fight it though, her mind couldn't help adding a bothering little detail to that orgy of sentimental considerations: Ares was also the proud, egoistic, ironic and most of the time crueler than necessary God of War, the Olympian blood flowing through his veins being pumped not but his immortal heart but by an ego as huge as the Halls of War and the Acropolis together….Consequently, the Warrior Princess was not only the woman he loved but also his star employee, his prize and trophy-in terms of War she needed to be unsurpassable by any mortal…..or God…

With that idea whirling inside that pretty little head of hers, the Love Goddess decided to take off to wherever her brother might have been, and, it was no surprise when the vortex transported her in a temple as gloomy and wired looking as a tomb.

"Bro' like I swear you should really do something about this color scheme of yours….I'm telling ya' black and black is one of the last steps towards depression, Pollo said that himself and looking around me now, he was sooooo right! How can you even breathe in here….? It's like there's no air! You have no windows!"

"We are Gods Aphrodite, we don't need air….You could live just fine ten feet underground and your brain could still process information regarding your next week's wardrobe! " Ares replied rolling his eyes while heading towards the altar to check his latest offerings.

"Like halloooo! My wardrobe is planned like six godly months in advance! Do you really think it only takes one single week for this sexy bomb outfit to be created? I swear you men are so clueless when it comes to fashion and stuff….."

"What outfit are you talking about 'Sis? You're almost naked. Plus you're a bomb yourself, that scanty looking…..dress…..night gown…..thing….. you are wearing is completely useless anyway….!" the War God exclaimed, scanning the gorgeous Love Goddess from head to toe with a gaze in which bemusement irony and desire mixed so well that Aphrodite decided to take it as a compliment…

"Oh Ar' ! You are like soooo sweet sometimes…..The Warrior Babe is such a lucky girl" she cleverly added making the connection, and, without waiting for her brother to reply, she simply let the other question, the one for which she had initially bothered to travel through the vortex with the risk of messing up her hair, pop out of her mouth….

" So…..since we're discussing Xena…..did you like….. talk to her…..? "

Ares just gave her an inquiring look as if in order to answer he still needed a couple of extra details.

"The generals…..?" she added frustrated by her brother's attitude. She could tell that he was dancing around the subject.

"Well as I recall, you did add that **"**_And please don't tell the Warrior Babe"_ request at the end of your line, did you not?"

"Yeah….."

"Soooo…..?" Ares continued, a puzzled expression on his face.

"But…..you will do something about it won't you?" Dite asked, closing in the distance between her and the War God as if wanting to feel his energy better, to cunningly read his intentions even if he refused to openly confess them.

"And just **what** would you like me to do, Dite? You also asked me not the kill them because _"They are good people",_I believe it was? Ares added quoting his sister, while taking a dagger from the altar and examining it closely…

It was a fine Phoenician blade, very rare….quite antique too considering the shape of it's edge but a masterpiece nonetheless. It only took one wave of his hand and the precious gift was as good as new.

Aphrodite snarled, letting out a loud growl meant to attract her brother's attention.

"You seem displeased. "the War God stated placing the dagger back and focusing on his sister in return.

"Did you make a deal with Athena? Did you tell her you wouldn't interfere in tomorrow's fight? " she harshly inquired, and, believe it or not, as a dark frown captured the line of her eyebrows, the last thing on earth the extravagant Goddess worried about were wrinkles of any kind...

"What if I did?" the nonchalant words left Ares's lips, and for the kind hearted Aphrodite that was like a slap across the face.

"So you did…..!" she exclaimed almost out of breath, finding her brother's actions still hard to believe. "Aresss! I came to you and warned you about their plot so that you can stop it and keep the Warrior Babe safe! She could die tomorrow, you know! I definitely didn't do it so that you and Athena can place your bets on who wins tomorrow and why!" the scandalized Goddess continued, her eyes narrowing threateningly with each uttered word.

"She is my Chosen Dite! **My** Chosen! I taught her everything she needs to know in terms of both strategy, fighting techniques and human behavior. She should have known who to trust by know!"

"No…..this isn't about testing her, Ares! This is about teaching her a lesson isn't it? Getting even for that crap she threw in your face this morning… Come on! Don't tell me that you really think she slept with those guys, do you?" she imploringly asked, searching his eyes for some shade of doubt that could have been hidden on their watery surface.

"How do you….."

"I'm Love, remember?" she quickly cut him off, adrenaline rushing through her mince but definitely alluring form. "I'm supposed to know these things!"

For a few moments there was silence, both of them staring at each other as if there was nothing else to be said….And then, right out of nowhere the War God whispered, softly caressing his sister's platinum blond, soft hair:

"Listen, just stay out of this, ok? You shouldn't have found out about it in the first place….."

"You…you knew?!" Aphrodite's question broke out, her lips still parted even after she uttered it.

"Yes…..But Dite, I'm warning you, don't get involved, just….just let it go, ok? "

"Ares! This is Xena we're talking about! You're in love with her, you said it your self, she not just some ordinary woman that…."

"Love has nothing to do with this, ok? So stop pushing! This is business Dite. It's our job, this is what we do and she has to be able to perform it perfectly. I can't go watching her back forever. She has to shine in everything that she does….."

"What are you talking about? She's only human Ares!" Aphrodite retorted, completely taken aback by the War God's affirmation.

"She's not just some pitiful, second hand rated mortal, Dite. She is **my** Chosen and the Commander of **my** armies…! So let's just forget that we even had this discussion, trust me it's for the best….."

"No…..there's something you're not telling me Ares. What is it? "

"Aphroditeee, **don't** push it!"

"Ar….you either tell me what in Tartarus is going on here or I promise, the moment I leave this place I go straight to Xena…."

The War God took a good look at her. She was fuming. So was he.

"Dite….. I swore it on Styx…"

"What? To whom? Why? Athena?"

"Yes…I owed her something…" he began, clearing his throat "She uh…she healed Xena once, during a battle…..She saved her life…..And now she called for a favor…..I couldn't refuse…."

"Why would she save her life in the first place? She hates you both….."

"I don't know. She just did….."

"And why would she want to kill Xena now? She could have just let her die back then…."

"She doesn't want to kill her, she wants her to loose the battle. If we win at Kalamai tomorrow, my sphere of influence will extend significantly. She can't allow it. So she avoids it at any cost…"

"But…."

"No buts. If you tell Xena, Athena has the right to kill her. And I swear it on all Olympus, if something happens to her, you'll be lying breathless right next to her….. "

"I see…" Aphrodite murmured on an distinctively hurt tone, looking aside.

A rather guilty War God kissed her forehead and dematerialized without adding anything else. He already felt bad enough about it as it was….


	10. Flaws?

With the guards skillfully placed in all the right watching points for the night and with everybody knowing precisely what they had to do first thing in the morning, the Warrior Princess finally headed for her tent, not before checking personally if each and every legion was correctly positioned and following her exact orders…..It seemed that things were close to perfect so far….She was pleased…..

It had been a long day but still, she had successfully managed to solve all the problems- both the expected and the unexpected ones- that she had came across, and surprisingly enough, she didn't read neither fear nor panic in her men's eyes during those long hours they had spent together. They were as confident as any sane person aware that it was highly possible for that night to be the last in which they would get to see a starry sky in their life, could be…Not bad at all….

Pretty soon she was performing the same old ritual that she was unmistakably repeating at the end of each Gods' blessed day: getting rid of the rather heavy and uncomfortable amour, asking the soldiers in charge of guarding her tent to bring in a few buckets of water, washing up, pouring herself a coup of herbal tea-it was good for the nerves and it would always help her relax and fall asleep faster…Zeus knows she needed rest more than anything on the planet, and last but not least, a double check in the mirror….

….With slow, lazy moves she put on a short lavender satin nightgown. It was a rather warm night and plus, somehow, with Ares around she always ended up sleeping naked, so she could have skipped the dressing part anyway…..On the other hand though she was well aware of the overrated importance that men in general gave the idea of mystery and surprise, so, the package itself had to be as equally interesting as it's content.

Brushing again lightly her hand through her waist long, raven silky tresses, she absently looked around, at the colorful, amazingly detailed Oriental tapestries decorating the interior, and she couldn't help rolling her eyes in disdain and sarcasm.

The place looked as if Cleopatra herself were living there….Silver and golden goblets and wine jars, plush rugs, rare, expensive furs, ebony basic furniture and luxurious fabrics for her wardrobe- useless extravagance and comfort that the War God insisted on offering to the one which in his eyes was not just some ordinary mortal that was serving his ultimate purposes, but a true Goddess that deserved the best of things.

"Please don't tell me you're already thinking about redecorating…..You have no idea what a headache finding those damned tapestries gave me…." the God's voice suddenly broke out as he materialized on the large chocolate brown sofa in front of her.

"Yeah, I recall…..You had to snap your fingers twice instead of once as you usually do….That took….uh… quite an effort, I must admit it…I'm still surprised you made it in one piece that day…I initially thought you were going to burst with frustration" she mocked while taking a long sip of her cup, eying him foxily when her lips touched the intricately ornated rim of the metallic container.

He just chuckled jokingly, throwing back an equally playful, sarcastic grin while his obnoxious gaze began lurking up and down her overly tempting form, an arched eyebrow indicating that he was highly impressed of what he had before him.

"Looking for flaws, Ares?" the words slipped cattishly off her tongue the moment she noticed that he wasn't simply watching her, he was rather analyzing every single part of her body.

Another low chuckle, an obviously more bemused one this time.

"Flaws?" the God repeated, shifting his insistent gaze towards her inquisitive sapphire moons. "I wouldn't be able to find one not even if I wanted to…You are perfect. Surpassing in beauty any mortal or immortal woman the world has seen thus far…" he ended, the last part of his line vibrating with such admiration and passion that despite herself Xena couldn't suppress a wide blissful smile that she vainly tried to disguise seconds later under the mask of an uncaring, short, derisive laugh.

"**Statues** are perfect Ares. Mortals are just flesh and bones. Nonetheless, thank you for the highly elaborate appreciation. Very poetic- Apollo would be green with envy."

"Statues **and **Goddesses." he replied raising from the sofa and closing in the distance between them. "And you my dear Xena…..you are a Goddess…"

As always, the remarkably caustic Warrior Princess would have served the unusually romantic War God a challenging enough line as to give him a real headache for the night, but when she did part her lips to talk, she suddenly changed her mind, deciding to grant them a considerably more pleasant purpose for the few following minutes than the regular one of spitting smart retorts in order to win some undeclared but definitely present mind battle with the incredibly cocky son of Zeus.

With zero warning and a fire to match the flames burning inside the God's heart, Xena crushed her mouth against his own, and it was all the invitation Ares needed in order to take things to the next level, as always, no matter how scantily clad or clothed she was, the fabric being unmistakably in the way, irking the Tartarus out of him.

Still, strangely enough, the stage that was normally reduced to one simple wave of his hand, was now- for some unknown reason to her- prolonged by the War God's rare intention of doing things the mortal fashion way.

Consequently, instead of just making the intrusive nightgown vanish from his Princess' killer body-thus exposing everything he needed to see with the speed of one of his Dad's lightening bolts- he languidly pushed the fabric off her shoulders, exposing the smooth silky texture of her skin, and unhurriedly began to trail soft, arousing kisses on it's surface, a gesture that obviously took Xena completely by surprise since she was expecting a wilder, definitely more primal approach…

Most of the time he was like an impossibly to control or predict tornado that would leave her breathless with the help of one single kiss…..She had always did her best to put as less emotion as she could in their sexual encounters, constantly repeating inside her dazzled mind that it was just sex….just that….nothing more nothing less….It was business and it had to stay that way, no matter how good it was, and despite the fact that even the last cell of her body was screaming for him to touch her again and again and again…She was not allowed to feel more than utter passion….pure and simple carnal desire…..

But somehow, he had always managed to mess with her head, always letting her know that it was more to it than just an ordinary fuck…..Sometimes it was a warm, protective kiss on her forehead, sometimes a very special smile playing on his lips when it was all over….and at times it was that unique, indescribable sadness in his eyes…..similar to a pain which she was convinced he couldn't feel…..He was a God, an immortal … for him just like for the rest of his kin, suffering was but a faraway, inconceivable concept that only had real meaning in the inferior world of men.

This time though it was even more different….Even the way in which he was holding her in his arms seemed to be hiding some secret, subtle significance…..She was almost scared to decode it…

She had no time to do it anyway, for, but a few seconds later, he was pushing her gently down, in between the thick furs and the silk pillows on which she was about to crash when he showed up, and, to her immense surprise, he decided to continue with this new, interesting game he was playing, for, the nightgown was still on her and, in all likelihood, he wasn't planning on removing it soon…..


	11. Make love to me, Sweetie

…..Removing it? No , not yet, but making it glide a bit more so that he could gain full access to her luscious, definitely irresistible breasts….YES.

Teasingly slow, he began tracing their perfectly designed shape with the tip of his fingers, without neglecting in any way her lips though, paying special attention to the lower one which he loved biting from time to time as some sort of undeniable proof of the uncontrollable passion that her mere presence could awake in him.

Unconsciously, the beautiful Warrior Princess moaned under the effect of his last kiss, arching her back slightly, closing in the distance still left between them so that now she could feel the cold silver studs of his leather vest pointing against her chest, and the God just smiled in return , knowing exactly what she wanted him to do.

Consequently, in no time, his tongue was expertly flicking and swirling over her nipples, making her lose herself even more under the long lasting spell of his tender ministrations…..

By all Olympus, he loved seeing her like that, free from any constraints or barriers raised between them….Fates knew that he wanted nothing more on the planet than for her to always be so open and relaxed when it came to their relationship….

Taking a good look at her flushed face he could tell how much she was enjoying what he was doing to her, and when their gaze connected he was almost surprised to read the vulnerability floating on the surface of those splendid beryl moons of hers…..She was obviously fighting with herself , making even the impossible not to give in completely, to still hold back a piece of her soul that would have remained intact and unharmed if something went wrong between them…..She was scared to death and he was able to see that faster than she had wanted him to.

Nonetheless, leaving that little detail aside, he refused to go any faster, to stupidly pretend that what was happening there had no importance for him what so ever, that she was just some common slut that he was screwing for fun from time to time,and so, following his own hard to resist instincts instead, he delicately headed downwards, spreading some more wet, wanting kisses on each and every inch of her smooth, glowing skin.

Soon, her irregular, shallow breath turned more and more labored with each passing minute, and as that almost palpable heat started radiating from her now tense form, he knew that was going to be a night to remember…

What he couldn't possibly see though was the veiled uncertainty playing on his Princess features… She had managed to dissimulate that well enough for him to skip it, and despite his previous analysis, while her body was melting under his silky palms, what was still frozen inside her mind was savagely screaming for her to stop, her busy brain being highly aware of just how much she was about to unmistakably lose if she allowed him to gain that amount of power over her…..And to top it all she hadn't even noticed when exactly had he made that nightgown finally vanish….

She had to stop that madness somehow, things were just fine the way they were before: hot explosive sex in which the idea of emotion of any kind was just a vague concept that neither of them had actually considered before…Thus, the instant his tongue left the depths of her naval, starting to go even lower, and as he began to imperceptibly part her thighs, she somehow managed to stop her fingers from digging even deeper into his shoulders, withdrawing her hands from his still fully clothed body as if it burnt.

"Ares…what are you doing?" she inquired hastily pulling a lung full of air as if she had been lacking oxygen all that time.

To her much dismay though, it seemed like the God couldn't care less about clarifying the fuzziness of the situation for her- whatever that was- but for a moment there, the second he began brushing her clit with his thumb, sending a wave of electricity coursing up and down her body, it almost didn't matter anymore…..not for a couple of seconds at least…..

"Ares…." she repeated, and this time he could recognize that tone…..

"What does it look like I'm doing?" he questioned back without looking at her, focusing all his attention on licking the sweet juices that had already started dripping from her wet pussy.

For once, the Warrior Princess was stuck. She didn't know what to say. She could tell by herself that the question was as silly as a box of bollocks anyway…..

Still, Ares decided to humor her, a wide grin stretching on his face.

"I'd say I'm making love to you…."

Hearing his answer, Xena was not far from chocking, and she certainly would have done it if the breath wouldn't have caught in her throat the instant the tad over zealous War God inserted two fingers inside her , making even the last of her intentions vanish along with that insignificant ounce of resistance she had left…..and there was that delicious inner friction…..slow at first, so slow, making her eyes close instantly and her muscles tense even harder in anticipation…and then faster and faster…and soon the fingers were replaced by his tongue and his lips, licking everywhere, sucking her clit, driving her insane, making her lose control, panting louder and louder…..

And then he suddenly stopped….Why did he stop for?

The raven beauty did get her answer when he fully covered her with his body though, making her gasp at the sensation, and after a long violent kiss that only made her even more desperate to feel him inside her, he murmured seductively against her lips, a hint of amusement in his voice:

"Let me get you out of here or soon you'll be waking up the entire army…"

It took less than her frustrated growl and a whisper of agreement for him to materialize them somewhere else, and, as never before the overly curious Xena didn't even bother looking around to see where he had taken her.

Had she done it, she would have noticed the extremely unusually romantic decorated room, with stunning bouquets of black roses and blue candles placed right about everywhere and the blue flower petals scattered on the black silken sheets on which they had landed….

She was way too taken aback by the Gods' sudden nakedness, her gaze glued on the flawless shape of his statuesque torso…..For Gaia's sake, it was almost ridiculous…. she had seen him naked at least a few hundred times before, and still, with every new encounter they had, he somehow looked more and more handsome….She couldn't help silently wonder if that was even possible…..

In a rather vain attempt to rush things and to get it over with already, thus freeing that unbearable tension from her body , aware of the fact that Ares was planning to prolong their "love making" for like forever, she decided to change roles, adamant about calling the shots for the rest of the night.

The second she rolled on top of him though, her heart pounding like crazy as she instantly felt his rock hard erection against her blazing center, he grabbed a handful of her hair, pulling her but millimeters from his face, and, their eyes locked on each other he whispered, on such a low, broken tone that for a moment there, Xena felt as if a sharp blade had ran her through.

" Can I ask you something…..?"

Except for a huge question mark painted all over her face he received no other answer, so he just continued:

"Go slow …no rush…as if you were with a man who would mean the world to you…."

The Warrior Princess simply stared at him, utter amazement in her eyes…..she couldn't believe her ears…..she could barely find her voice to mutter a reply:

"Are you asking me to play pretend that I love you?"

"Yeah, that's exactly what I'm asking…." he answered, while softly brushing her lips with his own. "Let's pretend for a night that you're crazy in love with me, and that you're the only woman I've ever cared for in my life…..that you're only mine and that I don't have to share you with anyone else, that I only breathe for you….Make love to me, Sweetie…make love to me….."


	12. Role play

For the next couple of moments or so, the Warrior Princess' heart stopped beating….did he actually say what she thought he did? Could he have possibly seen right through her, behind that thick wall of indifference she had been trying so hard to built and straight to her soul- where for some time now her feelings for him had changed so much that she could hardly believe it herself?

No…..it couldn't be…..He was probably just testing the waters, checking to see if there was any trace of vulnerability inside her, a battle of minds at the end of which the winner was supposed to have the upper hand…some sort of lesson out of the many that he was trying to reinforce…..He was just playing with her….She couldn't give in, she just couldn't…..

But still...there was that look in his eyes again, that sadness that simply refused to vanish, that undeniable tenderness to which the hypnotizing sound of his voice soon added, so thick and sexy against her lips, full of that sweet tempting darkness that she found incredibly difficult to refuse….

As if afraid of the effects that the depths of his drilling gaze could have on her, she lowered her eyes, trying to focus on anything else instead….

"I love you…." the words suddenly rolled off his tongue, making her entire inner defenses crumble like a blown up city wall, and she would have normally reacted in her caustic characteristic way had she gotten the chance, but the God seemed to be more anxious about feeling the unique nectarious taste of her lips than hearing her reply, and pretty soon, without even realizing it, she was doing exactly what he had asked of her, her every touch, leaving behind the fresh trail of a new type of desire that she had done even the impossible to avoid feeling: she wanted to feel loved by him…..

As if an echo of her own thoughts, while the tip of her tongue was now gliding down his chest, in between Ares' moans and low groans she could hear again an indistinct "Gods I love you Xe….." considerably suppressed this time , yes, but enough to make the blood in her veins flow at such speed that her vision became more and more blurry by the second….The effect that he could have on her was simply amazing…..

Closing her eyes a bit, Xena couldn't help wondering if what he had just said was part of the roles they were playing or if he had actually meant it….Despite herself, she was unable to stop her aching heart from wishing it were true, and his fingers brushing ever so lightly through her hair as she reached for his shaft in the firm intention of driving him up the wall in ecstasy, adamant about leading him step by step towards the same sweet insanity in which she had started drowning a while back, weren't helping any...Before she knew it, he was raising her by the shoulders, bringing her back up on his chest just to flip on top of her the following second, and, pinning her arms above her head and almost crushing her torso with the weight of his body he murmured:

"Tell me you love me….Just this once…..I wanna hear you say it….."

By this time the pressure in the Warrior Princess' temples was almost unbearable. She felt as if her heart had replaced her brain and was betting there like crazy, beyond control, messing everything up…..

"I love you….." she hastily uttered, trying to claim his lips and make the moment of that unprecedented confession last as less as she could, but to her much dismay the God stubbornly refused, preferring to watch the rapidly changing shades of her mesmerizingly blue moons…

" Again….and look me in the eyes this time…."

" Ares….I thought you said….." came the beginning of her frustrated line that the God cut off abruptly with one single word.

"Please…"

It was all it took for the phrase to break out of her chest again, this time on a tone that could convince anyone on the planet that she had said it with all her heart and soul, and even the crystal blue of her moons seemed to be radiating even more light now ….

"I love you…"

What followed afterwards was absolutely divine….Either the God was playing his role to perfection or she was gradually going off the edge, but the idea that he was madly in love with her and that he cared for her more than life itself seemed to had stuck to her brain worse than Aphrodite's lip gloss on some hot lovers' neck…..

**XXX**

"This is crazy….." she murmured unconsciously into his shoulder hours later, when it was all over, biting her tongue hard the instant she realized that she had actually said it aloud.

"Is it really…..?" the God answered in return, placing a soft, protective kiss on her forehead and tightening his hold on her just like he had done it so many times in the past….

"I almost forgot….." he suddenly added, giving her no time to answer, rising on his elbow so that he could see her face better. "I have something for you…"

She just gave him a long look, a mixture of surprise and curiosity in her eyes…..

A discreet smile on his lips, the God made a small dark blue velvet box appear in his hand, and, with a rather clumsy gesture he offered it to her.

"What is it?" Xena inquired lowly carefully scanning the tiny object while falling over backwards to outguess what the content was….

"Well, I'll guess you'll have to open it to find out…"

Hardly had he finished his sentence, that, the quite eager Warrior Princess was already removing the silky crimson bow, and with quick, impulsive gestures, she opened the cover, impatient to find out what was hiding underneath it.

She almost froze when she saw the exquisite silver rose ring, her fingertips blocking on it's perfectly shaped petals and leaves, the idea of actually removing it from the box being as equally far from her as the following day's battle…..

"What is this…..?"she questioned on the tone of a curious little girl that was staring at some new, unknown object whose origin or use was still a secret.

"….Uh….it's a ….ring….?" Ares replied a little taken aback by her question.

"Well…..what does it do…..?" she continued on the same wondering tone, watching him with wide eyes while waiting for a valid explanation.

It was the God's turn to watch her in pure astonishment.

"What do you mean _"What does it do?" _It's…a ring….what would you expect it to do?"

"I ….don't know….." she simply replied. "Something…..Can I **kill** with it?"

This time Ares burst into long heartful laughter.

"Given your inventiveness you could kill with right about anything, Xe. Hades, your looks alone can kill, I'm sure that in your hands it will become the most lethal weapon the world has ever seen" he retorted shaking his head.

"It's just a ring, Princess…..I mean….not a weapon or anything" he finally added, realizing that his previous phrase might have diminish it's importance.

A few seconds later, taking it out of the box, a detail that she had seemingly avoided doing, he gently took her hand and, with the most tender of gestures, he placed it on her left thumb.

The Warrior Princess was astonished. The God of War, the same Bastard that loved teasing her to Tartarus and back and that she loved defying, irritating and tormenting, messing with his head as often as she could, one of the twelve Olympians was offering her a ring? Whatever for? And the finger he had placed it on…..it was a sign of respect, equality, acknowledged power and…..eternal love…..?

Almost automatically, she voiced the question.

"Why a….**ring**? "

"Because you more than deserve it…." he answered with no delay, placing a loving kiss on top of it. " You're special to me….I just wanted you to know it…"

"Well…..I guess you only have one Chosen, right?" she said in return, trying to find a proper excuse for the motive of his unusual gift.

"That's not what I meant…." the God instantly contradicted, searching for her eyes.

She just gazed at him expectantly.

"I…uh….I feel **stuff** for you….."

"**Stuff**….?"

" When I told you "_I love you"_ tonight, I meant it. I do love you, Xena…."

"Ares what are you talking about?" she harshly protested, leaving his arms and getting out of the bed as if she were running away from his warm, alluring nearness. " You hardly love your own mother so please spare me this sappy crap! Whatever game you're playing it's not…"

She immediately stopped though when she finally took a good look around her and noticed the ravishing bouquets of black roses and the candles….. everything….

" Oh come on! " she burst out, trying to remove the ring from her finger just to discover that she couldn't .

"It's not a game, ok? I'm dead serious….. And by the way, that ring will only come off your finger the instant you stop loving me! "

"What?! I'm not in love with you for Gods' sake!" the Warrior Princess' voice broke out on a angry note, and for once in her life she couldn't even tell why she was angry about in the first place.

"Is that so….?" Ares asked, a totally incredulous expression playing on his visage, and, in a blink, he was by Xena's side, just inches from her face, caressing her cheek with the back of his hand.

"Tell me you didn't feel anything tonight. Tell me that it was all lust and that your heart wasn't beating to the point it almost jumped out of your chest when I told you I only wanted you to be mine…Tell me tonight wasn't special, that it was just like any other night…..You couldn't hold back that _"I love you"_ either…"

Her body had began shivering under his touch but still, with the last ounce of power she had left, Xena just stared at him coldly, as a thin layer of ice began covering her enchanting irides, and, on the business like tone that she usually employed with her soldiers she retorted, making sure to look him straight in the eyes.

"You wanted a role play, Ares. I guess I'm just an amazingly good actress. "

"I don't believe you."

"You can believe whatever on Zeus' green earth you want. It still doesn't change the fact that what we share is nothing more than an unspoken agreement: ordinary hot sex in exchange for your godly favors...That's all there is to it..."

For a moment, the War God was silent. He was way too hurt to talk…..

"Don't tell me I've hurt your feelings….." she added, a glacial smile on her lips.

When he did look at her tough, his gaze was as dark and phlegmatic as her own.

"You'd better cut off that finger if you get bored of wearing it..." he said glancing briefly towards the silver rose. " And good luck tomorrow…You will more than need it….."

The next thing she knew, the Warrior Princess was back in her tent, gazing absently at her left hand, involuntarily wiping out the tears that had fallen from her eyes right after the God's departure….

From the aether, still watching her, Ares wiped away from his own visage the salty liquid that was slowly trailing down towards his lips…He was crying…For the first time in eons a God was crying…..


	13. The last sunrise

"Attaaaaaaaack!" the Warrior Princess' steely voice slashed the cool morning air filling her men's chest with an unsurpassable urge to kill, to draw blood, and soon, their horses became sharp arrows that seemed to be flying through the air, their hooves barely touching the ground, a black and grey wave that had as only purpose to decimate under the impact of it's deadly force every shred of life standing in between it an victory.

On top of one of the hills, invisible to mortal eyes stood the War God himself, his muscles tense as if he was witnessing some apocalyptic end of the known world, the heavy darkness lingering on his almost absent gaze being the only clue that could actually give away the fact that he was enjoying the brutality of the images that were unfolding before him.

He hadn't seen Xena since the previous night when he left…He had wanted to drop by her tent in the morning as he usually did before any important confrontation, but somehow, despite his every decent intention, there was a little something grinding mercilessly the walls of his heart that was denying him the pleasure, something called pride- a vicious flaw that often made him as stubborn as a mule…

Watching her now though, fire shooting from her mouth with every command, her words pouring that mad courage that only she could have in the souls of those sentenced to death soldiers, he couldn't help wanting to be down there with her like he had always been, fighting side by side as if they were one, allowing that hard to find primal energy that would soon spread from her body across the entire battlefield fill even the last of his cells, as only the fresh, invigorating smell of blood and the sound of metal clashing could.

"By all Olympus!" he exclaimed the minute she raised her sword and began reaping through the enemy's army as if they were not even humans, but stuffed dummies that had only been spread on that large field for décor….

Not one could outstand her blade…..not even one…She was absolutely magnificent- grace, power, beauty and savageness combined, that long raven hair of hers cascading down her shoulders like a river of silk and that golden armor radiating the incandescent light of the sun making her entire body shine brighter than Zeus in his almighty glory, giving the impression that she anything but mortal…..

Scanning a bit the surroundings, Ares was unable to suppress a contended smile….one had to be blind not to notice the panic that had seized the "fearless" soldiers of Kalamai….It was unbelievable…..his impressive Princess had already won half the battle by simply being there, her presence alone inducing the idea of a terrible ending that made the adversaries' blood freeze inside their veins …And her men….they were like lions, true warriors in that had the nerve to look Death in the eye and spit her in the face without as much as flinching a muscle…..She had done an outstanding job in training them…

For a few seconds, the War God felt the need to close his eyes the instant hundreds of thunderous voices roaring his name literally pierced his ears…an incredible experience that gave him now and then the certainty that, despite the uncommon stupidity that was written straight on their foreheads most of the time, those pitiful mortals deserved to live….

A glorious moment…..

There was a light breeze in the air, as the wind started to gently carry the souls of the ones that had already fallen, guiding them along with Celesta towards Hades' Elysian Fields, the place where the honorable, brave soldiers had every right to be in according to the unwritten laws of the Underworld.

Nonetheless, casting again a long glance at the bloody battle scene in which his Princess was the main character, he let out a deep sigh….She had been right: Kalamai's army had somehow outguessed that their powerful opponents would be divided into legions, counting not on a massive attack but rather on a series of confrontations that was meant to weaken them…..A loud groan escaped his throat watching the rather small first wave of men that were defending their lands …..his bitchy sister's trademark meddling had it's name written all over their damned strategy…..

"Unfreaking believable! And to think that she still has the nerve to call herself the Goddes of **fair **Wars…..She knew her flunkies stood no chance against my Princess, so just handing them her head on a plate instead of teaching them how to use their brains in order to come up with a brighter battle plan was in her opinion more appropriate!" he spat in disgust, already foretelling the fact that in just a couple of minutes all Tartarus would break loose for his raven beauty and his hands were tied…..He was unable to lift one finger to help her…..imperceptibly, the idea that she couldn't survive that fight no matter how skilled she was began drilling a hole ….straight through his heart.

"Worried 'bout your girlfriend Brother?" Athena's satirical voice suddenly broke out, patting the God on the back as if already offering her condolences.

"No. Worried about those half decapitated losers that you call soldiers, kissing the ground?" he bit back, barely restraining the urge to draw his sword and start their own fight then and there.

"Oh Ares, as much as I admire this "hope dies last" attitude of yours-it's a rare thing to see nowadays, you know- I 'll have to shatter your dreams of glory and celebration…Xena won't get to enjoy another sunrise- so I highly suggest you take a good look at her...You won't see her in flesh and bone again...


	14. All bets on one life

Athena's nasty comeback and that blatant attitude she was so cattishly displaying didn't quite reach their purpose though. The God of War might have been quick tempered, but he was not stupid, not by a long shot, and he could effortlessly tell what the clever Goddess in her infinite Wisdom was actually trying to do: divert his attention from the battlefield just in case that he might have had a change of heart and trample his vow, defying both her and the Olympian laws waved in golden threads by the Fates themselves form the order of their implacable King.

He was a rebel, that much of the story was true, and nothing was impossible when it came to him. If there were ever two words to describe Ares, **"unpredictable" **and **"unreliable"** had to be it…..He was trouble most of the time anyway, but when his earthly or heavenly possessions were threatened, he was pretty much like a rabid Cerberus with a toothache….he would have been capable to bite himself if there was no one else around to unleash his wrath upon…And he did considered his prized Warrior Princess as being part of his most valuable properties…..Athena was more then prepared for what might have crossed his blurry mind…Or so she thought...

Consequently, it was no wonder that her jaw had almost dropped to the ground when she realized that her brother wasn't planning on taking the bait and just offered her a stingy enough retort to mach her own.

"This theory of yours Sis…you should repeat it more often if you ask me. At least fifty times a day while looking in the mirror…..I'm telling you, you might just be on to something here…..Daddy would be proud."

"Poor Brother….I can't believe that after all these eons you still refuse to grow up already…Always unable to see the wood for the trees….."

"Oh I don't know …..I could name a few ladies that would be mooore than happy to contradict you on that….with details and all…." he replied with a grin, casting a proud macho gaze towards the visibly irritated Goddess who was already rolling her eyes at the God's kinky insinuation.

" How in Chronos' name are you still alive and walking given the fact that you lack a proper brain, Ares? I can't help marveling at the oddity of the situation…? "

"What can I say Sis' ? The world's a strange place….You should ask Mom for further infos "

"Are you sure we are even related….?" she snapped throwing daggers at him.

"I can't really tell…..You came out of Zeus' head, remember?" the War God chuckled, delighted to see that he hadn't last the ability to drive his Sister up the wall if he wanted too. Most of the time he preferred to solve this kind of problems with a classic swordfight, but he had to admit it: sometimes the words could easily equal any blade…..

Right when he was about to drop some more poison though, he noticed that Athena's expression had suddenly changed…..it was her turn to display an ear to ear grin on her face, her eyes sparkling with the excitement of payback…..

"I think you should ask Aphrodite to borrow you that mirror Bro'…" she uttered acidly, her gazed fixed on the outgrowing number of soldiers that had surrounded the obtrusive Warrior Princess and her men, hewing at them while howling some barely understandable chants to their patron Goddess the one that had promised them an unquestionable, resonant victory, and eternal prosperity for the city of Kalamai.

Despite not having shown it previously, Ares was petrified, and it took all of his godly will not to materialize behind those hills and cut off some damned heads when he noticed that Xena was vainly signaling for the other legion's intervention…the troops seemed to have vanished from the face of the earth…..There was no backup…..

"Looks like we could start placing our bets…..What do you think War Expert…..how much is she going to last….? Half an hour? More….less? I'm willing to stake Parthenon that you'll be paying her conjugal visits in Tartarus sooner than you expect….." the Goddess of Wisdom whispered at her Brother's ear, completely amused by that unstoppable blink of his eyes each and every time a horseman rose a sword behind the fierce Warrior's back, his muscles flinching in an almost incontrollable instinct to zap the guy that would have taken advantage of her lack of attention.

"Will it hurt when she falls Brother …..?"

Ares just gave her his trademark **"What in Gaia's name are you talking about?"** look. He couldn't afford her knowing that he had actually developed some pretty deep feelings for Xena….Athena finding out that he had a weakness would have been disastrous…..both for him and for his Chosen.

"….Your **ego** of course" she continued, stressing the key word, a bit disappointed that her assumption didn't prove to be valid. " Is not like you've grown a heart overnight… And I do know a few ladies that could aver that….."

This time the War God didn't answer as time itself seemed to have forgotten it's natural course the instant he saw three more legions of Kalamai's army invading the field like flies…

He could hear the Warrior Princess shouting some firm commands to what was left of her troop but he was unable to understand what it was.

If he was petrified before, now he was dead inside….

"Gods damn it!" he growled between his teeth exhaling sharply when he noticed that she was staring to get tired. Gradually, before putting down an adversary she began using two moves, than three…He knew where that was going…..


	15. A three legged Centaur

In her turn, Athena was unable to take her eyes away from the battlefield….Unlike Ares though who for the first time in eons was staring at the live bloodbath as if he were some horrified child witnessing the massacre of his own parents, his veins feeling on the verge of popping into his temples, the Goddess of Wisdom had finally learnt to enjoy the unnatural cruelty of those type of scenes, for once preferring brute force to a well thought strategy.

A stormy look on her face and a grin that would have made any Harpy look as beautiful as Aphrodite herself, Athena was completely drunk with the disgusting smell of the abundant crimson washing the ground, already decomposing under the increasing heat of the morning sun…She could almost sense it's metallic taste on the tip of her tongue, a coppery flavor that made her almost instantly lick her lips…..Xena's blood ….she would have happily sip it all out of a ceremonial, golden goblet, letting it flood her immortal body just like man's primal ancestors had been doing countless millennia in the past, enjoying each and every drop as if it were the purest ambrosia ever created….

Victory at last….so near, so irresistibly close ….safety for the Athenian people who would have soon become the Beast's following victims... and Revenge- sweet, perfect revenge on his Brother's success of finding and owning the most skillful fighter since Achilles and for his reckless pluck of aiming to unify all the Greek city states under one single banner: his own, with that mortal Slut of his as it's ruler, thus becoming the most powerful God in Olympus...He would have been unstoppable-an impossible to accept concept for any Greek deity given Ares' unstable background and duplicitary personality.

"It won't be long now, Brother" she said, watching with indescribable fascination how the last ounce of the raven Warrior's energy was fading away, the blade becoming visibly heavier and heavier in her hand, every move she was now making being accompanied by a tripled effort to perform even the most basic of moves.

…One by one, men and horses were falling, their eyes widening at the sight of the scintillating red sea unfolding beneath them as if they were seeing it for the first time, wondering just how many of them had to bleed for all that blood to be spilled…

From the soaking ground, the reality appeared to be a bit different …..it was no longer about protecting their hometown, about freedom, about glory or courage, about the Gods, not even about the blind love and respect for a mesmerizing Commander…While slowly drowning in their enemies or friends' blood , all of he sudden, the true face of War was revealing itself, and **"genocide"** was the word that could be easily read on each dying man's lips, no matter the side they were on…..

...New orders of attack, deafening roars, turmoil and finally here was another earth shattering, piercing War cry breaking out from Xena's lungs, obviously some last, desperate signal for help.

Right out of nowhere, Ares flinched, his hand covering protectively his right upper arm where he instantly felt a deep slash cutting acidly through his theoretically impenetrable skin, followed by a bothering burn that was melting his flesh to the bone…..He immediately looked at it-a pretty nasty cut that due to his godly nature was already starting to close as if it hadn't even been there….

…..Nonetheless, before he managed to realize what was going on, there was another gash on his left thigh- and this time he couldn't help gasping in surprise…As a premiere in the history of humankind, an Olympian had discovered the meaning of that uncomfortable" having a knot in his stomach" type of feeling the moment his brain solved the intricate puzzle: those were his Chosen's wounds- but unlike his, hers were unable to heal with the same speed...She was most likely bleeding heavily and the pain must have been at least ten times more intense.

Noticing his reaction, Athena simply threw him a patronizing look without bothering to add words to her suggestive enough expression….

It was all it took for the overly alarmed War God to try and bend the rules according to his own miscellaneous interests- a quite frequent routine which he used each time he had the chance without the slightest regret, remorse or worry- so, it was not precisely a surprise for the Goddess to see that sparkling blue light wash over her rebellious Brother's body, just to vanish the following second, without the expected teleporting effect to work his magic though…

"Going somewhere Brother?" she inquired, her gaze still firmly glued to the ravishing slaughter before her.

"My powers…..You freakin' two faced Bitch! What did you do to me? " a fuming Ares barked at his Sister, still stunned by his sudden loss of energetic fuel.

Seeing the aggravated War God contemplating his hands in awe as if he had discovered the eight wonder of the world , Athena let out a heartful, ironic laugh. She just couldn't help herself...….

"Me nothing…..you kindly did it yourself….that vow on Styx remember? Well, let's just say that you're sorta tied to me until the battle ends….as for the powers….it's only temporary. In a few hours you will be as good as new…."

Ares let out an exasperated growl, vainly fighting with his helplessness while attempting to produce even the smallest lightening bolt, a fire ball or at least some sparkles, instinctively trying to aim them towards his mocking Sister….. It was as useless as a three legged Centaur of course...

"I'm gonna kill you…" the God's voice thundered as he drew his sword, determined to do things the old fashion way…traditional confrontations did have their advantages after all…

"No need to be so dramatic over some petty little squabble Ares, really. Plus, I would watch the fight if I were you… It's not like you witness every day the end of a Chosen….In your case it's as rare as Dionysus drinking water….Fates know how many eons should pass again before you decide to pick another one..."

"You are so dead!" Ares replied in return charging his Sister who blocked with unexpected easiness his angry, miscalculated attack, despite the fact that he had put so much strength in it that it would have broken into pieces anyone's blade...His current lack of godly power was obviously making all the difference in the world…..

A few more sword clashes and a couple of rough, merciless kicks, and soon Ares was but inches away from kissing Athena's boots…complete, undeniable humiliation…..

"Don't worry Brother, I'll be quick so that you and that Whore of yours could go to Tartarus hand in hand…"

"Don't count on it" was all the response she got before feeling her feet leave the ground and her face collide with an ant hill, the razor sharp blade falling from her hand in the process. Seconds later, both brothers had literally jumped at each other's throat, adamant about squeezing the life out of the other along with the air from their lungs…To all appearances, that wasn't going to end well for neither of them...

Hardly had the fraternal cursing stage reached it's peak though that something staggering happened, breaking them apart and capturing their undivided attention with the speed of Zeus' killing lightening bolts :

"What in Tartarus is that?!" Athena barely articulated, staring at the battlefield as if she was witnessing the rebirth of her grandfather Chronos himself.

For once, Ares was way to shocked to reply.


	16. Crimson wine

From behind the hills, there was a cloud of dust moving ahead, with the vertiginous speed of a landslide and the sound of an erupting volcano, brushing away everything in its path, from scattered soldiers to horses and rocks.

Ares' jaw had dropped to the ground. Commanding the men, cause men they were, was Lyndros, the young boy that the Warrior Princess had been talking to the previous day, currently leading the rest of the army towards the battlefield- which they invaded within minutes, cutting through enemy flesh without the slightest arrest as if they had been thirstily waiting for that moment for a lifetime….

Almost instinctively ,Athena turned her head towards her Brother, fixing him with her enraged, piercing stare, ready to spill some pretty harsh accusations regarding the break of a certain vow by revealing her plan to his pesky Chosen.

She changed her mind though the moment she noticed the ingeniously shocked expression on Ares' features. He was just as surprised and clueless as she was; there was no reason to start pointing fingers….

"Xenaaaaaa! " the young boy's resonant voice could be suddenly heard like a faraway echo, making the Goddess of Wisdom snap out of her profound musing, and wake back up in reality.

There was no answer….

While scanning the surrounding in search for his Leader the name left his lips again, though on an obvious note of desperation this time, and the War God couldn't help clenching his jaw at the thought that there was some other man trying to protect his Princess, taking his place while he was standing like a horrified ostrich on the top of the hill, having no other choice than to bury his head in the sand if the situation were to deteriorate even more than it had already did.

Finally a very familiar war cry broke from the middle of the battlefield, accompanied by a sparkling signal coming from a particular silver sword that Lyndros knew so well.

It was all he needed in order to launch out in that direction with his men, an inextinguishable fire burning in his eyes, ready to bring Death to any of those who stood between him and the one that had saved his life in more ways than one a few years before.

"I don't understand…." Athena muttered, her flawless reason still fighting to make the right connections in order to find some valid explanation for what had gone wrong and why.

"Me neither…." The War God replied almost automatically, cursing himself the following second for having actually said that aloud. "But either way, the scales seem to be turning my way Sis…" he added with a grin the instant he noticed that Xena was safe , her men surrounding her from all sides, allowing her to put down her sword and rest her arm for a few minutes while they carried on from where she had left off, chopping hands, legs and heads with such wild and determined moves as if they were killing some folktale mythological creatures and not human beings who were the for a just cause.

**XXX **

It was almost noon when the fight began to reach it's end, almost all soldiers of Kalamai being either dead or severely wounded. The ones still capable of holding a sword were pathetically fighting for their lives. Some of them were seeking refuge in running like cowards towards the city gates in hope that they could reorganize and plan a good enough defensive until help from Spachteria or Laconia arrived, saving them and their wives and children from the painful Fate that awaited them if the Warrior Princess conquered their town.

"No…." Athena whispered qualmishly, balling up her fists at the sight of her loyal subjects abandoning the battlefield one by one and heading back home without as much as bothering too look back at those few real soldiers that had chosen to fight until the bitter end- refusing to accept defeat and to put their swords down, to cover in shame not only themselves and the city of Kalamai but also their patron Goddess.

At the opposite pole, Ares was jubilating, He still couldn't tell if his Princess had planned the surprise attack, outguessing his Sister's dirty strategy or if it was the hand of the Fates to send that fearless kid to her rescue, and at the moment he didn't even care that much about details as he cared about the approaching victory, his entire body vibrating with pride and excitement like it had never happened before….

He could finally breathe a sigh of relief….After more than four hours his heart had started beating normally again- with the necessary pauses in between the throbs- that impossible to digest suspense almost killing the life out of him.

Right when he was about to launch a stingy line towards the cocky Goddess though, he finally saw her vanish in a shower of golden sparkles.

"Hey maybe they left the Gates open for you in Klamai! " he mockingly yelled at the air, thinking that Athena had chickened out just like her soldiers and took off before his powers returned, aware that he was going to wipe the floor with her until she would beg him to stop.

It was no wonder that he almost had a stroke when he saw her materialize in the middle of the battlefield, heading toward the Warrior Princess who was graciously spreading Celesta's blessings to the ones that dared stand in her way.

"Gods dammit!" he growled, instantly realizing what the bitchy Goddess was planning to do…

Closing his eyes, he gathered all the energy that he could find in him and transported himself where Athena had landed seconds before, feverishly looking around to spot the raven haired Warrior.

"Xenaaaaaaaaaa!" he shouted as loud as his lungs could bare, praying to all Gods that he would just receive an answer before it was too late.

Unfortunately, in between the noise of the sword clashes, the deafening chants of upcoming victory, the heartbreaking moans of the fallen and the background sounds of the horses neighing, it was almost impossible for her to hear him…

Suddenly his heart began drumming again-in his throat this time- and, a sensation that he couldn't simply explain overpowered him the moment he turned around and saw Athena a couple of yards away, raising her sword to stab his Princess -who was currently fighting two other soldiers- in the back.

"Commander! Behind you!" Lyndros yelled, rushing to intervene, his face marked by the vivid terror of loosing the one person that had ever meant something to him since his parents' early departure…..

From the opposite side, sword in hand, ready to behead his own Sister, Ares was running as if there was a pack of mad, hungry wolves following him to take a bite out of his ambrosia tasting flesh.

"Xenaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" he hollered again, his view temporarily blocked by a Kalamaian soldier that uninspiredly decided that killing him might have been the very best thing he did in life…..His only real success though was to delay the crazed God who was barely able to keep standing when he saw his Chosen turning around at the sound of his voice- or was it Lyndros' desperate warning?- and the Goddess of Wisdom plunging a sword through her chest, with a look of complete disgust on her face…

"Make sure you die this time!" she snarled right before she disappeared from sight, leaving a panicked God of War to catch her falling body, cradling her in his arms, his shaky hands uselessly trying to produce the right amount of energy needed in order to stop the massive bleeding.

"Ares?" she asked above a whisper, covering his hands with her own.

"I'm here Xe, I'm here. Don't move ok?"

"Commander!" Lyndros uttered dismounting hastily and closing in the distance between them. " Can you save her My Lord? "

"She'll be fine" Ares retorted instantly on an imperious tone, doing his best to hide the unprecedented terror grinding his soul. "Take the army and burn Kalamai to the ground. Leave none alive."

Lyndros watched him for a few seconds and then answered without even blinking, no trace of hesitation in his voice.

"It shall be done."

He turned around and left a moment later.

"I thought that Gods were not aloud to lie…." Xena murmured, a glacial smile on her livid lips.

"Just hang on…..we'll fix this…."

"There's nothing for you to fix and we both know it. It's way to close to the heart….."

"Aphroditeeeeeeeeeeee!" the God called without bothering to answer her last phrase, for his own sanity pretending that he didn't hear her, but, at the sight of his Sister he could hardly hold back the tears from washing over his face.

The Goddess was there in a heartbeat, sensing her Brother's distress. Seeing Xena bathing in a pool of blood she nearly froze but Ares' alarmed voice brought her back to reality in no time.

"Take me and Xena to the Halls of War. Now"

"Sure….." she answered, without realizing if she had actually uttered the word of if she had just thought about it. The idea of asking why in the world couldn't he just take her there himself, didn't even crossed her mind.

Still, as they reached the gloomy place, curiosity suddenly hit her:

"Wha….what happened?"

"Athena" came the expected answer that made the Goddess' skin crawl…..

Despite herself, Aphrodite took a good look at her Brother's hands. They were covered in blood, the same crimson blood that was still flowing like wine from the Warrior's wound.

"Is she…..like….bad?" she questioned

Looking in his eyes though she bit her tongue hard….his wax like visage alone could have easily told her everything she wanted to know. She just gulped noisily.


	17. Endless, golden sands

"We need to stop the bleeding…." Ares retorted, glaring daggers at his Sister, while still marveling at the ridiculesness of her question.

"Ok…..well….. use your powers, it should at least slow it down, right?" Aphrodite answered, doing her best to be helpful.

Ares hesitated a bit before replying.

"I uh…..I can't…That Bitch did something to me…..That's why I couldn't transport her here all by myself….."

Suddenly, as if a flash of light had illuminated her foggy brain, the Love Goddess exclaimed, making Ares wanna choke her with his bare hands:

"The vow!"

"What vow? " Xena inquired staring at Aphrodite as if she had revealed the secret location of Chronos' bones, being barely able to still hold her eyes open.

"Long story, no time" Ares retorted hastily, his palms pressing firmly on her wound. "Dite I need you to do something for me" he added changing the subject.

"Name it…"

"I need warm water, bandages, ribwort, some oxlip root….…And make her clothes vanish."

In less than a blink Xena was completely naked, as for the rest of the stuff, they were all on a nearby table.

"Ares…don't bother…..it won't work ok ….?. Just….just don't go anywhere….." the Warrior Princess murmured frowning involuntarily as the awareness that she was about to die washed over her like a cold autumn rain, staring at the God's hands which at the moment were all the proof she needed in order to prove a point.

"Oh I'm not going anywhere trust me. And neither are you. " he stated like a stubborn child that refused to let go of a broken toy.

"I don't know about that…I'd tend to say that as much as you dislike the idea all mighty God of War, this is out of you hands…You could as well start searching for another Chosen….." she taunted, despite the bleakness of the situation visibly amused that for once, the cocky Ares was facing a reality that he was unable to control no matter how hard he tried or how badly he had wanted it to.

Hearing her phrase, the God could feel tiny goose bumps covering the surface of his skin….It was like some cruel replay of Athena's own words all over again…Barely controlling his anger, he instinctively shifted his gaze towards the blood gashing from her wound, as if aware of the fact that otherwise, slapping her would have been a way too big temptation to resist, and, bending over her, he whispered gravely against her ear so that only she could hear him:

"You're mine Xena…And I'm never gonna let you go. I'd rather kill Celesta herself than seeing you leave...You'd better get it through that thick skull of yours once and for all…."

"Well I have news for you….I'm only mortal Ares. This is what mortals do… they die…..It's human nature…"

"Well I got news too: not you, not today." he retorted, louder this time, his palms pressing on her chest so hard now that she had to literally clench her teeth in order to hold back a scream of pain.

And while her Brother's last phrase made the naïve Aphrodite's concerned expression to suddenly wreathe in smiles, convinced that there was still a chance to save the 'Warrior Babe" as she liked to call her, Xena turned her head the other way, unable to bear seeing the pain shrouding the God's amber eyes any longer.

She knew him far to well to tell that all that speech was actually meant for the God to convince himself that it was not too late, that something could still be done for her…She was no fool though and she was more than capable to estimate the gravity of her wound…..

"Aphrodite I need an iron arrow" he commanded, and, as soon as the Goddess materialized it, still unaware of what could the use of such object be during that particular situation, Ares broke it's tip and added:

"Make it glow red hot…."

"What are you doing with that?" she inquired as the vague inception of a hunch finally started to creep inside her previously clueless mind.

"Me? Nothing. But you are." Ares replied, handing the burning iron to his Sister.

"Are you ready for this Xe?'

"As ready as I'll ever be" she answered the instant he grabbed her shoulders pinning her down so that she would be unable to move….Not even an inch….

"What should I do with this?" Aphrodite's hesitant question soon slashed the thick, heavy air around them.

"You'll insert it through her wound. It would minimize the blood flow."

"Are you crazy?!" the revolted Goddess broke, almost dropping the arrow.

"Will you just do it already ?! She doesn't have much time Dite!" Ares snapped at his overly shocked Sister.

Her hands shaking, she approached the gory bed.

"Stop shaking, you have to be very accurate about it. The stab is just inches away from the heart…"

"Ares…?" she whispered, terrified of what she was about to do.

" Just….be careful. And hold it there till I tell you to, no matter how hard she screams ok?"

The Love Goddess just gazed desperately at the half conscious Warrior Princess, as if asking for permission.

"It's ok you're gonna do great" Xena uttered on a faint voice, encouraging the terrified, reluctant Aphrodite to go on.

Soon , unbearable shouts of agony were flooding the place as a wave of excruciating pain ripped through her chest along with the hot piece of iron, sweat dripping down Xena's tortured body , mixing with the crimson pool in which she was bathing…Ten endless seconds in which Ares cursed Athena in all possible ways and styles, doing his best to keep his brain busy so that he would somehow block those inhuman screams parching his Princess' lungs and throat.

When he finally ordered Aphrodite to remove the arrow, she fainted in his arms, exhausted from pain and blood loss.

"Good. Now press here as hard as you can while I prepare the potion. " he stated, quickly wondering if there was anything else he could use in order to rush the healing process.

"On….on the blood?!...On the wound?" the Love Goddess asked while she walked even closer to the Warrior Princess, her fingers barely touching the surface of the lacerated skin, as if fearing that a firmer contact would only inflict her even more pain.

"**Yes** on the **wound" **Ares stressed, irritated by Aphrodite's childlike behavior. "And use your palms, for crying out loud!" he exclaimed, pressing his Sister's hands with his own so that the Goddess' snow white ones were now gradually turning red too, dark warm crimson bedaubing her dress as she sat on the edge of the bead beside her.

"Don't sit. If you stand you'll have more force when pressing." Ares informed while heading for the table to chap the leaves and the roots she had materialized for him.

The Goddess immediately complied.

In less than three minutes the potion was ready and Ares was applying it on the wound, hardly controlling the shivering of his own hands as he touched the still severely bleeding injury.

"Gods damn it!" he growled biting his lips in frustration.

Aphrodite just gazed at him inquisitively.

"It should have stopped by now…."

Washing a bit the surface of the aching stab, he added on a rather panicked tone " Give me the bandages..."

It didn't take long for the experienced War God to wrap them all around her chest, praying to all known deities for at least that freaking sap to do the trick. Mixed with the constant pressure coming from the linen cloth it should have worked wonders…..He had a bad feeling about it though, and, despite his best efforts to put it off his mind, Ares couldn't help thinking that the wound was far to deep for any of his attempts to save her life to work…..The thought alone gave him the chills making a frosty electric shiver run up and down his spine…..

" I need a thick, woolen blanket….."

Hardly had he finished the sentence that the Warrior Princess was already carefully covered, the Love Goddess wasting no time with useless questions any longer.

Pulling a chair from the table, Ares sat down. He just couldn't stand any more; his feet felt like jelly…

Resting his head in his hands, he took a long look at his Princess' face. She was as pale as a sheet…..

A warm hand touched his shoulder, without managing to ease the tension though…..

"You know Ares….I could try using my energy, maybe….."

"What you've developed healing powers overnight?" he spat out glaring daggers at his Sister as if she would have hit him straight in the head with something.

"I just wanted to help…" she whispered back, her heart breaking at the sight of her grief stricken Brother. She had never seen him like that in her life, his soul more and more torn apart with each passing minute…..

"You already have. Thanks Dite" he mumbled the line in the indirect form of some strangely formulated apology. "You can leave if you want….I'll call if I need anything" he then added, his empty stare refusing to leave Xena's light purple lips….."

"I'm not leaving you here all by yourself….."

The War God didn't answer this time. He lacked the energy to do it, plus he could barely put two words together anyway….

He nearly jump up that chair though when he noticed the raven Warrior slowly opening her eyes, letting out a deep moan as she began to feel the effect of the previously inflicted burn.

Ares's hand went on her forehead almost instantly, vainly trying to comfort her by caressing her hair.

"Shhhh…..it's ok Princess. This will be over soon I promise. In a few hours I should have my powers back and I could at least make the pain go away….."

She just smiled back absently as if his words haven't even registered inside her highly stimulated with pain brain, and after awhile , as the walls of the room started to get more and more blurry and the colors more and more obscure she murmured his name….

"Ares….?"

"Yeah Sweet…?"

"Remember how you used to tell me stories about that far away, mysterious land with endless golden sands stretching as wide as the Mediterranean…..?"

"Egypt….?"

"Yeah…..we never got the chance to go there after all….."

"We will, I promise. As soon as you get better, that's the first place we'll visit..."

"...'See the pyramids...You said that they're glistening like..."

"...Like diamonds in the sun..." he trailed off as he felt two invisible claws splitting his chest open.

In the corner of the room, Aphrodite was beginning to loose the vicious fight with the salty tears that had started rolling one by one down her perfectly sculpted visage…..

"Tell me some more about it…." Xena's faint voice could be heard again as she touched the God's hand with the tip her ice cold fingers.

"Well…it is the most colorful country I have ever seen have I told you that? Just like India, they have these huge markets where they sell everything you can think of from delicate, rare fabrics to spices and clothes….And the weapons…..have I told you about the weapons? The warriors are particularly famous for their sickle shaped swords. They are called Kopesh…..We trained with them back in Thrace, remember? I told you then that their curved blade can help one disarm their opponents easier…Those Egyptians are some pretty sick Bastards...…And you wouldn't want to be cut with one of those, trust me….It's quite nasty…I remember this time when I …" his voice broke though when, looking at her face again, he saw that her eyelids had covered that rich sapphire blue of her irides …..

"Xena?...Xe…" he murmured, immediately shifting his gaze to her chest. It was as still as a wooden plank….no rise no fall, no air getting in or out her lungs any more.

At that point, Aphrodite was unable to restrain her sobs any longer. She nosily burst into tears a few seconds after, uselessly covering her mouth with her hands, her entire body jerking and spasming uncontrollably while she watched her Brother desperately trying to revive his Princess, his brutal attempts to make her heart beat again only managing to make even more blood gush from the raw, fresh wound…..


	18. Vulture steak

"Wake up! Wake up!" the words exploded from somewhere deep inside him with so much force, that the Goddess literally jumped in surprise, her entire body vibrating with pain at the sound of her Brother's inhuman cries.

Disobedient as ever, unlike Aphrodite, the Warrior Princess refused to react though…And as what felt to be an even crueler punishment, for a couple of long crashing seconds, Ares could swear on the river Styx that he saw the faint trace of a last smile still playing on her lips. It nearly tore him apart….And then there were his Sister's heartbreaking sobs which he just couldn't block out….

"Would you stop wailing already?! It's giving me the chills!" he snapped at her, literally disturbed by the effect that the Goddess' vivid, staggering suffering was having on him.

Aphrodite just offered him a mild, compassionate gaze in return, doing her best to ease her Brother's obviously overwhelming, atrocious pain through the wisely chose, heart to heart words that she somehow managed to mumble in between gasps and sighs:

"Ar, I can only imagine what you're going through….. It probably hurts worst than anything else on the planet….But I want you to know that I'm here for you and that it's ok to let the tears fall…..It would make the soul feel lighter….I won't tell anyone, I promise….."

Ares stood there staring at her as if she had hit her head or something and then just retorted on his old sarcastic, ever in control tone:

"Are you getting enough sleep lately?!"

"Just let it go…." the Love Goddess continued, adamant about helping the stubborn, refusing to accept defeat War God deal with the tragedy of his loss. " ….don't fight reality for it will only hurt more…."

"Next you'll be telling me that time heals all wounds…."

"It does, I swear…..It might seem like totally unreal right now, but believe me, I know what I'm talking about…..Let her soul find peace ….."

Hearing that last line, the God's eyes suddenly began to sparkle with bemusement.

"Gee Sis', thank you for the highly original funeral speech, it was almost touching but trust me, it's not the case….. "

"You're in denial…And don't get me wrong, it's only natural for anyone who has lost his loved ones to hold on to….." Aphrodite 's reply was brutally cut off by Ares' threatening glare and the cutting words that left his tongue.

"No…..**you**'re in denial if you actually think I'm gonna let her go. So do us both a favor and shut the fuck up already...I need to think….."

"Stop fooling yourself Ares…..When Celesta comes, there is no turning back…..She will take her soul in the Underworld with her…And as I know her, she hates wasting time, she should be here any minute now…..If I were you I'd tell the Warrior Babe some last words…..She can still hear you, you know…." the Love Goddess insisted, placing gently her diaphanous hand on her Brother's shoulder.

The War God sneered mockingly.

"Celesta? I strongly doubt it….I made sure that Candle Lady had a way too busy day today in Kalamai …Too many dying men screaming for her divine intervention for her to make time for my Princess…..And if she dares show her face around here….well let's just say the world would be suddenly invaded with immortals" he uttered, pulling a blooded knife from his belt.

"Is that the…?!" Aphrodite exclaimed taking a small step back.

"The Dagger of Helios….Call it my little insurance policy…"

"I thought it was only a legend! Is it true that…?"she trailed off still amazed by the lethal weapon she had before her.

"No, no legend…And yeah, it's one of the few things that can kill a God!"

"How did you get it?! "

"I'm smart and handsome….?" Ares answered grinning widely, and, casting one last long glance towards' the Warrior Princess' body, he swallowed hard before adding:

"Now…if you'll excuse me for awhile Sis….I'm busy….."

"Ares….what are you planning to do?" the Goddess inquired on a concerned tone, instantly recognizing that "look" in her Brother's eyes.

,"Have you ever eaten vulture stake? "

Aphrodite just shook her head in a very determinate **"no"**

"Well…..you will tonight….."

The golden haired Goddess's eyes widened as she realized what the crazed God had in mind:

"You're after the ambrosia! Ares that's insane! If Zeus founds out, you're as good as dead! I mean oblivion and all!"

"I really don't give a damn , Dite…" the God's reply came out in full honesty.

Aphrodite was unable to hold back a candid smile…He had obviously said it because of Xena….

"Oh Ar…..that was like the sweetest love statement I have ever heard!"

"I don't know what you're taking about…." Ares quickly denied, refusing to openly accept and confess such unimaginable weakness, closing his eyes instantly the minute he felt a massive surge of power entering his body…Soon, his hands started to glow blue…..

"Oh goody…I've got my toys back….." he stated, creating a round fire ball that he threw straight into the thick stone wall which was blasted to smithereens the second after.

"Like did you really HAD to do that?!" his Sister complained with a frown, totally revolved by the fact that all that dust had began to cover her from head to toe. "Just look at my hair now…and the dress….." she added, a look of utter despair written all over her face.

"Just running some tests Dite….Now…..you stay here and watch Xena while I go get us dinner, got it?" Ares said, handling her the knife. "…..Just in case…." he added when he saw his Sister's perplexed expression.

"Well what should I do with it…? Kill her?!" she asked hesitantly, her brain already projecting various scenarios in which Celesta would come to demand the Warrior Babe's soul, thus forcing her to act accordingly….

"That's a girl…..!" Ares encouraged, kissing her hard on the lips. "Straight to the heart! Make it clean if you don't want to stain your beautiful dress…" he couldn't help joking , chuckling lowly, as the pink material had already turned into some unknown shade of grey.

In a blink he was gone, leaving a still shocked Aphrodite behind him, staring at the bloody blade in horror, silently hoping that Ares would just come back fast enough…She was totally opposed to the murderous idea of taking lives, especially when it was about family…

"This is just not my lucky day….." she murmured, taking a seat next to the livid Warrior Princess. "…Hey Xe, have I ever told you about that totally cosmic connection that I had with this mortal back in Thebes right before me and Hepphie hooked up? I swear it was love at first sight…..my favorite! ….."


	19. Gloating is for the fools

Sunset….finally. The two or three hours that the War God needed to wait until Apollo left the sky riding his fiery chariot and returned to Olympus, seemed to had passed slower than ever….It felt like time had stuck somewhere in between the sun rays, unable to flow any longer. and just lazily fell asleep there, forgetting that minutes needed to keep rolling in order for the daylight to make room for Selene and her crowd of shiny stars -who were anxiously waiting to make an appearance on Uranus' dark blue velvety mantle…..

Pacing back and forth on the high plane situated at only a few miles from the famous home of the Gods, Ares' amber eyes were glued to the sky, his muscles flinching at every new dot that his godly vision could locate in that infinite space above him….

A composite Sumerian bow in his hand and a couple of long range arrows craftily placed in a leather quiver on his back, the visibly agitated Olympian could already sense that ravishing wave of adrenaline rushing through his veins with only picturing the sight of that bloody bird- which he had seriously considered plucking if it were still alive when it were to fall on the ground, just for the sheer, morbid pleasure of hearing it squeal in pain, as some sort of payback of some kind for his Princess' death-as if the poor flying creature was actually to blame for all that Greek tragedy…..

…. Nonetheless, Ares couldn't care less about the vulture's lack of actual implication in the whole mess , he just desperately needed to burn off some steam, and, seeing someone or something else suffer worse than he was, sounded like the best possible spiritual cure for that uncomfortably aching heart of his, during that particular moment.

Hardly had he finished his thought, that, scanning the skies one more time, a large, devilish grin stretched his lips, painting a cruel overall expression on his overly focused visage, a demeanor that, had Zeus' golden, winged friend seen it, it would have certainly returned to it's nest with the speed of light….

Unfortunately, that **" bird's eye view"** old saying had always been a bit exaggerated, and the feathered creature proved to be as blind as a bat , the pointed arrow that left the War God's bow hitting it straight in the neck with a precision that would have made Artemis eat her heart out.

A long mournful squawk, three or four randomly executed circles, and puff, the wounded bird unavoidably hit a wedge of hard, grassless ground, breaking it's fragile, half torn neck along with the rest of the still functional organs….

Ares was ecstatic of course…..

" Well hallo to you too! " he exclaimed joyfully, as if he were seeing a good, old friend. "I'm afraid that Zeus will have to survive without his precious ambrosia for a few days…..By the blood of Chronos I swear I can't explain how comes that he hadn't died with diabetes yet, eating that sugar sweet jelly all day long! It makes me sick to my stomach only thinking about it!" he added staring at the dead bird that, for a few millennia now, was daily carrying in it's sharp beak ambrosia and nectar to the mighty King of the Gods…..

" Anyway….I suppose we all have our little addictions which we love surrendering to, right? Plus….. after so many eons of ruling this damn world I'm actually surprised that the Old Man had actually managed to limit his weaknesses to **women** and **"food"** …..No drinking…..no gambling…. Can you believe it?! It might not seam like a big deal to you, but trust me, that's as rare as a gullible Amazon, and I know what I'm talking about …." he stated raising his eyebrows expletively, while bending over the fallen bird.

Gradually, making complete abstraction of the unspeakably disgusting sight of spread guts, brains and blood, he began opening it's beak with the blade of a dagger, adamant about extracting the ambrosia, and, given the animal's existential state which left no chance what so ever for other type of entertainment, to just vanish from the scene of the crime like black smoke on a windy day, before Zeus noticed the unusual delay of his favorite pet.

"Ok….here we go…..Open wide!" he jokingly commanded, almost alleviated that in less than minutes, he was about to have his Princess back and that everything would be back to normal….

Consequently, he couldn't help gasping loudly when he noticed that the beak was as empty as a Roman forum during a hot summer afternoon…No reddish jelly there, no nectar no nothing…..Just a purple, half splitted, wet tongue, very similar to the one of a snake- that he immediately cut off just out of spite….

He was flabbergasted…

As his mind started to feverishly translate the logical effects of that unexpected failure, his lungs began to sting as if he were a dying mortal lying on top of mount Etna, deeply inhaling a sharp glacial gust of wind straight through the largely open mouth…..

"This can't be…It should be here….." he barely murmured to himself on a low, strangled voice that he didn't recognize as being his own….

For a few seconds he froze….. His blood restarted boiling though as he felt a very familiar presence somewhere near him, and the second after, a yellow glowing light revealed the form of the Goddess of Wisdom in all her immortal glory, drinking in the disappointment and the utter panic written on her Brother's visage…..Pure and complete satisfaction…

"Oh please, don't stop ranting on my account…..I was just starting to enjoy myself….."

"Athena…Came here to gloat?" the angry God growled like a wounded lion, rising to his feet while furiously throwing his bow aside and drawing his sword from the scabbard instead, every muscle in his body tensing as if they were about to snap, deeply regretting the uninspired decision of having left the dagger of Helios to Aphrodite

" Anyhow….good to see you again…..I believe we have some unfinished business …"

"Gloating is for the savage and for the fools …..Facts speak for themselves…" the Goddess casually stated, confidence radiating out of her every pore. " The only unfinished business you have is with Father, dear Brother…..Trying to steel ambrosia for him? I don't think he'd appreciate your kleptomanic intentions…And…uh…. this…?" she continued pointing towards the golden vulture's carrion " You'll turn just as stiff once he finds out….."

"Too bad you won't live to tell!" Ares retorted, throwing an energy bolt towards his disturbingly intrusive Sister, one that she was obviously expecting given the fact that she expertly dodge it without even the slightest reaction of surprise.

"I strongly disagree…"

"Where's the ambrosia?" the God broke out again, launching a fire ball this time, and he almost smacked himself when he saw that he had missed the Goddess' head by a couple of inches.

"Somewhere safe…You don't really think I've gone through all that trouble killing your precious Xena just to simply stand back and watch you bring her back to life, do you? ….I've told you before Ares, and I'm telling you again, that mortal Slut will not see the daylight ever again, do you understand?" she stressed, a contended smile on her face.

After all those eons of endless bickering, competition and reciprocal sabotages, she had finally buried him for good…. She had finally managed the unthinkable: to actually find a weakness in him and debilitate him hard enough for her to take control over his armies….Fates knew she was but steps away from achieving that ultimate goal…She only needed a bit more time…..Just a little bit…..and an ounce of luck…

" Your reign is over, Brother…. and so are your plans of ruling Greece…"

One animalistic roar, and the fuming God was flipping through the air, curious about finding out whether his sarcastic Sister would be as stingy and cunning as she was now, if her scalp would be split into half…..

Athena had other plans though, and a wave of her hand was all it took to create a spherical, impenetrable, shield of pure energy around her.

"As much as I'd love to stay here and play swords with you Ares, if you don't mind, I still have a few things I need to take care of before letting Daddy know who to punish and why…But don't go anywhere…I have a little surprise for you- which I trust you'll learn to appreciate in time, despite your pigheadedness …."

As soon as she finished her intriguing line, the daughter of Zeus dematerialized from the plane, the sound of her sinister, diabolic laughter still present in the resonant echo that simply refused to end for another couple of seconds or so, leaving a maddened with rage Ares behind her to butcher what was still left from the vulture's carcass instead…


	20. All the proof you need

**XXX This is for my good friend Hunney Bunney, aka Lady Augustin aka my no 1 fan – Ares is in serious trouble girl, you gotta save him...:) and for Zandi, thank you for all the reviwes, love ya:)****XXX**

In the forever deserted temple of the Furies, the three gone wild Ladies were dancing their heads off as always, this time on the disturbing rhythm of a quite prehistoric music-one that seemed to be in fashion again those days- despite the undeniable Thracian influence that had been rocking every decent party in Greece during the previous year….. The world was a strange place…

" Athena!" Alecto exclaimed on a high pitched voice-hardly believing her eyes- as she finally noticed the unusual presence of the Goddess, sitting casually on the dark ebony throne of the large temple hall. "To what do we owe this unexpected pleasure?" she inquired, a perplexed expression on her face, while closing in the distance between her and the ritzy daughter of Zeus, whose visits to the temple were as rare as dinars falling down from the sky, lately.

"I came here on business. So we can obviously skip this distasteful, carnal number I believe….?"

Alecto just smirked back defiantly- an all knowing smirk that said more than all the words in the world- and took a seat on the throne's armrest as her hand began gliding up and down Athena's chest, caressing the smooth, milky skin that her golden armor was richly exposing. .

"Always so…upfront…..You haven't changed much Goddess of Wisdom have you? And the passing of time hasn't left one single mark on your statuesque visage…." came the wistful reply that made Athena inhale a deep breath of air as she felt the Fury's fingers now gently tracing her jaw line just to slowly move up her lips shortly after, where they lingered for awhile…

"That's one of the advantages of being immortal as you well know…I need a favor…." she stated coldly changing the subject, her gaze loosing itself more and more in Alecto's dark olive, alluring moons.

"A favor…?" the Fury retorted as a wicked smile began sketching on her face. "Would that favor involve an incredibly passionate and handsome God of War by any chance?"

Athena just raised an eyebrow- in both irritation and surprise- at the accuracy with which the perceptive Fury had managed to read her mind.

"Oh come on Athena….I'm more than aware of how your devious mind works…We have history together, remember? And your **obsession** with Ares goes wayyyy back…"

"Call it what you will. But I think I've made an excellent case against him. I want a judgment….now…"

"Based on….?"

"A vow he took on the river Styx… **and** broke the following second …."

"That does sound like something Ares would do ….Still…do you have **proofs**….?"

In response, the Goddess just placed a warm hand on the Fury's inner thigh, keeping it there for a few seconds, their gazes locked, before she foxily murmured on a low, seductive tone meant to melt away any shadow of a doubt that the inquisitive woman might have had:

"Oh I have** all** the proof you need…..right here….." Athena whispered shifting the place of her hand a bit closer to the Fury's hot center...

She was instantly rewarded with a loud, wanting moan that left Alecto's lips like a sweet melody… How she had missed the Goddess' touch...As if raptured by an old stream of memories and fantasies, she closed her eyes, allowing her every cell to react to Athena's delicate caress….The Goddess had a point….that was all the proof she needed….

Watching her cunningly, Athena silently congratulated herself….Another won battle…Ares stood no chance against her…..Not even one…he was going down the drain as fast as a Spartan chariot loaded with rocks and there was nothing he could do about it….

It didn't take long for Alecto to start doing her ex lover's bidding…..In no time, she was heading towards the center of the room, her resonant voice attracting instantaneously the attention of the other two Furies, whose minds were still entranced by the hypnotic, savage sound of the drums…

"Furies! Athena Goddess of Wisdom has need of our judgment. You've all heard her complaint against the War God….How do you judge? " the question slashed the air like a double edged saber...

No response came at first, but as soon as her teeth started nibbling erotically Magaera's earlobe with wet, playful bites while one of her hands slid teasingly underneath Tisiphone's short dress, things began too look up for the Goddess of Wisdom...

Their low, desperate for affection moans and the air that was sharply rushing from their half parted lips was all the confirmation Alecto needed to hear...A wave of utter disappointment crashed through their bodies of course the instant the object of their desire left them and returned by Athena's side again, but there was nothing more left to be said and done…..

"It's unanimous…" she uttered firmly, winking implyingly at the visibly aroused Goddess, whose faced was flushed with the chocking effort to suppress the overwhelming desire to feel the blond Fury's touch once more….."The Furies had found Ares guilty of all charges….." she murmured against Athena's ear, making her almost jump in surprise at that unique sensation of electricity running up and down her spine the instant she felt her hot breath on her neck…..

"The sentence?" the Goddess' mumbled question quickly followed, using it as some sort of refuge, a way to escape the truth…..She had initially come there with the premeditated intention to manipulate the old feelings that she knew Alecto still had for her and ended by gradually falling into her own trap….

"What would it be? Persecution or madness? Your choice….."

"I'd say madness…I'll take care of the persecution part personally….."

"Well…..you've always preferred to take matters into your own hands…." Alecto stated on a very naughty tone while she straddled the Goddess' lap, parting her lips with her tongue, and a single wave of her hand was all it took to make her own red top disappear in a cloud of violet smoke, thus allowing Athena to have free access to her full, sexy breasts….

"I do have a special request though…" the Olympian continued before giving Alecto the attention she was so explicitly longing for….

"Name it..."

"In his delirious insanity, I want that cocky, arrogant, self centered Brother of mine to kill someone…."

"That's…**unusual**…" the Fury stressed pensively " But go on…"

"I want him to kill the one person on this planet that means something to him."

"And...uh... who would that person be?" she questioned eagerly, amazed that the soulless God might have actually grown fond of some living and breathing thing….

Reading the utter curiosity painted like a fresco on Alecto's visage, Athena let out a heartful laugh before whispering a name against the woman's ear …..

"I should have guessed…" she replied chuckling maliciously.

"I'll be highly appreciative…."

"It shall be done….." Alecto responded on a thick muffled voice, her brain already starting to loose any connection what so ever with reality the moment Athena's burning tongue began flickering over her erect cherry nipples….

….But a few feet away, her senses imprisoned by passion and uncontrollable craving, Magaera had already pushed Tisiphone on the soft plush rug covering the temple floor, parting her legs in the ultimate purpose of taking her sister in a free, one way trip to the exotic lands of the Elysian Fields…..

Soon, the entire temple was vibrating with earthly, animalistic sounds covering various notes and tones, as the four naked bodies began entwining around one another like snakes, with fluid, graceful movements which would have made any Kamasutra addicted follower jealous….Since the beginning of time, the perfect way to weave a mind blowing, conniving scheme had always started with a fabulous fuck…..


	21. Never again

While a still outraged Ares was wiping his sword on the vulture's shaggy feathers-what was left of them, that is-, before his hollow gaze there was a totally different scene unfolding like an old, broken scroll on which irregular images of him and Xena kissing, fighting, having fun or yelling at each other like crazy were mixed together in some sort of strangely executed picture that made no sense what so ever and at the same time it made all the sense in the world…

….There was a lot of blood besmirching his memories …..an unstoppable stream of claret that was continuously flowing and flowing and flowing from his Princess' deep, nasty wound, staining his hands, drenching his skin and clothes just like the bird's blood had done it now, flooding first the surroundings and then the entire Greece….the whole known world and gradually the universe, covering the Sun and the Moon with a crimson cloth from which tiny ruby drops were falling like rain on the vermilion sea that had engulfed the earth, hiding any trace of dry land …..

"Gods damn it!" he groaned on an exhausted voice, tilting his head back in complete abandon while shifting his glare towards the dark vault of the heaven from where he had a quite serious hunch that his sneaky, heartless Sister was watching the show, clapping her hands in utter delight.

" 'You like this? Are you still enjoying yourself Bitch? Well enjoy it while it lasts cause once this is over I'm coming for you! Do you hear me? I'm gonna rip you apart limb from limb Athena! Limb from limb!" the words burst from his lungs like blizzard in a glacial winter day.

In fact, his brain was literally boiling with pain, despair, anger and helplessness…..He would have screamed his tonsils out had he had the certainty that there was no portal open to scan his every move, he had even considered doing it, but his huge ego refused to give the Goddess that amount of satisfaction…So instead of screaming the ache away he just swallowed it as he had done it so many times before when that stubborn woman he was madly in love with had cruelly inflicted it, her poisonous passion stinging his soul just like the sharp thorns of a beautiful rose….

For a few moments, he took a good look around him…..for some unkown reason everything seemed so …..deserted…..No more birds, no wind, no sound what so ever coming from the nearby forest…there was just a large empty space all around- upon which the thick mantle of a grey evening had began to fall…

He took a deep breath, trying to clear his mind a bit before considering some other options he might have had to bring Xena back to life…..he could either kill Celesta and bring all Olympus down on both their heads once she was amongst the living again, or…..he could look for answers elsewhere, ask some foreign deities for help- despite the fact that he hated the idea, but, as he already knew it, he would have done anything to have her by his side again no matter the sacrifices or the consequences….

Before he realized what was going on , from all that stillness and that graveyard quietness, three different voices started invading his mind, howling like wolves, rustling like the wind and cutting like swords, giving birth to real storms and tornadoes inside his mind, making what was still left of his heart to hurt even more…..Guilt, remorse, anger, utter sadness and an unspeakable thirst for vengeance, the Daughters of the Night had planned to show the already partially defeated by the Fates Olympian, no mercy, just like the Goddess of Wisdom had demanded…

Ares shook his head hard a couple of times in the vain attempt to make the voices go away, pressing defensively his palms on the temples, feeling that they would most likely snap otherwise under the effect of those deafening, resonant words that were continuously bouncing from one part of his brain to the other and the other and the other in some never ending circle.

"_**You let her die…..Xena….you did nothing to save her"**_

"_**You just stood there, watching….you didn't even bother to intervene…"**_

" No…..it's not my fault…I tried…..It was because of Athena that I couldn't reach her in time, she took away my powers" the God replied in self defense as if he had been on trial for some first degree murder, a horrified gaze in his eyes while reliving the Warrior's death all over again.

"_**You knew what Athena had in mind and still you hid it from her…."**_

"_**You just wanted revenge; you did it on purpose…."**_

"_**Jealousy is said to be a terminal disease God of War" **_

"_**It was certainly terminal for Xena"**_another voice broke out mockingly, ending it's line in a burst of uncontrollable, diabolic laughter.

"Shut up! Shut up!" an obviously agonizing Ares yelled from the top of his lungs, loosing his patience and pulling menacingly his sword back from it's scabbard…

In no time he was spinning around just like a peg top while looking for the ones that he needed to hack to pieces in order to shut them up…..To his much dismay, there was nothing there but the air…..air and that cruel, inhuman laughter that seemed to just go on forever…..

"_**And what's even more tragic is that she died right when she began to realize how much she loved you…"**_

"_**She was in love with you…"**_

"_**She wanted you to be together…."**_

"_**You've managed to conquer her icy heart….."**_

"_**You were constantly on her mind…..she saw your face everywhere…"**_

"_**And now she's gone….."**_

"_**She will never be yours again"**_

"_**Never again…never again"**_

"_**Never again….."**_

"No! I will have her back! She's mine! She belongs to me! She will never leave! I won't allow it…..She can't …"

"_**Oh, but she has already done that…" **_

"_**She's in Tartarus right now…."**_

"_**Burning for her crimes….."**_

"_**She will spend eternity there….."**_

"_**Far away from you…..You will never see her again"**_

"_**You will never kiss her again…."**_

"_**Those ravishing blue eyes are forever closed…."**_

"_**You will never get to tell her how much you love her…."**_

"She knows I love her…..I told her ….She knows…" the God firmly protested, as if trying to convince those unseen entities -that pretty much seemed to be aware of each and every hidden fear and thought haunting his mind, - of his innocence.

Unfortunately, the creatures were way too god at what they were doing, and exploring both human and godly consciousnesses was kinda their domain of expertise…

"**No she doesn't…she thought it was all a game…"**

"**She had no idea you were serious about it….."**

"**You hurt her….."**

"**She was sure you were just trying to make a mockery out of her own feelings for you…."**

"**You've always told her that love is for the weak….."**

"**You made her think that she was just another fuck….That she was unimportant to you….."**

"This is not true! It's all a lie….And she's not dead….Stop saying that, she can't be dead…She'll make it through, she had been through worse and she came back…..She came back to me….." a tormented War God whispered, falling on his knees on the hard ground, his breathing growing more and more ragged by the second until he literally got the impression that he was about to choke- despite the fact that Gods didn't even need air…

"_**She loved you….."**_

"_**She loved you and you let her down…She died thinking that you didn't care…"**_

" _**And now you'll never get to tell her the truth…."**_

"_**And all this drama because of Aphrodite….Can you believe it?."**_

"_**Yeah...Aphrodite's to blame for everything…."**_

"_**It's her fault that the Warrior Princess died…"**_

"_**Your Princess…."**_

"Aphrodite?! What are you talking about?! Get out of my head! Leave me alone!" he broke out, instantly placing his hand above his heart, as if fearing that it might crack under the effect of those awful details washing over his brain.

"_**She killed your Chosen…..She was behind it all…..She planned it….."**_

"She wouldn't do such thing…She warned me…..She wanted to protect Xena…"

"_**She wanted to keep you away from her…."**_

"_**She knew about the vow….."**_

"_**She lied to you…..she betrayed your trust….."**_

"_**Aphrodite betrayed you…"**_

"That's not true! Why would she do that? She's my Sister, she knew how I felt about Xena…She wouldn't have done that…..It's all a lie! You're all lying"

"_**She's in love with you….She wants you for herself…"**_

"_**You're still in her heart….she can't let go….."**_

"_**She was jealous of Xena…"**_

"_**Of the love you have for the Warrior Princess…."**_

"_**She didn't want you to be together….."**_

"_**So he came up with that story….."**_

"..._** telling you everything that you needed to her in order to think that she was well meant…"**_

"No….." he murmured automatically, this time on a more shaky tone though, as things began to slowly make sense somehow….

"…_**..when in fact she told Xena about Athena's scheme right after having talked to you…**_

"…_**.knowing that using this information the Warrior Princess would surely change her battle plan…"**_

" ..._**the Goddess would have naturally assumed that **__**you were the one who had spilled the beans **_…that you broke the vow…"

"…_**She consequently, killed Xena just for payback…" **_

At that point Ares was hardly blinking….Either he was going totally cuckoo or there was some undeniable logic into that ceaseless blabber of the mysterious voices…..

"She did kiss me back at the temple….."

"_**She wanted more….."**_

"_**Remember her reaction when you told her that you and Xena "made love" …." **_

"She was shocked that I didn't use the "f " word….

"_**She was jealous and hurt…"**_

"_**She should pay…."**_

"_**She should be punished!" **_

"_**Justice must be done….."**_

"_**Kill her…."**_

"_**Kill her! She must pay….."**_

"_**Death to Aphrodite…"**_

"_**Kill her! Kill the Love Goddess!" **_


	22. Foreign Languages

His logic and reason blurred with agonizing pain and grief and his mind taken over by the unbearable, whirling idea that the voices were actually right and that he would never again have Xena by his side, the War God left the premises roaring like an enraged, wounded beast and transported himself back to the Halls of War, where, a surprisingly radiant and peaceful Love Goddess was finishing her story while pressing lightly over the crimson bandage wrapped around the Warrior Princess' injury with her pearled palms, a sweet, innocent smile playing on her lips as she ended her phrases:

"So you see Xe, even if we're not together anymore, this doesn't mean that we've stopped loving each other …..I'm still his and he's still mine, there's nothing anyone could ever do about it. Neither mortal nor Goddess could ever come between us, for we belong to each other and I will be the only queen of his heart until the end of time….."

"**_Did you hear her? Did you?" _**

"_**She wants you for herself…She loves you…."**_

"_**She killed Xena…..She killed her…"**_

"_**And now she's bragging about it…"**_

"_**You can't allow it…It's not fair….."**_

"_**The Warrior Princess died because of her…."**_

"_**Murderer! She's a murderer!"**_

"_**Xena's blood is on her hands! Just look at her hands, they are stained with her blood!"**_

In spite of his progressive slide into insanity, Ares' soul broke like a rotten branch, his pupils dilating considerably while hearing his Sister's words.

If the first impact of "finding out" that the bubbly Goddess had premeditated his Chosen's death out of jealousy and spite had made his immortal blood literally freeze inside his veins, now, the actual proof of what he had indisputably interpreted as being an undeniable love statement of her hidden feelings for him, was making his brain boil hot along with even the last intact grey cell that the presence of the Furies had accidentally spared.

"What did you say?!" he burst out on such a violent tone that his own chest hurt as he forced the air out of his lungs

"Ares!" Aphrodite shrieked uncontrollably, jumping off the bed as if she had been standing on a heap of burning coals. "I didn't know you were there…..When did you come back?" she asked in surprise, more out of pure, utter curiosity than a vivid interest for that particular information, still taken aback by her Brother's harsh inflection, barely able to keep her voice level"

Closing in the distance between them, the War God cast a weird loving gaze towards his Princess….

"She's so beautiful when she's asleep…."he murmured, carefully tucking a strand of hair behind Xena's ear- as he usually did whenever he felt the need to touch her…..

The Love Goddess just stared blankly at his "maniac" like expression , hardly believing her sky blue eyes, wondering if it was even wise to open her mouth to say anything, for what she now had before her was definitely not the confident, ready to turn the world upside down War God that had left the room hours ago, but a falling to pieces man that was obviously minutes away from loosing even the last thread of sanity that still held him tied up to reality.

Tartarus, scanning his tormented expression she couldn't help thinking that the idea of pulling air into her lungs itself might get her toasted, so the revolutionary concept of holding her breath for awhile, suddenly didn't sound as ridiculous as it did when they were kids and when she would usually threaten him that she would kill herself by refusing to inhale if he didn't do what she asked of him… ….

"Did …..did you get the ambrosia?" she murmured, avoiding his red, tired eyes.

"No…" he simply stated, attentively scanning her visage as if he were analyzing the intricate details of some famous sculpture…..The perfect moment for the voices to start reverberating throughout his head again….

"_**She's smiling! She's happy that you can't bring Xena back to life!"**_

"_**She thinks she has won!"**_

"_**She knew you couldn't get the ambrosia"**_

"_**How do you think Athena found out what you were after?"**_

"_**Aphrodite told her!" **_

"_**She wanted you to fail….."**_

"_**The Warrior Princess stood no chance against her evilness…."**_

"_**Xena thought the Love Goddess was her friend!"**_

"_**And Aphrodite killed her!"**_

"_**She killed her! She killed her! She killed her!" **_

Taking a good look at his Sister's coral lips, for a brief moment there, Ares actually had the impression of seeing them slightly curl into a tricky, cattish smile that he knew so well….

"Why are you smiling about?" he asked, cupping the Love Goddess' chin in a way that was anything but comfortable, wiping brutally her mouth with the tip of his thumb as if trying to erase that inexistent grin that was irking the Tartarus out of him…..

"I was not smil…." she managed to mumble before the God gripped her face even harder, his fingers digging through her cheeks.

"Don't lie to me!…..I'm not blind for Gaia's sake and I'm certainly not stupid! " the piercing yell came thundering out, letting Aphrodite in complete shock.

"I…. never said you were…..Are…..are you ok?" she added when the angry God finally loosened his grip, lowering his hand towards her neck instead, which he began caressing almost seductively.

"**_Just listen to her! The Bitch has the nerve to ask if you're ok after what she has done!"_**

"_**She's just trying to change the subject!" **_

"_**She's looking for an escape….."**_

"_**She's probably realized that you saw what kind of plagued soul lies within her….."**_

"_**Don't let her get away with it…." **_the Furies kept whispering against his ear, making him feel like he was about to blow up, urging him to wanna just raze to the ground everything in sight, no exceptions...

"Shut up! Just shut up!" Ares groaned , letting go of his Sister and hitting repeatedly his head with the back of his hand instead, in the useless attempt to shut the voices off his mind-they were driving him completely crazy, he just couldn't stand them anymore…To his brain they were like parasites that were sucking the life out of him...

"All of you shut up!"

Hardly noticeable, Aphrodite had started to tremble- despite the fact that emotion of any kind was a very uncommon thing for Gods to feel...She could tell her Brother was anything but fine though and that sent her every instinct in alert mode…

"_Poor Stud Muffin…..he probably failed finding the ambrosia….." she _thought, casting a sympathetic gaze towards the drowning in anguish and despair War God. Seeing him like this was killing her...Thus, in a common, typical gesture for her , she wrapped her arms around him in a warm hug, trying to offer some comfort, hoping that a bit of affection might just ease his pain...

It's safe to say that "flabbergasted" is a poor word when it comes to expressing the Goddess' surprise when Ares grabbed her by the shoulders and pushed her forcefully against the wall, his face transformed by such deep hatred and despise that for a moment there, her brain refused to realize the fact that all that negativity was indeed directed to her, being still inclined to blame it all on the lack of success of his previous rescue mission...

"What are your feelings for me?" he inquired sternly, his lips so close to hers that her heart instantly began drumming madly inside her chest...Was it fear? Was it something else...she couldn't actually tell, cause before she even got the chance to offer a proper reply or to make a short mental analysis of her unexpected reaction , the God was already crushing her mouth with his own, searching for her tongue with such ferocious passion that she couldn't have denied him that kiss not even if her whole life had been at stake-which, unknown to her it actually was..

Given his recent loss though, the Goddess found it more than natural for the introverted Ares to look for something to cling on- that including their as old as time past relationship...

"Answer me..." he insisted against her lips when he finally pulled an inch apart, allowing her to breathe...

Aphrodite felt lost. She didn't quite know what to say...She had no idea if admitting that there were still sparks of passion between them could help the confused and aloof War God in any way to keep his head on his shoulders or it would only make things worse later on the road...

"_Maybe he just feels alone now that Xe's gone...He probably needs to know that he can count on someone, that there's still a soul who'd do anything in the world for him...someone he could trust..." _she said to herself, her eyes shining with yet unshed tears, unable to guess just how fatal the content of her answer could be...It was as if they were speaking foreign languages...

"Like what kind of question is that, Ar'? You know how much I care about you...I mean you're ...my big Bro and all, ...my cute... Studmuffin..." she trailed off on a mild, loving voice, brushing the tip of the God's nose with her fingers- in a sisterly, adoring caress, a caress that the handsome Olympian quickly took advantage off the moment he caught her hand, lowering it to his lips instead, where he began tracing their contour using the tip of fingers, biting her playfully while he allowed the other one to entangle in her blond curly tresses, pulling her even closer to his face so that now their foreheads were touching, their mouths separated only by the Goddess' tender hand ...

"_**She's not telling all the truth..."**_

"_**Aphrodite is trying to deceive you..."**_

"_**Make her say it...make her admit it..."**_

"_**She's obsessed with you..."**_

"_**You can see it in her eyes, can't you War God?"**_

"What else?" Ares murmured, brushing his sister's lips with his own..."Tell me..."

"Well..." Aphrodite started, still unsure on what would the best answer sound like from Ares' perspective. "You're special to me...You've always been, you know that..."

"How special?" the God firmly insisted, adamant about hearing her say it..

" More special than anyone to whom I ever gave a part of my heart...Whereas to the others I only gave pieces, to you I gave it all, without thinking twice about..."

As she uttered the words, the room echoed with the malicious laughter of the three Furies, and though Aphrodite couldn't hear it, the War God did... Just like a snake bite would cause venom to spread to a living body paralyzing every functional organ, those words spread through the Olympian's system with the speed of light, turning him against the only immortal who would have gladly gave up her own life for him if that meant that he would be happy...

"They were right...You did it...It was you...! "

"What are you talking about?"

"That's what I'm talking about!" he shouted pointing towards the stiff raven beauty. " You killed her! You obsessed little Hussy! You Tramp! You killed my Princess..."

"What?! What are you talking about. You said it yourself that Athena did it and then you called me to transport you here remember?"

"_**The coward! She's trying to blame Athena for everything!"**_

"_**When in fact she was the one who started it all..."**_

"_**She's trying to save her pitiful life..."**_

"_**She's afraid! She doesn't deserve to live"**_

"Athena might have pushed that dagger though her but you were the one who put it into her hand in the first place!"

"How...What? ...Ares, you're not well...And like I can definitely understand that, but from suffering to actually telling ..."

"Don't waste you're breath! You've known me for awhile now..." the God cut her off, materializing the dagger into his hand, making sure the Love Goddess saw what awaited her...

"Like what are you doing with that?...Ares...Bro'?" she faintly murmured, her gaze glued to the silvery blade, a wave of terror washing over her once she deciphered the God's true intentions...

"You obsessed, frustrated Slut! You've always been jealous on my relationship with Xena...It ate you alive to know that I've finally found someone who completed me in every single way...You couldn't stand the idea that she's something else and that she took your place from the moment I laid eyes on her..."

"That's so not true! You know how much I love the Warrior Babe...Plus...I'm Love remember I could have never..."

"**Yes she did, she did! She killed Xena..."**

"**Don't listen to her she's just playing with your head"**

"**She's clever...Aphrodite's malicious ...diabolical..."**

"**She has to die...Do it...kill her!" **

"Love is a double faced Bitch, **Sis'** " Ares growled lowly stressing their familial connection, kissing the blade before adding:

"This is for Xena..."

Vainly did the Love Goddess tried to dematerialize, wanting to run away to Olympus where she might have been safe, for, the cunning War God had cast a strong protection shield over the place so that Xena would be safe until he came back...An unsurpassable energetic barrier that no one with the exception of Athena could annihilate...

"Oh you're not going anywhere beautiful...Hey!Just so you know, I've heard they have no mirrors in Oblivion!..." he added, uncontrollable fury burning on the surface of his amber like eyes. "...Too bad! I would have given up the world just so that you could see how you look without a heart!"

...It only took a brief tick tack for the sharp dagger of Helios to pierce the Love Goddess' chest...A crimson stream of claret jetted out of her ivory skin, as Ares twisted to blade to enlarge the wound, staining her light pink dress in a red that would never dry... Before she died, Aphrodite was still screaming, contemplating in horror her heart which was still beating in her Brother's hand...He spat on it before throwing it to her lap...


	23. Incandescence

**XXX Hi Guys, just wanted to let you know that I have a new story in store for you on Fanfiction, a story I've written in collab with my dear friend down-understudios ****entitled 'A Battle of hearts and minds ". For all Xena- Ares shippers, you can check it out on her prrofile...Let us know what you think of it...And now, let's get back to this story, which by the way is getting pretty close to a more or less expected end...:) Enjoy...XXX**

The roof of the room seemed to collapse on the God's head though the instant the Furies stormed out of his head, removing the veil of insanity from his foggy mind, allowing his eyes to finally see the horrific consequence of his foolhardy actions and his brain to realize just how easily manipulable he had been, his unforgivable weakness costing him the life of his own Sister...

"Dite? Sis'? ...Dite talk to me! " the desperate, ragged screams escaped his throat while he rushed to the Love Goddess ' side, barely restraining the urge to vomit the moment he noticed her still faintly bleeding heart lying on her lap..."By all Olympus! What have I done? What have I done?" he kept repeating while taking a few steps back from the cruelly mutilated body , unable to take his eyes from the half cut left cheek...

It was no wonder his hands began shaking uncontrollably as he noticed the fresh blood covering his palms, and soon his feet felt like melting jelly...When his knees hit the hard marble floor he didn't even flinched, as if his brain hadn't even registered the impact...

" **We did it, we did it!" ** one of the Furies started to brag nosily, bursting into a devilish wave of laughter.

"**He killed her! Murderer! "**

"**Love is no more! He ripped her heart out!" **

"**War killed Love!" **

"**Monster! You're a monster Ares!" **

"**Monster! Monster! Monster!" ** they all began shouting at the utterly shocked War God whose mind was still struggling to accept reality as it was, his any thought except the ones regarding his Sister's partially chopped body being as frozen as an iceberg.

Instinctively, the God covered his ears with the back of his hands...If but moments before- when the three bloodthirsty entities had invaded his reason- he found their voices as being absolutely deafening, now that he had actually become aware of his actions he felt as if his drumheads were about to be pierced by the unbearable intensity of those caustic words and that the flesh itself hurt on his bones...

"This is not true! I'm only imagining things...Dite is a Goddess she can't die, she's immortal just like I am..."

The disturbing sound of their mocking laughter bounced across the walls of the room.

"**Don't fool yourself Ares! The dagger of Helios can send to Tartarus even Zeus himself! "**

"**A world without Love, can you imagine that?"**

"**Without Love, War will be no more! You're gonna die too...Your life was bound to Aphrodite's..."**

"**It will be slow and painful..."**

"**But you'll have to loose your mind first..."**

"**Really loose your mind this time..." **

"**It would be so much easier if you kill yourself..."**

"**Spare yourself the suffering..."**

"**The humiliation..."**

"**Take the dagger..."**

"**Join your Sister..."**

"**And Xena!" ** the now honeyed voices whispered temptingly against his ear, their hands caressing his chest while Alecto materialized the shining blade before him.

The tormented Olympian stared at it blankly for a couple of seconds as if he didn't quite noticed it's presence there, so close, so temptingly close...

He wanted to say something but somehow, his tongue refused to comply, his lips refused to part...There were no inflections forming in his throat...It didn't take long before the entire room began to spin, and Aphrodite's cold, unnaturally cold eyes-just like the ones of an old, broken porcelain doll- kept glaring at him accusingly...

"I didn't mean to Sis'! You gotta believe me! You know you mean the world to me..." he managed to mumble in a language that no mortal or immortal would have understood for the phrases only came out in the form of a jangled grumble that had nothing in common with any traditional means of communication...It was more likely the expression of well buried pain surfacing to drown what was still left of his sanity...

"**Come on, do it..."**

"**It would ease the pain..."**

"**That blood...you will never wash it off your hands..."**

"**Her memory would just haunt you until the accursed moment of your death..."**

"**You have no right to live"**

"**Not after what you have done!" **

"**It's only fair that you pay for her life with yours!"**

"**It's the right thing to do..."**

"**Plus you're all alone now..."**

"**Xena's gone, Aphrodite's gone..."**

"**You will be haunted down by the entire Olympus once Athena delivers the news..."**

**"You've killed them both...!" **

"The right thing to do..." he replayed like a broken record, while the familiar sound of his Sister's merry giggles found way to his brain...

With trembling hands, almost clumsily, he picked the dagger from the floor, pointing it towards the place where it hurt the most: his heart...

Before he got the chance to go through with his action, as from far, far away, the Love Goddess' melodic voice filled the air like a spring breeze at the seaside, calling him...

"Ares...Bro'..."

"I'm coming Dite, I'm coming" was all that he managed to say...Soon an incandescent flash of light washed over his falling body, leaving him breathless...


	24. Undeniable, real Love

"Ares! Will you wake up already?!" his Sister's high pitched voice kept grazing his eardrums while his body kept balancing uncontrollably from left to right as if during an earthquake, the brutal pushes with which Aphrodite insisted on bringing him back to his senses having apparently no effect what so ever over the disturbing numbness of his brain...

When he finally opened his eyes though, the first thing he saw was the Love Goddess' worried visage. He instantly jumped to his feet, automatically taking a few steps back, a horrified expression painted on his face as he contemplated a pretty much alive and well Aphrodite...

"Get away from me!" he somehow managed to mumble, staring like a madman at his glamorous Sister's generous chest- the same place where a disgustingly ugly fresh wound should have been still bleeding, revealing the now empty cavity where her heart should have normally pounded.

"You're not real. You're dead!" he articulated, louder this time, raising defensively his hands above his head the instant the Goddess moved closer to him, despite the fact that there were at least about ten steps still separating them.

" Dead...that's a good one. Well stop fooling around already, and come here, I have something to show you...and yes, you can built me a couple of temples as a sign of appreciation..." she retorted, rolling her eyes at her Brother's childish reaction, obviously thinking that he was in one of his "morbid joking" kind of mood, heading for the Warrior Princess' bed instead.

When she finally noticed that there was no reaction coming from the War God's behalf, she just turned around again, ready to tell him a thing or two about just how inadequate the moment was for his stupid play pretend routines, but the words got instantly stuck somewhere in between her throat and her lips when she decoded the genuine terror written on the God's features.

"You're serious about this aren't you...?"

She only received in return an even more freaked out glare.

"Look...whatever's wrong with you, it's me...Dite...Your loving little Sister? See...? Pink dress...pink lipstick...pink **underwear...?** the blond Goddess continued, pointing towards her transparent night gown as if that was the ultimate proof, absolutely certain that if that didn't make a difference , nothing could...

She was obviously wrong, since Ares looked anything but convinced.

" You're not Dite...I've just killed you...I killed you with my own hands..." he answered, shaking his head as hard as he could as if trying to make the image before him go away...

"I know what this is...This is Tartarus right? I'm in Tartarus and now I'm paying for what I've done...I'm haunted..." the sentences almost exploded from his chest.

"Pffff!" the Love Goddess snorted while contemplating her Brother's version of reality..." I haven't thought of the possibility , but now that you've mentioned it, I must say, getting on your nerves for the rest of eternity does sound promising. I should definitely talk to Uncle Hades about this. Good idea Stud!...You'd be forced to hear me rant about the latest fashion in Greece and about fabulous love stories for like...forever! Is that cool or what?! " she giggled, visibly thrilled by the concept. "Maybe it wouldn't be so bad after all, I mean I could finally get some fashion sense into you...I bet that in less than one year I could get you to wear pink!"

For a moment there, Ares seemed confused, but soon there was a pale shade of reckoning flashing on the surface of his amber like eyes.

"Oh, and you know what would be like totally awesome? You getting to model for me...Have I told you that I'm planning to create my own clothing line? I've been working on a project laately that would like rock the fashion industry. From here to Ch'in everyone will wear **"AGO"-** Aphrodite Goddess of Olympus that is. I will rewrite the concept of apparel and beauty...Not that I'm not doing it daily anyway, but this will be like huge! The whole world would wear my creations...The other Goddesses will die of envy! They will beg me to sell them dresses and stuff!"

"Dite?!" the War God's broken voice could be heard- this time hiding a faint trace of familiarity in it..."Is it really you?"

The Love Goddess just let out a low chuckle, her Brother's puzzled look amusing her beyond words.

"No, it's Grandma Gaia! Of course it's me! That's what I've been trying to tell you for the past 30 minutes or so..."

"But...how?! " Ares inquired, his body still refusing to move a muscle in the natural intent of hugging his Sister.

"...Listen, I don't know what you were dreaming about there but I can assure you that me is...**Me**...I am me, myself...? Ok?" she added, obviously on the verge of drowning herself in the long tiring explanation... "Now...we should really start talking about the Warrior Babe before her heart stops again..."

Slowly dragging his feet towards the other side of the room where Aphrodite was standing, the bewildered War God was nonetheless unable to suppress the weird feeling that something was not quite right...Either his eyes were playing tricks on him or his Sister's hair was longer than usual...And her smile was a bit different...

Her mind floating on a higher cloud somewhere, the Goddess didn't even notice Ares' rather strange look -or if she did, she just considered it to be as strange as it had been before...nothing new...She only realized that her Brother was still acting loco the minute he got closer to her, close enough to grab her throat and lift her up a few inches from the ground.

"If you're really Aphrodite then I suppose you can tell me what was it that I whispered against your ear the night when we fucked for the first time? "

He immediately put her down though once he realized that she was physically in the impossibility of providing an answer because of the powerful grip chocking her to death , so, without unclenching his fingers from around her neck too much though- just enough so that she could be capable of articulating a few needed words- he impatiently demanded an answer...

"Speak!"

"You mean that summer after Hestia's Family Festival? Or that time when we both quit aunt Demetra's Biology Class and we got blind drunk behind uncle Poseidon's temple back in Sounion? Does that count?"

"The first option" came Ares' concise reply...

"Well...let me think...- that I can do wonders with my mouth...?"

"Not that..." the God retorted rolling his eyes in frustration. "Afterwards..."

"That we should do it again...**slower?**" Aphrodite's half choked line could be heard.

"If you haven't noticed I'm not in a very playful mood...So I might just break your neck next..."

"You did say that Ar..."

"I know I did, but that's not what I meant...What did I tell you after we were done...with everything, while I was holding you in my arms right before you drifted to sleep?" he broke on a very angry note this time, tightening his grip in what was supposed to be a demonstrative sample of what awaited her just in case she offered the wrong answer, staring daggers at the shaking like a leaf Aphrodite.

"Oh! I know...Let me see...You pretty much said that I will always be the most important person in the world for you...You were so romantic back then Bro'! But on the other hand I guess you could blame it all on the hormones..." she added, trying not to sound too mocking, barely able to hold back a chuckle that was tickling the back of her throat in a very unpleasant way...

As if awakening from a long, expertly well painted nightmare, the War God released her, his face still bearing that confused expression which seemed to have stuck on his features...

"Gods! I'm so glad you're alive! You have no idea..." he murmured, caressing lovingly his Sister's blond curls...

"Like yeah, totally bitchin'...Whatever..." she promptly responded, unable to fully comprehend her Brother's boundless relief..

"What happened?" he inquired lowly, shifting his gaze towards Xena's still form.

"Her heart stopped remember?"

"She was bleeding...badly..." he added, his mind still in a haze.

"Yeah...and you were telling her about Egypt..."

"She closed her eyes..." his own words completed the sentence.

"She was dying...But you saved her..."

"I...I did?"

"Yeah...I don't know how you found it within you, but you came up with enough energy as to partially heal her wound and to make her heart start beating again..."

"I don't recall having done that..."

"Well...it took quite an effort...The sudden release of energy left you all drained out...You went blank for awhile..."

"And Xena?" he asked hastily, while feverishly looking for vital signs...

"She'll be ok ..." she asserted, revealing an orange piece of jelly from her push up bra.

"Ambrosia?!" came the logical exclamation at what was obviously a surprisingly shocking detail. "How did you get it? When?"

"If I didn't know better, I'd swear you're getting old Stud...I told you I was going after the ambrosia, that I had a wild hunch on how I could get my hands on it..."

Ares just kept staring at her in utter amazement, obviously oblivious about whatever she was talking about.

"Dad's vulture? I told you I had Artemis' bow at one of my temples, she had forgotten it during a hunt in Lesbos and I like totally failed on taking it back to Olympus. Somehow it always slips my mind...I bet she's pissed about it too...But whatever, I'm sure she has like a dozen of them stuffed in her temples..."

"What does that have to do with the ambrosia?" Ares questioned, still unable to make the connection.

"Like dooooh! Artemis' bow never misses! So I like shot the vulture down and took the ambrosia from it's beak-which was pretty gross by the way...-...But I guess the Warrior Babe is worth all the effort in the world, right? ...And here it is, just like I promised..."

"_Not even the Furies would be able to stand between me and that honey tasting jelly! Athena could as well eat her heart out!" _they both echoed at the same time, the War God suddenly remembering his Sister's determined words and Aphrodite quoting herself in the purpose of further explaining her actions.

Ares was stunned. Not only he began realizing what had the source of his nightmare been, but he was also struck by the boundless, unselfish love that his Sister had generously displayed without asking anything in return. Sacrificing her own safety in order to save his Princess...For him that was an undeniable proof of real love...


	25. Past sparks

**XXX A special thanks to my sweet reviewer "midnight-camilla"- your comment there gave me quite an idea. Consequently, this chapter is dedicated to you:) XXX**

"Well don't just stand there like a frozen Caveman! Give her the ambrosia already! " Aphrodite's voice echoed through the room, while her fragile hand extended, offering her big Brother the reddish jelly.

Almost unable to believe that things were actually starting too look bright for him, Ares took the ambrosia and, heading hesitantly towards his Princess' limp form, he took a sit on the soft edge of the bed right next to her, kissing tenderly her purple ice cold lips before asking the Love Goddess a question that pretty much sounded as dumb as it was...

"How...how much should I give her?"

His ditsy Sister just gawked at him in amazement for a couple of seconds, while her brain struggled with decoding the secret meaning behind what sounded to be the trickiest question ever...When it found none, she just responded, on a note that had "thunder stricken" written all over it:

"You really haven't been paying attention to any of aunt Demetra's classes about magic items and godly stuff, have you?"

"Are you kidding me?!" came the War God's brash reply..."That was a few millennia ago...And plus, I was too busy staring at your boobs back then to even think about anything else..."

"Ares!" she exclaimed, as if offended by her Brother's obnoxious statement.

"What?! It's true! They were a delicious sight to see...still are, by the way..." he continued, winking at her implyingly.

Instead of a firm protest, Aphrodite just giggled playfully in return, casting a brief glance at her indubitably, tempting chest.

" Anyway...the rule says that the first morsel can bring one to life, the second has the power to turn them immortal, while the third one bestows them with godlike qualities...I guess it's up to you..." she finished, almost whispering the last part of the phrase...

"Up to me, huh?" he repeated, his mind seemingly plunging in some faraway flashes of time, while his fiery eyes narrowed a bit under the impact of the still very much vivid memories.

Almost absently, the corners of his lips stretched in the form of a fading smile while placing a small quantity of ambrosia on his Chosen's lips.

"Come back to me, Baby..." he murmured, caressing the pale skin of her face with the back of his hand.

Under the gentleness of his touch, the washed out color of the Warrior Princess' cheeks started to change, gradually acquiring brighter and more natural tones until it reached a dusty rose nuance...the proper moment to place another tiny reddish morsel in between her lips.

"...Forever..." the words came tumbling from his mouth, making the Love Goddess involuntarily turn her head to the other side, as if unable to watch the extremely romantic moment...

Before she knew it, two shining, transparent tears rolled down her porcelain like visage, and her heart almost jumped out of her chest when she felt the tip of Ares's fingers, brushing them away the very next second.

"I'm sorry Bro'...You know me...I've always been a sucker for honey like scenes..." she said, her voice ragged and insecure.

"Look at me..." the War God's line soon followed, but the Goddess found it impossible, silently cursing herself for having allowed that weakness to actually prevail for once. Instead, another two bitter, unchecked tears made way towards her satin pink lips...

This time, the handsome Olympian made the salty liquid vanish by languidly kissing it away ...One tear glided smoothly on Aphrodite's left shoulder...the other one insisted on washing over her lower lip...And still, it was more than obvious that the hot trace of her Brother's overly sensual portal was burning at least a thousand times worse than the hidden pain falling from her cerulean eyes like glistening diamonds...When their mouths finally crushed and his muscular arms wrapped around her waist in the form of un unbreakable circle, forcing the air out of her lungs, the beautiful Love Goddess was unable o suppress a loud gasp...Volcanic passion, affection, friendship, the old scratches of a broken heart and an undisputable amount of unrevealable concern- they were all present, mixing up under the domino effect of that long, so much needed kiss...

For a couple of seconds though, it all ended, ground between the explosive hunger of their twisting tongues and the ceaseless whirling of their souls.

"I know we were just two crazy kids fooling around back then Dite, but I want you to know that I meant it..." he murmured against her ear when they finally broke apart, their breaths still irregular and the blood still racing madly through their veins. " You are the most important person in the world for me, no one will ever change that, ok? My crazy little Butterfly... "

In return, the Love Goddess just hugged him real tight, resting her head on his shoulder, as if afraid that the moment she would let go of him, things would never be the same...

"I love you, Sweetheart..." Ares continued on a mild tone while lovingly caressing his Sister's golden, curly tresses.

"I know Stud'..." came the somehow sad reply as their gazes finally connected. "I love you too..."

"Xena..." he began-in the vain attempt of offering some kind of extra clarification - but he was cut off by Aphrodite's low, grave voice.

"...You don't need to explain...I hooked you up in the first place, remember? It was written...The Fates did half the job anyway..."

"She's special, Dite...I can't really describe it..."

"No need too...I'm Love, ain't I?"

"Then you know what I'm talking about..."

"I just might" she replied squeezing his hand, as she took another good look at the God's sexy lips, unconsciously biting her own in the process.

This time, Ares just chuckled softly and placed a protective kiss on her forehead...

Lost in the magic of the moment, it was no surprise that he was completely oblivious about the fact that a certain raven Warrior Princess was watching them for awhile now. He only realized it when his eardrums pulsed at the sound of his ditsy Sister's genuinely ecstatic, childlike voice:

"...Babe! You're up!"

In less than a blink the God was by her side of course, but, taken by the sheer joy of seeing her alive and well again, he most certainly missed that deep shade of pain darkening her amazingly blue moons, a detail that Aphrodite did notice the instant their eyes met, forcing her to guiltily shift her gaze towards her Brother instead.

"Well hi there Sleeping Beauty! You certainly took your sweet time in finding the way back..." Ares uttered, while gently cupping her chin. "You' re gonna be the death of me one of these days, did you know that?"

"I'm counting on it" came Xena's short and almost convincing reply while clumsily trying to stand up.

"Ok...so I guess I'll leave you two Love Birds to talk and...stuff...I'd better get going...I'll just catch you guys later, ok? " Aphrodite said, ready to dematerialize from the room.

"Yeah, sure thing Sis"

"Good to have you back, Xe." the Goddess added, allowing the bright light of a smile to accompany her line.

"Thanks Dite" – the Warrior Princess' answer came soon after.

In a shower of coral glitter, the Love Goddess left the premises, transporting herself to her favorite temple in Lesbos instead, and she was quite in a hurry- as an attentive observer would have unmistakably noticed.

"It's about time you showed up, Love Goddess" Alecto's harsh voice burst out from the fluffy pinkish sofa, placed straight in the center of the spectacularly decorated chamber. ..."I was starting to loose my patience..."

"Stop frowning Ale or you're gonna be all wrinkly and ugly before you turn ten millennia old! I always tell that to everybody, I have no idea why do people refuse to listen..."

The Fury touched lightly the corner of her left eye, as if trying to wipe away some invisible line trenching her skin before adding:

"I'm here to conclude our little transaction..."


	26. A hero's death

With an almost superhuman, totally unjustified effort, the Warrior Princes finally stood up ,a dark frown accompanying the moan that she soon realized she had no reason uttering in the first place- the moment she instinctively took a hand to her chest, towards the spot where as far as she knew, there had to be a quite impressive gash drilling her flesh.

She was unable to suppress a loud gasp when the fact that there was no pain coming from the wound hit her, and moreover, as she carefully pushed the bandage aside she came to the awareness that not even the fading mark of a scratch had scared her skin.

"But how?" she managed to splutter, the tip of her fingers gently caressing the flawless, velvety surface. "Your powers...Athena..."

For a few short seconds, Ares considered whether breaking the news about her new immortal status was a wise thing to do or not...According to the old saying **"The less you know, the better" , ** and most of all according to his highly manipulative character, he decided to wait, of course...

Instead, he just made his right hand glow a pale, golden light- containing the same godly energy that he had used in healing her battle injuries so many times in the past...

"Daddy's back" he answered on that same old arrogant, pompous tone that always made him feel better about himself.

"Oh goody...Still...I thought you couldn't heal lethal injuries without Athena's blessing..." she responded, a note of uncertainty in her voice.

"Let's just say that it was high time someone changed that crappy rule, and leave it to that? "

The Warrior Princess just gave him a rather intrigued look, a strategically raised eyebrow letting the God know that she was not at all convinced by his overly prompt and concise answer.

His only reaction was to challengengly raise both eyebrows, a puzzled expression painted on his face telling her quite directly that she was not getting more intel on the matter so easily.

"What about Kalamai? What happened?"

"What do you mean?"Ares rushed to ask while sensually unwrapping the long linen cloth from around her torso, a priceless, perverted smile playing on his lips at the sight of her fabulous, sexy breasts which literally paralyzed his any thought for a few seconds. "You won of course..." he added, fighting with himself to snap out of the trance, tracing a fine line down her chest towards her belly, where he stopped abruptly nonetheless, shifting his gaze back towards that deep, infinite blue of her irides ..."Just like you always do...".

The shade of what initially appeared to be an unmistakable smirk made way on Xena 's still incredulous expression, but the sharp tongued War God made sure to wipe it away incredibly quick with his following line. He was in fact one of the few people on the face of the earth who could actually do that...

"...And if it hadn't been for that sneaky, tastelessly coward and unscrupulous Sister of mine, we would have been celebrating properly as we speak..."

" **Celebrating..."** she stressed, rolling her eyes.

"Yeah...I would have been fucking your brains out this whole time instead of holding my breath to see if you bleed to death or not before my damned powers reached their maximum level so that I can fix you up..."

She just glanced at him with that cold, casual disdain that she used when looking at any common slave, and retorted on a tone that could have cut even through a thick iron shield, beyond any shadow of a doubt disturbed by the God's irking habit of treating her like an object.

"It's a good thing your lungs didn't burst then...That means I still have a chance to kill you myself..."

"Ohhhh! That passion in you! You wouldn't believe how much I've missed it..."

"You talk as if I've been gone for an eternity..." she bit back, pushing away his warm hand which had changed direction, heading for her long, silky tresses instead.

"It surely seemed that way to me...I've almost lost you..."

A blaze of rage ignited inside the raven beauty's soul as she recalled the Goddess of Wisdom's sneaky attack...As for the emotional content of Ares' former comment, she acted as if she hadn't even noticed it.

"I thought the die would turn once I was out of the game...I was almost sure Athena would use my absence in her advantage..."

"I didn't quite give her the time to regroup her troops..."

She gazed at him expectantly, obviously interested in hearing everything on the subject.

" I made sure our army squashed what was left of them."

"They were starting to retreat as I fell...: " she feebly protested, suddenly realizing that when he spoke like that, the insensitive Olympian was generally referring to a bloody slaughter, and not at all to a fair, honorable fight.

"They were running like cowards...So I figured that burning the village to the ground was a heroic enough end for them..."

"You cremated them..." she muttered lowly, being more than aware of his reasons.

"Pretty much..."

"And the women and children...?"

"...Everyone..."

There was a loud, hoarse gasp again escaping Xena's burning throat, but, being the smart lady that she was, she simply gave up debating the subject. She knew the hardheaded War God far too well as to guess that motives such as **"One can't have War without Death", ** or the very popular **" If they died it means they more than deserved it" ** were pretty much part of the speech that he was about to serve her if contradicting him was by any chance still on her mind...Given the fact that she was as tense as a bow string anyway, that was the last thing she needed- that was as clear as daylight- so she just figured that letting it go was the safest way towards a quiet, peaceful, very much needed restful night of sleep...

Everything blew up to smithereens though as a new question popped up unexpectedly in her head like the blinding flash of a lightening bolt:

"So...who commanded the army?"

The answer came out as casual and ordinary as if it had been the most natural thing in the world:

"There was that young boy...what was his name? "

"Lyndors?!" came the high pitched exclamation.

"Yeah...That kid was a brave, fearless soldier..."

"**Was**...?" she asked menacingly the very next second, on the tone of a mother protecting her young, something in her chest breaking the instant she realized what the merciless God had meant.

"He died a hero...Fighting for the ultimate goal of uniting the Greek territories under one banner..."

"You sick Bastard! " the Warrior Princess exploded, fire shooting from her mouth with every uttered word. "You killed him!"

"Should I feel offended by this harsh and flimsy accusation?"

As a response, Xena just directed a left hook straight towards the God's chin, a move that to her much dismay, the slightly bemused by her reaction Olympian, parried with tremendous easiness.

"...You're still a bit stiff...We should work on that later..."

"Gods I hate you!" she yelled in his face, pushing him brutally aside, while getting off the bed, ready to leave.

"Yeah, good luck with that" he incisively retorted, gripping her waist savagely and throwing her full force back on the bed.

Just like an enraged lioness, completely adamant about ripping her victim's neck from their body, she jumped at him, genuinely wanting nothing more than to tear him to pieces. She was again brutally shoved back by the equally furious War God, who was at his turn boiling mad for a reason that he was more than willing to throw in her face in the sole purpose of cooling his scorching heart already.

"He was that important to you, huh?! Next you'll be wearing mourning for any goofy idealist that crosses your path! Did he at least fuck you well enough? Did you enjoy it?!"

"There was nothing going on between us! He was just a kid for crying out loud! " she spitted out glaring daggers at him. "And plus...even if we had been playing house together, what's it to you? Are we exclusive or anything, cause you banging your own Sister sure doesn't fit the picture!"


	27. Some things are in the cards

**...Some things are in the cards and the others are in the bottle...:))**

A brief moment of mixed surprise, uncertainty and panic left it's easily recognizable mark on the War God's previously darkened by rage visage as his Princess' words slashed the air, roughly affecting him like a swift, expertly performed slice to the throat, cutting short quite abruptly his jealous outburst and thus forcing him to enter defense mode with the speed of a fifth degree tornado, seconds before his brain managed to wisely advise him otherwise.

"What in the world are you talking about?!" he burst out on a rather nervous tone, still unsure whether her angry accusation was the mere product of a lucky guess or there was more to it...

"Don't play innocent with me, I'm not dumb and you're a terrible liar!" she spat bluntly, obviously irritated by his irkingly ridiculous approach, while her inquisitive eyes kept inspecting the changing shades of emotion of his face. "That fiery kiss that you've just shared moments ago, that's what I'm talking about! Unless you want to tell me that you two sticking your tongues down each other's throat was nothing but a humane gesture of brotherly compassion and moral support, that is!" the obviously fuming Xena continued, adamant about shattering to pieces any possibility that the manipulative God might have had of playing his favorite card: **denial.**

"Well actually, that's pretty much what happened...I was...uh...worried..." he muttered, avoiding her serial killer type of stare.

"Yeah...You looked positively grief stricken to me!" the Warrior Princess' sarcastic phrase broke out, and if words could kill, those particular ones would have most certainly chocked the God to death.

"I guess it kinda depends on the...angle from which you see things..."

"I'm sure it does! " she answered, storming out of bed and passing him by as if he had been but a cheep piece of furniture.

She didn't get too far though, cause firmly gripping her shoulders Ares made sure she stayed put, and just in case that his fingers savagely digging into her flesh were not enough to make her drop any intention of leaving, his next phrase was meant to dissolve any thought related to that matter.

"I'm serious, ok? There's nothing going on between me and Dite..."

"And you expect me to buy that?! Are you out of your freaking mind?! I know what I saw, ok? Or what? You're gonna tell me that I was hallucinating or something?" she violently protested, wanting nothing more than to rip his heart out with her bare hands.

"Will you listen to me?!" the God's voice soon covered her own while shaking her brutally in the attempt to make her pay attention to what he had to say.

"What me and Dite had is long over...Long before you were even born..."

"So you did actually ..." she suddenly stopped though, unable to finish the phrase, the mere image of them together making her sick. "You despicable Son of a Bicth! "

"Look, I don't expect you to understand, ok? It's complicated!"

"Complicated?! It's not complicated Ares, it's **sick**!" she stressed looking him straight in the eyes.

There was a short pause, with her crystal blue pools throwing daggers at the eager to slap her silly God, the blood pulsating into their temples generating such a high pressure that they both felt like their heads was about to explode.

"It's not like that. I loved her! I was in love with her!" he added, adamant about convincing her about the impossible.

"You were **in love** with your own Sister?! Are you kidding me?! And now that I know this new juicy detail of your wild spicy sex life I should like what...? See everything from a new light?! You've fucked your own Sister for Gaia's sake! The same Sister that went on and on telling me that..." she feverishly bit her lips before the words got out though, refusing to actually utter them.

" ...That we were made for each other? Say it!" he shouted at her, his patience rapidly getting close to zero, her natural stubbornness getting on his nerves like nothing on the planet could.

In response, she just inhaled deeply while desperately searching for some small dose of self control that she still believed she could find inside her usually extremely rational brain. When she found none, she just chose to surrender to the archaic urge of dominating everything in sight, and , allowing her right knee to collide full force with Ares' crotch, she sent him in a puddle to the ground way before he could even suspect anything about her barbaric reaction.

" You should have known you place by now!" she growled while contemplating the humiliating pose of the kneeling at her feet War God.

Nonetheless, before she had the chance to display any type of smirk and to victoriously walk away, her back was hitting the ground with a force that made her bones crack under the impact. When she opened her eyes, the dizziness and the darkness still lingering before her eyes, Ares' fingers were mercilessly clenching around her neck making a low moan of pain vibrate from her throat.

"I've always known my place, Sweetheart..." he whispered maliciously against her ear, the trace of a light smirk tugging at the corner of his lips. "...It's right here on top of you" ...he added, crushing her mouth with his own in a kiss that pretty much resembled to the one that an experienced rapist would impose to his victims while abusing them.

A fine trail of blood found it's way down the Warrior Princess' chin as her back arched involuntarily upwards to meet the God's chest in a lascivious move that revealed everything that she had been trying to conceal for a long time now...

While Ares deepened the kiss even more, she could actually feel his presence surging beneath her skin, and even further way, towards her veins and into her blood, infecting her every sense with the stimulating perfume of the savage, unrestrained desire echoing from within him.

No matter how hard she tried to fight it, she absolutely adored the addictive taste of him: a strange, hard to describe flowery aroma, in between bitter and sweet, pretty much like opium, an unique flavor that always came up barging into her mind whenever she thought about him...

Soon, from her neck, his fingers moved up to her long silky tresses- right above her temples- and as she finally started kissing him back, he could no longer restrain a painfully teasing moan that glided imperceptibly into her mouth.

"Gods you're irresistible!"

**XXX**

Back in Lesbos, Aphrodite made two huge cups of herbal tea appear on the wonderfully engraved cedar table placed in front of the fluffy sofa on which Alecto was casually seating.

"So...you're here on business, huh? " Aphrodite inquired while carefully taking a long, noisy seep from the still hot, light purple aromatic liquid.

"Why else would I be here?" the Fury bit back, a smug expression painted on her face.

"I don't know..." the curly Goddess rushed to answer. "...Therapy? A lot of people would kill to have me listen to their love problems..."

"Yeah I bet. Thanks to you though, that wouldn't be necessary. I held my end of the deal Aphrodite: spared your Brother's life and made Athena believe that he was dead and buried...It's your turn, and don't even think about double crossing me or the next thing you know you'll be smashing all existing mirrors from your temples, terrified about what you'd be seeing in them..." she threatened, aware that there was no greater tragedy for the obsessed daughter of Zeus than to permanently see herself all old and wrinkly.

"That's not nice...!" the Love Goddess complained on a tone full of reproach.

"No it's not. So just give me what I want and everyone will be happy..."

"Fine..." Dite finally stated while making a tiny pink bottle materialize into her hand. " Two drops it's all it takes..."

"You'd better pray that it works..."

"Always so negativist Alecto, I swear! Of course it works chicka, I made it myself...my last invention...You'll be pleased, I guarantee it..."

"...Just out curiosity..." the Fury questioned before she left. "...how did you find out about Athena's plan, anyway?"

Aphrodite just giggled lowly, bemused by the content of the question and by her interlocutor's naivety.

"Godly intuition...Let's just say I've known my sister long enough to know how her devious mind works..."

With that and with a suspiciously contended smile on her sneaky face, Alecto took the small crystal container and vanished to her temple, leaving a trace of dark, sulfury smelling smoke behind her, a stench that made Aphrodite instantly mop and maw while making a rain of rosy petals fall from the high ceiling of the room all around her, refreshening the air.

"Problem solved..." she said to herself while gazing blankly at the place where the Fury had stood, opening a portal the second after to see how her favorite couple was doing.

She almost fainted with joy of course when she saw them making love... It was a good thing she was sitting.

"Way to go Bro' ! I must say, I underestimated you..." she uttered, her long, slender fingers touching lightly Ares' back through the portal. "Though the Missionary is so depressingly antique! Too Stonehenge like... I should definitely teach you some new hot positions or Xe would be soon leaving you for any freaky mortal that could please her better...Let's write this down..." she mumbled while materializing a thick agenda and a golden pen on the couch, right next to her.

"Teach the sexy Studd Muffin new sex tricks..." she wrote, underlining the phrase so that she wouldn't forget about it's immeasurable importance.

Moments later, she was on the verge of closing the portal and heading for Olympus where Appollo was already waiting for her for about half an hour- they had dance classes together- when right out of the blue, instead of low wanting moans and arousing screams of pleasure, what she heard was Xena's resonant voice followed by a powerful kick that send the War God flying to the other side of the room.

" Get off me you devious Bastard!"

"What did I do?!" Ares puzzled line soon followed...

Aphrodite rolled her eyes in exasperation:

"I guess this means no dance classes for me today..."


	28. My two favorite girls

By the time the ditsy Aphrodite decided to transport herself back to the gloomy Halls of War, the enraged Xena had already left the room making sure to slam the huge wooden doors behind her, while Ares was still as naked as a jaybird, laying on his back -on the thick fluffy white fur he had materialized there for the sole purpose of comfort during those indescribable hot moments when his Princess was still moaning like crazy from beneath him, under the effect of his deep, impatient thrusts- staring blankly at the ceiling while his disturbed mind kept searching for a plausible enough explanation for her unexpected reaction.

"That should feel...**uncomfortable..."** Dite said, giggling with bemusement on a playfully mocking tone while lying next to her Brother and tracing a fine line with the tip of her index along the still as hard as a rock erection.

"Trust me, you have noooo idea! " Ares sighed without bothering to meet his Sister's hypnotized gaze, his eyes refusing to stop fixing an invisible point towards which he was seemingly focusing all his available attention, and definitely without sketching the tiniest smile at the obvious brashness of her gesture.

"So...what happened...? " came the standard question that was usually part of the formal interrogatory the Goddess tended to use on daily bases with the various people that came asking for advice at her temples.

"Beats me...One minute she was screaming my name, the other she was calling me a **devious Bastard**- and no, we were not "role playing..." . he replied mechanically on a tone in which both confusion and fatigue echoed like a bell.

"Oh..." Aphrodite mumbled. "...So...what did you doooo ?" she immediately inquired with the voice of an all knowing mother that was asking her child when and what did he break.

" Are you...**Blond**? " the War God bit back irritated by his Sister's persistence. "I didn't do anything...well... nothing out of the ordinary...We were ...having...** fun**...and suddenly she pushed me off her..."

"Right!" Dite puffed, chuckling loudly, totally entertained by her big Brother's ingenuity. "Men...you are all so much alike..."

"Excuse meeeee? " Ares instantly retorted on the most offended tone his vocal cords could produce.

"You never have the guts to take the blame for something that you've done...Anyway...the point is that she certainly didn't change her attitude right out of the blue!" the Love Goddess stressed, doing her best to make the stubborn War God solve the riddle by himself.

It was useless though given the fact that- as everybody knows- he was that type of guy that rarely admitted his mistakes...And especially not to his air headed Sister who on so many occasions had proved him wrong...

"Well please, enthrall me with your knowledge then!" he broke out, a light frown on his forehead making him appear even hotter than he already was.

Aphrodite just smirked back at him and inquired on a very professional, shrink like note:

"Let's see...What did you say to her...? Did you say anything?"

"When?"

"Doh! While you were fooling around of course!"

There was a brief pause.

"I said a lot of things...I don't even remember them all..."

"Go figure..." the Love Goddess said rolling her eyes. "...Well try to recall, it's important...For Gaia's sake it only happened minutes ago...Let's see...you were almost having an orgasm in your favorite Missionary position- always so dominant Ares, I thought you were over that..." she digressed without having even realized it, instantly drawing the God's attention.

"You were spying on me?!"

"I was so not doing that! I was watching **stuff** ...through a portal..."

"**Stuff.**.." Ares continued while glaring daggers at his Sister who had reflexively rose from the fur that they had been sharing...

"Yeah...**stuff**...and you sorta popped into the picture...suddenly..."

"Right...Imagine the coincidence..."

"Right" the Goddess repeated while looking at the walls in the vain attempt of avoiding his harsh stare.

"And I don't care what you say, the Missionary is a cool position. Seeing her face while I plunge into her...Damn that can turn me on more than anything on the planet!" he added, closing his eyes for a bit while a new electric surge traveled up and down across his spine, making his erection grow about two additional inches.

"So I see..." his Sister answered- bursting into laughter the following second.

It was the War God's turn to roll his eyes.

Moments later, while doing her very best to keep a straight face, Aphrodite restarted:

"So what was it that you said to her, right before she pushed you away?"

Struggling to search through the still fuzzy memories, Ares finally uttered on a rather unsure voice:

"That she is the most important person in the world to me?"

"Ares! No you didn't!" the Love Goddess exclaimed, slapping hard her Brother's chest with her tiny, childlike palm.

"What did I do?!" he questioned, his mind still in the dark about what the problem might have been, taken completely by surprise by his Sister's volcanic reaction.

"Oh come on Stud! It's the same thing you told me earlier tonight, right before she came to her senses! You said that** I **was the most important person in the world to you!" the Goddess pouted.

"You are... You **both** are...You're my two favorite girls..."

"Well I guess Xe doesn't like to share then, cause I could bet my entire collection of perfumes that's what got her so upset!"

"...You think?" the God uttered, a puzzled expression on his gorgeous visage while pensively biting his lower lip...

"I'm positive..." Dite's answer came with no delay. "And plus, there's the whole incest thing too...You know mortals...they always tend to overreact when it comes to this type of special connections...They don't understand..."

"Yeah...I'd better go talk to her then..." the War God murmured, finally rising from the floor, while with a wave of his hand, in less than a blink he materialized his usual sexy leather outfit.

"Let me do it..."Aphrodite insisted, winking at her Brother. " I needed to talk to her anyway..."

There was a brief moment of hesitation from Ares' part as he heard his Sister's request, but thinking it over he decided that given his Princess' emotional state it was in fact better if he wasn't around much for the next couple of hours and just give her some space...

" Fine...I do have some matters to attend to in Sparta...Just...don't make her even angrier, ok?"

"Hey! Have a little faith, will ya! When it comes to relationships I can work magic!"

"Magic...sure..." he mumbled right before he vanished, as some pretty fresh memories of her latest fails came to his mind.

**XXX**

In the cold unwelcoming temple of the Furies, the same wild music was echoing throughout the long, dark, gothic halls- a quite common decor when it came to them...

Casually seated on her marble throne, Alecto was carefully analyzing the bottle, a wide smirk on her face, as countless ideas on how to use the potion were constantly popping into her immortal brain, each new one more malicious than the other...

She almost jumped in surprise when the Goddess of Wisdom herself made an appearance in the center of the room.

With a swift gesture, the Fury made the tiny crystal container invisible to godly eyes .

"Athena! Right on time... I was just about to pour myself a glass of wine...Would you like some?"

"Given that I've just had an endless argument with Father, yes...I guess I could use some..."

"It will be like nothing you've ever tasted before, I can assure you" Alecto said on a honeyed tone, closing in the distance between them while placing a tender kiss on the Goddess' lips.

"Perfect" Athena whispered as soon as the kiss broke...


	29. Broken vase, broken heart

After having silently rehearsed one last time the touching speech which she had planned to utter in the most artistic manner possible in order to melt the Warrior Princess' ice cold heart and all that bottled up rage that had nested inside her chest, the visibly nervous Love Goddess finally decided to make an appearance in Xena's room, where she was dead sure she would find her...

Her instincts were right of course – Dite was rarely wrong- but as she was soon about to discover, all the previous preparation and the pompous phrases at the structure of which she had been working so much from the moment her Brother had left- squeezing even the last drop of intelligence she owned just so that she could find the perfect words and the perfect context for what she wanted to say- was in vain, for the very edgy Chosen of War cut her short the minute she opened her mouth to speak.

"What are you doing here?"

For what seemed to last like forever, the Goddess' brain shut down in shock...She did have a hunch about how upset Xena might have been- Gods knew she didn't lack the reasons to - but the truth is that reality surpassed even her darkest expectations. There was no violence in her friend's voice, nor fury...not even disappointment, but something else that she didn't even dare to name...**pure indifference.**

"_This is sooooo not good" _Aphrodite said to herself while contemplating the Warrior Princess' blank gaze, and, scanning once again her disturbingly relaxed body posture, she just gulped noisily before offering a reply:

"Just figured that you felt like talking to someone... "

"Wow! That's highly generous of you Love Goddess...How could I ever repay your good intentions and your boundless consideration?" she sarcastically retorted, a steely flicker on the surface of that unnaturally sapphire eyes letting Aphrodite know just where they stood.

"You're **that** mad huh?" the Blond Olympian murmured on a broken tone, shifting her gaze towards the ground where she was aware she had to keep it for the rest of their so called conversation, especially given the fact that she did carry most of the blame for the entire situation...Well, Ares had also played his part to perfection, but that was not the point...

No answer came though. All the response she got in return was a painfully thick silence that literally made the overly emotional Goddess feel as if her cheeks were on fire...Shame...that was definitely a new human sensation that she had never stumbled upon before...It felt...uncomfortable...

"Can I at least explain?"

"Explain what Aphrodite?!" Xena suddenly hit the ceiling the instant the Goddess' request left her lips, a sensation pretty similar to the one that high voltage offers to an already drained out body, invading the Warrior's every cell. "How you and that soulless Son of Bachae were fucking like rabbits behind my back while you were daily addling my head about his **undying **love for me and about just how right we were for each other?! I swear it on the head of Zeus, you are so damn lucky I didn't get my hands on the dagger of Helios or on the ribs of Chronos yet cause I would have slashed you opened in a heartbeat! " she spitted, raising a sharp hunting knife at the Goddess' neck. "Too bad this blade is useless when it comes to pealing that immortal skin off your body...you would have made quite a decent exponent before the gates of Sparta..."

Hearing Xena's absolutely cruel and dismissing answer, Aphrodite unconsciously took a few steps back ...She was definitely not blind, she could more than read that barely controlled, devouring lust taking over her friend, urging her to tear the cause of her acute suffering to pieces one way or the other...

Nonetheless, to her own utter disbelief, Aphrodite still found her voice to offer an answer, one that she hoped with every fiber of her being, wouldn't widen the precipice between them even more, thus engulfing what was still left of their friendship.

"It was not like that Xe...I promise..."

"Yeah, I bet...It was all puppy love and romance..."

"We were young ok? We were both growing up and discovering our bodies...We were curious...Well you have Brothers too, you know how it's like..."

"No I don't!" Xena bit back on a slashing tone. "I've never been that sick as to feel attracted by my own Brothers!"

"Well...they probably didn't look like Ares! I mean let's face it...Stud Muffin is as hot as hot can be...What do you expect?"

"I don't know what I expect! A little normality maybe! But I can clearly see now that I've been obviously asking for too much!"

"Anyways, Babe...that was a loooong time ago...You weren't even born when me and Ar were...uh...experimenting...stuff...It's all in the past..."

A **"drop dead"** look instantly flashed on the watery surface of Xena's blue moons- in the same time that her muscles tensed to the point of snapping at the mere mention of the duo's illegally steamy activities. At that point, rage was boiling so wildly inside her veins that she could have hacked the Goddess to little pieces, magic weapons or not.

"Are you suicidal?!" she asked on a grave tone, actually succeeding in making the Goddess splutter a bit before answering.

"N...not realy..."

"But it's true Xe...why would you be so mad for something that happened a few millennia ago?"

"A few millennia?! " Xena yelled from the top of her lungs, her vocal cords hurting like Tartarus from the inhuman effort to which they have been submitted during that piercing scream. "I've just seen you two kissing for crying out loud!"

"I...uh...I can explain that too..." Aphrodite mumbled, silently wondering if by any chance, vanishing from the room wasn't in fact a much better option than just risking to spend the rest of her immortal life searching for an arm or a leg.

Her response soon came though, shattering her any doubt.

"Let me explain something to you first...If you don't stop talking this very second and transport your kinky ass back to Olympus, I'll make sure you'll have to use make up for at least the seven following decades and out of very specific and practical reasons too..." the avalanche of resinous words left her lips with the dazzling force of a landslide.

"Xe...please hear me out...please...I meant no harm...I just wanted to know that I still matter to him and that I'm still an important part in his life now that you came along..."

A heavy porcelain vase headed towards the love Goddess' head before she could even blink, and the next thing she knew, Aphrodite was doing the impossible to stop that whirling, totally unpleasant sensation that had taken over her brain.

"Ouch! That's gonna leave a mark!" she exclaimed, quickly covering the area where a bump had already started to show up.

"Well...just so that you know there's more from where that came from. Now, I'm telling you one last time..."

There was no need to repeat the phrase though, for the very next second, a very disappointed Aphrodite left the premises, a hurt look in her childlike eyes, barely holding back the tears that had already started welling up...

Once she was gone, the still fuming Warrior Princess finally took a seat on a nearby sofa, her breathing labored and her fists clenched in fury...

Despite herself, she was feeling a little guilty for having hurt her Olympian friend...Roughly shaking her head, she tried to cast the inadequate thought away...It didn't work...Her hand placed on top of her chest, she gazed pensively at the broken jar for a few moments... With a little patience and skills, a broken vase might have been fixed, but for broken heart there were rarely efficient solutions for a speedy recovery.

**XXX**

Analyzing the Fury's strangely satisfied expression, Athena's eyes flickered with interest- just like the torches spread everywhere throughout that massive marble temple.. She could easily tell that the woman was hiding something, but she just couldn't place her finger on it...

"Ok Alecto...I know that look...what have you been up to?" she questioned, parting her lips slightly while still struggling to decode by herself the mystery behind the Fury's intriguing attitude.

Alecto smiled proudly before placing a tender caress on the Godess' flawless visage.

"You still know me so well, Goddess of Wisdom..."

"I'd like to think so, yes..."

Casting a long, lustful gaze towards her secret Olympian Lover, the Fury replied on a cattish tone- while allowing her fingers to glide down Athena's full chest, partially surrendering herself to the urgency of enjoying the sensation of a privilege that only few have had before her...

"Well...I have a surprise for you...something that I trust you might find...pleasing..."

Athena didn't voice any reply but it was as clear as daylight that she was all on wires to find out what was it that the Fury had been so circumspectly holding back with so much caution ...

Shortly, as the tiny crystal bottle appeared into her hand, the Goddess broke out on a totally surprised note, obviously taken aback by what she had before her:

"By the ribs of Chronos himself! I can't believe it! It worked! You've actually done it!"

"Don't tell me you've been doubting my methods, Athena..." Alecto quickly responded, a bit offended by the Olympian's lack of trust in her indubitably rare abilities.

"Doubting? No...Questioning, yes..." came the swift, ironic answer that wasn't quite the one that the Fury had been expecting..."Anyway, it seems I have underestimated you, Alecto" the Goddess corrected the instant she noticed that unmistakably vexed smirk which Alecto had been nonchalantly displaying. "A mistake that I'm not planning to repeat..."

The Fury just raised an eyebrow, apparently contended about the reaction that she had managed to trigger from the overly thrilled Olympian...

"Good...so now we can finally put our little plan into motion, am I right?" Alecto inquired. licking her lips as if already savoring the rich taste of a clean, flawless, absolutely certain victory.

"As right as you've ever been Alecto...If everything goes well, you'd be soon getting your hands on that prize..."


	30. Call me?

Even though a few hours had passed, shades of bitterness were still shrouding Xena's piercingly blue eyes, and, perceptive as he always was, Ares could easily read in their icy coldness the echoes of an unspeakable emptiness- the one that only the betrayal of a freely, openheartedly given trust was able to bring.

Turning his gaze away from her for a few seconds, the God silently tried to find that so much needed strength and patience that he knew he needed to have when it came to his hardheaded Chosen... He decided to go for the **"joke about it"** approach, hoping that snatching a smile from her beautiful face was just the solution he was looking for...

"So uh...should I understand that the nasty idea of a threesome is too bold for you yet? "

Needless to say that he was awarded with a "Get out of my sight..." reply, uttered on the most graveyard monster tones he'd ever heard in his life...

"No rush...you could take your time...think about it for a few days...I guarantee you're gonna love it...Before you know it, you'll be begging for more..."

The old familiar sound of teeth gnashing like mile stones, accompanied by the overly tensed fingers that had gradually started to curl up to from two menacing fists, made him wanna wish he had chosen the second option from the very start...

"_That certainly went well..." _he said to himself while taking a few lazy steps in the raven Warrior's direction, completely unimpressed by her obvious state of mind. On the contrary, his heart was unable to skip a beat as he sensed that chocking amount of dark energy and suppressed anger vibrating from her absolutely luscious from.

"Still edgy about that insignificant incident with Aphrodite, I see..." he rhetorically questioned under the disguised form of a statement, while exhaling sharply a breath of air that had strangely stuck somewhere in between his lungs and his throat.

When he finally got his answer, he was laying on his back on the hard marble floor, contemplating the weirdly painted ceiling while his right hand was carefully massaging his jaw, in the place where Xena's knuckles hand left a quite large imprint that was already turning purple.

"I'll take that as a YES..." he barely mumbled while opening his mouth as wide as he could a couple of times just to check that the bones were still in place.

"That's a very wicked left hook you got there! Who in the world thought you to hit like that?!" he exclaimed while winking playfully at her. "Oh wait! I guess that was me!"

A right foot sticking in his liver made him curl up instantly in pain, just like an ordinary worm would do while digging his way through the fine core of a juicy apple-excepting the comfort part that the primitive animal might enjoy-.

"Yeah...endless hours of practice!" she growled, hitting him again as hard as she could, aiming for the kidneys this time.

"They obviously paid off" came the strangled response of a trashing in pain War God some long moments later.

The next hit- directed straight to the neck- that was meant to block or even break his windpipe didn't have the same success though, despite Xena's unquenched thirst for seeing the cocky and overly brash Olympian take a consistent bite out of the marble floor once and for all, on the contrary, she found herself in a very unexpected position the instant she opened her eyes, seconds after the rough and totally uncalled for impact with the ground, Ares' strong hands pinning her to the floor while straddling her waist to prevent her from moving even an inch, making her keep still for as long as he needed it.

He instantly triggered a reaction from her , and, just as he'd been expecting , her attitude proved to be everything but submissive and resigned, soon, her violently convulsing body beginning to fight it's way from underneath the God's muscular form with an almost animalistic frenzy , growling savagely at the obsessive possessiveness of his gesture.

The faint trace of a small smirk played on Ares' lips while, putting just a bit more energy into that grip, he literally made his Princess' efforts seem as useless as a rusty sword with a blunt blade, the mere idea of having her completely under his control just like he did now, arousing him beyond limits.

His smile widened even more the moment his soft brown eyes met her incredibly outraged look, brashly ignoring it's any significance, hidden or not.

Wisely anticipating that slashingly eager, deadly tone on which she had every intention to respond to the abruptness of his ardent desires, he just annihilated even the last inch of distance left between them, and, contrary to her expectations, he didn't crush her lips with his own, brutally ravishing their alluringly perfect surface, but limited his craving at whispering something against her ear, on the most sincere note he had ever used with her since they began their so called relationship.

"What?!" came the obviously shocked answer of a Warrior Princess who was more then familiar with both her patron God's mind games and with men's ratty character in general.

In response, he just brushed her left brow with the tip of his lips and murmured again something, barely audible, it's true, but that inside Xena's now totally confused mind echoed louder then bells.

When their gazes finally connected, she could clearly read the abyssal depth of his most honest feelings and intentions. For a brief moment there, she didn't know what to say.

His voice, louder this time, made her finally snap out of the unavoidable trance his previous phrases had sent her in.

"Just think about it, Princess...It would mean the world to me"

Trying to mask that uncomfortable sensation of air deprivation to which she had involuntarily submitted her lungs during the past two minutes, she did her best not to draw a too long and sharp breath the instant she heard those last words.

Her promise came out almost automatically.

"I will..."

"Thank you..." he said standing up and offering her a hand to help her rise to her feet.

She just smiled courteously at his obvious consideration, the poignant harshness of her eyes melting bit by bit under the burning intensity of his stare.

"Just ...give me an answer when you're ready, ok? ...I really don't wanna pressure you about it or anything..."

Again, she fought with her treacherous reactions in order to hide her infinite surprise.

He was right about to dematerialize from the room when he added somehow hesitantly:

"Xe...about Dite, Sweetheart..."

He paused for a few moments. One could easily decode the fear of rejection painted all over his face.

The raven Warrior didn't voice a sound though. She patiently waited for him to continue.

"I don't love her...ok? Not like that...There's...a... special kind of affection, but it's nothing comparing to what I feel for you..."

She just raised her eyebrows about an inch... Ares couldn't tell if that was a good sign or not...

He bit her lips hard before adding a shaky "Call me?..."

A hardly perceivable nod let him know that they had reached some kind of understanding...

When she couldn't feel his presence in the room anymore, Xena finally headed towards the window and inhaled a deep enough breath of fresh air, her brain still fighting it's way back to reality while attempting to actually convince her that the War God had meant what he'd just told her...

The low vibrations of his voice...she could still sense them travelling underneath her skin:_ "I love you...be my wife, my Goddess...I want to spend eternity by your side...For me there is only you..."_


	31. The right thing

The first rays of light were ready again to dissolve the thick darkness of that velvety night when Xena finally realized that she had spent the last few hours staring blankly towards the horizon, to the point where she knew the forever covered in snow peaks of Mount Olympus were watching protectively over the Greek lands. She hadn't even felt the unusual chill of the night air, her body stiff and numb to everything connected to reality, while a stream of rather disturbing memories invaded her mind...

"_For a moment there I thought you wouldn't come...Defying Ares like this...I must say Xena...I'm surprised...He'd be a bit __**upset **__ if he knew that you're plotting against him at night with his worst enemy...And he can become rather violent when he's upset as far as I know...__"_

"_Save it Athena and get to the point...I don't really have much time for flattery and girl chat..."_

"_You do know you were followed..." the Goddess made sure to add, a subtle smile stretching the corner of her lips in what soon turned into a rather malicious grin. _

"_Nice of you to point it out...but I do actually...I'll take care of the problem once I get to camp..."_

"_I wouldn't advise it..."_

"_Oh?" came the short but effective inquiry of a sneaky Warrior Princess that was more than aware of the lethal effects that that such type of tremendous mistake would have brought on herself.._

"_So you're not only bold and beautiful...you're also smart...a pretty rare combination in these parts..." Athena replied swiftly analyzing the rapidly changing shades on the aquarelle blue surface of the Chosen of War's eyes. "Don't worry Xena...I'm not trying to set you up... I have bigger concerns at the moment...We both know that leaving that poor Monkey headless you'd only confirm what Ares will most likely find out anyway, with or without his faithful servant breaking the news..."_

"_Don't say...!" Xena exclaimed on a mockingly surprised tone, an equally irritating grin painted on her features, just as the one that her overly satiric interlocutor had the nerve to display just seconds before..._

_After a few tense moments of eying each other in utter disgust, the Warrior Princess asked again, this time on a quite obvious business like tone that urged the proud daughter of Zeus to leave aside any other differences and start talking about their "common interests" as she had phrased it in the message brought to Xena by one of her priestesses._

"_So...you had a proposal __**"for me to hear and hopefully agree upon, that will indisputably benefit us both?"**__ I believe you said?" _

"_Indeed...How would you feel about changing your title from Warrior Princess to Goddess of War?" _

"_And having you as a sister in law? No thanks Athena, I'd rather pass..."_

_A highly bemused laugh broke out of the Goddess' lungs, making Xena frown involuntarily while doing her best to decipher that kind of unexpected reaction. _

"_Oh please, I wouldn't offend you to that extent. What I meant was getting Ares out of the picture...for good...you could take over...-the job evidently suits you, you have pretty much everything it takes to rule over mortals in this department..."_

"_And just what does it take Athena?" came the one thousand dinars question that was meant to hit the Goddess like a tone of bricks, obviously hinting to her so called unstained morality...Nonetheless, Athena didn't seem moved by the earth shattering nonchalance of that brash insinuation that no mortal in his righteous mind would have dared address to the one of the most vengeful Olympians Greece had ever seen, on the contrary... _

"_Ruthlessness, a dirty enough consciousness so that at the end of the day one could still sleep without the fear of closing their eyes, an inhuman desire to see blood, a bitter inclination towards tragedies and genocides but also a certain dose of equilibrium and wisdom, things that Ares seems to have lost, Hades knows when..." she finished the phrase, her green irides scintillating with mischief and spite. _

"_Is it me or you've just described your own ratty character?" the Warrior Princess' voice stung this time like a poisoned needle. _

_Once again, completely ignoring her interlocutor's challenge the Goddess went on speaking, her tone expertly maintaining the same level of calmness as before, without allowing not even the slightest sign of aggravation break through her inflexions. _

"_My Brother can't offer you much, Xena, and being the smart Lady that I can clearly see you are, you do realize that he'll drop you like a nasty habit-one of his favorite lines by the way- once you are of no use to him, once he screwed you enough to get bored or once he finds some more interesting distraction ...maybe some new hot wanton Amazon Queen ready to spread her legs for some godly favors..."_

_Imperceptibly even for immortal eyes, the Chosen of War held her breath...Athena was dead right and she knew it ...but those words, the way in which she'd said it...they _

_were like boiling acid pouring over her soul...She could barely restrain a loud gasp..._

"_What I'm offering you, is in fact what I suspect you've always wanted: power...unlimited, ultimate power...the chance to command a large part of the Greek armies, temples built in your name, worshippers, legions of men screaming your name in battle, a place amongst the other Olympian Gods- my kin...All I'm asking in return is for you to kill Ares..."_

"_Do I really look __**that **__naïve Goddess of Wisdom?! What in the name of Gaia would ever possess you to actually keep your end of the deal once you've got what you wanted? Why not keep Ares' energy to yourself? And who says that Zeus won't turn me to ashes the instant he finds out that I've killed his Son?" _

"_A Son he's always despised...A rebellious Son that has never obeyed his Father."_

"_But a Son nonetheless..."_

"_Zeus knows about the plan, Xena, and he's agreed to stay out of the way...As for the power of War...I don't care about it...It involves to many sacrifices that I'm not willing to make, to many risks that aren't worth the effort...It starts by engulfing one's soul, you know...But on the other hand, you wouldn't have to worry about it given the fact that you have none..." _

"_I don't know about that Athena...when it comes to power you're craving to have it...it's written all over your face...You're always in our way...we haven't attacked Athens yet and somehow, we always seem to stumble upon your legions ...Why is that? Is it precaution or is it that quenchless thirst ceaselessly burning your throat...the desperate need to conquer...to own...the same that ravishes any decent Warrior inside out? "_

"_For me it's all about stopping Ares...If he gains control over the entire Greek territories mark my words it will all turn into a bloodbath...An endless slaughter, of a cruelty that the world has never seen thus far...Plus, he'd be more than capable to turn against his own Brothers and Sisters in order to proclaim himself King of Olympus..."_

"_So...is that what the almighty Zeus fears? That history might just repeat itself? Like father like Son...?" _

"_Maybe...The point is that my Brother is far from being responsible enough to own such tremendous power...He needs to be stopped. And you're the only one in ages- well except for that useless airheaded mannequin which keeps him company from time to time- that he had allowed to get close enough to him to...well...to kill him..."_

"_And just how do you see that possible, may I ask? Common weapons are of no use when it comes to him, Athena, he's immortal, remember. Or what? Should I fuck him to death?" _

"_There are weapons that can kill even Gods, Xena..."the Olympian Goddess responded harshly, still a bit taken aback by the sudden revolt present in the Warrior's tone._

"_What?! The ribs of Chronos?! Please! I'm sure Zeus is not that stupid as to just hand them over to any promising mortal that might or might not do his bidding..."_

"_The Dagger of Hellios..."_

"_...A mere legend as far as I know..."_

" _I swear you mortals are the funniest creatures at times...No...it's as real as your horse...Ares knows where it is..." Athena made sure to specify, stressing her Brother's name in the process._

"_Even if he does...what makes you think he'd give it to me? He knows what I'm capable of, Athena, he doesn't trust me as far as he can throw me..."_

"_That's your problem, solve it..."_

"_And what then? Why in the world would I need the dagger for? I do need a good enough reason to ask it..."_

"_To kill me..."_

"_He's not that crazy...He knows that would equal oblivion any day. Zeus would never forgive him...Plus, he'd most certainly try to protect me by refusing to hand over the blade... "_

"_I can take care of that...You're planning to conquer Kalamai, aren't you? "_

"_What's it to you...?"_

"_I can use the event to prepare the stage..."_

_The Warrior Princess just raised an eyebrow questioningly as a shade of doubt crossed her face... _

"_Don't worry, he won't suspect a thing...You just have to let your guard down during the fight...I'll try to make it as painless as possible, I promise...It will be quick..."_

"_He wouldn't let you get that close. He'd blow you to smithereens way before you could even raise the sword..."_

"_Not if I can help it...he will have no choice...Look at these hills..." the Goddess added pointing towards the map covering the table. "Leave an opening for my armies , here...or here...Either way is fine with me...I'll take care of the rest...What do you say Xena...?"_

"_I'll think about it..."_

"_Don't think to long...We're running out of time..."Athena added, arms folded across her chest while her gaze turned once more towards the map of Greece._

"_Do you really hate him that much?"_

"_Believe it or not, I'm only trying to do the right thing..."_

"_I'm sure you do..." Xena uttered on a rather accusing tone, scanning the Goddess from head to toe, shaking her head in disapproval._

A light breeze caressing her flawless face, brought the Chosen of War back to reality...She bit her lips nervously...


	32. I would give you the world

Athena was right...as much as her heart had wanted to deny it, those apparently neglectable, "insignificant" little details regarding the War God's slippery and highly immoral character were a fact-an unquestionable, undeniable fact...And yes, despite that surreal softness washing from time to time over that frozen darkness of his irresistibly mysterious eyes, Ares was a lying, cheating, manipulating Bastard that would have betrayed his own mother if that meant he could get some kind of sick but useful advantage out of it.

Sneering loudly, the overly tensed Warrior Princess shook hear head a couple of times while trying to banish those tormenting, bursting memories from her whirling mind, walking away from the window and heading towards the bed instead, where she finally allowed her body to lay down, forcefully closing her eyes in the futile attempt to get a few hours sleep, thus giving her mind the chance to take a well deserved break from any stressful connection with the brutal reality that she had been plunging into more and more lately.

Nonetheless, within seconds, her expression only seemed to have harden even more , when, right out of nowhere, a new stream of accurately painted images and drugged with passion voices invaded her brain, making her lips part involuntarily at what she so vividly remembered to be the sensation of the War God's full, sexy lips, gliding up and down her neck while a few muffled sentences left lasciviously the tip of his playful tongue making her pulse reach impossible levels...

"_Stop deluding yourself Ares, for between love and desire there has always been a precipice as wide and as deep as the Styx itself..."_

"_Are you sure it's only lust you're feeling right now, my Princess? We both know that I don't even need to touch you in order to make your body explode in so many different ways...How about that strange, uncontrollable sensation you get each time I'm near you...? Even before I step out of the aether? What's up with that?... __**My gaze**__ drinking in the spectacular sight of this killer body of yours, teasing me with the endless possibilities of making you mine...Ever wondered why you always feel it like the unique caress of the summer rain drops on a chokingly dry afternoon...? _

_And then there's that revoltingly __**disobedient heart**__ of yours-which somehow always forgets that it has no right to give you away by increasing it's drumming rhythm whenever I get a few steps closer to you...__**These lips**__...?" he continued while lightly tracing their contour with his index "... they never fail to open invitingly -despite the strictness of your orders, each and every time mine do... __**These goose bumps**__ on the surface of your creamy skin...?" he stressed, longingly caressing her arms "... They show so much more than what you're willing to-just like that slightly veiled __**fear **__playing like moon rays in your alluring blues- whenever you realize that you've slowly fallen into your own trap, allowing me to rule over your soul despite that initially clever intention of only keeping me interested with the highly addictive __**illusion**__ of owning you completely... _

_As for these low, wanton __**moans**__ fighting to break free from your throat right now...the __**subtle vibrations**__ of your body whenever I touch you...?" Ares added, stopping for an instant while turning her around to face him- a short moment of silent contemplation meant to let the Warrior know that he was carefully scanning her every reaction... _

"_...You can keep lying to yourself my dear Xena, labeling it as __**"primal, carnal passion",**__ as __**"pure, human craving"**__ but I could bet my godhood that you've found out by now that desire alone-no matter how wild, dominant and magnetic- could never keep that naughty mind of yours busy like that 24/7...It goes deeper than that...Waaay deeper..."_

With a sudden jolt, the Warrior Princess jumped out of bed, her breath heavy and ragged, lips trembling with each new outlet of air, her hands covering protectively her mouth the minute she heard those rasping, scraping noises she had been producing...

"What in Tartarus is wrong with me? I shouldn't even be thinking about him...He's nothing but an...extremely hot looking...**.. two faced Son of Bicth**! " the `outraged with herself woman uttered on the lowest of tones, making sure to stress the last part of the phrase while doing her very best to convince her coward, irrational heart to give up the fight and simply...pretend to be as blind and as deaf as only Justice could be, most of the times...

"He doesn't really love me...He can't love...He's War...He's Death, Destruction and Agony all together...I must be loosing my mind...Having nearly visited Hades' domain has certainly taken it's toll on me..."she mumbled dissatisfied on a barely audible note, while walking back and forth through the room like a caged animal, her every sense awakened by the bittersweet remembrance of those particular moments they had shared a couple of weeks back, and which had adamantly stuck to her brain just to torment her now beyond imagination...

Defying her strong will once more, as if she had no control over her body, her eyelids closed automatically the second a new wave of memories washed over her with the force of a stormy flood...

_This time they were in the middle of a battlefield- after a draining, bloody battle that , as always, had ended with her unavoidable, glorious victory- with her contemplating the tip of her sword and with him pushing away some fallen strands from her face while congratulating her for the resonant success. _

_She just smiled courteously at the long list of well chosen adjectives he was so generously using to praise her unmatched skills and intuition- though she could hardly wait the moment to leave that damned place already, the repulsive, poignant smell of decomposing flesh and gore, making her wanna be anywhere else on the face of the planet but right there... _

_As if having sensed her unconfessed fatigue and disgust at the brutally displayed image of guts and claret spread literally about everywhere, the leather clad God asked in a mild voice, his fingers languorously tracing the faint line of her collarbone: _

" _Do you have any plans for tonight?" _

"_You mean besides a bath and a peaceful night sleep ?" she retorted with a rather awkward, mechanical chuckle. "No, not really..."_

"_Perfect..." he whispered, taking her hand in his and placing a sweet feather like kiss on it's still covered in blood surface..._

_The next thing she knew, the fallen walls of Helike were melting progressively as if they had been made out of wax, along with all the surrounding elements, trees, sky, army, dead bodies...In no time, as colors and details began taking shape again though, she began fighting with that rough feeling of nausea that had made her stomach turn genuinely upside down the very instant they stepped into the vortex which had successfully transported them to what she soon discovered to be one of the most amazing places in the world..._

_Moments later,when finally managing to focus on the view around them, she was unable to hold back a loud gasp and the words from leaving her lips:_

"_By the Gods! Where are we?" she exclaimed in genuine surprise- just like a child would- a clamor that was rapidly followed by a rather startled yawp that broke out of her throat along with a sharp inhale which she felt grazing her lungs worse than any knife could, the very instant she realized that they were standing on the edge of a cliff, small chucks of rock already starting to fall in the bottomless pit situated beneath them..._

"_Don't worry, I got you..."the God firmly reassured her, tightening even more the grip around her waist, while with his free hand he began to calmly caress her long, dark silky tresses..._

_Another look down and one at her self, and it was a matter of milliseconds until Xena noticed that she was wearing an absolutely gorgeous long, burgundy velvet dress, with long, ample sleeves that almost reached the ground, and, as she studied herself a bit more, she couldn't help wondering if her previous nausea had originated from the God's awkward means of traveling through time and space or it could be all simply blamed on the torturously tight corset that had been strangling her waist to the point where she could actually feel her breasts on the verge of exploding. _

_Since she was so accustomed to pain though, she chose to ignore it for the time being, focusing her attention on the God's barely perceived, enigmatic smile. _

_Glancing elegantly, almost coquettishly over her shoulder, she inquired on a unprecedentedly suave tone- one in which Ares was more than capable-despite her best of efforts not to sound to intrigued by his actions- to decode the inborn curiosity which had always characterized his Princess as well as a well disguised note of irony:_

"_So...you've finally decided that you can't stand me anymore and figured out that the best way to get rid of me was to throw me off some cliff? Isn't this a bit too melodramatic for your refined taste, God of War?" _

_Hearing her line, he couldn't help appreciating her sense of humor..._

"_I was under the impression that you loved a bit of drama in your life...Keeps things interesting, you know..."_

_ A delicate smile lightened up her features. _

"_And the fancy costume? It's all part of the show?" _

"_Yeah well...I thought it might be fitting for the funeral...The design is a bit Gothic but I kinda like it...It makes your body even more voluptuous than it already is...It turns me on..." _

"_Well if you had asked, I would have definitely suggested something darker for the event..."_

_A wave of his hand was all it took for the dress to suddenly turn pitch black..._

"_And the corset is killing me..."_

_A light touch on her back and magically, all the pressure started to dissipate as the impossibly tight bodice adjusted a bit to it's owner waist, thus leaving her enough space to breathe. _

"_Better? " the God asked, kissing the top of her head, while snaking his arms around her again. _

_He was awarded with another one of those rare, stunning smiles that she possessed and that she only had the habit of offering him on the special occasions when he made sure to grant her some well buried in her consciousness wish that she might have had - and that she usually never bothered telling him about._

"_And the blood? " the question soon popped out as if trying to hide the satisfaction of having him do whatever she wanted him to..."It was quite suggestive for the scene that you're trying so hard to stage here..."_

"_Neahhhh...Too unaesthetic...I like you just fine the way you are now..."_

_Another bemused laugh, followed this time by a few moments of thick, heavy silence and tension passed before Xena decided to ask:_

"_Are you going to tell me what in Zeus' name are we doing here?" _

_The God just raised his shoulders, shaking his head disapprovingly at her youthful anxiousness._

"_You'll see soon enough..."_

_Before she had the chance to answer, he had already seized her face in his hand to stop her from rambling, and, when his tongue parted her lips in search for her own ,it immediately stroke him that, her kitty cat wanton purr breaking from the depths of her throat, sounded more than natural for once..._

_When she finally opened her eyes and glared up at him, he just placed a loving kiss on the tip of her nose:_

"_Turn around...you surely wouldn't want to miss this..." he murmured, urging her to see what he had brought her there for, in the first place..._

_When she did turn, Xena's jaw almost dropped to the ground...Before her, so close as if she could touch it had she reached out her hand, a blazing in flames sun , scorching the azure cloth of the sky in fiery red flames that gradually turned into an almost out of this world orange, was setting at the same time that the moon, shrouded in it's maladive yellow mantle- accompanied by myriads and myriads of stars- was rising above Olympus, the two dancing around each other in a ballet hard to describe...An evidently unique spectacle that the Warrior Princess had never witnessed before..._

"_Apollo and Selene...they sometimes like to show off their grandeur...And... they both happened to be in a good mood today, so I've asked them to do a little representation for you..."he said, releasing a quite nervous sigh..._

_Needless to say, Xena was more then impressed..._

"_Thank you..."_

_"No need to thank me...I would give you the world..."_

_"Giving me the Sun and the Moon is a promising start..."_

Seconds after this memory too reached it's end, a rather disturbed Warrior Princess was heading towards Ares' throne room, hoping that something as ridiculous as talking things over could actually make a difference and help her choose wisely...The incertitude of his feelings for her was tearing her to pieces...She needed to know...

XXX

At about the same time, maybe accidentally,maybe not, someone else happened to have urgent business in the same throne room, but had troubles materializing into the place, the War God's energetic barriers being absolutely impenetrable for Gods or mortals without his permission...

"What do you want Alecto?!" Ares howled on such a menacing voice that would have made even the King of the Gods himself take a few cautious steps back-obviously still affected by the horrific nightmare in which this Inferno Lady and her heinous Sisters had made him wish he were dead at least a thousand times...

"I have an offer for you, War God...It's worth your time, I promise..."

"And just what in Gaia's sacred name makes you think that I've got any interest what so ever in making deals with you? "

"Oh, trust me Baby, after you hear what I have to say, you'll be thanking me for the visit..."

Ares just raised an eyebrow mockingly, obviously signaling that he was doubting any similar possibility...

"Oh come on Ares, give a girl a chance..." she insisted closing in the distance between them the moment the God allowed her to enter the room, and comfortably sitting on his lap, a gesture he didn't seem to mind as much as his initial reaction would have make anyone believe...

"You do know how to get a man's attention..." he sensually murmured against her ear, while his hand began gliding up and down her almost bare legs.

"You'd be surprised...So...how about a glass of wine...? "

"Are you trying to get me drunk, Alecto?"

"Just a bit, Lover...just a little bit..."

Narrowing his eyes suspiciously, the War God scanned the Fury's apparently innocent face, totally intrigued by the secret she was hiding...

It was all it took for two goblets of wine to materialize into his hands...He gallantly handed her one...

"Talk..."

"...Just how hooked does your precious Xena have you?!..."


	33. Easy to manipulate specimens

"Just how hooked does your precious Xena have you?!..."

"Enough to keep me interested..."the handsome God bit back licking his lips, but explicitly appearing to be more than irritated by the Fury's nerve to bring his own sex life up for discussion.

"Enough to make you wanna close your eyes at the deviousness of her actions and...die by her hand? " she poisonously murmured against his ear, her wet tongue licking it lecherously in the process, and maybe Ares would have failed to notice the brazenness of her gesture after the cold shower that particular information had given him if her slender fingers wouldn't have expertly slipped underneath his leather vest, beginning to trace a few thin lines up and down it's perfectly chiseled surface.

Although it took a few long seconds until he was able to produce an answer, words themselves seeming to transform into sharp thorns grazing his throat at slightest intention of spitting them in the form of a well articulated phrase, when he finally spoke, the Olympian's voice was as slashing as a Roman whip and as cold as November rain...

"Go on..."

"You see, War God, I happen to know that your precious Chosen and Athena have reached some pretty twisted agreement a few days back ...one that would unmistakably turn you into some insignificant footnote in the annals of history- unless you do something about it, that is..."

Doing his best to restrain that crushing wave of maddening anger- that had invaded his senses from the moment he heard about his Xena's alleged betrayal- from unleashing it's destructive force upon his stool pigeon, Ares took a deep breath before answering on a distinctively ironic tone, adamant about not letting the cunning Alecto see just how affected he was about the possibility of such scenario ever happening, aware that if there was anyone on the face of the Earth as manipulative and heartless as he was, she was the one ...

"Did they now...? And...uh...I should just take your word on it, right?" his cutting line could soon be heard while with a torturously light touch, his hand found it's way underneath the Fury' s temptingly short skirt, and, before he knew it, Alecto had already spread her legs wider, thus giving him better access, her now strangely green eyes shining with lust and need...

"Not really..." she rapidly replied, her quivering voice thick with latent ecstasy "...You see, Lover...given the fact that I'm a very very sedulous little girl...I did my homework...I have proof..."

Slowly but surely, the War God's immeasurable confidence in his Princes loyalty towards him and his principles started to irremediably crumble down, just like a sand castle would...

Out of nowhere, a brief image of the raven beauty' amazing smile invaded his mind, making him frown involuntarily, the very instant the Fury's stingy voice brought him back to reality:

"So...wanna hear it?"

An almost painful- but definitely arousing- pressure on her clitoris along with the intoxicating sensation building up in the pit of her stomach the moment with his free hand Ares unlaced her leather top cupping one of her full, creamy breasts ass soon as they came into view, made Alecto automatically continue her sentence...

"Athena wants you out of the picture..."

"That's no news, Sugar..."

"Xena wants power..."

"Nothing new here either..."

"...What's **new** is that they realized that building an alliance was the safest bet for the two of them to reach their purposes...So they decided to stage a little show..." she continued, panting heavily.

"A show...?"

"Yeahhhhh..." the word left Alecto's lips on an almost savage note, her breath even more ragged the minute Ares began devouring her mouth with his own, groaning lowly as he sensed the tension building into her muscles...

"I'm listening..." he retorted once their kiss ended, without stopping for a second from stimulating the almost exploding with bliss woman that had now snaked an arm around his neck for support, whilst one of her legs had found the armrest to be a very useful place during those passionate seconds, and not even the glass of wine that she had dropped from her hand, spilling on the floor it's aromatic crimson content, couldn't divert her attention from the God's incredibly erotic ministrations ...

"They were supposed to make you believe that the astute Daughter of Zeus tried to kill Xena as a consequence of you failing to respect the terms of a deal that you made with her...But it was all a set up..."

'A set up for what?" came the natural inquiry of blinded with rage God, fire burning in his eyes while shoving with unbelievable violence his fingers even deeper inside Alecto's vagina, brutality that she was definitely enjoying big time given the urgent moans breaking from her lungs, making her draw a sharp breath before finding the strength to add:

"For you to give her the dagger of Helios under the pretext that she wants to kill Athena...when in fact it's your own death she's after..."

"Godssssssssssss don't stoppppp!" she yelled beyond control, her perfectly sculpted form arching upwards when the God began hitting repeatedly her G spot.

By the time she finished her phrase, moisture was dripping down Ares' hand, covering it with slippery liquid just like a part of the ebony throne beneath them already was, her now doubled in size nipples silently confessing just how deliriously powerful had the wave of that unearthly orgasm been, the visible aftershocks still ravishing her inside out like only electricity could...

"Well...that was fun..." Ares uttered in a proud macho voice, thus making a predatory smile show up on the Fury's exhausted face...

"You've always known how to make a Lady scream..."

"...one way or the other" the God mischievously filled in the dots, obviously hinting at the countless occasions in which he had beaten the crap out of her during their little one on one confrontations.

"Regardless...you are a natural..."

"Well thank you..." the cockily pronounced answer came out, underlining the fact that the God was more than aware of the boundless fascination imprisoning any women's will when it came to his persona, the power he indisputably held over them usually giving him the hard to refuse chance to treat them like puppets on the strings...

"So...how about that deal...?" Alecto questioned gazing at him expectantly.

"What do you want? "

"You..."

Hearing her answer Ares couldn't help sneering satirically, a reaction which immediately triggered Alecto's defensive mechanism:

"I didn't mean it like that Smartass...Love stories are definitely not on my top priorities list..."

"So what is it you want, then...?" the God replied fixing her with his hot, piercing stare, challenging her to say it...

"Do I need to draw you a picture...? " the Fury's scandalized question cut him off before he could start a new stinging statement.

"No...you just need to say it...It kinda makes me wanna throw you on the floor and fuck you real hard..." he viciously said gripping her throat, and playfully biting her bottom lip before he decided to teasingly fondle her breasts some more, as some sort of unbearable torture that she was about to endure unless she complied to his request.

" I want your cock inside me..." the muffled sound left her mouth to his ultimate delight...

"See? That wasn't so hard...What else?" he interrogated after a brief pause, aware that there was no way in the world she would give him so much vital information just for the sake of a crazy roll in the hay.

"I want you to kill Athena..."

If that didn't manage to get the nasty Olympian's attention, than nothing could.

"Athena? Can't say I'm opposed to the idea, but still...I thought you two were uh...**"close friends..."** he stressed scanning her visage for any sign of deceit...

To his surprise, he found none.

"**Were" **is a good word for what we had..." she answered, tenderly stroking the God'sexy goatee. "No need for you to know more on the subject...It's personal..."

"I see...So I suppose that Elenis, Athena's new protégée wouldn't have anything to do with your...uh...vengeful tendencies would it?" the God interrogated on a highly bemused tone, obviously knowing what he was talking about and intentionally rubbing salt into the Fury's wound...

A displeased smirk was all the answer he received in return.

"Ok...privacy prevails, I get it...Washing dirty laundry in public has always been a big minus when it comes to winning the "Popularity Prize" up on Olympus anyway...There's still this little piece that doesn't fit the puzzle though..."

Alecto gazed at him impatiently, wonder in her eyes.

"How did you find out about Athena and Xena's plan? They are hardly what I like to call **"easy to manipulate specimens", **so simply getting them to divulge their naughty plots is out of the question**..."**

Turning around in Ares' lap so that now she was licentiously straddling him, her firm breasts inches from touching his chest, Alecto rolled her eyes in exasperation before murmuring lowly on a dark honey like voice:

"What was your last nightmare about, War God...?"

Instinctively, the bewitching Olympian pushed her away a few centimeters, enough so that their eyes could meet properly.

"It wasn't a nightmare..." he mumbled absently beneath his breath, without even realizing that he had uttered the words, suddenly feeling the blood racing maddeningly inside his veins.

As if sensing his growing rage, Alecto made sure to add:

"No it wasn't...It was all part of what your terribly loving Sister believed to be a flawlessly executed plan...But I let you live...for old times' sake..."

At this point, her voice held a notable indifference into it's usually malefic inflections:

"And just so you don't have any doubts regarding my most sincere intentions, I'll give you this..." she finally concluded, as the pink crystal bottle appeared into her hand.

"What is this?" Ares spat on a low, almost menacing tone, hardly controlling the need to blow the Bitch to pieces right then and there.

"What do you think it is? "

In spite of the fact that his old "I'm not in the mood for your games Alecto" line was on the tip of his tongue just waiting for release, the Olympian decided to play along.

"...Well...it's coral...Smells like ...melted sugar...and it has a bow at the top...with imprinted hearts all over it...If you ask me, it has something to do with Aphrodite's sex toys...?"

"Very well Lover...they don't call you a **" sick degenerate perverted Hunk"** for nothing...you have a mind as twisted as a neurotic pretzel ...** "**

"One of my many gifts..."

"It's a Love potion" Alecto finally broke the news, making Ares arch a brow in vivid interest. "I was supposed to experiment it on you and ask you to kill Xena as proof of your undying love to me... Promising you my heart in return ..."

"That sounds almost as sick as my consciousness..."

At his funny but very realistic observation, the Fury let out a loud, sincere laugh.

"Tell me about it !...Anyway...I think I've found a better use for it..."

Ares couldn't hide his curiosity this time, it was written all over his face.

"You can use it on Xena...**make** her tell you the truth...Than your every doubt will be shattered..."

Considering his answer for a couple of seconds, Ares reached for the bottle. Nonetheless, before he got the chance to take it, the Fury asked:

"Does this mean we have a deal? The bottle and the information in exchange for Athena's life? "

" Don't forget about the spicy **"bonus"** that awaits you if all this turns out to be true..." Ares added, winking at her, obviously letting her know that they had an agreement.

"I'm sure you wouldn't let me" she replied, standing up to leave.

"Alecto..." the God's grave voice broke out, his harsh tone instantly drawing the Fury's attention. " On the other hand, If I found out that you've been lying to me, and that all this is part of Athena's heinous scheme to take over my powers..."

"I know better, Ares..." Alecto firmly interrupted, letting him know that she didn't have the slightest intention to play him...

"You wouldn't like the outcome..." he ended slapping her ass, so hard that it hurt, making her turn around angrily. "Don't say I didn't warn you..." was his last line, and by the time he ended the phrase she had already materialized from the place...

Her last words still echoed throughout the room though, making Ares bite his lips in excitement.

"You're sooo sexy when you're bad, Lover..."

From behind a curtain, a terribly hurt Warrior Princess was grinding her teeth as a deep feeling of disgust washed over her statuesque features. Despite the fact that she had barely understood what the two immortals were talking about, the distance between her and the throne being way too big so that she could eve's drop properly, the images alone could give her enough reasons to wanna plunge that damned dagger straight through the God's heart and to viciously twist it until there was not one single drop of blood flowing from it...

If just minutes before she was as indecisive as Hades about what to say to the God's proposal, things had suddenly become crystal clear...

One more thing she was also sure of...the Fury's presence was never a good sign...Whenever she was around, the natural flow of events suddenly took an unexpected twist...

XXX

Only a few seconds needed to pass for Alecto to transport herself to Athena's temple, and the bright light of a well deserved victory that was illuminating her immortal being was as ostentatious as only a diamond necklace around a village girl could be.

"Alecto!" the Goddess exclaimed, more than surprised to see her Fury friend back so soon..."I somehow believed it would take you longer..."

"Ares is hardly the difficult to persuade type..."

"Don't underestimate my "dear" Brother's canniness ..I'm telling you, that Son of a Bitch's brain works in ways that one couldn't possibly imagine, projecting hundreds of filthy scenarios for details as small as an ant! He's hardly as gullible as he would like to make us think!"

"He could never be a match for you, Athena! He's way too impulsive to ever dream of at least equalling your skills..."

Hearing the Fury's pertinent observation, the Goddess just grinned widely, a grimace that seemed to express the tacit agreement with her friend's flattering statement, and that successfully replaced her generally blank expression...

"Did he take the bottle too?"

"He certainly did..."the reply slashed the air along with a devilish laugh, while Alecto materialized another bottle in her hand identical to the one she had given to Ares not long ago.

"Unbelievable!" Athena burst out, joining the Fury into her insane, sinister laughter. "I'd pay to see his face when time comes..."

"It won't be long now...We're almost there..."


	34. Show and Tell

His heart invisibly scratched and bleeding- despite the fact that there was not one single drop of claret dripping down his chest to give away all that inner turmoil and atrocious pain he had to live with at the moment- his head on the verge of exploding like a timebomb, and half blinded with an anger that literally made him wanna howl at the moon, Ares cast one last glance in the direction the overly confident in her professional experience Fury had vanished, before he dematerialized from the rotten place in his usual dark blue laser light, heading instead towards the temple where he knew his bubbly Sister was located that very then...She had some serious explaining to do...

As if obeying the God's immortal will, it took less than seconds for the vortex to take him straight to the desired location- which soon proved to be one of Aphrodite's luxurious bathrooms, and where, to his immeasurable surprise, the bewildered Olympian couldn't have held back a loud **"Wow!"** not even if he had wanted it to, when, taking a virtual 360 degrees tour of the place, he came to the staggering conclusion that the room was probably triple in size than any of the chambers he had projected in his own temples...It genuinely seemed... endless...Kinda looked like a Roman public bath- the thought popped into his mind while carefully contemplating the sky high marble pillars holding the temple roof...

But a couple of steps later, and, a sickening wave of mortal nausea washing the inside of his stomach and his throat altogether, rushed to ruin his initial positive opinion of the place, the precise instant his lungs and brain came across that highly disturbing sweet flowery scent that had began to spread right about everywhere, along with the impressive quantity of vapors rising from the hot tub placed at the center of the room- and that pretty much prevented him from seeing anything else around him, except for the faint line of the Love Goddess' curly tresses and maybe what appeared to be the upper half of her back, the rest of what he knew to be a flawlessly traced body, hiding behind that irritating milky curtain emerging like fog above the steaming water.

"Well lookie here! My baby Sister struggling to brew a delicious soup for the first time in her life and forgetting to invite the guest of honor himself! What's wrong with the world these days?!"

"Studdmuffin!" she exclaimed exhaling sharply, obviously taken aback by her Brother's sonorous voice " You like totally scared me to death!"

"Well... since that almost boiling...liquid stuff that you're cooking into hasn't killed you so far, I genuinely believe that noting can..." he replied closing in the distance between them, while casting a rather befuddled gaze at the weird purple water in which the ditsy Aphrodite was lazily dabbling . "It does smell a bit like...chicken soup, though..."

"Oh cut it out Ar, that's the herbal essence I used on my skin...It makes it all soft and...well... perfect ."

"Sorry Sis...I still stand for the feathery farm animal stench..."

In response, the vexed Blonde just splashed some water in his face, as some sort of firm protest to the leather clad God's uninspired comparison.

" I don't even know why I bother...I mean what can I expect from a cosmetically unevolved...**creature**... that has no idea what so ever about the sacrifices one has to make in order to maintain at least the basic beauty standards of a decent body care?"

In less than seconds, Ares' face twisted into a highly disapproving grimace, quickly followed by a steely enough phrase meant to contradict what at least in his opinion was Aphrodite' s completely far fetched theory:

"Gee Sis... I couldn't possibly know given the fact that I'm not forced to make use of Zeus know what kind of second hand quackery stuff in order to be the sexiest God Olympus has seen across the eons..."

"You are such an egocentric maniac sometimes Ar! And I swear it on Styx, I don't know about that **"sexiest God on Olympus"** concept- Hermes does have that very appealing softness that makes a girl go like completely crazy...or Apollo...the ever shining with bliss, Apollo-... but **" unbelievably arrogant and narcissist**" , that's definitely you, all the way.

" Hermes?! With the wings at his feet?! Please! " Ares broke out, genuinely offended by his Sister's apparent lack of quality observation. "As for that other bumbling idiot, you wouldn't like to know why he's always shining with bliss and what's the reason why he's always wearing that half opened toga and nothing else underneath, ok?!" the words literally exploded from his chest, hands now firmly pressed against the edge of the hot tub, in a pose that made the Love Goddess wonder how could he even feel threatened about the ridiculesness of her senseless commentary, looking the way he looked.

Nonetheless, her childish giggles, along with that devilish half smile that soon sported across her perfectly traced lips, managed to quickly melt the God's rising revolt, letting him know that she didn't actually believe a word she said, her statements being just part of the tantalizing game he had personally started in the first place.

"So you like to play it rough, don't you?" his dubiously playful question was launched as soon as his Sister was quiet again, using a tone that would have made any sane person's brain enter immediately in alert mode...

Still, the Love Goddess was a pretty particular case ...Consequently, before she knew it, Ares was pushing her head underwater, highly amused by the peculiar way in which the panicked immortal had began wringing her hands in agitation, while desperately fighting to escape and draw in a deep breath of air.

When Ares had finally let go of her, water still streaming down her face, she just couldn't restrain that deafening yell-so obviously contrasting with her gracious form- from leaving her lungs:

"Areessssssss! You're sooooooo gonna pay for this! I'm definitely gonna hit you..."

"With a love bolt, was it again?" he inquired with a mocking innocent grimace while clicking his tongue loud, aware of just how much that sound had the power to irk his maddened with fury Sister.

"Don't worry Sis...You're gonna be just fine ... A bit of therapy and you'll be as good as new, no water traumas, no nothing...But just so you know... Gods can breath underwater effortlessly..."

"Who said anything about breathing? I had a poppy seed and almond mask on! Do you have any idea how much it took me to make that cream? I had to personally transport myself to the Thracian planes and pick those flowers myself! There's a lot of dust there Ar'! And when I say **"a lot"** I mean "**a loooooottttt"**

"No!" Ares continued on an even more satirical tone, a note of distinct surprise enriching the suggestive monosyllabic answer meant to really make the Goddess wanna hit him in the head with some very heavy object, the presence alone of that theatrical, pathetic simper stretching the corners of his lips giving him the aura of an unspeakably heatable person.

At this point, Aphrodite was so enraged, that simply muttering any reply in return, no matter how short, proved to be a quite impossible task.

That cute frown shadowing the usual brightness of her sweet features though, made Ares firmly grab her hair and forcefully pull her into such an intensive and steamy kiss, that he himself was unable to tell anymore if that chocking heat he felt gathering up in the back of his throat was due to the thick vapors continuously rising from the surface of the tub or to his Sister's eagerness to kiss him back...

"You don't need any cream to be beautiful, Silly, you're already the very image of Perfection ..." he whispered lowly against her burning lips once they broke apart, their chests still rising and falling with uneven breaths.

She just blushed slightly in return, making Ares chuckle softly before placing a chaste kiss on her forehead and delicately caressing her face with the back of his hand...

"Sooooo...let's get down to some quality **"Show and Tell"** shall we?" he finally exclaimed, taking a step back from the tub as if adamantly attempting to put some proper distance in between their bodies, the still tickling sensation of her naughty tongue entwining with his own, only making him wanna give in the fiery lust of being inside her, aware of how good it could be...

Hearing his line, the Love Goddess raised a brow implyingly...

"Not that kind of "Show and Tell"..." Ares rushed to add the moment he read her reaction.

Despite herself, the curly Blonde couldn't help pouting, at least playfully, the image of a spoiled little girl to whom her father had just denied the pleasure of owning a new sweet little nothing, describing to perfection a very significant part of her personality...

"I kinda stumbled over something today..."

A patient Love Goddess was now waiting for the rest of the details.

"I have this hunch that you can tell me what it is..."

Hardly had he finished talking, that Aphrodite's eyes widened with unspoken shock, as her body tensed imperceptibly, a reaction that Ares rapidly detected from her aura nonetheless, making him silently wonder why the sudden tension...

"Does it look familiar...?"

Her rosy lips opened to answer, but the fight between her brain and the dark secret she knew she needed to keep was vicious...

A light caress over her cascading, wet strands let Ares know that she was about to lie...

"Don't..." he harshly warned, his piercing stare seeming to drill a whole straight to her forehead, inquisitively searching for the piece of information that he could bet was hiding there, somewhere...

She bit her lip nervously...

"To whom did you gave this and why?" he kept pushing, eager to find some valid answers to those bothering questions torturing his mind.

Dite quickly shifted her gaze from the pink crystal bottle , the expression of a person guilty with premeditated murder or something, washing over her face...It was as clear as daylight that she was keeping things from him, and Ares was definitely not the man to fall for any of her lies, no matter how white and convincing...

"That's girls stuff, Studd..." she murmured while stretching out her hand to grab the magic container...

"Not so fast...Talk ...I happen to be very interested in this..."girls stuff " subject... "

"How comes?" she cleverly tried to avoid the answer and buy some time while still fighting to come up with some plausible enough fabricated truth...

This time, totally ignoring his Sister's legendary fragility, Ares dug his fingers into her shoulders, and, pulling her out of the water, he shook her a couple of times before barking on the most imperative tones he had ever used with her:

"Tell me what I need to know Gods damn it!"

It was all the impulse the Goddess needed in order to spit out anything he was interested to hear:

"I gave it to Alecto...She needed it..."

"Why did she need it for?"

"I don't know..." the words rolled off Aphrodite's tongue on a very insecure note that only made Ares blow up again:

"Don't play with me Dite...!"

"I'm not, I swear, she didn't say..."

"Well there sure must be a reason why you agreed to hand this to her!"

Suddenly the Love Goddess' heart started hammering louder and louder against her rib cage ..What did he know? Did he have any idea about the deal she had made with the Fury?!

A furtive glance towards her Brother's eyes, and Aphrodite could physically sense those invisible but very sharp daggers shooting from their rich brown depth.

As soon as she tried to deflect them by turning her head the other side, her jaw was brutally gripped by the God's fingers and there was no more refuge left for her startled gaze to search: it became irremediably glued to his own...As she began to realize it, there was no way out of that messy situation but by telling him the truth...

"Well I uh...kinda made this deal with Alecto..."

"You made a **deal **with that sleazy whore? She's a psychopath for Gaia's sake! "

"Well...I wouldn't call it a "deal" ...It was rather a mutual agreement? ... Yeah... sorta..." she finally confessed, swallowing noisily...

"I see...So would you care to explain to me what in Hades had possessed you to make a deal with her? What could that snake possibly have that might interest you?" he asked on a milder note this time, seeing that he was actually getting somewhere with her...

The Love Goddess tried to sketch something resembling to a smile...It was useless...

"It's nothing, really..." she mumbled, but stopped the instant he saw Ares closing his eyes...She knew what that meant...

"Ok, ok! I'll tell you...But please don't be mad at me, Bro, I was just trying to help..."

"I'm listening..."

"Remember that awful nightmare you told me about, when you woke up, right after you partially healed the Warrior Babe? "

"Yeah..."

"Ummmm..."she hesitantly started, unavoidably wondering what on Olympus was the best way to tell the cocky Ares that it was the Fury that saved both of their godly asses in the first place, that it was indeed Alecto the one that had brought her back to life, twisting her arm to solemnly promise that she would make up a love potion for her, a special one too- strong enough to melt the walls around any heart no matter how petrified...She agreed of course, totally clueless about the rest of the details...At the moment, it didn't matter anyway, all she cared about was saving her Brother's life and bringing Xena back from the dead...which she almost failed anyway, getting her hand on the ambrosia, having proved to be an extremely challenging task...

"It wasn't really a nightmare...You almost died that day...So did I..."

"I killed you..." Ares agonizingly whispered, instantly taking his hands off her, and pressing them against his temples instead...

"It was not your fault, Bro...it was the Furies...You would have never..."

"I've killed you..." he stated again, as if trying to assimilate the painfully realistic information...

"Ar...it's all right..." she gathered the force to utter, while compassionately caressing his chest.

He immediately rejected her touch as if it hurt...

"No...no it's not..." he muttered again, turning his back on her, unable to look her in the eyes, anymore.

It took but a blink for the Love Goddess to step out of the hot tub and spun him around to face her.

"Just get over it, ok? It's all in the past now. We're both fine, Xe's alive...what more can you ask for?"

There was a long pause till Ares decided to speak...

"I don't get it...Why would she raise a finger to help us?"

"Well, for starters, she needed me alive in order to get her hands on the potion...I'm not exactly sure why she needed it for though, but she wanted it badly...She told me she would spare your life if I agree to help her...I didn't dare ask anything else...I just accepted..."

"She was working with Athena...She wanted that potion so that she could use it on me...She wanted me to fall in love with her..."

"What?! How do you know? Are you sure...? I though she had this karmic obsession thing for the Wise Girl, or something..."

"**Had..." **the War God made sure to stress the word, thus letting Dite know how they currently stood..."The Bitch paid me a visit today...a rather **friendly** visit that was supposed to distract me from her real intentions..."

"Her real intentions?" Dite asked, totally clueless of what her Brother was ranting about.

As a response, Ares simply shook the tiny bottle.

"Well, if she wanted to use it on you, why would she...?" she trailed off, visibly intrigued about the Fury's diabolic plan, whatever that was.

"...What is the damned potion supposed to do in the first place?"

"I named it **"Love you madly"...**so it kinda makes one fall madly in love if drunk while looking at that particular person..."

"Ok...do you have two slaves around here...on which we could... uh... experiment?"

All of the sudden, Aphrodite's moons started to glisten with excitement...

"I love experimenting!...And I know just the pair that I'd like to hook up, too...!"she squealed, clapping her hands while with a wave of her hand she made an absolutely arousing coral lace lingerie materialize on her awesome body, making Ares raise an eyebrow an whistle appreciatively...

"Except for the color, you look fantastic!"

She playfully narrowed her eyes at him, as if wanting to let him know that he should start running for his life...The God was not impressed of course, on the contrary, his brazen gaze slowly descended from her face towards her perfectly round breasts where it rested for a couple of seconds more...

"I like you better without that piece of lace hanging around your...chest...you know..."

"Yeah I bet you do" she answered, chuckling bemused by the sight of his dazzled expression.

Another couple of laughs later, both Aphrodite and Ares were staring at two of the Love Goddess' favorite servants, Thalysa and Abderos, who were silently sipping the flavory wine the Gods had given them, from two pinkish goblets that were supposed to fit perfectly the coral marble floor of the bathroom.

"What do you think they'll do?" Dite's inborn curiosity finally prevailed, casting a brief glance in her Brother's direction..."Do you think they'll start making love?"

Hearing her wild guess, Ares sneered loudly, amazed by the Goddess' boundless ingenuity.

"If my guess is right, they will be definitely shaking it big time...Not on this realm though..."

Pretty soon, the Blonde Olympian's shrieks were filling the room with their unbearable acoustic while she was running by the side of a still violently convulsing Thalysa. Two more breaths and she was gone...

"Aresssssss! What happened?!"

"Gee Sis...I guess they died out of an overdose of Love...Who was it that said that Love can be the most vicious of killers, again?" the intently acid question left his lips, expecting no response to it whatsoever though, given the fact that a still very perplexed Aphrodite was unable to articulate one single syllable at the time.

"What in Tartarus did you put into that potion anyway, Dite? Olympian... cyanide? "

"I don't understand..."the Love Goddess finally muttered, sweetly caressing the girl's face..."There were only rose petals, a few dewdrops, some dark honey and my secret ingredient...the one that I use at most of my potions...What could have gone wrong?"

"I have one word for you..." Ares rushed to answer, winking at her while gently raising her from the ground.

The Goddess absently contemplated his well defined lips.

"Alectooooo" the name burst like a tornado from his mouth, a look of utter disdain flashing over the amber looking surface of his eyes.

Aphrodite gasped in surprise while those bothering, purple vapors that had seemingly invaded her brain too, finally began to dissipate, thus allowing her mind to function properly.

"The Bitch! She ruined my potion! And she was trying to use it on you..."

"Oh no...on me I suppose she genuinely intended using the real thing..."

"But you just said..."

"This isn't the original...I'll go out on a limb here, and say that your initial mix smelled like...strawberry?"

"My secret ingredient! How did you know?!" she exclaimed, literally holding her breath to find out the answer.

The War God just rolled his eyes in exasperation:

"All of your potions smell like that Dite...Rose and strawberry...And they are all pink..."

"Different shades of pink, Ar...and one shouldn't mistake coral and fuchsia for pink...And than there are so many shades of pink...there's plum pink, Arabian sand pink, there's classic rosy, sunrise pink, sunset pink...ice pink..."

"Yeah, ok, I get it...the list can go on forever...Fine..."

"So...what did she want to do with the poisoned potion...?."

"Long story Dite...I'll tell you all about it later. Right now I'm a bit in a hurry do, so do me a favor and hand over that dagger of Helios, will you...?"

For a few long seconds, the Love Goddess was silent, as the bitter memory of her own Brother plunging the blade inside her heart painfully came to life again.

"You still have it, don't you?" he insensitively asked, without as much as bothering to decipher his Sister's affected gaze.

She just materialized it into her hand, holding it with unspeakable disgust as if she were holding some dead and decomposing fish...

The War God's blood finally froze when he noticed the dry traces of blood mucking it's silvery blade...

"That's your ..." he trailed off, unable to finish the sentence.

"I think so..." the Goddess confirmed, bowing her head.

A wave of utter guilt and shame washed over the visibly uncomfortable Ares.

"So uh...what are you planning to do with Alecto...?"Aphrodite suddenly asked, desperately trying to change the subject, just so that her Brother wouldn't see how much his actions had affected her.

The still musing Olympian took a deep breath before replying:

"You wouldn't want to know..."

"And with the dagger?"

"Oh, I'll think of something..." he whispered, caressing it's dangerously sharp tip with his index. "Later, Sis'"

"Yeah...ok" she murmured back on the lowest of tones..."Hey Ar...?" she added right before he left the place..."Is the Warrior Babe still upset with me?" and as she finished saying the words, she instantly felt an uncommonly hot fire rising up to her cheeks again as soon as the image of Xena's disappointed stare- drilling a hole right through her very soul- invaded her mind.

"Neah... She has a bone to pick with Alecto now..."

"Oh...!"

Faster than a lightening bolt, Ares was back in the Halls of War, his fingers still firmly clutched around the jeweled hilt of the dagger, a dark shade of anger shrouding his eyes making him look as if he was about to execute someone...

It didn't take long until, from the faraway corners of the aether, he heard a melodious voice calling his name , as beautiful as a rhapsody and as chillingly commanding as a War song.

"Aresssssssssss..."

With a hasty move, he placed the weapon behind his belt and vanished from the large hall, to the room where Xena was located, his jaw tense and his lips pressed together tightly ...


	35. Mental orgy

"How does it feel to know that the War God himself is at your every beck and call, darling?" Ares inquired, the moment he stepped out of the vortex, making sure to invade his Princess' personal space with a few more steps in her direction.

"Are you asking me if I got used to the idea of living like a caged animal, with a demented stalker on my trail, sucking the very life out of me day and night? " she caustically attacked, barely able to hold back that wave of fury radiating from her every pore from unleashing its destructive power against the annoyingly arrogant Olympian. "It sickens me!"

"You should really start focusing on seeing the half filled part of the glass. Works wonders..."

"Yeah...I've noticed that you became quite an expert when it comes to filling glasses..." she cuttingly bit back, a shade of bitterness reverberating from her slashing remark.

Briefly scanning her face as if searching for some deliberately offered clue that he could fortuitously use in his own defense if needed, the God passed her by, refusing to comment her indirect but quite pungent accusation.

"So uh...if you called, I trust that you have an answer for me?"

"Oh I certainly do..." she responded , an impossibly to miss glare of utter disdain glistening on the surface of her beryl moons seeming to drill a hole right through the impenetrable stone wall before her.

"Perfect! Well I think we both agree that skipping the engagement is the best solution at the moment, and there's no need to thicken the plot even more with useless formalities such as wedding invitations and public announcement in the Agora...If it were for me we'd be already enjoying our long, orgiastic honeymoon in Rome actually-and postpone that boring ceremony for later...like... a couple of months or so..." the God went on ranting, despite having sensed the constantly growing tension from his Princess' aura "... Sweet Olympus! I can already picture myself drinking in the sight of that astonishing body of yours in the morning...You'd be still half asleep while the first sun rays would cast their soft warm light through the window, making your skin glow like diamonds even through the transparent organza sheet covering you from waist down..." he finished, wrapping his arms around her waist, and pulling her closer into a firm but tender embrace that despite the formerly uttered words was expressing anything but lust...

Almost unconsciously, a wide, unnaturally loving smile melted that thin layer of ice shining on the surface of his eyes the instant he accidentally inhaled the subtle jasmine perfume of her hair...Gods he adored that woman! From the tip of her toes to the last strand of hair growing on her head, he loved her to pieces...And love wasn't in fact a strong enough word for what he felt for her...Inexplicably even to himself, he often hated her for that with almost the same intensity with which those passionate flames- that she was constantly making sure to keep alive- were cremating his soul...

He gulped noisily... He could sense her heart quickening it's pace and her lungs suddenly demanding less and less air in the vain attempt to gradually calm down her distracting, out of control nervousness...He fought it at first, but he soon realized it was a lost battle- despite his efforts, he couldn't help himself react at the crushing attraction of her nearness and, dangerously sooner than he would have allowed it, he could irremediably detect that impossibly to stop desire of making love to her creeping underneath his skin...infiltrating into his blood just to be rapidly pumped throughout his arteries like a poison that knew no cure and that in a matter of milliseconds took over his brain, shrouding it with the dazzling effect of her presence...

Totally unwillingly , his body temperature rose automatically the moment his mind freed an exceptionally hot memory they had shared in the past, with her soaking wet body pinned firmly against the cold marble wall of one of his temples, her short, spidery silk dress provokingly enhancing her every curve, his heavy torso pressing uncomfortably against her breasts, palms keeping her head straight, forcing her to look him in the eyes...

He could almost sense it again...her ragged breath burning hot against his lips...that unique sweetness of her tongue when he kissed her...her legs wrapping like snakes around his waist when he ripped that dress off her, fingers digging deep into his shoulders as he playfully bit her nipples...that unexpected explosion of low, wanting moans as he entered her...that highly arousing way in which her body arched before she came...the surreal blue of her irides as he filled her...

"I haven't said **"yes"** yet, Ares!" her harsh voice brutally broke those tantalizing images of his reverie, calling him back to reality.

" Well what on Earth are you waiting for, my Goddess?" he smoothly inquired, sensually stroking with long, delicate sweeps the dark straight tresses falling over her shoulders... "Are you intending to make me beg on my knees ...?"

"You could as well kiss my feet, I wouldn't consciously accept the curse of being your wife not even if you were the last man on the planet!" she growled spitefully, doing her best to jerk from his arms, a gesture that was as useless as rain during a chilling, autumn day, the force of his grip only intensifying to the extent that now she could hardly breathe.

He didn't turn her around to face him like he usually did though, as if afraid of reading the rejection painted all over her features ...In exchange, his right hand moved to her lips, roughly caressing their surface as if what he had actually intended was to rip them off her face.

When he spoke, expertly contradicting each and every one of Xena's somber suppositions, his voice was unusually calm and calculated...No trace of emotion hidden behind his tone...

"Why ever not, Princess? If you'd stop thinking with that overly possessive and jealous heart of yours for a second, you'd realize that what I'm offering you here is a** "once in a life time chance"**. I'm laying the world at your feet... and more...Eternal life, a place among the Gods, fame, boundless power, superhuman abilities...you name it..."

"Yeah? And what's in it to you?"

His answer came with no hesitation.

"You...more power...eventually Olympus- with you as my Queen...Everything you want, Xena...you could make it yours..."

"Everything?" she mockingly asked, biting her lips hard while waiting for his response

"Everything..."

She just snorted loudly, more irritated by the nerve he had in him to still act as if nothing had happened than by the physical discomfort that by then had almost reached the upper limit of human bareness.

"What?!" he finally snapped turning her around in his arms, their steely gazes virtually butchering the one standing before them.

"Do you actually think that I'd give up my own soul to a pathological, demented Son of a Bitch in the eyes of whom I'm nothing more than a common tool meant to intensify his powers?"

"I've never said that you're just that to me..."

"Oh...so fighting by your side to take over Olympus is just...what, part of the fun?"

"Stop twisting my words, Gods damn it! One hand washes the other! Of course you'll be fighting right there by my side in order to ensure our dominion! What did you expect?! A fairytale kinda wedding with those never-ending love crappy vows included and a happy happy ending with us living in peace and harmony forever after?! Are you crazy?! " he blew up at her, the mere idea of her refusal making him wanna strangle her to death.

"As always, you seem to forget that I'm not one of those cheap, empty headed whores that you use to spend your free time with and that you can manipulate at will, Ares! You have nothing I want! Not any more..."she spitted, her mind still screaming in agony at the remembrance of the previous scenes envisaging a half naked Alecto moaning in his lap, completely disgusted by that formal, almost theoretic discourse he was giving her. "I have my own ways of getting what I want...Marrying you is not one of them..."

"Is that so...? And what ways are that, Xena? Huh? " a blinded with rage War God exploded, pushing her from his embrace just to grab her arm the following second, his fingers clenching around it like chains, refusing to let her leave. "Did Athena's proposal sound more tempting? Did it? Answer me!"

Only a faint flicker of surprise flashed across the Warrior Princess' face...Enough for Ares to notice though and to loose his temper even more, maddened by the awareness that she had been keeping things from him, and, even worse, she had being plotting against him, planning to switch sides and stab him in the back-in the most literal sense of the word...The idea itself made him wanna rip her open with his bare hands, an impossibly to ignore thirst for vengeance scorching him inside out to the point where he felt like there was no trace of positive emotion left behind to explore once he'd fulfilled his outrageously irrational mission...

"Surprised?! Don't tell me you've been hoping I wouldn't find out! When I asked you what was the reason behind the late night rendezvous with my bitchy Sister, you told me that it was not important! That if it were I would have known!" he barked hoarsely, violently pulling her towards him the minute she tried to break free, with such cold ferocity as if he were about to tear her arm from her body.

"And?!" Xena's brazen response soon materialized on a defying enough tone to make the God finally give way to his wild imagination and turn her to ashes then and there.

The resonant slap that threw her on the floor a moment after, was meant to replace any other nasty line Ares could have come up with.

"What are you saying?" he menacingly interrogated, his fingers tangling into her hair, pulling her viciously back to her feet while holding her gaze, hoping to find if not some clear sign of protest at least some trace of unspoken regret...It was useless... she was as cold as only marble statues could be... She obviously couldn't care less about his futile attempts to hold back his anger or about his unavoidable violent outbursts...

"I'm not saying anything...You seem to be all knowing...I can't but bow before your unmatchable intelligence! " she replied, making sure to mockingly add a reverence to the acrimonious sarcasm of her line.

"Speak Gods damn it!" the words thundered throughout the room as the back of his hand collided with her left cheek this time, making her moan lowly in pain. Another powerful kick to her stomach followed by a stronger one in her chest sent her down like a fallen leaf.

Seconds later he was savagely pinning her against the floor, the pressure coming from the boot blocking her windpipe making her any attempt to move useless and risky.

"Is this what you were after?! Huh?" he shouted, pulling the dagger of Helios from his belt, and throwing it blade down just inches from her right temple with such fury, that when it finally reached the temple floor, the weapon remained half stuck into the black marble slab. "What do you want from me? There's nothing that I wouldn't give you! A world to conquer and to rule, immortality, endless possibilities, what more could you ask for? "

When she finally found the force to push him away and gained her breath, a stingy pain still echoing uncomfortably throughout every cell of her body, her dark tresses falling like a burial shroud around her shoulders, without as much as bothering to stand again, she just growled in response, eyes burning with immeasurable hate and emotional suffering.

"I couldn't care less about what you're willing to offer you two faced, manipulating Bastard! Whatever I want I can get it myself, there's no need for me to crawl at your feet in order to do it! As for the eternal life concept , you can stick it up your ass! The last thing I want is to spend infinity watching you fuck everything that has a hole, I can definitely find more pleasant hobbies, thank you!"

The phrases came out surprisingly harsh and fluent from the mouth of the stricken with grief Warrior Princess...Somehow, everything she said made sense...She was right about feeling disappointed and betrayed of course, and putting an end to that whole mess was the best possible solution... But if it did, then why did it hurt so much?

...As if the bright light of understanding had replaced the ocean of obscurity in which his brain had been voluntarily bathing, Ares crushed down on the floor just inches from her visibly shivering form, so that when he reached his hand to touch her face, she could easily return the favor, slapping him as hard as she could, with an equally violent hunger too.

He didn't say anything at first, preferring to furiously lick his lips and glare daggers at her instead, obviously tempted to react in accordance to the staggering incentive of her gesture.

"Is this what's all about? Alecto?! That brainless tramp tried to have me poison you! Of course I used any opportunity I could in order to find out every dirty detail regarding the bigger scheme! She's working with your night pal! Those screwed up losers are cooking something up against us, and they're using you to get to me! "

"Poor baby! I'm suddenly all soft and mushy inside...I could even shed a few tears! And you couldn't find a better way to extract information from her except by finger fucking her?!" she bit back, evidently unimpressed by his generous heroics and heartbreaking sacrifice.

"That doesn't even qualify for a real fuck! And it didn't mean anything!" he quickly responded in self defense, a part of him obviously enjoying seeing her jealous and out of control because of something he had done...

"Yeah...It sure seems that lately nothing means anything to you any more !" she spitted out, completely repulsed by the easiness with which he was treating the subject, as if it was not him the one that had grotesquely mutilated her soul with his lack of consideration.

"Xena! " he murmured in between gritted teeth, doing his very best to bury that irking urge of hearing every little bone of her body breaking.

"... I thought we had this conversation before! I'm God, ok? I've been here for like...forever? I've fucked so many women that I've lost track myself! It doesn't count anymore, ok ?! Finding someone that can actually make me feel anything except for a freakin' orgasm is as rare as seeing a sexy Bachae drinking ale in a cheesy tavern in Corinth! You're special to me, can you get that through that thick skull of yours, already? ...I haven't asked you to marry me just for the sake of having some company while squashing a couple of armies and slaughtering some naughty Olympians! I want you by my side because I love you! It might not be the classic Cinderella love that you read about as a child...As you said it so many times, I'm a sick, egocentric maniac that wouldn't even flinch if having to stab his own mother in order to get what he wants...That's part of my job description, remember? And yeah, I'm as possessive as Tartarus when it comes to what is mine, I'm jealous, arrogant, demanding and stubborn...Cheating, manipulating, obsessed, insensitive, ironic,...you name it...But I'd tear the world apart for you...Being my wife would feel like having a heavy iron chain hanging around your neck until the end of time... I'd never let you out of my sight...not even for a second...We'd be probably fighting more than making love... you'd wish nothing more than to run me through with that dagger at least ten times a day, shouting in my face just how much you hate me...But at the same time, you'd be the luckiest woman in the universe, cause Zeus knows I wouldn't be able to deny you anything...not even my heart...I meant it when I said that for me there is only you...Baby...you're all I could ever ask for...I'd spend eternity trying to make you happy, proving myself worthy of your trust...I just hope you're willing to let me..." he ended, his last words melting on the tip of her lips the instant he crushed them with his own, lacing his fingers through her silky tresses again- this time though without the revolting ruthlessness which he had used to keep her put but minutes before ...

To his huge surprise, she didn't resist the kiss, her own fingers clinging almost immediately to the trimmed edges of his leather vest, diminishing even more the distance between them...


	36. Insatiable love, slashing demands

The sun was high on the sky when the Warrior Princess finally opened her eyes again, lazily stretching her body in the attempt of chasing away the numbness of her sore muscles...

Taking a deep breath, she cast a brief glance towards the window...Just two or three hours remaining till sunset...She had slept like a log most of the afternoon- an extremely rare event given her usually busy schedule and her very solid principles regarding time management...

A soft kiss planted on her shoulder, followed by a familiar, delicate caress gliding down her arm, made her involuntarily let out a low, appreciative moan, since the inborn capability of actually articulating a proper word was definitely out of the question given Morpheus' long lasting drug like effects that were still partially clouding her mind...

"I guess next time I should just keep in mind the fact that you're only mortal, Luv...You were exhausted..." the War God uttered on a playfully pungent tone, while proceeding to trail a long line of delicious kisses up her neckline.

An obviously disapproving growl followed by a stingy enough line to match his own, soon left the still half asleep Warrior's lips under the form of a rather incoherent mumble that the bemused Ares found nonetheless no problem in deciphering.

"What are you talking about? I only stopped because you were panting as if your lungs were about to explode. I genuinely thought you were about to die...Maybe you have a heart condition or something..."

Despite the fact that she had meant for the tone of her voice to be serious and lacking any sign of emotion, she couldn't suppress the mischievous chuckle that broke out almost instantly from her throat when she detected the sudden pause in the God's sarcastic discourse.

She could definitely imagine his offended expression at the sound of her unspeakably unjust phrase. It would have been a spectacle to see too, but she was way to gold brick to actually turn around and contemplate it...

"Very funny Princess. I do appreciate your sense of humor I really do...But as I recall it, you were the one all covered in sweat, your breath labored by the effort..."

If that low kick below the belt couldn't wake the proud as a peacock Warrior up, than nothing could.

"That only happened because I was doing all the hard work while you were laying on your back, enjoying the ride!" Xena jokingly retorted, vengefully slapping away the warm hand that had slowly began to glide in between her legs.

"Well...you're so damn good at what you do! How could I resist the temptation of seeing you in action?" the obviously well entertained God made sure to answer, and taking her completely by surprise, with a rough but arousing enough gesture, he quickly flipped her on her stomach, and, way before she could voice the smallest protest, the dark haired Chosen of War was being pleasantly hushed into silence by the tantalizing sensation of her God's wet lips pressing against the back of her neck...Soon, his fingers were firmly entwining with her own, every inch of her form vibrating with desire when his muscular body covered her like a blanket ...

One of his eyebrows rose sharply...He couldn't help but love the way in which her every cell responded to his nearness...It was driving him crazy every single time, his every instinct awakening to multiply his own fervent reactions...

"How comes that I never get enough of you?" he sensually inquired while softly pushing away those few silky long tresses still covering the upper part of her back, directing them towards her left shoulder instead, the one that he had previously kissed...

As always, his words were well chosen, his tone low and dangerous, his every touch firm but tender at the same time...He knew what he was doing and she couldn't help but think how weak and powerless she felt around him in situations like this...

When she responded, her voice almost crocked with an effort to remain under control, part of her refusing to let him win that battle again, and she almost deliberately failed her own expectations, when, a vivid image of that hypnotizing, predatory smile of his while slowly licking his bottom lip came into her mind, making her literally climb up the walls in excitement...

The unexpected sensation of one of his hands freeing her fingers and heading down her waist instead, lingering on the outer side of her breast in the process for a couple of moments, made her flinch nervously...She could almost feel her skin blazing again, and his firm grip as he greedily lifted her hips upwards only made a huge knot of tension built inside her stomach at the same time that an unbearable heat invaded her hot center, making it pulse rhythmically as a result of those impossible to stop contractions of her inner muscles...

The effect he had on her...she could hardly believe it, let alone accept it...Pretty soon, all colors were about to intensify their nuances before her eyes, reason itself loosing control over it's boundaries, and she knew it ... His hot breath on her spine didn't help much of course, only managing to elicit an anxious whimper of frustration out of her luscious, dirty mouth...

"I hope you don't mind me skipping the foreplay..." he murmured against her ear, allowing part of his weight to crush her against the soft mattress of the bed. "...but I long to be inside you..."

As his voice broke in the depths of her mind, Xena's fingers just clenched tighter against the onyx sheets beneath her.

"Are you trying to tell me that I'm irresistible, War God?" she cleverly asked, her lips parting instantly to let out a silent scream as soon as she felt that inhumanly impossible to ignore hardness of his cock grinding teasingly against the yearning, swollen nub of her clit , spreading her legs further apart before he gradually allowed himself to fill her...

Her whole body shivered at the contact, her heart literally jumping into her throat the moment she heard his voice again, this time thick with uncontrollable desire, gasping for breath the very second he finished his phrase...

"Fucking you again is all I could think of during these last few hours while you were asleep...Gods I want you so bad...!"

Judging by his visible impatience, the Warrior Princess could tell that a totally animalistic coupling was unavoidable, with him in complete control over her helplessly positioned body ...Needless to say that she was one hundred percent thrilled by the idea...She sometimes hated herself for it, but, despite her most desperate efforts, she couldn't help secretly fantasizing about being nothing more than his sex slave, her prisoner, that divinely sculpted body of his being the only connection she still wanted to maintain with reality...

And still...those were nothing but mere images flashing before her eyes, heart poisoning flickers of a wild imagination, while the absolutely impossible to suppress guttural moans breaking from her throat as he plunged into her but a swift second later, were as real as real could be, along with that incredibly enthralling wave of adrenaline rushing through her veins as the God began slamming harder and faster inside her , to the point that she could no longer feel anything except that overwhelming tension building inside her every nerve, an unprecedentedly intoxicating desire that soon exploded into loud cries of ecstasy, each deepening thrust making the highly aroused God get closer and closer to a swirling, shuddering climax...

"Oh Gods! Harder!" her words soon filled the room along with the hungry moans echoing from somewhere inside her...

It was all that Ares still needed to hear...Moments later he was plunging into her with such brutality that the screams now leaving Xena's lips were definitely not common notes of pure, addictive pleasure, the long deep strokes of his painfully throbbing shaft- now ramming almost automatically in and out her- making a sweet, unmistakable feeling of disturbing pain take over what was left of her strength, along with that surreal wave of orgasm that was now invading even the last cell of their bodies, leaving them soon breathless, with Xena's shivering form still trashing uncontrollably under his burning torso.

"Sweet Fates, woman! You're insatiable!" a completely drained War God finally exclaimed while rolling off her and pulling her into a tight embrace against his chest.

" Look who's talking!" Xena immediately bit back, smiling mischievously, her breasts still rising and falling irregularly, her lungs almost crying out for more air..."Plus...don't tell me you're complaining now..."

A brief glance towards her flushed cheeks was all it took for Ares to wrap even his other arm around her, chaining her impossibly close to him, in one of those trademark, possessive gestures that fully characterized the avidity of his domineering nature, as if wanting to state at all price that she was his and his alone.

"Never..." he lovingly whispered against her ear while softly caressing her dark, velvety tresses.

There was a long pause before Xena spoke again. When she did though, her honey like voice instantly captivated her patron God's attention.

"Ares?"

"Yeah, Sweet ? "

"I have a request..."

Arching an eyebrow, the stunningly handsome Olympian propped himself up on an elbow, his bright amber eyes fixing-apparently uncomfortably- his Chosen's suddenly tense features.

"Name it..." he reassuringly encouraged, while delicately tracing the line of her jaw with his index, his gaze glued to her lips as if trying to memorize their every curve.

She frowned slightly, probably at the presence of some unwanted thought, obviously fighting with herself before summoning the courage to voice her demand- her gaze instantly shifting sideways, while short fragments of a past conversation they had shared began replaying inside her busy brain.

Reading her visible hesitation, the God slightly tilted his head to the side, vainly searching for her azure moons, completely intrigued about what was going on in that pretty head of hers.

With a light, gentle gesture he curled a finger under her chin, raising it up so that her eyes could met his...It didn't take long until he could indisputably decipher the poorly veiled emotion hiding beneath their icy, defensive surface.

"What is it you want, Princess? If it's in my power to give, just ask and it's yours..." the God stated on that dark, alluring tone that always made Xena wanna close her eyes and drink in the sensation of his forever lethal, magnetizing presence.

"A child...with you..." the barely audible words finally rolled off her tongue, hitting Ares like a tone of bricks...


	37. Love can feed the famished

"...A... child? " his voice articulated on the most incredulous note possible, as if trying to check if he had heard her right in the first place.

"A child..." she soon echoed, her tone low and grave as it generally was when she was talking about some life and death situation...

" A **child**..." he stressed- pensively this time- and for a moment there, despite his renowned self control when it came to unexpected news, Ares genuinely felt his heart drumming unbearably loud against his temples...He had actually indulged himself in believing that after all those endless eons of living on this damned planet, nothing could take him by surprise any more...Boy, was he wrong!

In the futile attempt of making some sort of logical connection with any reasonable fact that could have pushed her into asking that of him, he finally let the itchy question pop out, still a bit insecure about the idea of actually bringing up the subject again , especially after having taken the decision of not pressuring her about it...

"Does this mean that you're willing to accept my marriage proposal?"

"No..." the barely murmured response was promptly offered, brutally cutting off the suspense, and, it's quite needless to say that the awareness of it shocked him worse than an icy cold shower during a polar winter day...

"No..." his voice echoed again, feeling suddenly silly for having opened his mouth in the first place...Their rather one sided conversation, it was like some ridiculous game children were generally playing around the age of five...when one had to rapidly repeat what the other had said, using the same tonality and the same mimic...It was making him nervous and he hated the feeling...

Nonetheless, noticing his discomfort, with an almost expert psychological precision, the Warrior Princess rushed to intervene.

"Not yet..." she added, just to complete the sentence a few short seconds later, moments that for the mixed up War God though seemed to have lasted far more than a full of events century...

"Ares...I'm not ready to be your wife...And I certainly don't wanna rush into it... just like that..." the tricky explanation was again delivered with no delay, making the handsome Olympian instantly arch both of his eyebrows in utter surprise and confusion.

"Xena...let me see if I got this right...So...you're **not** ready to marry me, to become my wife but you **are** ready to be the mother of my child?! Am I missing something here, cause Honey, I really wanna understand how your mind works?!" he broke out, completely ignoring any initial intention of doing his very best to avoid snapping at her.

...He did have a clue about where her unusual request came from, and the mere concept of that being true felt like worms eating his heart out, but somehow, in the furthest corner of his brain, he refused to believe that she could actually lower herself to that extent...

"You said that you'll be patient with the wedding part...That you can wait..." her mild tonality instantly brought him back to reality.

"Yes..." the line came out almost automatically.

"So I don't have to decide anything **right away**..." she stated, stressing the last words...

"No...you don't...Still...that doesn't answer my question...Where does the presence of a child fit into all this?"

"Ares...look...it's ok if you don't want to...It was probably a bad idea anyway..."

Taking an avid gasp of air as if wanting to say something else, the Warrior Princess just rose from the bed, ready to leave- turning her back on a complex problem like that, sounding obviously much more appealing and comfortable than just facing it properly...Ares's iron like grip around her wrist made sure to give her a new perspective on things though, keeping her put despite her every intention to avoid his piercing, persistent gaze...

"Don't **"Ares"** me! And look me in the eyes when I'm talking to you Gods damn it!" he barked on the harshest of tones, making Xena instinctively lift her gaze to meet his...

When she did, the God was but seconds away from slapping himself at the sight of that fine layer of unshed tears covering the now dark beryl of her irides, scintillating like only the purest diamond dust ever could.

"Sweetheart...nothing would make me happier than you giving me a child...It's just that...you're still so young..." he softly added, wisely deciding to keep his suspicions to himself for the time being...

"Young?! Ares most women of my age have two even three children!" she defensively protested and for a moment there the God really had the impression that it was not his Conqueror standing before him anymore, definitely not his Warrior Princess whose name was on the lips of every village and city in Greece, but rather a moody, spoilt brat who refused to take no for an answer...

...Contrary to his sky high standards, he was soon to discover that couldn't help adoring her even for that...

"Yes...but on the other hand you are not "most women.." are you, now? You are the Chosen of War...the Commander of my armies...A child would get in the way..."

"In the way of what?!" she unexpectedly cut him off, almost shouting in his face "Of your larger than life plans of dominion?"

"Of your future!" he simply responded in a surprisingly calm voice, paying no mind to her overly emotional reaction.

Again, for a couple of endless minutes that seemed to stretch their seconds towards eternity itself, a painful, chocking silence filled the room, covering with it's thick veil both a deeply hurt Xena that was hardly managing to control her frustration and anger and the barely holding himself together War God who was ferociously fighting with himself with all that he got to restrain himself from giving into her ever so tempting proposal...

In any other circumstances he wouldn't have hesitated one millisecond to fulfill her ardent desire, and he was well aware of that... But now, with all the fiasco that had been clouding his judgment lately, with Athena and Alecto just waiting for the slightest mistake, for the right chance to attack, with a Chosen who's mind was as labyrinthine and obscure as the Fates' will itself, he didn't want to risk anything, not even her own safety... Gods knew he would have decapitated her in less than a blink had she ever dared use their child against him...

"I can decide by myself how I want my future to be..." she mumbled, more to herself then for the God to hear.

The moment she bowed her head in defeat though, the faint trace of a resigned smile hardly managing to curve the corners of her lips, he made sure to gently cup her cheeks and raise her face up again:

" It's not a **"no"** , Princess, ok? It's definitely not a "no"...

'Well it's obviously not an "yes"

"Just...let me think about it for awhile..."

"What? You're not ready to be a father?" she mockingly retorted using his own words and slashing tonality against him.

He couldn't help but admire her cunningness and her ever so irritating causticity...She was so much like him in so many ways...

"By all Olympus you are something else! " and he had meant to make that phrase a bit longer, provided he wouldn't have heard his ditsy Sister's voice calling on the most desperate of tones throughout the aether, a tone that definitely made him curious to find out in just what mess had she gotten herself to this time...

"Would you mind if we continue this conversation later, Darling? Dite's calling, and judging by the utter despondency in her voice it should be important...?" he inquired, lightly caressing her face.

"Oh...**Dite**..." Xena shortly articulated, obviously on a very displeased note, the image of the two kissing passionately just inches away from her, still haunting her memories despite her best efforts to erase it from her troubled mind.

"You could come with me if you like...Maybe a change of scenery would do you good..."

"No thanks...I'd rather go and eat something...It's evening already and I haven't eaten anything all day long..." she promptly answered changing the subject...

As her next observation soon followed, the God just bit his lower lips nervously, praying to all deities that she wouldn't start digging for details...

"It's strange though...I don't feel hungry..."

"Well...you know what they say...Love can feed the...famished? And Zeus knows you received plenty of... **love** ...today" the very uninspiredly uttered line left the God's lips, making him break into a wave of heartful laughter as soon as he realized how obscene that must have sounded.

Consequently, only a few merry notes managed to escape his throat that, soon, a huge fluffy pillow was roughly colliding with his head, covering him in white fluffy feathers from head to toe...

A satisfied smirk on her face, a still fuming Xena finally rose from the bed, rolling her eyes while heading for the door.

"Do you have any servants around here?" she questioned on a cold note that involuntarily made the War God's relaxed body tense visibly.

"Aleena will be waiting for you in the main hall...If you need anything else just call"..

Soon the room which they had both shared for the past couple of hours was empty again, a disturbing noise of the large heavy door being slammed against it's wooden frame, and the familiar woosh of Ares' supernatural exit being the only sounds that a long, lone echo was still replaying a few moments later...


	38. Sea shell coiffure and cocktail dresses

"So...who died this time?" Ares's one million drachma question rushed to replace the usual "What's up Sis?'" which the God had the nerve racking habit of uttering on a variety of inflections depending on his mood.

One might also add that, the colluding expression painted on his face the instant he materialized to Aphrodite's temple, the intriguingly raised eyebrow while he began to carefully snoop around as if wanting to find some other faithful servant's stiff corpse-figuring out that such type of "tremendous tragedy" alone could have elicited those tormented, melodramatic notes pouring grazingly from the Goddess' mouth- would have been considered at least hilarious by anyone...Well...anyone except the blonde Love Goddess who was visibly and audibly on the verge of a nervous breakdown...

" Not **who**...**WHAT**! My hopes! All of them!" she suddenly burst out, her eyes refusing to leave the huge, absolutely impressive mirror in which her slim silhouette was reflecting it's perfectly shaped lines.

" That sounds very...**disturbing**...So how did the unfortunate event happen? Where they savagely tortured before their ruthless execution or was it just a plain, boring spear through their heart that did the trick? " Ares inquired coldly and on a rather tired note the instant he realized that there was nothing spectacular for him to witness...no decomposing human flesh, no classic drama, no blood...no nothing...Just plain old Aphrodite goofing around like some squeamish teenager in front of an empty window-shop...

Completely ignoring her filled with inner turmoil soul, he unavailingly wrapped his arms around her, gently kissing the top of her head- a hasty, prosaic gesture considering Dite's shaky state of mind and that trembling with wrath body which was only covered by a spidery, transparent pink lingerie...Consequently, the almost brutal push that followed- meant to set her free from his brotherly grasp- almost left him agape, unaware till that very moment that his ditzy Sister even had that kind of physical strength gathered within her...

Way before he could even voice a protest, she was already ranting again while gesticulating worse than Zeus during one of his endless discourses up on Olympus...

"...and what's worse is that I only have one hour left!" he managed to pick up while gazing questioningly at those smooth ivory hands that were now covering her worried to death visage. "Or wait...It was an hour three minutes ago...I only have like fifty five minutes...This is such a cosmic disaster!"

Ares was in a blur...

"That's fifty seven, Sis..."

"Gee Aristotle, thanks! Like two extra minutes would actually make a difference...!" she blew, adding a bit more anger to the obvious urgency of the matter...

"Why are you all fussy about, again?" the God finally launched the formerly unspoken query, his patience wearing thinner and thinner at his Sister's completely irrational behavior. "And what's with the short deadline? No, don't tell me ...let me guess...some manicure appointment you can't possibly skip? "

It was all it took for the Goddes' face to twist in an even more desperate grimace than all the previous had been...

"Sweet Mother of Chronos! My nails! Gods I'm such a dope! I just knew I forgot something" she screeched, casting a long, horrified gaze at the tip of her fingers...

"We finally agree upon something..." Ares mumbled under his breath, the staggering innocent smile pulling at the corners of his lips alone, getting Aphrodite's attention, despite having missed her Brother's sarcastic comment.

"What?"

"Neah... nothing Sis...So I understand that you called me here so that you can tell me all about ...nails and... stuff...?"

"No...I initially called you to tell you about the dress...and the hair...and the shoes...but yeah, now the nails are definitely part of the delicate subject I need to discuss with you..."

The War God's confused frown didn't seem to disappear though...on the contrary.

"In forty five minutes now, I need to be at aunt Hestia's cocktail party up on Olympus..."

Right out of nowhere, as if a blinding light beam rushed to illuminate the War God's brain, he alertly exclaimed, glaring daggers at the curly Blonde while defensively taking a few steps back, his mind already struggling to find a convenient excuse:

" Oh no...no you don't! Ares aint't going to any fancy cocktail party tonight Sis...Sorry, but I kinda got a better offer a few minutes ago..."

"Who said anything about you accompanying me, Stud? Don't be silly! This is girls only...No men allowed..."

"Girls only huh?" he musingly stated, a daydreaming expression making way in his amber like eyes while already picturing himself comfortably seated on a large, fluffy sofa, half drunk and in the mood for hardcore sex, with a bunch of half naked- in desperate need for a man ladies fighting to get his attention...

Expertly reading his mind, Aphrodite burst into a wave of sonorous laughter:

"Yeah right! Keep dreaming Stud, there's no way I'm taking you with me!"

"Like I'd ever be interested in your silly pajama parties..." a cocky Ares counterattacked, uselessly feigning indifference.

Aphrodite was far from swallowing that type of pill though...

"It's not a pajama party, you dunderhead, you! It's a glamorous cocktail party! And I just know you'd jump at the chance to hang around my **scantily** dressed girlfriends...!" she stressed, a mischievous smile on her face.

The displeased Olympian clicked his tongue nervously:

"Well for what's worth, all cocktail parties I've attended ended up being pajama parties, ok? At least for me, that is...And despite your low opinion of me, I'm not **that **desperate..."

He paused for a few seconds before adding:

"So, come on... I give up, what did you need me for, after all...?"

"To help me choose my outfit...Dohhhhh!"

" What, who, me?! Do I look like one of those gay Roman fashion counselors to you? "

"Definitely not...That leather stuff you're constantly wearing is so like last millennium caveman style...It kinda gives you away..."

"Hey! I can assure you that Ladies never complain about my looks!"

"But on the other hand you are quite familiar with what women are wearing...given the fact that you spend quite some time with undressing them..." Aphrodite answered paying no mind to his line.

"Not so much as you may think...They usually do that complex, mind-blowing operation all by themselves...And quite fast too..." he boasted, a smug trademark smirk letting the Goddess know just how he felt about the subject. "Plus...even when I do happen to remove all that unnecessary quantity of fabric by myself, do you really believe that my eyes are firmly fixed on the patterns? A killer looking ass , hot sexy boobs, long, slender legs and dolly waist...Sis'...that's pretty much all that my overly sensitive to beauty retina accepts to register ..."

Shaking her head disapprovingly, the Goddess made a long, satin, mermaid type of dress materialize on her body...Except for a pretty revealing cleavage it had nothing special at first sight...She did look stunning in it, nonetheless...

"Between this dress..." she began , making a couple of slow, ballerina pirouettes, "...and this one" she added, while another fine, transparent lace one that left quite nothing to imagination and that had an even more obscene design, the two deep slits on the laterals accentuating that provocative perfection of her legs.. "...which one would you choose?"

Ares' reply was as short and dry as the Goddess had expected it to be.

"I don't wear dresses..."

"Ares! You know what I mean..."

"Fine...! Apart the fact that they are both pink and...tight...I'd go for the first one...It covers you up a bit more..." he mumbled, while with a wave of his hand he made a dark, sandy gold long, chiffon dress appear on his Sister's form, a very elegant apparel that despite it's formal simplicity had such marvelously designed lines that it was beyond any shadow of a doubt fit for a Queen, it's exquisite empire waist making one instantly turn their head and look twice at the wonder that had just past before their eyes.

"You look astonishing in this though..." he murmured, his gaze lingering awhile up and down her body, and smiling implying once it reached the off the shoulders cut, the one detail that gave the dress a particularly sensual allure.

" Dark gold?!" Aphrodite exclaimed, rapidly making it vanish in a grey trail of smoke, appearing again in her pink lingerie. "Are you crazy ?! That color is out of fashion for...decades...No one wears it anymore! Plus, it makes my skin look...pale and...dry...I need to look glamorous, radiant! Not to mention the shape..." she finished, inhaling sharply before passing on to the following subject.

"How about the hair...? I kinda have three options..." she said. Snapping her fingers once, her long curly tresses were soon gathered up in what seemed to be a crown of some sort...

"What's with the sea shell motive?" Ares asked, on a totally curious and guilty free tone.

"It's not a seashell it's a crown!" came the slashing response.

"That's a sea shell Dite" he repeated, sounding pretty convinced of what he had before him. "I know a seashell when I see it..."

An exasperated Dite rolled her eyes while making a second coiffure appear, Ares' dumbfounded expression remaining the same nonetheless.

"Are those horns?" he bluntly interrogated, walking closer top examine the intricately braided hair...

"Are you kidding me?!" Aphrodite spat furiously.

"What would you like me to say?! You look like a hungry, rabid Bacahe, Sis!"

Another angry snap of her fingers and her hair retook it's normal shape...

"How about this one?"

"No comment..." he replied turning his head the other way. A snap of his fingers later though and the Goddess' long tresses were gathered in a remarkable fishtail bun at the base of her neck.

"Great! Now I really look like grandma Gaia! Thanks a lot Bro!"

It was Ares' turn to shake his head disapprovingly.

In less than a blink though, the Love Goddess was ready to go, wearing the lace dress and the strangely looking crown coiffure...Needless to say, the War God was outraged.

"Good to see that coming to help ya' was waste of time..." he stated, totally pissed by his Sister's choice. "Don't bother to call next time, ok?"

"Oh Ar...don't be bumped! You did help more than you think! Giving the fact that your fashion sense is close to zero, all I had to do is choose what you obstinately refused to appreciate...It's as simple as that..."

The God rolled his eyes...his Sister's comment was obviously as annoying as Cerberus's incessant barking down in Tartarus, but he said nothing though...He was to emotionally drained too...

"Anyway Stud..."Aphrodite restarted while magically trying on a couple of new neon nuances on her nails..."What was that better offer you received again...?"

"Making Xena a child..." he sighed,shifting his gaze from his Sister's disturbingly inquisitive one.

For a couple of moments, the Love Goddess was absolutely in shock. She just couldn'y believe her ears.

"Did she ask you that?"

"Yeah..."

"And?! "

The handsome Olympian hesitated for a couple of seconds...enough for the bubbly Blonde to react.

"Don't tell me you declined her offer..."

"It's not really like that..." he began..."Kinda..." he finally confessed, nervously waving his hands through his hair.

"What?! What were you thinking Ar'?! Isn't this want you wanted with her? A family?!"

"It's complicated Dite...You couldn't understand..."

"Complicated?! " she bit back, evidently her Brother's remark offending her bright sense of sentimental perceptiveness. "What can it be so complicated about making a child?!"

"Well it's definitely not the "making" department that I have problems with, you gogo brain..."

"Well what's wrong then?"

"Remember when I told you that the story with Alecto and Athena is twisted and messy?"

"Yeah..." the Goddess responded on a grave tone...

"I have reasons to think that Xena's injury was part of a bigger scheme...with my sweet little Princess playing her part to perfection..."

"What are you saying...?" Aphrodite questioned, her eyes widening in surprise.

"Athena made her an offer...she was supposed to get her hands on the dagger of Helios, kill me and become the Goddess of War..."

"No!"

"Yes...In order to do that, and for better credibility I guess, she had to leave an opening on her left flank the day of the battle so that the Bitch could strike her down...It was not meant to be a deadly blow...Athena must have exaggerated..."

"Wow! Wipeout! " a very disappointed Love Goddess barely murmured while trying to put the pieces together, and hopefully finding a valid excuse for the dark haired Warrior's actions. "I can't believe the Warrior Babe would do something like that..." she stated.

After a quite a long pause she added, on the voice of a child eager to hear the end of some captivating fairy tale:

"So did she...?"

"Did she what?" Ares inquired, unable to understand the question.

"The opening...Did she leave an opening?"

It was the question that struck Ares' brain like a thunder, echoing mercilessly throughout his head like nothing before had.

"No...she didn't" he voiced lowly, completely taken aback by the life changing truth of that information..."She didn't..." he repeated, and suddenly he felt his heart beating full force again...

"That's a good thing...right?" the Goddes's line came out sounding a bit skeptical...

"By the Gods Dite I can't help loving the color of your hair!" he exclaimed pulling her roughly towards him and kissing her hard on her lips, before dematerializing from the place, an expression of immeasurable joy lightening up his features.

"Was that a compliment?"

The God was way too happy to even hear her question.

"Congratulations, Darling, you're gonna be an aunt!"

Aphrodite couldn't held back a horrified shriek!

"Zeus all Mighty! I'm getting oldddddd!"


	39. If Treason had a face

"How long have you been serving my Brother, Priestess?" the slashing question splurted from the Goddess' lips just like boiling lava from an erupting volcano, accompanied by an equally harsh, venomous gaze, meant not only to intimidate the frantically trembling young girl but also to subtly discourage any attempt of cunningly hiding vital parts of a truth that the devious daughter of Zeus was keen on finding out.

" ...Six years this summer..." Aleena rushed to answer without actually having the nerve to lift her eyes up from the ground- still way too scared by everything that was happening- and definitely doing her best to stick to the subject, fearing that useless ranting might have angered her nemesis even more...

Unprotected, harassed and threatened with loosing what she held dearest on the face of the Earth-her baby Sistetr's life- it was more than obvious that Ares' faithful servant who appeared to be as obedient as a lamb taken to slaughter anyway, was about to answer to any of the Goddess' questions, effortlessly offering her besides all the dirty little details that she wanted to know, the satisfaction of having mockingly slapped Ares right across the face again with this bold, strategic move.

"Six years..."Athena muttered while her brain was silently chewing on the piece of information ..."That's quite some time..." she said pausing for a few moments while continuing to circle her prey just like a hungry predator would do before striking the final blow...

She could almost hear Aleena's heart drumming on the background...She found the sound invigorating...Music to her ears...

"Are you two...close?"

"Close?" the girl whispered on a confused note, praying to all deities that the implacable Goddess wouldn't take the question the wrong way, mistaking it for the provocative hint of some brash, audacious defiance.

Contemplating her puzzled expression for a couple of moments longer, Athena replied with detached coldness while closely observing each and every reaction voluntary or not, announcing it's presence on the girl's pale visage, face which was soon about to change it's color though as the Goddess added:

"Let me translate it for you...How many times has he fucked you?"

Initially, she hadn't meant for any trace of sarcasm to spice up the steely words that she uttered with remarkable easiness, rather wanting to leave the impression that she was talking about some dull, unimportant subject such as the weather...Somehow, she couldn't help it though...Aleena quickly sensed the caustic phrase burning like acid the surface of her cheeks.

"I didn't keep track...A couple of times I guess...'" she mumbled lowly, obviously embarrassed by the nature of the question...

The Goddess instantly narrowed her eyes, and judging by that beastly growl of frustration, she wasn't very pleased with the answer.

Her noisy reaction made the Priestess' body stiffen immediately, as if waiting for some unexpected, rough kick-that never came though. Athena watched her with disgust...Ares seemed to be right about one thing: mortals were indeed pitiful worthless creatures...

"Does he trust you...?" she soon interrogated, making sure to change her tone, despite the fact that she could feel the blood boiling inside her veins while the urge to chop that useless servant to little pieces grew more and more unbearable...Another thing her bloodthirsty, uncalculated Brother was right about: killing for a higher purpose was not nearly as fun as killing for sport...Gradually breaking all her moral principles, the Goddess of the three Ws (Warfare, Wisdom and Weaving) had began to develop a secret passion for that unmistakable, unique perfume that Death left behind after it's every harvest...a pretty addictive flavor, so to speak...

"He did bring me at the Halls of War to look after his Chosen...I think so...yes..."

"Good" came the short response that, contrary to the girl's believes, held a much deeper meaning, speaking volumes about secret, cunningly weaved plans that would soon pierce the fine shield separating the fabric of mind from dim reality...

"I want to hear it again" she commanded, making the girl literally jump at the sound of her voice..."What you told me about Xena...start with the beginning...Everything you saw, everything you heard and more...And I suppose I don't have to repeat that you will not "accidentally" leave out anything, or your Sister's head will be high on a pike in the morning, decorating the gates of Athens..."

Aleena just nodded nervously, her eyes widening considerably as her productive imagination immediately projected before her eyes the horrifying picture that the ruthless Olympian had just described...The mere idea of such traumatizing tragedy ever occurring made the blood freeze inside her veins...She hadn't felt more helpless in her life...When she restarted the story, her voice was but a note above whispering...

"It was morning when Lord Ares transported me to the Halls of War"

Athena did her best to restrain the ironic sneer that took over her lips at the sound of her Brother's pompous title...she find it to be an impossible task.

The depreciative, fricative sound escaping her lungs cut off right away the sensitive Aleena's voice, and it only took one blink until her transfixed gaze became glued to the Goddess' overly suggestive expression.

"Go on..." Athena encouraged, her visage going blank and unreadable the very next moment, expertly masking her striking envy and maliciousness.

Gulping noisily the Priestess continued with her tale:

"He took me straight to my quarters and told me that I was to be at Lady Xena's every beck and call..."

This time, it was absolutely unavoidable for the scornful Olympian to stand hearing the noble title that insignificant mortal had given to her Brother's Chosen, without voicing a slashing enough protest regarding her enemy's low status.

"**Lady **Xena?! Oh please, you make me laugh, Aleena. That whore has never been a Lady , not even one second of her miserable life! She's just some second hand tramp lucky enough to have my stupid, empty brained, emotionally rampaged Brother obsessing over her and kissing the ground she walks on...But a Lady?! " she uttered with utter disgust..."I like your sense of humor Priestess, it gives me a good enough mood as to make me wanna keep you around longer..."

The girl was silent, not knowing what was the appropriate line to say under these circumstances. She just patiently waited for Athena's slow nod to continue.

" There was no need of my services all day long so I wondered around the garden to keep myself busy...It was late evening when Lord Ares came and told me to head to the main Hall where My La...where Xena was about to have dinner...I panicked a bit because I thought I needed to cook and my cooking skills aren't... well perfected-so to say- so, I was of course beyond relieved when I noticed that the large table was full of food and different types of wine...It looked like they were having a banquet or something...Still, the only one that came to eat, a few minutes after my arrival, was her..."

Hearing the end of the girl's phrase, Athena arched a curios eyebrow, but made no comment about it...she was way too absorbed with putting the puzzle together so that she could express her suspicions...

"What happened afterwards?" the Goddess inquired, walking with a confident pace towards her throne, from where she kept staring at her future victim with a look to rival any time her Father's after a long, nerve racking fight with Hera...

"Well...Xena sat down to eat...I guess she wasn't very hungry because she only tasted the food...Instead , she poured herself a glass of red wine ...I was a few feet away from her, and I thought it was my duty to ask if everything was ok and if the food was to her liking, or if I could bring her something else instead...She scanned me from head to toe before giving me a low, bone chilling "Yes" ...

I obviously didn't get the meaning of the answer so, I just mustered up my courage, and in spite of the disturbing feeling that my heart had moved from it's natural place somewhere in between my throat and my mouth, I managed to ask her whether the yes was for "Is the food ok? " or for the "Would you like me to bring you something else? " part? She just gazed at me as if I've tried to kill her or something and said and I quote :

_" See?! That's what happens when you ask too many questions at once...You talk too much girlie...I don't like people that talk too much..."_

I tried to voice a sincere "I'm sorry", I really did, but she cut me off again, saying that she's not at all interested in hearing my apologies and that simply shutting up for the rest of the evening was the best thing I could do...Consequently we stood in silence until Lord Ares made an appearance about an hour later...

"So he did come..."Athena asserted, rubbing her temple nervously with the tip of her fingers while gnashing her teeth in frustration..._"What was that weasel up to...?" _the thought kept haunting her mind, circling her brain so many times that she could no longer ignore that distinct feeling of dizziness overpowering her senses...She could bet her life that his initial departure had something to do with a very vicious payback he was cooking up for what she did to Xena...

Too bad the War God was not there to hear her ideas though, cause he would have certainly laughed his heart out, knowing that the only thing he was scheming during those particular moments was how to make his airheaded Sister accept to cover at least her intimate parts with a few inches of decent looking fabric...

Waking her up from her reverie, Aleena continued her story, paying no mind this time to that ugly frown darkening Athena's tense features.

"Yes...they were definitely not in friendly terms given their dialogue...She sure seemed to throw him a nasty comeback at each and every line cause he was visibly upset...On the other hand, she was probably annoyed by that mordant sarcasm in his voice...I'm surprised she didn't hit him...I'm also surprised he didn't reduced her to a pile of ash - as far as I've heard her talking, she was incredibly brash when addressing him, as if he were some worthless peasant and not the God of War himself-..."

"Ares...always acting according to what his cock commands...Nothing new under Apollo's shining globe..."

"They looked as if they were about to fight...He slapped her twice after she hissed something to him..."

Athena grinned widely...Good news...finally...

"Imagine my surprise" continued Aleena on an almost familiar note while placing one hand on her hip"...when he threw her on the table and thy started making love... I couldn't believe my eyes..."

"Why were they fighting about again? " Athena inquired, staring curiously at the visibly more relaxed Priestess.

"I didn't understand , Goddess. When Lord Ares came, he signaled me to move to the other side of the room, and I could only hear part of the phrases she occasionally uttered in a louder voice..."

"Come here..."Athena ordered without loosing her patience, knowing that for what she wanted to do, the girl needed to open up to her and leave any fear aside. "Let's see if we can change our relationship, into a more pleasant and rewarding one, to benefit us both, since killing you or your Sister won't do me any good..." she said, raising from the throne, and gently touching Aleena shoulder.

The girl didn't move. She just gazed expectantly at the one who, just minutes before, was ready to rip her to pieces, and that, with a few honeyed words and a fake smile was now silently hoping to win her by her side...She couldn't help the ironic smirk that, despite not having materialized on her lips, painted itself on the doors of her soul...Did that Bitch really thought that she could sweet talk her way into her mind to that extent that she would give up years of loyalty towards her God so that she could now serve a sleazy Monster that would have killed innocent children just so that she could teach her a lesson?!

Her mind was made up: the instant Athena would free her and her baby Sister, she would flee with the speed of an arrow to one of Ares' temples and tell him everything that happened...He would understand...

"Relax...I won't bite..." Athena murmured while moving the tip of her fingers to the Priestess' forehead. " Just want to check if you lied to me or not...Close you eyes..."

That being said, in less than a blink, Athena rushed to plunge into the girl's mind, searching for a certain evening which could provide certain answers to her cascading questions...

It didn't take too long for the Olympian to gain free access to her memories...And there they were: the raven haired Warrior sipping absently a glass of wine- a stunningly red gown giving her the allure of an Empress- Aleena staring at her as if she was just steps away from the big bad Medusa herself and, last but not least, Ares entering confidently into the room with a spark of unusual happiness and relief shining into his eyes...

Athena gasped audibly... She couldn't hear what they were talking about, the Priestess hadn't lied about that one...But still, there were various other ways to find out what she needed to know, apart from tormenting her brain with solving a puzzle of broken words and phrases...She was a Goddess after all, and yeas, she too had many skills...One of them was lip reading...

She almost congratulated herself when she began deciphering their dialogue...

"_Are you ready for desert, Beautiful?"_

"_I already had desert, thanks..."_

"_I was under the impression that when it comes to delicacies, there's always room for more..."_

"_Can't you take a hint?"_

"_You know me I'm a bit hardheaded..."_

"_No news there..."_

"_Well... Too bad...I was ready to give you what you seemed to crave for so much but a few hours ago..."_

"_And just what was it that made you change your mind so unexpectedly, may I ask?"_

"_Who said I changed my mind...? As I first told you, I was going to think about it..."_

_Xena just arched an eyebrow suspiciously, obviously not believing a word he said. _

"_Right..."_

"_So...have you thought about a name...?"the question left his lips, melting on hers the very next second, right before she allowed herself to taste that unique sweetness of his tongue. _

"_Shouldn't we wait and see if it's a boy or a girl first?" _

"_It will be a girl..." Ares answered, proudly wearing the expression of the ideal, impatient father, now successfully sculpted on his features. "Blue moons, dark hair, just like her breathtaking Mother..." _

"_Aren't you the flatterer today..." she replied with a half disguised chuckle. _

_He answered with a low, bemused laugh, and the next thing she knew, the Warrior Princess could feel Ares' strong grip circling around her waist like an iron belt while placing her up the table, with a wave of his hand clearing up it's surface for them, hastily sending all that food back where it came from..._

"_Still...I can't help wondering ..." he questioned, narrowing his eyes pensively. _

_Xena's intrigued look urged him to continue. _

_"Why would you want a child right now...Cause as much as I'd like to believe your side of the story, Sweetheart, I'm quite familiar with women behavior and you burning to nurse some little doll just out of "love" for me...Well, you caught the drill right? Come on, be honest...what are you up to?"_

"_Now where would all the fun be if I told you?" came the quite enigmatic answer that the War God would have preferred not to hear..._

"_I'm serious, Xe..."_

_Looking him dead in the eyes, the Warrior pulled him closer to her and whispered something against his ear- an answer impossible for Athena to decipher given the fact that the high collar of Ares' leather vest was kinda in the way._

_A resonant slap across her face made Xena loose her balance the following moment, and she was ready to fall off the edge of the table when another one redirected her towards where the God had wanted her to stay in the first place._

"_Well...I should have known that your larger than life ego would prevent you from seeing the benefits of such arrangement..."she defiantly barked at him, vainly trying to push him away._

"_You devious little wh..."_

"_Whore?" she made sure to finish for him. "Hardly...Just looking out for my best interests just like you've always taught me...I guess you outdone yourself in this department..."_

_She paused for a couple of seconds, carefully scanning Ares' reactions and then, as if nothing had happened, she continued on a warm, sensual tone, wrapping her legs tight around his waist...:_

"_So...how about it Daddy? Are you still willing to do this or uh...you kinda lost your appetite?" the pungent line was released from her lips along with that insolent, sarcastic gaze directed towards his pants. _

_In response, Ares just tore the dress off her and pushed her with all his force against the wooden table..._

"Gods damn it!" the Goddess exclaimed the instant she came to her senses..."This is the last thing I needed right now! Damn! Damn her to Tartarus!"

The deep cut of a sharp blade slashing Aleena's throat was meant to calm her down a bit...It didn't, on the contrary...


	40. A painter's canvas

Through half open lids, Ares was analyzing the Warrior Princess' face with the precision of a painter who was looking for the perfect spot on his canvas to touch with the tip of his brush for the last time, so that perfection could be finally attained...

Her head was resting on his chest, those inky black tresses flowing artistically down her shoulders like the cold water of deep, deceiving river which was cleverly waiting for the perfect opportunity to drag the life out of whoever was foolish enough to touch it's raging surface, to it's lithic bottom, transforming them into prisoners of it's eternal dungeon until the end of time or until the devastating rays of an unnaturally implacable Sun would drain all that frightening quantity of liquid , reducing it to a puddle of mud, sand and rocks...

Her eyes were open, he could see their icy blue shade more than clearly, scintillating under the warm candle light just like the morning sky would during the first hours of a promising, warm April day , and according to her parted lips and that small frown that had taken it's rightful place beneath her slightly straggly bangs, her mind was fully alert too...just like it always was...

Moving his hand up on one of her bare shoulders, he left out a loud, involuntary sigh right before his every sense directed his fingers further up, making them clench around her easily breakable neck instead, as tight as any effective dog collar would have...

She didn't flinch a muscle, her body posture showing anything but tension despite the hurricane of thoughts that had been assaulting her brain ever since she felt his seed spreading inside her like a wave of lava, thus claiming complete possession of her future, of her entire life...

Hidden purposes or not, she couldn't help wondering if she had made the right decision or, on the contrary, if by some misfortunate event those utterly stupid feelings she had slowly developed for him had actually blinded her to such extent that she could no longer evaluate properly the consequences of her actions...Heck, she was definitely unable to tell when exactly did they leave the main Hall and landed on his bed, in the comfort of his chambers, let alone any other significant detail that just refused to pop into her mind at the moment...

The unconsciously tightening grip around her throat that was starting to restrict the passage of air to her lungs made her voice a low but mild protest, meant not to cuttingly threaten the God but more to let him know that she wasn't particularly enjoying that new sensation of him gradually chocking her to death.

"You already finished me off a couple of times today, Ares...No need to keep trying..."

A half mocking, half charming smirk stretched the God's lips...

"What can I say? I'm a natural...But still...the idea of breaking your neck has never been more appealing...It's almost...irresistible..."

" Oh please, spare me the overly dramatic speech on how low and immoral using a baby for gaining protection and power would be...I'm so not into it and you're definitely not the right person to lecture me on fairness and principles..."

A rough tug was all it took for the fuming God to grab her by the shoulders and push her against the bed with such primal ferocity that would have mad any ordinary woman paralyze in fear ...Xena on the other hand was far from being "ordinary" and given her status she was obviously more than familiarized with the animalistic Olympians' aggressive outbursts...To her, his gesture pretty much equaled with a firm handshake, and nothing more...

"Damn it Xena this is not a game! A child is not some freakin' doll that you can turn into a weapon at will and I refuse to allow you ... ! "

"To **"allow"** me?! " the raven Warrior exclaimed, indignation screaming from her every pore. "It's my child! And I will certainly not accept orders from you on how to raise my own flesh and blood!"

"It is not your child it's **OUR** child!" Ares' voice thundered raggedly from the back of his throat on a guttural note that pretty much encompassed everything that Xena needed to do during the following minutes: shut up and let him calm down- AKA an action which she obstinately refused to fulfill at any time.

"I've told you why I needed your child for!" she spitted out, glaring daggers at him. "And stop playing the "protective Father" routine with me cause I was more than honest about it earlier and you still went along with it, knowing damn well what my intentions were! "

"That doesn't give you the right to risk it's life Xena! I would spill your guts before that ever happened!"

The Warrior couldn't help rolling her eyes at the sound of the God's words, the sarcastic sniff that came out but seconds later, adding a quite undesirable impact to her line:

"Gee Ares, had I known that a child was all it took to inflame your passion so much, I would have come up with this idea months ago...You'd sure make a wonderful Dad, just like you were for all the other brats across the eons...Gaia knows that you love nothing more than spending every second of your spare time surrounded by cheerful laughters of little boys and girls that you've mistakenly procreated after a ten minutes rough and tumble with some meaningless, brain dead but horny village girl ..."

For a brief moment, Ares considered the option of slapping the nonchalance off her face... he changed his mind though given the fact that he was pretty much aware that it wouldn't help his cause much, on the contrary she would keep stinging, deliberately ignoring his any opinion or argument on the matter. He thus opted for a brief, concise answer that was supposed if not to impress her at least to make her understand how important the presence of that child was for him...

"I have no children. This would be my first..."

A resonant, hysterical laugh, made him instantly tighten the grip on her shoulders, pressing the tip of his fingers even more against her joints.

When she finally spoke, he could easily trace the pain in her voice, poorly disguised by the pungent mockery of her line:

"Next you'll be telling me that you're a virgin! "

"I swear it to all Gods and Goddesses I can't help wondering sometimes how comes that you're still alive and breathing..."

"Let's jut say that every man has a weakness...I'm yours..." she whispered hot against his lips, licking painfully slow their full velvety surface, thus making the visibly irritated War God let out a loud, wanting moan, the presence of which she quickly used to her own advantage, hastily adding on an even more pungent note than before:

"The undefeated God of War himself brought on his knees by a woman ...That sounds...disastrous..." she ended, looking him dead in the eyes, drinking in all the fury an frustration gathered behind that rich brown curtain of his irides...His uncontrollable, ragged breath, that irregular rising and falling of his chest while the echo of her words was still replaying inside his head was almost giving her another orgasm...

"Don't over play your hand Xena or you might find yourself drowning into a very unexpected and unpleasant mess ..."

"Promise? " she temptingly inquired while their gazes connected again, burning with unspeakable passion and desire the other' s heart to the core despite the violence of their previous word exchange...

"I can promise you one thing..." he murmured back, lowering one of his hands to her belly and softly caressing the area where he knew their child had already started to from.

" ...What would that be? The world, again? " she questioned almost indifferently, arching an eyebrow.

"Close your eyes and I'll show you..." he replied, kissing her eyelids once she finally decided to play his game and obey, and, using his godly powers , starting from her womb and gradually rising towards her forehead, he made a light blue energy envelope the Warrior Princess's body with the gentleness of the purest satin existing on the face of the earth but at the same time piercing her mind with the drilling force of a lightening bolt, making her body trash in agony beneath his muscular form while an endless stream of images began rolling into her mind in the form of some weird memories that she didn't recall having had...They were in fact future events of her life...a couple of interesting possibilities out of many...

It was all an incredibly strange experience...As if trapped into the web a chaotic dream, she could see herself so very clearly as if she was looking at another person, at a mirror image of herself that was and was not her at the same time, feeling everything that her vivid replica was feeling while being totally aware of her own ceaselessly pouring emotions...

She was soon about to discover though that she could not influence or intervene in any way in the unexpected progression of the rapidly unfolding events...She could only stand back and watch...enjoy the show just like an absorbed spectator would during the captivating performance of a well directed play...

_The first images that started their alluring parade before her eyes, were of her sitting on a bed into the Halls of War...She was surrounded by the walls of an unknown chamber which contained items that she knew to be her own but still, which she failed to recognize as if she was seeing them for the first time..._

_Right out of nowhere, her heart almost popped out of her chest when the door burst open and the impressive presence of a five years old girl filled the room with it's undeniable charm. Raven was her hair, flowing down her shoulders like the sweet whispers of the night , and her eyes blue like only the Aegean could be when the wind refused to sweep the perfect stillness of it's surface...An uncommon beauty she possessed, and through every pore of her little body, the special perfume of innocence was spreading it's unique aroma...Xena couldn't help gasping in shock...she looked so much like her when she was child...it was like seeing herself at that age again...as if time itself had somehow turned it's course..._

_The girl' s melodious voice and the distinct bark of a small white doggy that was faithfully following her around brought her back to reality:_

_"Mommy... you promised you'd braid my hair for Cuppie's birthday..."_

_"I did didn't I?"_

_"Yes you did...And you also said that I can wear the blue princess like dress aunt Dite gave me for Solstice... "_

_"Sweetie...you'd be awfully uncomfortable in it..." Xena protested while hugging her little angel and placing a loving kiss on her forehead._

_"But Mommy you promised...And auntie Dite can change my clothes if I want to...Please...Daddy said I look stunning in it...Just like a real Princess."_

_Hearing her words, Xena couldn't restrain a radiant smile from stretching her lips...Ares...always making things difficult for her in more ways than one..._

_"Ok, fine...turn around..." she ordered in a mild voice, while starting to comb her daughter's hair..."Now...don't move ok? You'll be the most beautiful little girl at the party..."_

_The child giggled adorably before she responded on a playful tone:_

_"No...you'll be the most beautiful little girl at the party...Daddy always says that you're the most beautiful woman in the world..."_

_"But I'm not a little girl, am I? " Xena corrected, placing another kiss on the top of her head this time._

_The girl chose to reply through another question, and had she faced her mother, Xena would have unmistakably noticed the fiery blush in her cheeks once she had uttered her phrase:_

_"Moomy...why is Daddy always looking at you like that?"_

_"Like what Sweetie?"_

_"I don't know...like Horace always stares at me when I' m about to give him a fresh, tasty bone...As if he's hungry..."_

_The Warrior Princess's brain automatically blocked it's activity for a couple of moments...She had no idea what to answer and how to avoid the girl's now curious gaze that was analyzing her ever feature while looking for an explanation._

_Ares' unexpected presence into the room was the perfect escape._

_"Well lookie here...Ain't I the lucky one today? Two absolutely gorgeous ladies sitting on my bed! What more could a man want?!"_

_"Daddy!"_

_The little girl literally dashed from her mother's arm, plunging into Ares' strong embrace._

_In less than a second, he had lifted her above his head, spinning her round and round as if she were a ballerina, the gesture being obviously more than appreciated, his inestimable reward consisting into an endless melody of cascading laughter breaking from the child's chest._

_"Ares put her down or she's gonna be sick again!" Xena's harsh tone commanded, making Ares stop and hold the girl tight at his chest._

_"I guess Mommy knows best, Darling..."_

_The girl just nodded slightly and buried her little head into his dark leather vest..._

_"So...what were you two talking about?" the God inquired- an intrigued expression on his face- while brazenly scanning his Princess' body, the low cut of that red, half transparent dress that she was wearing, giving him all the reasons on the planet to never want to shift his gaze from her breasts in his life._

_Xena just chuckled lowly before offering a response._

_"Our daughter here, was just telling me that you're looking at me just like Horace looks at a bone..."_

_"No, I'm not!"the Olympian firmly protested, immediately giving up at that long, dirty stare he was unconsciously giving to his breathtaking wife. Way before he managed to do it though, the little girl added on the most serious tone she was able to, her head turned towards her mother:_

_"See? That's what I was talking about! Just like Horace...Case closed!"_

_Despite herself, Xena couldn't help bursting into laughter. The whole scene was way to funny to keep a straight face, and Ares' so called "innocent look" didn't help much ._

_"I think he's in love with you! " the girl finally broke out, instantly covering her face with her tiny hands, joining her mother in her merry laughter._

_"A lot of truth in that Sweetie Pie!" the sound of another voice suddenly filled the room, a shower of rose petals announcing the glamorous appearance of the half naked Love Goddess. "Well hi there you crazy love birds! Like what is my favorite couple doing?"_

_"Aunt Dite!" the girl exclaimed, stretching her hand for the Goddess to take her into her arms._

_"Well hallo to you too little one! How is my beautiful, beautiful niece today? Are you ready to party?"_

_"I sure am! Do you like my hair Auntie? Mommy braided it for me!"_

_"It looks like totally trendy Sweet- cheeks! You're definitely going to break some hearts tonight, I guarantee it!"_

_"She's only five Dite!" Ares warned on a low tone that his Sister knew so very well._

_"Well it's never to early to start, is it?" she protested, caressing the child's creamy white face with the back of her hand._

_"Dite..." Xena's menacing tone rushed to underline Ares' previous message._

_"I was just kidding you gogo brains! But she does look wonderful, doesn't she?" the Goddess uttered while making a superb azure chiffon dress materizlize on her niece's doll like body._

_"Indeed she does...She takes after her Mother, that's for sure..." Ares proudly stated while winking implyingly at his Princess._

_"Oh! Isn't that sweet?!" the Love Goddess exclaimed hearing her Brother's gallant commentary._

_"Aunt Dite? " the girl's voice interrupted. " Is Aunt Artemis gonna be there too? "_

_"Yes she will Cutie... Why? "_

_"She promised she'll take me see the does and rabbits next time we meet..."_

_"Well who knows...maybe after the party..."_

_Hardly had the Goddess managed to answer that a new question followed._

_"Will there be cake?"_

_"Well of course there'll be cake...It's a birthday party after all! Strawberry cake, your favorite!" she whispered against the girl's ear, as if she was sharing the greatest secret in the universe._

_"Yuppyyyyyy!"_

_"Ok...so, let's get going shall we? We don't want to be late, right?"_

_"You go right ahead Dite...Me and Xe will be joining you a bit later..." Ares uttered, taking a few steps towards the bed were his wife was still sitting._

_"Well ok you two, but don't be too late or you'll miss all the fun again!" Aphrodite insisted, obviously hinting towards a similar past event..._

_The couple just let a warm, all knowing smile brush across their lips for a few seconds...They were obviously aware what the Goddess was talking about..._

_"Don't worry Dite...we won't be long..."Xena replied, placing a hand on Ares' knee, the sensuality of her touch making him visibly flinch, to his Sister's unspeakable amusement._

_"I think I've heard that line before..." Aphrodite responded, trying to restrain that wild wave of laughter forming in the back of her throat at her Brother's reaction..._

_"Make sure to keep an eye on Xaria, Dite" Ares insisted, taking a good look at his daughter._

_"Like dohhhh! Of course I will, Ar!" Dite replied, hugging her niece even tighter. "Xari, honey, say bye bye to Mommey and Daddy, and let's go give Cuppie his present ok? ...Daddy wants to kiss Mommy soooo badly we should puff outta here like ASAP!" she murmured against the girl's ear again, making her giggle some more..._

_In a blink, they had dematerialized from the room, leaving Xena and Ares alone..._

_"So..." the War God started..."I'm looking at you like a dog huh?"_

_"At least that's what Xaria thinks...She's right though...It's like you're always seconds away from devouring me..."she murmured touching his lips with the tip of her fingers, slowly massaging their velvety surface with a lust hard to ignore..._

_"I am...?" he questioned while his hands started dancing down her bare back, divinely caressing that soft skin that was now blazing beneath his touch "So uh...I suppose that if I'm a cute doggy and all...you're willing to be my Bitch, and submit to my any command, fulfill my any fantasy and desire?" the words left his lips sounding anything but insulting though._

_His thick with passion voice was more than the Warrior Princess could take..._

_"Well...I've always appreciated a rich imagination in a man..."_

_"Is that all you usually appreciate?"_

_"That, and..."_

_As Ares's skillful hands began undressing her, the vision suudenly ended and Xena found herself trapped into another string of memories, each one picturing her, Ares and Xaria, together as a family...She couldn't hold back the tears streaming down her face._

By the time the blue energy wave left her body and Ares brought her back, she was speechless.

She had seen more than enough: images of her little girl playing and having fun, running like crazy on the fields surrounding the Halls of War, of her and Ares sleeping peacefully with a tiny raven Princess stretching lazily in between her Mom and Dad, of lessons learned and of new acquired experiences, of both shed and unshed tears, of silently whispered secrets...

Ares' line dragged her completely back to the real world and she would have genuinely jumped out of bed in surprise if the God's heavy torso hadn't pinned her so firmly against the soft mattress.

"This is what I can promise you...The world is nothing comparing to it..." he uttered, brushing away a loose strand of hair out of his Chosen' s face.

She tried to say something but gave up quite rapidly...she didn't actually know what to say anyway...she was too shocked to even find the right words...

"You called her by her name..."

"Xaria..."

"It's beautiful..."

"Aphrodite chose it for her...In those visions she's her Godmother..."

"Aphrodite?!" the Warrior Princess exclaimed, unable to believe her ears.

"Yeah...call it a make up present from your behalf..."

For a long time they were both silent.

"Xaria..." she murmured beneath her breath...

The God smiled...She was starting to understand...


	41. Nemesis or No one is untouchable

"Having fun all by yourself, without bothering to call...?" the playful notes of a thrilled to see her girlfriend in action Alecto, finally filled the room, making Athena let out a loud sigh. " I thought we were supposed to celebrate together?" she continued with a pout, when she noticed that the Goddess refused to grace her with an answer.

"Celebrate what Alecto? Xena's pregnancy?" the pungently stressed reply was finally launched by the outraged Goddess while glaring daggers at the baffled Fury- that for a couple of seconds remained as stoned as a perfectly carved Caryatid.

"The Bitch is...pregnant?" she inquired lowly, slowly coming to the realization that her intricate plan proved to be nothing but a tremendous fiasco that, according to the Goddess' narrowed eyes said more than a lot about her highly praised ability of twisting people' minds...

"You seem to have lost your touch, Alecto..." the cranky daughter of Zeus cuttingly uttered, without raising her gaze this time from Aleena's still bleeding body, while her renowned intelligence had apparently began to search for a bright and effective way of it's own out of that mess. "I truly believed that you were a bit more... skillful, into manipulating that good for nothing Brother of mine...I was obviously wrong...Needless to say, I'm disappointed..."

Her last comment was of course all it took to inflame the Fury's passion...She was in fact brilliant at what she was doing, and, scheming, double crossing and improvising were beyond any shadow of a doubt, the strongest points of her consistent, well elaborated CV...

Thus, subtly insulting her surreal capacities was all it took for Athena to motivate her like nothing else could...

"Don't be...we can always come up with something much more **original** and...**fun** to deal with them..."

"There's no time, Alecto...With that Slut carrying his child, Ares will be a thousand times more careful then before...He would not expose her in any way...If that child is born, Zeus will break our alliance...She will become untouchable..."

"No one is **untouchable**..." her trustful ally hissed while impulsively kicking the girl's stiff body down the stairs just to prove a point, thus clearing herself the path towards the richly adorned throne, where she comfortably took a seat on one of the armrests, to Athena's visible revolt.

Noticing the Goddess' reaction she continued her phrase, whispering the secret content at her lover's ear:

"Plus...if that baby is such a threat, then we'll just have to prevent the unfortunate event of it's birth from ever happening...Xena's child will never see the light of day..."

Athena rolled her eyes in disbelief...Cheap talk, bold ideas and no fructuous action didn't help her cause much...

"And just how are we supposed to do that Alecto... without raising any suspicions? You do know that such a crime would equal OBLIVION at any time...Not even Zeus himself would be able to save us...If Ares doesn't hack us to pieces, Hera and Hestia- the ever so faithful protectors of home and family life- would...We will be chewing burning tar for the rest of eternity in uncle Hades' stinky domain, and that's the best possible scenario..."

"Well then...we'll just have to cover our tracks better...Noone should relate Xena's tragic **"miscarriage"** to us...not even Ares..."

Athena just gave her an icy cold "blah blah blah" look, convinced that the Fury was ranting herself out of the problem, without actually having a valid solution for that overly tangled mess.

Consequently, her jaw almost dropped to the floor when she heard her say:

"Are you familiar with your Brother's love stories, Athena?"

"More or less...I don't usually count the certainty of his decadent sex life among my hobbies..." the Goddess replied in a confused tone, unable to see just how could such type of information be of any use...

"Well...you should...You see Darling, I just happen to know someone who hates him a biiiiit more than you do..."

A sharply arched eyebrow let Alecto know that she was interested in the subject.

As the sound of the woman's name rolled off the venomous Fury's lips, the Goddess of Wisdom's eyes instantly lightened up just like two flickering candles during a glacial, pitch black winter night...

"Nemesis...Goddess of Vengeance..."

Simultaneously, a wide, vicious grin found it's way to their lips...Closing her eyes, Athena repeated it in a low, guttural voice while allowing her fingers to glide languidly up the Fury's thighs, progressively pushing the smooth fabric of her dress aside...

"Nemesis, huh?...I can't believe her presence actually slipped my mind like that..."

"Good thing you have me around, then..."

Soon, the notes of a diabolical laughter filled the room again, as if forecasting the future events that were about to unfold as soon as a well built plan took shape...


	42. Friendly chit-chats

A concise but powerful and cleverly maneuvered chit chat was enough for Alecto to convince her still doubting Lover that it was indeed for the best to leave the whole Nemesis part of the problem into her flawlessly trained hands...Thus, the Goddess' name would have remained unstained by the bloody details of the soon to come tragedy, and future itself could continue unfolding it's canvas of events according to the natural desire of the Fates, for both of them...

This is precisely how she got to one of Nemesis' main temples in the first place, that irritating, demonic grin that had stubbornly refused to leave her lips once she'd left Athena's side, revealing more than enough about the usually veiled cruelty of her nature...

"What are you doing here? " a harsh voice inquired as soon as she materialized on the steps of the mountain sculpted construction.

"Nemesisssss" the Fury hissed, taking a good look at the Goddess standing before her, whip in hand. "Is this a way to greet an old friend?"

"We are not "old friends" may I remind you ..." the guttural words left her throat along with a hateful glare directed towards the approaching, unwelcomed guest.

"Still holding grudge, after all these years, Goddess? Well...unfortunately I can't say I'm surprised, given your vengeful nature...Had I been in your shoes, I would have probably felt the same way..."

Hearing her line, Nemesis clenched her teeth, as the shameful taste of defeat and the bitter consequences of having overly used that loosen tongue of hers rushed to invade her mind under the form of a few very unpleasant and hard to erase memories...Zeus' whip on her back, tearing her flesh with each and every stroke, Alecto's inhuman laughter as she stood there drinking in the sight of her humiliated adversary...that was a subject that she would have never brought up for discussion not even if her life depended on it...

And still, there stood Alecto, ready to add some more salt to the wound and doing her best to rub it as rough as she could too, until those still obvious gashes would reopen, inflicting ten times more pain than the initial wounds had...

"Always so compassionate..." Nemesis retorted, staring absently at the leather weapon she was holding into her hands, pondering if using it on her impolite interlocutor was such a bad idea in the first place.

"Yeah...you know me...it's one of my most valuable qualities..." the equally ironic reply was soon given, quickly completed by an even less decently formulated one. " Anyway...Given the fact that I can't sleep at night ever since we had our little misunderstanding, I came to present you a very special make up gift..."

"Should we kiss too?"

"It's optional...though once you find out what it is, you'd be thanking me from the bottom of your soft, merciful heart and your eyes will instantly fill with childlike tears of gratitude..."

Nemesis snarled in contempt, visibly offended and outraged with the Fury's attitude.

"Do you wanna get out of here into one piece, Alecto?"

The Fury smiled viciously at her, and, with bold movements, she came closer to her lifelong enemy...

"Trust me, you don't want to do that...Not until you hear what I came here for anyway..."

"Well speak up and run along then..."

"How's your relationship with Ares these days?"

The earsplitting sound of the whip passing just inches from her face, made Alecto's blood freeze inside her veins for a couple of seconds...

"...That bad, huh?" she replied in the Goddess' place, allowing the trace of that sarcastic, trademark grin finally dissolve from her lips. "Ever since he picked that Bitch as his Chosen, things hadn't been the same for **anyone**..." she stressed, avoiding Nemesis' gaze, just so that she couldn't read the bemusement and the utter joy hiding behind their emerald green irides.

The Goddess was silent...That was obviously another delicate subject that from her point of view was not up for debate, and, as usual, Alecto made sure to hit a nerve. She was darn good at it...

"It had always bothered me that you and the handsome War God broke your engagement so...**abruptly**...Despite the fact that it was a **"do that for me and I'll do that for you"** type of relationship...well at least in his vision...you two looked right together...I mean...you both share that boring interest in war, you are equally cunning and hypocrite, you both take unnatural pleasure into seeing the others suffer...etcetera...I could go on like this till morning light, but I can see you got the idea..."

"Not really no..." Nemesis answered to Alecto's exasperation...

The Goddess was obviously refusing to make things easier for her...

"The point is that you can have Ares back...I happen to know you had some pretty deep feelings for the guy...Can't say I blame you, he's quite a catch...Any woman would die to have him ..."

"You included?" Nemesis cut her off, expertly scanning her face for an answer.

"Well...we do share some common history, I won't deny it...But it's all in the past...my interest for him only resides in getting Xena out of the freaking picture..."

"You have a bone to pick with the Warrior Princess, then?"

"More than one..."

"So...? Why are you here, having "friendly" chats with me? Just go ahead and kill the Slut..."

"Ohhh I can only wish it were that easy..."

"Ares would blow you to little pieces" Nemesis added while slowly beginning to realize where exactly was the Fury driving at..."As he would do with **anyone** who'd dare touch his precious toy..."

"If he finds out..." Alecto whispered against her ear, so low that Nemesis could hardly decipher the words...

"Don't tell me you actually believe yourself capable into manipulating me to kill Xena, Alecto...I'm not that stupid..."

"No you're not...If you were I wouldn't be talking alliances with you this very now..."

"Is that what we're discussing?" the Goddess responded, a look of bothering indifference painted on her face. "Silly me...I haven't even realized it..."

" Come on Nemesis...you want this too. You hate Xena like no one else on this planet...I can smell your hate for her from here..."

"There is a difference between "wanting" and "acting.." as you well know..."

"Look me in the eyes and tell me you don't want that Bitch dead..."

Nemesis considered her answer for a couple of moments and decided to reply through another question.

" At the risk of repeating myself...you do understand that touching one hair on her head would surely mean OBLIVION for anyone involved, right? She's a Chosen...The Chosen of War..."

"He can always get another...One that is definitely not as trouble making as this worthless piece of crap..."

"Looking at you now Alecto, I can't possibly tell who hates her more...me or you...? I won't ask how did she manage to wrong you given the fact that I couldn't care less...But nonetheless... I can't help wondering...Do you really think that killing her is ...even doable ?

"So... you are interested after all" the Fury observed with a smile while making two goblets of wine materialize into her hands and gallantly handing one to her future partner.

"More like curious for the time being..."

"I trust I can change that..." Alecto uttered, biting her lower lip the instant she noticed the shade of a very mischievous smile that she knew far to well make way on Nemesis' lips...She was hooked..."I might have a plan...Some highly professional suggestions would be more than welcomed...And you are quite the expert..."

"Flattery works...keep going...But first, why don't we make ourselves more comfortable?..."

Within minutes, the first part of the Fury's plan was being already set into motion...Xena's days were numbered...


	43. Back to basics

As days were slowly passing, the Warrior Princess was getting more and more restless...Hanging around with Ares within the cold walls of the Halls of War in boring absence of any other source of entertainment, with no possible means to unleash that painfully consuming energy held captive inside her body was definitely no life for her...

She obviously missed being in the spotlight again, chills running up and down her spine before a ferocious battle, that very particular tension building up inside her stomach just seconds before a good kill, the sound of swords clashing, the roaring of her men after an unexpected victory when the Fates themselves seemed to have weaved other sort of destiny for them all...The enemy blood covering the ground... if she closed her eyes she could still smell it on her hands...

Consequently, one day she just broke...

"So...how long do I have to stay here, again? I don't like the idea of having to hide like a mouse Ares...!"

"I thought we've been through this already...The answer remains the same Princess... :" **As long as you have to"...**I won't risk our daughter's life, and you know it..."

" Great! First it was about the wounds, now it's about this damn pregnancy!" she mumbled beneath her breath rolling her eyes in complete exasperation, hardly controlling her muscles. She wanted to punch him so badly, she couldn't even put it into words...

"It's only for a few months, ok? Enough for me to figure out a way to deal with all of this, to find out if Zeus has any knowledge about that Bitch's actions...Plus let's not forget that by now she is surely aware of your miraculous recovery...She's probably aching for the right moment to come to stick a blade through your heart! And this time, you can be sure she wouldn't fail in doing it either! "

" Nine months?! Have you lost your freaking mind?! Do you actually think that I'm gonna stay here locked like a prisoner for nine whole months?! What do you want me to go insane or something?! How about our troops? Athena ... "

"Athena has more pressing concerns right now, I can guarantee it..."

"What re you talking about...?"

"She has to find out how did you manage to remain amongst the living after a wound like that, without her divine intervention...More precisely she needs to be sure before approaching the subject with Daddy Dearest."

In response, Xena fixed him with an undisguised, menacing stare...

"That's a very good question actually...to which you still owe me an answer by the way, and don't you dare give me that "godly witch doctor" crap, cause I'm not buying it...If Athena really stripped you of your powers you were definitely too weak to do heal me...And Aphrodite doesn't have that amount of energy to do it..."

Ares instantly turned his gaze from her...He bit her lower lip instead, just like he always did when he was nervous...Telling her about the ambrosia was so not part of the plan...he hated her for even having brought it up...

"Ambrosia..."

Xena's reaction was predictable.

"Ambrosia? You gave me ambrosia?! You twisted Son of a Bachae! Wasn't it enough that I was bound to you for the rest of my mortal days ?!You just had to make it eternal?!"

"I was trying to save your life damn it! You were dying! There was no other way! I needed something and fast! "

A powerful kick in his midsection sent the God flying into a wall.

"To save my life...what a convenient excuse! You should have had the decency to let me die! "

"What?!" he exclaimed in disbelief.

"You heard me! The last thing I wanted was immortality, Ares, and you knew it! Isn't the blood that I shed in your name enough? What? You want me to decimate the entire Cosmos ?! There would be nothing left for you to rule over, you know!"

"Are you serious?! You were bleeding to death! I did the first thing that popped into my mind ok?"

"Yeah that says a lot about you! Doesn't help your cause much either!"

" Would you stop being so freakin' ungrateful and start thanking me instead?! Plus, it wasn't like I had too many options to choose from. It was either the ambrosia or killing Celesta..."

"To thank you?! Are you kidding me Ares? What do you want me to thank you for? A life of servitude under your command? "

An impressive fire bolt passed right inches from the Warrior Princess' head.

"Maybe you'd like to rephrase that! "

"What for? Just because I'm carrying your child doesn't mean that I'm not your Chosen any more Ares! That I don't have you breathing down my neck 24/7!"

"Have I forced you in any way into making that type of agreement? Huh, Xena? Answer me! Did I?!"

"I didn't know better back then you selfish Bastard! Not to mention that you skillfully used my Brother's death into your own advantage!"

" Do we always have to return to the same old subject?! I gave you a purpose! I gave your life meaning again! So don't you dare talk to me like that! "

"You manipulated me!"

"Couldn't we just agree upon the fact that I showed you a different side of reality? That I pointed you in the right direction, and stick to it?"

"The right direction?! You call this the right direction?! I've killed so many people I've lost count Ares! "

" The last I checked, waging war did imply a certain number of casualties,! What did you expect a joyride?! "

"I don't know what I expected!"

"Well that's not my fault now, is it?" Ares howled, pausing for a few moments before continuing on a milder tone..." Listen Xe...you're a Warrior, and you're damn good at what you do...the very best...It might not be the ideal job but your actions do make a difference..."

"Yeah...they make Hades richer and richer. I've sent him so many souls he could built me a statue straight in the pits of Tartarus!"

" And now, after all this time, you've suddenly grown a conscience! "

The God was trembling….He could barely control his wrath….The woman before him was of an uncommon ingratitude….When he started talking again, his tone was grave and his words carefully chosen though.

" You don't like this situation...ok...I get it...Nonetheless, would you just try to make an effort and cope with it? And I'm not talking nine months here, Honey...Xaria will be an immortal child, right? Right! Considering that little detail, it's safe to say that she will develop a bit...faster inside your womb...four...five months...It's not forever...Think about it like a well deserved vacation if you will...Aphrodite could keep you company..."

"Speaking of Aphrodite...she hasn't shown her face in awhile..." the pungent line left the Warrior Princess' lips like a poisoned arrow.

"She didn't want to cause more tension I guess...You could call her..."

Hearing his line, she preferred to just focus on the main subject instead...

"What are the chances for Athena to find out about your little maneuver with the sacred food of the Gods?"

"...Ambrosia is indubitably her best guess of course...She just has to find solid proof that I stole it and from that to Daddy and all the rest of those cock sucking Olympians to be on our trail it's just a matter of time..."

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say that you're worried..."

"Worried? Neah...Cautious..."

"Couldn't we simply go to Zeus and tell him what happened? She tried to kill a Chosen. She broke the rules..."

"And I suppose he would simply take our word for it, right? Were are the wounds Xena? There is no wound, no scar, no nothing!"

"Aphrodite could back us up...She was there. She witnessed it all..."

"Dite?! Are you kidding me? Athena would just say that she's lying to protect us! Plus...if Zeus were to scan our minds he'd find out about my "crime" in a heartbeat and you my dear would suddenly turn into a beautiful, extremely needy widow! The entire world would be in Chaos, trust me!" he said with a smirk . "...No...I need some time to figure things out and teach that Bitch a lesson she will never forget...So just work with me on this ok?"

The Warrior Princess just shook her head imperceptibly before letting out a very strangled "Fine" ...

The God had been obviously talking to the walls...

The following "That's my girl!" just made her sniff in disgust...


	44. Urgent desires

Another Sun had risen to find to find Nemesis standing but steps away from the training ground, staring -with a daydreaming expression glued on her implacable visage- at the flawlessly sculpted body of her beastly soldiers…..

A cruel, vicious smile had found it's death on her lips, apparently frozen forever on their surface by the uncommonly cold wind of that autumn morning. To be more precise, calling that appalling sight a "smile" is a bit exaggerated though, so, in order to keep the story true we could just admit that the dreadful curve of her mouth was in fact sketching a "grin", one that her men were quite familiarized with too, or at least that's the logical conclusion that anyone could draw given that demonical sparkle shining in their eyes….They could already smell the tension flowing in the air…. their Goddess was cooking something up, and knowing her as they did, one thing was certain: a very fun challenge was ahead, one that would surely benefit them all…..

A masculine voice finally broke the natural routine of the morning exercises. His words were obviously addressed to the heartbreaking immortal that had decided to grace them with her presence and whose mind was still lost in thought.

" How can we serve you today my Goddess? Is there anything your heart craves for….another city to conquer, some new slaves to command, an earth shattering execution….some other exquisite pleasures we could provide, maybe?"

The Olympian fixed her gaze on the tall, bold man addressing her. His name was Alexios…a handsome specimen on the outside that had a soul as black as coal on the inside…He was renowned for his astuteness and for his double crossing nature, as well as for his blatant truculence and for the inhuman joy he found in slowly butchering everything in sight, his psychotic habit of savagely mutilating mothers in front of their children having reached even the ever so deaf to mortal information ears of Zeus himself.

Nemesis knew she had found the right man for the job she had in mind when taking a long brazen look up and down his iron like chest. He had so much strength beneath those well built muscles that she couldn't help wanting him deep inside her…..

She wisely decided to go for the "business before pleasure" approach for once nonetheless….For what she had in mind she needed the advise of an expert and the only one having a mind as sick and hopelessly affected by envy as she did was no other than her skilful and overly endowed- in all departments- overall commander.

With languid, mincing steps the Goddess closed in the distance between her and her trusted adviser.

"What I actually need is an idea….a very **nasty **and **worthy of my name** idea….."

"Are you speaking of a " trademark payback?" meant to scratch your name upon the lips of any peasant from here to the Ionian Sea?" he inquired on a very confident tone, eager of letting the divine woman standing before him know just how well he could read her mind…

Nemesis cracked a rather sympathetic smile…

"I'm afraid you're wrong this time, Alexios….No….it's something else….This time we have to cut flesh as deep and ugly as a barbarian sword but at the same time we have to be as discreet about it as only a feather's touch would be…..We have to kill without actually killing…blood should flow in endless waves without actually taking even the last spark of life out of a body…."

The commander was already licking his lips in anticipation while sensually caressing the sharp edge of his sword.

"Who are we talking about?"

"Xena….the Warrior Princes…"

"The Chosen of War?"

"Do you have a problem with that?"

For a couple of moments there was silence again. When he spoke though, his voice was as dark and vibrant as the one of a irremediably damaged serial killer. Nemesis could no longer ignore those electrifying tingles running up and down her spine….his every word equaled now with a firm push of his rock hard cock inside her….Her lips parted slightly her every sense concentrating on the low, inviting timber of his voice.

"I have no problem with being the blade of your any revenge….on the contrary, I happen to know just what you need….the perfect way to quench your thirst…." he responded, his hand finding it's way towards the Goddess' inner thigh, from where, without waiting for any sort of permission he glided upwards with the confidence of a married man that was just seconds away from fucking his horny wife.

"No one has to know Alexios…no traces to connect her deplorable condition to me….."

Turning her abruptly around and pinning her against the wall with the weight of his torso under the burning with lust gazes of the rest of her men, the commander raised her skirt, ripped her soaking wet lingerie and plunged his shaft inside her as hard as he could- just once before he slid completely out of her, giving her but a sweet taste of the treatment she was so desperately longing for, teasing her slippery entrance with mere touches for a couple of times before starting to really make her scream.

One hand went straight into her hair…the other cupped one of her breasts, his fingers quickly turning her right nipple into the perfect, arousing toy….

"Then no one will….I'm a professional and you know it…."

A ragged moan was all the answer he got.

Pretty soon, a choir of animalistic voices was shouting for some hard core action…. Alexios could only comply to fulfilling everyone's general desire.

As Nemesis' panting became more and more eloquent and her screams louder and louder, so did the commander's instincts….The resonant sounds of flesh being violently slapped and of a ready to come Goddess ordering him to screw her to oblivion and back filled the training ground.

….In no time, the place of a fully satisfied Alexio was occupied by an equally wanting general….

XXX

Only a few hours later, a rather revolted by his Father's dismissive attitude Ares, was letting Xena know that the irritatingly persistent King of the Gods was kin on dragging him along to India for some crappy alliance that he had in mind fortifying with the Hindu Phanteon….To top it all, Athena was bound to make an appearance as priceless adviser….

The Fates were obviously doing their thing….


	45. The plot thickens

It was the third day since Ares had left for India with his Father and his double crossing Sister, the third day since Xena was mechanically sharing her time between trying to come up with some ingenious, worthy to enter all history books strategy to mess up Athena's any plan on revealing the truth of Ares' death sentencing disobedience to Zeus-thus unwillingly condemning her and her unborn child to a very premature departure from amongst the living- and mending the still shaky relationship that she and the Love Goddess now had….

Leaving aside her renowned, immeasurable pride, the Warrior Princess ended up taking Ares' advice and calling the ever so ditsy Dite's name , completely ignoring the fact that every single neuron of her still darkened with jealousy, wrath and humiliation brain was ferociously opposing any attempt of reconciliation, the word "THREACHERY " stubbornly refusing to leave her mind, as if someone had glued a printed label containing it in front of her eyes so that she could never forget…..At the end of the first day though, the unexplainable affection she held for the Goddess prevailed.

Surprising even herself, the name left her lips with remarkable easiness and detachment... The tone of her voice expressed no rancor nor malice despite the undeniable freshness of the wounds she was still licking…..

Needless to say that in less than a blink Aphrodite was all over her- with a promptitude that made Xena wonder if the bubbly Olympian wasn't by any chance keeping an eye on her in her Brother's absence….

There was a rather timid, clumsy start to their initial conversation, but, step by step, as they began opening up to each other-prudently laying the cards on the table- things seemed to brighten up again, along with that old sparkle they both had in their eyes each time they got together…..

By the end of the second day, while slipping into something more comfortable and suitable for bed, as her mind restarted the laborious operation of meticulously rewinding that day's events and conversations, she had to silently admit to herself that, for once, Ares had been right: maybe that whole situation was far too complicated for her to understand, and maybe, just maybe, she had been way to harsh with the one that had made sure to pull out all the stops in bringing her Brother and his "first true love" together….

"Everyone makes mistakes…" the resigned Warrior Princess whispered lowly, blowing out the playful flame of the still burning candle that had kept her company during that long, uneventfull evening….After so many weeks, she could finally enjoy the undeniable benefits of a peaceful sleep, no vengeful thoughts plaguing her restless imagination any more….

Nonetheless, the dawn of the following morning blew everything to pieces, the boredom of her usually uninterrupted, predictable breakfast and the delirious search for an effective plan being suddenly shattered by a disturbing scream coming from the Eastern area of the Fortress. She could hear it so clearly... It was a female voice, calling for Ares' help.

She almost jumped in surprise as she instantly recognized that irking, childlike tonality: it was Aleena.

Without a second thought, she rushed to open the imposing iron gates- a.k.a the impossible to shatter barrier between the Halls of War and the outside world- to find the heavily bleeding girl barely breathing, an odious gnash in her stomach giving Xena all reasons to believe that not even her considerably advanced medical knowledge could do any good to the slowly and painfully dying young soul crawling at her feet.

Leaving that cruel awareness aside though, she instinctively turned the unfortunate victim on her back, gently checking up her wound just like she would have done it with any of her fallen soldiers no matter how hopeless the situation, somewhere deep inside the still burning humanity of her heart, secretly longing to stumble over some miraculous method to keep her alive, thus beating the odds .

"Who did this to you? What happened?" Xena anxiously launched the interrogatory, a question that was soon to be answered through nothing but a heartbreaking plea, the girl appearing to completely ignore a straightforward reply, clutching the Warrior Princess' arm in order to gain her full attention being the only thing on which she was able to focus any more.

"She has my Sister….You gotta save her…."

"Who? Who are you talking about…?"

"Athena…she's going to kill her….Please call him…Lord Ares…He can save her..."

"Ares is not here….."

"I'm begging you! He always comes when you call, you're his Chosen!"

As hot tears began tumbling down Aleena's cheeks, her lungs were visibly making use of their last strength to fill themselves with the so much needed oxygen, and her lips were slowly turning blue…Celesta was obviously but a few insignificant minutes away.

"I can't ….he left Greece…..It will be days until he returns….But what would Athena gain with murdering your Sister?"

"She wanted me to tell her how to enter the Halls of War…The tunnels…..Her plan was to get to….you…..I didn't tell her anything, I swear…Your troops…."

"What about them?"

The girl closed her eyes for a couple of seconds. She was fading away…

"What happened to my men?!" Xena exclaimed uncontrollably.

"She's planning to attack them… a few kilometers away from Messense….They are camped there, waiting for orders…."

Gulping noisily, Xena continued to press for information.

"How did you manage to escape? How did you get here?"

Hardly had she finished her line though, that the girls' lips were forever sealed...No truth nor lie came out from her mouth any more...

"Aphrodite!" Xena's urgent voice echoed deafeningly, slashing like a knife through the freshness of the dense, morning air.

As soon as the Goddess materialized by her side, the proud Warrior Princess found herself in the awkward, demeaning position of having to actually ask a member of the Olympian Pantheon for a favor….In spite of the ditsy Blonde's protest, they soon vanished from the place….

Just seconds after their departure, a still bleeding Aleena was rising from the ground, shaking off the dust from her shredded dress…..A cold, ambitious stare had suggestively replaced the vivid desperation floating on the surface of her weeping eyes just moments before…..

"Well played….You could have definitely fooled me…." a devilish voice unexpectedly broke that deathly, graveyard silence.

One wave of her still stained with claret hand, and Nemesis was back to her true form…

"What are you doing here, Alecto?" the woman retorted, clenching her teeth.

"Watching your back, of course…." the laughable excuse was immediately uttered on a rather sarcastic note that the Goddess of Vengeance was far from appreciating.

"If you spy on me again, you should start watching yours…"

"The plot thickens…."

A brief, sinister exchange of minatory glances could be noticed right before they both disappeared from sight in a plume of inky smoke ….


	46. Lies, Love and Deceit

"Messene?! That's an awfully crowded city….Plus, I happen to know that they have the most execrable food there-not that anything of what you mortals eat is actually worth trying, but hey…tomato porridge has never sounded sooo terrible until I laid eyes on it….I'm telling you, those unbearable morning sickness that were constantly ruining my mood while I was pregnant with Cuppie were nothing compared to what I felt when the rotten smell of that….thing….invaded my nostrils….." Aphrodite began rambling the instant she heard the very none exotic destination where the Warrior Princess was planning on spending the rest of that blessed with a bit of wind day.

"I'm not goin' there to grab lunch, Dite!" Xena cuttingly retorted, obviously emotionally disturbed by her Olympian friend's ceaseless blabbering... If there was anyone on the face of the Earth who could talk for like days on end without getting tired of hearing their own voice and without repeating themselves, that was definitely the bubbly Love Goddess …and boy, she could make right about anyone reach the highest peaks of irritation after the first twenty minutes…..imagine her auditory at the end of two whole days, knowing that there was still the third to face…..!

"I know, I know…..But still, if you've really had enough of Big Bro's gloomy looking cave, you shouldn't be searching for something as equally tastelessly built…There's nothing to see in Messense except for bad fashion and two half crumbled temples….What would actually do you good would be…."

"Let me guess….the salty air of the seaside?"

"The sea?! Oh puhleaseee, anything related to fish makes my skin crawl! Ewwwwwww! Totally disgusting! No, I was in fact referring to the ideal little town for a perfect romantic getaway….Edessa! You'll irremediably fall in love with the coolness of the mountain air and the cypress, I know you will…And for my sweet niece it will feel just like Heaven to sense her mommy finally relaxed, I'm sure! " the Goddess exclaimed with excitement, placing a hand on the Warrior Princess' belly and gently caressing it's slightly rounded surface….

"Romantic getaway?! I only want to enjoy some time away from that damn fortress, Dite!"

"Of course you are, I was just kidding, Babe…Still... if you accidentally happen to stumble over a hot looking Hunk and you're interested in a practical Love spell, just ask, ok? I won't tell Ar, I promise, it will be our little secret!" she giggled, winking implyingly at her wide eyed friend.

"If he heard you right know, you'd be too busy ducking some pretty nasty fireballs to finish that phrase…" Xena's reply soon came, accompanied by a proud, malicious grin….She was right though and she knew it….The mere idea of something like that ever happening had the power to make the ill tempered War God wanna kill someone, not to mention the reality of actually hearing someone voice the thought and let them get away with it…Aphrodite would have been toasted long before getting the chance to puff her way out of that type of mess…

"Anyway…" the Warrior Princess restarted, this time focusing on her task "I've always wanted to see Messene….I have an old friend there…..I'd like to pay her a visit, catch up a little…."

"Ok….fine….I still don't see how you could enjoy the day in that stinky place but, have it your way! If you have a change of heart, you know who to call!" she announced on rather resigned tone but making sure to display a flawlessly bright, broad smile on her coral pink doll like lips.

Xena just smiled back while imperceptibly letting out a deep sigh of relief….Moments later, she couldn't help thinking that Ares would have most certainly noticed her reaction and, beyond any shadow of a doubt he would have acted accordingly…

"Well…where exactly is your friend's house? I could pop us directly there…."

The Warrior flinched. That was a detail that hadn't precisely crossed her mind…..

"Just drop me at the outskirts of town….I wanna walk a little…"

Aphrodite didn't seem convinced.

"It would do wonders for my silhouette….I don't wanna end up looking like a cow!"

That was finally an answer that pleased the weight obsessed Goddess.

"Good thinking Babe! Just because you're going to be a Mom doesn't mean that you should stop looking human by gaining an additional 100 pounds! I could almost kiss you right now!"

"Don't…." Xena firmly warned casting a harsh glare her way.

Aphrodite shrugged.

"I'm sure this tough attitude of yours will gradually melt once you have Xaria…"

Her obviously absent minded interlocutor just shook her head disapprovingly.

"Can we go now? I don't have all day…"

The Goddess frowned.

"Please…" Xena added arching an eyebrow…..

"This is sooooo Ares like….." the Blonde Olympian couldn't help remarking while analyzing her friend's blackmailing expression…."Fine, let's get goin' " she concluded, taking the Warrior Princess' hand.

In less than a blink, as requested, they were a couple of kilometers away from Messene. There was nothing but a hill standing between them and the gates of the city.

Right before she vanished Aphrodite felt literally obliged to ask one last time:

"Are you sure you're up to walking all this length? I don't want you to get too tired... with the baby and all….."

Something was not right...She could smell it...Her godly instinct had never failed her before...Nonetheless, the sky high confidence reverberating from Xena's line made her think that maybe, just maybe she was overreacting...

"I'll be fine Dite, thanks…"

"Okey-dokey Cuttie Pie….If there's anything you need, don't hesitate to call, ok?"

"Sure thing…."

"And Xena…..?"

The Warrior Princess just threw her a half quizzical- half annoyed look….The Goddess proved to be as nagging as only Cyrene herself could be in her old days…

"...please promise me you'll be careful…..Ar' would kill me if something happened to you or the child…" There was pure horror in her eyes, and Xena could read her like an open book.

She skilfully faked a reassuring smile for her peace of heart...

The instant the Goddess was gone, the Chosen of War took a few cautious steps towards the top of the hill….There were a couple of bushes there, perfect for a safe disguise just in case that any sign of unpredictable danger was lying ahead…..She knew that coming there hadn't been like the best idea she had ever had but her men were worth the risk…With Athena running loose, seeking revenge at any corner, she couldn't simply turn her head and pretend to look the other way while what was left of her army was being slaughtered….She had to save them….A commander never abandons his troops…..She should have been there in the first place….Taking them to safety was the least she could do...…

A few more steps, and, as soon as she got close enough to the edge, she saw them; there were around eighty men at most camped not far from where she was standing, all of them wearing Ares' symbol on their armor, the red banners of War marking the outer corners of the camp…..They were indeed her men….

With no second thoughts , she screamed her regular battle cry, the one that each and every soldier was able to recognize any time, anywhere….They all turned around, bending their heads mechanically as they saw her approaching...Olympus was soon about to tremble….


	47. False friends inside the lion's mouth

"My Lady Xena!" the commander of the regiment respectfully saluted the instant she got close enough of the camp for her to hear him. "It's an honor to have you by our side again…"

"Why are there so few of you? " she asked in a low, worried voice trying to hide her guilt behind the usual businesslike, harsh tone.

"The others were dispatched to Demetrios a couple of weeks back, My Lady. "

"How many?"

"Around three hundred…."

"Who gave the order?"

"Lord Ares, My Lady, right after the battle of Kalamai…"

"I see…." she concluded pensively, while shortening the distance between her and the rest of the men…

She forced herself to see things from her patron God's point of view, but the logic of his plan refused to reveal it's secretes to her well structured mind. No matter how hard she tried, she simply couldn't begin to understand why in Zeus' name would Ares divide her army like that and moreover, why didn't he mention anything about it during any of the long conversations they had had on the subject…..What was the point? Demetrios?! That city held no strategic interest what so ever to them….It was just another insignificant point on the map, and, as she accurately recalled, the God didn't even have a temple there…..Something was not adding up right…..

"What is your name, General?" she commandingly requested the information, without taking her eyes from the rest of the troop.

"Alexios , My Lady…"

"Ok…..here's what we're gonna do, Alexios…." she announced, doing her best to still sound in complete control while her mind was maddingly racing to find a proper solution for a broken puzzle from which there were obviously more than a few important pieces missing….

While she was speaking though, her gaze involuntarily ran yet another quick scan on the soldiers…..There was something curious about their attitude…. Their heads were still bowed…That was the protocol, yes, but still…..She took a closer look at one of their swords. Her blood suddenly froze as the awareness of a very terrifying reality invaded her brain…..She had seen that type of blade before…

She didn't get the chance to react, unfortunately…..Things happened way too fast for her to at least sketch a gesture of self defense…..That inhumanly brutal blow to the head sent her to the ground with the speed of lightening. Soon, everything turned into darkness…..

**XXX **

The rough, needling sensation of ice cold water washing all over her, cracking the surface of her skin and impregnating into her bones, made her crawl her way back to reality, about half an hour later…Her head felt as heavy as a temple pillar and, to top it all, a sharp, excruciating, pain coming from somewhere inside her skull was torturously letting her know that whoever it was that hit her, knew how do their job to perfection.

Her first instinct was to press her palms on her temples, in order to calm that deafening drumming inside them- the sound was driving her crazy…..It was then that she finally noticed the unnatural position of her hands….she appeared to be tied of something….

Despite the pain, she shook her head a couple of times as if trying to make the dizziness and that still persistent blur covering her eyes disappear….One by one her senses came to life again, and for a brief moment there, she wished from all her heart she had stayed fainted….

A calculating look around, and, a couple of seconds later she came to the conclusion that she wasn't actually standing as she had previously believed- on the contrary she was lying on the very cold and uncomfortable surface of a large stone….or maybe an altar given it's height….- and that was most likely the weird reason for which the few objects in the room seemed to have an unnatural position….

At first inspection, she appeared to be inside a dungeon on some kind….It was built in stone and had no windows, just a huge, massive iron door to lead to the outside world….Doing her best not to panic, aware that fear had the ability to cloud any superior intelligence and clear judgment faster than anything, she took a deep breath and tried to calm her already racing pulse…..Nonetheless, the wooden table placed but a few nerve racking meters away from her, on which a dozen of instruments used for torture were placed, didn't help her much reach an inner state of peace and stoicism….

She considered calling for Ares, but she knew it was of no use….He couldn't possibly hear her from so far away…..Calling for Aphrodite was definitely not an option, plus , in order to do that, she first needed to get rid of that disgustingly dirty cloth which was effectively covering her mouth…..

She slowly managed to turn her head without causing too much extra pain…her wrists were in chains…..so were her ankles…. The next place her hopeful gaze headed for was her waist, towards the spot were her chakram was usually resting…..It wasn't there…not any more….

She bit her lips nervously….She had to come up with a way to free herself and fast…..

"Don't bother looking for an escape root, Xena….For there is none…." the sound of a mockingly, infernal voice filled the room, preceding the physical appearance of what proved to be none other than Nemesis, the Goddess of Vengeance herself, shining in all her Olympian glory …..She was carrying the shadow of death in her eyes, and her face plainly spoke of everything that the Warrior Princess still needed to know: she was indeed doomed….

"Nemeis…" the muffled name was uttered unintelligibly to the Goddess' amusement.

"Xena….Chosen of War…..I've been dreaming about this encounter for sooo much time now... just waiting for the perfect opportunity to present itself….And here we are, at last…."

The Warrior Princess tried to say something but once more that bloody piece of fabric proved it's use in attenuating the sounds…

"Don't worry Xena…we'll have plenty of time to chat, down in Tartarus….I'll make sure to drop by as often as I get the chance….We will become the best of friends you and I….You will never forget me, I can assure you….."

With teasing, elegant steps, Nemesis approached the wooden table, delicately caressing the tools meant to be used on her enemy's body…She gazed at her with a smile the moment she chose a long, sharp Scythian dagger and passed her index along it's blade…..

The very next moment, the Warrior Princess's beryl moons widened in surprise at the sight of the chilling scene she was witnessing: the Goddess was cutting her own throat….It was a horrifying wound that, as soon as it opened, got closed right back as if it had never existed….

"Too bad I can't bleed…..Blood is such a rare, beautiful liquid….holds so much power within it's richly colored content…Tastes good too…..How about you? Can you bleed Xena?" she theatrically inquired while closing in the distance between them…..

With the slow moves of a damaged maniac- as if she had all the time in the world- she began tracing a fine line down the Warrior Princess's chest, heading languidly towards her belly where she decided to prolong the suspense by lingering a bit, pointing the weapon's spiny edge towards one of her ovums….

"Rumors say that you're with child….A child of War….Ares' child….."

Poor Xena...hearing her phrase, her brave heart almost forgot how to beat, the implacable awareness of her executioner's purpose suddenly hitting her worse than a rockfall... ….So that was what they were after….her daughter…..By all Olympus!

Skilfully analyzing her prisoner's reaction, Nemesis' form was unexpectedly invaded by an immeasurable feeling of satisfaction...It was all that cunning witch was waiting for….to find a weakness, some soft spot that she could use as a base, on which she could start building the mountain of pain she had every intention on inflicting to her future victim….

"Finally a reaction….I take it it's true then" she malefically added, placing both palms on her own stomach, and closing her eyes for a few moments…"A child….I've always wanted a child with Ares…..We were happy together, you know…..We clicked perfectly…But then you came along...Everything broke…."

By the time she finished her rambling, Xena was flabbergasted…..Somehow she had a pretty good hunch of what awaited her, and torture was not something that she had ever feared…..But Xaria…..

She tried to speak, chimerically grasping at the possibility of diverting the Olympian's attention towards anything else- anything at all- thus buying some extra time, hoping to make her wanna listen to what she had to say, silently praying for a divine intervention of some kind that would bail her out of that unfortunate mess she had single-handedly buried herself into….

As a response, Nemesis just gave her a passive, totally disinterested stare. Grabbing a handful of her hair, she just turned her head to the side while maliciously whispering against her ear:

"I couldn't care less of any of the things you want to tell me….I'm not interested in making conversation. But just know that you'll pay for each second of humiliation that your God has put me through…..I'm gonna take from you everything that he has taken from me: the will to live, and your soul…."

...The one sided chit-chat was over…

"Alexios!" she yelled, shifting her gaze towards the door.

The general rushed in, followed by eight other men, filthy looking animals capable of tearing their own mothers apart.

Nemesis poisoned her lover's lips with yet another addictive kiss before handing him the blade.

"Here's your toy….use it properly…" she murmured with a nostalgic sigh while arousingly stroking his huge, pleasurable cock through his pants.

That being said, she lazily took a seat on the marble throne brought there especially for the occasion…

"Well boys….looks like we're getting to play doctor before we move on to more pressing concerns….This Bitch is with child…" the general exclaimed pointing towards the wooden table.

A savage, inhuman laughter filled the room as the men headed to pick out a tool…

"….Oh yeah?!" another one yelled. "Why don't we help her meet her baby sooner, then?...I've heard all mothers are anxious to see their newborn….." the words cruelly broke out as he approached the altar where Xena was immobilized.

"Spread her legs!" Alexios ordered, winking back at the Goddess…..

Nemesis, who was already dripping wet, very much turned on by all the shattering atrocities that were about to happen, had shamelessly started caressing her throbbing clit... …She was obviously ready to party…..

**Hey guys, just wanting to specify that you don't need to worry there will be nothing too descriptive about the torture stuff in the following chapter...:)**


	48. Broken walls

**XXX Hi there, guys:) Just wanted to mention that yes, you're reading the right chapter...It will soon make sense ,I promise, just bear with me, ok? The timeline has changed a bit and now the action takes place somewhere at the end of Season 4... XXX**

"Holly Olympus, Xena! These guys were good! I mean **real** good!" Gabrielle's voice broke out in a cascading blabber, desperately drawing in another deep breath , while letting her overly exhausted body fall freely down the smooth grass, steps away from the unconscious form of a man almost twice her size.

"These were clearly not ordinary villagers. I mean did you see those moves ? And that look in their eyes? It's like they weren't even humans…! Who do you think they were? One thing is sure though: they were definitely masterly trained. Whoever taught them how to fight did a dangerously good job…"

"Yeah, you can say that again." the Warrior's grave voice slashed the air, her bitter gaze still lingering quizzically on the crimson gushes of blood that were richly soaking the dry ground beneath their feet.

"Why do you think they attacked us? We were clearly a target from the moment they laid eyes on us. Judging by their uniforms, they don't seem to be from around here…. " the Bard hesitantly continued, her rhetoric inquiry exploding from her lips with the force of an ignited barrel full of black powder.

As usual, she never knew when to shut up, and, to top it all, while still trying to find a satisfactory explanation for those previous twenty unnecessarily violent minutes of that restless summer afternoon, she was also ferreting throughout her old leather bag in search of a blank parchment, ready to put in writing their latest heroic adventure...

"You mean besides us wearing weapons and looking like regular warriors ready to slash any living soul in our path?" Xena's half sarcastic answer came with no delay along with the trace of a wide, bemused grin.

An impatient, irritated groan followed inevitably the moment after, accompanied by a various range of gestures meant to take the idea of human communication to a whole new level.

"You know what I mean, Xena! It's like they had been looking for us on purpose and…and that guy that killed himself right before you had the chance to retrieve any information from him….What was that all about? "

"He probably thought that I was going to kill him anyway as soon as I'd found out what I needed to know. Standard procedure for any loyal soldier. Nothing that out of the ordinary about it"

"Soldiers? Soldiers of whom?" the petite Blonde kept digging for answers, completely unaware of the fact that she had been staring at those bloody corpses laying stiff all over the field, for some time…

"That's what I'm trying to find out….." the Warrior Princess murmured absently on a hardly audible note, her heart almost jumping out of her rib cage the moment her weary mind finally managed to connect the shape of one of the fallen men's blade to a long forgotten, or better said well buried memory…She had seen that type of sword before….. She could clearly visualize it's image inside her head, so detailed as if it were right there in front her….It was on a field somewhere…..Another time, another place, but she could distinctly recall it's presence in a soldier's hand maybe...

Gabrielle's strident voice made her snap out of that deep, contemplative state, pulling her roughly back to reality.

"Xena…? What's the matter? Did you find anything?"

"No, nothing important." the Warrior Princess firmly answered as if wanting to convince herself that her mind was playing tricks on her….

Nonetheless, hardly had she finished her phrase, that the low, throaty moan of a still living man drew her attention, alerting her senses. She instantly rushed by his side with the unbelievable speed of a tornado, and it took less then seconds before she clutched her hand around his heavily bleeding neck- the darkest expression that her Bard friend had ever seen, engraved on her face….

"You have two options: you can either savor a painfully slow death while I chop to pieces your each and every body part, taking my time to clumsily rip the skin off your bones, or... you could simply tell me what I need to know and I make sure you die quick and clean…Who sent you?"

There was a pause, with the men's survival instincts doing even the impossible to demolish that unspoken fear skilfully stashed inside his brain to break the silence oath he had taken…

The razor sharp knife that the Warrior Princess mercilessly plunged into his thigh with remarkable easiness- as if that was some hard to break habit that she liked to enjoy every Sunday afternoon - made him reconsider his priorities…

"I can guarantee that whoever you fear so much is incapable of inflicting half of the pain that I'm planning to make you feel unless you start talking…"

"Nemesis….Goddes ….of Ven…" the horrific words partially escaped his lips, blasting Xena's eardrums like thunders right before he choked in his own blood.

"What did he say Xena? I didn't understand…" Gabrielle intervened, as always, overly interested to stay abreast of everything that was happening around her.

When she received no answer, she instinctively parted her lips to repeat the question, but she turned suddenly speechless the very second she noticed Xena's paralyzed with fear visage….She looked as if she had seen a ghost and, with visibly trembling hands she protectively covered her belly in a gesture that resembled a lot the one of a wounded person trying to stop the flow of blood from a deep, lethal injury…

"Are you hurt?!" the panic stricken Bard exclaimed, hastily removing her hands just to discover to her immeasurable relief that there was no cut….

Totally clueless about what was going on, or about how she was supposed to react, the equally shocked Gabrielle unwillingly limited the usually endless stream of pointless words flowing from her mouth to a single one, and, placing a warm, comforting hand on her friend's shoulder, she gently began caressing it's surface, silently hoping that a bit of affection might have been the perfect treatment for whatever the problem was...

" Xena….?"

She didn't know what else to say….Confused and profoundly affected by what she was witnessing, the petite Bard feverishly made efforts to remember a time when she had seen the Warrior that vulnerable before- her memories gliding back to the darkest period of their friendship….Hope and Solan- but she quickly reached the right conclusion: that was indeed a first…Such behavior defied all logic and imagination...

And yet, she didn't dare ask for an explanation…She somehow felt it was not the best approach given that abominable suffering screaming it's presence from every pore of Xena's skin...Her tormented eyes were saying pretty much the same….She decided to just hug her instead- an embrace that Xena didn't even seem to feel given the absence of any type of reaction…..

Gabrielle couldn't possibly understand, but the reality was that every ounce of energy her crushed friend still had left inside her, was purely directed on controlling her lungs, on breathing…..Gradually, it was all coming back to her...Every stab, every new cut, those never-ending, beastly rapes, Nemesis' ruthless, mocking laughter...

"It's ok….Whatever it is, it's ok, Xena….." the timidly whispered encouragement could be heard, softly repeated at regular intervals of time...

...But the Bard's words, whatever they were- 'cause for some awkward, incomprehensible reason they made no sense inside the broken Warrior Princess' racked mind when her brain tried to decode them- became as meaningless and as absurd as her own existence…

"Come on, we gotta get out of here. I have to get you to safety. As far as we know, there could be another twenty like them heading directly our way and you're definitely incapable of facing them in this condition…." the justifiably concerned Gabrielle finally stated, carefully attempting to lift her friend off the ground. It was as if she were trying to lift a marble statue….

"Xena….come on….we can't stay here, it's too dangerous…..We should head back to town. For now, that's the safest place we could be in…."

Two hot tears began rolling down the Warrior Princess cheeks…..No low moans, no heartbreaking sighs…..It was the hushed cry of a person who had lost everything and had nothing left….

When her lips parted to talk, Gabrielle's blood involuntarily began boiling with repressed rage and revolt…What was she doing?!

"Aressssssss!"


	49. The safest place

"Aressssss !" the God's name left her lips- a mere whisper that the Bard was absolutely certain the cocky Olympian would fail to hear- on such an overwhelmed with grief tone that the broken sound of it could have made goose bumps appear on right about anyone's skin.

"Why are you calling **him**?" Gabrielle's totally overwrought exclamation broke out beyond control, from the very depths of her offended being.

Despite the dimness of the situation, her leafy green eyes still found the nerve to stare somehow accusingly at her hard to get friend, a reaction that she began regretting but seconds later, when, the birth of some fantastically brilliant idea, made her view things from a totally different perspective that instantly rushed to reveal it's so called "truth" to her :

"Does it have anything to do with the soldiers? It was him, wasn't he? He sent them…. "

Except for two more tears gliding down the Warrior Princess' face, no answer was given to satisfy the Bard's inborn curiosity or to extinguish that highly unjustifiable wrath burning her soul at that very moment.

And, just to complete the picture –and probably to fuel her shaky nervous system with a bit more rage- no sooner had she finished her phrase, that, only a couple of meters away from them, casting a silvery blue flash show light all around him, the annoyingly arrogant, self conceited War God made an appearance.

A brief, routine scan of the place and, seconds later, after a closer inspection of one of the cut in half bodies, the Olympian just felt the urge to nod approvingly:

"Now this is what I call a modern, art deco scenery…Extremely futuristic….certainly makes my adrenaline hit the roof….Did the two of you work at it…all by yourselves? "

Without stopping her fingers from caressing Xena's silky tresses, the fuming Bard just drilled him with a troubled, disoriented stare in response, her perfectly shaped frown confessing- in a rather indirect way, yes, but still a confession, nonetheless-quite an impressive quantity of all those frightening, murderous intentions that her busy brain had began projecting under the form of some pretty plastic images from the very minute he decided to respond to his Chosen's call.

Skillfully deciphering her coded message, The Olympian was unable to hold back that trademark, naughty grin of his…. Despite having noticed the Blonde's distressed demeanor from the very second he had materialized on the field, the concept of at least bothering to wonder what could have saddened the irritating Sidekick to that extent, was nothing but a far cry from his any thought- no matter how insignificant….

On the other hand, Xena's passiveness was rather disturbing….She hadn't made one stingy comment related to his previous lines- if that wasn't out of the ordinary, then nothing was- plus, her face was still turned away from him, somehow sheltered by the Bard's comforting hands.

"So….uh….." he began talking, making sure to gradually close in the distance between them, visually searching for his Princess' eyes, more than intrigued to find out what could the rare reason of her calling him, might have been. "…are you like…praying for the dead or something….?" the rather hilarious question erupted -given the concerning reality of those actual circumstances.

There was a long, afflicting pause, during which nobody said anything….in which Gabrielle was literally itching with eagerness to start ranting, but -in the absence of any type of answer- she simply preferred to expectantly redirect her gaze back at Xena, she herself waiting for some kind of explanation….

Two more steps was all it took for the highly observant God to shockingly notice a detail that the blatantly inattentive Bard had foolishly missed: that crimson stream of warm blood generously flowing from his Princess' palms…..She was clearly hurt, and the wound had been evidently inflicted by none other than the sharp edge of the sword she had been unconsciously clutching into her hands for some time now….

A blink later, as he finally reached the right angle to see her face, he almost froze in terror the moment he laid eyes on that inhuman amount of dark torment and pain written all over her beautiful features…..

An unprecedented feeling of panic instantly crept into his heart and thousands of scenarios began whirling inside his mind while he slowly curled up at her feet, carefully taking the sword from her hand as if afraid that she could willingly try to hurt herself….To his relief, she immediately let go of the blade , as if she didn't even realize she had been holding it all that time …

Needless to say that the sight of blood on her friend's hands just like the despondency of the situation made Gabrielle's eyes almost pop out of her head and her jaw drop to the floor in shock almost simultaneously, unable to comprehend what in the world was the vital liquid's origin - given the fact that just minutes before she had expertly checked the Warrior's body for any sign of possible injuries, only to discover that except for a few scratches and bruises , there was nothing alarming to be considered.

"Xena….?!" her partially chocked voice broke the silence while with the disruptive gestures of a madman she rushed to feverishly examine each and every inch of her skin for any visible or invisible wounds….

She finally stopped in surprise the moment she felt that pungently harsh slap that Ares' unbelievable calmness virtually threw her….When their gazes connected, she swallowed nosily before bowing hear head in shame and withdrawing her inquisitive fingers from Xena's stiff body….

She briefly glanced at the God again….As always, he seemed so relaxed, so in control, so fully conscious of everything that was happening around him , that she couldn't help thinking that from his perspective she must have resembled some ignorant, little peasant girl that for the first time in her life had found herself outside the comfort of her parents' protection and the idea of actually facing the difficulties of life scared the living Hell out of her….

What she couldn't in fact tell , was that Ares' level of anxiety and utter fear had reached astronomical heights way before hers had, and that it was costing him all of his godly power and will to keep that mask of never changing composure of his from breaking to pieces on his face- and all of that for Xena's sake, who, at least in his opinion, was way to shaken up so that she could actually stand having some else panicking around her.

The truth is that he was absolutely horrified to see her like that and her visible agony was tearing him apart with impressive speed….

When he started speaking though, firmly pulling himself together, his voice – despite the impossible to hide concern reverberating through his every syllable- was shooting, warm and carrying just like she had always heard it whenever she was on the verge of a nervous breakdown….

With the most delicate touch he was capable of, he softly wiped away her tears with the back of his hand…Her eyes were injected and red despite the fact that she had barely shed a couple of tears…..

"Princess…? Sweetie, what's wrong?"

In the absence of an answer, he quickly shifted his gaze towards the surrounding field instead, scanning the area with considerably more attention this time, hoping from the bottom of his mangled heart to find even the slightest clue about the unspoken tragedy that might have happened. When he didn't find any-the place looked pretty much like any other regular battlefield- he just placed an affectionate, protective kiss on her forehead.

…Something must have broken inside her at the contact, because, feeling the comfort of his nearness, she finally burst into tears, literally jumping into his arms with a desperation that made Gabrielle wanna look away in a zippy, unable to suppress any more the effects of that enormous wave of rage and jealousy crushing her heart from painting their true colors on the surface of her eyes…..

As ashamed as she was about the impudence of her reaction, the Bard found herself in the incapacity of doing anything concrete about it….Nonetheless, she bit her lip hard while doing her best to snap out of it - given the fact that the old habit of balling up her fists in the attempt of unleashing a part of that consuming frustration scorching everything from her stomach to her chest, led to no effective results….For the love of Zeus…the whole scene made no sense what so ever.

Ares on the other hand, during those immortally long seconds, felt at least one hundred times more helpless and fragile than any of those weak, pitiful mortals that he loved to hate with such blind, boundless passion…

Overly alarmed by his Princess' unnatural reaction, he just shifted his imploring eyes to Gabrielle as if begging for answers. She simply shrugged her shoulders, an apologetic expression painted on her face….She had nothing useful to tell him….She couldn't help in any way….She was just as clueless as he was….

"Shttt…" he vainly tried to calm her trembling form, putting a bit more force into his embrace, hugging her even tighter against his chest. "It's ok Darling, it's ok….."

"No it's not…" she barely managed to mumble in between broken sobs and irregular breaths….

Seeing his pride and joy as helpless as that, falling apart with each new breath entering her lungs, was inconceivable…He was so accustomed to the addictive sight of watching her win al fights at all times – no matter the cost- that more often than he cared to admit it- even to himself-he foolishly forgot that she was but flesh and bones and not iron and steel like he had wanted her to be….

"What happened?" he directly launched the question the minute their gazes accidentally interconnected.

Once more , her tongue refused to articulate the right words…..They couldn't possibly understand, but she was simply unable to voice it….she couldn't ….

"Show me….." he finally encouraged, apparently getting the drill…

It only lasted a millisecond or so, but her transfixed stare drifted unconsciously towards the damn blade she had been clutching into her hands right before the God took it away from her….

….His eyes followed hers, trying to solve a puzzle that at least until that very moment had no pieces what so ever…..The instant he took a closer look at the object of her terror, he sensed an unimaginable stab of pain and an equally wave of hate take over his every sense…. The earth itself started shaking violently under his feet, as his hands went almost immediately to his throbbing temples, completely flabbergasted at the implication of that sword's presence…

Gabrielle didn't dare ask what it was, but she had clearly seen the specter of death mirrored into his black pitch eyes…..Whatever it was, it was bad….

Without uttering a word, he just pulled Xena into his arms again, and mentally voiced a ritual prayer to the Fates that he could somehow find to strength to be there for her…..He hadn't felt like that in a long time, but the urge of drowning the entire space between earth and heaven in blood had never seem that irresistible before…..

"By the Gods…" he absently heard himself murmur against her shoulder, closing his eyes for a few seconds while the same endless stream of accursed memories began it's barbaric attack against his mind….

"Ares what's wrong with her….? " Gabrielle finally demanded to know, unable to restrain those tormenting worries any more….

He didn't bother gracing her with an answer- acting as if her question hadn't even reached his ears- but he did hear Xena's unrecognizable voice instead, pleading for a mind-blowing favor, one that finally made Gabrielle realize just how threatening and somber the situation must have been, whatever the details…

"….. Just take me away from here….Somewhere safe…."

"Aphroditeeeeee!" the Olympian called on the apocalyptic note of a ruthless Entity meant to bring about the end of the known world along with it's undeniable presence….

From the moment his perplexed Sister made an appearance, and the one Ares gave the order, it was but a matter of seconds.

"Take Gabrielle with you. We'll talk later. "

He didn't waste any more words and disappeared from sight, his Princess encased safely in his shielding embrace….


	50. The burdening shadow of Guilt

By the time the bewildered Love Goddess managed to puff the stubbornly struggling Gabrielle to one of her pinkish temples, Ares had already materialized with his still sobbing Warrior Princess just steps away from a large, comfortable sofa , inside a place that by all appearances looked to be at least a few centuries old….A very uncommon hideout, one might add, the interior of which held nothing of his particularly gloomy but eccentric style….

If on the outside the structure would have given right about anyone the impression of some kind of medieval, unbreakable fortress, it's sky pointed, massive stone walls offering no actual possibility of breaking in - a reality strongly underlined by the absence of any visible gates that might have allowed such foolish idea to even cross someone's mind – on the inside, any mortal would have marveled at the unmatchable richness ostentatiously displayed in even the last corner of the structure.

Way too overwhelmed with grief as she was, the War God's raven Princess failed miserably to notice -at least right away- the lively painted frescos, the intricate silver patterns and golden flowers embellishing those immense granite rocks forming the walls, as well as the soft, vibrant blue Persian carpets decorating the room, or the silken pillows scattered about everywhere in some sort of Oriental fashion meant to charm the eye and relax the troubled spirit of any living and breathing soul.

Despite the fact that it was mid day, and despite that quite a surprisingly generous quantity of sunlight had managed to penetrate through the thick foliage of the trees shadowing the enormous window literally sculpted into the fortress wall, a couple of yellowish candles were proudly exposing their enchanting, dancing flames from the hands of seven cooper statues, brazenly envisaging half naked or nude maidens, all of them symbolically standing for the seven virtues of War.

A long, guilty stare directed towards one of them, and the God unconsciously let out a beastly groan….What in Tartarus was he thinking when he left the interior design in Aphrodite's "innocent" hands? . A deep sigh rushed to complete the picture …One particular statue, skillfully placed in the right corner of the room- where there was always a lot of light- owned a pair of unbelievably beautiful breasts…-and the girl's face looked strikingly similar to Xena's…-a curled hair Xena, but Xena nonetheless….

He shifted his gaze angrily, silently cursing his Sister's name for the nerve racking balls she had to make fun of him- It didn't take him too long to realize the obvious: she must have played changing the statue's original features during the last time they had met there for an orgiastic fuck they had been planning for weeks…Considering that he was just burning to satiate his maddening sexual appetite at the time, as expected, the sculpture's supernatural transformation was the last thing able to catch his eye …As a matter of fact, the distracted God had been way too busy enjoying himself as to waist any precious time with looking elsewhere than in between his horny Sister's legs..

….It was the very beginning of his relationship with the Warrior Princess and Dite was as jealous as a rabid Bacahe of all the attention the newcomer had started to receive from her own, personal Studdmuffin…...A distant past, yes, but it sure looked like it's menacing shadow was still lingering there...

With a firm shake of his head, the pondering God chased that whirl of uncalled for memories away…A subtle sign of his hand and the statue seemed to magically come to life for an instant or two, carefully covering the royal lineament of her symmetrical visage with her forearm, as if she were sheltering her eyes from the disturbing effects of an implacable dust storm.

Despite the hard to repress urge to leave that totally inappropriate location and head towards the more welcoming Halls of War instead- where he knew there was no need to constantly stare over his shoulder for any unexpected surprises that might emotionally hurt his overly vulnerable Princess- he hesitantly decided at the last minute that it was better to avoid the damn place after all...It just hid behind it's cold, dark walls way too many unpleasant memories for her to deal with that very then….

Two more steps, and, with infinite care- as if she were a fragile, injured child- he placed her down on the edge of the sofa, still unable to annihilate –not even partially- the new dose of utter terror infiltrating into his bones at the sight of her covered in tears cheeks…

The handsome Olympian suddenly found himself back to square one again: he had no clue about what to do, how to react and definitely what in the world to say to the agonizing woman standing just inches away from him so that he could somehow dissolve that gigantic shade of pain from embowering her soul any more…With Xena things were never easy...but this time...this time the situation smelled horribly hopeless...The mere idea could make his skin crawl...

He gulped noisily as the back of his hand reached in a reluctant gesture towards her face to wipe it's watery surface…

Biting his lips nervously was all he could do once she subtly turned her head away though, closing her eyes at the contact, explicitly rejecting his comforting caress….

"I wish there was something I could say, something I could do….Xe…." he murmured beneath his breath, and the moment the words rolled off his tongue he could swear he genuinely felt that endless precipice splitting his soul in half, widening even more…

"You've done more than enough, thanks…." she snorted contemptuously, looking him dead in the eye, the harshness of her gaze drilling him with such an impressive quantity of hate gathered behind their whirling beryl surface that for a minute there, he was flabbergasted.

"What have you done to me?" her shaky, highly afflicted voice soon released even the last ounce of it's wrath, making the God tremble at the awareness of it's meaning.

"What do you mean…?" he inquired on a suspiciously calm note, doing his best to tactfully avoid the five degree tornado that was about to unleash it's deadly force upon him.

"Oh, you know what I mean…." the answer came on an even lower tone this time, while the tip of her fingers pressed hard on her throbbing temples. "My memory….what have you done, Ares?"

Her jaw tensed but at the same time her eyes spoke of so much accumulated pain and slashing despair that the God found it impossible to fabricate a lie …any lie...

"I did the only thing I could do… There was no other way , Xena, trust me…."

"The only thing you could do?! You demented Bastard! You had a choice!** I** had a choice! And as I well recall it, I asked you to stay out of it and just leave me alone! But you couldn't do that could you? As always, it had to be your way or no way!"

"Leave you alone?! Do you hear yourself talking right now?! Are you crazy?! " he snapped almost instantly, the fire rising inside him melting away with remarkable easiness the previous numbness that had been enslaving everything up to his reason.

Nonetheless, he immediately came to regret his volcanic reaction , the apocalyptic sight of two more tears gliding down her cheeks, shaking him up worse than an earthquake.

"Xena….." he continued, the dominant impulse of just screaming his own excruciating pain and frustration out like a lunatic, growing more and more intense with each passing minute, in spite of the fact that his voice sounded considerably milder now…

"…you weren't…well… You were not yourself, remember?"

"Of course I was not myself I had just lost our daughter, how in Hades could I have been myself?! But that's not an excuse for having acted behind my back like that, Ares! You had no right! It was my decision to make, not yours….! It was my life ! "

"There was not only Xaria's memory to deal with, Honey, and we both know it….There was no way you could have handled that…Those memories were eating you alive….And you were certainly not capable of making decisions during those dreadful moments, Tartarus, you were hardly breathing….You weren't eating, you weren't sleeping anymore..." he trailed off, pretty much aware of the fact that going there was definitely not healthy for…..

She swiftly pushed him away with a savage growl, forcing her muscles to find the needed strength to react, and, as if possessed by the unholy spirit of some foreign, pagan deity, she rose from the sofa with the speed of a silver bullet, heading for the door, eyes completely blurred by the tears that refused with unusual obstinacy to stop from soaking her pale cheeks and those faintly bleeding lips….

Each new image belonging to that terrifying day seemed to be so flawlessly preserved inside her brain, each detail so violently vivid that she could literally feel her temples on the verge of exploding from the unbearable tension building inside them….Those sick, mocking laughters echoing throughout each corner of her rattled mind, the vision of those razor sharp blades ceaselessly carving her inside out….the smell of fresh blood invading her nostrils as her unborn child was being ruthlessly cut out of her and chopped into pieces….the screams, the helplessness...

And then, there was the grotesque image of two black hound dogs fighting each other over devouring the baby's tiny remains...That unfortunate detail still made her stomach twist unnaturally in disgust…

...Unlike the previous time though, Ares was no longer taken aback by the brutality of her reaction, and, before she knew it, he had already pulled her back, his iron like arms trapping her in an unbreakable embrace, thus forcing her to keep put….He didn't have to exaggerate with the effort of that gesture either, cause, as soon as his lips brushed against her sparkling, silky hair, tightening his hold on her even more, she broke down in a new wave of tears and heartbreaking wails, her legs giving way under her again, thus betraying her initial intention….

He simply crumbled on the floor along with her, watching her restlessly as she buried her forehead deep into his chest, looking for safety ….

"I killed her, Ares….I killed our daughter….." she finally muttered in between sobs, instinctively covering her face with her hands as if trying to shelter herself somehow from that endless stream of memories torturing her slipping mind….

"Shh….don't talk like that Princess…Don't….I should have been there….It's all my fault….I should have been by your side, protecting you both….."

His teeth were clenched and his nostrils were flared with rage….self rage…

As if she hadn't even heard him, she preferred to ignore the confession of his self inflicted guilt and thus continued speaking , the cruel poison of maternal remorse flowing through her veins, towards her heart, under the sneaky form of some indirect, divine punishment for her thoughtless crime….

"You told me not to leave the Halls of War…I didn't listen….I didn't listen...…."

At that point, Ares could only wish that somehow, from somewhere, one of Zeus' lightening bolts would just make an appearance and strike him into oblivion for the rest of eternity...That broken voice...he had heard it before, right after Xaria's death...It was killing him...

" You should have let me die back then…I wish I were dead…."


	51. Telling the story

"So what happened afterwards?! How did you know where to find her?!" a visibly affected Gabrielle demanded to know, while frantically struggling not to loose the inhuman fight with those tears that she had been trying so much not to shed, as if the brave act of holding them back would have somehow stood for some sort of heroic gesture that would have actually meant something and that could have made a difference by mending past events…..

All her gathered up courage and endurance ended though the instant she noticed the pearly teardrops streaming unabashedly down the Love Goddess' flawless visage, and, there was so much pain shadowing the Immortal's puffy eyes that the Bard rapidly bowed her head in shame as if her previous reaction had been anything but appropriate when it came to comparing it with the one of the usually untouched by mortal suffering, Aphrodite.

The noisy gulp that followed soon after that life changing observation certainly made the Olympian take a good look at her Bard friend, silently wondering if continuing her narration would have been a good idea given her undebatable mental fragility….She was well aware that despite her kind, compassionate heart, Gabrielle was definitely not the right person on the shoulders of which one should choose to place such heavy, soul crumbling burden.

She stared at her rather hesitantly for quite some time, but the Bard's anxious gaze refused to change it's skilfully coded message, thus spurring her to keep telling the story….

"Can't really brag about having known where to find her….But given the fact that she was carrying Ares' child, and that whether she liked admitting it or not it was a child conceived out of love, I had the ability to sense anything related to it….I could often feel my niece's aura, regardless of how faint it was at the time...I was also capable to tell stuff about her evolution, and through her I could feel the Warrior Babe's emotions…I could easily sense when she was happy or sad, angry, pensive or bored, etc….Well…godly stuff…."

At that moment, as if someone had commanded it, her voice trailed off and her lips stopped moving …Her blank gaze remained literally glued to some invisible point in space that the Bard couldn't see but which had apparently managed to capture even the last ounce of the Goddess' attention…..

"Aphrodite?" Gabrielle's timid voice uttered the name, while her hand sympathetically found a place to rest on her immortal friend's shoulder.

"Yeah.."the surprising answer came with no delay, accompanied by a slightly unnatural shudder from the Olympian's part.

As if coming back from a deep, mind blowing trance, she blinked repeatedly for a couple of seconds, glaring half absently towards the worried Bard before inquiring lowly:

"Where was I?"

"Xaria….you were just telling me that you could sense her energy…"

"I could….Her presence was very important, for both Xena and Ares as a couple, but also for the three of us **together**…It helped Xe cope in a way with the disturbing reality of the relationship Ares and I used to share, I guess….I suppose it made her feel more…in control of the situation- knowing that they had something that Ares and I had never dreamed of having: a baby to bound us even more…..She couldn't possibly understand at that point that as brother and sister we didn't need anything else to keep us connected. By definition we were two different sides of the same coin: Love and War…Together we were one: the ultimate power meant to rule over mortal and immortal world alike until the end of time…"

When she noticed Gabrielle's perplexed expression, Aphrodite added apologetically, a bitter smile tugging at the corners of her coral lips:

"I guess that's a pretty twisted concept for any mortal to make peace with easily…."

"No, it does makes sense….Love and Hate….Light and Darkness….it's like a balance on which our very nature was built….You can't have one without the other " the Bard firmly stated, realizing that her reaction must have made the Goddess feel incredibly uncomfortable, and that was like the last thing on the planet she had intended to do.

Nonetheless, War's ditsy Sister gazed away, and seconds later her busy eyes were searching for a place to sit…. One random gesture of her hand was all it took in order to materialize a few pink, fluffy pillows and invited the Bard to make herself comfortable…..Two cups of herbal tea soon followed….

"So what happened?" Gabrielle insisted, taking a short sip of the sweet, lemon green, aromatic liquid.

"I still remember those dreadful moments as if it were all yesterday….I was trying on some dresses, there was this super elegant banquet I needed to attend in Troy, and, as always, I couldn't quite decide on the color...Plus, there was the hair….You wouldn't believe that crazy hairstylist that…" Aphrodite began ranting, and it was pretty obvious that the basic story that the Bard was just dying to find out was eons away from ever being told….

"So ? what happened? Did she call you or anything?" she rudely interrupted, with the inborn curiosity of a four years old girl.

The Goddess bit her lip hard while she nervously wiped away another tear.

"No….I can only wish she had Sweet Pea….I don't know why she didn't, maybe I could've helped somehow…I could have brought Ar for her sooner…I only realized that something had turned horribly wrong when Xaria was…gone….Her sudden, unexpected absence was literally an indescribably tormenting experience- it kinda felt like a gigantic void swallowing my very being….I had never felt anything similar before….I was so scared….I instinctively popped myself to where I had left Xe hours before, but there was no trace of her….I didn't know what to do, but I could swear it on Daddy's lightening bolt that she was in danger so I did the first thing that I could think of: I went to get Ares. "

"Did you find him?" the Bard jumped to ask, almost chocking on the question.

"I did….We kinda met halfway through the aether…He was as white as a sheet. It only took one glance for him to realize that he had been right, that she was not ok, that in less than a day his whole life had turned upside down….I can still hear him yelling….."

She stopped again, even more abruptly this time. Her skin was all covered in goose bumps and her eyes held behind their light azure irides a subtle hint of well buried fear….

"I can only guess you didn't have the most pleasant of conversations...?"

"He still had the Dagger of Helios on him…..He said that he only spared my life because killing me would have taken too much time, and that time was something he didn't have at the moment."

"I'm sure he didn't mean it Dite….He was just worried..."

"Oh yes he did….It's just that finding Xena was a priority….He had every intention of killing me, I had no doubt about it."

Gabrielle's following braintwister left it's temporary prison almost simultaneously with Aphrodite's last words, but this time, the usually bubbly Olympian failed to hear her….

The impeccably preserved details of her memory were quickly transporting her back to the past, her divine senses recreating again an entire scene in which for the second time since her creation, the daughter of Zeus had feared someone with such an unbelievable intensity that her tiny heart had been but split-seconds away from exploding.

"_Where is she?! Where is she Dite?!"_

_Panic swept through the beautiful Love Goddess like the piercing of a sharp Gaelic spear, making her chest tighten and her breath remain blocked somewhere in between her lungs and her throat. An unprecedented wave of nausea and dizziness made her loose her balance..._

_By the time Ares reached her, she was barely able to articulate one sound. She was paralyzed with fear and remorse. _

"Ar...I_…"_

"_Where is she?!" he screamed , savagely grabbing a fistful of her long, golden curls with one hand and slapping her straight across the face with the other, hardly repressing the urge to smash her head against something, then and there, no questions asked._

_The overly emotional Love Goddess cried out in pain….His grotesque behavior was way too similar with the one induced by the Furies not long before, with the exception that this time, there was no Alecto now to control him; he was doing it all on purpose….._

"_I don't know…I left her just outside of Messene…" she shrieked, covering her pretty face with her palms, in the unsuccessful attempt to make him stop hitting her._

"_What?! What did I tell you about keeping her __**safe**__? She should have been inside the Halls of War!" _

"_She asked me to….."_

_The unmistakable, glistening blade of the dagger- so close to her neck- made her blood froze inside her veins though and any inflection die on the tip of her tongue …_

"_Bro'….." she still managed to utter right before the razor sharp edge grazed her neck superficially, making a thin thread of blood flow down on her chest, soaking the _

_transparent lace hem of her cleavage . _

"_The only reason I'm not killing you right now, is because when I do it, I want it to be as painful and as slow as possible….I wanna enjoy it….But make no mistake…If something happened to her, you're as good as dead, Aphrodite…Now….where exactly did you leave her and when? …."  
_

"_It was at the foot of a hill….a few kilometers away from the gates...I can take you there…"_

"_When was this ?" _

"..._ Just a few hours ago….She said something about wanting to pay a visit to an old friend…a childhood friend…."_

_Hearing her words, the God didn't say anything else. He just ran his fingers through his hair. He was beyond furious, he was fuming…and beyond the fury there was an unimaginably large ocean of ultimate desperation and atrocious fear…_

"Dite ? Dite are you ok ?"

Gabrielle's concerned voice and the urgency of her touch brought the Goddess back to reality.

" I'm fine…"

"I can see how hard it is for you to remember all these events, but please Dite, I need to know…..What happened to her? What happened to Xaria? Why didn't you feel her presence any more? Did she….Was it Athena?"

Taking a deep breath and summoning all of her remaining psychical force, the Love Goddess replied, avoiding the Bard's inquisitive gaze:

"What I saw there….I uh….I can't get it out of my mind….There's no worse punishment than that….Ares actually thought that he'd done me a favor by letting me live…..By the Fates, he had never been so wrong about anything in his life!"


	52. Heartbreaking truths

"What did you see?" the Bard barely voiced her thoughts, on such a faint note that Aphrodite almost failed to distinguish her question….

When she did spoke, her own voice didn't manage to conceal anything- not even one ounce of the terrible hurt that was still ripping through her when approaching the subject. Thus, her disjointed sentences came out with such long, tormenting pauses that Gabrielle's suppositions found in their presence the perfect opportunity to poison her mind with all sorts of grim maybes, filling in the dots with events that in her imagination were was real as her quill.

At some point, the waiting became unbearable...

"I..uh…..I haven't talked about it to anyone till now, you know….It's…one of those memories….one that any sane person would like to erase from their brain within a blink." she began , slowly massaging her neck with her fingers as if the words were stuck somewhere inside, and the rhythmicity of that comforting motion was efficient enough to urge them to come out.

Before she started talking again, the Bard could clearly read that strange, afflicting mixture of revulsion, horror and compassion in her saddened eyes….And though it pained her even more, she could do literally nothing to stop her overly creative imagination to run wild in search for various possible scenarios of those intriguing past events.

"It only took Ares like a couple of seconds to locate her. Given that he was on Greek soil again , and given that she was his Chosen, he could easily feel the energy released by her aura….Before I knew it, we were standing before the massive gates of an old, abandoned temple….It was Athena's, I could instantly tell it by the totally lugubrious look of the walls and mainly by the complete fail out in every department ranging from architectural design to exterior garden decoration….I mean the sheer absence of basic feng shui items was all the clue I needed… And, if it was not Ares' , it obviously had to be hers… By the way, if we had any doubts left regarding human presence inside the structure, they were all shattered the moment we materialized inside the main room. It was a fact that no one had been serving there for like ages….I'm telling ya, those eeky cobwebs covering the walls….totally freaky and disgusting…I'm positive it was the most repulsive thing I've ever seen in my life …..Like totally nauseating, you know? It certainly made me take a mental note to check my own temple in Lesbos..."

The Bard tried to sketch a smile, nodding approvingly for effect, but it turned out to be nothing more than a rather unnaturally looking grimace , the kind of screwed up face that could easily scare a five year old girl if strategically displayed right before bedtime .

Nonetheless, her mind was successfully drifting elsewhere, blocking it's countless neurons from the invasion of so many useless details, and that was a strikingly visible fact, almost as eye catching as Aphrodite's cotton candy dress was.

The rest of the Goddess' narration brought her back to reality though at unbelievable speed, crushing mercilessly what was still left of her plucky spirit.

"…..We could soon hear voices, shouting and laughter…Male voices….We followed the sounds and hastily descended the stairs leading to the servant's quarters….Soon, there was but a dark wooden door separating them from us…Ares blasted it to pieces with no effort, way before I could even see him raise a hand to form a fire ball…..Dust and debris immediately covered to place in such a thick cloud that one couldn't see anything, not even an arm's length away...Neadless to say the men sounded pretty alarmed from what I could tell.

Any type of commotion stopped though the moment Ares stepped inside. I quickly followed….Five steps later, while still fighting too keep those filthy floating granules from ruining my hair, I suddenly feet my legs giving out on me the moment I laid eyes on her…..Every part of my body felt as if it were made out of melted raisin…." the Goddess adding pursing her lips together and automatically covering them with her ivory hands as if she were trying to keep the words from leaving her mouth.

Her tongue felt stiff, just like a piece of plank….Every new syllable uttered meant an unimaginable effort…

"Tell me…" Gabrielle insisted, unconsciously cracking her knuckles in concern, literally cringing at the awareness that she was finally about to get some answers, answers that on the other hand she was absolutely convinced it would have been better to remain well hidden….

" She was tied on an iron table and mutilated beyond human imagination…They still had their knifes in their hands….There was no Xena, not any more…just a puddle of raw, heavily bleeding meet…What almost gave me a heart attack though was the enormous gash in her abdomen…"she murmured, wiping away the tears pouring down her face like rain…

"The baby!" Gabrielle exclaimed, finally breaking into a wave of uncontrollable sobs.

"They had removed it from within her….the dogs were having a feast…" Aphrodite added, just to turn around and vomit at the macabre images unfolding like a movie inside her mind- a very un-god- like gesture yes, but then again, she had a good reason to ….

"By the Gods…" came the Bard's husky reply right before she crumbled on the floor, desperately wishing she had never found out anything about that abominable tragedy.…

She strangely felt as if the walls of the room were slowly closing in on her, and that the roof was about to collapse on her head.

Minutes passed before she was capable of putting two words together again.

"…I don't understand….who where those men? How did they capture her….?Why didn't she call for Ares? She was carrying his child! That Bastard should have taken care of her, should have watched over her….", she furiously yelled, overwhelmed by the atrocities she had vividly pictured inside her brain.

"Nemesis' soldiers…It was never proven, but Ares believes she was working with Athena…Still, without the actual proof that our Sister was involved in any way in something like that, Zeus was bound to protect her...And he did, temporarily stopping Ares from claiming her life….And then, during his second attack, it finally occured: the only time in known history that Zeus ran from Olympus along with the rest of the family after Ares got his hands on the Ixion stone….….He had immeasurable powers now, and he was determined to slaughter right about anyone who would have had the guts to stand between him and the ambrosia, no questions asked….."

"Ambrosia? Why did he need ambrosia for?"

"To restore the Warrior Babe's body completely….And he did…There was no scratch left…Not one….On the outside, she was as good as new, as if nothing had happened…..But that was on the outside…..What he couldn't do was to heal her mind….After what she had been through, everything inside her head was a mess…."

"He couldn't bring back the child…."

"No…that was impossible even for a God…."

"...Bro's icy look as he entered that room and saw her….I swear it on both Chronos and Uranus I have never fully known the concept of fear until that very moment….I genuinely believed he was about to chop us all to tiny pieces, me included….."

"And…?"

"He didn't…he let us all live….He just tied the soldiers up and went to Olympus to get the ambrosia. Xena was a priority….When he returned, and gave it to her, at her request he put a sword into her hand and locked her there with them…."

Gabrielle gave the ditsy Goddess a puzzled look.

"Trust me you wouldn't like to know the details…It's enough to say that she forced them eat each other….The ones that refused, were skinned alive….Alexios was the first to play the role of raw meet….They all took a bite out of him…..Hours later, when the door opened, the blood was almost reaching her knees…Their screams….I can still hear them….When everything ended, she desperately tried to cut her throat with a knife, the mark was still visible minutes later….Because of the ambrosia, it didn't work….The wound just closed….As Bro' ran by her side, she tried her luck again only to discover that it was in vain...That's when she started crying...Ares was devastated …..She begged him to kill her but he refused…I still can't believe that the pain of seeing her like that didn't make him loose his mind…."

"Was she a Goddess?"

"No, because she had no powers….But she was an immortal. She couldn't die….."

" _Sweetheart, stop it, just stop it!" the God yelled at her, snatching the weapon from her hand and throwing it away…."_

_A firm tug was all the answer he got while she was heading in the direction he had dashed the blade. He instantly grabbed her arm and pulled her back._

"_Let go of me, Ares let go!"_

"_No! Calm down…it's ok Darling, look they're all dead…."_

"_Not all of them !" she shouted from the top of her lungs, so much anger, frustration and poisonous hate reverberating from her voice that the God actually hesitated a bit before encasing her in his arms._

"_I'll track her down. I'll kill her myself. You don't need to worry about her, not any more She's as good as dead…."_

"_Xaria…." she finally uttered against his ear as if she had just realized that the child was gone, accidentally brushing his neck with her lips. _

"_Shhhh…don't think about that right now, Sweet….one thing at a time, ok?" _

_A heartbreaking wail broke from the very depth of her being. Ares trembled at the sound. _

"_Just kill me…..I'm begging you just do it! I can't live like this…I don't deserve to live…" she asked in between sobs, while still fighting to escape his strong arms._

"_Don't even dare say it again….Princess, we'll get over this Honey, I promise you…It will get better in time you'll see…."_

_Gazing persistently at her body for almost a full minute, and briefly touching her face with the tip of her fingers, she let a few tears fall down again before inquiring in an almost sedated voice: _

"_You restored my body….Can you do the same for my soul? For my mind….? Do you have any idea what 'm seeing before my eyes right now as wee speak, what ….what I'm hearing ….? You weren't there…." _

"_By Olympus, Xe….."_

"_Please…..if you really care about me…..just do it…."_

"…If you really care about me just do it…." Aphrodite repeated the words almost mechanically….

"Those were her words….?"

"Yeah….that's what she said…..Ares refused of course, telling her over and over again that time would lessen the intensity of the pain…"

"It obviously did…" the Bard observed, a hint of bitterness in her voice at the thought that Xena hadn't found it in her soul to tell her anything about those consuming events….They were best friends after all….

As if having guessed the source of her trouble, the Goddess specified in a grave voice:

"No, it didn't….quite the opposite. She was feeling more and more depressed each day….She couldn't eat, she couldn't sleep any more, and she was adamantly refusing Ares' comforting caresses …It was as if with every passing minute she was turning more and more into a ….rock….During the brief moments in which her body was involuntarily falling into Morpheus' traps because of the exhaustion, she had horrific nightmares…Ares was loosing her bit by bit…..Her beauty might have been unprecedented especially after having become immortal but the truth is that there was nothing left... nothing but an empty shell….She was devoid of any positive emotion….She too died that day, along with her daughter..."

"Sweet Fates! Gods Aphrodite! How could that Bitch do that to her? Did she hate her to that extent? I mean the very idea of doing something like that to someone…anyone...How could a person be that cruel?"

"You obviously haven't dealt with Nemesis thus far….Consider yourself lucky….She has no soul, just a huge chunk of refrigerated poison to fill her chest-so the concept of remorse is totally unfamiliar to her, and yeah, she did hate any woman who had the misfortune to catch Bro's predatory eyes….But still…what she did to the Warrior Babe…I truly believe that was a first even for her…"

**XXX**

In between the frighteningly silent walls of the temple he had brought his Princess, to atmosphere was so strained that if tension could cause electrical discharges, the room would have been flooded with lightening bolts…

"You erased my memory…." she stated lowly while gripping his vest even tighter and burying her face into his chest.

Ares gently kissed the top of her head before correcting her.

"I didn't erase it….I just blocked some way too painful memories….I could do it again, you know…." he murmured , tilting her chin up so that he could have a better view of her eyes, as if waiting for her confirmation to do it…..

"Don't even think about it…..Last time I didn't only forget everything related to Xaria...I also forgot you….I forgot about us…That day, when you had those peasants accuse me of murder...That was the first memory I had about you, and for the love of Zeus, I couldn't explain why it felt like I knew you for like forever...That connection...it was impossible for me to understand it back then...And before that, there was that ocean of emptiness engulfing my soul, a void that could only be filled by the fire of battles... "

The God looked aside, swallowing hard before he replied.

"It was for the best Xena….It still is….."


	53. Locked inside a golden cage

"Have you lost what ever was left of that ratty mind of yours, Ares?! " the Warrior Princess snapped at him without at least taking the time to inhale a sufficient quantity of air given the tremendously long speech that was evidently about to follow.

"You really have no idea what I've been through all this time, do you? I had **no** past! Not in the actual sense of the word. There were huge gaps in my memory that no matter how much I tried I just couldn't fill! Nothing made sense, there were just broken pieces of a freaking puzzle that I had no chance of ever putting together- at least not in this life! It was as if I had lived locked inside a dream for years!" she screamed into his face, trying to compensate somehow for the incapability of actually hitting him- he had preventively gripped her wrists, aware of the fact that at least a couple of illustrious slaps would have been impossible to avoid any other way.

"Well what exactly is it that you see so wrong in not recalling all the sordid details of a fucked up past?! You should be happy! I did you a favor! "

" A favor?! You call that a favor? ! Tempering with someone's mind is s not normal, Ares, it's not healthy!" she continued on a strangled note, instinctively attempting to wipe away those salty tears drenching her face the instant she felt the atrocious claws of guilt and remorse drilling one extra hole straight through her heart, overwhelming her senses with a new level of hard to ignore pain- an impossible task given the fact that the God's fingers were still firmly set on **"handcuffs"** mode.

As a result, the content of her following words was more cutting than ever, showing no sign of weakness, just pure malice and a pretty profound quantity of well seeded animosity.

"There were times when I was absolutely convinced that I was going bananas! I could distinctly remember fragments of battles in which I was the leader, the conqueror, the executioner... I could still smell the fear radiating from my enemies' skin, I could recall with frightening ease that glint of desperation in their eyes, I could hear my own thoughts and relive crushing emotions of past events that were part of such a faraway reality that I was unable to accurately say if it had ever existed or it was just a figment of my imagination while at the same time being completely aware of each ounce of suffering I had caused….. Couldn't you erase that, too?!…."

"Xena…." the God made an effort to intervene, smoothing her hair affectionately- using both of his hands in the process , thus explicitly giving up the initial intention of partially immobilizing her- but it was to no avail. She wouldn't listen. Not until she got off her chest everything she needed to say, anyway.

"When Solan was born Ares, I was so scared for him, so terrified about what could have happened to him if word got out that I had a son - a completely unjustified fear at the time given the fact that I was oblivious of the whole Nemesis episode, a fear that was streaming from somewhere deep inside me though- that I just couldn't picture myself being there for him **and** keeping him safe at the same time! The story ended with me abandoning my own child, giving up a life by his side, denying him every right of enjoying his Mother's love and attention….I had no idea that I was unconsciously protecting him from old, unseen enemies, but somewhere, in a dark corner of my mind I must have known….Xaria's image must have stuck…"

"It was the right thing to do Xe…The only option you had...No need to blame yourself for that too"

"I **do** blame myself for that every single day. But where were you that very then Ares? Where were you during those accursed moments when I was feeling so alone and scared, and when I needed you so damn much? And yes, I did the only thing I could do. It appears that we both love using that excuse. But unlike you, I was indeed forced by the circumstances. Had I known what happened to Xaria , the history wouldn't have repeated itself! Not in a million years, you Bastard! I would have protected that boy with each fiber of my being! But you just **had** to make sure I gave up that child. My own flesh and blood!"

For a split second, the handsome Olympian felt like the entire reality was rapidly turning into smoke, a heavy, grey smoke blown and scattered away by a powerful gust of wind that was bound to leave nothing behind. How could she even say that?! Not having been there for her at that point in her life was a continuous, soul squashing punishment for him, and, call it the Fates' lamest joke , but what killed him the most during those awfully dramatic events was the same helplessness that was tormenting him now... He couldn't stand seeing her hurt like that any more...But it had been way too soon to pop back into her universe...

" Are you serious?! Xena...had I not erased your memory, Solan wouldn't have been born! " Ares vainly attempted to bring her back on the ground, partially determined to make her see things his way and partially wounded and angry by those completely unjustifiable accusations she was now violently throwing into his face.

Each new phrase felt like a thick layer of melted wax wrapping around his naked body …When he started speaking again his tone was almost pleading.

" Princess... you were barely alive! Literally trying my hand at that lesser of two evils principle was all the option I had left and you sure didn't make it easier for me! Gods know I had tried everything up to that point. There was nothing left. You could hardly tell apart night from day, you didn't care about anything any more, you wanted to die so badly that the mere idea of leaving you alone for more than one minute was giving me the chills! By Hades, I still tremble at the memory of you swimming in blood that day I went to Olympus to give my monthly report to Zeus- your face…your body all covered in blade scratches….And I was only away for like ten minutes, figuring that you could use some space, some alone time…So don't tell me I had a choice cause there was no choice there! It was either erasing your memory or spending the rest of eternity fixing you up, mending new self inflicted wounds!. How do you think that made me feel?"

"So you took the easy way out! No surprise there! And I suppose you expect some kind of undying gratitude now, right? Fine! Thanks ! Thanks a lot. Your "choice" certainly gave me new reasons to live! "she ironically retorted, the venom popping out thoughtlessly, with remarkable spontaneity.

"It's because of me that you still have a life!" he yelled from the top of his lungs, loosing all trace of control, and for a minute there, the Warrior Princess couldn't possibly hold back that completely demonic joy blossoming warmly into her soul at the sight of the God's twisted with suffering features. She had gotten to him and that was strangely giving her an impressive amount of satisfaction.

When she replied, she kept on cutting, even deeper now that she knew where to strike.

"Is that what you tell yourself at night? Does it work? It's because of you that my life went down the drain in the first place you psychotic maniac! I have no life thanks to you! I stopped having one the moment Lyceus died and you took me under your wing! As for playing with my mind like that, just be honest for once and admit it! You did it so that you could put some distance between us! You wanted me gone! You couldn't stand being around me knowing that I was the cause for which Xaria never got to see the light of day!Just say it already! "

" What?!….Is that what you think? That I was… **playing** with your mind?! Something **died** inside me the day I entered that room and saw you broken like that, tied to that table , your flesh …."

He suddenly stopped though, turning away from her the moment those unbearable images began flooding his brain again. He shuddered visibly under their effect, his breath now labored an uneven as if his heart were just seconds away from cracking.

"It made me **sick** to know that you had to go through all that because of me, because I was not there when I should have been. Do you think I enjoyed watching you fade more and more with each passing day?! You couldn't stop crying your eyes out for days on end….Endless nights in which I just held you tight, rocking you to sleep, praying that you could somehow find the strength to let it go, to move on. It was Tartarus to hear your muffled wails breaking into that pillow again and again and again, and it killed me to just sit there like a rag doll, unable to lift a finger to help you….When the tears finally stopped, there was nothing left but emptiness. Emptiness, and the bloody marks of a still devastating pain that was stubbornly threatening to settle inside your soul for good. Could you have lived with that burden Xena?Did you ask yourself that? If not, I'm telling you now, it would have scarred your mind for the rest of time. And there's no running from something like that. So don't start pointing fingers, cause my main concern was you, and you alone! As for Solan, raising him was never an option to begin with, so do yourself a favor and stop feeding your brain fairytale scenarios ! "

There was a brief pause during which both of them appeared to be chewing pensively on the God's last phrase. It was the Warrior Princess that finally broke that silence, her lips barely moving as they dimly inquired:

"You still haven't answered my question….Did your decision have anything to do with you holding me responsible for our daughter's death? Did you do it just for the sake of gallantly kicking me out of your life or not?"

**XXX**

"Now I can finally understand why he was always lurking around our camp!…..Always coming up with schemes and plots "to get her back" . He was protecting her, making sure that his constant presence would keep any divine outburst away…." Gabrielle confessed in a rather ashamed voice, mentally slapping herself once or twice for all those times that she had unfairly accused him of trying to corrupt Xena, to lure her back to her dark side, to have her serve him again…It had never been about that…

"That's right Sweet Pea. I mean sure, he could have kept an watchful eye on her through a portal or a mirror or something, but on the other hand, being away from her for too long was inconceivable for him…He's like addicted to her, ya' know?…."

"Well…truth being told he always looked kinda obsessed if you ask me. I mean that disturbing way in which he was just staring at her whenever he dropped by, that was….creepy. It was as if he were struggling so hard not to touch her, as if those few steps separating them were like a garrote tied dangerously tight around his neck. I know it sounds crazy, but one had to be blind not to notice. As for that sinister thing he loved doing with her hair, always brushing it …that was sick, Dite! I swear he was the incarnated image of some fanatic zealot touching his beloved God's statue. Plus, come to think of it, the fact that I have never seen Xena reject him once, I mean really saying **"no"** to that deranged, pathological behavior…..That's something I could never get to comprehend…."

"Oh puhleaseeee! Trust me Little One, that's hardly what I'd call Bro's **pathological** conduct... That was rather him doing his best to behave if you want, keep his distance... You haven't seen him around her before! " the Love Goddess replied, waving her hand in amusement while cracking a smile that soon turned into a wave of that sweet, absolutely contagious laugh of hers, meant to intrigue Gabrielle even more.

"You mean that's not the last step towards the complete and obsessive addiction to a person stage?"

"Gods, I swear you're the only mortal who can make me laugh like this, Sweet Pea!" Aphrodite answered, casually making a mirror appear in her hand to check if her make up was still in place. The perfect moment to add some more lipstick, too.

"I was being serious Dite!" Gabrielle insisted, eager to find out more about her friend's relationship with the one person that she wouldn't have hesitated killing at any time, regardless the consequences.

" Like dooohhh! Are you for real? Make an effort and imagine someone literally breathing down your neck 24/ 7. He was always there, by her side….And when I say **always** I mean like **always, **you know? Like in **forever more, **always…And if by some fortunate event his divine presence was requested elsewhere, he was definitely watching her from wherever he was located, through one of the portals. His priestesses were desperate! He was like totally ignoring them, acting as if they were completely invisible ….I'm telling you, those women must have been extremely frustrated- Sexually frustrated, that is! " she added noticing the Bard's lack of reaction.

"Oh!" Gabrielle's sonorous surprise shriek instantly followed, to Aphrodite's unfeigned delight.

"All in all, he was the exact, striking copy of Daddy's dippy vulture. Totally adorable!If there had been a visible leash around the Warrior Babe's neck, Ar would have been the one holding it- that tight was the connection between them. I often wondered how in the world she could put up with him on a daily bases. Bro' was indescribably jealous when it came to her- still is- I mean Xe literally couldn't afford glancing at a man implyingly without seeing a blade split that poor guy into half the very next second. He was demanding, nerve rackingly stubborn and inflexible…sometimes violent…."

"Are you saying he dared raise a ha…" the Bard almost shouted, frowning at the possibility. Her question was quickly interrupted by Aphrodite's childish giggle.

"No! It was not like that. It was a different kind of violence. It's hard to explain. Maybe psychological violence is a more appropriate term. He was literally chocking her with his presence... with his attitude. Though there were several occasions when things got out of hand….."

"And Xena accepted all this?! Aphrodite, it's not that I doubt your sincerity, I have no reason to, but I gotta' say... this story... You see, I know Xena! Ok, I didn't know her back then, I agree, but she couldn't have been **that** different!"

"She wasn't. Actually, she hasn't changed much if you ask me . Except for that faint sparkle of hope that you brought into her eyes from the moment you showed up, she's pretty much the same. What you fail to understand though, is the fact the she was enjoying it all…."

"Are you kidding me?! How could a sane person..?"

The sensitive Gabrielle was visibly revolved. For the love of the nine Muses she couldn't possibly conceive or picture her friend trapped in such type of domineering relationship, in which she was nothing more than a slave who was faithfully serving a brain damaged, abusive master. It was way beyond her ability to evaluate the complexity of human feelings…

As always, the Love Goddess rushed to shed some light upon the problem.

"All that attention….the spotlight, the power she had over him- cause believe it or not as much as he was in control of her life she was in control of him- a God…an Olympian God. The Warrior Babe was a smart girl. She knew how to play her cards right and when to play them, she knew how to use his every weakness into her advantage- to make him want her even more, to desperately wish for more than her body….As you very well said -well not in these words, but it was pretty close- he was worshiping her, still does. Personally, I haven't heard of one single thing that she had ever asked of him and which he had the strength or the will to refuse. I really think that the mere idea of ever saying **no** to her, regardless her demand, hadn't even crossed his mind... Like ever. She was his Princess, end of the story. Se had to have it all. No limit, no questions asked."

"A Princess locked in a golden cage Dite? How does that work? How about her freedom?"

"Freedom is a very vague and hard to define concept. I guess the Warrior Babe must have realized that true freedom is actually well buried inside a person's mind, and that no one can take that away, God or not.."

"So she just accepted all that? And from him, out of all people? What ever for?!"

"Power initially….privileges later….And in the end** love**…."

The Bard was on fire. That was too much for her. Was Aphrodite even talking about the same Xena?

"Love?! Where's the logic in that? She should have hated his guts!"

"She did. She hated him with a passion. But she loved him twice as much…"

"How could she have fallen in love with a maniac?! What did she see in him?!" she questioned, wringing her hands in agitation with wide, expressive gestures meant to show her disapproval.

Gods, she really needed to have a loooong conversation with Xena on how to choose the men in her life…

"You are like soooo sweet! That was not a problem, I'm telling ya'. When Bro' stars working his magic, any woman would fall unconditionally at his feet…Well, Xe was a special case in a way, probably that's why he was so head over heels for her- still is- so…."

"Gods! My head is about to explode! Too much information…Too many **"still"...** !"

"Well…you were the one who wanted to know more…That's what you get for being nosy. " the Goddess stated with a smile while winking sheepishly at her.

"I have to remember not to ask next time…I think I could use some fresh air..."


	54. Rewritten biography

"How the fuck can you even ask me that when you know damn well how I felt about you?!

"How you **"felt"** about me?!"she lowly questioned, putting as much acid in those words as she possibly could.

"Would you stop twisting my words already? That's not what I meant, and I'm sure not in the mood of playing mind games! What do you really wanna hear, huh? That nothing has changed? That you still mean the world to me, that I don't hold you responsible for our daughter's death? Is that it? Well I've got news for you Baby, had you opened those pretty blue eyes properly from time to time, you could have reached that conclusion by now, all by your self. But why don't **you** answer a question instead? If I wanted you so badly out of my life as you said it, what on Olympus am I still doing here, wasting my precious time following your ass around like a damaged maniac, huh? Care to explain that? Like it or not Xena, you were the only one that gave up on us in the first place. I was always here. " he ended sharply in a thick voice, frowning angrily at her masked accusation.

To all appearances, Xena's protest was about to knock his defenses down with the crushing force of a hurricane. Instead, utter shock was written all over her face, all that bottled up fury being barely detectable somewhere within the last words of her line ...

"I **gave up**? Till two years ago I didn't even remember your face for crying out loud! Who's fault was that again, you soulless Son of a Bacahe!? So don't you even dare blame me for that!"

"Your memory must have been a mess, yeah, but there wasn't one inch of your body that failed to recognize me the instant I first touched your skin…As for your heart….it would gladly jump out of your rib cage each time I'm near you if it could! Did you really think I can't feel that?! Why is that Xena? The aftereffects of love at first sight?!….. The actual problem was that you were just too much of a coward to admit and accept my love; it sure was a whole lot more comfortable to simply hide behind a finger using that crappy "I'm on a redemption path" excuse!...**The easy way out **I think it was you called it."

A resonant slap echoed throughout the room like thunder at the contact with the War God's cheek, just to be instantly followed by a bone breaking tug that threw the raven beauty flying back on the bed with a force that would have made any Cyclops bow their head in shame.

"I hate you !" the phrase literally exploded from her mouth as soon as she landed on the thick, fluffy mattress, and judging by that impressively suggestive gaze in her eyes, she actually meant every single word she screamed at him.

"You do that" he growled, ready to add a physical response to that statement, but unexpectedly changing his mind at the last moment. " In the meantime there's something I need to take care of. I'll send Dite to keep you company while I'm away. "

"I don't need a baby sitter, I can take care of myself, **thank you**" she hissed through clenched teeth, while already getting down from bed, adamant about reminding him that he had picked the wrong person to boss around like that.

"Shut up and sit down!" he simply ordered, totally unmoved by her intention, persistently fixing her with his burning with wrath glare, and for a minute there, despite all her gathered up courage, Xena could sense the blood freezing inside her veins.

"Or what ?" she defiantly challenged, holding her ground though, unable to read behind that barely controlled rage, the genuine concern the God had for her.

"Or I'll brake your legs if that's what it takes to keep you put for a couple of hours! "

"You…" she started, her body tensing immediately as a reaction to his straight up menace, her hand stretching for the sword almost simultaneously.

"Do that, and I swear it on Styx Xena, I'll make you reach the conclusion that what Caesar did to you was only foreplay. Don't mess with me now. It's not the right moment. Now **obey me** and **sit.** "

Her body's instant reaction surprised even herself...an unpleasant surprise it's true, but let's just blame it on her strong self preservation instinct...

As if under hypnosis, the Warrior Princess diligently followed her God's command, and she did it quietly, without adding one more sound. She was way too mad to even be able to bark back something as equally slashing, anyway ...Plus, she knew better than that, and she could definitely tell when he was being dead serious...She wasn't crazy enough to confront him when she stood no chance against him...Some would be inclined to name it cowardice...It was in fact wisdom...

"We'll talk once I get back. Try to get some sleep. Gods know you could use some."

**XXX**

The very moment she made an appearance, and way before Xena turned to face her, the Love Goddess could tell that things were even worse than they were before Ares had decided to whisk her from that open field. There was so much negative energy flowing into the air , so much tension and repressed anger that she couldn't help shuddering at the feeling.

" This could like seriously damage my karma…Please Fates don't let it be permanent!" she lowly repeated to herself a couple of times like a mantra while inhaling deeply, aware of the fact the she was supposed to make use of all of her divine patience in order to be able to have a decent conversation with the edgy Warrior Princess during those moments.

"Xe? Are you ok Babe?" she inquired while slowly approaching her musing friend and placing a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"No…not really…" the strikingly honest answer came, shattering to pieces Aphrodite's ice breaking social strategy, and for a moment there, she didn't quite know what to say….This type of straightforward line was the last thing she had expected.

"What happened? Bro told me to come…He looked pretty shaken up…"

"Where's Gabrielle?"

"She's like totally safe, no need to worry about her."

"Where?" Xena insisted, and this time her tonality urged Dite to formulate a more precise answer.

"Cyprus. Temple. Secret chamber. "

She hesitated a bit before filling in the blanks with some more information. " I didn't bring her with me. Ar said **"she can play the best friend part** **tomorrow"** ….Those were his exact words "

"That fucking Son of a…"

"I can go back for her if you want me too…. It would only take a sec, and I'm…"

" No…." the Warrior Princess firmly cut her off, a dark frown now resting upon her forehead. "Don't. He's right. She wouldn't understand and I just don't have the strength or the patience to start explaining myself right now…."

"Ar' must have thought the same way…" Aphrodite reinforced with a sigh trying no to sound as if she were acknowledging her Brothers' psychological merits. "Hey Xe….?" She timidly questioned, unsure whether it was a good idea to bring the subject up for discussion or not.

"Yeah?"

"Like…I know I shouldn't ask but…what exactly do you remember?"

There was a long pause, with Xena barely swallowing the bitterness piled up on the tip of her tongue and with Aphrodite shifting her gaze from the Warrior Princess' troubled eyes.

"Everything"

The word sounded strangely devoid of content, and the Goddess couldn't help noticing the Warrior's discomfort. Consequently, the question continued to linger on the surface of her inquisitive moons...

"…in detail. " Xena added as soon as she deciphered her silent the message.

"I m so very sorry Babe….I'm so sorry….There are times that I still find it hard to believe it myself…..It's so unfair…."

"And what bothers me the most, what hurts worse than Tartarus Dite is that what I should be devastated about is Xaria's death or at least what happened before that….Instead ….."

Her pride refused to let her continue her idea. Nonetheless, the impatient Olympian did it for her, spearing her the humiliation.

"….what left a mark was Bro's decision…."

"It feels like he cast me aside Dite….As if I wasn't worth the effort…..He should have been there for me. When I pledged myself to him to him he swore that he'd never leave me, that he'd always be there for me no matter what. He swore it on Styx! And the fact that he chose to empty my mind of any memory I had of him-of US- instead of being there for me…."

"You feel betrayed…."

"It feels like he didn't care enough….Like he didn't give a damn…!"

"Honey… that's sooo not true….Bro loves you to death, he's crazy about you…."

"Is he? Is he,Dite? "

"Xe, trust me, he is. I wouldn't lie to you, not when it comes to him….He did what he did because …"

" **there was no other way…" **Xena mockingly quoted the War God's leitmotiv phrase. "Yeah, I heard it at least twenty times today. "

"Well I don't know what Ares told you, but I was there Xe….You were not well…I mean I will never forget the look in his eyes when he saw you clutching the dagger of Helios into your hands… That is beyond any shadow of a doubt, a memory I'd like to repress too if I could...…."

"What are you talking about?"

"Don't remember that one do you? Can't say I'm surprised, you were pretty out of it back then….I think it was a month or so after …well …" the Goddess mumbled, unable to decide how to adequately phrase her ideas without causing her friend even more suffering.

"I get it Dite….go on…"

"Well…you couldn't even stand looking in the mirror any more….I guess that despite that breathtaking beauty-being immortal and all- what you were actually seeing before you at that time was still a reflection of that savagely mutilated body….But it was all in your head, Babe you were absolutely stunning….It was a detail that you adamantly refused to confess to Bro of course, but I new better, I could see it so clearly each time he had his eyes fixed on you, it was so obvious…..you were always averting your gaze as if you were not good enough for him…Plus, you couldn't even stand the thought of having him touch you, and when I say "touch you" I mean a kiss on the forehead at most….And then, there was the guilt of having lost Xaria….."

She instantly stopped talking the moment she noticed Xena's pale visage.

"I'm sorry Xe….It was stupid of me to mention it….Why don't you lie down awhile, you should get some rest…." she immediately tried to correct the error , but it was too late.

"I'm fine….Go on…"

"Maybe it would be better if we…."

"Speak. "

There was no going back from there. Contradicting the Warrior Princess herself was a lousy idea.

"...One day I dropped by to see how you were doing. I got to the Halls of War just a few seconds after Bro had arrived... I could still sense his presence throughout the ahether- It's a God thing…." she hastily explained just to return to the main storyline the moment she heard Xena clearing her throat disapprovingly...

"Anyway…when I materialized into your room I had like one of the greatest shocks of my entire divine existence! I mean had I been mortal Xe, a stroke would have been inevitable... Ares was steps away from the bed, paralyzed with fear, unable to move an inch and you were literally swimming in blood, your wrists cut open and your skin covered in blade marks…There were dozens of wounds, right about everywhere, and your face was..…."

The overly sensitive Goddess gulped noisily, closing her eyes for a couple of seconds as if wanting to make the images go away.

She displayed a forced, unnatural smile once she started talking again, as if wanting to underline that it was all in the past…

"..To make a long story short, you had no will to live any more….the pain was too intense….So you just gave in… And yeah, that was the dagger of Helios you were holding. You had stolen it from Ares, just waiting for the right moment to end it all….."

"What happened then? It's all a blurr…."

"When I called your name, Ares finally snapped out of it, and sent you flying into a wall. You dropped the blade in the process. What caught my eye though was the fact that you didn't even budge Xe….It was as if you wanted him to hit you….He was so angry at you….Or maybe he was actually angry at himself for having foolishly allowed you to get your hands on something so dangerous- on a weapon powerful enough to actually take you away from him for good….That's when he decided that it was for the best to erase your every memory of him and just give you the chance to a new life… a new beginning…A final kick put you to sleep long enough for him to heal your body again and do what ever needed to be done in order to make sure that you had a fresh start….When you woke up …"

"I was in the Northern Steppes "

"He truly believed that in the middle of that wilderness, he could keep you safe from Nemesis and Athena…You were out of their grasp for good. As long as you were away from Greece you would be ok, he said….He made me put a love spell on Borias….He wanted someone there for you….someone that could protect you at all times…."

At that point, the Warrior Princess finally felt the urge to hold on to something. She slowly sat on the edge of the bed.

"What are you saying?" she still managed to whisper.

"He was the one who chose Borias for you, Xe….He knew that under the right circumstances there was a real chance that you would get to fall in love with him….that you could be happy by his side….That's what you don't understand Babe….there's nothing he wouldn't do for you. And come on! I mean you know how Bro'operates! For the love of Me, the guy used to kill any Hunk who had the balls to look at you the wrong way….To literally give you - the apple of his eyes- away on a plate, pretty much equaled suicide according to his standards..! Imagine how he reacted the moment he found out you were with child….Gods Xena, the entire Greece from the Ionian Sea to the Aegean was a bloodbath. Up on Olympus Zeus was fuming. Ar was unstoppable…That's when Daddy sent Alti….Her mission was to bring you back to Greek soil so that through you, he could regain some control over Bro"

"Alti was Zeus' doing?!"

"Please don't let him know you found out from me! He'd kill me!" Aphrodite begged, her blue orbs filled with terror.

"Don't worry ….he won't have the time to react!"

"Anywayzzz …." she reluctantly continued, rubbing her hands. "...meantime, Athena was cooking a different dish! Back then, she had a Chosen to match her own infectious perfidy…A Roman Chosen that allowed her to extend her dominion way beyond the borders of Greece …"

"Caesar…."came the breathtaking reply.

"Ares had no idea that you had been planning planning to come back home….When he found out about Athena's scheme, it was too late….The crucifixion had already taken place…..The rest is history…."

Xena was shocked. Not in million years had she imagined her own life story written so differently than the horrid way in which she had already experienced it….

"By the Gods!"

"You know...that day, when he had you on trial for your life, I met him outside his temple , up on the Acropolis, bossing around some new, silly priestesses…His face was glowing, his eyes were burning with passion again….It thought I was seeing things….Two days later, after a lot of high quality detective work, I found out that you were back and that he had actually talked to you…He had **TALKED **to you Xena…I went to see him of course, to find out some last minute, juicy details….And there he was, sitting in that ugly looking throne of his in the Halls of War, watching you through a portal, just like in the old days….He told me he couldn't take it anymore, that he was loosing his mind without you….that he'd rather kill you than live with the awareness that you're so close and yet so far away from him…..So I did it…I told him to win you back, to fight for your love, all over again….I guess he didn't quite get the idea since he started doing those idiotic mistakes…."

It was absolutely impossible for the Warrior Princess to restrain that nervous laugh breaking from her lungs…

"What have I done Dite? The things I said to him….I shouldn't have said them, I know now, but I was so angry…"

"I'm sure whatever it was, he knows you didn't mean them, Babe…"

"You don't get it ! I blamed him for everything! For Xaria's death, for Solan, for what happened to me…."

"Oh Honey….!" Aphrodite exclaimed, finally able to understand where all that overwhelming sadness painted on her Brother's face when he showed up at her temple, was coming from .

"I just wanted to hurt him so badly! Gods I hate him so much! So much Dite, so much! But at the same time I'd kill right about anyone for one more night with him…."

That last phrase was barely above a murmur, uttered more to herself rather than for Aphrodite to hear. Nonetheless, for the Love Goddess to miss such a prized detail, the Twilight itself should have been knocking at the golden gates of Olympus, or some equally tremendous tragedy should have taken place during that particular moment- like a broken nail or something...

"You miss him..."

"It burns inside...and I hate myself for it!"

"It's only normal that you feel that way Xe...What you two had was special, so very special. You belong to each other..."

"Don't say that!" she promptly commanded, wiping away a tear.

"Why not? It's the truth...Well…I'm sure things will work out just find in the end…."

"I need to talk to him!"

"Not now. He's busy hunting down Nemesis. "

"He went after her alone?!"

"He is the God of War Xe….That Bitch doesn't stand a chance. " the Goddess replied, a hint of amusement in her eyes at her friend's misplaced concern.

"I should be there!"

"No, you should be in bed **sleeping**, just like he said."

"Do you really think I can sleep right now?!" Xena protested with an irritating stubbornness.

It took less than a second and a wave of the Love Goddess' feather like hand, to make her fall on the bed in deep sate of complete and profound unconsciousness. A dark enough universe- in which there were no dreams and no memories, just peace- soon engulfed the mentally exhausted Chosen of War…

"Hocus pocus Warrior Babe! Rest now, and when Bro gets back everything will turn pink and puffy again just like it should be, I promise!"


	55. Aesthetic sense

**XXX This is for you Jenn 083...I hope it is what you had in mind...XXX**

Midnight was long gone when Ares finally returned to the temple, hands and chest stained with dry blood and those hypnotizing amber eyes flickering with that sweet, poisonous satisfaction of a complete, long awaited but fully rewarding revenge.

Under the highly discreet, soul melting light of the scattered candle flames , despite that nightmarish aspect of a lunatic butcher, he looked even more divine than he already was, each line of that skillfully sculpted body traced to a stunning, irresistible perfection that could enslave- beyond any shadow of a doubt- the mind and will of any breathing and living thing for the rest of eternity.

Aphrodite herself couldn't help arching an eyebrow at the surreal sight of the God's totally bewitching silhouette the moment he took his first step out of the aether and entered the room.

"Bro!" she exclaimed- her eyes unconsciously lingering on his sexy visage strikingly longer than usual- obvious surprise in her voice, and one could easily tell that it was not the surprise of his return that had swept her off her feet…"You're back…."

He just graced her with a casual once over while frowning slightly at that excessively sweet perfume brutally invading his nostrils.

"What's with that smell?!" he questioned, his upper lip curling in displeasure.

" You mean that** fragrance**…Violets….I put a sleeping spell on Xe and then we…-well…uh… mostly **I**-played "Dress up the Warrior Princess " for a little while . I might have overreacted with the perfume , but you gotta admit it, it has the most fabulous scent ever! It's a total knockout!" she exclaimed clapping her hands in excitement just to add a defensive/ apologetic "What? I was bored….and she does look lovely …" .

The monologue ended with a silly, childish pout the instant she noticed the remarkable accuracy with which each muscle on the God's visage began screaming that still unspoken but very much vividly painted reproach.

"That's not "looking **lovely**" Dite, that's "looking demonically….**provocative**" …I kinda thought that out of all people you could be able to tell the difference." Ares retorted in a grave voice, casting nonetheless a long, lustful glance towards his impressively attractive Chosen, who's body was now barely covered by a short, black lace negligee, that left nothing to imagination. "As for the perfume…she prefers roses"

A split second was all it took for the temptingly indecent nightie to be replaced by a longer, red silk nightgown. At about the same time, a subtle fragrance of roses filled the room as dozens of beautiful black flowers invaded each available space from the nightstand to the window.

"Black? Are you kidding me? She's not dead Bro' ! This isn't a funeral…..Geesh...you could as well put her in a coffin! " the Love Goddess mumbled the protest- snapping her fingers lightly and changing the color of the petals into sandy yellow and crimson. "This is more appropriate….Goes with that "monstrosity" you materialized on her…..I bet grandma Gaia used to wear that whenever she and Uranus were getting ready for a slumber party…."

In response, the handsome Olympian rolled his eyes, signaling her to leave. Since Aphrodite's scattered brain seemed to adamantly refuse to take the hint though, he made sure to add:

"Thank you Dite. As always, your advice are priceless …Now….do I really need to spell it for you….?"

"Hey! Don't be rude! I mean it's not entirely your fault that you have absolutely no taste in fashion. Some people are born with mental deficiencies, some with physical flaws…you just happened to be born lacking any type of natural aesthetic inclination…And still, here you stand , alive and breathing….Amazing! It's a miracle!"

" Glory hallelujah! Is this supposed to be funny, Sis?"

"Like dohhhh…!" the line immediately left her lips accompanied by a cute, merry giggle.

The menacing fire ball that started to form on the surface of Ares' palm made her remember all about how unproductive making fun of her older Brother was though , so, way before the God was given the chance to generate a hairdo disaster she had already dematerialized from the place, leaving nothing behind but a thick trace of sweet cotton candy smelling glitter to generously cover the floor .

"Cotton candy….That's new…!" Ares muttered beneath his breath, silently wondering what exactly did his airheaded sister have to drink in order to come up with that type of crazy ideas…

"Maybe it's those weird looking cocktails they regularly serve up on Olympus….Good thing I'm more into traditional drinks…."

With that thought in mind, he took a seat on a nearby couch- which Aphrodite couldn't possibly resist turning coral pink and which switched back to it's original dark grey nuance the instant he touched it- and finally allowed his still painfully pulsating muscles to relax a bit, his gaze slowly gliding back towards the king size bed the sight of which he had persistently tried to avoid ever since he set foot into the room… Nonetheless, one could surely take notice that he wasn't particularly shocked when his realized that he couldn't literally unglue his stare from his Princess' spectacular face…

Her head was turned his way….There were a few silky tresses following that very familiar path down her temple and her left cheek just to tenderly fall on her full chest….He couldn't help thinking how much pleasure brushing them aside from that flawless, faintly glowing skin would have offered him- a skin that was still a bit too pale for his peace of mind, but then again that could have been the direct effect of the dim candlelight-…

The urge of fondling her needed to wait though….He didn't want to risk waking her up …

What really caught his attention and kept his mind busy for awhile though-aka what really turned him on big time- were her slightly parted lips, so unbelievably seductive, so tempting and inviting…. so needy, as if they were anxiously waiting for a kiss, as if they were expecting at any moment for his warm tongue to languidly trace their contour, yearning to feel his unmistakable aroma, for his sharp teeth to teasingly bite them, for a wave of breathtaking passion to force her sleepy beryl moons open in search of his visage…

"What have you done to me?" the fiery whisper broke out, filling the empty space between them. "I bet you learnt a spell or two from Aphrodite haven't you?" he rhetorically inquired, as the sexiest smile on the planet stretched the outer corners of his lips.

He gently extended his hand, as if feigning a caress, but instead of a skin to skin contact he chose to virtually outline the shape of her body with his index, leaving a sparkly golden light behind it….His smile became even more intense, the moment he heard her low, appreciative moan ….

"See? You're not the only witch around here, after all …" he playfully remarked.

"You look so peaceful when you're asleep, have I ever told you that? ….So incredibly beautiful….It's like you're not even real….Like you're just a figment of my imagination. "

Another feathery caress on her jaw, a real one this time made, every muscle of her body flinch at the touch….

"As I said….what your mind couldn't possibly remember, your body certainly did…Gods Xe….how could it not? When I first saw you that day, right after you had returned to Greece, I still can't tell what kind of higher power managed to hold me there, glued to that throne, forbidding me to come to you….Fates know it took all of my godly will to close that portal and bury that unnaturally strong desire to just show up wherever you were and force myself upon you…" he said with a sigh, biting his lower lip in still repressed desire.

" And wanna hear something really funny? I somehow believed that once you were gone, and out of my sight-for most of the time anyway- the passion burning for you would inevitably extinguish…By Olympus, I couldn't be more wrong about that one…The reality of not having you under my control and into my bed any longer caused nothing but excruciating pain and frustration, despite my best intentions….That "doing the right thing" theory has never applied to me anyway...As for suddenly seeing you there again, roaming through Greece, completely oblivious of everything that we once shared, now **that **was slowly killing the life out of me…I simply couldn't stand the thought….I should have stayed away, I know…but I couldn't, not if my own immortality depended on it….And Sweet Mother of Zeus, I swear it on Styx I've always considered you the most alluring woman on the face of the planet, but now, that I couldn't have you, you were outrageously attractive! ….It was unbearable…I still owned you and at the same time I didn't….You were genuinely untouchable…..Imagine what that idea managed to stir inside me…." he continued, allowing his hand again to get close enough to actually brush those silky strands out of her face.

"You did feel it….our connection….when our blades first clashed that afternoon, after I had slaughtered those worthless villagers, I saw it in your eyes….That rush of power filling you inside out like orgasm, making you feel alive again..That minute you knew….your heart was screaming that you belonged to me….You just couldn't understand it….And later on, in the dungeon , as I finally allowed you to see my face, you kinda forgot that you needed to breathe for a couple of seconds…The energy radiating from within you, Darling it was intoxicating…I wanted to tell you everything so badly, so badly that it hurt …to crumble that damn wall keeping you away from me and just turn that whole village to ashes and whisk you out of there! ….It's just that it would have been all to easy ….and as you well know, what's easy isn't worth the effort….On the other hand, that devastating sadness in your eyes, that emptiness drilling your heart, the tears falling relentlessly down your cheeks after Xaria's death, those details were still too fresh inside my mind….I sure didn't want to have you relive them ….."

The mere mention of those fatal moments sent a sharp, painful stab straight through his heart...When he started talking again his voice was slightly shaking...

"All in all, I didn't know what to do….Everything made perfect sense though when you called my name later that day... In less than a second, everything clicked….The sound of your voice almost gave me a heart attack….So dark, so sensual, so…**.addictive**….That's when it hit me: you were mine and I would never give you up again…..You're never going to leave my side, Xena, never, weather you like it or not….You're mine Princess, just like you've always been…..And call me an egoistic maniac or however the hell you want, but from this moment on, one day wouldn't pass without you in it, I don't care who I have to kill to make that possible…"

There were a few more moments of utter silence during which the God changed places, quietly taking a seat on the edge of the bed, right next to his sleeping beauty. Her breathing was even and there was not even the slightest frown on her forehead… He couldn't help but smile the moment his hungry lips seized hers…

"So….how did you like my speech? Was it convincing?" he inquired, doing his best not to burst into laughter.

"Convincing enough…" the bemused reply came as soon as those absolutely spectacular blue eyes fluttered open.

"Well….I might not be a natural when it comes to **aesthetic sense** but I do compensate in other significant areas…." he murmured blissfully against her ear, cleverly distracting her while his fingers formed a collar around her neck to keep her put….

Meanwhile, his free hand was carefully pushing the blanket covering the lower part of her body aside, with a joy that could remind right about anyone of a child's expression while unwrapping a Solstice present.

"…Have I told you that you're the filthiest lying Bastard I've ever met in my life?" she bit back with a grin, on the most licentious note possible as her hands already began roaming freely underneath his leather vest.

" You might have mentioned something…..But you'd have to refresh my memory...So say it again..."


	56. Say it again

"You're the **filthiest lying** **Bastard **I've ever met in my life! " she repeated, making sure to stress all the right words.

"Go on…" he encouraged, while gently biting and sucking on her ear lobe, fully aware of those electric shivers gliding down her spine as a result. "What else…?

"...And a double crossing, manipulating, self conceited Son of a…." she started , just to find herself in the position of desperately searching for air the instant one of his hands dug it's way underneath her silken nightgown and headed straight to her underwear- only to discover to her stupefaction, that she wasn't wearing any underwear, not any more anyway….

"You good for nothing one eyed Cyclops!" she resonantly exclaimed, obviously outraged by his iron –bound self confidence….

He had actually dematerialized those panties off her the moment he carefully replaced what Aphrodite had suggestively chosen for her ….As a conclusion, he was dead sure of how things were most likely about to unfold…..

"Gods I love it when you talk dirty! " he challengingly retorted while tightening the hold on her neck and indirectly forcing her to part her lips some more, a gesture which created the perfect opportunity to tease her mercilessly by refusing to give her that long, explosive kiss she was anxiously waiting for so long now, and, that easily detectable heat spreading through her system as his tongue hesitantly brushed her dry, lower lip, offered him all the clue he needed to be sure that he was on the right path….

"Oh yeah? " she inquired indifferently, obviously irked by that unveiled arrogance of his….

He always had the tendency to take things for granted, and when it came to something he wanted to be his, he was absolutely positive that there was nothing on the face of Zeus' green earth that could stand between him and the object of his desire….She simply couldn't stand that type of attitude.

"Yeah….It makes my blood boil….Plus….it fits your character perfectly….." he added with a proud grin, stopping for a minute to take a good look at her.

"Well...do you also love it when I play dirty? Can you handle me? " she asked, displaying an equally devilish smirk while casting a playful gaze lower, towards that hefty bulge pulsating into his leather pants- secretly planning to teach him a lesson he would never forget.

"I'd say it depends on the kind of game you have in mind…." the overly suspicious answer immediately came, but the blistering impact of her unexpected kiss and that drugging sensation of her hands massaging the inner part of his thighs- getting closer and closer with every move to his engorged cock through that dense, useless fabric still separating their bodies- made him loose himself in the moment more than he had initially planned to.

It didn't take long for him to realize what she was trying to do though, fully aware that he was gradually loosing control, and he was right about to brake their feverish kiss and play it his way when her urgent whimper made him instantly change his mind….To all appearances, an irresistible sound of pleasure was all it took for his body to respond as wild as it was capable to, literally crushing her against that bed, completely ignoring the fact that he was walking right into her cunningly set trap, but, knowing her as he did, her deviousness wasn't exactly a novelty ….She was evidently about to drive him completely crazy just to end up denying him what he was longing for so much by finding some flimsy excuse to finish what they had started….

And in spite of the fact that fantasizing about how utterly good being inside her- after all that time- would feel was pretty much the only subject which his usually unbeatable focus could afford to cover, when he finally made her nightgown vanish along with the rest of their clothes and felt her luscious breasts pressing against his ribs, making her scream his name became the only goal that could still provide satisfaction in life…During those short, heavenly sweet moments, he couldn't care less about her plan, cause he suddenly had a plan of his own…..

" Gods I want you so much!" he murmured, swirling his tongue over hers, pushing it deeper inside her mouth, making her moan even louder this time, and when her back arched a bit more, her breasts rubbing against his chiseled chest once again, he could distinctly feel her stimulatingly erect nipples double in size, urging his blood to run at least ten times faster than just second before…

All in all, his mind was in a haze and his brain was throbbing in the same rhythm as his other significant body part, but still, when she slowly tried to put some distance between them, cunningly attempting to slid away from underneath him, he just smirked all knowingly, winking at her while effortlessly pushing her knees apart and forcefully pinning her back to the bed, using his weight to keep her put…She sure wasn't going anywhere, not that night, not any night...

"Oh no you don't…." he murmured playfully, everything inside him igniting like a volcano blast when he felt her wetness flowing down his shaft, making him suddenly fully aware of each breath she was drawing, of each contraction of her muscles. "And yeah...I can definitely handle you...Now let's see if you can handle me..."

Almost mechanically, he pushed her slick lips apart, rubbing her deliciously swollen clit with the top ridge of his cock a couple of times, both of his hands settling now firmly on each side of her temples, forcing her to keep her gaze fixed on his, to stay right there with him, in that unique universe he was building for her then and there, in that marvelously colored soap bubble where there was no pain , no memories, no remorse, only sheer, ultimate ecstasy and a final, delightful liberation….For her though, that was slow motion torture ….she was so aroused that she desperately needed to scream.

Instinctively, and definitely without thinking, she pushed her hips forward eager for him to fill her.

"I thought you were angry with me…." he whispered in a thick voice while dipping the painfully pulsating head into her moist slit, watching in ecstasy how her pupils dilated instantly at the contact.

"I am….." the answer almost exploded from within her, and her muscles couldn't help reacting as well the moment he slowly moved an inch inside her , stretching her just a bit before he drew back to her clit….She was literally trembling with anticipation into his arms….

"So how's that playing dirty plan working out for you ?" he just had to brag while moving one of his hands to her round breasts, patiently tracing the tip of his fingers along the dark brown contour of her nipples, pinching and licking her answer away, seconds before her dazzled brain could even produce it….

"You're such a hatable Batsard! I just wish…" she groaned, her words piling into her mouth without the intention to get out the moment he sank his full length inside her.

"What do you wish for? Tell me Princess….." he demanded to know, but a powerful contraction and a very expressive " Oh Gods!" with which her husky voice rushed to fill in the blanks was all the answer he received, and, as he slowly began pumping in and out her, each new thrust sending her closer and closer to the edge of an unearthly climax, he silently hoped that things would still stay the same in the morning….

Soon her nails were digging mercilessly into his shoulders, one wave of orgasm after another making her come apart into his loving arms, that savage, elemental urge of feeling that he owned her , that consuming fever that she had managed to stir inside him, making him wanna prologue their pleasure forever….

As in a dream, he could see her tense but extremely willing form squirm violently under the effect of his constant, well aimed thrusts, he could hear her panting heavily, moaning his name, totally lost in his game ...The sight of her read, swollen lips uttering it, was hypnotizing….The low groan in the back of his throat let her know that he was pleased with her reaction...

"Ares….."


End file.
