1. Play with me

**Xentrya**

**Disclaimer: Gods know I don't own anything ...**

"What do** you** want?" she hissed through clenched teeth, spitting her venom the moment she felt his presence somewhere at her left.

He simply materialized- in the same point she had guessed he would be- rolling her eyes at the whole light show thing.

" Would it have killed you if you had showed up without the special effects? Your recklessness could have easily blown my cover!" she added, a hint of reproach in her voice.

He just gave her his most irresistible smile and, wetting his lips he laid on the grass beside her, narrowing his eyes in the same direction she was staring, seconds before.

" Come on, Xe! They're so drunk that they couldn't tell apart an elephant from an alley cat, not even if the poor animal would be standing a few yards away from them….So…is this your favorite way of spending your nights, lately?"

She just arched an eyebrow at his subtle insinuation, without seeming visibly affected by the pungent irony in his tone….Since she had left his ways **and** his bed, their conversations always seemed to revolve around the same issue: their dead – but not buried- relationship….

Truth being told, he had every reason on the planet to mock her: she simply hated everything that had to do with Rome, let alone Caesar and his accursed troops, and somehow, she always ended up facing them….It wasn't like she had a choice though….Someone had to perform some godly miracle to prevent that maniac from attacking the Greek borders , and since the ever so powerful Olympians appeared to be considerably more busy with attending their famous orgies and festivals than with protecting their homelands, she decided to play the hero again, and save the day….or better said the night, given the fact that it was barely past midnight….. A full moon night that wasn't precisely offering the perfect opportunity to spy on the so called lethal army that was about to attack in the morning, but still, night-time …

" It kinda was until you showed up to ruin it for me! Now shut up, already, I need to think!"

"About…..?"

She just made a face at him. Like the subject wasn't obvious enough.

" I'm sitting behind a bush in the middle of the night, near a Roman camp! What could I be thinking about, in your humble opinion?" she bit, irked by the exasperating idiocy of his question.

He just flashed a crooked smirk, overly pleased that he had hit a nerve. As for that dark passion sparkling in her eyes, that could beat any drug any day, at least for him….

" I don't know….you do have a twisted mind, Princess…."

"Don't call me that! I do have a name! And if you're here to get on my nerves, you can as well leave. Fates know that the last thing I need right now is someone to rub me the wrong way!"

" It's said that I'm quite skilful when it comes to women….I could make an effort and find a** right** way to rub you, if you like…." he underlined, moaning in pain the very following second, when her fist collided with the top of his head.

" Just shut the Tartarus up!"

"Ouch, Xena! That was so unnecessary! You do have some pretty serious anger management issues, don't you?" he inquired, slowly massaging his head with the tip of his fingers. " Not everything is to be resolved through violence…Sometimes you just have to take a deep breath and…."

"Ares, I swear it on the head of Zeus, if you don't keep your mouth shut…"

"Ok , ok…..Come on. I didn't come here to fight. I'm here to make you an offer." he finally revealed, turning on his side and resting his head on his hand, thus focusing his full, undivided attention on her. He barely managed to veil his smile when he noticed that incipient frown forming on her forehead.

He could read her like an open book…..Currently, she was still gazing at the guards, carefully counting the tents- doing some maths in the attempt to find out the total number of soldiers gathered there- but she could feel his eyes literally digging a hole through her skull…..She didn't like it, and the feeling was written all over her pretty face.

"I'm not interested in** anything** you have to offer" she simply replied, without looking at him, apparently still preoccupied with the task she had to accomplish.

" Just hear me out….It could save you a lot of trouble, you know…."

When she finally glanced his way, he could unmistakably see the complete disinterest playing on the surface of her eyes. It was time he changed that….

When he realized that he wasn't going to get any type of reply from her, he just continued, while his brain was already feverishly working at accurately anticipating her possible reaction.

"I'm willing to send my Spartans against the Romans. …." he casually mentioned, as if he were talking about the weather forecast and not about sending a part of his own people to certain death- scanning her face for a sign that their conversation was heading in the right direction. There was none….

"As if that wouldn't be in Greece's best interest….As if it were **me** the one to whom you'd be doing a favor…." she spit in disgust at his utter nonchalance.

" Greece is **Zeus**' concern….That's why he is the **King of the Gods** and of the Greek nation…."

"And you're living in Ch'in , right? " she snapped, tugging roughly at the edges of his leather vest, anger spreading fast through her aura like a shot of morphine through some old, dying man's system.. She immediately let go, doing her best to swallow back that furious growl that had stuck into her throat, as soon as she read that distinct feeling of complete satisfaction glistening in his eyes….

" You demented, self centered Bastard!" she concluded through clenched teeth, turning back on her belly, determined to ignore him for the rest of the night, or for as long as he still wanted to hang out in the area.

" That's not nice…" he answered, not at all bothered by the rich selection of epithets she had decided to use in her description of him…" Come on, think about it Xe….my men could give you all the time you need to come up with a decent plan to crush Caesar once and for all….."

"Do you actually think that I would accept to lead your army again in this lifetime? "

"Who said anything about you leading my army?" he firmly contradicted, grinning widely at her. "Oh no….I was talking about something much more amusing than that…."

She just gave him a long, disconcerted look.

"What in Tartarus are you talking about?"

" Have you ever played Truth or Dare?" he asked, silently wondering if she would actually go with it.

" As a child….."

"How about Bluff?"

"No….what are you getting at?"

" Let me explain it to you. The rules are quite simple….It's a game of cards….Whenever you lose, you have to either answer with the truth or accept a challenge. You can't refuse a challenge or avoid a question….."

" A game of cards?"

"Yes. These are the cards…" .he said, making a full pack appear before her. " We will split it into half, so that we have an equal amount of cards in our hands. I won't be seeing your cards, and you won't be seeing mine. What you have to do is to get rid of all your cards in order to win. First you need to get rid of all the twos then I will continue with all the threes, you will go on with the fours and so on….until there are no more cards. The catch is that we will both need to be extremely careful, cause the other one is likely to be bluffing the moment he doesn't have the right cards …."

"We have to call the bluff…."

"Exactly…."

" If you accuse me of bluffing and you are wrong….you lose…."

"And what does this have to do with the fight again? " she inquired impatiently, her arctic moons suddenly sparkling with vivid interest.

" We will play until sunrise. If you manage to obtain a higher number of victories, you win. I will order my soldiers to attack…."

"It will take days until they reach this area…"

"Don't you worry about that….I'm a God , remember?"

"I tend to forget it from time to time….Zeus know it's hard not to…." she muttered to herself, making him chuckled softly at just how personal she was taking it all.

" Yeah, well, what can I say? I'm hard to keep up with…"

" And if I lose….? " she asked, aware that his sudden helping hand wasn't likely to come without a price…

"Than….you get to do one single day whatever I want….Are you willing to take that risk?"

She was silent for awhile, gazing musingly ahead at Caesar's half numbed troops, wondering if there was really anything she could do by herself to prevent them from advancing the following day...She bit her lips in spite when she realized that there was nothing…..

"Fine…." she simply stated, trying to shut down each and every alarm that went instantly off in her brain the moment she made that reckless decision.

A victorious smile was already playing on the War God's sexy lips, and she just couldn't help smiling back at him the moment she noticed that silly, childish joy lightening up his features.

"Great. Let the games begin…! " he uttered in a grim, sullen voice that instead of entertaining her, only managed to bring back some rather wretched memories from her past experiences with a certain Roman Emperor. "Do you want to shuffle them?"

That particular joviality of his voice- in complete contrast with the way in which his previous line had sounded - made her shake those dark thoughts away though….

"Sure….At least this way, I can make sure that you don't cheat from the very first round…"

"It's funny you should even imply such nonsense, given that you've always been the con artist of the relationship"

"You do have a very twisted sense of humor, sometimes" she vehemently protested while picking up the deck, and casually starting to shuffle the cards.

"Isn't there anyone here who can appreciate my specialness?!" he complained in a very Gabrielle like tone that made Xena burst into laughter the following second.

"Maybe the soldiers…" she lowly answered when she finally regained her voice, wiping a few tears in the corners of her eyes.

" Ok…..Before we start…**no lying** Xena….."

"**No lying**…." she mechanically repeated, visibly more absorbed by organizing her cards then by the importance of what she had just uttered.

"Hey….." he said, touching her leg to capture her attention. When their gazes finally met, and when he was sure that she was finally focusing on what he had to say, he added:

" Swear it. Swear it on the head of Zeus that you will only tell the truth…."

"I do…. Your turn…."

"I swear it on Styx….."

"Good. Three aces. " she started, placing three cards face down in front of them, without wasting any more time with small talk.

He just cast her a wondering gaze before he placed another one on top of hers, grinning like a Cheshire cat at the fact that, without her knowing it- or so he thought- he had the hugest advantage a card player could ever dream of having: he was able sense her emotions through their bond…Her aura was all the clue he needed in order to tell if she was lying or not….

"One ace"

She just grinned back, aware that he was most likely relying on his godly powers to call her bluff….What he didn't knew, was that in Ch'in Lao Ma had thought her pretty well how to control her every emotion, and more than that, how to accurately send the wrong signals using her energetic field in the sole purpose of confusing her enemies….Alti had certainly fallen for it….Ares was- beyond any shadow of a doubt- about to reach the same bitter conclusion: he was no match for her.

" Two twos…." she continued, arching an eyebrow at his visible uncertainty. "Something wrong?" she innocently inquired, trying to eliminate even the last trace of irony from her tone.

"No. Everything's perfect….." he replied, narrowing his eyes at the cards that he was now holding. Under the disturbingly pale light of the moon, for obvious reasons, he was about to mistake a two for a three…"Same here. " he added , placing two cards on top of the pile. To his amazement, at least apparently, Xena had no problem in distinguishing their faintly glowing drawings…

In the attempt of making herself a bit more comfortable, she shifted her position slightly, tucking her legs under her…. Attentively following her every move, Ares just had to ask himself what was the reason for which she was so relaxed….And more than that, why in Hades' name was he unable to read her aura?

" One three…" she softly voiced, as if she didn't have a care in the world, briefly exchanging glances with her ever so suspicious opponent.

" You're bluffing…" he finally said, sounding extremely sure of what he was saying.

"Am I?" she seductively inquired- making his heart stop for a moment- but, surprise, surprise! When he turned her cards face up, there it was! A five instead of a three….

He just had to laugh at her technique.

"Keep trying, you'll get there." he mischievously encouraged, winking at her.

"What now? "

"Now, my dear Xena, you suddenly become ….six cards richer…..Pick them up, they're all yours. You will have to get rid of those too, at a certain point."

Without sketching the slightest emotion, as if nothing of great importance had happened, the Warrior Princess took the cards and mixed them up with the ones she was already holding, silently cursing the gesture that had given her away….whatever that was…

"So…what shall it be? Truth or dare?" the question escaped his gorgeous lips like the fine lyrics of a love song.

"Truth….." she quickly retorted, stubbornly avoiding his gaze. She could tell without even looking at him that his eyes were gleaming with amusement.

" Truth, truth, truth…." he echoed, thinking of a challenging enough question to ask her.

" What do you miss the most about our relationship?"

The words slashed the air like a sword. Xena could almost hear them wooshing by her ears before they finally dissipated into the nothingness. The effect they had on her, remained though clearly engraved on her now hardened visage.

"Who says I do miss something from our relationship?"

He just flashed her a disappointed gaze.

"No lying, Xe…." he coyly pointed out, cocking his head to one side while searching for her eyes. "Look at me…..**no lying**….." he said again, still waiting for an answer.

"Are you sure you want to know ?"

"I wouldn't have asked otherwise…."

" Sleeping in your arms…." she finally revealed, in such an icy voice that Ares couldn't help feeling that she hated him with every fiber of her being for having dared force her say it out loud.

" Ouch….." he simply stated, gulping nosily all the other comments that were struggling to come out.

"Three fours…"

The cards landed on the grass inaudibly, face down, just like they were supposed to, just inches away from her knees.

" One four….."

" And…here's one five for ya' "

" One five huh? Too bad I have all four of them….So….truth or dare?" she bluntly asked, without even bothering to turn the cards.

"Damn…..you've nailed me…. " he had to admit it, obviously enjoying the whole situation though, to Xena's unspeakable surprise. " Hmmm…..I guess I'll go with the truth for now….."

" That night I spent with Hercules….did it hurt…much ?"

Needless to say, the question hit him like a tone of bricks; it sure wiped that over confident smile off his face, like nothing else could have….

" So you like playing tough, huh?" he remarked, ineffectively trying to laugh the pain away . Nonetheless, an awkward moment of silence later, he gave her the answer she was waiting for…..

Despite having hoped to get even for the boldness of his question, the Warrior Princess quickly discovered that the God's line only managed to leave a bitter taste behind….

" Like a blade to the heart….Torture…." he continued on a strangled voice that she almost failed to recognize. "It was torture…."

" Four aces….." she uttered in a weak voice, cutting any other line he still had the intention of adding.

" Giving them all up so soon? " he jokingly inquired, trying to feign that his entire being hadn't been shaken to the very core by her previous interrogation…

" I still have one or two up my sleeve. " she retorted on the same cheerful tone. The sadness in his eyes was eating at her soul though….She didn't like the feeling….

" Two sixes…."

" Two sixes it is…." she continued, her mind already gliding back towards those not very bright moments of their relationship….He had nearly killed her that night when she went looking for him, aware that she had made a mistake, eager to explain herself to him….

When their gaze met again, she instantly realized that they must have been thinking about the same thing….A shiver ran down her spine at the realization….

" Two sevens…"

"Two sevens…." she echoed, roughly pushing all thoughts aside, adamant about winning the round.

"One eight…." he announced, as another card fell down before her.

" Two eights…." she said, while actually trying to get rid of a three and a five."

"You never learn do you? " he said, turning her cards face up, smiling wickedly the moment he saw the cards.

"How can you tell?" she inquired with childish curiosity, a genuine reaction that made him burst into laughter.

"I guess mortals are not really good liars after all…" he replied, snapping his fingers to ignite a fire the second he noticed that she had wrapped her arms around her….She was cold.

"What are you doing? The guards might see it….." she protested, casting an alarmed look in the direction of the camp just to gasp in surprise at the realization that they were no longer there…

"Come on, Xe. You didn't really think we would be playing cards just yards away from the enemy camp, did you?"

She just rolled her eyes again at his ever so annoying way of doing things, still in shock at the fact that she hadn't even felt their voyage through the aether….

" Dare…" she broke the ice, denying him the satisfaction to ask, this time.

" Dare, huh? " he asked in disbelief, a bit taken aback himself by the fact that she had been so caught up in their little game that she had actually failed to see the blinding lights of the vortex…..How was that even possible? " You wouldn't be able to refuse me, Xena, no matter the challenge…." he made it clear for her before having announced his command.

She just flashed him a naughty grin in return, one that finally made a real smile appear on his face.

"Kiss me …." he calmly ordered, fascinated by the absolutely surreal beauty of her face, which, under the dazzling effect of the light orange flames of the fire dancing between them, had become an absolute master piece of nature…..

He had expected at least one attempt of protest from her behalf…at least one little speech hinting at his frighteningly lacking morals, something having to do with the blatant easiness with which he always used to take advantage of her each and every weakness….

Despite all his well founded theories though, she slowly got up, and, without uttering one single word, with firm but barely perceived steps- as if she had been some mysterious apparition and not a real flesh and blood being- she moved past the fire, her gaze locked on his, and, before he knew it, her hand was resting on his knee and her dark, silky tresses were soon caressing his face as she bent down to kiss him….He shivered at the contact, closing his eyes when he felt the warmth of her palm resting on his cheek.

…A barely felt brush of his lips later, it was over….hardly a kiss on might say….but an incentive enough touch to leave him literally breathless, as if the world itself had ended just to begin again the minute he felt her so close to him …He exhaled softly against her mouth once it was over, and, as moments elapsed, he finally became aware of that ever so rare sensation that his stomach was fluttering -as if he were falling and didn't know when or where he would land-….Trying to somehow regain his composure, he gently raised a hand to brush a few fallen strands from her perfectly sculpted visage. …It was her turn to shiver and he could distinctly feel her do so, the very moment his hand glided down her cheek and further down along the side of her neck….

As she got up again and headed back to her place, he instinctively covered his mouth with the tip of his fingers….His lips were burning as if they had been touched by fire….

From the other side of the flames, the Warrior Princess tried to ignore the goose bumps that had covered even the last inch of her skin, as well as that strangling regret that she couldn't afford their contact to last longer….

" Was that it?" he questioned, he himself a bit disappointed by the teenage innocence of their kiss.

" Well…your challenge wasn't really specific" she chuckled, bemused by his uncommonly sincere comment.

In response , he threw a tiny pebble into the playful flames, casting his cards a brief glance, while rapidly considering his options.

Soon, the game was on again….

" Three nines…." he began.

" One nine…."

" Aaaand….two tens for the beautiful lady …." he continued, in a smooth, alluring voice, while with eagle like eyes he followed her every gesture, secretly mesmerized by the sheer elegance behind each and every one of them.

"Two tens " she repeated, throwing down her cards, scrutinizing his face for a sec, eager to find any trace of deceit playing in his soft, amber eyes.

" Two kings " he answered, sincerity vibrating in his voice.

"One queen….." she announced, praying to all gods that he wouldn't call her bluff.

" Here's another one " he said, playing pretend not to have sensed that considerably lower note on which she had chosen to present her offer.

"And another one " she added, placing her card down.

"You're bluffing " he suddenly accused, in a quite excited voice.

"No I'm not" she contradicted, turning the card herself….

She was right…..She had been telling the truth.

"Damn I was so close! " he exclaimed, shaking his head in disbelief. "I'm getting rusty, aren't I?"

" Don't be so dramatic! You're just a couple of millennia older than me! " she laughed, making sure to throw him that newly formed pile of cards…"Truth or dare…?" she kindly asked, doing her best not to rub his nose in the defeat….

He just smirked back at her comment, taking in a deep breath of air as he noticed that she was still holding a couple of cards in her hand….With a bit of luck, he still had a fair chance to win the round.

" Truth!" he uttered on a disturbingly enthusiastic tone given the pain brought by their first confessions.

After a few seconds of reflection, Xena finally voiced her question, unsure if she even wanted to know the answer to it….

" You've been around for quite some time now…..How many women have you been in love with so far?"

His answer was of a nerve racking ambiguity…..

" I'd say…**.two**…..and in spite of all the nasty rumors, neither of them was my mother" he mockingly specified, making her to literally want to slap herself for not having asked him to include names to that list.

" Taking about unspecified details…." he remarked when reading that huge question mark on her face.

" Three knights…." she impatiently started, to Ares' delight, determined to find out the name of those women and solve the enigma.

" One knight…"

" Three eights…."

"One eight …."

" One ace " she challenged.

At that ridiculous statement, Ares had to flash a devilish again….That repeated blink of her eyes, at such short interval had been her tomb stone… He could see right through her….

" Save it, Princess. Truth or dare? " he demanded to know, already thinking about a compromising enough question to match her own.

When she asked for a challenge instead, his whole body tensed at the amazing opportunity that had presented so out of the blue….

Everything appeared to be happening in slow motion for Xena afterwards, as if the God's every move was a completely distinct one, broken gestures that weren't really connected to one another, but, that at the same time, were strangely enough, perfectly linked….An impossible situation one might say, and still, as the distance between them gradually diminished, the very fabric of reality itself seemed to have altered in the Warrior Princess's eyes.

The colors appeared suddenly much more vibrant than before, of an indescribable intensity, despite the dim obscurity of the night, as for that rustic smell of burnt wood that had somehow managed to mix with his unique, trademark cinnamon fragrance, now that was the secret ingredient that made all her senses run wild as he approached her.

Time might have stopped flowing for a little while though, at least when his soft but firm hand went just below her chin, tilting it up a bit as he bent towards her….

"That kiss….let me show you how it's done…." he whispered seductively against her lips, sweetly allowing his fingers to caress her silky, elegantly cascading tresses for an insignificantly short moment, before they finally entwined in them, pulling her roughly closer to him.

Needless to say that by then, Xena's throat had closed. She tried to swallow and found the way blocked. She tried to breathe, but she failed miserably ….Miserably indeed…And while her heart kept drumming unevenly and embarrassingly loud, all that she found herself able to do, was to slightly part her lips the moment his thumb went from the vicinity of her chin to their wet, velvety surface, massaging them for a split second before his own soft and gentle lips decided to replace it, making her feel weak under the effect of that deliriously powerful cocktail of euphoria, lust and surprise traveling with the speed of light through her veins…

….As soon as his tongue joined the action, moving inside her mouth to meet her own

in a passionate tango, Xena could feel her head spinning with growing arousal.

She couldn't quite tell how long the kiss lasted, but she did know that it wasn't as long as she would have liked it to….When he finally released her mouth, he pulled away just enough to look into her still hypnotized eyes and smile, delicately brushing her face with the back of his hand before adding a sensual " See? It's not so hard once you get the hang of it…"

There was a short pause before the rest of his line brought her back to reality…

"I guess this makes me the winner of the first round. I have to say, I do enjoy playing with ya', Princess. " he said, the most sexy smile imaginable painted on his face. "….Only five more hours till sunrise for you to kick my ass….." he jokingly warned her.

She arched an eyebrow at the realization that he was right…..He had managed to get rid of all his cards…..Five hours left….

**Chapter 2 coming up soon ...**


	2. Seeing is believing

*****Thank you so much for your reviews guys, and a special thanks to _Mareritt ( I must say I'm flattered and still surprised that people actually read my stories. Who would have thought?) X/ A FOREVER***_**_  
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"Ok...now what?" she detachedly inquired, trying to trick her brain into believing that a lost battle didn't equal a lost war, and that against all odds, winning their little game was still a piece of cake.

"Now, my dear Xena, we can start playing another hand. Would you like a break to invoke some friendly Gods for help or something?...Tyche is quite a sucker for long, melodramatic orations, so if you feel like begging for her assistance, be my guest. For a good cause, I'm sure willing to wait…. " he mockingly retorted, winking playfully at her.

She just sneered at the utter immaturity of his comment, silently promising herself to teach him a lesson as soon as the opportunity presented itself.

"How thoughtful of you…." she dispassionately remarked, extending a hand for the deck, adamant about getting the show on the road, already. " Now if you're done bragging…"

"Ah ah ah! " he condescendingly interrupted, wagging his finger at her. " New rules, Honey. I would hate to see you bored, so…."

Despite her every intention to avoid focusing on his persona more than needed, she suddenly realized that he had inexplicably managed to capture her full attention again, a rather intriguing detail that he himself could easily notice- her unconsciously arched left eyebrow and the bewitching way in which her persisting gaze had unwisely chosen to linger on his gorgeously sinful mouth, being more than enough to convince him of the unquestionable influence he had on her. .

…..Driven by the same unawareness, he bit his lower lip… He could still feel her fiery breath scorching their surface, pushing him towards the edges of sanity with her intoxicating nearness…

….He almost flinched at the realization that a very suggestive moan was right about to escape his mouth, the minute an even more recent memory-the one of that fresh, delicate scent of her hair as he pulled her closer to him-invaded his mind, sending a sizzling bolt of pleasure laced with the choking anxiety to possess her, straight to his groin, from where it spread through the rest of his body with the dazzling speed of electricity.

"Are you going to wait for sunrise to tell me about those rules?" she stung, eager to balance accounts….

It took him about half a minute to actually decode the meaning of her words, and when he did look up at her, he appeared to have just woken up from a trance.

"Daydreaming in the middle of the night, huh? ….Maybe you were right about that age difference after all. Next thing I know, you'll be walking around Olympus with a frame, War God…" she continued, obviously taking great pleasure in humiliating him.

He just had to laugh at the situation…indeed, he must have looked like a silly buffoon staring at his own honking, round, red nose.

"Just working at building suspense, Darling. " he retorted, his deep, husky voice, filled with lust and dark sensuality.

An indefinite number of seconds of an almost visual silence followed before he finally decided to announce the novelty of the game:

" During this round, we will no longer have the privilege to choose between Truth and Dare ourselves….Instead, we will have to let the Fates do their thing, and…"

"Heads and Tails?" she impatiently interrogated, already anticipating the content of his line.

"My, my! Aren't you the impatient one!" he remarked, casually throwing her a one dinar coin, a golden piece that magically pierced the thick veil of darkness- describing a perfect arc above the soft smoke rising from their little campfire- before it landed flat in her palm, as if it belonged there.

"…..but that's precisely what I was talking about, yes" he concluded, stretching his hand out to reach the deck resting on the ground, in between them.

She didn't say anything this time, but her highly observant eyes followed his every move, partially fascinated by his unusual dexterity of shuffling the cards, and partially still skeptical with the very concept of him playing fair….

Once an equal number of cards had been dealt, they eyed each other one last time before finally launching a full scale mental war against each other.

Given that he was holding the upper hand thus far, the War God was visibly enjoying the game, an expression of boundless satisfaction spreading on his face the instant he glanced down at his cards, and despite the fact that he was well aware just how wrong it was to celebrate a victory before the battle had even started, he just couldn't help himself…He had to say it :

" I really think we should call it a night, Princess, or soon you'll be crying your eyes out in frustration."

She just threw him a scornful glare before finally gracing him with an arrogant enough reply to match his own, apparently not at all intimidated by his useless ranting.

" If I didn't know better, I'd say that you're already bluffing, and that you're crying your desperation on the inside…"

" A two…." he answered, laughing full heartedly at the ridiculousness of her statement. "…..and let's see who will be crying after having tossed that coin…."

She gulped inaudibly only a few seconds later….There were no twos amongst her cards….He had them all….

She just threw a three on top, doing her best to control that rapidly increasing restlessness that she could now feel building somewhere in the pit of her stomach...a very unpleasant sensation, for sure.

"Another two…."

Just a couple of steps away from her, Ares was gently stroking his goatee, quietly wondering for how long he should prologue her torment before finally squashing each and every ounce of her pride…

"Aaand one more…!." he ecstatically exclaimed, only to meet a set of cold blue eyes, half way.. Nonetheless, neither her poisonous stare, nor her suddenly stern face seemed to have an effect on him….

"Two threes " were the cards that she added to the pile one moment later, or that was what Ares was supposed to believe…... He didn't fall for the trick of course, not after having noticed just how shallow her breathing had become- proof enough that she was lying…

" Flip that coin, Xena! Heads for Truth, Tails for Dare….. " he urged, making her card turn face up with one wave of his hand.

She just took in a deep breath before complying with the unavoidable command.

"_Heads….."_ she murmured to herself, closing her eyes for a split second.

As soon as the golden piece fell back down on the ground, she sighed in some sort of relief….At least it was what she had wanted it to be….

" Truth it is, then…..Ok, Miss Honesty, let me here ya….'" he started, in the same old **" I'm the king of the world"** tone of his.

Without even realizing it, the Warrior Princess was absent mindedly cracking her knuckles at his yet unuttered question.

" Feeling nervous? " he interrogated, while rhythmically drumming both hands against his knees, not quite determined about what to ask her, out of the many questions he had in store for her…..

" Yeah….I'm about to have a stroke." she grimly retorted, yawning profoundly and stretching her legs a bit while tilting her head back, in the vain attempt to relax.

More than aware that his next question would probably cost him the following half an hour of good humor, Ares just fired away his dilemma, avoiding Xena's alerted gaze, and diverting his attention towards the flames, instead.

"Why **him**….out of all people, Xena….Why **him**?"

In the silence that took over shortly after, only the primal melody of dry wood cracking under the now consuming, hungry flames could be heard. The light cast by the fire, danced across the dark trunks of trees, twisting and curling in obscure shapes that were supposed to match their heavy hearts…As the wind sent a couple of feeble sparks into the air, Xena flinched….

She briefly scrutinized his face for some sign of biting sarcasm before offering a reply, somewhat furious that he was so gods damn eager to dig up their past….On the other hand, she was rather angry with herself for having allowed him to drag her along in his silly game, in the first place. She should have hit him harder in the head when he first mentioned that deal, end of the story.

" Ares….do you really want to go there? We've already talked about this, there's…." she tried to reason with him, pretty sure that those particular wounds were still open and bleeding resentment from the very core of his heart.

"Just answer the damn question." he rudely cut in, his gaze still focused on the mystical dance of the flames.

She instinctively looked away, not quite getting herself to do it….She wasn't notably proud about that night's events, not proud at all; as for Ares, he could probably still feel his iron like hands chained tightly around her neck while trying to choke her to death…..It was fairly understandable why she was as reluctant as a virgin getting laid for the first time, to even think about the subject…

"Answer me." he ordered again, doing his best to keep calm, but as their eyes met, she could clearly see the yet unprocessed residues of a menacing amount of wrath, shadowing the previous childish joviality of his amber moons..

" Would you prefer the long or the short version?" she spat, adamant about giving him what he wanted- a cruel enough truth to quench his thirst for personal drama, once and for all.

" Just talk. I'll know when to stop you…."

Suddenly, her voice sounded just as loaded with spite as his had been, before.

" He was what I needed at the moment…."

"What was that ? A thick, rigid cock for you to play with?" he insultingly questioned, now staring at his fingernails. " You could have called…"

She shook her head disapprovingly.

"Whatever. You didn't struggle to understand it back then, you sure won't do it now…." she bit, flaring up at the utter malice of his comment.

" To understand it? To understand** what**? That apart from having left me without a word, without a damn explanation, apart from having trampled all over my heart **and** my ego, you mockingly chose Jerkules to fuck around with?"

Now, he really sounded pissed.

"It wasn't like that, and you know it….Ares, come on…Plus….I thought you said you were over it and that we were to never bring it up again…."

" I am….That doesn't mean that I've also been able to delete the image of his disgusting hands roaming up and down your naked body…."

"Yeah , well….we all have our traumas to live with…." she retorted, obviously hinting at his unimaginably violent outburst from back then.

He just scoffed loudly at the apparent detachment in her voice.

"You don't really give a damn anymore, do you?" he inquired, throwing another pebble into the fire while glaring accusingly at her.

She just bit her lower lip furiously. Gods, his stubbornness was so frustratingly annoying at times!

" You know that's not true…"

"Right….It does show…."

" What do you want me to say Ares? I've said all that was to be said that night! I'm sorry ok? I was upset and vulnerable and…"

"…..And thinking with your damn vagina!"

" Oh please! Like you were any different! Using your cock for a brain is as natural as water falling from the sky, for you! How many priestesses, sluts and other forms of life did you fuck while we were together?"

She was the one that was fuming, now.

" None...!" he instantly contradicted, offended by the mere fact that she had the guts to imply it. " Unlike you, I'm quite familiar with the notion of loyalty!"

She just rolled her eyes at the ludicrousness of his statement.

"Yeah. They must have drawn your portrait in the dictionary, next to the word! "

"Have you seen me with other women while we were together, by any chance?!" he barked at her, unable to control his rage any more.

" Just because you can't see the air, that doesn't mean it's not there!" she growled through clenched teeth, her entire body tensing as a wave of unspeakable anger washed over her.

"Yeah well…on the other hand, you know what they say…**seeing is believing**….Two fours!" he finally muttered, throwing the cards face down at her feet.

"Had enough? " she hissed, still glaring daggers at him.

" For the time being…." he simply replied, pointing towards her cards.

" Two fours" she retorted, sick and tired with his bellicose attitude.

"A five"

"Three fives"

He frowned a bit while reorganizing his cards, sensing the urgency in her voice….She was obviously eager to get this done with….

"One six" he said while trying to slow down the pace of the game.

"Three sixes…"

This time, he just had to arch an eyebrow at her….Taking a deep breath, he tried to clear his head, doing the very impossible to put their little banter aside and just focus on beating the crap out of her…

"Two seven " his distant words echoed in her head, making her even more determined to win that round.

…..Sadly, it was not in the cards for….Not yet…..

"One seven"

"You're bluffing!" he firmly accused, without bothering to turn the cards. "Toss the coin."

His imperative tone, instantly turned in a sudden reminder of why she hated him that much, to begin with. He was a selfish, insensitive Bastard, who's only pleasure was to torment and control her….

"Heads….." she whispered as the golden dinar touched the ground.

Without wasting any more time, the God just popped the question, giving its heavy emotional content no second thoughts ….

" Why did you leave, in the first place?"

" You were suffocating me!" she spat, dying to see some pain engraved on his features, but all she saw was mocking bemusement when, right out of nowhere, a lightening bolt hit the ground, just a few yards away from the spot where she was seated.

" Xena, Xena , Xena….You've just sworn on the head of Zeus to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, remember? No lying, Darling! I would hate to see you reduced to a pile of ashes! " he ironically remarked, flashing a mischievous grin at her visible discomfort.

"_This is going to be interesting"_ he thought, curious about what she could be hiding.

"You were saying?" he cleverly added, refusing to give her the time to fabricate another lie.

It was her turn to stare blankly towards those flames.

" I was scared….."

Now that was a bit shocking….

"Of?" he anxiously inquired when he saw that he had to literally drag the words out of her.

" I guess you'll have to wait your turn for the next question." she said, while picking up the cards she still needed to add to those she was already holding. "Three aces"

After having mentally cursed the day she was born, Ares glanced at the cards in his hand.

"One ace"

"One eight" she calmly continued.

"Two eights"

"And another one…"

"A nine."

" This is slowly turning into a habit, I see" he stated, turning her card face up, convinced that she had been bluffing again. He almost gasped in surprise when he discovered that she had been telling the truth….Under the faint orange light of the fire, a pretty nine of diamonds was winking at him….

He spitefully gathered the cards from the ground, and flipped the coin.

" Tails….." he indifferently announced.

Truth being told, he couldn't care less about the side on which the coin would land…He was shameless enough to do right about anything she could have asked of him, as for the confessing part….no one said that he couldn't **unintentionally** omit a few disturbing details here and there….

"I dare you to answer a question…." she astutely challenged, getting a bit closer to the fire. It was quite chilly outside.

"You do know that the game is called Truth **OR** Dare, for a reason right? You can't ask for the truth during a Dare! If not, they would have simply called it the Bitter Truth, or something! " he replied, rolling his eyes at her.

"You're just jealous that you didn't come up with the idea first….." she humorously stung, well aware that attacking his sky high pride was the fastest way to make him take the bait.

He just laughed at her ingenious way of getting what she wanted, silently telling himself that he had at least managed to teach her a thing or two about human nature over the years.

"Fine. What do you wanna know?"

" What really triggered that outburst after my…**encounter** with Hercules, that night?"

He couldn't help sneering in contempt at the outrageously mild word she had chosen to use for that absolutely savage fuck they had shared. Heck, her cold bloodedness was almost funny…

" Excuse me. " he specified. " You have to understand my…..uh ….slight amusement at your elegant word selection…"

Feigning not to feel affected by his reaction, she just continued.

" Was it the fact that it was **him **out of all people- as you chose to put it-, or was it the fact that I was no longer your **property**? "

Hearing her, he briefly contemplated the possibility of actually making a dash at her and just slap her to saint, sweet oblivion for the next couple of hours left till sunrise. "

" Are you kidding me right now?" he asked, her sheer arrogance eating away at him.

Indeed, he had to admit it to himself, the most difficult moments in his long, controversial life up then, had always been the ones in which he needed to decide whether he wanted to kill her or to love her….to worship her like a Goddess or to rip the heart out of her- for the sole purpose of stuffing it down her throat afterwards, making sure she choked with it? Quite a tough call…

In the end, it was her intriguingly blank face that made him speak, each word meant to graze, burn and poison her on the inside- simultaneously, if possible.

"You'll **always** be** my** **property** whether you like to admit it to yourself or not. So no….that wasn't it…And neither was that slutty stunt you pulled with my dimwit half brother. It was the betrayal itself that nearly cost you your life that night. Hardly had you left my bed, that you were already screaming some other man's name….losing yourself into his touch, feeding yourself with his every breath….**wanting** him….I should have killed you then and there, Xena….I should have cut your deceiving, mortal body to little pieces…."

"Why didn't you? I sure gave you every little chance to get even …." she hissed, overwhelmed by that smothering hatred vibrating from his every pore.

" I almost did, remember…? That's better than nothing, I guess" he answered, his voice audibly lower than before, as he accidentally caught a fleeting flash of pain in her eyes.

"Why? Why not?"

"It's hard to explain….." he simply retorted, finally looking away from her, that disturbingly familiar agony in his chest, threatening once again his mental balance.

"Try me." she insisted, and as he gazed back at her again, those arctic blue moons of hers seemed to see right through him, peering into his very soul, through all the dust and ashes that the passing of time had left behind….

"Have you ever loved somebody so much that you can barely breathe when you're with'em, and at the same time hate'em with a passion, with every fiber of your being? Such were my feelings for you, back then….I wanted to do it….Gods know I did….But somehow, that overly tempting image of your limp body lying in a pool of blood, hurt more than the sound of your animalistic moans when you came….You can blame my deeply romantic nature for that…" he satirically concluded, utter bitterness in his voice.

When he spoke again, she was deep in thought, still taken aback by his previous words…..

"Xena!" he repeated, considerably louder this time. She flinched at the sound of his voice. "There's a ten there."

She mechanically added another one, her mind still focused on their "heart to heart" conversation.

"And two aces "

"Two more" she briefly replied, shaking her head lightly as if trying to get rid of those restless thoughts, whirling inside her head….

" Three knights."

" One knight. "

" Two queens "

She hesitated a bit. He didn't have too many cards in his hand….

"Two queens…"

"Three kings…"

"One more…."

She finally had to pay for her distraction…..

" Tsk, tsk, tsk…Didn't Cyrene teach you that little girls get punished when they lie?" he questioned, quite sure that she had been bluffing again.

" I'm not a little girl anymore..." she replied with a grin.

Nonetheless, when the card was flipped over, it was his turn to flash her a bright, victorious smile.

The Warrior Princess escaped a loud gasp, her blue moon instantly widening at the sight…..she had accidentally chosen a nine of hearts instead of a king of spades…

" Well…this was an easy win …." he proudly proclaimed. " But don't worry, Xena, it's not the end of the world….Winning isn't everything in life….Sometimes, enjoying the game beats the sweet taste of victory…."

His little speech only made her even angrier with herself than she already was.

" Well come on….Let's get this done with….." he said, throwing her the golden dinar.

" Wow! Tails! How I've missed putting you to work!" the ear splitting loud exclamation burst out of his lungs as soon as the coin touched the ground.

Before she could say anything, he had already waved his hand, and a large, impressively fluffy, dark red blanket and a dozen of lively colored satin pillows appeared somewhere behind him. He just threw himself on top of them, his leather vest vanishing in the process, as if he had never even worn one….As for the icing on the cake, he thoughtfully made her battledress dematerialize only to be replaced by a sexy , royal blue baby doll nightie.

" Well don't just stand there, Honey. Come here. I have a job for you…..And given that you are my property and all, you can't say no, now, can you?"

She just flashed a murderous glare in the direction of his now extended hand.

" If you think for one single minute that I will…"

"I'll be gentle, I promise…." he rushed to intervene, on the most theatrical tone he could come up with, accurately hitting a nerve.

"You pathetic little weasel! …." she started, only to be interrupted again within seconds.

"Oh come on already, Princess, I was just joking. Where's you sense of humor? I only need a back rub, for crying out loud. ….It makes sense given my **antediluvian age** and all…" he insisted, a hint of reproach in his eyes. ….Did she actually think for one minute that he would stoop so low as to force her to have sex with him?

With slow, hesitant steps, she finally closed in the distance between them, anger still written all over her face.

" Roll over!" she briefly commanded as if he had been some worthless mutt. " And play dead, while you're at it! If you dare flinch one muscle, I swear I'll break your neck, Ares!" she warned him, as she finally straddled him.

He just let out a loud sigh when her soft , skillful hands began massaging his back….Her touch felt absolutely phenomenal, as for the awareness that she was right there on top of him….Well let's just go on and say that the event needed no further debate…

One half a minute later, just when a somewhat regretful Warrior Princess was on the verge of mumbling an excuse for having unnecessarily snapped at him, the God uninspiredly decided that it was time to tease her again. Moaning, panting and purring at her every touch was in his opinion the fastest way to get her to blow up like a super volcano, to his ultimate delight, of course.

"Oh God, Baby, that feels soooooo good !…..Yeah…..A little lower…..that's right…Mmmmm, that's what I was talking about….Harder Sweetie, harder! ….Ohhhh yeah…You are so incredibly good with your hands….."

"Would you shut up already?" she barked at him, slapping him as hard as she could.

" Holy Tartarus, yeah! Slap me, Baby, slap me!...You know I like it rough…Spank my booty!" he passionately added, to her sky high exasperation. Consequently, as soon as that naughty line got to her ears, a rain of fists landed all over his back!

"Gods I hate you!" she screamed at him in between punches, blinking in surprise but a couple of seconds later, at the unexpected turn of events...

...Before she could actually get to enjoy the results of her violent outburst, Ares had already flipped her on her back, covering her body with his own, pinning her wrists above her head, his ever so tempting lips just a few inches away from hers….

"I hate you, you Bastard! I hate you!" she vengefully repeated, her face flushed with anger, and frustration, and …

"I hate you too" he replied with a barely perceived smile, the utter softness of his voice, as well as the longing vibrating from it, stating something entirely different.

Just as she opened her mouth to add a footnote to what was about to turn into a very promising, turbid discourse, instead of allowing her to keep ranting, the God preferred to crush her lips with his own, biting them savagely before parting them with his tongue, his mind suddenly darkened by a demonic lust to have her, to feel her...Soon, despite herself, Xena found herself kissing him back, an unrestrained gasp of pleasure coming from her throat as one of his hands moved from her wrists down to her breasts, fondling them a bit through that nearly inexistent fabric, before finally shifting it possessively to her neck.

"I hate you…."she whispered again in between breaths, her mind clouded with ecstasy at the awareness that, without even knowing it, the Bastard had been right: she did belong to him, she was his property….

"Tell me about it…" he murmured in response, once the kiss ended, placing a soft -loving one this time-on her nose, then one on her forehead, and a sweeter one back on her lips…"I hate you more than life…."


	3. When winners become losers

"…. I hate you more than life…"

She smiled softly at his reply, a rather silly smile that she rushed to wipe off her face as quickly as possible, cursing once more his unmatchable ability to dissolve her anger with the force of one single kiss …Taking into consideration their long, intricate history, from her perspective, the power he held over her was rather humiliating than - as all the rest of the mortal fans might call it- sweet.

" That's perfectly all right with me…" she stubbornly retorted, looking away while pushing him aside, despite the jocular note in his voice.

To her utter surprise, he didn't sketch the slightest gesture to keep her pinned to the ground as he would have normally done. He just licked his lips while hungrily staring at her long, perfectly shaped legs as she got up, nodding his head appreciatively as she headed a few steps away, closer to the fire.

" You do know that you'd be considerably more comfortable here, right? " he mentioned, playfully patting the velvety blanket he was seated on, when she finally regained her place on the cold grass.

" I'm fine here, thank you" she simply stated, no trace of emotion in her voice, directing instead all her attention towards shuffling the cards.

"By Olympus woman, you're as stubborn as Cerberus! " he exclaimed with an exasperated sigh while making an equally fluffy blanket appear under her. A long, purple, cotton bath robe soon followed, obviously meant to keep her a bit warmer, and protect her from the chilly night air..."Just a different type of armor..." he added with a grin.

She growled her discontent of course at his sick obsession of dressing and undressing her whenever he felt like it.

" You just can't help yourself, can you?"

"Frankly, I've never tried. "

"Well start trying. You're acting like a maniac!"

"I **am** a maniac, remember?" he admitted on such a natural tone, that she just had to wonder if he had ever realized just how furious and frustrated his behavior could get her at times.." What would you expect?"

She simply rolled her eyes at his childish reply….He was indeed a maniac…And a dumb one too.

"What?" he questioned, scandalized by her attitude.

His ignorance left her speechless. There was obviously no use in struggling to make him see things her way, for there was no chance in Tartarus to ever succeed such clamant victory over his obtuse mind.

"Nothing…..these are your cards…." she muttered, placing a part of the deck in front of him.

"Wait wait wait!...I haven't mentioned the rules…." he rushed to intervene.

"What, more rules?"

"Gotta keep you interested Hun'."

" Yeah, well you can add that to your wish list !" she spat in disgust.

The God's eyes immediately narrowed at her reaction, musingly fixing their gaze on a distant spot of the horizon while he frenziedly searched his brain for the specific line that had managed to upset her to that extent. …..

"What now?" her words pulled him back from his trance.

"Now I'm willing to give you an advantage…."

"An advantage?" she inquired, mistrust shining like diamonds on the clear surface of her sapphire moons. " Is it Solstice already?"

"Very funny. This time, whenever you lose, you'll have to guess in which fist I'm hiding the coin."

"And if I do?" the Warrior Princess questioned, fascinated by the possibility of finally taking her revenge.

" Then you're off the hook. No truth or dare for you, during that round."

"Ok….." she replied with a smile, stealing a glance at her cards, not wanting to look too impatient…Her smile widened...a quite favorable selection this time….

"Don't get your hopes up…Two aces" the God started, not as thrilled as Xena was about his hand.

"Two more"

"A three." he continued, in a strong, confident voice that had nothing to do with the lousy cards he was now carefully scanning.

"Two threes" she announced, subtly inspecting his face for any signs of deceit.

"Three fours"

"One four"

"A five"

"You're bluffing" she called, eyes shining with mischief the moment that very familiar, involuntary twitch of his upper lip, let her know that he had been lying…

Without waiting for an answer, and without bothering to turn the card up to check for the indisputable proof that he had lost, she took the coin, placed it in her right palm, and from there, straight to her back where she shifted it a bit left-right, right-left until she finally decided that keeping it in her right hand was the best solution.

"So War God…take your pick…..which one is it?" she asked, extending her crossed fists before him.

Ares weighed his options for a couple of seconds, deep in thought one might say- even if his mind was actually restlessly drifting back to their previous conversation and to the equally savage way in which she had responded to his kiss…

"Tough choice, huh?" she added, seeing that he wasn't going to answer soon.

" Not really…." he detachedly remarked, while gently covering her left hand with his own.

Despite her unbound relief, Xena decided to celebrate her little victory silently, no nasty, mocking comebacks….Not with him still leading the game….

"Who gets to choose the truth or dare?" she questioned, unsure of the rule.

"You do…." he responded, making himself a bit more comfortable, as another pillow appeared under his elbow. Xena flinched at the imposing image she had before her…He looked like a mighty king on his golden throne..…The son of Zeus…a well deserved name, beyond any shadow of a doubt…

"Who were they?"

Her voice sounded as brittle and sharp as a broken sliver of glass, he noticed, partially flattered and partially intrigued by the barely disguised aversion reverberating from her tonality.

**"They?"** he hesitantly inquired, furrowing his brows as if he hadn't understood the question. Truth being told, he had been expecting it for awhile now, aware that his previous answer had hit its mark to perfection and that he had successfully managed to trample all over her sky high pride with that uncensored declaration.

"The two women you were in love with…" she spelled out, a barely perceived blush on her cheeks- colour that could have been easily blamed on the restless flames dancing between them- involuntarily making it crystal clear for him just how uncomfortable the content of his question had made her feel.

Despite her undeniable interest in his past love life, the God could see way beyond that…It didn't take too much effort from his part to realize that what she really wanted to know, was what exactly had been her place in his life….

When his eyes met hers, their gazes remained chained to each other for a disturbingly long, silent moment. For once, he decided to completely ignore the spite sparkling in her blue moons and to act more like his old, conniving , Bastard self. Judging by her unjustified coldness, she did deserve a free fall after all, he thought.

"One of them was the absolute synonym of joy, craziness and unlimited freedom…..A very special platinum blonde that taught me some pretty interesting sex techniques…."

"Aphrodite…" she whispered, doing her best to dissimulate the consuming jealously that she could already feel spreading her tentacles like worms inside her heart.

" Yep….my silly little Sis- who, between you, me and the gatepost, isn't really as air headed and brain dead as I usually say she is, just to tease her …."

" So I guess that **opposites do attract** …." she concluded, her breath caught momentarily in her throat.

"Yeah….and **love and war do go hand in hand** , too." he completed, winking at her.

She unconsciously frowned at the information, despite the fact that there was no trace of surprise written on her features….She was not shocked about his confession, not shocked at all, not after some very tender gestures she had witnessed between them over the years….And the way in which he always spoke about her whenever he wasn't in his **torment the Love Goddess mood** ….one should have been blind not to notice….

"I would have never guessed that Aphrodite is your type…. ." she mordantly remarked, her torn soul aching to make him feel bad about something…anything….

" Maybe you don't know me as good as you think you do…." he retorted, silently wondering if it really hurt her to know that his heart had belonged other women as well, or he was only misinterpreting her reactions….

" And the other one?" she questioned, already suspecting what his answer would be.

"The other one….? The other one was a fierce warrior that could bring death and destruction wherever she went, with one single touch, but at the same time and with that same touch, she could awaken in me an inextinguishable fire to shame the flames of Tartarus itself….She was breathtaking...a spectacular, fascinating beauty that possessed an incredible amount of energy flowing and flowing through her body, like continuous summer rain…." he uttered with such unrestrained passion, that Xena couldn't have ignored that wave of sensations vibrating through her body, not even if she had wanted it to.

And just when she was about to finally allow a smile conquer her blood red lips, he added:

" Her name was Penthesilea…"

The Warrior Princess' jaw instantly dropped at that totally unexpected name escaping his treacherous lips…She had genuinely expected to hear hers.

"The Amazon Queen?"

"Yeah….I almost killed Artemis for her….And Zeus almost kicked me out of Olympus for my recklessness, but that's another story…."

Needless to say that his words felt like a knife to the heart. Xena was speechless. She wasn't even on his list….

Seeing her puzzled gaze, Ares naturally believed that she was actually intrigued about his reasons to kill Artemis, so he obviously rushed to clarify that for her.

" …She was supposed to be virgin for the rest of her life…That stupid chastity law, you know….Needless to say, I had to change that, Artemis didn't approve, the rest is quite obvious…."

Despite her usually flawless self control, Xena just couldn't help it. The look that crossed her face was one of utter, distinct anguish. And as good an actress as she was, this time, she just couldn't come up fast enough with a mask of iciness meant to convince him that she couldn't care less about his past relationships….

"Satisfied?"

Seconds later, she realized that she had missed his question.

"Excuse me?"

" Are you satisfied...with the answer? Is there anything else you want to know about the subject?"

" That would do, actually. ", she said, her fingers briefly caressing the edge of the soft blanket under her.

"Perfect" he simply stated while he picked two cards from his considerably thicker deck.

"Two fives"

"Another two" she said, barely finding her voice.

"A six"

"Two sixes"

"A seven "

"Two sevens"

" Tsk, tsk tsk! I don't think so…."he replied with immature satisfaction, turning her cards face up.

Xena took in a deep breath of air. If she failed to guess where the coin was, she could already tell what he wanted to know…..

"Come on Xe" , he said, placing his hands behind his back, to finally settle on the right hand to keep the coin. " Where is it? " he grimly inquired, anxiously extending his hands towards her.

Aware of the fact that her triumph was but a matter of luck, she didn't give her choice much thought.

"Left " she whispered, pointing to his closed fist.

He just smirked ironically while opening up his right hand.

" Sorry…."

A few seconds- during which their gazes clashed mercilessly, and during which Xena contemplated seriously the possibility of simply quitting the game- passed by them in slow motion. She already hated him for his unbearable determination to get all truth out of her , even before the God had addressed the question…

"So….do tell me all about this intriguing story of you leaving me because you were scared….Scared of **what?** " he harshly asked, still taken aback by her answer….

By the time he ended his question, Xena's blood was boiling…After having cruelly confessed that in his long eternal life he had been in love with two women- a rather short list on which her name had not been written- he also wanted to humiliate her by making her admit something that she would have preferred to keep locked inside her screwed up brain until the end of time, without ever being forced to say it out loud, without even thinking at it again, if possible….

" Is it **that **awful** ?** Come on….don't leave me hanging….I'm dying to find out what freaked you to the extent of making you want to leave everything behind and…take off, just like that, without glancing behind once…."

She tried to come up with a decent answer, one that wouldn't put her in such a bad light, but no bright idea rushed to her mind to save her.

"I don't know…." she murmured, on a barely audible note, unconsciously wringing her hands in distress.

The following events happened so fast that Xena barely got the chance to process the details. In the blink of an eye, she could see a blinding light falling from the sky at dazzling speed, aiming for her chest. She definitely didn't have the time to duck, she just froze in place, eyes pinned at the sky. At the moment of the impact, she mechanically closed her eyes shut, and when nothing happened and they finally fluttered open, to her great surprise, she gazed in amazement at the energy shield that was still absorbing that arctic blue lightening bolt, throwing bright sparkles all around them.

It didn't take her long to realize that Ares had been the one to cast the protection shield over her.

" That wasn't very smart given that just an hour ago you have been warned about the same thing…So, maybe you would like to rephrase that answer…."

Although she didn't like the perspective, she kinda owed him….He did save her life, after all…..

" I didn't want to disappoint you….."she articulated mournfully, hoping he didn't hear her.

He did hear her though and he was stunned. That was definitely an answer he wasn't expecting.

"To **disappoint** me? What are you talking about? Xena ….before you left, you had conquered half of Greece in my name, and the other half was weeks away from falling…..How in the world could you have disappointed me?"

She shivered at the mere memory of her past deeds….She wasn't very keen on reliving that dark period of her life, no…

" It wasn't that…." she replied, biting her lip, still reluctant about admitting the truth….

"What was it then, cause I'd sure like to understand…." he reproachfully responded, while already getting ready to project another energy shield, just in case.

"You changed…"

He just gazed at her inquisitively, not having the slightest clue what she was talking about.

" Your attitude towards me had changed…" she added, trying to shed some light on her statement.

" Of course it had! I was your number one fan, you were my most prized warrior, you were my star employee …."

" That's right….I was your warrior….A tool through which you could get what you wanted….." she flew at him.

"I have never seen you that way and you know it!" he growled, insulted by the fact that she had actually dared imply it..

" Still…you were not the same anymore….You always talk about the fire burning in my eyes, Ares….Well, somewhere along the road you seemed to have lost yours….There were no more sparkles in your eyes when you were looking at me….You were way too captivated by the killing machine I had turned myself into to still see me under that impenetrable amour….."

"You're wrong.." he said, lowering his gaze.

" No I'm not…..What Hercules saw that night, was the woman in me….He saw the monster I had become, but he also saw the human being hiding under that heavy burden you placed on my shoulders….It could have been anyone else in his place, that's how vulnerable I was when I left you, Ares….He just happened to be at the right place at the right time…"

" The Bastard!" the God growled with such repugnance in his voice that Xena was sure that if Hercules had been there that very moment, the God would have smashed his head against a rock.

"One eight…" Xena started trying to change the subject.

"A, a, a! My turn, Princess….Plus, we're not done talking…"

"Yes we are." she decisively let him know, tired about debating on the subject.

" Come on, play fair….I've answered all your questions, just now….You could at least do the same for me…Why didn't you say anything back then? I didn't have the slightest clue that you felt that way, Xena…We could have prevented all that drama….We could have talked…"

"You aren't the easiest person to talk to, are you? "

"I **cared** about you…" he blew, with a painful effort, and even in the ears of the most stupid person alive that **cared **would have meant **loved.**

" No. You **cared…**" she pungently emphasized" … about the power I could bring you, Ares! I was steps away from crowning you King of Olympus! "

"I** freaking LOVED** you! You were just to power crazed to tell apart the forest from the trees! " he yelled this time, as though he had been stabbed.

"**I **was power crazed? Come on , Ares! We were hardly speaking to each other about anything else that wasn't war planning, strategy, supplies and weapons!" she bit back, her eyes hard, feverish and piercing, not really sure if she had heard him say the **L** word or if she had just imagined it.

He didn't answer this time. He just swallowed dryly and fought to ignore the anguish clutching at his heart.

Maybe he knew how right she was….

"I made the right choice that day, whether you're willing to admit it or not! It was just a matter of time until…." her voice trailed off. She couldn't say it out loud. She couldn't bear hearing it.

"Until what?"

"Never mind. Let's just leave it to that…Come on, it's your turn. " she said, pointing towards the cards.

"Xena…" he pitilessly persisted.

" Please…" she replied, the following second.

" Fine. An eight" he absently stated, complying to her request and letting a card drop face down from his hand, but still debating whether to insist on continuing their little chat or not.

"Three eights" she added, her own mind still trapped in the blurry cobweb of memories of those past events.

" One nine" he continued.

"Three nines.

"Another one"

"Two tens" she announced, her pack growing thinner and thinner.

"You're bluffing " he roughly accused, without really having the slightest clue why he had said that in the first place, given the fact that he hadn't paid any attention to her features, so there was no real reason to suspect her of anything. He just followed his guts…One again, he was right. And once again, Xena failed to guess where the coin was.

" Would it hurt you to see me with someone else?"

"I haven't really thought about it. "she stammered.

"Well **think **about it"

"Why would you even ask that?"

"Just wanted to know…If I still matter to you…"

"No you don't….Not the way you'd want me to, anyway… "

"I don't believe you" he contradicted, despite the sheer determination in her voice.

"You can believe anything you want. No lightening bolt this time, Ares" she remarked , looking insolently up at the sky.

He cast a skeptic glance in the same direction.

"Your kiss earlier told me something else. " , he obstinately insisted, refusing to accept that she had no feelings for him.

"Oh yeah? What exactly did it tell you? That there's chemistry between us? That I'm attracted to you? You do look the way you look, Ares . Any woman in her righteous mind would feel the same way . That doesn't mean I'm in love with you, though. " she answered with flashing eyes.

"A ten" he abruptly broke their confrontation, fury engraved on every inch of his godly visage.

" Two tens….Does the truth hurt?"

"Another one. No. Not as hard as it will hurt you…"

She stood silent for awhile, apparently contemplating her cards while in fact she was struggling to decode the hidden meaning of his words.

"A king" she lowly announced , physically feeling both his sadness and his anger slapping her across the face. No matter what they did, they always ended up cutting out each other's hearts.

"A king it is!" he replied, throwing a card on top of hers.

"Two kings" she added.

"Three queens" he rushed, eager to get rid of the rest of his deck.

"Two knights" she announced.

"Two more"

" Is that so?" she questioned, turning his cards face up.

"Damn! " he cursed, brushing his hand through his hair "Let's see if I'm luckier than you!" he added with false enthusiasm, pointing towards the coin.

As enthusiastic as he wanted to appear tough, it was his turn to lose.

"You're good" he concluded. " If you ever get tired of playing the hero, do apply for a magician job, will ya? You'd be surprised with the results. " he joked, scrutinizing her with eager curiosity, wondering what would she ask of him.

"I'll keep that in mind." she made sure to mention.

"So….what's the demeaning challenge that you have in store for me ? What do you want me to do? Wear a dress? Some lipstick, maybe? A bit of makeup?"

"Don't temp me…" she sternly warned, not at all bemused by his ridiculously funny suggestion. There was a short pause during which an invisible, but absolutely merciless battle was given between her need to know more about the Amazon Queen and her boundless pride...To ask or not to ask...that was the question...

The ego lost…

"You said that I was your first Chosen…."

"You still are. You're not dead yet Sweetheart."

"How come you didn't choose Penthesilea for the job? If at least half of the legends are true, she was indeed an amazing warrior. "

"Amazing is not quite the word to describe her. She was unbeatable….Like no mortal or Goddess I've ever seen…."

His remark made her unwillingly grit her teeth. Her nerves were obviously more and more strained….Hearing him imply that her performances weren't as half as good as the Amazon Queen's made her literally wanna bite a chunk out of him. She definitely hated him for it…

" So..what was it that held you back, again?"

"Sadly, she was already Artemis' Chosen. But that wasn't such a tragedy, for the mere fact that she was unreachable, made me want her even more…"

As soon as his words dissolved into thin air, along with the unshed tears shining on the surface of the Warrior Princess' moons, Ares also noticed the fact that she was holding no more cards….She had won the round.

Ironically enough, Xena didn't feel like a winner, quite the contrary…


	4. There's an answer to everything

**To all reviewers out there and to all my readers, thank you for pushing me to write more **

"_Three hours left…and one single mistake left to lose it all…" _Xena said to herself, contemplating once again the new card selection she was holding. If the Fates had courteously smiled on her during the last round, they didn't seem to be as generous now…

Sunk in thought as she was, she involuntarily cleared her throat, a gesture the meaning of which was quickly interpreted by the mischievous War God like a shouting sign of discontent.

"Panicking already, Princess?" his subtly satiric voice sliced the deep silence of the night like the finest of blades.

"You'd like that, wouldn't you?" she boldly retorted, the fakest smile in human history playing on her gorgeous lips, too busy with rearranging her cards to pay too much attention to what he was saying. "As much as I hate disappointing you,** no**….But you can keep dreaming about it if it pleases you…."

" No need to, Darling. As I take it, I'm already living the dream, and you're already praying for a way out of the mess those cards got you in…." he laughed, aware of the fact that luck was on his side. "Plus, there would be a number of various other interesting ways in which **you** could please me…"

" That only means that I'll have to lie to perfection…" she emphasized, apparently not at all touched by the malice hidden behind his patronizing comment.

"Actually I'd rather say that means you'll have to distract my attention whenever you feel like lying." he corrected, taking a mental note on just how upset she still was about the whole Penthesilea thing- a rampaging success that he hadn't accurately predicted.

"Like you always know when I'm lying to you…" she bit, irritated by his sick nerve to think that he was better than her when it came to the art of prefabricating truths.

" The score says I do…"

"The score has not yet been decided."

" An unfortunate situation that I do believe will change after this very round…." he arrogantly remarked, flashing a toothy grin at her.

" Clinging to hope **is** necessary for the morale, at times…At least that's what you taught me."

"I must agree with my own theory, Sweetheart. "

"I'm not your Sweetheart." she barked, throwing three cards face down. "Three Aces"

" One more"

" A two " she challenged.

" And another one"

"Two more"

"Two threes" he added, already scanning his cards for a four.

"One three"

" This is what I was talking about, see?" he mockingly questioned, turning her card face up to revel a five. " You really need to improve those skills, Hun. If it were your life we'd be gambling, you'd be keeping Hades company in Tartarus by now….Not that I'd mind too much paying you conjugal visits on his realm, but, you know… after a month or so, I'm afraid you'd kill for a change of scenery…My uncle isn't really famous for his taste in interior decoration …."

She simply made a face at him while picking all the cards from the grass.

"So….you didn't mention the new rules?" she absently stated while casting a long glance at his disturbingly thinner deck.

He paused a bit before answering her.

"What new rules? I thought you said you weren't the biggest fan of this game's constant novelty …" he replied, raising a puzzled eyebrow at her somewhat awkward interrogation. "I do have something in mind though if you want me to …."

" Actually, can I come up with a proposal?" she cut in.

" Why my Dear, you are certainly a very peculiar woman! " he exclaimed with a considerable amount of surprise in his voice. " ….By all means, please do. I'm all ears, too….well, not **all** ears, but…go on…"

" Let's go for challenges during this round….And we can leave the truth for the next one…."

He couldn't help laughing at her suggestion.

"Are you telling me that you honestly believe there will be another round? Did I get the message right?"

"Laugh all you want, but facts speak for themselves. You've already lost the last round….why not this one?" she stung, her blue eyes carefully studying his features.

" Fine….Challenge mode is on then….**But,** there's a catch….No matter how many cards we'll be still holding, the one who loses twice, also loses the round." he added, narrowing his eyes while searching his mind for things that he really wanted to see her do.

"Don't tell me you're lacking imagination.." she mocked, eagerly trying to anticipate his intentions- making no kind of comments about the rule.

"Not at all….What I want you to do, is to recall the first memory you have of me….." he commanded, rising to his feet and walking towards her. Soon, he was seated by her side, on the blanket, inches away from her, rudely- but necessarily- invading her personal space.

She instinctively pulled back a bit, as if he were taking away all her air….Her muscles instantly tensed though at that unique sensation of his licentious gaze traveling up and down her breasts, virtually fondling them, kissing them…She could literally feel the intensity of his desire burning her skin like fire, and no matter how much as she fought to control the response of her body to that absolutely electrifying nearness, she found her cheekbones flush from the arousal taking over her system, like an unstoppable storm.

She hated herself for it one second later, cursing both fate and reality at the same time, when she remembered that she was actually supposed to hate him with a passion.… Instead, his lust had wrapped her around like an invisible chain, keeping her in place while he continued scanning her every curve just to return to her eyes from time to time, his own gaze filled with an even more insatiable hunger, a gaze that she found harder and harder to resist. To top it all, despite the fact that from the moment he had decided to join her on the blanket, except for staring at her like a hawk he didn't make any other move, she –on the other hand- had unconsciously leaned forward, completely ignoring her original intention of moving back….He was simply mesmerizing.

A short, sarcastic laugh escaped him as she finally left out a startled breath the moment she suddenly realized what she had been doing, and just how close to him she had gotten, their lips almost brushing.

"No need to feel bad about it….Ladies say I'm like a magnet…." he bragged, gently touching her lips with the tips of his fingers, a rather affectionate gesture that ended as abruptly as it had started, with her pushing his hand aside- in quite a spiteful manner too, one might say-.

" You were telling me something about that memory…." he kindly reminded her, aware of the fact that by then, she had forgotten all about the challenge.

She frowned a bit, obviously struggling to remember that accursed second when their eyes met for the very first time, and she was ready to start telling the story when he swiftly put an end to her novelistic intentions.

"Not like this…." he said, once again pressing his fingers to her lips. "Not like this….I want to see it, the same way you did."

She just cast him a puzzled glare, clueless about what exactly was it that he wanted.

"Close your eyes." he ordered, smirking at the incredibly smart idea that had just crossed his mind.

She didn't reply, but her perfectly arched eyebrows suddenly expressed besides confusion, hesitation and mistrust, utter revolt and maybe a bit of bemusement at the content of his line. Her answer was consequently replaced by putting some more distance between them, a few, very useful inches, that the barrier formed from the knees that were now tightly pulled to her chest, made them impossible to eliminate.

" I'm not gonna bite I promise…."

"You and your promises" she muttered her discontent, giving him a scornful once- over.

"Don't be mean. You know I always keep my promises, just like you do. Now come on, be a good girl and close your eyes, will ya'?"

With a heavy sigh, she finally complied, thinking just how much she hated his little mind games.

"Now…." he said, placing the tip of his fingers on her forehead. "….Show me what I want to see…"

**XXX**

Her eyes squeezed even tighter while her brain struggled to reactivate a rather fading memory….The one of their first encounter, at Lyceus' tomb, right after her brother's tragic death…..For some awkward reason though, she was unable to access those rather traumatizing images, and instead, in spite of her own will, something unusual happened. An endless string of images began flowing and flowing before her, strangely surrounding her very being, pulling her into their ravel until they became one….Just like in a dream, she was part of the action and at the same time she wasn't….She was a mere spectator and simultaneously the main character of a vaguely familiar play….

_In what proved to be a quite unusual version of reality, she woke up with a startle. She was under the covers and she had dreamt about something…about someone…Looking down at her hands, she realized that her body was not the same any more. She had changed. ….she was younger…way younger, and obviously way more vulnerable to nightly illusions than her mature self actually was. _

_Even with her eyes wide open now, she could still see him…The same tall, handsome, extremely imposing man - like no one she had ever seen before in their little village- with dark, liquid moons that could pierce through her like spears…._

_**Whenever she fell asleep, it was always the same dream….She was wearing a long, black, velvet dress, and she appeared to be in her early twenties. She was all alone in front of a high, marble temple, under a quite turbulent sky, holding an amazingly heavy sword, training for some battle…**_

_**With perfectly executed, rhythmic movements, she would slice the air for what felt like hours, when right out of nowhere, she would suddenly become aware of it: an overwhelming presence, that she could distinctly identify in each and every bone of her body, filling her like wine would fill an empty crystal cup, giving her life meaning, offering her new reasons to live, silently alluring her with unspoken but enticing promises of unlimited knowledge and power, offering her not only a chance to a new life , but also to the ever so attractive alternative of shaping the clay of reality….**_

_**In her dream, her eyes would always close before he showed up, to only open when she would feel two strong arms wrapped tightly around her waist…**_

"_**I love you, Xena…..You're the only for me, you know that. I've been waiting for you since the beginning of time….You belong to me, now and forever…." his venomous voice would whisper in her ear, sweet poisoned words that were for her heart like air was to her lungs….His hands would then glide along her stomach, and further up between her breasts straight to her neck where his fingers would finally stop, gripping viciously her throat, without actually choking her- a pleasant, addictive pain that she knew she couldn't live without….**_

_**Whenever his hand would release her throat, his touch would always leave behind a heavy silver shackle, and the sword in her hand would vanish only to be replaced by a gorgeous black rose from which drops of blood would trail slowly down to the ground. **_

"_**You're mine…." **_

_As so many times in the past, the burning touch of his lips had woken her up with a jolt, causing her entire world to fall apart when she realized that she was once again in her mother's humble tavern in Amphipolis, just one store above that stinking place that she hated with a passion- full of drunk people, lecherous glances and squalor. _

_That morning appeared to be no different. Apart of the fact that she was turning ten that day, everything in her life was exactly the same…..She stretched lazily while heading towards the window. There was no light at the horizon yet, just a fine ribbon of a somewhat clearer sky- which she knew it would soon turn peach.-…Nonetheless, the still invisible, puffy clouds were about to get splashed in bright, mesmerizing colors that were bound to merge into a river of cascading light as the earliest sun rays would come claiming the celestial vault…._

_With slow, ghost like steps, little Xena headed towards the window sill…. The morning air was fresh and invigorating, a nice, clean scent of lavender and wildflowers invading her nostrils, a wonderful perfume that she could recognize and associate to home on any part of the planet she might have been. _

_As relaxed as she was though, she instantly flinched when, wanting to rest her elbows on the wooden window shelf, she felt something that wasn't supposed to be there …. Something smooth…something that had the rare texture of fine, oriental silk…. She immediately looked down and the blood froze inside her veins…..It was a black rose._

_As soon as her fingertips touched one of the petals- probably to make sure that she wasn't still dreaming- all her senses went wild the moment she detected that unmistakable, spicy musk fragrance, mixing up and eventually covering the one of the wild flowers outside._

_She gasped loudly when in addition to that, she felt his bewitching, dark energy literally crushing her form. Just like in her dream, she didn't turn around to see him….She didn't flinch a muscle , but she knew he was there and she was well aware of what was about to happen…._

_As time slowly flew by, a light, gentle breeze caressed her long, raven hair, sending shivers down her spine, her tiny body trembling in anticipation, waiting for his touch, her heart beating to the point of jumping out of his chest. It didn't take long until she could hear his heavy footsteps on the old, creaking floorboards, with the same distinct precision with which he was able to hear her uneven, anxious breath as he knelt behind her. _

_She unwillingly closed her eyes…His presence was indeed intoxicating, and when his arms wrapped protectively around her, pulling her effortlessly towards his chest, she could feel something inside her explode. She felt…__**.complete**__, whatever completion was._

_Her entire form trembled at the contact. It was an unearthly sensation, impossible to describe for a ten year old, as if her soul had been missing all that time- without her even realizing it- and now that she finally had one, she could finally understand the pain in which she had lived all those years because of its absence. _

"_Who am I? " he murmured lowly against her ear, a voice that she instantly classified as being animalistically seductive and deep despite of the fact that she wasn't quite sure what seductive meant.. _

_She didn't dare turn her head to look at him. Plus, she was way too focused on that continuous rain of sparkles falling down her creamy skin and on those several hundred butterflies hitting like crazy against the walls of her stomach, to even think about something else._

" _You're the man from my dreams….." she responded, barely above a whisper. _

"_Who am I?" he repeated, and she couldn't help thinking that his demonically sweet voice sounded like the memory of a faraway song from another world. _

" _Ares….God of War…" she murmured, her eyes opening in shock at what she had just said. What in the world had possessed her to say that out loud? After all, she didn't have the slightest clue who the man haunting her dreams was….._

"_And who are you?"_

_She parted her lips to reply, but she was hesitant in offering an answer. She couldn't really tell what he had expected her to say_

"_My name is Xena…" she stammered, wondering what could have been the purpose of such question. He clearly knew who she was if he was there…_

_There was a short, incredibly intense pause in which she unconsciously nudged herself closer to him, and during which his iron like fingers clasped around her fragile little neck, keeping her bound to him like a slave. An impossible to refuse possession…._

"_Who are you…?"_

_His voice was even softer than before, smoother indeed, but having a hint of cutting steel in it. This time though, to her immeasurable surprise, she could clearly feel his lips brushing against the tip of her ear, as his free hand pushed her long tresses behind it. _

_Fascinated by his magnetizing touch, she articulated the following words without thinking twice about what she was saying and about the reason behind such line. Gods knew she had no idea what they meant, but somehow , they made sense, as if she had uttered a truth that had been hidden deep inside her mind from the very moment of her birth. _

"_Your Chosen" _

"…_My Princess…" he completed and his voice now echoed murderously loud inside her head, making her gasp loudly at the unexpected title he had so generously granted her. All trace of hesitation was viciously annihilated when her hand covered his, squeezing lightly his fingers with her own. _

_Before giving his words the needed time to sink in, he gently twisted her into his arms, and, when she finally faced him, the entire universe came crumbling down her head, as a choking sensation of déjà vu washed over her, causing her to bite her lips hard…He was breathtaking…._

"_Have we met….before?"_

"_Apart from your dreams?" he inquired, slowly tilting her chin up with his index._

_She nodded, her cheeks instantly flushing red at that very intimate contact._

_He just shook his head at her incorrect presumption. _

"_Are you sure?" she insisted, casting him a puzzled glance._

_A courteous smile appeared on his perfect visage as he cocked his head slightly to the side, his dark amber eyes now glued to her tantalizing, coral red lips…_

"_The moment I leave this place, you will forget everything about having met me, do you understand? Your every memory of me will vanish as if it had never existed, and you are not to utter my name until the day the Fates have ordained you to do so.."_

_In some sort of response, her tiny palms caressed his face, as if wanting to check if he was real and if he wasn't only a figment of her wild, puerile imagination._

"_I don't want to forget you…." she broke, despair in her eyes._

"_You have to…..There's a time for everything, and you're still too young to join me." he apologetically whispered, without breaking their gaze. _

"_But how will I know who you are if I forget you?" she questioned, visible disappointment darkening the limpid surface of her azure moons._

"_How did you know who I was, just now?"_

"_I didn't…..I just felt it…."_

"_See? There's an answer to everything…."he said, briefly touching her lips with his own in a tender, innocent kiss…_

"_Why do you have to leave?"_

"_I shouldn't have come in the first place…But you called me….Let's say I couldn't resist the longing in your voice…."_

**XXX**

The Warrior Princess's eyes fluttered open, her entire body traumatized by the distinct impression that she was drowning, only to discover Ares standing right there in front of her, a discreet smile playing on his lips.

"Was that real?! Did that really happen? " she exclaimed, searching his eyes for an answer.

"You tell me. Did it feel real?"

"Cut the crap and answer me!"

"I'm afraid you're playing the wrong game. You'll have to wait for the next round for that…." the God teased, smirking at that obvious mixture of frustration and anger washing over her. He was damn good when it came to getting on her nerves.

By the time she finally found a right reply for him, he was already shuffling the cards, cunningly robbing her the chance of a sarcastic comeback by throwing part of the deck at her feet and thus efficiently diverting her attention from whatever had happened before.

" Be a dear and don't go losing this time too, ok? I'd be delighted to have some real competition for once" he remarked, and as funny as his line was supposed to be, the Warrior Princess could distinctly perceive the warning hidden behind those words.

She cleared her throat before taking the cards. She was nervous.

"Three fours Baby, just for you!"

She rolled her eyes of course, at the energy he had put in that exclamation. She couldn't help thinking just how much satisfaction smacking him a couple of times, could bring her.

" Always so generous. A four. " she replied, her brain still strongly connected to those unbelievably real images that had unfolded throughout her chaotic mind just before.

"A five. "

"Three fives…"she announced, her blue eyes glittering an impatience that she was forcing to keep under control.

"A six." he casually responded, glancing imperceptibly at her visibly more relaxed body. She had obviously managed to lock away-at least for awhile- that tsunami of feelings that the memory of their first encounter had generated inside her heart.

"Two sixes"

"And another one."

"Two sevens" he changed, looking immediately up at her, hoping to notice something out of the ordinary on her perfectly serene visage, and despite of the fact that nothing appeared to betray her confidence, his sixth sense told him otherwise.

"Two sevens" she voiced, fierce determination and honesty reverberation from her every gesture.

"You're bluffing" he called, taking his chances…

Sadly, this time he was wrong, for she had spoken the truth and the two fours shining under the moonlight were all the proof she needed in order to give him a challenge to make his ego crumble like a sandcastle, at her feet.

"**Some real competition** was it you said, again?" she emphasized, rubbing his nose into it.

He laughed lightly at her childish grudge while adding the already played cards to his deck.

" Something along that line, yeah. So….are you going to punish me or what?" he sexily inquired, watching her gazing musingly towards the dying fire. Once again, a snap of his fingers was enough for the flames to triple in power and size.

Her face twisted in disgust at his sheer arrogance. He was one cocky specimen, that was for sure….

" I want you to show me all the women you've fucked while we were still together" she demanded, adamant about deleting from her mind all those hard to cope with images he had cleverly showed her just before- and which could either have a grain of truth in them or, which, on the contrary could be nothing but lies- a bitter decision that she was sure she would come to regret afterwards, but one that she felt like she needed to take if she wanted to save her soul from falling into that deep abyss of delusions he had created especially for her.

"Still interested in the subject? I must say Xena, I'm flattered…**.Stunned**, but flattered. I wouldn't have suspected- not in a million years- that the mere mention of two of my past flames would generate such a powerful tornado of jealousy in you as to want to know everything there is to know about my sex life…." he cuttingly retorted, his eyes flashing with satisfaction at what he had managed to accomplish, without even putting too much effort into it.

" If all your cheap talk was meant to make me change my mind, I proudly inform you that it didn't work. "

"It **wasn't.** " he made sure to highlight, staring back with a look to rival her stubborn determination to free her heart from his invisible chains. " Just wanted to spare you the unnecessary pain those images might cause…Mortals are quite **sensitive** when it comes to betrayal…."

" Yeah well…betrayal is a** sensitive** subject…As far as I know, it touches mortals and **Gods** alike…." she detachedly answered back, acting as if his previous line hadn't felt like an arrow to the heart.

" …But the way we react to it is quite different though…" , he replied, obviously wanting to underline that it was easier for an immortal to move on after such an unhappy event than it was for the rest of the dying world.

She just smirked at his useless attempts to avoid showing her what she had requested to see.

In response, she just made herself a bit more comfortable, leaning back upon her elbows and throwing her head back while patiently waiting for him to comply.

"Fine….if you insist" he said, waving his hand to open up a portal.

Her body instantly tensed at the images that followed.

_They were at some party, and glancing around , she quickly remembered that it was one of Aphrodite's silly, lavishing banquets during which, besides a lot of drinking, the guests were also supposed to fuck wild. _

_Dead beat after an exhausting campaign in the west of Greece, and after a long, endless day of quarreling with her Generals, a stupid party was the last thing that the Warrior Princess had been planning to attend, but to her boundless exasperation, the bored War God had refused to shut up about it until she agreed to join him…..so there she was, glaring around the room, visible revulsion painted on her otherwise unimpressed face. She simply hated orgies and everything associated to the idea. _

_It didn't take long until, completely fascinated by the naked dancers, the stimulating melodies playing on the background, and all in all by the fiery atmosphere, the War God began drinking cup after cup of spicy, Bacchic, mind clouding wine….Soon, he was paying more attention to his Sister's gorgeous priestesses than he was paying to his precious protégée. In spite of his utter nonchalance though, he felt like it was the perfect moment to snap, when, wanting to serve himself another cup of sweet tasting liquid, Xena tried to stop him. To make a long story short, he ended up pushing her brutally back on the sofa, to her immeasurable revolt. _

_Next thing he knew, he was throwing the cup at her while she was furiously rushing towards the door, cursing his name and the day the Fates had decided that they should meet. _

…_By the time she left the temple, Ares was already licking some other brunette's nipples, passionately tearing off the golden bikini she was wearing, making sure to bathe her in wine before he finally plunged his cock deep inside her, fucking her hard on the table, not caring less about the fact that his unusual savagery had made a circle of curious eyes form around the passionate couple…_

_Seven hours later, at sunrise, he was still fast asleep, sharing the Love Goddess' comfy couch with another three lucky women that had had the privilege of enjoying the War God's legendary shaft. _

"An innocent mistake…" he muttered once the portal closed, gazing guiltily in the direction of the fire.

"Innocent indeed…." she ironically retorted, in a hushed, whispered voice.

" What do you want me to say, Xena? I'm no saint….I did things I wish I hadn't done….But that was a time error…It happened once, that's all…..Now if you really want to turn that into a reason to get me out of your heart, that's your call…"

"You stopped being in my heart a long time ago…." she hissed, but the previous concern painted on his face only morphed into a sly, vicious smile.

" If you say so…. "

"An eight" she broke his ranting, silently reminding herself that she really needed to win that round or it was game over, and all her efforts would have been in vain- casting aside all thoughts about twisting his arm to reveal some more mishaps.

" An eight" he replied with a frown.

" Two more"

"A nine"

"Two nines." she said, mentally congratulating herself for the perfectly told lie that he had failed to notice.

" One more…"

"A ten. "

"A ten " he continued, briefly scanning his cards.

"You're bluffing…" she remarked in a cold voice, praying to all living Gods that she wasn't wrong.

"Are you sure?" he grimly questioned, his gaze turning suddenly harsher, and she couldn't have ignored that weird sensation of her bones filling with ice not even if she had wanted it to.

She refused to play his mind game though. She just flipped the last card over and her heart finally began beating normally again the instant she saw that she had won.

"Yeah, you can breathe now…" he pungently observed, noticing that her chest had stopped rising and falling during the last thirty seconds or so." You can also sing something to celebrate your little victory…" he continued, accent thick and tone terse.

" Why don't **you **sing something, if you're such a loyal fan of artistic expression?" she retorted, finally throwing the rest of her cards between them. There was no reason for her to hold them any longer, anyway.

He just cast her a puzzled glance for a couple of moments, while probably weighing the chances he had of avoiding such demeaning task.

" I'm not really the musical type….I do lack a musical ear, you know….So I'd rather leave that to you..."

"That's too bad, cause you're gonna sing anyway…" she insisted, excited that she had finally found something to really embarrass him with. "I do suggest a song to mach the romantic nature in you…" she mocked, her eyes sparkling with mischief, while her hand patted him –in false compassion- on the shoulder.

"O…k…." the God answered, gazing pensively towards the sky, as if looking for inspiration- an expression of utter disbelief to the fact that he had just lost the round, still present on his statuesque features.

Soon, surpassing all expectations- and definitely before Xena got the chance to make some more fun at him- on a voice as soft as the night breeze, Ares began singing the lyrics of a song that made the Warrior Princess gasp in surprise...It was the same song that she had sung at her brother's burial…and at every burial afterwards- the Amazon song of the dead…

_**Awe awe nassry ale khan **_

_**Todo noraban amay noooooo…**_

_**Nooooo awe awena sri ale khan,**_

_**Todo noraban a my**_ _**no.**_

_**Rabia e nomia veretan - khade e khade na mayn…**_

…..A surprise that she uselessly tried to hide with a somewhat hysterical laughter and a very uncalled for line, the moment the God ended the last note….

"Who died?" she questioned, struggling to keep a mocking grin on her lips.

He didn't answer….Instead, he kept looking into the flames…That sure beat looking into her ice cold eyes.

Seconds later, an inaudible sigh escaped the War God's lips…he shouldn't have allowed things to get out of his hands like that…Instead of winning her heart back like he had initially intended, he only managed to push her further away from him….His plan of having her love him again, was screaming failure.


	5. Fog

********I'm back guys! ********

"This time, you are to do the heavy work…" the War God finally concluded, throwing her the rest of the deck, adamant about putting an end already to that humiliating moment she had forced him to go through….Singing was definitely not one of his strong points-or so he believed- and the acid in her voice only managed to make him feel even more lame than he already did.

"Gladly" she answered in a neutral tone, the triumphant smile on her lips reminding him pretty well though who was the loser and who was the winner of that round. "Here you go." she added a minute later, placing a couple of cards, face down in front of him.

He picked them all up, not really impressed with the surprisingly good hand he was holding. Her indifference and animosity had successfully ruined his good humor way too much to allow himself to feel any kind of satisfaction in such silly thing, any more….

Xena on the other hand, was roughly fighting the urge to vocally curse her bad luck while staring in disappointment at the alarmingly low cards Fortuna had mockingly sent her.

" You don't look too happy" the God finally remarked, a combination of sympathy and confusion flitting through his eyes.

"Neither do you…. " she cuttingly observed, wondering why in the world he wasn't pleased with the fact that he was in a considerably more favorable position than she was.

He tried to smirk at her silent, questioning glance, but he failed. A look of crushing disillusion came to take its place instead, and despite herself, the Warrior Princess couldn't help thinking that she hated seeing him like that.

" So….truth telling time, huh?" she inquired, wanting to animate the atmosphere a bit.

Just like an upset, stubborn little boy, Ares kept arranging his cards, rudely ignoring her , an obvious pout indirectly letting the universe know just how low spirited her behavior had gotten him.

" …How many questions do we have to answer, again?" she pushed, a drop of regret washing over her heart.

" Three…" he absently replied this time, but somehow, he couldn't resist looking at her, and when his gaze met hers, that lightening fast connection that was always present whenever they were face to face, overwhelmed his senses, making him feel even worse than before…He immediately blinked and looked away, feigning to be more preoccupied with selecting his cards than with any other temporary distraction.

Xena gulped uncomfortably, currently mad at her for having allowed herself to give him such power over her soul as to be able to make her feel guilty for having justly trampled over his stupid feelings …..The Bastard more than deserved whatever she had in store for him!

" An ace" she started, thoughtfully throwing the card face down.

Silence hung between them while he looked for the appropriate cards amongst the one he was holding.

"Two aces"

"And another one"

" A two "

" Three twos " he added, with a cynical smile, as if he knew that she had lied about that previous card. His amber brown eyes weren't smiling though.

" A three"

" Two more. "

She wrinkled her brow and took her time to analyze his serious figure, chewing at her bottom lip for a moment while mentally weighing the pros and cons of calling his bluff, almost certain that he had been lying….An invisible forced pushed the words back down her throat though….She was still hanging by a thread…She couldn't afford any risks.

"Three fours"

Without a word, he turned the cards face up, and when he saw that the Fates had smiled down on him , he just popped the question, without waiting for her to absorb the shock.

"You always push me away…Always…you're always making up excuses to shut the doors of your heart in my face…Just how long do you think I'll keep chasing after you like a lunatic?"

His voice was hoarse and full of pain, and hearing him, Xena could feel her stomach drop like an archer's missing his target when his life depended on it.

It was a particularly steely reproach, the force of which was meant to physically slap her.

" I've never asked you to **chase **after me. It's not my fault that you have no better hobby than to follow me around like a sick puppy wherever I go! Plus….you can always find some other Penthesilea or Aphrodite to take care of your wants and needs " she barked, her heart sinking at the sound of her own comment.

As her line ended, Ares paused a bit, drilling her with his burning gaze, while seriously contemplating the possibility of cursing her name once and for all, and simply vanishing from her life…. forever.

"Could you live without me?"

Fighting a sliver of panic that she wished she hadn't felt, the Warrior Princess stood her ground.

" You're not irreplaceable, Ares. No one is…." she let him know, in a strangled enough voice to betray her true feelings.

"I didn't ask you if I was irreplaceable…"

" What do you want me to say? That I wouldn't want anything more than to free myself from you?!" she cut, her voice as loud as thunder.

The God's lips twitched, and his entire body ached at the contact with her poisonous words…..He stroked his furrowed brows, pressing hard at the temples in the vain attempt to make the hammering in his head stop for at least one blessed second.

" Do you mean that?" he asked, trying to look rather curious than absolutely devastated. To Xena's boundless surprise, he did…The mask that he was actually displaying, was one of utter indifference.

It took her all her strength to repress the impulse of throwing a savage **YES **in his face, just for the sake of seeing him crushed in pain- an amazing opportunity to get even for the whole Penthesilea and Aphrodite stunt he had pulled on her a few hours earlier.

" Is this one of the questions you wanted to ask me? " she said, trying to sound cocky, a devilish grin curling her mouth.

He quickly did the math. Indeed, he had one question left, and damn, it was not on the list…..

" Yes…." he decided, unaware of the fact that she had successfully managed to divert his attention from other important things that she was dead sure he was going to ask her about.

She let out a heavy sigh, before finally shrugging her shoulders. A murmur escaped her lips.

"Sometimes…"

He stared at her, transfixed for a couple of seconds….Was she for real?

" It hurts….being with you, it hurts…." she explained, glancing towards the flames. Somehow, their seductive dance had the ability to relax her, to disconnect her from that inner turmoil she was drowning in.

Ares flinched as something inside him broke. She was literally burning all the bridges for them to be together.

"And what exactly was it that I did, that was so terrible, huh? I wouldn't harm a hair on your head, and you know it, Xena….I'd never…."

Her bitter, ironic gaze stopped his ranting though. He rolled his eyes. He knew exactly what she had meant with that….

"….Attenuating circumstances, ok? ….…" he made sure to mention, subtly reminding her that **she **had been the one who had screwed things up on that occasion, in the first place….

Hercules….forever a dark shadow in their intricate past…

" I wasn't talking about physical violence , anyway" she stated, clenching her teeth at the wave of memories violently assaulting her. "With you it's a constant struggle, Ares…An endless fight with myself and with the darkness in you….."

"Come on Xena…It's not like I'm Dahok, for Zeus' sake….You're talking about me as if I were the worst monster on the face of the planet….." he firmly protested, casting her an accusing glare.

"You're worse…." she whispered in a trembling voice.

"I'm worse? Why? Because you have no feelings for Dahok? "

She didn't answer. Instead, she kept looking into the flames. Something inside her was screaming at her not to answer that…..

"That's a pretty interesting line of thought….." he filled in the blanks for her.

"Three fives" she said, completely ignoring his observation. She had said more than enough, anyway.

" Another one" he replied, wondering what on earth could he do to throw her off balance and force her to leave that mask aside…She was driving him crazy with her coldness…

" Two sixes"

"Two more" he continued, playing his game to perfection.

"A seven"

"A sevens it is"….

"You're bluffing…." she accused, leaning forward to check his cards, sensing his falseness. She was right…..It was her turn to torment him, and she was quite anxious to make him confess a couple of things, too….

" So, do tell me….That sequence I saw from my childhood…..was it true? " she asked, her stomach instantly tightening at the possibility, and despite her casual tone, on the inside, an insatiable curiosity to find out the truth was burning her guts.

He had to laugh at her cheap theatrality.

" Yes, it was. "

"And…why did you make me forget all about you being there?"

That was a detail she had failed to understand from the very beginning.

" I couldn't anticipate how the other Gods would react at the idea of me finally having a Chosen….For all that I knew, some of them could have jumped at the opportunity of getting even . Till this very day, I haven't been voted Mr. Popularity up on Olympus as you well know…..Plus, they were more than aware that by choosing a mortal to serve me, my powers will automatically amplify a thousand fold, and let me just say that they weren't thrilled about the perspective. To top it all, as you very accurately proved it, they had every reason in the universe to be worried about our little alliance…." he smirked, pride gleaming in his eyes like stardust.

Xena made a small sound of dissatisfaction at his comment , but she couldn't hide fast enough the same amount of pride illuminating her face. He had always known how to make her feel appreciated and despite the fact that she hated being reminded what an incredibly good killer she was, he had this natural ability to make her think highly of herself even when it came to this bloody department.

" I don't serve you…." she barked-just for the sake of saying something- partially irritated by the term he had used to describe their relationship.

" Fine…to **worship** me…." he corrected, with a chuckle.

She simply rolled his eyes at him, aware of the fact that such type of confrontation wasn't going anywhere….

"What?" he inquired, visibly amused by her reaction. "You** are **my Chosen. Chosens are supposed to **obey and serve.** Just because you're an **untamed harpy** doesn't make it any different."

Her cheeks flared up immediately and her eyes darkened with rage, and she was ready to spit another dose of venom from her lips-a lethal one this time- when, casting him a murderous gaze she noticed that unmistakable shade of joy he always felt when he was around her, and her heart melted at the sight…..He was right….she was a harpy….

" You should have tried harder to **tame **me…"

A broad smile caressed his perfect visage at the jocular note in her voice, and the Warrior Princess couldn't help herself from staring at his lips….everything about him felt tantalizingly sexy, dangerously dark and forbidden….The perfect combination…..She finally looked away when she realized that her treacherous body was vibrating again at the recent memory of his touch….She couldn't allow it….

"Why did you come, that morning? If you being there was such a tremendous threat, why did you show up? " she launched her third question, breaking their gaze, and trying to regain her composure.

He took a deep breath. Clearing his head after such fiery exchange was a must before offering her an answer….Somehow, when they talked, she always found a way to trick his brain into shutting down all activity that didn't involve studying her eyes and lips….-

"…..and don't tell me it was the longing in my voice that made the big , bad God of War listen to a little girl's plea….." she continued, before he got the chance to answer….

He just flashed her a puzzled look.

" You mean apart from the fact that you were ceaselessly calling my name in your sleep every night?" he questioned, as if that weren't reason enough.

" Yeah, apart from that…." she retorted, narrowing her eyes at him, refusing to believe such nonsense.

" You mortals really have no clue what so ever about what a relationship between a God and his Chosen means, do you? There's really no use in trying to explain it to you…."

" I wasn't your Chosen back then…."

"You were my Chosen since the beginning of time…..way before any of your ancestors got to see the light of day…..The fact that you accepted my offer was but a mere formality…..Things wouldn't have changed between us, no matter what, that is how strong our connection is….."

"That is how thick the chain around my neck is…." she mumbled, completely against the idea of being tied to someone to that extent.

" A **sacred **bound, unbreakable…."

"…by men or immortals alike…." she continued, disgusted by the phrase.

"Do you have** any** idea how much protection does that title alone grant you? "

She rolled her eyes in response at his comment.

"Of course you don't… You have never been able to appreciate …."

"…your endless generosity?" she mockingly asked, on an unbelievably smug tone.

" Everything that I was willing to offer you….."

"I'm not interested in what you have to offer…."

"You keep saying that, but I'm not really convinced about it…." he said with a sigh, wondering for the thousand time that night ,what in Tartarus was he still doing there, by her side. The woman was obviously an iceberg.

"Right….an eight ." she replied, swiftly deciding to abandon their little bantering.

" An eight it is." he complied, cursing himself for the terrible idea of fighting a lost battle.

"Two eights. "

"Another two. "

"A nine…"

"Stop arching your eyebrow when you lie…." he advised, turning her card up.

"I wasn't arching my eyebrow!" she protested, a bit surprised that he had caught her so quickly.

" Yes you were. The left one. …"

Given that she couldn't think about a good enough line to divert his attention from her shameful failure, she just shrugged, stretching her hand for the cards.

" So….I told you all about my old flames….Tell me about yours. How many men possessed the necessary skills to get into your…heart? " the God questioned, genuinely curious about facts and details.

"In my…**heart** or in my…** bed**? "

The God sucked in a deep breath before answering , slightly taken aback by her unexpected bluntness.

" I don't really care about the losers who you have been fucking with…..Most of them are dead, anyway….Quite a long list, come to think about it….a real chore…."

Her eyes widened immediately at the news, as if he had told her about the fall of Troy….

"You don't need to act surprised about it…." he casually said, stubbornly ignoring his ever so experienced brain that was literally screaming at him that he had gone too far …He was playing with fire, and as always, he was going to get burned…

" Are you telling me that you killed my ex lov…."

He mechanically arched a dark eyebrow at that affected note in her voice, briefly considering the possibility of prolonging the suspense. Her revolted glare though convinced him to lie about his any implication in such demeaning affair.

" Relax….it was a joke, Xena…"

" It better be, cause if I ever find out that you had anything to do with ….."

" As I said, chill….Plus, they're dead, it doesn't matter who did the job, anyway…" he laughed, amused by that striking seriousness displayed on her face.

She parted her lips to send him straight to Hades, but once again, the instant she saw that utter happiness radiating from his face , she gave up any similar attempt..

"I was quite fond of Marcus….and Ulysses…."

"**Fond of**, huh?" he asked, visibly uncomfortable with the term she had decided to use in order to describe her relationship with those worthless mortals.

Silence was all he got in return, so he decided to push some more in order to find out what he really wanted to know.

"…..So let me get this straight….a no name and a rotten sailor who couldn't tell the East from the West- only good at bending a bow- are on top of your list?! "

He grinned widely of course, when she took the bait.

"Unlike you, Marcus was a good, honorable man, with a kind heart **and** morals! Whereas for Ulysses, he was the type that knew** exactly** what he wanted and **how** to get it, very much aware of the fact that when you love somebody, you also need to **give back **something not only to receive…"

" What a touching description! Why, I swear, for a moment I almost forgot that your boy toy was nothing but a crappy, second hand soldier, making a living out of sneaking some of Mezentius' weapons out of the city of Tracus, as for the wannabe king, he was as smart as a drunk Corinthian bicth during a Bacchic festival, having no other interesting things to do but fuck everything that had a hole. From Circe to Calypso and back, he didn't miss one sea nymph, that I tell you!"

" My, my Ares…. Are you sure it was Ulysses you were describing just now? It sure sounded like your own moral portrait…" she cunningly retorted, hiding her anger to perfection.

" Pretty positive , yeah…." he confirmed. " And uh….where exactly does the barbarian fit in your intricate love life?"

The God's voice was harsh, but not at all as stingy and cold as he had meant it to be.

She blinked in confusion at his question.

" **Solan's** father…." he clarified, making sure to emphasize the boy's name.

" Does it still bother you? That I decided to have a child with someone that wasn't you?" she brazenly asked, biting her lower lip after letting the line escape her mouth, and unwillingly, a tremor shook her from head to toes the minute her eyes met his deadly glare.

When he spoke though, his voice was way calmer than she had anticipated it.

" I'm afraid you'll need to keep that question in mind for later. It's my turn to do the asking. "

Xena gazed at him pensively for a couple of seconds, then forced some barely audible words out her mouth.

" I needed his army, he wanted a child…..It was a fair trade…."

"Was that all there was to it?" he insisted.

"In the beginning, yes…." she completed, without actually giving away anything of great importance about her long, painful love story with Borias….

"In the beginning….." he echoed, asking for more.

" Your turn. " she ended, pointing towards the cards he was holding, putting an end to his interrogatory.

"Three tens"

"One more."

"Four sevens"

" A king"

"Two kings!" the God exclaimed, throwing two cards in front of her, glancing briefly at her.

"And another one. "

"Where there's a kind there's also a queen…" he continued, silently wondering who would get to win that round.

"Two queens…." Xena subtly bit, hinting at his Amazon lover and at the Love Goddess.

" No….just one…" he contradicted, fixing her with his hypnotic, brown moons, and in less than a blink, the Warrior Princess could feel a strange warmth caressing her now bare shoulders and her left cheek….

For what it felt like forever, she closed her eyes, unable to resist that overwhelming sensation of protection taking over her, and then, as fast as she gave in, she shook her head, adamant about escaping his trap.

"You're bluffing!" she accused, jumping at the opportunity of catching him red-handed….Needless to say, she wasn't surprised when she discovered a six instead of a queen….

"Who would have guessed that you're such a cheater?" she jokingly remarked, but it was obvious that she wasn't talking about their card game.

"Or that you're such a player? ….We're made for each other…just like a hammer for an anvil…Too bad that you constantly refuse to acknowledge something that has always been there…."

"According to you."

"According to the blood running faster through your veins each time I'm near you…"

'That's just **rage,** Ares" she replied, with a cattish smirk that made him burst into a heartful laughter.

" Ok, have it your way…."

"First question…." she solemnly announced, interrupting their " heart to heart" conversation.

"Hit me…" he replied, on equally solemn tonality.

" Don't tempt me…" came the answer that only made him chuckle again. He had always appreciated her sense of humor….Dark humor, just like his….

" Something has always intrigued me…. " she hesitantly started.

" What is that?" he curiously asked, eager to find out what was it that aroused her interest to that extent.

" Well….let's see….you hate Gabrielle with a passion, you always go on and on about putting her head up on a spike, and still, you repeatedly saved her life…..I must admit, I was beyond stunned when you showed up and gave me the antidote for that poisoned arrow when the Persians attacked , back at Tripolis…."

Another round of hysterical laughter followed.

"What's so funny?" she spat, irritated by his reaction, frustration rippling through her.

" Your ridiculous insinuation that I could ever** hate** a mortal. You see, Xena, hate is a very powerful emotion. You need to actually consider someone your equal, or at least close to your status in order to hate them….For instance I hate Athena, I hate Zeus, Tartarus, I even hate you from time to time, but I do **not** hate that Battling Goose…. I just despise her…She as annoying as Hades….That's a totally different ball game, if you know what I mean."

"That doesn't answer my question though….Why save her?" she pushed, reluctantly searching for his gaze, forcing his hand to tell the truth.

His answer was of an outraging simplicity.

" She's fun to torment.

"Is that all?"

" I have no sexual interest in her if that's what you're afraid of…**She's not my type**…." he emphasized, aware of the fact that she was going to blow like a volcano at his insinuation.

" Who said anything about me worrying about you showing any kind of interest in Gabrielle?! Plus, I'd make sure I leave you cockless before getting anywhere near her!" she growled, to his ultimate satisfaction.

"As I said, no need to feel jealous about it….There's plenty of this **strawberry candy** for everyone to enjoy…." he said pointing towards his shaft.

"I'm not jealous!" she exclaimed, angrily throwing a few blades of torn grass in his face.

"You do look jealous. By Hades, you're the most jealous woman I have ever met in my life!" he remarked, adding some more fuel to the fire, and she was right about to explode in revolt ,when she suddenly stopped, realizing that she had fallen straight into his trap.

" You're a Bastard!"

" And you're absolutely marvelous when you're angry…"

A short pause followed, in which they both analyzed each other's expressions.

" I saved her because I knew she was important to you…..that it would have pained you if she had died…." he murmured, glancing away immediately. "Now can we change the subject? This is humiliating enough as it is…." he pleaded, trying to sketch a smile.

She just gulped nosily, still trying to recover from the shock.

" Sure….." she said, without actually being able to remember what her next question was.

A few more seconds passed until she finally found her words….

" I've never asked you if the rumors are true….do you have children? Is Evander really your son?"

Pensively running his hand through his short hair, he gave her a quick once over, a look of complicity painted on his face.

"Can you keep a secret?" he asked in a low, sexy voice.

"Keeping secrets is my specialty…."she rushed to specify.

" For every living and breathing creature on the face of the planet, with the exception of Hercules and Nemesis and Zeus, he is my child, yes. "

Xena winced. Up to then, she was more than certain that the boy was indeed his. Hercules himself had confirmed it to her on one occasion.

" But he…..isn't…." she stated, an indirect question that he took his time to answer.

"No…."

She kept looking at him wonderingly, utter curiosity in his eyes.

"Zeus has always had a thing for Nemesis…and according to my loyal informers, Nemesis has always been in love with him…..To make a long story short, one day, Hercules -out of all people- came to me asking for a favor. It so happened that I could use his skills too at that moment, so we made a deal. While I had to play the possessive dad routine, convincing all Olympus, and mostly Hera that the child was mine, Hercules had do something for me, in return. "

"They feared Hera's wrath…" the Warrior Princess concluded, a bit surprised about that strange turn of events.

" Mommy dear is a bit crazy when it comes to Zeus' infidelities. Can't blame her. The old man has been cheating on her for millennia on end…."

"What did Hercules have to do for you….?"

"That's another story." he answered, trying to change her mind on making him confess that.

" I still have one question to ask. Tell me….What was the other half of the deal about?" she insisted, unable to shake the feeling that he was hiding something big…

For a split second, the God considered lying to her….It wasn't something he really wanted to share with her. When his lips parted though, the truth came rolling from his tongue….

" I asked him to accidentally bump into you while you and your pesky sidekick were off saving Prometheus…."

Xena's heart skipped a beat.

"What? Why would you do that?"

"Let's see….you were planning to free one of the Titans….The **Titans** as in **the eternal enemies of the Olympians, **Titans? Zeus would have pulverized you, Xena….He couldn't care less about the fact that you were the Chosen of War- your plan was doomed from the start and you didn't have the slightest clue about it…..But, with his precious son there, things were bound to be a bit different…I was positive he wouldn't risk hurting him while trying to kill you, so uh…..Jerkules' presence there made a good insurance policy…."

The Warrior Princess' jaw dropped….He had done that to protect her….unless he was lying.

"Can Hercules confirm that?"

He gave her a slight nod while she kept staring at him in disbelief….Had she been that wrong about him…..? Had she been that busy burying her love for him that she had forgotten how much he loved her, and how much he was willing to risk for her? Was the fog clouding her brain that thick?!

"Thank you…" she whispered, covering his hand with her own.

In response, he took it to her lips and placed a gentle kiss on the surface of her smooth, stain like skin.


	6. An eternity of loneliness

" So….are you going to let me in on your little secret tonight?" the War God jokingly questioned, visibly resigned to the fact that he had lost yet another round.

"What little secret ?" she asked, finally allowing herself to smile at that incontestable new victory.

" Where did you learn to play cards like that?" he continued, while casually gathering the rest of the cards still lying between them..

"Can't a girl keep a few secrets for herself?" she inquired, without removing her flirtatious, azure eyes from his bemused face.

He instantly felt his body react at the magnetic notes in her voice.

" Well…this little girl has a sack full of secrets to hold on to….Still…maybe you'd like to share this one with me…" he insisted, curling the words through his lips.

" It's quite obvious, actually…." she began, a bit intrigued about the fact that she had heard him suck in a sharp breath " While I was commanding your army, there weren't many possibilities of entertainment after a long day's battle….And given that all the rest of the soldiers were spending their precious spare time playing cards, I had to learn…It was a good chance for us to… **bond**….." she grimaced.

"You mean to** observe** them, to find out the latest gossip…."

"To discover possible traitors...to find out who I could trust and who I had to kill…."

" You sure make Daddy proud, Baby!" the God replied in such a sexy voice that Xena could feel an unprecedented wave of ecstasy ripping through her. She knew better than to allow her mind to get clouded over one single honeyed line though….

"But…" he continued, right before her own response had left her lips. " I do hope that was **not **your **only **form of entertainment back then….As recall, you were with me almost every night…."

" **Almost** every night…" she answered, chuckling implyingly at the hidden meaning in that phrase, and hardly had she finished that smartish observation that his expression visibly darkened at the delicate subtext of her words, a menacing enough glare to make an entire battalion of soldiers run for their lives, meeting her absolutely dazzling blues.

" Gods, I have never fully understood this possessiveness of yours! I don't think I ever will, anyway…" she bit, a faint thread of hysteria rising in her throat, utterly displeased with his macho reaction.

" It's hard to explain…" he simply said, giving her a tired smile, and breaking their gaze one second later.

"Try** impossible**…" she mumbled, on a softer tone that drew Ares' attention immediately, and as much as he wanted to start repeating to her the same old line according to which she was his** property** and that no one was allowed to touch her- not even virtually- he gave up. There was no point in getting on her nerves uselessly now that they were actually talking...I mean really** talking**….

"Killing **everyone **around me out of the sole reason of them being there, is **sick** , Ares"

" You call it sick, I call it** protective**. It's just a matter of lexical preference. Plus, I didn't really kill all living and breathing creatures around you, you're just overreacting…" he emphasized with a broad trickster smile.

Xena rolled her eyes at him, equally bemused by his approach.

"You're right….My horse is still alive….On the other hand, there was my entire third legion that you pulverized in a fit of rage, at least a dozen of my generals- for various reasons- a ridiculous number of soldiers guarding my tent, another uncertain number of randomly selected soldiers for Fates know what unpardonable mistakes, several Roman Magistrates and Consuls - to which ads an entire city-and **many, many** other unlucky peasants inhabiting the villages through which my armies passed….Really I've lost track….."

When her accurate resume ended, Ares' face was gleaming with unveiled satisfaction and delight. He was rather happy to hear that she still remembered those aspects of their extremely fruitful working relationship.

" Well….I'd say you nailed about….half of them…?"

"And you're quite generous with that half, right?" she questioned, aware that there had been many other victims she didn't have a clue about.

" **Quite** generous. " he repeated in a low voice, just to continue his line. " As for my motivation, well, **let's see**…." he started, using her own expression to summarize his idea, making the Warrior Princess shake her head in utter disapproval. She knew him well enough to tell that his so called** motivation** –whatever that might have been- was backend up by nothing but lame excuses meant to bluff his way out of the sticky situation she had created for him.

. "…..That third legion had the nerve to address you disrespectfully, those generals were plotting against you, the men assigned with guarding your tent were peeking at you while you were getting undressed, those randomly selected soldiers were Roman spies, those Magistrates and Consuls had a loose tongue- I kinda lost my temper when one of them called you a **cocksucking cunt…**.I accidentally burnt the entire city along with them …."

"Could I have a glass of wine please? …" Xena interrupted him – a bit out of the blue, really- , wishing she had elegantly avoided the subject in the first place.

" Of course, Princess…" he casually stated, making a goblet of crimson wine appear in her hand, while a similar one materialized in his. He knew she hated drinking alone.

A selection of fruits also appeared in between them .

" Consider it an early breakfast…." he remarked, pointing towards the fruits.

" Burning down the city wasn't really accidental , was it?" she inquired, tossing off half of the cup.

The God just fixed her with his longing amber eyes for a few moments and then humored her with voicing that very obvious answer-she had been eagerly expecting.

"I'm not Nero, Xena. I know what I'm doing. So no, it wasn't . "

"Those people were innocent, Ares….It wasn't their fault that their leaders spoke …."

" The **masses** were the ones who chose their leaders….in order to **represent **them….And they did…" he concluded, filling her now empty goblet with one wave of his hand.

"Where was I? " he carelessly continued " Oh yeah…the **unlucky** peasants….They were indeed unlucky….That's the dark face of War….there are always casualties…Innocent victims that could have been spared….but weren't."

As much as she wanted to lash out at him and once again rain a long list of frustrating reproaches over his arrogant persona, the Warrior Princess couldn't restrain a silly, cartoon like smile, at his very unconvincing rationale.

" I've said it before, and I'll say it now….You're sick…You should be institutionalized."

Ares didn't offer a reply right away, being too busy chewing on some grapes. He loved grapes….In his vision, they went perfectly with the wine. That good tasting liquid was made out of them after all, so….It kinda made sense.

" Sadly, there's no mental institution that can handle me…." he bantered, silently wondering why did she feel the need to drink….It was a very rare sight to see…

"There's a fine one near Pylos….Close to the sea. You'd love it…."

" If you were willing to play doctor, I'd be tempted to accept being locked there for an indefinite period of time…." he suggested, biting his lower lip.

"**Indefinite**, huh?" Xena inquired, arching an eyebrow at his comment. I wonder how will it be like when I get old and grey and…..frighteningly ugly…

Ares's gaze suddenly turned cutting enough to go through steel. His heart cramped with pain, but not precisely at the spectral image she had had the courage to describe...

There was a long moment of silence during which they both continued seeping on their wine, anxious to fill that awkward sensation with something…

" That's a fact, Ares…." she finally spoke. "Mortals do get old….and they die…"

"Don't even go there…." he said, avoiding her gaze, pretending not to feel affected by the iciness in her line.

"Why not? We should both learn to agree to disagree…"

" You do know the answer to that question Xena, there's no use fighting over it, if that's what you're after…" he growled, in an almost beastly manner.

She didn't even flinch though at the thunderous tone of his voice.

" Maybe I can get you to change your mind…" the charmingly uttered words poured from her lips while she closed in the distance between them.

He gently pushed her back, putting a halt to her cunning intentions.

" No way…..that's the only thing I'm not willing to bargain with you…." the God responded, in a dead serious tone.

" It's my life , Ares…." she sharply reminded him, her breath quickening at the implications of his statement.

" And you're my Chosen…..Now and FOREVER. That hasn't changed…."

"It could if you had the slightest decency…."

"Not gonna happen Xena…Now drop it! You are **immortal** whether you like it or not. I couldn't care less about the fact that you prefer to hide behind this clay mask every freaking day…" he yelled, waving his hand at her.

In less than a blink, the Warrior Princess was about ten years younger. She instantly broke the mirror that he had simultaneously materialized in front of her.

"Look at it! " he kept shouting, making the mirror whole again. "This is who you are , and this is who you'll be until the end of time! You'd better get used to it!"

"Well maybe I don't want to get used to it!" she childishly protested through gritted teeth, crushed by his rejection.

"Princess...how many times before did we have the same conversation? Your loved ones will die…Just like they're programmed to die…..Mortals die…as you yourself said it, that's why they're called MORTALS….But you'll get over it….The pain will gradually fade, especially given that you'll get to visit them as often as you want to….You can even move to Tartarus to keep them company if that makes you happy, as long as that means you'll be sticking around for as long as possible…."

"Gee, thanks!" she sneered. "But that's not the problem….I'm well aware that they re going to die….I've even learned to cope with the idea…"

"What can't you cope with then, Xena?"

She just looked away, reluctant about even bringing the subject up for discussion, stretching her hand for a couple of cards that the God had missed.

"Oh no you don't! Speak up! What in the world freaks you so much as to want so badly to get out of this?... To repeatedly push me away each time I try to get one step closer to you, when we both know that you can't simply delete everything that has happened between us up to now, with a snap of your fingers?"

"I don't want to live an eternity…."she whispered, ignoring the cynical smile that seized his lips faster than she got the chance to end her line.

"Why ever not? What wrong with immortality? " he paused a bit " Is it me? Am I really that absent minded that I haven't realized that you stopped loving me? Is that it?" he asked, a questioned that he had been avoiding for years now….He had to know though.

Her heart skipped a bit as she contemplated reality…That was her ticket out of his life for good….She couldn't bare it though…..The words came out of her barely parted lips on their own…

" I couldn't handle it…"

He tensed, a muscle ticking at his jaw.

" Couldn't handle what? Living forever? Trust me, Honey, it's way more fun than it seems…..You'd be perfect for Olympus. Fates know that place needs a woman's touch...Aphrodite has really screwed up with the decoration big time..."

" Living without you for the rest of time…." she murmured, words that echoed painfully in his head.

He just gave her a puzzled look, unable to voice his question.

"The last thing I want is to become a second Hera, Ares….To have to follow your every move, to see you cheat on me with every mortal or Goddess that crosses your path….To get to see you drift away from me more and more, with each passing day...It would be too much….an eternity of loneliness…"

Shock caused any protest to wedge in his throat….


	7. Thorns of love

Her words felt like sharp thorns to the heart, sharp thorns leaving behind crimson drops of blood and death.

"That would never happen, Xena….that would never happen and you know it…." he contradicted, gently caressing her cheek.

"No I don't. **Forever** is a long time…" she bitterly replied, on the tone of a person extremely sure of herself.

" Not long enough. Not for me…"

"It is **for me**…..Just be honest with yourself for once, Ares. There's no way in Tartarus you'd be faithful to one woman for infinity. That's not going to happen. "

" With you, I'd be more than willing to experience it…." he replied, brushing a few loose silken strands from her beautiful face, his voice irresistibly alluring and smooth, obviously having decided that it was high time he pulled out the heavy artillery.

"Yeah well, between **being willing** to do something and **actually doing it,** there's a huge difference. "

He pressed his lips together and analyzed the grimness in her eyes for a brief second…

"Why do you always have to twist my words? **I love you**. There would be no one but you…."

"I bet that's what Zeus told Hera before they got married too..." she whispered in a low, hopeless voice.

"Don't you dare compare me with that old toad, cause we have nothing in common !" he snapped, despite himself.

" You are your father's son, Ares. There will always be some good looking priestess, some fascinating mortal or Goddess to catch your eye, right around the corner. I know you, and as much as you hate to admit it, you know I'm right. I'd end up cursing your name for the rest of eternity, and you'd be cursing mine back while we'd be cheating on each other lout of pure spite, feeling miserable for having chosen a life together…"

" No we wouldn't. " he chuckled , wanting to classically emphasize the ridiculousness of her statement, but he only managed to sound terribly nervous. "We don't have to stoop that low..."

The Warrior Princess sighed.

"You're in denial…."

" How can you even say that? Knowing what we've been through, knowing what I feel for you?" he said, grabbing her arm, and forcefully pulling her even closer than she already was.

"What you feel for me?! I'm not even on your Gods damned list!" she venomously bit, mentally slapping herself for having said that out loud.

" On my list? What list? Wha….. Xena come on! " he blew uncontrollably on a scandalized tone the moment he finally understood where she was coming from. " Of course you're not on the fucking list! As I see things, lumping you, Dite and Penthesilea together would actually mean that I consider you their equal….which you are obviously **not.** You couldn't possibly compare my love for you with the fleeting passion I felt for them or for any other woman for that matter! "

" You sure didn't describe those relationships like some meaningless, **fleeting affairs**…." she replied, her voice broken and full of sadness.

Ares was stunned. He couldn't believe his ears. Did she really mean that?

"Don't tell me you're actually jealous of them…."

"I'm not jealous. I'm just trying to make a point. "

"What point? That you're too much of a coward to take some risks in order to be happy?!"

"That I don't trust you enough, not in the long run! "she yelled her response, frustrated that he didn't show the slightest interest in at least trying to see things from her point of view, not even for one tiny sec.

" Well, I guess you'll just have to learn to deal with this idea too, then…" he dismissively replied, in his old, characteristic macho War God style.

"You're not gonna let this go, are you?"

" No, Hun, sorry. "

"Ares…" she murmured, looking away from him for a split second, failing to notice that the God was way too entranced by the sound of her voice to pay any attention to what she was saying.

"You haven't answered my question yet, by the way. " he cut in" What's left? After all the ups and downs, the cheating the lying, the scheming ….am I still there?" he questioned, moving his hand over to her chest, where her heart was.

"It's not enough…."

"Am I ?" he insisted, searching for her troubled, beryl moons.

"If I tell you you're **not**, will you leave me alone?" she inquired, her alert mind sensing an opportunity.

He made sure to bluntly disappoint her as soon as her line ended, his eyes flickering with playful mischief, in a vain attempt to change the mood.

" Errr…..no"

"What's the point in bothering to ask, then? You always end up doing whatever you feel like, it doesn't matter what I say or what I feel…."

She was obviously not joking.

"It does, actually."

"You sure have a strange way of showing it. " she answered, looking down at her hands, fighting with herself to hold back a tear that had been threatening to fall for quite awhile now….

"Look….I will never give up on you, Xena…**NEVER.** But that doesn't mean that I don't give a damn about your feelings." he uselessly tried to reason with her.

"Gods you can be such an arrogant Bastard at times! You'll tear my heart apart…. bit by bit, Ares. I'll end up hating you with a passion. You're just too cocky to admit I'm right. " she quietly concluded, barely above a whisper,

"Just give me one chance to prove you wrong. One chance , Xena…it's all I'm asking…."

"I am…..**give up on me**…That's the chance I'm offering. Take it…." she said after a long pause, a bit tired to keep repeating the same thing over and over again.

" What?"

"You know the old saying….."

"What ? If you love her, let her go?"

His heart began thudding in his chest at the mere thought of their little chit chat ever turning real.

" If she comes back she's yours forever….." she challengingly added.

" Do you have ANY idea what effect will breaking our bound have? " he started.

"And I mean physical effects, Princess…for **both** of us…You will be trashing in pain. **Excruciating** pain that not even the wildest human mind could imagine….horrible suffering that no mortal or immortal hands will be able to alleviate. You'll be begging to all the Gods of Olympus to end your life, and there will be no one willing to answer your prayers. "

"…._Tears of blood will be falling from your eyes, and an abyss of demonic torment will take over your heart. You will be imploring for Death and Death will not hear your voice, for your voice will be long wasted in screams of agony that no being flying in the skies or walking the Earth has ever heard before_…." Xena calmly continued as if she weren't speaking about some life threatening situation but about her daily chore… "I know. I was there when we took those vows, remember?"

"I do. You seem to have misunderstood the concept of **excruciating **in this context, though.**" ** he remarked, every muscle in his body tensing at the image forming before his eyes.

"I haven't…. I just chose to ignore it." she quickly responded.

"How wise of you. " he mocked, rolling his eyes at her superfluity.

"I'm not afraid of pain…"

"That's only because you haven't experienced pain yet…**.Real** pain….You're unlikely to survive such ordeal Xena. Plus….how many days was it supposed to last, again?"

" Seven….?"

"**Seven**…" he repeated, his gaze drilling into hers.

" Is the Big Bad God of war scared of a bit of pain? Is that it?"

"No. I'm scared of losing you….for good…..I'm terrified about the thought of hearing you scream my name , without being able to come to you, of the image of you slowly dying and not being allowed to ease your pain…."

Xena's heart skipped a beat at the sound of his words. She literally felt her world spinning out from under her feet as the meaning of his line sank in, and it took everything she had to hold it together. She let out a sharp gasp before answering.

" I'll live." she hardly forced herself to utter, no trace of conviction in her voice.

" I'm not sure you will. Tartarus, I'm not sure** I** will….."

" Can you at least consider it? I don't want an answer right away….Just …just think about it. ..Ares, **please**…."

Once again, she couldn't believe what she was doing…almost begging for him to do what she wanted.

"Is it that important to you…..?" he pensively questioned, without really expecting an answer.

"Yes…." she said, loud and clear, no trace of doubt or hesitation in her voice.

"Well how about me, Xena? Am I not important to you? Don't I count…at all?" he asked, his voice empty.

The way he said that and the look in his eyes, made her soul feel as heavy as a millstone.

"Don't say that…..Of course you do….It's just that…."

"They don't love you like I do….Gabrielle, your mother, your friends….They could all live without you, but I can't. Why can't you see that? You're the only thing that matters to me in this whole damned world…. "

"If that's true….if I matter to you** that** much, then do what I asked….." she pleaded one last time, a single, unchecked tear striping her flawless face.


	8. Pain Land

***** I FIGURED I DIDN'T KEEP YOU PEOPLE WAITING TOO LONG IN ORDER TO FIND OUT WHAT OUR CHARACTERS WERE UP TO- SO ENJOY THE UPDATE. A HUGE THANK YOU TO ALL THE REVIEWERS. *** **

"…**_If you love me you'll do it_**… .Talking about the perfect clichés. Lucky for you, my precious Warrior Princess, I'm not that easily impressed….And before you start screaming in my face that you hate my guts, let me just tell you that I'm doing it all out of that boundless yet highly unappreciated love for you….No trace of egomania there, what so ever…." the God said with a sigh, batting playfully his eyelashes at her. " Don't feel too bad about it though. Just for the sake of not completely and irremediably demolishing the myth according to which I can never refuse my ultimately sexy Chosen –no matter what she asks of me- I'm willing to break my own rules **and** cut you a little deal…."

"You and your deals" she hissed, aware of the fact that he was elegantly blowing away all her chances at freedom.

" You'll be pleased with my offer, I promise." he quickly intervened, not wanting to demoralize her even more. " As you seem extremely eager to severe our bond, I'd be more than happy to show you what you will be missing…..A vision from an alternative future, in which somehow- to my utter surprise- you proved to be a bit more determined that I was, and in which- probably out of revolt alone- I went along with your unfathomable request….

Her jaw tightened and an infuriated smirk appeared on her face, but still, she couldn't help arching a sharp eyebrow at his suggestion . Ares took that as a subtle sign to go on presenting his impossible to refuse idea.

" Aaaand that's not all…The best is yet to come! As part of my special offer for you, I'm even willing to make the entire projection unfold entirely in that pretty little head of yours. You'll be basically enjoying the full 3D pack, in a completely unique manner….Extreme physical pain and high quality soul wrenching moments included, …."

" The 3D pack?" she questioned, narrowing his eyes at him.

"Don't mind me. That's futuristic talk, Baby. I got carried away. But don't worry though, you'll get there….in about 2000 years. …" he subtly patronized, flashing her a bright, toothy grin.

" You're quite the salesman. " she replied, making no comments about the pungent irony in his line "And uh… what exactly is it that you want in return? Do I need to sell my soul or something? " she bit, cocking her head to the side.

" Sadly, you can't do that twice, now, can you? You've already done it when you pledged yourself to me…**.But** let's not dwell on the past too much….No…actually what I want is for you to spend by my side to an equal amount of days for every day of ordeal I 've just rescued you from…." he enthusiastically announced, snapping his fingers and creating a couple of sparks in the air, to Xena's visible disinterest.

"Seven days of…..?"

"Endless orgy….sex , wine , belly dancing, more sex….."

When she just gave him her **"never gonna happen"** look he simply adjusted his answer to something decent enough for her to accept.

" Right….go ahead and spoil all the fun for me…Of whatever we feel like doing, ok?"

"Of whatever **you **feel like doing, was it again?"

"Oh, don't be mean! I'll make it worth your while, pinky swear! …..No tying you to the bed and fucking you to oblivion unless you want me too…. "

"You're such a jerk!" she said, shaking her head after drilling him with her steely gaze.

"Why do women always say that…?" the God muttered to himself, suddenly recalling at least another thousand or so identically phrased remarks.

"Because it's true!" the Warrior Princess didn't miss the opportunity to confirm, silently wondering if there was anything in the world that could actually get to him.

" So….what do you say?" Ares asked after a short pause, trying to keep that lively note in his voice. " You gotta admit it, it's a small price to pay in order to put your mind at rest once and for all….you won't get a fairer deal elsewhere…" he concluded, as if there was actually anyone as reckless as he was out there, willing to take such risks.

" Four days " she tried to negotiate.

" Six " he firmly suggested.

"Five "

" Perfect. Five it is. You got yourself a deal !" he exclaimed, that irritating trademark grin of his extending from one ear to the other, quite proud with what he had accomplished that night. " Now…what do you say?" he continued on the voice of a father struggling to educate his child.

She just gave him a puzzled enough glance to make him laugh at her reaction.

"Read my lips: **thank you, Ares**….."

She had to sneer at his outrageous demand. In response, she just threw some more grass blades in his face, which he pushed away with not as much discontent as she would have love to see painted on his features. .

"No rush….You'll thank me anyway once you come to your senses.! Ok….What are we waiting for? Let's do this. Are you ready?"

"Yes…" she murmured, not really knowing what she gad gotten herself into.

" Good….Before you close your eyes, now, we'll need to come up with a safe word. Given that you're the ultimate sadomasochistic female I've met in my entire godly existence –and Zeus knows that up to now it hasn't been a short one- I might just mistaken your screams of pain with the ones of pleasure…That won't help you much when it comes to me bringing you back…"

"Chakram "she answered, without giving the word too much thought.

"It's a good thing you didn't choose a whip….Ok, here we go. Eyes shut…anaaand, enjoy your ride in Pain Land, Princess….."

**XXX **

In a split second, the Warrior Princess found herself wandering about in what she was somehow certain to be the gloomy temple of the Fates, and to her unspeakable horror, as she reached the main hall, she realized that she was stuck- up to her knees- in something resembling very much to mud, through which hundreds of snakes were rapidly making their way without actually touching her….Not yet anyway….

She distressfully cast a glance at the large, poorly lighted space around her, and it didn't take too long for her to notice in the area of the altar, the three Fates performing some blood ritual that she could easily recognize given the fact that she herself had done it several times before- during her short but incredibly soul damaging partnership with Alti…..

Her frown got even deeper the instant she noticed that even if she couldn't hear them talking, she was strangely aware of what they were saying, and everything looked strikingly familiar as if she had lived all that scene before, some weird déjà vu feeling that there was no way she was able to rationally explain.

As she made an effort to advance through that disgustingly smelling mud, she abruptly froze in place as a fresh wave of panic swept through her….At her left, to her utter amazement, right out of nowhere, she saw someone bearing a striking resemblance to Ares, a tall, dark man, that couldn't have been him, though…..His face, as white as a burial sheet was devoid of any emotion with the exception of profound, harrowing pain, and his eyes, usually flickering with either lust of mischief were of an aggravating emptiness….Fresh trails of tears were yet to dry on his cheeks.

Xena 's heart broke into pieces as she saw him close his eyes in defeat. She called his name but he didn't turn his head to look at her….Instead, he kept staring absently at the Fates, and when the youngest of them came with a dagger his way, he just wordlessly stretched out his hand. The razor sharp blade cut his wrist within a blink, letting a fine stream of blood trail down towards the tips of his fingers. Dark blood, dark just like War….

Xena was officially in shock. He didn't flinch a muscle when Clotho took his other hand, making a similar cut to his other wrist. Her eyes flew wide open the minute she finally understood what was going on: that was the dagger of Helios. There was certainly no other explanation for the fact that he was bleeding…..Gods didn't usually bleed….Mortal wounds were beneath their immortal nature.

" What are you doing ? Get away from him!" she growled at the girl when she finally realized what was going on, but her voice was a mere murmur.

"Aresss!" she screamed his name from the top of her lungs this time, but he sketched no gesture that he could actually hear her in spite of their nearness. She tried to go to him, to help him, but as soon as her hand was extended his way, something very similar to an invisible blade slashed her flesh. Simultaneously, the snakes directed their beastly attention towards her. Before she knew it, she was fighting them viciously, fighting for her life while they began to ferociously bite and strangle her, curling around her arms and legs, mercilessly injecting their venom in her now trashing body….

In the meantime, Clotho had moved closer to her. There was a round silver vessel full of blood in her hand, Ares' blood, Xena noticed, and as the girl brought it up, for her to see it better, her entire being screamed in revolt at the images that began forming on the liquid's crystal clear surface…..


	9. Chakram

As the blood in the vessel began to spin under her very eyes, Xena's heart tore like paper at the images unfolding on the dark liquid's surface, images that, under some kind of unseen before spell, rose gradually higher and higher from the bowl until something resembling very well to a nowadays hologram was formed….It didn't take the Warrior Princess too long to understand that she couldn't associate neither the place nor fragments of conversation with anything familiar, simply because nothing of what she was seeing had actually happened….It was just a version of the future...probably one of many, she said to herself...

For what appeared to last an eternity, she watched in mute amazement how the incredibly sexy Xena from the vessel was walking along a deserted beach towards a visibly confused War God- whose eyes were literally glued to her curvaceous body- and despite the very obvious sorrow engraved on his handsome, features, a sparkle of irrepressible thrill and lust started flickering on the surface of his troubled amber moons as the physical distance between them began melting away with every step she was taking.

For a reason that seemed to escape the sticky cobweb of his disturbingly sharp mind, the raven haired warrioress was cattishly smiling, and, to get him even more intrigued- probably expertly acting according to some perfectly written scenario- she girlishly chuckled when she kicked some water his way, just for the sake of seeing him frown. Her unnaturally childish behavior didn't seem to get the right reaction from Ares though, who - at least at that moment -could only focus on the soaking wet flimsy negligee she was wearing,and that, now under the considerably stronger light of the full moon was finally revealing everything he had been longing to see: those flawlessly sculpted breasts bouncing lightly up and down as she moved even closer to him.

For a split second, while her hand rose to touch his chest, the torturous but wise idea to turn around and leave flashed through his clouded mind, disappearing nonetheless like a plume of smoke at the unique contact with her fingertips, now teasingly gliding down his chest through the generous opening of his leather vest.

He instinctively tilted his head a little, looking for a better angle to admire those fully erect nipples, breathing slow, heavy breaths in the vain attempt to cling on to the little self control he still had over himself.

When she completely closed in the distance between them, her perky breasts now pressing firmly against his upper torso , he swallowed painfully, the hot blood pooling in his groin and stiffening his cock, making it impossibly hard for him to restrain a loud groan while imagining himself fucking her long and hard, right there on the wet sand. The mere idea of her naked body squirming uncontrollably under the effect of his violent shoves, put an unbearable pressure against his temples, making his brain feel as if it were on the verge of imploding.

Gods, he wanted to lick away those salty droplets of seawater from her skin, so, so badly !

" I thought you said you wanted me out of your life…..Breaking our bond means exactly that, Xena…..There's no turning back if….." he clumsily started, just to be cut off by her muffled "Shhhhhh!" and by the unique sensation of her soft tongue circling his now slightly parted lips.

" What are you doing here? What do you want?" he asked in a weak, trembling voice- one that he himself found it difficult to recognize-his pupils dilated with desire, in a last effort to listen to his brain for once- his only trustable advisor who was now literally screaming for him to run away from her as fast as his legs could carry him…..She had a devilish charm that he knew he couldn't resist, one that would only bring more suffering to his already torn apart, burning heart.

The only answer he got to those barely uttered questions, was the exquisite flavor of her tongue- now darting in and out his mouth, naughtily moving against his own with such intensity that the sensation now ripping through him left him breathless…He was desperate to have her, he couldn't stand one minute without throwing her down and ramming his throbbing cock inside her.

As if reading his mind,and definitely without waiting for an invitation, a very determinate Xena took matters into her own hands, savagely pushing the God down. Way before he realized what was happening, he was already on his back, and she was impatiently straddling his hips, moaning with pleasure at the contact of his rock hard shaft with her slick pussy- a reaction that only made him wanna leave all precaution aside and just enjoy that unbelievably arousing moment that he could just tell it was going to turn into an extremely promising ride.

" Do you want me….? " her intoxicating voice echoed through him, causing his breath to catch in his throat before answering.

"It sure seems that way….." he whispered back, hardly finding the right words to make up a sentence. The last part of what he wanted to say had actually mercilessly dissolved in what turned out to be a low, guttural grunt as she started rubbing herself against his full length, slowly rocking back and fort, which resulted in an overwhelming, impossible to ignore heat that began spreading between the Warrior Princess' legs...

In return, as some kind of silent vengeance, he beastly dug his fingers into her ass cheeks, the thought of parting them wider in but a matter of minutes and thrusting himself deep inside her, bringing him at the brink of an unearthly orgasm...

It was of no surprise that the frustration written all over his face was as obvious as noonday sun when she finally paused for a few seconds, taking her time to look him in the eyes before going any further, making him shiver with anticipation. Her eyes were blazing like the eyes of a tigress about to devour some poor, defenseless animal, twin points of fire that instantly reminded him that they were so much alike….That superhuman strength to rival only his own…the ultimate turn on…

And then, right when she was about to lower herself on his shaft, to finally take it in and to virtually send him flying to Olympus and back, his entire world was reduced to a pile of ashes when, in the blink of an eye, he found himself chained against his throne- a throne that had appeared right out of nowhere- all this while she was hysterically laughing just a few feet away- a sinister laugh that he had only heard a few millennia before- in the pits of Tartarus where Zeus had sent him as punishment for having dared hit him during one of his infamous fits of rage….-

With inhuman growls and shameless- but very creative- cursing, he uselessly tried to free himself. He was obviously held in place by chains made by none other than the unmatchable Hephaestus …So no, he wasn't going anywhere…anywhere at all, despite going all crazy to escape that degrading trap….

If he might have seemed a bit wild while attempting to regain his freedom nonetheless, one can only imagine what really happened when he saw the object of his desires, laying carelessly on the beach, in the same spot where they had stood but minutes before, playing with herself while from the opposite direction came none other than Hercules, his oldest and worst nightmare…

Before anything even occurred,the God had already started screaming his lungs out, his heart hammering with boundless rage against his now aching chest.

"You filthy whore! I'm gonna kill you! I'll kill you and drink even the last drop of you blood!"- a quite familiar line taking into consideration their dark, complicated past, one might say...

His bluntly expressed fury was of no use though, not with Hercules' moans covering almost completely his painful screams when she got on top of him , her legs wide open so that she could generously offer Ares the perfect view of her slit, glistening with moist in the moonlight, right there, a few steps away from him. In no time, she began to feverishly suck the demi Gods' mammoth sized cock, deep throating him while the hero 's tongue returned the favor, rasping over her pussy, rolling it again and again over her clit just to finally thrust inside her, a slow, measured thrust at first that made her hips jerk in surprise.

Ares was in agony…..He felt as if he were dying….He couldn't hear or see anything anymore….The only sounds that his eardrums were still able to decode were the ones of her heavy, labored pants and her muffled moans of pleasure, and the only thing he could still see before his eyes was his Princess' dark pink, shining with moisture pussy…He could distinctly smell her arousal from his throne, musky and sweet, as Hercules decided to replace his smooth tongue with his fingers, causing her vagina to tingle violently at the much more physical contact. Their moans reached torturously high notes as they got closer to their climax, and each one sent a dagger straight in the War God' heart…..

Unfortunately for him, the dramatic events unfolding before him repeated countless times that night, the only thing that changed being the landscape and the male character that got to fuck his precious Chosen...and she was insatiable…Scenes looking like something worthy of those orgies meant to make decadent Rome even more famous than it already was….

Every once in awhile, she remembered to teasingly rub herself against the War God too, just too keep him interested, occasionally sucking him - without actually giving him the desperately needed relief- and that only managed to get him even more furious, even more frustrated and ready to tear her apart…

Before dawn came, he just couldn't stand hearing those squeals of utter abandon any more while she was- for the hundredth time or so- stabbing herself down some man's shaft, crying and gasping as loud as her vocal cords allowed her too, nor the sound of sweat soaked flesh smacking sharply against naked flesh.

Xena's vision ended abruptly with the God finally breaking his chains and smashing her head against a rock, a bloody enough spectacle that was surely going to haunt him for the rest of his immortal days…..

**XXX**

" Drink Xena…Drink the content of the vessel and he will forget everything related to you, from your name to your face….." Clotho urged. " Drink his memories and free yourselves from the bond you so unconsciously chose back when your mind was of an revolting innocence….."

Without a doubt in her mind, the Warrior Princess threw her a disgusted look, shifting her gaze for the last time towards the shadow that Ares had become-and that she just couldn't recognize now-before the word escaped her lips, almost on its own….

**"Chakram!"**


	10. Fiery sparkles

" Drink Xena." Clotho's commanding voice echoed once again while she forcefully took the vessel to her lips, and, to the Warrior Princess' horror , as she repeated the safe word, nothing happened.

**"Chakram…."**

" There's no turning back…."

"No. This is a choice that only I can make and I refuse to break the bond…." Xena protested, pushing the bowl away with her hand.

"It's too late….Your patron God has already decided for you. …"

There was a brief moment of silence during which Xena's brain started a desperate hunt for information…."My patron God…." she repeated, her eyes widening at the awareness that she couldn't remember neither the name nor the visage of the man who she knew held a boundless importance to her….

" Everything related to him was erased from your mind the minute he cursed your name. Drink, and he will also be free….You have the power to put an end to his misery…."

Her gaze lost in a void, Xena looked around, and this time, despite noticing Ares just a few feet away from her, she failed to recognize him. Their eyes met for a brief moment, but there was no sparkle of familiarity in them, and while on the surface the God's eyes tears that refused to be shed were glistening like stars in the night sky, the Warrior Princess' moons were as cold as ice…..He meant nothing to her…

" Something's not right….This….all of this shouldn't have happened….." she muttered her conclusion- more to herself than for Clotho to hear- the instant a sudden wave of indescribable pain hit her chest from the inside, making her body convulse with pain, an unseen force literally crushing her rib cage and choking her at the same time….

" No it shouldn't have. Your connection should have lasted until the end of time and beyond. It was unbreakable…"

"….by mortals or Gods alike…." Xena instinctively continued, gasping for air as soon as the words left her lips, and, in spite of the fact that it made no sense at all, her hands rose to cover her chest like a shield, right above her heart, carefully touching each inch of skin there as if checking to see if everything was in place. An acute feeling of emptiness- growing more and more unbearable by the second- had taken her to the point where she was seriously wondering if there was something physically wrong with her or it was just her mind that was so screwed up.

"What's happening to me?" she asked the Fate, sheer terror radiating from her aura.

" It is the pain of loss, eating at your soul. Your punishment. You must learn to live with it. It will never go away but you'll get to accept it in time…."

"Punishment for what?" she immediately protested, unable to understand what Clotho was talking about.

"For having broken your vows….For having betrayed a sacred promise…It is the price that you must now pay for your newly gained freedom…" she explained, and Xena noticed that there was no trace of compassion in her eyes as she said it. To make things even worse, by the time the woman stopped speaking, something new had started building inside the Warrior Princess' heart: along with the unexplained emptiness, loneliness and desperation , there was also a bitter sadness that added to the mix, one she just knew she couldn't live with, throwing her in state very close to mourning, as if everyone around her had died and she had died along with them….

Letting out a sharp breath, the Warrior Princess closed her eyes for a brief moment, trying to justify all those mental abnormalities, struggling to reach a few happy memories she could hold on to, only to discover that she had only managed to slide further down on the chute of a dangerously developing depression. There was no face, no smile, no memory her fogged mind could connect to…..There was nothing left for her to access, just white, pure white spots and spaces where her childhood and teenage years had been…..

To make things even worse, her brain was going though incredible efforts to remember a name….a certain name around which her entire universe had been built and that now had simply vanished from her mind, gone, just like that, in the fraction of a second.

" **Chakram!" **she yelled again, so loud this time that the sound of her voice caused the walls of the temple to crack …A blinding, silvery blue light immediately formed around her, disintegrating the borders of reality.

**XXX**

"My, my!….Look who's back! "

The War God's husky voice almost caused her heart to stop, but for once, boy was she glad to hear him!

" Ares…." she whispered his name , a note of utter veneration present in her tonality.

" Who did you expect? The All Mighty Zeus ? " he said with a chuckle, narrowing his eyes at her relieved expression, rapidly identifying the marks of some pretty traumatic, recent experience that he had no knowledge about." So…how was the joyride? Was it as fun as you hoped it would be?"

She didn't answer. She just gulped nosily and looked quietly around, allowing her brain the needed time to adjust to this new fabric of reality….

" You were supposed to get me out of there the minute I uttered the safe word! " she accusingly barked, glaring daggers his way.

"I know, but you looked as if you were really enjoying yourself so I figured I'd let you spend a bit more quality time in your own private patch of the Elysian Fields ….." he replied, doing his best to eliminate the acid irony in his voice...There was no way Xena was going to miss that, though...

" Yeah, thanks!" she mumbled, wishing he had been close enough for her to kick him straight in the groin in discreet acknowledgement.

"Anyway, these ten minutes must have been the best spent minutes of your life so far….Any words of wisdom you'd like to share on this special occasion?"

**"Ten** minutes?" Xena asked incredulously. It felt as if she had been away for hours….

" More like eight . " he corrected. "You see, Princess, in Tartarus time flows a bit differently…It doesn't flow actually, for there is no time, but anyway….just so you get an idea of what happened…."

"I was in** Tartarus**?"

" I suppose so, yes….What did you see, by the way? It is said that when a bond is broken, the victims' worst fears slash nightmares become their torment…..What was it like? Any physical violence that you couldn't take any more? Some whipping maybe...the Gauntlet? The irritating Blonde dying ? The emptiness? So many options they could have chosen from...which one was it?" he openly interrogated, his inquisitive eyes focused on studying her any reaction….Whatever it had been, she didn't cope with it very well….She was a mess….

" I don't want to talk about it…"

"Wow. It was** that** bad, huh? Sorry about that. You've been asking for it. Still want us to break up ?" he insisted, making sure to display a mischievous grin while serving her that line.

" Don't push it…." she simply warned, finally standing up, and looking over her shoulder towards the horizon. " I'm still considering the idea…." she continued, in a low, serious voice. "The sun is about to rise soon…..What about the Roman troops? "

"What about them? "

"You said that if I won…." she frenziedly began to remind him, balling up her fists at him.

" I guess I did , didn't I?" he interrupted, laughing at her fierceness. "Fine, fine…" he added, before she lost her temper and started launching a series of punches at him, aware of her savage intentions.

" Let's go kick some ass ...and then you should really get some sleep! You've been up all night…You sure look tired. Sadly, I haven't tired you the way I would have loved too, but ….we do have **five full days** for that…." the War God said, extending his hand for her to grab.

The moment the tips of her fingers touched his palm, to Xena's amazement, a fine line of bright red, tingling electricity ignited in her shoulder and travelled at impressive speed through the whole length of her arm, just to be met half way by another fiery line springing from his hand.

She flinched at the contact, totally taken aback by the lively sparks that were now sizzling beneath her fingertips.

" I think this means we have a thing….." he murmured against her ear, pulling her closer and wrapping his arms around her.

She silently gazed down at her hand once again before they vanished….There had definitely been sparkles there…


	11. Decimation

When the vortex opened and literally spat them out, Xena was still struggling to cope with what she had just seen, still reluctant to accept that she had actually assisted to such violent scene without having any kind of reaction ….When Ares had said that it was high time they kicked some ass, she had actually figured that **together** they were going to teach the Roman troops a lesson, and thus force them to retreat with their tail between their legs, thus saving the lives of many innocent people that were surely going to die during the following day's attack.….

**Decimation **was – in all appearances- the word that the War God had had in mind as they reached the enemy camp nonetheless, and Xena proved to be nothing but a mere spectator- probably meant to applaud the grotesque performance that was about to unfold before her very eyes.

The supernatural, energetic wave that was dashing from the God's hands like a deadly tsuanmi, quickly crushed everything in its path- from soldiers to tents and horses, way before anything that breathed even got the chance to notice the slightest sign of danger, let alone the fact that they were all about to be prematurely and forcefully shipped off to Hades' domain.

Needless to say, the monstrous brutality the Olympian so naturally displayed- for what felt like lasting an eternity- left her- out of all people- simply speechless for minutes on end once he had solved** her little problem**\- as he so patronizingly called it. .

" May I ask why in Gaia's name are you so shocked?" he finally inquired- without really managing to suppress the irritation in his voice- seeing that she wasn't planning to get out of her innocence shell and talk any time soon. " It's not like this was the first time you saw me use my powers. "

" Not on such a large scale….." she uttered on a leveled voiced, barely chocking back the urge to bite a chunk out of him. "Plus, you basically exterminated them! " she added, finally leaving the comfort of his arms, disgusted by what he had been capable of doing.

"And…you have a problem with that?"

" Of course I have a problem with that!" she unwillingly snapped, turning around to face him "You didn't even give them the chance to fight back! They …"

"They were Romans! Caesar's men! The same Caesar who had you crucified a couple of years ago, remember? Do you need some bloody details to refresh your memory ? Something visual enough to help you sober up, maybe?" he asked, angrily hitting her temple with the tips of his fingers, utterly revolted at the realization that instead of appreciating his divine intervention, she had dared criticize him.

She furiously pushed his hand away, glaring daggers at him. The nerve he had to even mention that, the Bastard!

" You just smashed them as if they had been some worthless worms! They should have been given the chance to fight back, regardless whom they were fighting for!"

" They were worms, Xena….And you didn't accept to go along with my game tonight just for the sheer pleasure of throwing a few punches . Admit it!….You were actually relieved to see that I was willing to do all the dirty work for you. " he replied, a hint of bitter amusement in his voice. "Now, I suggest we put an end to this useless debate about fairness on the battlefield; I mean...you can't teach an old dog new tricks, Xena.."

"I guess you're right. After all, it does depend on the brain power of the dog!" she spat, without returning the half smile that was meant to soften her fury. Instead, she took another step away from him, stubbornly refusing to even mentally accept that he was right and that deep inside she had been beyond excited to see Roman blood painting dark red the smooth grass of the valley.

Completely and carelessly ignoring her body language, and definitely leaving all precaution aside, Ares took his chances and advanced towards her, wrapping her in his arms again and placing a chaste kiss on the top of her head.

" It was a long night, and judging by these hypnotizing but tired eyes, you've been losing sleep lately…Why don't you take a bath, get some rest…..? " he suggested in his deep, magnetic voice, without really waiting for an answer, pushing the fluffy bath gown off her shoulders.

Before she knew it, the Warrior Princess was fully naked, right there, just a tempting inch away from his muscular from, and despite the fact that everything about him was screaming **conceited jerk **at her- from the way he stood- as if he owned the world- to his over confident facial expression- she couldn't help thinking that she simply adored that obsessive protective side of him, always looking out for her, as if she were the most fragile thing in the universe, all the while aware that in truth, she was anything but that.

"Thanks, but I'm actually way too exhausted for that...I'd fall asleep in the tub! I'd rather go for a cold shower and call it a night..." "she politely refused, suddenly aware of the long awkward silence that had fallen between them while he was still waiting for an answer. As if to make amends -by bringing forward an irrefutable proof- she demonstratively let her eyelids close for a second, enough for Ares to understand what she really wanted….

Thus, without wasting any more words, in the blink of an eye, Xena could feel an invisible, warm, rose scented rain caressing her skin…..an indescribable pleasure in which she unabashedly indulged, not even the least bothered by the God's lecherous gaze -now scanning her body from head to toe….. The soft summer like wind blowing dry her long silky tresses just a few moments later, additionally managed to paint a timid smile on her lips…

…As for Ares, the best part of getting her **that** relaxed, was that with all those sensations whirling ceaselessly inside her head, keeping her mind busy, she got distracted for a split second- distracted enough as to miss the hunger gleaming in the God's eyes. For him, that proved to be the perfect opportunity to take her completely by surprise, his warm lips, pressed softly against hers- in a feathery kiss that zinged through her body under the form of a delicious shiver- causing her breath to remain caught in her throat for a moment.

As soon as she understood what was happening, the brave Warrior Princess was immediately stricken by panic. She wanted to break it of course, to push her alluring temptation away and put some distance between them- now that the God was still subtly offering her that option, now that his hands were still resting on her voluptuous hips- but the ultimately arousing sensation of those same sinful lips gliding imperceptibly to the corner of her mouth and further away to her cheekbone, just one second later, brushing lightly her ear as he murmured a muffled: " I've been fantasizing about having you in about a million ways last night…." only threw her down the slippery slope of untamed passions at dazzling speed, making her want more, more than that superficial butterfly kiss he had placed on her lips earlier….

"You did, huh?" she rhetorically inquired, barely above a whisper, elegantly rising her hand and placing it on his chest, in a rather hesitant position that could have meant both the intention to put an end to their teasing and a clear sign that she wanted him to take things to a whole new level….

He silently watched as her gaze flickered down his chest before jerking back to his.

Staring wonderingly her, he couldn't help but notice the flush that mounted her cheeks and the insatiable hunger clouding her beautiful blue eyes…..Slightly tilting his head, he expectantly licked his lips, waiting for her to break the spell if she chose so, giving her once again the chance to brake away, knowing that she couldn't….that she wouldn't…

He could distinctly feel her every muscle fighting against the destructive lust invading her; she was helpless against the need of having him inside her, in spite of their meaningless differences.

She parted her lips to add something more to that previous, extremely dry line, but no sound came out. He didn't really care much about hearing a more complex answer either, so, before she could come up with a more suitable reply, his hands had already cupped the sides of her face, and his mouth slanted over hers, in a shockingly brutal manner this time, each flicker of his tongue sending flares of heat exploding with sensual devastation through her overly tensed body, drugging her with their intensity, making her more and more numb, more and more addicted to the adrenaline injected straight into her heart with each new darting of his tongue.

She could no longer hold back a very needy whimper when one of his hands began roaming down her back, his fingers tracing her spine up to her sacrum where they lingered a bit, gently massaging the spot before they rushed up again, ferociously grabbing her hair, making sure to keep her put as the intensity of his kiss increased even more .

Her body jerked in response as the heat flared higher, hotter inside her tormented depths, the sound of his low moans as he felt her back arch, pushing her chest forward, now tightly pressed against his, sending her senses into overdrive. It basically took all of her will and force not to give in the strangling desire to completely give in and just wrap her arms around his neck, her every muscle spasming with the aching need for more….

" Let go of me…." she pleaded in between breaths, but the sound of his dark, velvet voice only made her wish she had ignored her brain for once and just let him do whatever he wanted with her, thus allowing all those insidious images that had been creeping inside her head throughout the night–after that first mind-blowing kiss they had shared during the game- to finally turn real.

"You don't want that….…." he whispered, silently listening to that insane hammering of her heart.

" So you're also an oracle now?!" she snarled, obviously annoyed with herself, wondering how in Zeus' name had she allowed things between them to get so inconceivably far that night…..She must have been possessed or something, she silently concluded, doing her best to ignore the fact that the way in which he was now looking at her was driving her insane. "You have no idea what I want..."

" Of course I know what you want, I can smell it on every inch of your skin,…" he huskily replied, drilling her with his gaze- eyes darkened with barely controlled lust- before his tongue began yet another vicious fight to ensure its dominion over such prized territory.

Seconds later, he was groaning into their kiss though as she warningly nipped at his lower lip, a reaction that only got him even more aroused….By all Olympus, he had never found a woman on the face of the planet as captivating as she was….His cock jerked and swallowed, craving to fill her, pressing hard against his leather pants at the sight of her body trembling in his arms like that .But just when things seemed to get even hotter-with his hand gliding impatiently between her legs- she finally found the force to pull back from the kiss and, somehow disentangling from his embrace, to put some distance between them.

Hardly swallowing his dissatisfaction, Ares shook his head…. Her azure moons were dazed, her expression slack with ravishing sensual need and the air around them charged with sexual tension…. Why was she fighting this? What was the point in denying them both that so much needed release? Why was she stubbornly keeping him away when her entire being was screaming for his touch?

"I should get some sleep…." she cowardly ended, heading for the large bed placed in the middle of the room, furious against both herself- for having almost succumbed to her ridiculous weakness when it came to him- and against him for repeatedly demolishing that wall she was continuously struggling to build and rebuilding between them.

He barely resisted the impulse to throw a fire ball her way. Within seconds, he vanished.


	12. Mermaid, bridesmaid, housemaid

He barely resisted the impulse to throw a fireball her way. Within seconds, he vanished.

….Rage and frustration eating at him, the War God took a minute to decide what it was that he wanted to do…..To make a long story short, he was basically oscillating between fucking some hot barmaid as if it were his last day on earth and beheading some irritating villagers just for the sheer fun of seeing blood springing from somewhere, and all this just so that he could release at least part of that unbearable tension that was turning more and more his muscles into stone- a quite unpleasant sensation, one might add.

Of course, going all crazy and choosing both options wasn't such a bad idea either... Maybe a bit of wild sex seasoned with a few drops of innocent blood was all he needed in order to feel better, the secret recipe meant to instantly fix his love problems...

And yet, given that his appetite for hearing someone scream in pain was a little lower than listening to some super sexy mortal moaning in pleasure that day, he finally went for the barmaid version. It didn't take too long until he found a voluptuous dark haired beauty ready to spread her legs for him, so, a couple of hours later, after having tired the overly ecstatic woman to the brink of passing out, he could finally declare himself pleased ….Not** satisfied**, sadly, just pleased…..in more ways than one, yes, but not in the one that mattered…Only one particular woman could have achieved that performance, and that woman was not there….

Casting a disinterested- almost disgusted- glance in the direction of the otherwise attractive brunette - that without even knowing it had acted like the perfect Xena substitute- he couldn't help but smirk recalling her absolutely shocked expression a few hours earlier, when, during the standard probing preceding the moans, grunts , dirty talk and vocalization that were about to naturally follow- he coldly shattered all her illusions regarding the possible beginning of a romantic love story between the two of them.

" _Has anyone ever told you that you look like a God?" the woman questioned, flirtatiously biting her lower lip while her obnoxious, confident gaze held his own with such enviable, detached charm, that Ares couldn't help thinking that she was a pro, in every sense of the word….Too bad that his sandcastle was soon about to crumble…_

"_Actually__** I am **__a God…."he replied, a hint of childish amusement in his voice. He just had to laugh at the coincidence. She couldn't have guessed that tiny detail otherwise, not even if her life depended on it._

" _Hmmmmm….we'll see about that once you remove these pants….…..So uh…." she continued, ridiculously batting her eyelashes at him in the clear attempt to seduce him. "__Are you a warrior or something…..?"_

"_Yeah, something like that….."_

"_And uh….do you have a __**big, big sword**__ to prove it?"_

_His stomach twisted immediately at the sound of her cotton candy sweet voice- he simply hated that cheap tavern tone, reminding him of all the worthless whores he had fucked across the eons...Apparently, this one was no different...and how could she have been? In the seconds to follow, he waged war against the impulse of openly laughing at her, doing his godly best to hide his disappointment… She might have been a sight to see, but she was as dumb as Cerberus….At least Cerberus had a good reason for it, though…._

" _I sure do…." Ares humored her, in a voice screaming irony from the rooftops._

_" Is it just big, or is it ...**huge**?" _

_He briefly considered getting up and leaving her planted there for a moment, but, a sip of wine later, he abandoned any similar idea. The lingering question whether she was** that** loose as to only be satisfied by a mammoth cock was still threatening to roll out his mouth._

_" As big as it needs to be." he finally answered, biting his tongue hard. _

" Hmmmm..._ I like that._.._And will you use it on me? I've been a very naughty girl, you know…." she informed, positive that a rough and tumble alone would suffice to have him eating out of the palm of her hand._

_This time, the God just grabbed her chin, forcing her mouth shut. He couldn't care less about her little game and thus, he was definitely not interested in playing it. _

"_Don't start giving me any ideas now….You might not live __to regret them…."_

" _Oh but I deserve to be punished. Did you know that …" _

" _**Honey….you talk too much. Now either you make sure you put those perfectly **__**full lips of yours to good use and suck me dry already, or spread your legs wide open for me…. Your dripping little cunt and my hungry cock could rewrite Kamasutra together….."**_

_Needless to say, our dark haired barmaid was speechless for a few moments….Speechless until, throwing away the cup he was holding, the God grabbed a fistful of her hair and, pushing her hard against the wall, he rammed his massive pillar inside her, pistoning rhythmically in and out her seething pussy- a glorious moment when __all silence was shattered by screams and moans breaking uncontrollably from her throat…..He was relentless…._

"Am I going to see you again?" she finally gathered the courage to ask on a lustful tone, pulling him out of his deep reverie.

" Sorry doll….You were a one time fuck." he cruelly responded, dematerializing from the inn room they had spent most of their day, without giving a rat's ass about her feelings and definitely without having the slightest remorse about the way in which he had thrown that blunt truth in her face.

**XXX**

By the time he returned to the temple it was already evening, and, visibly calmer now, he transported himself to the chamber in which his Sleeping Beauty was supposedly still resting. In truth, she had just woken up…..

She immediately felt his divine presence , even though he was still inside the aether, way before he even set foot in the room, and within a blink, despite being still covered by a satin sheet, she became unusually aware of her nakedness.

" Always a Peeping Tom, huh Ares?" she jokingly inquired, skillfully trying to divert his attention from her perfectly shaped body- which, through the flimsy fabric wrapped around her looked even more alluring that it already was.

Being too focused on hiding her body from sight as well as she possibly could- the last thing she wanted was another sex talk that would ultimately lead to him pressuring her one way or the other- she failed too see that Ares was now barely anchored against a column in the heroic attempt to keep his balance.

When she didn't receive an answer though and when her inquisitive moons finally began to search for him through the semi obscure room , she was flabbergasted to find him in a state she had only rarely seen him across the years: as wasted as Bacchus drinking water….In all appearances, he was making great efforts not to collapse in a puddle on the marble floor- while obviously meaning to reach the bed.

In spite of the fact that one had to be at least as equally drunk not to notice, she just couldn't hold back the silly question that fled her lips.

"Have you been drinking?!"

" Just a few glasses of water to go with that wine! Noooo biggie!"

"No **biggie**…?" she echoed, frowning at the completely strange way in which that expression had sounded from his mouth.

"A man's gotta have his share of fun from time to time…"

"Right. And let me guess… drinking yourself blind is your new idea of fun, right?"

" Wha' can I say, Xena? Alcohol and women go hand in hand…..You can't have one without the other…."

" Words of wisdom ….How inspirational ….And just how many jars have you emptied?"

" Jars? What jars? **Barrels** baby! I'm a God, remember? I'm a God! An Olympian God! Why does everyone have trouble believing me these days?!"

"Probably because that repugnant booze breath doesn't help your credibility any!"

" Well let them think whatever they want! I don't have to explain myself to….."

His discourse was abruptly interrupted for a few seconds, when a very difficult to ignore feeling of nausea overcame him…

" I'm fine! I'm fine….." he continued moments later, as if nothing had happened, the back of his hand still plastered over his mouth, just in case…..

" A few barrels, you say? That sure says something about the mood you'll be in, tomorrow morning….."

He narrowed his eyes at what he perceived to be a quite harsh critique.

"Couldn't you have settled for a few glasses? Did you really have to drink yourself under the table?"

" I actually got up from under the table** hours** ago! And you** could** appreciate my effort, come to think about it…..You just don't want to! Anyway… a few glasses wouldn't have been enough to convince me….."

"To convince you of what?"

" …..that **the mermaid**….."

"What mermaid?" she inquired, frowning lightly at the unwelcome new character in their story, while struggling to find some logic in his speech, for the sole purpose of basic communication..

"...**the bridesmaid** …." he tried again, struggling to keep his eyes open, his brain already starting to shut down. He was barely functioning.

" Have you attended a wedding?"

"….**the housemaid**?..."

It was useless. He paused, shaking his head a couple of times as if expecting for the right word to just pop out of the many others that had invaded his mind. .

" ….**the barmaid...** that's right! ….I told you. I'm a God! I'm all knowing!.…. That the mermaid...barmaid I was stuffing my cock into was **you**….."

"What did you say?" the revolted Warrior Princess asked, every cell of her body vibrating with anger. Part of her, refused to believe that it was true though…..That he could have stooped that low as to literally fuck the first thing that crossed his path just so that he could get back at her for all those frustratingly numerous times in which she had cold bloodily turned down his offers.

" That I've been fucking a barmaid all day long…..Well not quite **all** day long….only the first half of it, I guess…I saved the second half for drowning my disappointment into Bacchus' blessed wine….."

At this point, the Warrior Princess was absolutely scandalized. Was he so lightheartedly confessing that he had just cheated on her?! Was he out of his mind?

" What happened? Didn't she give you a good enough blowjob?"

She was boiling mad. In a split second, everything turned pitch black before her eyes.

"…..The blowjob was ok….the girl's a natural…The only objection I have to it is that I want **you **to give me a blowjob, not her…." he whined like a baby, without even realizing how offending his statement had sounded.

" You certainly have a loose screw, Ares! Go to sleep before I put you to sleep...for good!" she barked at him, pushing him violently on the king-size bed.

" Can't blame a man for dreaming to use you like a sex tool when you look the way you do…" he casually defended his position, stretching his hand and placing a soft caress on her leg before adding an apologetic " Would I sound like a complete ass if I told you that I'm still in the mood to fuck the life out of you, and that damn satin sheet only makes it worse ?"

Not quite sure whether to beat the crap out of him or just find a pitiful excuse for his excessive drinking in their failure of being honest to each other, she turned around to leave, disgusted by their entire conversation.

"I'm dead serious…." he insisted in a thick, grave voice, without looking at her.

"Keep your mouth shut unless you want me to cut the** serious** part out of that line …!" she snapped, cramped about wanting so much to push a blade through his heart and all the while not being able to.

"I love you….."

" Yeah, not a single day passes by without another irrefutable proof of your fuzzy feelings for me…."

" Are you upset with me? I really screwed it up this time huh?" he said, finding it harder and harder to keep his eyes open.

" Upset? I hate you!" she snapped, despite being more than aware that a few hours he wasn't even going to remember their nocturne conversation.

"No you don't. You're just as miserable as I am…." he contradicted, yawning as if he hadn't slept for centuries….

"Well at least you deserve to be miserable…." she bit, wanting to hurt him, somehow…..

"I know….it didn't mean anything, with that slut…." he muttered in between labored breaths and gasps. " It was just sex Princess, nothing else ! Pure passion!"

By the time his line ended, her palm had already collided with his cheek. She couldn't take it anymore. She just couldn't stand the thought. Smashing his head against the bedpost was the only image she could see before her eyes that very then. She quickly took a few steps back the minute she realized she was just instants away from turning fantasy to reality….

" Not even passion…."he continued, finally realizing just how much his words had disturbed her, hoping to somehow fix things at the last moment

." ….it was just…..**unimportant, **really….."

"You're such a jerk!" she spat at him, sounding rather disappointed and hurt than furious or jealous.

"Why? Because I'm so obsessed with having you that I'd fuck anyone in this damned universe who reminds me of you?"

" Because that's what you are !"

"I love you! "

"You love no one but yourself you egocentric maniac! You have no idea what love is! "

"I'm sure you'd make a fine teacher." he chuckled,making her satin sheet vanish with one wave of his hand, leaving her naked there, before him- a sight that instantly painted the smile of a Cheshire cat on his face. "Come here, Baby..."

As a reaction, despite not having intended for her line to come out as a scream, it did anyway. It did, and her message echoed through the room loud and clear.

" Go fuck yourself, Ares! "

The very following second, she exited the room without casting one single glance in the direction of the now suddenly more sober but visibly hurt War God.

"I'd rather fuck that barmaid again if I have your blessing!" he burst, and this time a fire ball collided with the large, wooden doors closing heavily behind her.

That being said, he finally allowed himself a voyage towards Morpheus' realm...As he drifted to sleep, a sweet smile tugged at the corners of his lips...The pillow still had the perfume of her hair all over it...


	13. The long hours of the night

For obvious reasons, the long hours of the night seemed eternal. Too angry to drift back to sleep as if nothing had happened - her mind being pretty rested after that deep, afternoon nap- the Warrior Princess chose to step out into the garden instead, hoping that a bit of fresh air along with the night breeze might just manage to blow away the anguish now crushing her heart….

What in Zeus' name had possessed her in the first place to allow that Son of a Bachae to bring her to that damned temple, anyway? She should have simply put an end to his stupid game and leave any other crazy thoughts aside….She should have known when to stop….Tartarus, she should have known better than to trust **him**\- the same soulless Bastard who had betrayed her confidence time and time again…..

"Some people never learn…" she voiced her conclusion , unconsciously feeling the need to talk to someone , anyone….Talking to herself was better than nothing, she silently added, as if wanting to justify the very existence of that previous line. A heart stinging sigh followed soon after, as she took a seat on a stone bench in the center of the garden.

" There's always hope, though. Some people are just naturally fast learners, whilst others prefer to hit the bottom a couple of times before finally getting the point" an unknown voice came from somewhere behind her, making the Warrior Princess immediately turn around to search for the source of the possible peril…..

She frowned at the new discovery….She had genuinely dared imagine that the place was deserted…or at least unpopulated, just like most of the War God's inanimate temples were…..She had certainly not expected to see a tall, young, extremely muscular soldier standing before her, in a pose that reminded her very much of Draco….It took her less than two seconds to realize that the guy was just trying to be friendly, there was noo need for her muscles to tense to the point where they were about to snap….No immediate threat there...

"Who are you?" she asked though, in a pungent enough voice to make the intruder reconsider his any intention of taking a few steps closer to her. Judging by his gestures, that's exactly what he had in mind.

"May I?" he respectfully insisted, seeing that he was about to deal with a very formal lady.

"Not really. I don't like to share."

He couldn't help laughing at the enemy like tone in her retort.

" Well...it would still be yours when I leave- **the bench**…Trust me, there's nothing I could possibly do with a block of stone…."

Despite herself, Xena returned the smile, and as she did that, she took a closer look at him…..Under the pale moonlight, his shoulder long, straight, blond tresses made him look like one of the many Norse Gods she had seduced back in the days when she believed that immortality alone would be enough to make her happy….And what a ride that proved to be!

" You still haven't answered my question…."

" You still haven't invited me to take a seat by your side. " he brazenly replied, a flicker of amusement crossing his face- a tricky situation that made the Warrior Princess' smile widen even more…..She later blamed it all on the fatigue of course- she must have forgotten all about her eight hour long beauty sleep from earlier that day.

Without actually gesturing him to seat, she moved towards the edge of the bench, leaving enough room for him to join her.

It looked as if the mysterious soldier wasn't precisely the type who fed himself on pleading gazes and honeyed invitations, so, before Xena got the chance to say something else, he was already stretching on his generous half, gazing blankly at the bright, starry sky above them .

" Isn't it amazing….how everything is aligned up there? Such incredible beauty ! Do you really think that our souls go up there once our mortal duties are over?" he asked, without looking at her.

The Warrior Princess arched an eyebrow at his infantile perception of the afterlife.

" How old are you again?"

" Hey! Didn't your mother teach you that it's impolite to ask men their age? Especially when they look old enough to be….**your brother**?!"

" No…but she did mention something about how dangerous it is to talk **to strangers**…." she jokingly retorted, taking in a deep breath…..That fresh, herb and flower scented mountain air was invigorating.

" You weren't a very obedient girl, I take it…" the man observed, glancing briefly her way- more than enough for his heart to skip a beat at the absolutely chimerical sight of her dark tresses blowing playfully in the wind. Her nostalgic smile along with those piercing blue moons, made his light green own flicker with desire….

" No, I wasn't. And you must have been a very curious boy. I bet you were always in trouble…"

"You got that right! " he merrily replied, narrowing his eyes at her while scanning his brain for a funny enough memory that was worth mentioning. " I remember this time when, wanting to find out why was my next door neighbour always visiting my 15 years old cousin, Cora, all day around four -when her parents were away- I climbed an olive tree that faced her room, eager to uncover some incriminating secret….Given that it had rained just a few hours earlier, my foot slipped and I fell straight on the back of my father's horse - who got scared and threw me some dozen yards away- An unfortunate event which cost me a few broken ribs, and a broken arm. ….."

The Warrior Princess burst into laughter almost instantly. She couldn't help it…the whole image was too funny…Was it even possible – she had to ask herself- ….an amazingly handsome man, with a sense of humor to rival Ares' in his best days, and with a cunningness to match her own?

She mentally slapped herself the moment she realized that she had finished laughing a few seconds before and was now staring at her male interlocutor like a desperate housewife.

" Did you at least get to see what they were doing? Was breaking those bones worth it? " she quickly tried to fix it, diverting his attention from her nearly hypnotized expression.

" Promise you won't laugh at me for the rest of the night?"

She was intrigued enough to mutter a barely audible **yes.**

" They were knitting wicker baskets…."

They both started laughing hysterically , unable to keep a serious face for too long.

"Before of after having sex? " she finally managed to ask in between breaths.

" I think they would knit the first one as some sort of foreplay, and a second one after they had climaxed…..I only noticed the manual labor part anyway…."

"That's better than nothing!" she exclaimed, suddenly realizing that in less than half an hour, the stranger had managed to magically take away her sadness. Words could indeed heal…words spoken by the right company, that is….

"I have to agree with you." he answered, relieved to see that she had truly enjoyed his little story.

"Why don't **you** tell me something about yourself now?" he encouraged.

"There's not much to tell" she stubbornly defended her privacy- in her Warrior Princess characteristic style.

" That can't be true! A gorgeous woman like yourself must have a bag full of captivating stories…."

" What would you like to know?" she questioned, hugging herself for warmth…...It was getting a bit too cold for her liking.

Without uttering one single word, and definitely without expecting her to ask him such favor, he wrapped his arms around her while casually placing a delicate kiss on her shoulder. A split second later, he finally started to answer her question as if nothing of great importance had happened.

All the while, Xena felt a light shiver down her spine….She couldn't tell what had caused it though…Was it that absolutely surprising contact of his lips against her skin, the gentleness he had put in that touch, or was it the chilly wind that was now playing carelessly with the soft purple chiffon of her dress?

" Whatever you'd like to tell me would be fascinating, I'm sure. "

" Oh yeah? What makes you **so sure?** My life might prove to be a bitter disappointment." she just had to attack as her self defense mechanism took over, a bit frightened of just how inexplicably attracted she was to him.

" You enslaved my soul the moment I laid eyes on you … Basically anything you'd say would have the effect of a powerful spell on me..." a line that left her speechless for longer than she would have considered it comfortable.

" _This is pure madness...You're just tired and upset with Ares, Xena...You're just imagining things. You don't even know him, for crying out loud! You probably don't even like him..."_ …That's what her brain repeated a couple of times before she finally left all precaution aside and decided to humor him. In the end, it couldn't hurt, could it?


	14. Behind the words

She finally gave him small smile, not really certain of how she wanted things between them to evolve.

"One thing I know…you do possess enviable skills when it comes to cheap talk…"

"Wow! " he exclaimed with a chuckle, a bit taken aback by her straightforward line. "You are a hard woman to impress, aren't you?"

"You have no idea.." she muttered, casting an unconsciously guilty gaze in the direction of he temple, where Ares was still sleeping.

" That's perfect, cause I'm a very persistent man."

She nearly missed his reply, but he made sure to keep her interested the moment he started caressing her hair. Another bold move that made her wonder once again who this man was and what was he really after.

" So….what is a woman like** you** doing in a place like** this** so late at night?"

Xena arched an eyebrow….That was a very tricky question. She had been actually asking herself that ever since the War God had brought her there…..Mystery man didn't need to know anything about her nocturne dilemmas though….

" I'm a Hestian Virgin. I kinda thought this was a Hestian temple. Given the skulls, the frescoes and the statues, I must have been wrong though….This is obviously Apollo's temple…"

He couldn't help laughing at the ridiculousness of her explanation.

" What's so funny?" she inquired- as if she had no idea what had triggered that heartful wave of laughter.

" Women can be so creatively evasive when they want to…And your subtle irony is …let's say very much appreciated after a long day's work…You have an amazing sense of humor...Few women do..."

"I've heard that before…" she answered, biting her lower lip at the memory of Ares telling her the exact same thing- phrased in a strikingly similar way-

" I bet you have…."

"So uh….you're a soldier, huh?"

" Yes….." he hesitantly replied, tightening his grip on her.

" **Modesty**….That's a rare thing in a man." she remarked, glancing furtively at the symbols engraved on the silver pendant he was wearing around his neck and at the richly adorned hilt of his sword.

"How long have you been serving the God of War, General?"

" Ever since I can remember it." he answered, a hint of surprise in his voice. He obviously hadn't expected a woman to be familiar to battle related details. " My father was also in his service, and when my mother died, he decided that a life of Spartan discipline was just what I needed ….It was his weird way of keeping me safe, I guess."

" Would you have liked to have a different life? Far away from the killing and the blood?"

" Sometimes….Yes. Sometimes I can't help wondering how it would have been if mother hadn't died. I've always wanted to open a hospice…to save lives."

The Warrior Princess' eyes narrowed with wonder. There was no trace of lie- not even deceit - painted on his face, and still, she couldn't shake the feeling that there was something more to the story….Way was he even there? Who was he?

" I know someone just like you. A very dear friend of mine…. " she finally uttered, pushing the rest of the thoughts out of her mind for now.

" People only rarely get to do what they want. At least that's what life has struggled to teach me so far….."

" You can beat the odds if you really want something…."

" Does that mean that if I really want you, I can have you?"

His question felt more or less like an ice cold shower during a glacial winter night.

" I guess it depends on just how much you want me…..Would you be willing to give up on your own life for one night with me?"

" Isn't that a bit** too** dramatic?" he said, leaning over her, raptured by the sight of her now seductively parted lips.

"Not in Ares' vision…."

" What does Lord Ares have to do with this? Trust me, he couldn't care less about his priestesses' sex life " he emphasized, slowly lifting up the hem of her dress, his hand sliding up her leg. " And I've been long enough around here to tell…"

" How about his **Chosen's** sex life? "

Everything around them seemed to have stopped moving as she said it…Gods knew it wasn't an achievement that made her particularly proud, despite the fact that any warrior would have sold their soul in exchange for that honor.

"What?" he asked, a puzzled expression on his face, without removing his hand though…..Xena naturally blamed it on the shock.

Consequently, she just graced him with a blank stare followed by a devious grin meant to humiliate him, at least a little bit.

" You're…..Xena? Xena **Warrior Princess**? **The **Xena?" "

" Nice to meet you. And you are….."

"...Arion. Ares'…."

"…**most trusted **General…" she ended for him, her words steely - as if ready to slice.

" That's highly exaggerated…..people tend to do that more often than necessary. Ares trusts no one. " he defended himself, a smug smile playing on his lips. " No one but you, of course …." he quickly corrected, bowing his head courteously. Xena could immediately perceive that subtle hint of irony in his tonality, despite the cunning disguise of those well selected words.

" Your reputation precedes you, actually. He has entrusted you with the command of his armies…..and facts speak louder than words…."

With that, her lips curled into a nasty snarl. She hated wannabes almost as much as she hated being reminded about the invisible but heavy chain that she was forced to wear around her neck for the rest of her life.

" **Only **in your absence, yes. Theoretically, we both know that you are the Overall Commander. Every soldier in Greece knows that. "

" Do they?"

She did her best to hide the annoyance in her voice, trying to sound rather cynical.

"Of course. We have been given specific orders to obey your any order at any time, without questioning it. You're a legend….at least that's what the rest of the soldiers think….Still, I can help wondering if, as all legends, the one about you isn't just that…..a mere legend…." he bluntly challenged "You have been out of the game for far to long to still consider yourself worthy of the War God's attention….Don't get me wrong, your victories will be forever sang by gifted Bards, but that's all they are…broken pieces of history…..And time can't put together what has been and gone..."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that maybe Ares should start looking around for someone else to be his star employee. …..Someone ….better….Someone who shows more promise. Someone more dedicated to his goals than you have ever been."


	15. Silent apology

"I'm saying that maybe Ares should start looking around for someone else to be his star employee….Someone….better….Someone who shows more promise. Someone more dedicated to his goals than you have ever been …."

"Someone like **you**, maybe?" she snorted. She just couldn't help it.

"Why not? " he scowled. " I'm experienced enough for the job, I live and breathe for war and, unlike you I will never be satisfied with solely clinging on to a title, I will fight for it and for the glory of my patron God , every single minute of my life until the day I die!"

" A very short life too, as I can see…" Xena said dryly.

" You'd be surprised…."

" One thing is obvious though, you certainly don't lack the passion in the matter. Sadly, being a Chosen is a lifetime commitment…I can't just break my vows for the sake of your precious career…."

"But you can be challenged! You can be replaced!" he emphasized.

The Warrior Princess' mouth twisted. Was this man really out of his mind?

"In a fair fight….to the death…..meaning** your** death…."

" Over confidence has killed many heroes across the ages, Xena. You of all people should have known that…"

"That wasn't over confidence. That's just your future put into words. But, hey! Don't let me get in the way of your dreams! It's your funeral after all…" was the grumbled response.

"I'm not afraid of you!"

She just gave him an unamused look at first. Then, she decided to also gratify him with a reply.

" Oh but you should! Fear is what keeps us away from harm's way at times."

"You're just the pale shadow of what you once were! Nations no longer tremble at the sound of your name! You've gone soft….You're weak…You do not deserve to be Ares' Chosen." he challenged- a very nonchalant line that was supposed to rush the Warrior Princess into accepting his offer.

A flash of anger crossed Xena's eyes.

"And who are you to judge that?"

" I am the one who will strip you of what's left of your glory! "

She couldn't help the chuckle. She shook her head a couple of times before allowing the chuckle to turn into a sharp laugh meant to make him feel as frustrated as she was now feeling because of his verbal attack.

" I'm sorry…I don't mean to laugh in the face of such serious threat…I can't help wondering though if you're on a suicidal mission of some kind…Have you lost your loved ones recently or something? Has your girlfriend left you? "

"Laugh and mock all you want. But I do assure you that you won't find the situation as funny any more when I defeat you!" he said quickly. In all appearances, and judging by the look in his eyes, he meant it.

" **If** you defeat me!" she just had to add, now struggling to control her facial muscles. She wanted so much to laugh at him some more that she could already feel the small sounds forming in her throat.

" I will! I challenge you Xena, Warrior Princess to a fight to the death! " he barked, drawing his sword.

" Whoa, whoa whoa! I get your enthusiasm **but,** if you want that title so badly, we need to do this the right way" she simply stated, heading for the temple.

"Hey! Where are you going?" he inquired, a puzzled look on his face." Don't tell me my determination alone has managed to scare the Warrior Princess away!"

" Sure it has. My legs are shaking. I can barely hold myself together. Now come on! Let's wake Ares up. He needs to witness this!"

"To wake him up? Is he **sleeping**?" he asked , sounding genuinely shocked." I didn't know gods sleep. I thought they never grow tired!"

"They don't. They just grow more and more stupid!"

" What did you say?! You crazy woman! How can you be so disrespectful when talking about our God? Lord Ares will hear about this! He'll have your head up on a spike." he blew, fury flashing in his eyes.

" You should definitely tell him! I'm sure he will feel very offended! "

" You're as good as dead…! "

To his surprise, she appeared to be anything but frightened. Her dismissive reply only managed to make him even more curious about the ace that she seemed to think she had up her sleeve.

"Right….I tend to forget that…I can't explain why…."

**XXX **

" Rise and shine Ares! Sleeping time's over!"

The Warrior Princess' resonant voice and that ice cold water pouring down his face from a clay jug, made the God toss the covers away in a split second.

" What? Who? What in Tartarus!" he said through gritted teeth, narrowing his eyes at her.

"You're out of your mind!" the solider grunted, taken aback by what was happening.

" Come on! Up, up, up!" she encouraged, pulling him in a sitting position.

"What's going on here?" Ares asked, giving them both a murderous stare.

" Nothing major…I've been missing your company, that's all…" she briefly responded, taking a seat by his side. " Good Gods, could you do something about that breath?! It's killing me!"

He exhaled sharply before giving his breath a mint aroma….

"Better?" he asked, kissing her lips, briefly enough as not to make her mad.

"Yeah!" she simply answered, without paying any attention at Arion's consternated expression.

"So…..you're here because you want to get laid….and you're still here because…." the God wisely concluded, forming an energy bolt in his palm.

" I uh…." the General hesitated, finally getting the bigger picture.

" To make a long story short, he wants to challenge me **in a fight to the death!** He wants to become **your new Chosen…**..he wants to prove himself…" Xena explained, in a surprisingly neutral tone.

"Am I still blind drunk or this is my General I'm looking at…..?...Talion?" Ares inquired, not really convinced that the person standing before him was the one he thought it was.

"**Arion,** my Lord. " the man corrected, lowering his gaze.

" Whatever…."

" That's the one…" the Warrior Princess confirmed with a grin.

"And….you have a death wish? " the War God tried to understand his motivation.

" No… no my Lord…."

" …cause I can help you with that, if a quick death is what you seek. You were a good soldier…very loyal. That's the least I can do for you!"

"No my Lord….what I want …." he once again hesitated, seeing just how weird the whole scene was…definitely not what he had expected….

"Come on! Don't be shy, your momma wasn't! " Xena intervened, winking at him. "Tell him…"

" …..what I want…"

"Apart from** fucking me**…" she casually continued, yawning- a clear sign of boredom in her case.

"….is to prove to you….." he tried.

" Whoa, whoa, whoa! What did you say?" Ares cut in, frowning at the man.

"That I want to prove to you…" he repeated in an insecure voice, wondering if he had said something wrong.

"Not you!"

"He's been trying to seduce me for the last hour, working his charm to get me into sleeping with him…." Xena let the spicy details escape her lips, not at all concerned with the fate of her so called enemy.

"You did **what**?" the War God growled, sheer rage painted all over his face.

" I didn't know who she was, my Lord. She didn't tell me. I have no interest in her. I don't even find her attractive….." the man cowardly tried to excuse himself.

"Have I heard you correctly? Have you just offended my Chosen?"

Xena just had to laugh at the way in which the situation was evolving. The poor guy must have lived on another planet all this time, she said to herself while contemplating his now intimidated figure.

"No, I would never….What I wanted to say is …"

"That I have poor taste in women?" the God scowled. "Is that what you were insinuating?"

" Definitely not…." he answered, drawing in a deep breath and swallowing whatever was left of his saliva.

" Are you …**gay** or something?"

" No my Lord Ares. She's a very beautiful woman. Go…..gorgeous actually "

" Really? " the God interjected. " And what do you like the most about her huh? The eyes? The lips? The breasts- you gotta admit it, she does have amazingly beautiful tits- The legs? That fuckable butt?"

" Everything my Lord. Full package…"

Xena's face darkened slowly….She knew very well where that conversation was heading….

" Full package…. full package…" Ares kept grumbling . " I'll give you full package…"

Within a blink, in one swift move, he cut the General's throat with his own sword. Xena, who had gotten up and headed for the table to pour herself a glass of water just moments before, was watching everything, with a blank look on her face.

" I thought he was your most loyal and trustful General…." she remarked while taking a long sip from her glass.

" Loyal, trustful and **stupid **….They don't mix well..."

"I see. " she said, closing in the distance between them.

" So….did you wake me up for **this** delusional garbage?" Ares finally asked, wiping the blood from his hands on the still dying man's uniform.

" Not really. I woke you up for **this**, actually."

Before he got the chance to realize what was happening, Xena had already slapped him so hard that the entire room echoed from the hit.

" Ouch! Hey! Behave yourself ! You are only allowed to do that if you are naked and if it's part of some masochistic foreplay! " he protested, rubbing his cheek.

" That was for yesterday!" she coldly announced, glaring daggers at him.

" For yesterday? What in Hades' name happened yesterday?". he said, looking as confused as a hungry baby in a topless bar.

"What, you don't remember?! "she cut him off, with a raised hand, ready to strike again.

He flinched.

"I was drunk! Of course I don't remember!... Did I say something?"

" It's more like what you** did** not what you said! **You fucked a barmaid!**" she exploded, now extremely irritated that the Bastard couldn't even remember what he had done.

" I did?", he inquired distractedly, obviously struggling to remember how the girl looked.

"Yes!"

"Was she hot?"

There was a brief exchange of murderous looks – well Xena's was murderous while Ares' was rather trying to hide a scared bunny expression.

" Ok! I was drunk! That's a very decent excuse, you have to admit it! I could even invoke temporary madness! Now come on, let's sleep for another few hours, at least till sunrise…Gods my head's about to explode…We can fight about this tomorrow. I'll even let you slap me as long as you want, Sweetheart, I promise. " he pleaded, laying on his back on the soft mattress.

"Do you actually expect me to sleep with a dead body in the room?"

In response, he just snapped his fingers once. Every single drop of blood along with the corpse vanished as if it hadn't even been there.

" Now come here….." he said, patting the empty space on the bed, by his side.

Letting out a deep sigh, Xena complied, despite the fact that she still felt like killing him. She was exhausted though….He had emotionally drained her a few hours earlier. Plus, the Bastard was right….They had all the time in the world to fight about whatever they felt like fighting the following day…..or more like the following days…

" Xe? " he suddenly asked while she was getting more and more comfortable in his embrace, doing tremendous efforts to block all that pent up anger still pressing against her chest at the fresh memory of his betrayal.

"Huh? "

"I'm sure it was a very ugly barmaid. I was **so** drunk I could have even fucked a goat. " he pointed out, grimacing apologetically

" I'm pretty sure **it was** a goat…"

"I love you" he whispered against her ear while drifting to sleep.

She preferred to ignore him though…to pretend that she couldn't care less about his feelings. The tear that escaped her eye gave her away though…She loved him too, but somehow, Destiny seemed to always push them apart whenever they got too close to each other…Maybe those five days would magically fix everything for them….Maybe there was still hope for what they had.

"_True love conquers all obstacles, Xena…" _Aphrodite's words echoed in her head from somewhere deep within. But was it true love what they had? Was that** madness** they shared really** love**?


	16. Pure madness

Despite their striking differences in nature, Xena was the first to wake up in the morning. She had slept like a log throughout the rest of the night and, she had certainly missed the moment when Ares had unconsciously wrapped his arms around her. As her eyes fluttered open, the first thing she realized besides the fact that she was still locked in his embrace, was the very arousing sensation of his breath caressing the back of her neck….

She took a couple of seconds to clear her head, not really sure whether she should feel angry with herself for having accepted to share her bed with that treacherous Bastard or just ignore the unfortunate mistake and move on….In the end, nothing happened….She arched a harsh eyebrow at the fact that part of her desperately longed to feel his hands roaming up and down her body again….Gods how she missed that feeling…..

She mentally slapped her delusions away though, swallowing dryly her any desire related to that matter…They were as far away from each other like the sun and the moon. She had to get him out of her system once and for all, and even though her heart was screaming for his nearness, her brain had been working long and hard at building a thick and high enough wall between them to prevent her from ever going back to what they had...…..

With that in mind, the Warrior Princess carefully made her way out of his shooting embrace, and slowly stood up on the edge of the bed, ready to leave. Despite herself, and certainly despite her previous theory about putting some real distance between them, she turned around to look at him for a second- probably under the lame pretext to check if she had woken him up. Needless to say, what she saw disarmed her as fast as she could blink….. And no, it was not his nakedness that sent a shockwave through each and every cell of her body, but that unusual feeling of calm and peace engraved on his divine visage….He looked nothing like the self centered Bastard that had cheated on her just one day before with some no name barmaid and had cut her heart open….

For some unknown- but definitely dumb -reason, Xena's gaze lingered on the sleeping God's features some more… She had never fully managed to understand that senseless attraction that she had for him. He was like a magnet, a powerful enough magnet to keep her glued to him no matter what he did. Somehow, it didn't really matter how many priestesses, barmaids or whores he screwed, how many innocents he slaughtered, how much blood he had on his hands, and how many times he lied to her….she always ended up – against her better judgment- forgiving him….

"I must be out of my mind" she whispered, as if wanting to contradict her own logic, and, only a heartbeat later, without fully realizing what she was doing, as if under the effect of some unbreakable spell, the tips of her fingers briefly touched his temptingly gorgeous lips, a feather like touch that immediately sent her entire inner universe back in chaos again….She couldn't help herself….Next thing she knew, she was tracing the contour of his mouth and then, as if possessing a will of their own, her fingers glided gently towards his jaw….and despite her being more than aware of how wrong that was, she couldn't stop….and she didn't. Not even when the God's eyes fluttered open and his soul piercing gaze met hers…That would have normally been her cue to put a halt to whatever she had been doing and start running for the door with the speed of a five degree tornado. The only problem with that scenario, was that she found any similar attempt **impossible**…..like literally…It was as if some higher power was keeping her glued to that bed, and not only that, but her self control appeared to have completely vanished along with the last patch of darkness when sunlight filled their room…..

At the same time, completely entranced by that absolutely magical sensation of her caress, Ares closed back his eyes, as if fearing that it was all a dream- one that reality would have shattered the very moment he would be fully wake…

The warmth of her skin though quickly convinced him otherwise, and, without asking any type of questions, he tenderly returned her ministrations, his fingers lacing delicately through hers before he had brought her wrist back to his lips…The sensation of his soft tongue moving up and down her skin made her stir slightly, but the effect he had on her made her eyes close almost on command.

When they opened again, he was just inches away from her face and her hand had somehow moved on his chest, that broad, muscular, perfectly chiseled chest that had distracted her attention so many times in the past. She could swear he was about to kiss her, at least that was the intention that his labored breaths revealed, but instead, he just stood there for awhile, looking at her, hypnotizing her to the point where she even forgot she needed to breathe…What was he doing to her? What was that power he held over her?

In a last attempt to walk away from the inevitable, she found it in her to break their gaze, to look down for a moment, hoping that would be enough to force herself back to her senses, but before she could regain her composure, the War God's hand had already cupped her chin, forcing her gaze upward. Soon, he was running his fingers into her hair, his eyes now firmly fixed on her involuntarily parted lips, and, as her hand moved slowly behind his neck, pulling him closer to her, she suddenly heard an utterly sensual "Good morning" leaving her lips…..She was almost startled at the sound of her own voice, as if it didn't even belong to her…

" ' Morning…." he answered back in an ethereal murmur that only made her blood run harder through her veins, but still didn't make one single move to kiss her. Instead, without looking down, he slowly slid the straps of her negligee, letting them fall off her shoulders, and the next thing she knew, he was pushing her back on the bed, rolling onto her before she could voice one single protest….The only thing left for her to do was to inhale sharply, when, thinking that his next logical move would have been to get rid of the silken outfit still standing between them, he began teasing her nipples through the thin fabric- one last material barrier meant to keep them apart...

Her breathing was faster now, and as he gently pulled at her nipple with his teeth, she could no longer hold back that whimper that finally managed to escape her throat….Her reaction, as well as the sight of her swollen breasts arching shamelessly towards him in need for attention only managed to make him even more excited…..He took his time to study her some more, his gaze lingering a bit over her flushed face, before he pushed the edge of her nightdress an inch upwards with his hand, their gazes still connected while he began to languidly trace lines and circles on her inner thigh, without allowing his fingers to go any further…..

His own body was blazing by then, his mind dizzy with anticipation, wanting her in so many different ways that he didn't really know how to start….Every trace of reason melted away into nothingness though the moment her nails dug deep into his shoulders .He moaned in savage hunger before he claimed her, as if he wanted to tear her apart, not to make love to her.

...Once it was over, he couldn't really tell what had happened and how exactly did it occur, for the only thing he could focus on during those wildly intense minutes of ultimately rough sex was her bewitching voice moaning his name while he kept thrusting inside her with violent, frantic moves, his entire world collapsing into what he felt at that very moment, sinking in that deep blue ocean of her eyes.

As for Xena, she guiltily tried to cover her blood red lips, just to notice the dark bruises on her wrists from when he had pinned them above her head - at some time during their act. Strangely enough, she couldn't remember the pain that she must have naturally felt during those moments, her mind still intoxicated with his kisses, with the strength of him, with his passion, with that obsession he had for her…..or that she had for him…

She cast a weary glance his way, not really knowing what to say, not really sure if there was anything to be said, anything at all…..It made no sense, what she did…..And at the same time, it made perfect sense…But it had been amazingly stupid of her to act on impulse...really ,really stupid….

Tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, she parted her lips to say something, to make en excuse for her completely outrageous behavior, to push him as far away from her soul as she possibly could, as if his presence there could poison her on the inside.

In return, he just covered her lips with the tips of his fingers, and longingly scanned her now naked body before adding a sad:

"Don't worry about it…..Some things are better left unsaid…."

She naturally wanted to reply, but before she could efficiently clear her mind and come up with an answer to match his own, he had already placed a chaste kiss on top of her forehead and got up, suddenly fully dressed.

" This isn't an ordinary relationship, Princess….Don't expect it to work as such. Now get dressed. We have a full day ahead of us…I'll be waiting for you in the throne room. "

With a thousand thoughts still playing tag inside her head, Xena headed for the closet. Her legs were still shaking and her skin still had his masculine scent all over it….Barely holding herself up, she rested her head against the cold wooden door of the armoire…She could still hear her heart drumming maddeningly against her ribcage….She could feel it in her temples too, just like she could still feel him plunging inside her, filling her…..

What had she been thinking…..? The Warrior Princess left out a heavy sigh, when, gazing absently back at her wrists, she accidentally noticed in the large mirror of the armoire the rest of the blemishes covering her from head to toe….all of them, traces of his hands, of his fingers, of his kisses…..She was speechless…..

One single thought had the force to escape the continuous whirl of her mind while she mechanically put on a long, black velvet dress meant to fully cover her body…..She felt powerless in his presence…. And that was madness….Pure madness.


	17. Delicate matters

As she crossed the overly familiar, long corridor leading to the throne room where the War God was waiting for her, a visibly shaken up Xena couldn't get a grip of herself and just stop her erratic mind from replaying their conversation….Over and over again in her head, his words echoed like a broken record, painting a sharp frown between her eyebrows along with a shade of hurt feminine pride that had been haunting her for the past hours- ever since his cruelly nonchalant confession- and that was now perfectly reflected on the surface of her troubled sapphire moons….

"_This isn't an ordinary relationship Princess…Don't expect it to work as such" _he had said, and the mere remembrance of that coldness in his voice made her feel sick to her stomach….What was that supposed to mean? No, what they had was definitely not an ordinary relationship, but the real question here was if things between them were that way because** she** had chosen it so, or because **he **was the one who wanted it that way, and he had been the one pulling the strings all the time? And why in Tartarus was she feeling offended about his lack of loyalty ? The Bastard could have fucked a legion of both mortal and goddesses for all she cared; it wasn't like his sexual life held any interest to her, what so ever…..Or did it?

As she finally reached the imposingly large room, Xena shook her head, trying to cast the thoughts away, only to suddenly feel once again violently assaulted by their burdening presence the very next moment, when her gaze clashed against the War Gods'. As always, Ares was seated on his throne, his legs stretched idly over the armrests, as if he didn't have one care in the world, his attitude contrasting strikingly with the one of the rest of the men waiting for their turn to talk to him.

Just a few yards away from the dark leather throne, some warlord was already blabbering about the problems that he must have had- judging by his serious expression- and, as she approached them, she couldn't help noticing that the man's voice was turning more and more pleading as the God's interest seam to diminish drastically with every passing second. By the time she was going up the two steps leading at Ares' throne-to the warlord's visible shock- he sounded almost desperate.

" Princess….." Ares greeted, courteously offering her his hand , a hand that , despite all the drama she was struggling to face during those precise seconds, she took with no hesitation, immediately breaking their gaze, nonetheless. He obviously didn't need to see what effect his touch still had on her and just how troubled her eyes really were….

Once she was close enough for him to touch her, he ceremoniously kissed the back of her hand, his lips lingering a second more than they should have on its surface, searching for an eye contact that never came, but despite the fact that her blank expression told him absolutely nothing about the passionate morning they had spent together, her awfully tensed hand did….more than enough, really.

" You're a sight to see…."

" Thank you." she simply answered, as if her heart hadn't skipped a beat at his compliment.

"You look as if you have been thinking about us…." he jokingly remarked caressing her cheek with his other hand.

"There is no** us**. " she calmly stressed, restraining herself from any volcanic reaction that would have usually accompanied such line, thus denying him such great satisfaction. Fates knew he didn't deserve it.

Without bothering to reply her immature observation, and definitely without looking in any way affected by it, the God made a perfectly identical throne appear right out of nowhere next to his own.

Naturally, the few present mortals along with the warlord himself left out a loud, ridiculously surprised gasp that only made Ares roll his eyes at their reaction….

Xena herself hardly fought back an ironic smile at the crowd's ludicrous reason of amazement and finally lifted her eyes towards the God when he silently invited her to take a seat.

"What are we doing here, again?"

Her voice was sharp, and her gaze cut deep….he could almost feel it on his flesh…..

" As I said, we have a **full day** ahead of us…"

"Cut the crap. What is this about? What do these people want?" she asked, gesturing towards the few warlords waiting anxiously their turn to speak to the War God.

" One of my many **enviable** attributions as a God is to listen to my pesky warriors' pleas, and solve their so called problems whenever they are as incapable to do it themselves…. Between you and me though, they are **always** incapable and **always** in **desperate** need for help. There's always something urgent about their situation and my divine intervention is most of the time **their last hope,** if you know what I mean. " he whispered, casting a contemptuous glare in the direction of his followers, obviously disgusted by his own part in that script.

"Wow….not in a million years could I have imagined that such an important persona as yourself would actually lower his standards to listening to a bunch of rats …." she exclaimed, barely smothering the need to shout that as loud as her lungs could bare, without bursting.

He chuckled a bit at the acid in her remark. She had an outstanding sense of humor…The only one who could make him laugh even when her intention was the exact opposite….He had to love her for it, just like he had to adore the effect he had on her. He could clearly see just how upset his ambiguous comment about their relationship had left her and that was just one small step in the right direction, he silently told himself..

" What can I say? I have many skills " he joked, skillfully stealing her line, wanting to put her at ease.

This time, despite herself, she left a discreet, hardly noticeable smile caress her lips…She just hated the fact that whenever she was trying to be ruthless and cold, he always found a way to remind her that what they shared- despite her depressing pessimism ( that she liked to call realism just to feel better) and countless unanswered questions - was quite a special connection.

Slowly shaking her head, she took a seat on her throne, trying not to show just how uncomfortable playing judge, jury and executioner made her feel. It reminded her too much of her cumbersome, dark past, of the times in which people used to trembled at her feet. The mere memory of it, made her skin crawl.

" You were saying…..?" Ares finally broke her thoughts, addressing the warrior still standing before them.

The warlord gave him confused glance. Was he kidding? He had finished his request minutes ago, and all that time, the God appeared to be listening….Obviously, the poor man was as smart as a Cyclops if he hadn't been able to identify that absolutely bored expression on the God's face.

" Uhm….."

"Speak up man, I don't have all day!"

"I need your help, Lord Ares. " he said, beginning to tell the same story all over again.

"Of course you do…." the God grumbled, looking as displeased as he possibly could "As I said, they always do…." he continued, looking back at Xena.

" It all started eight days ago when…"

He instantly stopped talking when he noticed Ares taking out his dagger and gliding his finger up and down its blade to check if it was sharp enough.

" YES?" the God asked, anxiously waiting for the rest of the soap opera.

" To make a long story short My Lord…." the man answered clearing his throat. " ….I wouldn't want to waste any more of your time…." he tried to excuse himself

"No, you wouldn't."

" Madgar the Terrible has plundered my lands and I need your approval the go up against him given the fact that he is under your protection…" he continued, the shivering in his voice becoming a bit too evident for the War God's liking.

The dagger the God had been playing with, passed just a few insignificant inches from the man's head, plunging itself into the chest one of the warriors still waiting to talk to him. The victim fell to the ground with a loud thud, blood covering the marble floor. A frightened murmur soon reached his ears, some of the warriors already running for the doors. Every type of movement instantly stopped though, the moment he zapped – to his own amusement – one guy who was just a few steps away from blessed safety.

"Am I dealing with cowards here ? With pussies? "

Nobody answered. Instead, even without looking her way, Ares could feel his Princess' eyes sliding to him, hardening when she saw the anger now engraved on his face.

"Am I?! " he yelled once again, rising from his throne. " Aren't you warriors …..most of you serving me, out of all fucking Gods?! The God of War! "

"Yes my Lord!" a younger one finally responded from the back of the room, with a voice so strong that sounded almost like Zeus' during a Council meeting, making all heads turn his way.

His reaction, as exaggerated as it was, managed somehow to calm Ares down, at least a bit. Xena's disturbingly intense gaze must have contributed to that effect as well.

" Go rip his head off! " he exclaimed, addressing the warrior now trembling before his throne. " That maggot more than deserves it.! He didn't ask for permission to launch an attack in that area! And grow some balls, you act as if you were a Hestian virgin expecting to be fucked! You're a warrior! Start acting like one!

"Thank you, Lord Ares" the man answered, fighting back his cowardice.

" Two hundred of my men will accompany you back to Epirus. In return, you'll make sure to build me a statue right in the center of the agora once your victory's complete! "

"You will have the most imposing statue in the entire Greece, my Lord!" the man rushed to reply,taken aback by the God's unexpected offer, one bow later making sure to disappear from sight as fast as he could.

"Are you out of your mind?" Xena finally whispered, grabbing his arm, to capture his attention.

"What? You don't approve?"

" Madgar's men are the only one standing between us and the Thracian tribes. With those two at each other's throat, we'd make an outrageously easy target! It would be like waving a juicy piece of steak in front of a famished dog!"

" Really?!" the God absently inquired, fluttering a discreet smile on those perfectly drawn lips.

"You Bastard! This is precisely what you're after!….Having them slaughter each other ….It would only create an even greater opportunity for war….**Real** war " she hissed, terror washing over her. " By the end of the day with decisions such as this one , Greece will be bathing in blood…!"

" You're getting ahead of yourself, Sweetie…..No need to panic. ….Just so that you can see how well intentioned I am, I'll let you call the shots next."

Her mind reeled with confusion for a few seconds, but she quickly understood what he was really up to. Her lips twisted with a touch of cynicism.

" You'd like that, wouldn't you? To see me play God with these people's lives….Well no thanks, Ares, I'm done condemning innocents to death! You'll have to play alone, this time! "

In return, the corners of his mouth curved in a devilish grin that failed to match the cutting steel in her eyes, though….Making use of words was his seconds best option…

"Tsk , tsk , tsk! You don't want that, Honey, trust me…You're the only chance that most of these good for nothing mortals have to live a long and….relatively happy life. Would you deny them that opportunity?"

"Just watch me!" she barked, ready to rise from the throne and leave.

He tried to appear casually amused by the nerve she had to simply defy him and walk away, but having all those eyes fixed on them made him act a bit more like the War God and less like Ares.

Thus, his firm hand on her leg held her in place long enough for him to remind it some very important things….

"Don't even think about it, or I swear it on the head of Zeus that by morning , more than half of Greece will be theatrically screaming the names of their lost loved ones. "

Xena winced, her chest rising and falling with repressed anger.

" You can't make me feel guilty for crimes Ares! It's not my fault that you are a soulless Bastard. I'm not responsible for your actions!"

"No…you're only responsible for my mood…..…and you did an awesome job this morning. Don't ruin it for me!"

Her glance sharpened even more if possible, a faint thread of hysteria rising in her throat. She was just getting ready to bark her reply, but he rudely cut in, his hand applying a bit more pressure on her leg.

" Don't even think about it, and don't even think of making a scene in front of all these people cause I'll make sure I decorate my throne room with the limbs of every one who means something to you. "

" We both know that the second that happens you can as well sign your won bon voyage card to Hades!"

" Just try me! "

He paused for a moment, taking the time to calm down a bit.

" Leodrus! Step forward!" he finally called, gesturing a young man to approach.

" My Lord! My lady Xena!"

The Warrior Princess flinched. She took a long look at the man now standing before their thrones. She hadn't seen him in her life. How did he know who she was?

"It's an honor" he continued, bowing his head respectfully.

"Have we met?" Xena inquired, briefly studying the man's features in search for a common memory.

"No My Lady. "

At her obviously confused glance he humbly added:

"Pardon my daring but who else could have the honor the stay at the War God's side except for his Chosen?"

"Yadda yadda yadda…..Skip the formalities. I'm bored... " he said, arrogantly, frowning at the man.

"I'm with Absyrtus, My Lord. We both came to you in search of justice. "

The God couldn't help a laugh. It was hard for him to believe how stupid mortals were at times. Justice? Him…out of all gods?!

"I'm afraid you came to the wrong place. You should have seen Astrea or Athena for such delicate matters…"

"But it's a matter of war, My Lord"

"Is it, now?"

" Yes. You see, My Lord, Absyrtus here, violated a peace treaty that was signed by our fathers twenty years ago, in this same throne room. "

" Rhesus and Acastus…"

"The very ones, My Lord."

" What exactly did he do?" Xena asked, more out of curiosity than out of the need to make herself useful.

"His troops entered my city at midnight, My Lady. My soldiers naturally believed that we were under attack, and without waiting for further information they responded violently to the apparent threat. Consequently, Absyrtus has declared war and wants to break our agreement."

"Than break it. What's keeping you? " the War God broke out, obviously thrilled with the perspective. "There hasn't been a decent war in that area in years…."

"I thought you said this was my call…" Xena reminded him, the light blue of her eyes darkening before she even got her answer.

" Oh….so now it's your call…..By all means, my Lady….."

It was all she needed to hear in order to start her interrogation.

" What were your troops doing in the city after midnight?"

"I'm in love with Esseria, My Lady, his sister. We want to get married and because this barbarian is against our relationship, she decided to elope. We didn't mean to hurt anyone, and we made sure to let his soldiers know that before they rushed against us, but they wouldn't listen. They charged anyway! My brother was killed in that confrontation and that is something I cannot forgive!"

" And you shouldn't. A crime is a crime and it needs to be punished!" Ares couldn't help himself, the mere idea of teasing his already irritated Warrior Princess some more, being as tempting as a chocolate cake.

"Ares!"

" Fine…."

"Why are you opposed to their relationship?" Xena resumed.

"We are sworn enemies. Our families have been in conflict for centuries. The only thing we have in common is that peace treaty and the desire to keep the prosperity of our lands…..Plus, he doesn't love my sister! " he responded, sounding pretty sure of himself.

"Yes I do!" Absyrtus contradicted, turning towards the man standing next to him.

" You don't even love your own mother, you lying snake!" the accusation slashingly left Leodrus' lips. " The only reason why he wants a relationship with Esseria is to force my hand into offering his merchants more privileges in **my** city!" he pointed out furiously.

"That's not true, and if you hadn't been so blinded by hate , you would have seen that I'm telling the truth. I do love her, with all my heart!"

"Oh the drama! You two should write a play together…." the War God found it fit to add, rolling his eyes at the new sappy details of the love story he was forced to listen.

"Well….now that you have something else in common, wouldn't it be the right moment to put your resentment aside and work together at carrying on your fathers' legacy? It's certainly a better idea than to slit each other's throat!" Xena suggested hurriedly as if fearing to miss a once in a lifetime opportunity "

"No way!"

"Not in my lifetime…." both men replied at the same time, fierce determination written all over their revolted faces.

"Ok….." she concluded, obviously displeased by their inborn stubbornness. "Then, you'll have to pay Leodrus twenty thousand dinars for having brought armed men in his city and broken the treaty- a treaty sign by your fathers under the patronage of the God of War. By breaking that treaty you're breaking your fathers' oath to the War God. This means, that by tomorrow morning, you'll have ten legions knocking at your gates!"

" But My Lady…."

"I think we could try and work this out…." they immediately protested, terrified by the possibility. They were both aware of what the War God's troops were trained to do and taking prisoners was out of the question.

"Yeah, we can solve it….." Absyrtus rushed to agree with the Warrior Princess' initial proposal.

"A marriage would strengthen our alliance…." Leordus joined in, visibly still not thrilled about the perspective, but it was quite clear that it was either that or sending his entire city to certain death.

"It sure would. Make sure you play your cards right…." Xena responded, breathing an almost inaudible but very much present sigh of relief….She had just avoided a full scale war and saved countless innocents from losing their lives prematurely….It was more than she had initially hoped for…..

" Yes My Lady….My Lord Ares" they once again answered, as if they were two preschoolers on their best behavior.

"Does preventing all wars and seeing me bored to death give you pleasure?" the God inquired, biting his lips in fake frustration.

Her answer was as sarcastic as it could possibly be.

" No. It actually gives me multiple orgasms. "

He gave a light laugh.

"….Damn! I swear if that were true, peace and love would be spreading amongst these washed up mortals for decades to come…I would be left unemployed and probably homeless- the only homeless God alive- but happy to see you well satisfied."

"My Lord?" a soft feminine voice diverted their attention from their ceaseless bantering.

"What do you want?..." the God snapped, only to change his tone the moment he laid eyes on the extremely beautiful woman now standing casually before his throne." Oh….Hello there."

" I'm here for a very delicate manner….." she continued, on the same honeyed tone as before, making Xena arch a suspicious eyebrow at her.

"Delicate…" Ares repeated, just like a flawlessly trained parrot.

'" Yes….I was wondering if we could speak about it** in…..private**….?" the woman requested, offering him an invitingly sexy smiled that could have melted any man's heart, mortal or God, and the Warrior Princess could bet her own life that there was some subtle degree of familiarity between them.

"Well…..I'm sure it's important…..so…" Are simply stated, without giving her proposition a second thought.

"It is…..you see, the very existence of my tribe depends on your decision….."

"That sounds ….urgent…" he concluded. " Take care of the rest of these morons for me….I gotta save the Amazon tribes….." he then absently addressed Xena right before he signaled the woman to go to the altar room, much to the Warrior Princess' consternated glare.

"I won't be long…..The girl needs help….She looks desperate. I think it might be something serious…." he explained, a hint of irony in his voice.

" You…" the Warrior Princess began, the same moment she felt her stomach tightening up. Was the Bastard mocking her? A distinct feeling of nausea overcame her when she finally realized that he wasn't playing and that most likely he was soon about to fuck that woman's brains out….Before she could say anything though he had already dematerialized from sight.

"My Lady ?"

A guttural, unknown voice pulled her out of that ocean of presumptions she had started to drown in…

"What ?" she asked in a low, grave tone, her loud growl letting the man know that she was definitely not in a good mood.

" Please help me. It's about my son…..You're my only hope. Please…"


	18. Love me back

" What's up with your son?" she questioned hastily, barely finding the strength to focus on the man now kneeling before her throne.

"He will be put to death my Lady, this very evening, at sunset." the now crying father answered, struggling to articulate those last words.

" What did he do…? "

" Something that he shouldn't have... I'm a soldier in Ares' army, you see. And my younger son serves along with me. Ysesterday, our general gave an order and he refused to obey.…..So he sentenced him to death for his disobedience…."

" I would have done the same in my army. The difference in rank should be acknowledged and respected. Any rebellion is punishable by death, I'm sure your son was aware of that." Xena coldly let him know, as her eyes continued to glide in the direction of the altar room.

" He's only a boy, my Lady, please. He's barely sixteen. Plus, he only failed to execute that order because he thought it was inhumane what the general had asked of him…"

"What was it that he asked?"

" To cut off my hand."

Xena's eyes visibly widened at the detail.

" What did you steal?" she immediately requested to know, more than familiarized with the nature of the corrections applied in any Greek army….Gods knew she had used them more times than necessary, back when she didn't give a crap on the fact that even soldiers were people...And people were weak...

"Nothing my Lady. I swear it on the sword of Ares! The general's golden dagger disappeared and one of the soldiers said that he had seen me walking out of the tent….But I only went there to let the general know that a few of our scouts had brought news about our enemy….When I saw that he wasn't there, I quickly exited. It only lasted a few seconds…."

"More than enough to get the dagger…" Xena insisted, though she could clearly see the innocence on the man's face. He was definitely not a thief. He was telling the truth. She had to be sure though.

" I didn't my Lady, you have to believe me. I haven't stolen anything in my life, I'm an honest man, and I'm more than satisfied with what I have."

"What is the name of your general?"

"Arion, my Lady" the man responded, a flicker of hope gleaming in his troubled eyes.

" **The** Arion?" the Warrior Princess asked, a shade of hate pulling her eyebrows in a harsh frown.

"The War God's most trustful general, yes. Do you know him, my Lady?"

"Yes…I had the pleasure. " she replied, her lips twisting with disgust at the memory. " You don't need to worry about him, though. He's dead. "

The rest of the men let out a loud shriek of surprise, hardly believing his luck.

"Are you certain, My Lady? "

" Ares killed him last night…." she added, once again looking in the direction of the altar room. "There's nothing to fear. Your son is safe. And if anyone has any other accusation against you or him, send them to me."

" Thank you My Lady! Thank you! May Ares bless you !" he further added, tears of joy now streaming down his wrinkled face.

The instant the man headed for the door, Xena motioned for the rest of the people still standing in the room to follow him. She had had enough of their company for the day, and she was fed up with hearing the same idiotic complaints. Plus, the smothering need to see if her instincts had been correct and if Ares had indeed had the nerve to do what she thought he was doing, just couldn't let her breathe properly, as if a fur ball was stuck in her throat.

As soon as everyone left, with firm, heavy steps, she headed towards the altar room, blocking all warnings that her brain was desperately sending regarding the risk of showing too much interest in the God's "activities". Somewhere, half a distance from her grim destination, she stopped dead in her tracks though…..What was she doing? Making one mistake after the other, losing more and more of the invaluable control she had over him….The wise thing was to simply pretend that she didn't give a damn about who he fucked and just wait for those damned days to pass, and walk out of his temple without looking back...Getting him out of her system was a must... Gods knew he had given her all reasons in the world to do it….

One more second passed, with her briefly considering this new option…She knew it was the right call...With that in mind, despite the fact that it took all of her will to do it, she took an hesitant step back, already starting to change direction, when, as if the Fates themselves were in the mood to play with her heart, every intention she might have had to act as she was supposed to were left aside, when the sound of Ares' low moans reached her ears.

Faster than a summer storm, she rushed in the same direction she had intended to go from the very beginning, and, in less than a blink she was standing like a statue in the doorway, petrified by the raking pain she was feeling at the scene now unfolding before his eyes.

Ares was indeed there, having amazingly hot sex, with not one, but** two** flawlessly looking women, right on top of the same altar on which she had placed countless offerings- during the years in which she had been the general of his army- ….Tartarus, it was the same accursed altar on which they too have fucked so many times that she had lost count.

She wanted to say something, but the words failed to abandon her dry, tightly pressed lips….And though she wanted to scream the pain away from the top of her lungs, once she managed to regain her composure and her reason cleared enough for her to be able to reuse her brain functions, she casually walked towards the center of the room, where, leaning comfortably against one of the marble columns, she made sure to spill all the venom infecting her heart in the form of a phrase meant to cut as deep as the God's cruelty had.

" Saving the Amazon tribe, aren't we, Ares?"

He just gave her a half smile, followed by another deep growl as he plunged even deeper inside one of the women he was on top of, in all apparences not the least bothered by her presence. His play dates simply pretended that she wasn't there and kept doing what they knew best.

" It takes patience, skills and practice…."he nonchalantly answered, his smile widening as, in response to his hard work, the woman began panting and moaning harder and harder, squirming beneath him as her release washed over her, intoxicating her senses. "But... yeah." he replied, as the other woman , a long haired redhead with beautifully tanned, slender legs, brutally pulled him out off her Amazon friend and pushed him on his back, straddling him.

"My turn …." she murmured, slowly lowering herself onto his still hard shaft, making him bite his lip hard the moment she began moving her hips back and forth.

His hands immediately found the way to the woman's large, perfectly round breasts ,and, completely ignoring the stunned Warrior Princess who was still in the room, gritting her teeth at the outrageously arousing act, he left out a very excited " Oh yeah, baby….You do know how it's done….." the moment she quickened the pace.

Obviously refusing to miss out all the fun, the woman he had finished fucking earlier, skillfully changed her position so that she could give him full access to her still dripping pussy…..Soon, his fingers were burring themselves into her ass cheeks and his tongue was restlessly stroking over the hard nub of her clit, quenchlessly licking the honey flowing from her slit. Their breathing became faster and raspier almost simultaneously and the women's animalistic, guttural screams soon filled the room as their bodies began to shudder with the force of their orgasms .

Fully satisfied, and apparently feeling extremely good about himself, Ares finally rose from the altar, placing one last passionate kiss on one of the Amazon's lips. He playfully spank the other's ass when she turned her back to him, just for the show.

"You two are outstanding…"

"Thank you Lord Ares!" they responded in chorus, while looking around for their clothes, bowing respectfully their heads as they moved passed Xena.

"My Lady…" they both murmured, without meeting her gaze.

Before she could move a muscle in the direction of those seemingly harmless whores, eager to unleash her wrath on them, Ares was already fully dress and standing but a few inches away from her.

She mechanically turned her head when she heard the door closing shut behind them, leaving them all alone in that suddenly awfully large and empty room.

As if nothing had happened, acting as if it had all been but a figment of her wild, self chastising imagination, the God caressed her face with the back of his hand, the same way an archaeologist would caress a priceless artifact.

" You're still here…." he remarked, on a low and seductive enough tone to make her ask herself if she had started to lose her mind….

Still way too shocked and hurt to utter one single syllable, out of the pure instinct of self preservation, she turned her back to him, determined to leave. Making a scene for what she had just witnessed was definitely out of the question…He wasn't worth it, and, as she herself had learnt it over the years, silence could sometimes leave way deeper marks on a person's soul than any possible reproach.

His hand, now grabbing her wrist though prevented her from leaving, keeping her in place. Closing her eyes, she took in a deep breath, trying to suppress the pain coming from the unseen hammers that were now violently and repeatedly hitting against her temples. Without looking at him, she calmly tried to break free from his grasp, only to find out that it was an impossible task….

" Let go of me…" she said, barely maintaining that fake strength in her voice. She was a mess and she knew it. She could already feel the effect of his second betrayal on the inside...It was as if a tornado had crossed over her soul, leaving nothing behind.

He didn't say anything. Instead, with his free hand, he gently caressed the silky strands cascading artistically down her shoulders. He had to suppress a smile. He hadn't seen her that tense, or that angry in a very long time…and at least from his point of view, that was a good thing.

"You're still here…" he repeated against her ear in a demonically sexy tone as if he hadn't even heard her previous comment, the tips of his fingers now moving down her bare back, while his enslaving gaze freely roamed up and down that luscious body- outlined so perfectly by the soft velvet dress she had chosen to wear.

Her eyes still closed, the Warrior Princess made one last effort to ignore that addictive cocktail of pure hatred and lethal attraction that his lips, now tenderly brushing against the side of her neck were professionally injecting, making her wish she had never seen what she did...

In a completely impulsive response to his gesture though- probably more a self defense mechanism than a rational decision- she turned around with the speed of lightening, and, within a blink and at amazing force, her palm collided with his face, leaving behind such a resounding, scorching clap, that anyone present would have believed a thunder had split the skies in half.

" Don't you dare mistaken me for one of your sluts, cause I'm nothing like them!" she hissed like a threatened cobra, finally losing her temper.

" I could never do that…" he simply replied, waving aside her reaction, his amber eyes, dancing with delight….She was jealous….Score one for the God of War….

"Unlike you..." he continued, in the same cold, detached voice that he had used earlier that morning. " ...they can come and go as they please….Plus, I couldn't care less if they were to go straight to the pits of Tartarus the very following second….It's not the same I can say about you…"

Xena flinched. Her soul was blazing and aching, terrified by a thought that she couldn't precisely identify let alone get to understand….

In return, she slapped him again, not with the same rampaging force as before, but still, a powerful enough blow to turn even his other cheek as red as a beet.

He shook his head lightly, biting his lips in frustration…She just didn't get it…

"I love you…" he uttered in a suddenly warm, affectionate voice, in complete contrast to their dramatic dialogue.

This time, a powerful enough jerk was enough to free her wrist from his hold, and, with a strong enough shove to break a mortal's rib cage, she pushed him against the wall, her hand gripping his neck as hard as she could.

"Don't you** ever** dare say that to me again, you filthy Bastard!"

The next thing she knew, it was **her** back that was hitting the wall full force…The tables had swiftly turned and now, his body, pressing inhumanly hard against hers kept her glued to the spot.

His sharp gaze traced her face, from her forehead to her chin, lingering on those temptingly parted, sweet lips for what it seemed to last forever. She was breathing a little faster than him now, and each time her chest would rise as her lungs filled with air, he could feel his cock twitching and throbbing with the sick pleasure of having her that close to him….

Casually pushing aside her hands as she tried to shove him away from her, he cupped her face, and, resting his forehead against hers, he once again- as if hoping to magically get it through that thick head of hers- murmured that same, hypnotizing line that he had uttered before, his thumb massaging her lower lip as he kept her there.. This time, he was gratified to see her shiver under his touch…

"I love you. You're just to damn blind to see it, and definitely too damn proud to admit that you love me back….Is this were we are at , now? …To the point where I have to fuck other women to get your attention? To make you open up to me? "

Several delicious moments later, he pulled back just an inch, enough so that he could see the engulfing pain reflected in her eyes...He was not even close to being done with her...


	19. Grip vice

" No. Actually we were at me telling you how **sick **you are! And if you really think that seeing you fuck other women would make me open up to you, you're not only sick, you're also **stupid**! Now read my lips , you demented Bastard : **I hate you**! You **disgust **me!"

She sure looked like she meant it !

"And the pain radiating from your aura is….what, just part of the act? Does it go hand in hand with the **hating me part,** or something? I'm a God, I couldn't possibly know these things so…." he sarcastically explained, rubbing it in her face.

"What pain? " she coldly inquired, and judging by her expression, the God must have been completely off course. He knew better, though.

"I might be stupid, but I'm not blind, Xena. I do know pain when I see it…..And ….uhmmm..How about that? " he said, grinning widely – his eyes sparkling with a joy to equal the one felt by the first man after having discovered fire – " Is that…..**jealously** I see sparkling on the surface of those mesmerizing blues? Just asking….Think of it as a rhetorical question…Don't feel obliged to answer…"

" That question is so ridiculous that it doesn't deserve an answer, anyway. You're just being delirious again, Ares. Sorry."

" Is that so…?"

"Yeah. You're hallucinating. That's common in the case of **mentally disturbed** people, you know…."

" No kidding….cause I could have sworn you had **that look** in your eyes…." he jokingly contradicted, arching an eyebrow at the utterly puerile method she was using while trying to deflect.

She just threw him a puzzled enough look as to let him know that she had no idea what he was talking about.

" When those Amazons passed you by….You had that gaze that you usually have when you want to rip someone's head off…."

" That's just stupid…"

"Yeah…tell me about it….I mean….why in the world you be jealous for? They know their place just like you know yours…There's no competition…You have my undivided attention."

"Why in Tartarus would any woman in her righteous mind want to compete for your **attention** ?!"

He just laughed lightly at how offended and humiliated she felt…

" I don't know…..because I'm **smoking hot**?...And this is me being modest….."

" Modesty becomes you…" she snarled, shaking her head at the incredibly high opinion he had of himself.

"Why did you stay?" he asked once again, changing the tone of their banter into something a tad more serious, something that sounded like the beginning of an old conflict of prides with which they were both equally familiar.

"Come on…..it's a simple question…..I only need one simple answer. You could have left, damn it. You could have left….Tartarus, you could have joined us, and make me the happiest God alive; either way, your attitude would have made sense….But you didn't. Why is that? Come on, I wanna hear you say it….."

" Because I wanted to show you what an arse you are!"

He scanned her face attentively for a few seconds before answering.

" That obviously worked like a charm! Why was I an arse again?"

" Never mind. Talking to you is like talking to a brick wall, anyway….."

" We finally agree on something then. Actions speak louder than words. " he said , and, all of the sudden, Xena could feel her hands being pushed back by an unseen force that she couldn't resist. Soon, to her boundless surprise- a surprise that rapidly turned into boundless rage and frustration- iron manacles that had seemingly appeared out of nowhere seized her wrists, pinning her to the wall.

"What are you doing?!"

" Proving my theory."

"What theory? Are you crazy? Let me go! "

" You keep saying that….But deep down, you don't really want it, do you now?" he murmured against her lips, just to capture them in a passionate kiss that left fresh bruises on their crimson surface once it was over.

Her next shock came just as fast, when, the moment he started to pull back, while she was still entranced by that addictive effect of his possessiveness, their gazes still connected, a razor sharp blade rushed down her chest, cutting through her dress, starting from her cleavage and going down towards her waist from where he ripped it with his bare hands as if it had been a piece of paper.

Everything happened at dazzling speed, so quickly that she barely had the time to blink once.

" So what? Now you're gonna rape me just to prove your theory? " she snapped, raising her hand to hit him, forgetting for a second that there was no way she could move them more then five meaningless inches up and down.

"Love inspires us to greatness…." he theatrically replied with a chuckle, placing the knife back in its sheath, delighted to see a sudden shade of panic darkening her visage. "**Rape** you? Come one, Princess. You know me better than that….No….that won't be necessary….." he concluded, taking a small step back to properly admire her body once he pushed aside the dark fabric of her torn dress.

"Why in Tartarus would you ever be jealous on **any** woman,** mortal** or **Goddess, **walking the earth is beyond me…" he then stated, his hand, gliding slowly, languidly down her breasts. " You're absolutely perfect…."

She didn't say anything, she just clenched her teeth, twisting her lips in disgust at his touch, in what was at least in her opinion the most efficient way to prevent him from seeing that repulsion was the last thing she felt during those painfully intense moments…

" I see you all the time, did you know that? …..When I close my eyes, when I open them back…..It's as if the image of your face were tattooed on my retina…."

Hypnotized by the dark, sexy timber of his voice, dizzy from the enslaving force radiating from his aura, she could no longer find her words.

By the time she realized that a reaction- **any** reaction – would have been preferable to just standing there like a marble statue, it was too late….his hand had already began it's sinuous way down her stomach and further down between her legs. As if the tormenting image of him having wild, uninhibited sex with those Amazons were just false memories induced by some heartbreaking nightmare, she chose to ignore anything related to the matter, and, putting everything aside for a second, she moaned into his mouth as he began stroking and rubbing her clit, her entire body stiffening as she suddenly felt three fingers sinking deep inside her, making her shudder at the violent sensations that jolted her body.

It was only when his other hand started to trace the contour of her nipples though, pinching and playing with them, that there wasn't one single cell in her body that wasn't trembling uncontrollably under the effect of his touch, convulsing with an unbearable hunger that she knew she just couldn't allow herself to satiate….

" It doesn't matter who I fuck…" he kept murmuring against her lips, on a suave voice the vibrations of which broke the barrier of flesh of her body and entered her bones, her spirit, her everything. She automatically closed her eyes, unable to keep them open any longer, unable to face that scorching heat in his eyes.. " It's you I see…. the perfume of your skin that I want to inhale…your lips that I want to kiss…your voice that I want to hear screaming my name…..." he continued, now nipping gently at her bottom lip. His tongue then swept like a fierce flame into her mouth, his lips determined to erase everything from her mind.

About one full minute later, she could literally feel the need of air burning the inside of her lungs, a sensation that only intensified and culminated with a desperate attempt to be able to push him away for just one second. Her heart nearly jumped out of her ribcage when his thumb flickered once again across her already swollen and pulsating with pleasure, clit. Trying to ignore the fact that she also needed to breathe, she gritted her teeth at the continuously building pressure, at the growing ache between her legs, at all those ultimate sensations that were making her blood hum and race like never before.

In just a flash moment, she was panting and moaning harder than both of those two Amazons combined had done it, and, soon, orgasm was about to crash over her, contracting her muscles to the point where, for an infinite second, she felt like the soul itself had left her body.

Pulling back a few inches, as if drugged by the sight of her, Ares watched her breasts heave, her mouth sucking in air as if she couldn't get enough of it . He wanted her so badly that he could feel insanity slowly creeping into his mind… He could have her again if he wanted to, and that was the perfect moment to take advantage of her weakness….She was silently screaming for him to fill her, he could tell….Gods knew he wanted to….He couldn't though…..Despite of how low she thought of him, he was not the type to take advantage of her every vulnerability. Instead, he limited himself at swallowing her every moan and cry, controlling her response, and kissed her hard, as hard and brutal as he could in the attempt to stifle her sounds and as well as to keep himself busy from entering her.

When she finally exploded all over his fingers, he was taken aback by the surreal blue of her irides…..He didn't say anything, he just silently brought his index up to her lips, applying the slick, salty wetness on their crimson surface as if it were lips gloss. He smiled- a rather condescending smile- and placed a tender kiss on their delicious, glistening surface, a bit surprised by the fact that she had failed to notice that he had freed her hands for quite awhile now….

" If I thought I hated you before, I was dead wrong….Cause what I now feel for you is way beyond hate." she finally spoke, glaring daggers at him, once the effect of her orgasm wore off.

" There's no doubt in my mind about it…You certainly put on a very convincing show…" he simply retorted, without repressing one single note of that incredibly ironic tone he used, still fighting the urge to just turn her face against the wall and bury even the last inch of his desperate, throbbing cock into that grip vice of slippery, tortuous pleasure, and fuck her for the rest of the day….fuck her senseless…

" Go get dressed. I will be attending a special event tonight and I want you by my side …"

That being said, he simply vanished, leaving her perplexed and half naked in the middle of the room, feigning to have missed the tears now falling down her face. What in the name of Chronos was he trying to prove?


	20. On a short leash

By the time Ares materialized into her room, Xena was already dressed…..And given the fact that he was acting like a pig most of the times, this one was no exception….Slapping her ass and letting out an exclamatory whistle came as a natural reaction to the stunning image he had before him.

His Princess was wearing an emerald green empire- waist dress, made out of a combination of translucent silk and chiffon that gave her the appearance of a wooden fairy.

"Wow! You look…..incredible !" he concluded, glaring ostentatiously at the very tempting cleavage that was generously exposing her full breasts.

She just arched an eyebrow at him, enough for her utterly blank expression to discreetly suggest to him that maybe the method he had used to get to her, wasn't the beast he could come up with.

" Is something wrong? " he dispassionately asked, cocking his head to the side, searching for her eyes.

"No. Everything's perfect. " she acidly retorted, a thin layer of ice forming on the azure blue off her moons as the words left her mouth.

"Great. Shall we?" he inquired, offering her his hand.

"Were are we going again?"

"To one of your favourite places, my dear." he announced, his half grin letting her know that she was in a very unpleasant surprise.

She wanted to reply, but her blood was still boiling in her veins. She obviously had neither the strength nor the mood to fight over some useless subject, aware that there was no way she was going to win any confrontation at that point. Gritting her teeth, she simply placed her hand into his, and made sure to give him the cold shoulder when his other hand caressed her face. And despite of the fact that she didn't look down, she could clearly feel all those bruises still present on her body vanishing as if they had never even been there to begin with.

**XXX **

Second later, she was struggling to suppress a shriek of surprise when, exiting the vortex, she began analyzing her whereabouts.

Judging by the lavishing decorated room they were in, as well as by those thirteen golden thrones arranged in a circle around what appeared to be a large artesian fountain- in the form of a giant cup from which ambrosia was flowing- the Warrior Princess quickly connected the dots….

"We're on Olympus?!"

" We sure are….And looks like we've been a tad overzealous when it comes to punctuality." he remarked, noticing that they were the only ones in the room.

" What are we doing here?" she barked on a low, menacing tone, that only made the God proud to have her.

Before he got the chance to grace her with an answer though, Athena's resonant voice sliced the air, echoing the Warrior Princess' enigma.

" What is **she **doing here? This is a council Ares…**.Gods only,** remember?"

" **She** is my **Chosen! **The last time I checked, the regulations said something about a Chosen having the same privileges and duties as their patron God?"

"A God who has earned those privileges!" she spat, deeply disturbed by the Warrior Princess' presence.

" Oh, she has, trust me….!" he couldn't help letting his sister know, clicking his tongue.

"Where ? In between the sheets?"

Her sarcasm was obvious.

"Not that it's any of your business, but …..she knows what she's doing…"

Athena just snorted at his line.

" That's so like you! Anyway, you don't see any other Chosen here , do you?"

"They're probably too lazy or disinterested to do their job…Or….their patron Gods are way too irresponsible and powerless to control them …."

" Oh please. That's hardly a motivation. What is he blackmailing you with, this time? " she demanded to know, her gaze shifting towards Xena.

" Aren't you tired of making the same mistake over and over again? Underestimating me proved to be fatal for most of your _**flawless**_ plans so many times in the past, Athena….It's not that easy for someone to blackmail me..." she said with a grin, leaning casually against Ares' shoulder. At the contact, his arm circled her waist, drawing her closer.

"Yeah….you sure look particularly thrilled to be here" the Goddess laughed, somewhat amused by the clear signals of their body language. " You don't need to act all territorial in my presence, brother. I'm not Apollo….Fucking her is not on my list….."

"Mind your language! " he hissed, his eyes flickering with sudden fury.

"What? She's no Hestian Virgin, I give you that. She might have been before you corrupted even the last ounce of purity of her soul….Not to mention the body…"

" What's your problem , again?" he barked, taking a step in her direction, but Xena quickly pulled him back.

"My problem is that she doesn't belong here! This is a matter to be discusses amongst Gods, not thick headed mortals, Ares!" the arrogant daughter of Zeus reminded him, clenching her fists.

" She not a mortal!" he simply replied this time, struggling to repress that wave of dark energy washing over him.

" Only because you found it fit to condemn her to an eternity by your side, doesn't make her a Goddess!" she corrected.

" Are you blind or something? " Ares inquired, choosing to mock her instead of jumping at her throat. " She is a Goddess…."

Fort a split second there, Athena actually panicked, giving Xena an alarmed look while scanning her body from head to toe.

" You wouldn't have dared…."

" Metaphorically speaking…" he added, tightening his grip on his Princess. "Relax Sis…before a blood vessel pops in that wise brain of yours. "

And right when Athena was about to bite back, eager to tell him how lame and stupid he was, the Love Goddess made her fabulous entrance, along with Hephaestus , Hera and Apollo.

Needless to say, with the exception of Aphrodite. They were all speechless.

"Heya Bro! " she yelled from the other side of the room, her face turning chalk white the instant Xena turned around to greet her.

" Wow! Warrior Babe ! What are you doing here? What happened?" she anxiously inquired, hugging her friend, a well veiled fear glistening in her wide eyes.

" Nothing major. " the Goddess of Wisdom, replied instead. "Our idiotic brother decided that ruining everything for us would be way more fun than allowing us to spend our evening in peaceful bliss."

Aphrodite just gave her brother a puzzled look.

" Nothing to worry about. We were bored and I figured we'd join you…."

"You **were** bored….as in **together bored**…..?" the blonde Goddess asked, as a wide smile fluttered on her lips.

" More or less…" the War God muttered, avoiding a straight answer.

" Yes! I knew it! I could feel it. There was this vibe in the air this morning when I woke up and I just knew that something was up!" Aphrodite squealed, clapping her hands, her perfect curls jumping up and down along with her.

And while Athena rolled her eyes, and Xena displayed once again her funeral like expression, Ares looked around to see who else had arrived. He immediately spotted Apollo who had been gazing at them for quite awhile now, staring at Xena with the look of a famished Cyclops at a well cooked prey.

Almost instinctively, Ares shifted his position so that she was now standing in front of him, and apart from the arm circling her waist, the other one moved around her neck, keeping her glued to him.

To his surprise, she didn't utter one single protest, on the contrary, she leaned into him , appearing to be surprisingly relaxed given the situation.

"Are you trying to use her as a human shield?" Athena managed once again to sting, a look of satisfaction lightening her eyes after having noticed the slashing, unspoken exchange between her two brothers earlier. "Or wait…my mistake…You're actually keeping her on a tight leash…..I would do too if I were you. If not, by the end of the night, you might be returning to the Halls of War all alone and aloof….."

Ares groaned, but chose to ignore her, much too preoccupied with focusing on the rich experience offered by Xena's fingers caressing his arm. She had already felt the anger building inside him and she naturally knew where that would lead. She could also tell what the Goddess of Wisdom had planned, and she wasn't about to give her that boundless joy.

"Actually it's the other way around…." Xena corrected, tilting her head back, and placing a soft kiss on the God's lips, flinching a bit at the sensation of his immediately hard cock pushing hard against her ass.

"Sorry about that…" the God whispered into her hair, once her attention was once again directed towards Athena. "I can't help it….."

Aphrodite just chuckled at the result; she had instantly picked her brother's change in energy. Much to Athena's dismay, they were all wearing a large grin on their faces, and she was the only one who had failed to get the joke.

"Right. Your relationship is so screwed up that I tend to forget that from time to time. Enjoy your staying." she finally concluded, turning around and heading towards her throne.

They all burst into laughter the very following second, and Aphrodite couldn't help yet another appreciative shriek as her brother placed a chaste kiss on top of his Chosen's head.

" Are you two…like for real?"

" Of course!" he said, without thinking, his voice being simultaneously doubled by Xena's ruthless one.

"No!"

"Oh…." Aphrodite murmured, on a slightly less enthusiastic tonality. "I'm sure you two love birds will solve everything out by the end of the night…..Gods you look so right together….." she said it out loud, despite herself, to Xena's frustration.

" So….what are we doing here again?" the Warrior Princess insisted to know, looking over her shoulder at Ares, still searching for answers.

"You mean you don't know?!" Aphrodite asked, her smile turned suddenly unnatural and fake.

"I was going to tell her when that envious Bitch made an appearance!" he defended himself, causing Xena to turn around in his arms.

" Tell me what? Tell me what, Ares? Why are we here? What's going on?"


	21. Unexpected intruders and old enemies

*****HI GUYS, JUST WANTED TO THANK MY NEWEST REVIEWERS FOR THEIR SUPPORT- SO THANK YOU _SPARKLES AND MINDERISMEER _\- AND TO MY OLD FRIENDS, THANK YOU FOR STILL BEING HERE, READING MY FICTION. YOU'RE THE BEST *****

"Tell me what, tell me what, Ares? Why are we here? What's going on?"

And just when his lips parted, ready to offer an answer, the War God's line was unexpectedly interrupted by the arrival of a spectacular man, so handsome that every male presence in the room seem to pale in comparison to his alluring appearance.

Xena herself flinched. Despite the enviable perfection of his form though, it was not the ideal shape of his body that attracted her attention , not even that particularly harsh but incredibly manly and sensual visage that kept her eyes glued to him, but the raging power radiating from his godly aura, boiling like molten lava on the surface of his liquid azure moons….azure ….just like her own…and as equally intense.

Completely entranced by his presence– much like the rest of the Goddesses in the room- she couldn't help arch an eyebrow at the sight of him, her overly conscious and always analytical mind blocking for a second everything related to her whereabouts and to Ares' iron like grip around her throat. …Speaking by the War God, it looked as if he was the only one there that didn't seem at all fascinated by the imposing mysterious stranger that had just materialized on their most sacred ground.

His jaw tightened …It didn't last long until he gave the man a full body scan, and by the Fates, he simply felt sick to his stomach noticing just how cool and at ease the intruder appeared to be…the War God growled inwardly at the ludicrous arrogance he was displaying…The guy pretty much acted as if he owned the place, as if he weren't surrounded by Gods so powerful, that with a snap of their fingers could have broken his neck in a heartbeat….

" Good evening dear friends. It's been a long time. I hope I'm not intruding" he articulated in a steely enough voice to silence even the breaths of everyone present.

Once again, Xena didn't bother masking her surprise….according to his accent he surely wasn't Greek….not even Roman….

Before anyone dared open their mouths to say anything, anything at all, the man was already reciting the sacred ritual of arrival, so very familiar to anyone present given the fact that they themselves used to utter it each time they stepped on foreign lands...

"I come in peace and I'm here the name of Donar, my father and your main ally, and in his name I salute you, Olympian Gods, rulers of Elada . I swear to respect your laws and the customs of your ancestors while I'm under your roof and I bind myself not to pay any offence to my generous hosts. " he said, looking about the room, at the Gods and Goddesses that had by now formed a circle around him. His eyes finally stopped roaming and his gaze lingered for a long teasing moment on the Warrior Princess' delicious curves. She could clearly see the fire burning in them, as they rested on her breasts and despite her best efforts, she found herself holding her breath when the almost tangible warmth now projected on the surface of her heart felt so real that her eyes widened slightly at the realization that one single person had managed to have such effect on her...

Sensing that mixed cocktails of feelings invading her, with a barely noticeable move of his hand, Ares made a thin energy shield appear in front of them , thus keeping her safe from any influence the newcomer might have had over her, making sure to frown menacingly in his direction. And while Xena feigned to have missed his gesture, the God ended his speech.

"In the name of my God I thank you in advance for your generous hospitality. "

"You're welcome Teiwaz, son of Donar. Our house is blessed to have beneath its roof such honorable guest!" Athena replied, ceremoniously bowing her head at him.

"Who's this?" Xena finally seized the opportunity, giving Ares a puzzled look.

There was a brief pause during which the War God appeared to be carefully choosing his words.

"The Germanic God of War….**and** a Bastard…"

"And I thought you were the only Bastard alive!" she replied with a soft chuckle, visibly bemused by the subjectiveness of his description.

"Yeah, I get your disappointment.."

"Do you?"

This time, there was an acid note in her voice, one that Ares didn't really appreciate. Consequently, he just threw her an irritated glare in return.

"To what do we owe this honor?" the Goddess of Wisdom further asked, and in the graveyard silence of the throne room, her words broke in a million echoes, sounding rather sinister than polite, as she had initially intended.

"A little birdie told me that an important decision shall be taken tonight regarding the future of humankind. As you well know, my family has shown great interest in the matter over the millennia. I've come to assist to your council."

"I don't mean to be rude, but that little birdie forgot to mention that this it a private gathering, Teiwaz"

Despite his usual aversion for his disgustingly sour sister, for a split second, Ares was particularly relieved and proud to have her standing up to him. That woman had a pretty serious idea on how to intimidate a man quickly and effectively….The information that the God was kind enough to share with the group though, sent the War God's calmness flying straight to the garbage, making him grit his teeth nervously….He hated not being in control, and more than that, being in a haze…

"Maybe you'd like to tell that to Zeus. He was the one who extended the invitation …"

"Oh…. I had no idea. Please pardon my intrusion then. " she excused herself, exchanging a subtle glance with her brother, across the room. "I meant no harm…"

" No harm done." the God answered with a cordial smile that was by far deprived by any trace of human emotion.

"Feel free to mingle with the crowd. As it seems, father might be absent for a bit longer; probably some important business regarding the welfare of Greece, is keeping him away….. I'm sure he'll arrive as soon as possible."

" I'm not in a hurry…As for the socializing part, sure. I always love catching up with old friends…" he said, and, as he looked around the room again, he saw that the other Gods were already chatting. He swiftly scanned the surroundings- that glacial smile still glued to his lips- and made a useful, mental note about the different groups occupying various parts of the hall: right in the center, pretty close to where he was now standing, there were Poseidon, Hades and Hera, a bit towards his left one could see Apollo, Hermes, Demetra and Hephaestus, near the balcony Artemis , Dionysus and two minor gods whose names he couldn't remember, and in the back of the room, Ares, Aphrodite and the stunning beautiful brunette who had been analyzing his each and every move ever since he made an appearance.

He decided of course to start with them….They were by far the most interesting combination in his opinion.

"Why don't you introduce me to that sexy, blonde vixen over there, Athena?"

"Of course" the Goddess responded, offering him her hand and walking in their direction. "This is my lovely sister, Aphrodite" she said once they got close enough to each other. "….. Goddess of Love. "

"It's a pleasure" Dite stated enthusiastically, extending her hand, a hand that he kissed with the most elegant of manners.

"The pleasure is all mine, my Lady!"

"Handsome** and** educated!" Dite squealed in her horny teenager like voice . "That's like the fatal combination! "

"You're far too kind…" the reply soon came, but judging by his reaction he was not at all impressed with the passionate woman who was now biting her lips in excitement.

"And you're far too sexy…"

" Thank you….It's good to feel appreciated…."

"Oh, I'd appreciate you, any day!"

Both Athena and Ares rolled their eyes at the comment. Xena seemed to have missed it though, since every cell in her body was now focused on the unique fragrance of this tantalizingly mysterious man.

"Lay off him Aphrodite, you'll scare the poor man!" the Goddess of Wisdom reproached, trying to turn everything into a light joke, one that her ditsy sister didn't seem to get, on the contrary…

" If you knew anything about love you would notice that he's by far not the timid kind…"

Her line was followed by the God's somewhat mocking observation.

"And Ares…Long time no see…"

"Not long enough…."

"Special circumstances call for special measures…And who is** this** lovely muse? I take it by the possessiveness of that embrace that she's not your sister…"

"The name's Xena…" the Warrior Princess answered, much to the War God's annoyance, completely scandalized by the vivid interest the man was showing in his Princess…..He didn't like it one bit…

"The **legendary **Xena?"

"I don't know about that….People tend to overreact when it comes to building** legends.**" she skillfully retorted, making sure to capture her interlocutor's attention.

"Maybe. One thing I know though. The stories didn't lie about your surreal beauty….They couldn't have been more realistic…"

"I had no idea that anyone would ever be interested in spreading rumors about my physical appearance…"

"Beautiful and **modest**…..That's like the fatal combination…" he said glancing at Dite who was by now burning like a furnace – and not with arousal, but with boiling rage this time. The uncomfortable sting of jealousy grazing at her heart as she heard him use the same phrase she had just used to describe him, only made things worse, if possible…

"The Germanic bards sure do….Their songs say that you have surpassed in beauty any mortal or Goddess the world has ever seen.…"

" That's only because they haven't seen Aphrodite" she sated, as if sensing the Goddess' unspoken fury. " I'm sure she would be able to change their minds.."

"Allow me to disagree..." he contradicted, he continued, closing even more the distance between them, much to Ares' despair.

A sensual smile made her beryl moons sparkle even more as she offered her reply. The Love Goddess had been right….handsome and educated….a real charmer…

" I might have missed this information...but you're the Goddess of…."

" She's my brother's Chosen…" Athena quickly corrected, trying to avoid what she knew would unavoidably degenerate into a bloodbath the instant he took one more step in their direction.

"Oh. I forgot that you people still hold on with your teeth and claws to that barbaric habit of enslaving a mortal soul till the end of eternity…" he bit, not at all concerned about breaking that part of the ritual according to which he wasn't supposed to offend his esteemed hosts.

"That's one way to put it." Ares defended himself, aware that the attack was directed his way, struggling to repress the wrath now reverberation from his every syllable. "…As always, there is more to the story than meets the eye. And sometimes, you need to dig deeper to get to the truth.."

" I couldn't agree more. Just as I agree with the fact that there is only **one truth**."

"Don't Germanic Gods have Chosen ones?" Xena questioned, intrigued by the subject.

"We did.. many millennia ago. Nevertheless, with the passing of time, we have arrived to the conclusion that the freedom of any individual is much more important than the interests of a few….Plus, forcing a soul to remain forever by your side is not only unjust but also cruel. "

" And you do know a lot about cruelty, right Teiwaz?" Ares barked, glaring daggers at him.

" I'm the God of War. Of course I do…. Just as much as you do…"

"Our Chosen ones have privileges in Greece , Teiwaz. And they become Chosens out of their free will "

" That's only because they could never suspect the self destructive burden such bond supposes. They have no idea what they're getting themselves into. If only they knew…Plus, locking an animal behind the shining bars of a golden cage- no matter how large the cage- doesn't make him free."

They were all silent for awhile, Xena feeling almost embarrassed at his comment…After all, she was the animal….

" My condolences, My Lady" he concluded, softly caressing her face, and despite herself, the Warrior Princess could feel a wave of electricity rushing through her skin and bones at the contact.

Ares' hand, pushing his back, snapped her out of the trace before she got the chance to loose herself too much in the addictive effect of his touch.

" She's **off limits **Teiwaz. " he growled, just like a tiger showing his deadly fangs.

"The sense of property, huh?"

The God's sarcasm cut deep.

" She's not my property.."

Hearing him, Xena couldn't help the equally sarcastic chuckle that escaped her lips- her reaction mirroring strikingly their handsome Germanic guest's one.

It was almost funny, come to think about it….Ares had repeated to her so many times the exact opposite, pointing out over and over again that she was his little doll, his plaything, a toy that he could have at his disposal whenever he wanted, that she had lost count.

"The lady seem to have been persuaded to believe otherwise…"

"It's none of your business what **my Chosen** thinks.."

" No. But on the other hand, I'm quite intrigued of what's going on inside **Xena's** sharp mind…"

Their banter was abruptly interrupted by Zeus' eye catching presence. Every murmur in the room ceased as they all took their places.

*****HI GUYS, JUST WANTED TO THANK MY NEWEST REVIEWERS FOR THEIR SUPPORT- SO THANK YOU _SPARKLES AND MINDERISMEER _\- AND TO MY OLD FRIENDS, THANK YOU FOR STILL BEING HERE, READING MY FICTION. YOU'RE THE BEST *****


	22. Eternity starts today

"Beloved family…" the King of the Gods started once he reached his throne, casting a domineering glance around the room, as if wanting to remind everyone present that he owned the place.

"Here he goes again with the **beloved family** thing…." Aphrodite mumbled at Ares through those still half pouted lips that made her look like a spoiled brat- a cute spoiled brat- rolling her eyes at the annoyingly familiar line.

They silently exchanged a knowing look, both way too preoccupied with the outcome of the meeting to utter anything else.

"We have gathered here today to take a decision that will influence the future of mankind for many millennia to come. If everyone is present, we can begin. As you might have already noticed, we are honored to welcome amongst us a very special friend. He's here on the behalf of his father, Donar, our main ally in the Northern Lands, and, as his father's representative he will be able to play an active role in our council and pick a side in his name. I assure you Tewiaz, your wisdom might prove to be vital in this delicate matter." Zeus concluded, apparently not at all disturbed by the intruder's presence….

The War God knew better though…he could tell from his father's slightly stiff form that he was anything but thrilled with the idea of having "his ally's" son present at a family council…._The old man should have never accepted such humiliating agreement in the first place,_ he said to himself, the corners of his eyes twitching nervously while anxiously caressing his beard.

"You might have missed a tiny detail, father… He's not the **only **special guest the company of whom we will be enjoying tonight." Athena announced, pulling her brother from his musings, right in time for him to catch the hateful glare that she directed towards his Chsoen. "…. Ares considered it fit to bring his pet along. "

"Just in case you start boring me to death…." the War God slashigly replied, flashing an equally murderous glare her way. At the same time- in the form of a completely instinctive choice- his hand moved protectively around Xena's waist.

If all the Gods and Goddesses had been staring at them in mute amazement - and barely masked envy- so far, wondering how on earth she had the guts to show her unworthy face up on Olympus and besmirch that sacred place with her offensive, mortal origins, everyone seemed to suddenly notice the place that our Warrior Princess had so gracefully occupied…Defying any imaginable authority, she was casually seated on the armrest of the War God's throne, looking as if she belonged there and as if she herself had been one of them- an ultimate offense that not even Zeus himself could overlook.

"What's the meaning of this, Ares? What is** she** doing here?"

" I swear it , you people have a problem with following your own rules. Wasn't it you, dear father, who, many eons ago, came with the brilliant idea to grant every Chosen the same privileges as their patron God? ….As I see it, Xena has every right to be here…"

"To what purpose….?"

"Think about her as… **a representative** of the mortals . They don't have one in our honorable council so…it's only fair for someone to stand up for them and protect their interests, especially when it comes to such **delicate matters.** " he ironically pointed out, making a visible effort not to smirk at his own line.

"How thoughtful of you, Brother!" the Goddess of Wisdom barked, sounding almost hysterical. " I would have never pictured you as the very savior of humanity, especially given that one of your favorite hobbies is to butcher as many defenseless people as you possibly can!"

" **People**….? Interesting …..you usually speak about **mortals** in less** decent **words…."he spitted, his voice sliding silk sweet but acidly mocking throughout the room" What can I say? They've started to grow on me…."

"I bet your **mortal** plaything has something to do with you suddenly turning soft over night…."

" **I**mmortal. And yeah, she can be a very persuasive lady when she wants to…."

" You two faced jerk! Don't think that I don't know what you're trying to achieve and let me just tell you that there's no way in Tartartus….! " Athena began screaming at the top of her lungs, only to be abruptly interrupted by Zeus' surprisingly calm but grave voice.

"Enough! If Ares wants her present, so be it! She has the right to be here.."

"But father!" the Goddess protested, her emerald green eyes glistening with barely repressed rage.

"I said enough, daughter! Now sit down and let's move on to why we are actually here, shall we? Fates know we have more important problems to discuss than the Warrior Princess' presence at our council. "

The end of that argument finally allowed Xena to relax a bit under the War God's reassuring touch. She felt like a trespasser and she didn't like it at all, but in all appearances something extremely important was about to be decided that day , something that could have easily changed the lives of any living and breathing creature on the face of the planet….she wasn't going to miss that for the world. Plus, if Ares had brought her there, he must have had his reasons….

All this time, Teiwaz had been watching the scene with great interest….So, rumors proved to be true after all…Ares and Athena were at each other's throat, the War God did consider his Chosen as some kind of possession, his property was obviously uncomfortable with her status- a reality that for various and somewhat logic reasons she was struggling to hide- and everyone feared Zeus like hell...All the while, the others were plain absent minded and useless…

"_Ares….what's going on?"_ Xena finally inquired through their bond once she was no longer the center of everyone's attention.

"_You're about to find out…"_ he simply replied, squeezing lightly her shoulders.

"As you well know, the Fates had the courtesy – a couple of days ago- to show me the future- a very dark and frighteningly disastrous time line that is only two millennia away. Human kind is heading for self destruction and luckily, we can avoid such outcome. " he said , as a portal opened showing images of what undoubtedly appeared to be an unprecedented war. Everyone was fighting everyone, smoke and fire were engulfing the planet and the souls of the dead were descending to Heades' realms by the millions.

Every single God and Goddess in the room was suddenly speechless as they watched- over and over again - consuming waves of fire descending from the sky from what appeared to be steel vultures ridden by humans …

"A World War…." Ares murmured- more to himself than for the others to hear- biting his lip in excitement. " If Athena hadn't been in the room, **this **would be like the best dream I have ever had…"

"Keep dreaming about it Ares…**.This** is never going to happen. That's why we're here! …..to prevent such horrific tragedy! "

"Yeah sure. Spoil all the fun, will ya…? You're so damn good at it anyway…"

"This isn't about **fun,** Ares. There are more important things than you having a blast by blowing the planet to little pieces! " Zeus howled, aware of the wild, barbaric fantasies now playing tag inside his destructive son's head.

"Hear that Unc? " the War God instigated " For once, the Fates have ordained you to become the most powerful God on Olympus and they're trying to take that away from you …To snatch your crown ! Tsk tsk tsk…That's simply …unfair…The possibility of having control over all those souls…..Just imagine the thrill! " he poisonously suggested, the words leaving his lips in such a smooth and alluring way that Xena herself felt a pleasant shiver of excitement going down her spine.

"Don't make me zap you to oblivion you insolent boy!"

"Relax dad! You still have two millennia left to hold on to that throne!"

" You…..!" the King of the God blue, menacingly raising his hand in the War God's direction.

Hera's soft hand quickly covered her husband's though, indirectly forcing him to refrain his anger.

" To make a long story short**, before we start killing each other**…" Athena intervened, "…we're here to decide whether or not it would be a good idea for us to take back one of the most precious gifts bestowed to human kind: **the gift of fire**…"

Almost instantly, as if the skies had broken, a heavy rain of murmurs started filling the room, with gods and goddesses debating the problem, agreeing or opposing the idea.

Xena's breath remained caught in her throat for a moment… She couldn't believe her ears…Could anyone even consider such ludicrous proposal?

"How would that help?" Hermes was to first to ask, a question that was right about to leave Aphrodite's lips as well.

" Fire was meant to speed up their progress, and it did. But at what cost? Apparently, these primates are stupid enough as destroy the very planet they inhabit. Our home…..a home that we have sworn to protect. "

"This is madness. " the Warrior Princess muttered, a barley uttered conclusion that lacked the proper force to be heard.

" _Is she serious?" _she hastily asked Ares, once again accessing their mental connection.

"_Have you ever heard Athena joking? The concept is unfamiliar to her. Unfortunately, the bitch is as serious as a heart_ _attack._" he hissed, and judging by his tone, he wasn't particularly pleased with the perspective of having a bunch of savages walking the earth again.

" We need to vote . You saw what they are capable of, and we're running out of time. If things get out of hand, there's no turning back from there. We still have a chance to prevent this from happening, though... And this chance is today. Tomorrow everything might be too late. With every minute that passes we are more and more exposed to an unchangeable reality. So….what shall it be?"

"Wait, wait wait….! " Xena finally interrupted, upping the volume of her voice so that everyone could hear what she had to say. " How do you even know that this isn't just **one **version out of many? The future might change…You can't be sure of what will happen in two thousand years! Things evolve, people change…." she stated, scandalized by the mere fact that they were actually considering this a valid option.

" She has a point!" Ares rushed to agree.

" Yes they change! " the Goddess replied, completely ignoring the War God, her lips curling in an involuntary snarl " They turn more and more into monsters, following more and more their selfish interests, straying further and further away from the path we have originally traced for them! They're heading for their doom!"

" That's not true! They're…evolving…" the Warrior Princess contradicted, unable to come up with one solid counterargument to determine Athena to change her mind…She was telling the truth after all and she knew it…Mortals were quick learners, but the direction in which they were headed was wrong. And yet, despite their repeated mistakes, reducing them to apes was not the solution…

"…resembling more and more to the primate you're sitting next to!" the Goddess laughed, excited to see that there was no way Xena was ever going to convince the rest of the Olympians to vote otherwise. Ares' offended gaze only made the taste of victory feel even sweeter.

"Hey! No name calling! It's rude, remember?" he yelled, narrowing his dark brown eyes at her.

" Silence! " Zeus thundered, sick and tired of their bantering." This isn't just one version of the future, Warrior Princess! This is** the** future! Like never before, all existent versions for this particular event are one and the same, no changes whatsoever, no differences. It's destiny…..The destiny of human race. "

" And you want to send everyone back to the Stone Age, just so they stop fighting each other? There will always be war and bloodshed! They are engraved in our very essence….Violence is part of human nature . …War is in all of us!" Xena defended her cause, aware that it was her responsibility to protect her race….It was all on her shoulders. Another heavy burden that she was being forced to carry…

"My , my! You sure trained her well, Brother. " Athena just had to bite, smiling grimly at the couple.

In his turn, Teiwaz' s mouth twisted into a thin, contemptuous smile , but unlike the proud daughter of Zeus, he had very different reasons to feel triumphant.

" I did, didn't I? My pride and joy!" Ares frankly admitted, not at all bothered by his Sister's subtle irony.

" Too bad she has left your ways….You two deserve each other…."

" War shouldn't be about atomic bombs " Zeus once again cut in, covering all the other voices in the room.

"Atomic what?" Apollo asked, not quite familiar with the term.

"Deadly weapons they will create for mass destruction , meant to annihilate entire nations with one single strike!"

"Can they do that?!" Strife questioned in a cowardly, trembling voice.

"Not yet…..but they will…" Athena answered.

"Imagine what they might be able to do to us….I'd say we send them back under their rock!" the minor God urged, casting Xena a disgusted glance.

" You're all forgetting something" Ares couldn't help himself. " Our judgment shouldn't be clouded by fear, right Sister? I mean…a handful of mortals struggling to work their way to the top is all it takes to scare the life out of the mighty Olympian Gods? ! …This is embarrassing….I'm sure that with a bit of progress those baboons would be capable to make the right choice…."

" And what** choice** is that Ares? Fight each other to the death? To complete annihilation?"

" Again, that doesn't sound** that** wrong to me, but what I was actually saying was that they could reach a certain level of progress without massively killing each other….If we teach them, that is….If we lead the way….**our **way. "

" Not according to the Fates…"

"The Fates have been wrong before. How many times haven't they predicted** my** death? And still, here I am….." the Warrior Princess jumped at the chance, figuring that she could at least read a couple of useful reactions on the other God's faces, and thus make a wild guess on just how many of them would be ok with backing up such crazy idea.

"Only thanks to my moronic brother and to the obsession he has for you…Trust me, he's the only one standing between you and Celesta…."

"….Both Tartarus and the Elysian Fields would be expanding like never before…" Hades pensively joined in the conversation. "The Gates of the Underworld would be wide opened again…."

" At what cost, Hades?" Zeus barked.

" Should I care about the cost?"

"If everyone dies, there would be no one left to worship you…." Hera sarcastically reminded him. " ….only the dead."

" That sounds like music to my ears….And by the way, mortals don't worship me, Hera, they fear me…."

" And they should keep fearing you….."

"Or…. they should fall straight into the pits of Tartarus by the thousands…."

"**By the millions**…" Ares corrected in a strong, cold voice.

"_What are you doing? " Xena asked, terror flickering in her eyes. " This is wrong…"_

"_Just follow my lead. " _

" _What? Do you have a loose screw or something? Are you asking me to encourage your bloody war?" _

" _I'm not asking you, I'm telling you. Back me on this, Gods damn it, or Blondie, your goofy clown pal , Jerkules and his gang and all the rest of your pesky friends will be living in caves again…with the gorillas…."_

"_There has to be another way!. "_ she vainly protested.

" _There is. And we'll find one. One step at a time, ok?" _

"This isn't a fight for power. This isn't about world domination and realms and who rules over whom. This is about history turning into ashes under our very eyes. " Zeus tried to explain.

"Easy for you to say when you're the one sitting on that throne. " Poseidon chuckled, spite reverberating from his every word. .

"Are you really that narrow minded that you can't recognize danger when you see it? Mortals shouldn't have been allowed to progress in the first place. Prometheus was wrong to offer them such chance, to give away our secrets. We have known this from the very beginning ….this is only the confirmation. You might think that you can just go on living forever without being affected by their actions, but you can't. Not with such a big threat at the horizon. Next thing you know, they'll be claming Olympus as their own. They will proclaim themselves Gods….."

" I thought you said they were going to burn each other to the bones….What are you really afraid of Zeus? Was has you this worried? Is it the fact that their progress might destroy the planet or the possibility that the very same evolution might destroy the control you have over them?" Xena cuttingly remarked, glaring daggers at him.

" Both. And playing it safe is our best chance of survival. Raise your hands Gods and Goddesses. Let's vote. Eternity starts today!"


	23. Half answers

Soon, murmurs filled the room again like a swarm of crazed bees….As it was expected, everyone was fighting everyone, each Immortal had different opinions regarding the dangerous situation they appeared to be forced to unavoidably face. They couldn't see eye to eye about the gravity of the situation not even when their own lives were at stake and that was a fact. Not even Zeus could do anything about it.

" Why are you all panicking over nothing?!" the Warrior Princess' grave voice broke their passionate word exchange, in a much more effective way than she had initially hoped. "We are talking about something that **might** happen two thousand years in the future. That's more than enough for you to come up with a decent solution to solve this…."

" Time flows differently for us, Gods, Warrior Princess! What for you mortals might seem like eternity, for us it's a ridiculously short period. Two millennia barely equals twenty mortal years here on Olympus. So yes, we have every reason in the world to feel pressured in taking a decision. The sooner the better!" Zeus groaned, irritated by the fact that a worthless mortal had dared to question his wisdom.

"As much as I hate to burst your bubble, Dad..." Ares intervened- in what he considered to be the most polite approach he was able to use given the circumstances- " ...Xena does have a point. Time is limited, yeah, we get it…tick tack, tick tack…. but still, we shouldn't rush when the fate of the world is in our hands. The gravity of the subject itself is worth a serious debate. "

" Are you so **obsessed** with having your damned wars Ares that you can't think straight anymore or are you just **retarded ?!** " Athena joined in through gritted teeth, rising from her throne and walking towards the center of the room to make sure that she had everyone's attention. " We have two choices: either we send those freaking mortals to the Stone Age or witness the destruction of the planet. It's that simple. There's no way in between!"

" And just how do you know that there's no other way if we don't take our time to think this over? You might call yourself the Goddess of Wisdom Sis, but judging by your attitude now, even a chimpanzee could outsmart you! Use your fucking brain and come up with something real instead of forcing me to rule over a bunch of primates! " he retorted, raising furiously his voice at her when he uttered the last part of the line, hitting the armrest of his throne so hard with his fist that soft cracks appeared on it's beautifully polished surface.

" Well why don't you and that whore of yours come up with a solution then if you think so highly of yourselves, huh?"

A fire ball left Ares' hand almost instantly, and soon both he and Athena were hitting one of the walls with a force that would have crushed every single bone in a mortal's body.

Sick and tired of their bickering, the King of the Gods had decided to put and end to it, aware of the fact that from there, things could only be headed in one direction, and frankly, he was not in the mood to see his two stubbornly proud children ruining Olympus again.

" I swear it on the Styx itself, the next lightening bolt will send you straight to the pits of Tartarus where I will strip you of all your power, and by Chronos I will let you rot in there for one full era! "

Without articulating one word, the two boiling mad Gods got up and started dusting themselves off – despite the fact that there was not one single speck of dust up there.

They didn't even dare to exchange glances, as if feeling their father's angry eyes still upon them.

With unhurried, heavy steps, the War God returned to his throne while Athena took a sit on the marble steps leading to hers. In her opinion, she was right. They had to act fast, before other unpredictable events changed the future to the extent where they would find it impossible to intervene…..

As he reached his throne, Ares' embarrassed glance met Xena's alarmed one. He didn't say anything but he was relieved to see that there was no trace of bemusement in her radiant blue moons... That was the last thing he needed. When he slumped down in his chair though, he heard her unmistakable voice, reaching him though their bond.

" _Ares we have to do something! We can't allow this to happen…"_

" _Yeah well tell that to Zeus!" _

" _Stop testing his patience!"_

"_I was just trying to buy ourselves some time. Do you have a better idea….?"_

"_I just might….."_

"_Well fire away then…Are you waiting for the old man to kill him before you spit up the brilliant plan?" _

" I have a question…." Xena took a shot.

Needless to say, the King's eyebrows threatened to levitate right off his face.

" Of course you do…" Athena mumbled, more to herself than for the others to hear, but still, loud enough for everyone in the room to glance immediately her way. She just rolled her eyes at their reaction, much to Ares' boundless satisfaction.

" What question is that?" Zeus inquired, taking in deep, regular breaths while struggling to keep his calm.

" You said that according to the Fates, and judging by those future images we've just seen, the human race will be destroyed through fire, right?"

"That is correct…" Zeus approved, nodding his head.

"Fire coming from weapons that they invented…."

" Yes. "

" Why don't we simply kill the ones who invented them before they get the chance to put their ideas into practice? That sure beats punishing the entire planet for something that a handful of people are about to do…."

She gulped nosily once that last word left her lips, silently praying that at least some of the others might consider it a good enough plan as to want to give up their original, absolutely ridiculous one.

For a few seconds, the room was filled with a strange kind of stillness. Not simply an absence of noise, but something deeper…and for a moment Xena could swear that she was able to hear the sound of blood racing through the Gods' veins….Even Athena appeared to be actually contemplating her option.

" _You might have just saved the day….." _Ares murmured on an astonished tone, moving his hand on her leg, without looking at her though.

" _Keep your fingers crossed." _

" This might be a possibility….." Zeus finally replied, looking around the room to see the others' reaction to his conclusion. " It's not a permanent solution, that's for sure, but if we're careful enough and if we keep an eye on them, it might work…..What do you think? " he inquired, looking left and right at Hera, Poseidon and Hades, the closest in power to him.

" You really don't wanna give up that crown huh?" Poseidon joked, sharing a laugh with Hades who now seemed as equally amused about this as his brother.

All the rest of the Gods appeared to agree.

" Herems!" Zeus called, gesturing to the winged God to approach his throne. " Go to the Fates and ask them who is the man responsible for the invention of the atomic bomb."

Only a couple of minutes later, the messenger was back with his answer.

" It's Titus Lucretius, my King! He is responsible for developing the atomic theory. With him out of the picture, it would take many millennia for someone to come up with the same innovative ideas….."

" Titus Lucretius?! " Xena exclaimed, apparently shocked by the news.

"The very same! "

" A **Roman**…" Ares couldn't help pointing out. " How fitting. Can't say I'm surprised…."

" Wouldn't killing that man bring drastic changes to our current timeline?" Tewiaz decided to cut in. He had observed them long enough. It was time to join the action.

" Maybe….But drastic changes beats the Stone Age, doesn't it?" the War God answered, making sure to drop a note of sarcasm in his line.

" It depends on how drastic those changes are…Can we check what future alternatives may await us if we put the guy to eternal sleep?" he insisted.

Wanting to humor his guest, Zeus tried to open up a portal, eager to show him what he wanted to see. Nothing of great importance appeared though, nothing but a few present images showing Titus having dinner in his breathtaking villa in Rome….

One again that night, as the portal no longer focused on him alone, everyone was speechless. The Roman was having dinner indeed….with the entire Indian pantheon seated around his wooden, circular table.


	24. Noodle soup and conspiracy theories

"What is this?" Athena asked, in a weak voice, crushed by the unpleasant surprise that was now staring them back in the face.

" It looks like…. noodle soup…." Ares answered narrowing his eyes at the content of the bowl from which their so called future victim was now hungrily sipping..

" I wasn't talking about his food you idiot, I was talking about the overall situation!" she snapped, irritated that even when things looked at their worst , her brother had nothing better to do that to provoke her.

"Oh….**the situation**…" the War God replied with a mocked innocent expression on his face.

"Aressssss!" Zeus thundered glaring daggers at him.

"Fine, fine….I was just trying to lighten up the mood."

"Why don't you lighten up your brain instead?" the Goddess hissed, her eyes never leaving the portal.

" Why are they having dinner together?" Aphrodite was the next one to speak, subtly trying change the subject in order to avoid another confrontation between her brothers – one that with Zeus present could only end in disaster.

" I don't know Dite….maybe because they were hungry?" the War God once again felt the need to show off, only that this time his smart retort had as immediate consequence a loud scream- as an electricity whip hit him full force over the back...Judging by his reaction, that couldn't have been a very delightful experience either, for the very next second the God was on his fours, struggling to breathe while his forehead was still glued to the marble floor.

The Love Goddess rushed instantly by his side, trying to help him up….He aggressively pushed her hand away, giving her a menacingly enough gaze to want to keep herself at bay from him.

" Get away from me! " he growled, channeling his entire energy to at least partially block that absolutely frightening sensation that his flesh had been burnt to the bone in the area where the whip had left a mark.

"Gee what's with the attitude? I was just trying to help!"

"Yeah well I don't need or want your help!"

"This was your last warning Ares!" his father calmly announced despite the fury still flashing on the surface of his ice cold, dark brown eyes.

For a split second, everyone present in that throne room seemed to forget all about the fact that the entire Indian pantheon was probably plotting to bring about the end of the world and the man responsible for turning their dreams into reality, was right there- currently sharing his wine with them- chatting and laughing as if they were the best of friends…..

" I don't mean to pry, but do you think you could save this for later? Teiwaz bit, visibly bored with having to listen to their endless family affairs. " We have bigger problems to solve than dealing with Ares' clamant lack of social skills. "

" Who asked** you **anything?" the War God asked with a frown, finally managing to get on his feet.

" Stop it!" Xena who had just arrived by his side hissed in a low voice, grabbing his arm to keep him put, noticing just how tense his body had become; he was beyond any shadow of a doubt ready to start a fight.

As if her presence there would have been the best guarantee that Ares was far from causing any more problems, everyone's attention focused on those accursed images again.

" Why would they protect him"? Poseidon inquired, trying to find a logic explanation to what he was witnessing.

" If he's the tool they're planning to use in order to destroy the planet…" Athena tried to clarify, only to be interrupted by Hades' doubtful voice.

"That doesn't make sense. They live on this same planet, just like we do….what do they have to gain if they burn everything to the ground? " Hera quickly retorted, and she had a point.

" About that….." Zeus started. " It seems that during the so called World Wars, our continent alone was affected. Only little damage was done to the rest of the globe, at least as far as the Fates could see….We can't accurately predict if things are going to evolve from there and how….For all that we know, those confrontations might engulf the entire planet after all….."

They all appeared to be silently chewing on that new piece of information.

"You seemed pretty shocked when you heard who our victim was, Xena…." the Goddess of Wisdom suddenly spoke as if she had woken up from a deep, long sleep. "Do you know him, by any chance? Is he a** friend** of yours?" she questioned with a certain dose of irony, scanning the Warrior Princess' face for any trace of deceit.

" I might have seen him before, on the streets of Rome…..But I'm not sure….The man I'm speaking about was a poet or a philosopher or something of a kind…..This can't be him…..The name must be a coincidence…." she replied, wondering if indeed her memory had been playing tricks on her. She wasn't the one to forget or mistaken someone's face so easily….

" Actually, I think you're right…." Apollo uttered musingly, taking a better look at the images. " The guy is indeed a poet and a very brilliant one to. He always leaves flowers and incense on my altar each time he visits my temple….."

" He didn't seem like an evil genius to me…." Xena continued, somewhat stunned that she could have been that wrong about a person's character.

" I thought you said you don't really know the man…" Athena remarked, arching an eyebrow at her.

" I don't….It's just that ….I can usually smell someone's intentions from a mile away, especially if there's darkness involved. I couldn't have been that blind!" she defended herself, even if there was no reason to.

" Maybe you just weren't paying attention, that's all. Gabby must have been the only one listening to his poetry….." Aphrodite answered, partially putting the Warrior Princess' mind at rest.

"I guess…."

" Anyway….. we finally have a face attached to our problem. Question is **what are we going to do about it?**" Ares sternly inquired, casting them all a puzzled glance. " We can't just barge into his house and turn him to ashes…..Not with the whole fucking pantheon inside….."

"Maybe they're just passing by….?" the Love Goddess suggested, an idea that only made Athena burst into laughter.

" Are you serious? Can't your brain make proper connections any more now that Teiwaz is here? There are Immortal guards everywhere…..and I suppose they're not present to protect thirty of the most old and powerful beings of the planet…..They must have been summoned for Titus…."

Almost simultaneously, all eyes turned to Zeus.

"It makes sense. If he is of any importance, logically speaking, they would naturally want to ensure his maximum protection…..at least until he accomplishes his task…."

" Is he the one to make the bomb?!" Aphrodite questioned in a childlike voice.

"No, silly….." Ares retorted. " He is the one who came up with the theory according to which matter divides, subdivides and rejoins…."

"Yeah ….so? What does that have to do with the destruction of the planet?!"

" Using his damned ideas, in two millennia or so, people will be able to invent the atomic bomb…..which will lead to the final explosion…which means **that your hair will be a mess! "**

" Noo! We gotta stop this!" she exclaimed, her eyes widening under the effect of the horrific image his brother had created for her.

"That's exactly what we're trying to do here…"

" So let's see…..we can't make an appearance there, just like that….." Teiwaz started, obviously trying to come up with a plan.

" Why not? " Strife inquired, giving them all a half drugged look. " We're stronger than them, right? I mean, we're close to Olympus and all….This is our land, our sphere of influence…and they're far away from home , and consequently weaker. We could wipe the floor with them, teach them a lesson they'll never forget, right Unc'?..." he urged, casting Ares a conniving gaze that made Xena chuckle softly, despite herself. The poor guy was almost as naïve as the Love Goddess...

" Has Ares hit you in the head again, Strife?" Discord joined in. " A confrontation of this size between two pantheons will cause an explosion so devastating that not even the two World Wars combined could equal….

" Oh…..that sucks then…..We're doomed! We're gonna die!" he instantly panicked, looking towards the ceiling, as if someone was right about to drop a bomb over his head, then and there.

"We 're not going to die you moronic buck!" the War God growled, rolling his eyes at him….His nephew was such a woose…..It was embarrassing for the world to know that he was around him almost all the time….

" Yes we are…..We're not?!"

"No…"

"But I thought you said we can't attack them…."

"We can't lunch a full scale attack…." Ares explained.

"What are you saying….?" Zeus demanded to know.

" I'm saying that we should form a team, and get as close as possible to the poet and …kill him….just like that…."

" That could work….." Xena approved, realizing that in his madness, the War God was right. " All we need is a good strategy and before we know it, the planet would be safe from harm….."

There were a few seconds of silence...

" Fine. It's the best we've got so far…**..A team**….Who do you have in mind Ares?"

" Me and Xena….we can do this…." he firmly stated, once again, sneaking his arm around her waist, never breaking his father's gaze though.

"Oh no you don't! You're not going there alone…..I only trust you as far as I can throw you, Ares, and I sure can't throw you all the way to Rome…..I'm coming too." Athena made sure to add, taking a few steps towards them.

" I represent my father and my tribes' interests, so I'm going too." Teiwaz let them know, and there was no way in Tartarus anyone had the guts to tell him to stay behind, anyway.

"Fine... " Ares concluded. " ...we're off then."

"I wanna come too!" the Love Goddess expressed her desire, to everyone's amusement.

" What?! Oh no, no. no…..You're staying, Darling" Ares quickly replied, pushing her slightly back with his hand, the moment she came to join the team.

" No I'm not. Tell him Daddyyyy! " she whined, looking at her father with teary eyes.

" What could you possibly do in Rome, Aphrodite? It's dangerous. Things might get ugly. You don't want to be there when blood starts splashing the walls, trust me." her father warned.

" You're not keeping me here! I'm going. And don't even dream of trying to stop me or I'll make you all fall in love with frogs and snails….and…..Hydras….."

"But Sweetheart..." Hera vainly tried to reason with her, hoping to be more convincing than Zeus himself.

The answer that she received was hysterical enough to prove her wrong.

" I'm going , I'm going , I'm going!"

"Just take her with you. She'll come back once she gets bored…." the King ordered, leaving no room for protest. "Keep us informed, Athena."

With a heavy sigh, and a hateful glare thrown in his father's direction, Ares snapped his fingers once, and the very next moment, they were gone, leaving the others to keep chatting on the subject….

…..For some reason, once they were gone, Discord's eyes started flickering with mischief….


	25. Beauty is subjective

"Seriously, Ares? Out of all places, you brought us right… in the middle of nowhere? " Athena asked, rolling her eyes at what she knew for sure he considered to be the wisest choice ever.

" Like yeah, Stud. Why did you bring us in a forest? Forests are dangerous at night….."

" You are a Goddess Aphrodite, remember? No ugly monster can harm you….."

"No…..but things crawl in the forest…..disgusting things..." she reminded him, her imagination already assaulted by nightmarish scenarios in which a bunch of warms would crawl up her pink veil dress. " Look! I get the chills only thinking about it…." she said, pointing to her arm…Her skin was all covered in goose bumps.

" Well, you were the one who wanted a little adventure, right? Plus, remember what uncle Hades always said, we gotta live life to the fullest! So….that's exactly what we're gonna do. If you don't like it, you can as well change your mind and go home….." he very straightforwardly suggested, making her narrow her eyes at him.

" So that's what you were after, huh?! Well let me just tell you Bro' ,your devious plan has just failed cause I'm not going anywhere! I'm staying…**.staying**, and **making efforts** to get in touch with my inner …nature…Being in a forest… in the middle of the night, is not the end of the world…" she announced, snapping her fingers, and , in a split second a campfire appeared right out of nowhere . Another snap and a peachy pink couch materialized right in front of it, and, without bothering to cast one single glance around her, she made herself comfortable.

In no time, she was already examining her nails, the stern expression engraved on her delicate, porcelain visage letting the others know that she wasn't particularly pleased with the pastel nuance she had last used in the ultimate attempt to revolutionize the color industry and create a new trend for mortals to adopt.

" You're just being ridiculous Aphrodite…and incurable too!" Athena reproached, shaking her head at the sight of the plush couch that her sister had brought right from her chambers, from Olympus. Instead, she made a log appear on the other side of the fire.

"Why? Comfort is all about respect Thena!...And believe it or not, choosing to torment your ass by sitting on a tree trunk does say a lot about you!"

This time, it was Ares' turn to burst into laughter.

"She's right, Sis. " he told Athena, aware of just how much she hated that type of jokes. " …that is one big, solid…trunk!"

" Hey, don't be so harsh on the lady! She's just trying to be eco friendly…." Teiwaz jumped to her defense, making another log appear right next to Aphrodite's fluffy refuge, to the Goddess of Love's delight.

"Eco what?" she finally popped the question, as if every word uttered by the Germanic God had been an indirect but very emotional love statement.

" Futuristic talk baby! You couldn't possibly understand… " Ares replied in a bemused tone, courteously inviting Xena to take a sit on the log he had materialized for them two.

She complied, and once she was comfortably seated, her eyes suddenly became glued to the flames- in what looked like an impossible mission to avoid Teiwaz' insistent stare. He was mesmerizing...

In an almost comic chain of events, Ares had cunningly placed their log right across the fire, rather closer to Athena than to Aphrodite- despite of the fact that to Dite's right there was enough space to easily fit three massive logs. Once that everyone was in place, he made sure that the fire was even stronger than before and the smoke a bit thicker than it should have been, and all that in order to make sure that no eye contact between the two was made as long as he was present. .

"Have you lost it Bro?! Do you have any idea how my hair will smell like with all this smoke around? By Chronos, if the wind were to blow just a bit harder, the whole forest would burn down. So much for protecting the nature and stuff, theory…." she angrily reproached, arching an eyebrow at Athena who was now coughing from the dense, grey smoke.

A couple of seconds later and a wave of his hand away, was all it took for Teiwaz to make that intoxicating curtain of smoke dissipate into thin air.

" Could we start talking now? Our time **here** is limited."

"**Here**?" Xena quizzically articulated, as if he had only addressed her and as if all the others were nothing but clay toys for which the gift speaking was as weird as the Furies singing happy birthday to Chiron, with Cerberus as a special guest.

"We only have about two days to come up with a plan" the Germanic God explained. "Then, we should really rush into action…"

"Or everything will be lost." Athena concluded, biting her lips nervously. For some reason, she was indeed nervous- and regularly, she was never nervous before a fight, no matter how hard. She couldn't help it though…too much was at stake and her father had placed all of his trust in her. She couldn't let him down….that was inconceivable.

" So why are we in this forest again?"

" This is a clearing, Dite" the War God felt the need to explain.

" I knew that genius ! Now, why are we** here**?"

" Obviously because we need a plan….a very good one, too. We can't just barge into the villa, that's for sure. …"

"And couldn't we have thought about that plan up on Olympus? " she inquired, making a face at her siblings.

"Really? With Zeus and all the rest of that irritating crowd breathing down our necks? " Ares immediately replied, shaking his head at the thought. " Not in this lifetime!"

" Truth is, we needed some space…" Athena answered, backing up her brother's statement.

"We could have gone to one of my temples…."

"Those are not temples, those are brothels , Dite " Ares cleared it up for her. " Plus, it is utterly impossible to think when you're surrounded by…pink. Gaia knows you're the living proof of that inhuman experiment. "

"Ha ha! Very funny, Stud Muffin!"

Teiwaz couldn't help bursting into laughter at the pet name the Love Goddess had found for her brother.

" Yeah** Stud Muffin. **That's hilarious! " Athena just had to add, her whole body shaking with hysterical laughter.

"Lay off him 'Thena! I'm the only one who can call him that!" Aphrodite immediately reacted, noticing her brother's embarrassed expression.

"Well if you call him Stud Muffin, how does Xena call him? My **puppy love**? " the Goddess of Wisdom kept biting, refusing to back down that easily. Making fun of the War God was her hobby after all, so she wouldn't have missed an opportunity to do it not even if her life were at stake.

" Am I missing something here? The fate of mankind is in our hands and you're playing name calling ? " the Warrior Princess intervened, giving them all a steely gaze.

" Oh come on Xena, a bit of fun didn't kill anyone….**Stud Muffin** knows we're just kidding…."

" I sure do, **V- bone**! Now …can we move on to the reason of our little reunion? I do have other stuff to do besides **saving the world**!" the War God coldly inquired- in an unusually relaxed tone, much to Xena's surprise. He would have normally jumped at the chance to rip Athena apart. If there was something he didn't tolerate, was to be turned into the main target of an ironic conversation.

" Did you just call me a…."

" **Yes** I did! Get over it and start coming up with smart ideas on how to get close enough to that guy without alerting the entire Indian pantheon and without causing a full scale energetic war in the process! "

They were all silent for a couple of minutes, aware that he was right after all, and that they had been wasting precious time with their useless bantering.

The Goddess of Wisdom was the first to speak.

" Do you think that they will able to detect our presence in the city? "

"Four Gods ? ….It would be impossible not to…." Teiwaz retorted, and for once, Ares seemed to agree.

" They would know we're trespassing way before we get to the gates…."

"Does that mean that we can't even get inside the city? How are we…**.you**….going to kill that bad guy then? " Aphrodite asked, too busy with brushing her hair to read their reactions.

" Dooooh! That's exactly what we're trying to figure out, Sis! "

"Oh! Right…."

" What if we split up?" Xena suggested, while still chewing on some sort of plan. "It would be harder for them to detect us.."

" It wouldn't work. They are able to sense the presence of any foreign God the minute he is close enough to be a threat."

" What if you weren't Gods? What if you were …**mortals?**"

"Thank the Fates we're not! " Aphrodite voiced her thoughts without the slightest hesitation. She was obviously oblivious to what Xena had been implying. " Mortality sucks…."

" That's a brilliant idea, my dear…." Ares congratulated his Chosen, pride flickering in his eyes. He had trained her well.

Nonetheless, from across the fire , he couldn't help noticing that Teiwaz' eyes were also sparkling…with enthusiasm…As a wave of dark, reckless anger began building inside him at the thought that the Bastard would have loved to snatch Xena away from him, Athena roughly pulled him out of his trance with her following comment.

" Being mortals would only make us vulnerable, Ares. So no, **my dear, **your idea isn't as bright as my brother would like to believe. " the Goddess acidly pointed out.

" We don't necessarily have to be mortals….Just…..conceal our aura." Teiwaz corrected.

" And just how do we do that? We can't just stash it under some rock…." Aphrodite asked, her eyes widening in wonder. She had no idea that they could do that.

As always, Athena just had to mock her for her inborn naivety. She couldn't help herself.

" I swear Aphrodite, sometimes I think that it would actually do you good…."

"What...?"

" To hide under some rock- at least for a century or two…..And just….meditate. Maybe by putting your brain to work, your mind would miraculously…sharpen…"

Once again, Athena's comment, made the Germanic God escape a sarcastic laugh.

Naturally, the Love Goddess felt unspeakably humiliated…

" And maybe if **you** were to hide under some rock, a miracle would happen and your hymen would break all by itself! " she bit back, tears in her eyes.

" At least I don't have a hymen instead of a proper brain!"

" Aressssssss! She's being rude to me again!" she whined, searching for her brothers' eyes.

" Don't mind her, Honey. She's just sexually frustrated. " Ares replied, his line making Xena silently wonder how on earth they had lived together all those millennia without killing each other….

" Not using our powers for a day or two would make our aura's electromagnetic field grow weaker, and thus undetected, " Teiwaz explained, shifting a bit on his log. Having materialized a couch instead of a log would have made a huge difference indeed. Aphrodite wasn't as stupid as her brothers thought, after all.

"Great. So that means that we can go back on Olympus now…..Not use our powers for two days, and then go to Rome…..Great plan. See you at home…." Aphrodite happily said, getting ready to dematerialize from the place.

"Who, whoa, whoa! Not so fast Hun'! We can't return to Olympus. " Ares rushed, the instant he saw what she was planning to do.

" What ? Why? But you've just said….."

" By returning to Olympus, our aura would charge a thousand folds. There's no way in Tartarus we could disguise that later on….We'll just have to stay here for two or three days , without using our powers much , only in case of absolute necessity , and then walk to Rome."

" Walk….**all the way** to Rome?!" Aphrodite spitted, her jaw instantly dropping to the floor.

" This forest is three miles away from the city gates. We'll be there in no time" he replied, grinning widely at her.

" **Three miles**?! Do you actually expect me to walk **three miles**?!"

" You can always fly if you want to…..Or go back home…and stay there.." the War God mocked, bemused by her reaction. She looked as if he had just told her that the Twilight was upon them.

" Tell me he's kidding…." the Love Goddess begged, gazing at Athena.

"He's not. That's the plan. Now….we need to inform father about this. Should I call him or…."

" The old man should have come up with a plan all by himself, That's why he's the freaking King of the Gods!" Ares retorted, completely scandalized with his sister's disturbing obsession to run everything through Zeus.

"Shut up, Ares!" Athena said, walking away from the group. " I' ll see you later….."

"Make it** never**…."he teased, stealing a small smile from the Goddess' lips.

" You'd wish…"

**XXX**

"Is there anything else we need to discuss tonight? I should get some sleep. I'm dead beat" Xena asked, a couple of minutes later, looking at the three Gods left.

" Not really, no….You're right. You should definitely get some rest. The upcoming fight won't be easy…." Teiwaz answered, materializing an amazing four poster bed a few yards away from the campfire.

Ares just had to laugh at his rival's ridiculous attempt to capture his Chosen's attention. Instead, with a wave of his hand, he made a bunch of white fluffy furs appear right next to the long they were seated on.

" Sleep tight Princess." he said, winking at her, and much to the Germanic God's dismay, they exchanged a knowing glance.

"Thanks….Thank you anyway, Teiwaz. That was nice of you, but ….this will do…."

" You deserve to be treated like a Princess….."

" I think I've had enough of that up to know…." she muttered unintelligibly, heading for the furs while giving Ares a harsh enough look to turn him to stone.

Once she made herself comfortable and ready to sleep, the Germanic God announced that he was going to scan their surroundings for awhile, just in case.

Aphrodite and Ares nodded appreciatively at his initiative.

Once he was gone, with Xena apparently asleep, Ares focused his attention on the Love Goddess. He slowly stood up from the log, and, with firm, heavy steps he headed for the pink couch where his Sister was still lazily stretched, no concern what so ever about the danger they were just days away from facing, seemingly much too worried about trying on different coral shades on her nails to think about anything else….

Nonetheless, the War God knew her better than she thought, and, as soon as he took a sit on the grass by the fluffy sofa, she burst into tears.

" Oh Dite come on! " he said, gently brushing the salty tears off her cheeks with the tips of his fingers. " Athena's a bitch, and that's something that's not gonna change….You can't let her get to you like that….." he added, searching for her eyes, but she refused to look at him.

" Everyone thinks I'm dumb, now…." she complained, in between sobs, childishly wiping at her nose with the back of her hand. " How could I have known how to conceal my aura if I had never done it before?" she questioned, and Ares' heart instantly melted at the sight of her breaking apart like that, over nothing.

"Sweetie….listen to me…It doesn't matter what they think….We know better, right? How many times did you save me from some pretty sticky situations, huh? Remember that time when I stole the ambrosia from Mom's temple? Or that time when I accidentally burnt Olympus to the ground? You saved my ass big time…Plus, you're the only person on the face of the planet that can lie to Zeus with so much easiness that it's almost frightening at times! You're the smartest person I know, ok? Don't let that frustrated Harpy tell you otherwise! " he murmured, cupping her chin with his hand, and forcing her to look at him.

" That's not all…" she said with a sigh that soon turned into a river of tears again.

" What else is bothering you?"

She just shook her head.

"I don't wanna talk about it…"

" Dite, you can tell me anything, you know that…" he encouraged, frowning at the sight of her, affected like that.

"No..." she protested, pain reverberating from her voice.

" Luv, come on..."

" I'm ugly!" the words exploded from her lips, making her cry even harder.

Needless to say, the War God was stunned. His sister having beauty complexes? That was unheard of…

"What ?"

He genuinely thought he had misunderstood her.

" You heard me. Don't make me say it again…."

"Why would you say that?!" he asked in a revolted voice, struggling to find a reason for her unbelievably strange behavior.

"Because it's true, Ar….."

" Where did you get **that** idea from? "

She refused to reply this time. As equally stubborn as she was, Ares refused to give up.

" Honey…talk to me…."

" Teiwaz doesn't like me…." she finally murmured, giving him her most heartbreaking sad puppy look.

" Who?! That moron? He doesn't know the first thing about beauty! Do you want me to beat him up or something? "

" What? No….it wouldn't help….Oh, Ar! He said that the Warrior Babe is the most beautiful woman he has ever seen in his life….." she sighed, covering her face with her tiny, pearly hands.

" Darling he was just being subjective…..Beauty is not something that you can measure….nor fully appreciate…." he tried to reason with her, taking her hands and placing them in her lap, his gaze briefly resting on her breasts before finding its way up to her sky blue moons.

" I feel so sad that it hurts…..Maybe I'm getting too old for this Goddess of Beauty and Love crap…..""

" Don't be ridiculous….You're gorgeous….By the Fates, you're certainly the most attractive woman I know! " he comforted, arching an eyebrow at her as his eyes uncontrollably lowered to her breasts again….

" You're just saying that because you're my brother…" she muttered, biting her lip hard in a super godly effort to keep herself from crying. It was useless though, for soon tears were streaming down her face again.

Realizing just how poor the power of words was in such cases, Ares just grabbed a handful of her hair and pulled her towards him. She released a scream of pain in his mouth once his lips crushed hers with ferocious desire, and that kiss, Aphrodite felt it spreading like a drug, rapidly invading every single part of her body…She could feel the effect of her brother's tongue on the outside and on the inside, sparks shooting from everywhere his hand touched….The magic ended with the War God grabbing her neck and pushing her abruptly away, his breath labored and irregular, eyes burning with the overwhelming need to have her….

The Goddess was speechless….

" Trust me, Sis, you're irresistible….The only reason while this accursed dress is still on you is because Xena's here…." he said, teasingly pushing the straps of her dress down her shoulders. With a deliberateness that made her throat tight, he pulled the front of the soft fabric further down, until her perfectly full, tempting breasts were exposed.

"As I said.." he continued, his fingers now roaming down her chest. Her nipples pebbled at the contact…. " Teiwaz is a moron…. He has no idea what he's missing….."

She gave him a warm, candid smile, but her mouth went dry the moment he demandingly squeezed her breast.

She closed her eyes...She shouldn't have let him touch her, she knew that...But his caresses were addictive. What they had was special, despite the fact that nothing had ever felt as decadent as the awesome sex she had always shared with her brother.

"Thank you, Stud...You always know how to make a girl feel good about herself..." she whispered when she finally found her voice.

" I meant every word ...You're sooo damn hard to ignore..." he said, kissing both her palms, growling inwardly as her fingers wrapped against the leather string of his pendant, pulling him a few inches closer to her, just to release him half way...

"I know..."

Entranced as he was by the arousing, half naked woman he had before him, he completely missed the fact that the Warrior Princess had left camp minutes before, completely disgusted by what she had seen…..


	26. Perfect timing

For once, she didn't look around her while she advanced through the thick, engulfing forest- she just walked, mentally blocking the awareness of any possible threat coming form the outside. She didn't care any more. She simply walked, walked away from the pain and the disgust of having stupidly allowed him once again to trample all over her feelings and this time it hurt more than ever, because he had cruelly chosen none other than Dite to be the tool of her humiliation…Dite….one of the few people to whom she had discreetly attributed the honorable title of "friend"…

Indeed, this time his treason had cut deep….

A few dried branches cracked nosily under her feet as she made her way through the thicket of high, massive oaks, stumbling over a couple of surface roots here and there, each time making sure to mutter a barely audible but utterly expressive curse at the unfortunate tree that had dared get in her way.

About half an hour later, as she finally reached a clearing and the moonlight could finally provide a bit more light than before, she cast a long, wondering glance around her. She had reached a river, at least that's what the calming sound of the flowing water told her….

Furiously wiping with the back of her hand the salty tears that had been streaming down her flushed cheeks for awhile now, she headed in the direction of the river, eager to splash a bit of cold water on her face, maybe even take a midnight bath. Despite the fact that it was an usually cold night for that time of the year, she felt her entire body burning and sweaty as if she had been running for miles….

Without bothering to check her surroundings, the Warrior Princess carelessly took off her shift and, within seconds, her eyes closed and her jaw clenched as she tried to wash away along with the heat, the unseen blood flowing from her deep, invisible, but very much present wounds….If it hadn't been for the grim darkness of the night, she knew that she could have easily noticed the claret shade of the water….

**XXX **

His back leaning against a tree , he watched her passing him by, her astonishingly beautiful visage stained by the pearly tears glistening on her cheeks, and given just how red and puffy her eyes were, she must have been crying for quite some time.….He could distinctly feel the heaviness of her aura, the distress radiating from her flawless mortal form, and he could only wonder what it was that had caused her so much suffering…He had barely left their camp, and there she was, far away from her Olympian friends, all alone in those woods, in the middle of the night, her spirit crushed and her soul torn to pieces.

One thing he was dead sure of…Something must have triggered that reaction, and judging by the fact that Ares- the **Control Freak** as he mockingly liked to call him- wasn't anywhere near her, he could only suspect that it was him who had been the moral author of the blaring heartache that was now engraved on her half petrified, half saddened features.

His string of thoughts was abruptly interrupted though, the moment that dark piece of fabric she had been wearing- the color of which he didn't quite appreciate anyway- fell down in a puddle at her feet, unabashedly revealing carnal perfection in its ultimate form…

He swallowed dryly at the sight he now had before him…..There were no words to describe her…..She was absolutely breathtaking, every curve marvelously enhanced by the lights and shadows that the moonlight now cast on her naked body, and, as she pulled her silky hair up in a rather messy but practical bun, it suddenly hit him: if he had only tried to provoke Ares hours earlier, before the meeting, when he nonchalantly told her that the Germanic Bards had been right, and that she indeed surpassed in beauty any mortal or Goddess walking the face of the earth, everything was of a transparent clarity now….He had spoken the pure, undeniable truth….She was something else…His Greek rival had any reason in the world not to let her out of his sight…. or reach…He now had the conviction that he would have done the very same if he had been the one to own her….

With hungry, lecherous eyes, he watched her running her hands across her shoulders before stepping into the water, smiling bitterly as her barely seen reflection did the same…Another unchecked tear found its way towards her lips, and she licked it away as fast as she could, looking aside with the expression of a person who had a terrible secret to keep, and whose every single gesture could force that secret out into the open…

His entire immortal being shivered in expectation…Time and space had somehow become imperceptible while he waited for her next move, and that move came when her toe reluctantly touched the surface of the cooling water…..As she cautiously entered the river, taking the needed time for her body to adjust to the considerably lower temperature , he could see her nipples hardening at the contact and her chest rising in surprise….The water was probably ice cold, he thought, but that didn't matter much to him. Entranced as he was at the sight of her full, round breasts bouncing slightly as she moved graciously towards the middle of the river, and of her flawlessly traced, appetizing ass cheeks getting more and more engulfed by the water, he now had one single thing in mind…and it had nothing to do with just how warm or cold that water was…His heart was tugging wildly at the mere thought of it, and the fact that it was dangerously exciting- she was Ares' Chosen after all- only inflamed his passion even more….He was ravaged with desire, and the overly sensual image of her, splashing water on her arms and her chest, gently caressing the surface of her discreetly glowing skin, only made him burn on the inside….

How he would have loved to run his hands over her soft skin, to relish into the soft texture beneath his fingers, to cover her in wet, devouring kisses before throwing her on the grass and turning all his fantasies into reality with her, right there, trapped underneath his wanton body, complying to his any request….

" Didn't your momma ever teach you it's rude to stare?"

The sound of her strong but feminine voice sent shivers down his spine….Did she know he was there? She couldn't…..There was no way for her to sense his presence. He was a God….and mortals lacked the ability to feel anything that surpassed their limited senses….

Instead of answering he confidently took a deep breath…He could smell her….The air was full of the distinct perfume of her skin, despite the fact that the water had washed away most of the sweat and the dust...There was no doubt about it though….it smelled like her all right….It smelled liked that rare but fatal combination between power and delicacy that he had always searched for in women….A perfect balance that he had failed to find and that was now staring him in the eye from the sky blue orbs that had fixed him with a shockingly familiar glance….It was as if he had met her before…..in a previous life maybe. Whatever it was, she attracted him beyond words, and, bewitched as he was by the unexpected sheer force now radiating from her previously shattered, barely pulsating aura, he almost missed the moment when she got out of the water, approaching him with light but intimidatingly firm steps…

"And yes, I'm talking to you, **Teiwaz**…." she said once that her lips were just inches away from his own, her hot, irregular breath now caressing their surface in such a torturously tantalizing way, that his mind went blank for a couple of seconds….Gods, he wanted that woman beyond imagination…..

As the ripping sensation offered by the tip of her fingers gliding down his chest exploded everywhere inside him, he finally made himself visible to her.

…He unwillingly gave her a small smile before she claimed his mouth…

She could feel that her unique beauty along with his obvious attraction for the forbidden fruit, for the unseen barrier that theoretically separated them - thus making her untouchable- had created a noticeable bulge in his pants….

Her own smile turned into a mischievous grin soon after, the moment she realized that the wetness oozing out her luscious slit had nothing to do with her bath…As the thought of getting her revenge slipped into her devious little head, she got so turned on that bolts of electric excitement shot straight where she needed them to…..right between her legs…

"Your timing is perfect…." she whispered seductively while she took his hand and guided it slowly down to her clit….His erection nearly doubled in size as his fingers worked easily their way up and down the slippery core, still a bit taken aback by what was going on…Her tongue now darting boldly in and out his mouth though, made his breathing grow erratic, pleasure pulsing in every corner of his body….

In all appearances, that night was going to be a memorable one for both of them …


	27. Fuck session

**OK LOYAL READERS, SO THIS IS FOR YOU...YOU FINALLY HAVE YOUR REVENGE :)) ...BUT DON'T GET TOO EXCITED NOW, 'CAUSE YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I HAVE IN STORE FOR YOU...:))**

Shivers of a slightly guilty pleasure began spreading through the Warrior Princess' body as the God's kiss deepened, but, as she felt the moisture between her legs getting more and more abundant, she harshly chased all trace of remorse away though, silently cursing her idiocy and her lack of strength back when she was supposed to teach that Bastard a lesson. She shouldn't have allowed him to humiliate her the way he did…..What was she thinking?

It was not too late to get even nonetheless. No…this time she was not going to stop….This time there was nothing holding her back ….She had made up her mind. That treacherous son of a bachae would suffer just as much as she had.

With that thought in mind, leaving all possible remorse and doubt aside, Xena freed herself from any emotional connection she still had with the Olympian War God. At least for the next couple of hours she was going to enjoy her payback, aware of the fact that there would be consequences later on…

Hardly had she finished her debate with herself that Teiwaz pushed her mercilessly against a huge andezite rock standing between two oaks, one that he made sure to heat up with a touch of his hand as if the midday summer sun had been shining on it and, before her brain got to process the new material her body was in contact with, his strong hands were already lifting her up against the smooth surface of the mineral, eager to posses her, as his tongue kept pushing against her own, almost chocking her, claiming every inch of her mouth.

That mortal woman had managed to build inside him an almost painful, unprecedented desire that he did not want or care to control or suppress…He had imagined himself fucking her senseless all through that irkingly long meeting, ever since he laid eyes on her.

With that thought in mind, his fingers – that had been digging into her ass cheeks so far- moved furiously to her breasts the moment her legs wrapped tighter against his hips, pulling him even closer to her, tempting, or better said, challenging him beyond measure….With one simple gesture, he made the clothes covering his godly form vanish into nothingness and to his ultimate pleasure, he was now able to feel her juices flooding his massive, erect cock.

With a rough, primitive passion, the God brought his mouth down and began teasing her nipples, licking and biting, suckling and pulling playfully at the swollen buds, the moans that she had by now kept well locked somewhere inside her throat, suddenly exploding in a delightful symphony that pushed him at the edge of his immortal resistance and he almost immediately found himself lost in the labyrinth of sounds that her voice and her labored breaths had created for him. He couldn't tell why he wanted her so goddamn much but he did, and the sight of that perfect body trembling with each new stroke and kiss was simply addictive…He wanted more, he needed more, and she could feel it.

Biting hard on her lower lip at the mind blowing sensation of his own rising need for her, Xena opened her bright blue moons for just a second, eager to see on his face the effect she had on him, and she did it just in time to notice- to her extreme surprise- a rather alarmed expression. Much to her dismay, the God suddenly put an end to their little foreplay, and without releasing her from his embrace he looked around him, scanning the thick, endless forest.

"What's wrong?" she asked, arching a quizzical brow at him.

He waited a few more seconds before answering, as if wanted to double check, to make sure that he hadn't been wrong the first time.

"Ares…..He's looking for you…." he said, on an utterly impersonal but cold tone.

"Good…."

"He's nearly here. Let me take you somewhere where we can finish this…"

" We could as well finish it here….." she suggested, her eyes sparkling with mischief.

He gave her an intrigued glance before answering.

"You want him to see us…."

"Yeah I do….."

" Xena…."

There was a brief pause until he continued his line.

"….I don't know what you think you're trying to achieve , but let me just tell you that I've known Ares for a couple of millennia now, and if there's one thing that arrogant Bastard doesn't take lightly, that's treason…..Well treason and hurt pride…."

" Thanks for the warning Teiwaz. Trust me, no one knows him better than I do….Would it cause you problems? ….."she asked, unsure whether he would agree with her proposal or not when she noticed that instead of answering he kept watching her with wondering eyes. "….For him to see you with me….Does it break your vow….? "

" I couldn't give a rat's ass about that stupid vow….That's just …tradition….The question here is why would you want to risk your own life over getting Ares see you impaled on my dick? " he asked, patiently waiting for an answer.

"Does it matter….?"

"Not really…." he replied, after careful consideration. "I was just curious….Actually, getting to see that moron's face as he finds out that I'm banging his Chosen…..now that's worth breaking any freaking vow…."

She chuckled softly as he waved his hand around them, and her eyes widened a bit when she saw a spherical protection shield building around them.

"This way, we won't get interrupted, and you'll get your little revenge- along with a couple of orgasms to go with it..."

"And you, yours….." Xena murmured in satisfaction, certain that there was some pretty ancient and unsolved dispute between them, licking slowly the top of her lips, as if she could sense the sweet taste of vengeance on their slightly bruised surface.

Watching her, the God's hands began traveling up and down her body again, this time making sure to keep his eyes on her face, thrilled to observe what the anticipation did to her…She wanted him too, despite her devious plan, he could see that she was longing for his divine touch, she was enjoying this…..She stiffened for a second as he finally inched his way inside her, stretching her walls slowly, sliding as deep as he could until his pelvis was fully pressed against her, and her breasts rubbed against his pecs, holding onto his neck while he gradually started projecting her to another galaxy, far enough as to delete the image of his Olympian rival from her mind.

He groaned with the sensation of his first thrust…The heat, the tension building in his cock, the moisture….it was unbearably good. He closed his eyes for a sec, trying to focus and that rich cocktail of sensations, not wanting to be carried away with the imperious need of exploding inside her, but wanting to prologue it, to heighten it as much as he could…..and he knew he could….. He wanted to hear her, **Ares' Chosen** screaming **his** name….That would have been way batter than any orgasm, he was well aware if it.…

Thrust after thrust, he seared through her soft flesh, her low moans and growls letting him know that he was doing an excellent job, that he was getting closer and closer to his purpose, and for a minute there, everything went dark for him too as he felt his own blood heating drastically, ecstasy coursing through him like lightening bolts.

Pinned between the andezite rock and his strong, muscular body, the Warrior Princess didn't have enough leverage to thrust back at him, to savagely respond at his impressive display of force, but instead, she kept her legs wrapped tight around his waist, forcing him to keep his thrusts short, fast and almost painfully hard.

With every knew plunge, Teiwaz felt her breasts bouncing against his chest and that only got him even more aroused…..One thing he knew for sure, Ares had been one lucky Bastard….It was his sheer luck that he had failed to appreciate her properly..

" By Baldr himself, you're something else…." he groaned against her ear as he could already feel the pressure inside his rock hard cock turning into a drugging mix of disturbing pain and limitless pleasure - a line that Xena immediately associated to her patron God , but she brutally pushed the idea away from her head.

Right when the notes now exploding from their mouths got incredibly high and uncontrolled, her teeth biting down on his shoulder in response and her nails digging ferociously into his back, a loud collision was heard followed by a rain of sparkles pretty similar to fireworks…..

" **You fucking bitch! You're dead! You're fucking dead! Both of you! I'm gonna kill you! " **

They both turned their heads automatically in the direction of the thundering voice, and through clouded with ecstasy eyes, they both saw that the War God was standing just a few yards away from the energy shield, which , much to their amused relief, was still intact. No scratch on its shining surface...

" Right on time Bro'….." Teiwaz sarcastically remarked, while tangling his fingers in Xena's hair and pulling her once again in a passionate kiss, his mouth hot and hungry while making sure to bury his cock even deeper inside her- as that could ease the ache coursing through him- " You almost missed the show…" he added once the kiss broke, without looking at him this time.

"Damn….don't stop…." she murmured in her turn- a barely audible plea- completely ignoring the Olympian's presence, frustration reverberating from her voice when for a moment the God slowed down his pace, lost as he was in the duel of their tongues.

**"** **You've just signed your death sentence Teiwaz. This offense is punishable by death!"** Ares warned, boiling mad.

A brief eye contact later, Teiwaz began minding his own business again though…

" Don't worry…..the shield is strong enough to protect us from an army of Olympians. There's nothing he can do about it." he muttered through clenched teeth against Xena's wet lips while he felt her tighten around him, but his words were nothing but a faraway echo…..She was already losing contact with the real world while he gradually intensified his rhythm, making her heart hammer so hard inside her chest that he could almost feel it.

Ravished with the sensation of having Ares watch them, she carelessly threw any worry and though aside, focusing her attention solely on that amazing feeling of being filled up by the Germanic God who was now aggressively pumping inside her….The sound of their covered in sweat bodies slapping together and the slight sting of her bare ass scraping against the warm surface of the rock, slowly brought her to the brink of self control. As her whole body gripped around him, she made a low pitched cry as an unearthly strong sensation of her stomach fluttering, took over her.

Her lewd moans and her illicitly sexy cries were obviously about to send them both in a dazzling orgasm, one built on so much obvious lust and desire that Ares felt the earth shaking beneath his feet….Another series of destructive fire balls collided to no avail to the outer layer of the energy shield, but this time, there was now reaction from the couple.

"**You slut! You ungrateful , worthless slut!" **he yelled again, growling furiously at the sight of them, wiping mechanically with the back of his hand the few tears streaming down his face, too angry to leave and clearly too hurt to just stand there doing nothing about it while watching his Chosen getting fucked by one of his oldest enemies. To make things worse, her illicit horny cries rung out louder and far more passionate than she had ever given before, but this time, he wasn't the one causing them. It was someone else, and everything was taking place right there, in front of him. The awareness of the event crushed his heart in one single, powerful strike, making him feel as if a sharp blade had run him through.

…. Xena's mind raced as her orgasm was getting closer and closer. The incredible build up of hot pleasure was about to go off inside her like a wildfire, any moment now. She opened her eyes for a split second, staring absently in Ares' direction while Teiwaz's dick continued to stuff her pussy full, fucking her so ruthlessly to the point of cumming.

A malicious grin stretched her lips as she noticed that the Bastard was in obvious pain…a pain that was almost physically tangible, given his tormented expression.

Every moan she made sent a wave of murdering rage through the War God's body. Watching them he slowly felt insanity creeping into his mind. The sight of them fucking relentlessly only a couple of steps away from him, and the presence of that damned energy shield making it impossible for him to react properly and unleash his rage on someone, got him so frustrated that his screams had by now become animalistic…The couple didn't seem to mind though, on the contrary….Focused as they were on their almost exploding orgasms, they couldn't care less about the War God's inhuman suffering, on the contrary, they seemed to enjoy it….It made them even more eager to fuck their brains out.

The Warrior Princess moaned loudly once again, turning her face away from Ares, her vision in a blur, her entire body shaking with a furious satisfaction through every powerful pump Teiwaz gave into her cunt. The air left her lungs every time he pounded into her, causing her voice to go shaky.

"Oh yeah…..this feels sooo good!" she heard herself moaning lecherously at a certain point in between the God's relentless thrusts.

As for the War God, one fire ball after the other left his hands, incandescent weapons that hit the shield repeatedly, and at amazing force, at almost regular intervals, each new collision accompanied by screams, curses and lethal threats. Too bad they didn't have the effect he wanted though, since his Chosen was now screaming in ways he had never heard her before, her whole body rocking in ecstasy as wave after wave of pleasure took over her, load after load of Teiwaz' potent seed beginning to coat her pussy, filling her with his hot, sticky cum.

The pair's orgasms had felt like they had gone on for a lifetime. Their bodies trembled, quivering uncontrollably from the aftershock of the incredibly powerful, ruthless and erotic fuck session.

An hour later, after a few more rounds, they finally fell in each other's arms, on a fur Teiwaz had made appear beneath them once they decided to change their position…..

Ares had by then fallen to his knees as well- for totally different purposes of course- his hands firmly wrapped around his stomach as a nauseating sensation took over him….He was puking…

**SO...WHAT DO YOU GUYS THINK? :))) **


	28. Freya

The nail file fell from the Love Goddess' suddenly trembling hand almost instantly, and, seconds later she found herself still staring at it, her wide, blue moons glued to the object that she appeared to be analyzing with such intense concentration as if she wanted to melt it with her laser like vision.

At about the same time, a very particular kind of pain- the likes of which she had never felt before though, alerted her senses. It was coming from her bond with Ares- she could immediately tell it- and it was so strong, that goose bumps rose on her arms and the hair on the back of her neck stood on end. For no apparent reason at all, she felt completely overwhelmed by an ocean of sadness that rushed to fill her inner world with its impressively emotional content, while her heart screamed in agony under the horrific torture of having its layers peeled off by a sharp , invisible blade.

The very next second, she vanished, only to materialize one moment later by the river, right next to her brother.

" Ar….what's going on? Are you ok?" she started, touching his shoulder and frowning lightly at the God's lack of response, way too preoccupied with finding out the reason for which her brother was kneeling to also scan a bit the area around her.

" Don't touch me!" he snapped, flashing her a deadly glare, and only then did the Goddess notice the fresh trails of tears on his cheeks.

" Talk to me…..Did you find Xena? Did you fight or something?"

"Have you gone blind?" he finally snapped, barking at her in such a steely voice that she instinctively took two steps back. Call it the voice of experience if you will.

…Two little steps for humankind but a giant leap for Dite, was enough to put things into perspective…like literally. Finally noticing the scandalizing love scene having the Warrior Princess and Teiwaz' as main characters- currently cuddling in each other's arms after what appeared to have been a pretty intensive workout- Aphrodite froze in place.

" Sweet mother of Chronos! How could this be? How did this happen?" she rhetorically asked herself, obviously missing the fact that she had uttered her bewilderment out loud.

" You're the Goddess of Love slash sex, slash orgies, slash everything that involves a cunt and a cock and you need further information on what happened? Do you want me to draw a picture for you?!" he caustically bit, and Aphrodite flinched at his words. It wasn't their content that had managed to shake her up, but the agony reverberating from their so called coldness. Her brother was crushed with pain and she could feel it so clearly that she could barely stand it. A thousand questions kept whirling inside her head while her perplexed mind was still struggling to put the pieces together…..Why would she do that to him? She loved him….or so she thought….

"Bro, come on…..let's get out of here…." she murmured, her eyes still glued to the image of the two traitors kissing. "…We can talk about this at one of my temples….." she suggested, while once again, touching his shoulder in pure, genuine compassion. She hated seeing him suffer like this…it was so unlike him, that it made her sick to her stomach.

"Oh no, no, no. I'm not going anywhere. **Not until I kill her.** " he growled, his clenched fists opening up only to throw another fire ball at that damned shield.

" Ar come on. You're just angry…..You shouldn't take any rash decisions right now….What you actually need is some time to…."

"To what?! To come up with a more decent way to send her ass flying straight to Tartarus? I don't think so! And get your hands off me and stop telling me what to do! This doesn't concern you…."

" Ares….."

The name escaped her lips despite herself. Seconds later, she was sitting by his side on the grass and her hands were cupping his face, forcing him to redirect his gaze towards her.

" Don't let them humiliate you like this. Let's just go, ok? There's really nothing you can do here right now….Teiwaz is a god…**.a powerful god**. ….I just….I don't want you to get hurt…" she ended so close to his lips that she could almost taste him…

**XXX **

Despite the fact that Teiwaz had done an incredibly good job in keeping her busy, and definitely despite that head spinning sensation of the rewarding revenge stroking her ego, Xena couldn't ignore the sting of jealousy and spite – temporarily clouding her excitement when the sparkling Love Goddess made an appearance.

Through the bond she shared with Ares, she could immediately feel his change in aura. He was still deeply hurt, frustrated and mad, yes, but, in complete contrast with the brutality that he had put in pushing his sister's hand away, she could distinctly make out that his anxiety had decreased a bit as a note of calmness took over his troubled soul. The curly blonde had a shooting effect on him and she hated her for it.

That two faced Hydra! She still had the nerve to show up, acting as if nothing had happened, as if she hadn't betrayed her trust using the lowest of methods, and to top it all, -judging by the gaze she was now throwing her- to blame her for her actions when in fact, what she and Ares had been doing was ten times worse than her little rough-and tumble with Teiwaz. At least from her point of view, she had all the reasons in the world to act the way she did. But what was the Goddess' motivation? She had pretended to be her friend, to give a damn about her love problems, to encourage her to open up to her while all this time she and Ares had been fucking like rabbits behind her back….She should have seen it coming, she should have kept her mind more focused on their past relationship and less on the Bastard's charming gestures, she knew that, but still… the disappointment had left a gaping hole in her heart….

Teiwaz' passionate kiss, followed by an even tighter embrace, pulled the Warrior Princess out of her thoughts one split second later..

"Are you ok?" he whispered sexily against her lips, while his hand moved protectively over the back of her head, as if wanting to keep her safe from the two Olympians' nasty glares.

" I'm more than ok…. Actually, I feel….complete…."

" Wow… Now that's something that a man would love to hear every minute of his life….I'm relieved. For a minute there I actually thought that I've somehow managed to screw everything up big time…" he joked, planting a soft kiss on her nose.

She just laughed back. The guy did have an amazing sense of humor. After all the screams and the moans that he had managed to elicit from her, there was no doubt that he was a real expert in the art of sex. He did know what he was doing, that was for sure, she silently admitted to herself. At least, besides the act of revenge itself, that hour spent with Teiwaz had proved to be the perfect remedy to release part of the tension and discontent- about both herself and her relationship with Ares- that had gathered inside her for the past few days… Not everything was a waste of time….

" Listen, Xena….." the Germanic War God suddenly started, and the hesitation in his voice immediately attracted her attention. At least from what had transpired up to then, he wasn't the type of man who used to beat about the bush, on the contrary. His frankness was rather disturbing most of the time.

"Yes?"

"Don't take this the wrong way, but….are you happy with your…status?" he asked, trying not to sound too offensive.

"My status?"

"With being that asshole's Chosen? I've known him for quite awhile now, and I must confess, I don't really understand what on earth is a woman like you doing with a man like him….It's none of my business, but…."

" You're right. It's none of your business. " she pointed out, pausing a bit before she decided that he at least deserved an explanation given the fact that he had accepted to go along with her little game- aware of the risk of ruining his relation with the Olympians. " ….We have an unbreakable bond."

To her consternation, his reaction was by far a very uncommon one, and by the surprise in her eyes she obviously hadn't expected it. He immediately burst in an almost contagious wave of laughter.

" What's so funny?"

" An** unbreakable** bond? What kind of romantic fairy tales has he been feeding you, Xena? There's no such thing as an **unbreakable bond**! Everything in this world can be broken…."

" You're wrong. The Fates said that no man or God could ever destroy…"

"The Fates lied." he abruptly interrupted her, a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

"The Fates don't lie. They can't lie." she firmly contradicted, sounding very sure of herself.

"No. But they can distort the truth, thus bending reality in order to serve some twisted God's interest. " he casually explained.

" What are you saying…..?"

"I'm saying that it would be enough for you to pledge yourself to another deity and your old bond would break to make room for the new one….."

Needless to say, the Warrior Princess was dumbstruck at the news. Before she could recover from her shock though, Tewiaz was already paving his way to making her do what he wanted. His voice held a barely noticeable note of impatience, one that Xena failed to detect given the scandalous news that had just reached her ears.

" I can't believe he would stoop that low as not to tell you that you still have a choice…" he added, frowning lightly at the fact that based on her reaction alone, he couldn't really tell if he had hit a nerve or not.

"This can't be...the other Gods would have said something. They would have acted on this...Apollo...Athena."

"Unbreakable by **Greek Gods,** maybe...But for foreign, more powerful ones, it should be a piece of cake."

The answer to his unspoken question soon elucidated the mystery...

"That Bastard!" she hissed, once again staring daggers at the Greek War God.

At the same time, as if having sensed the new wave of anger that had began burning her on the inside, Ares' eyes fixed her through the energy shield, and their gazes entwined, now, equally fueled with immeasurable hate and hurt pride.

" Let me help you. That's the least I can do for you" the Teiwaz generously offered.

"Help me how?"

" Be my Chosen. Let me free you from this….this….scumbag. "

" So let's see…your precious advice here, is for me to escape one God just to become the slave of another- whose real intentions I don't even know…? That's not precisely what I'd call a very smart move, Teiwaz. " she harshly retorted, gazing at him suspiciously.

"I have no hidden agenda, I promise. And as I said, Germanic Gods no longer have Chosen ones to serve them. I will release you from your vow immediately. I have no use for personal slaves. My family is better than that. Still, if you'd like to join me back home, I would be more than happy to take you with me…You're special. I can feel it. "

" You do realize the fact that Ares would go ballistic right? He might as well start a war against your country. Is that a risk you're willing to take?"

She was totally stunned by the mirage of this new perspective that had appeared right out of nowhere, when she least expected it. And the fact that he was so willing to help her….what was that all about? They had just fucked, yes, but that's all there was to it…He didn't' know the first thing about her…..

" He won't. Zeus will forbid him to react in such irresponsible way. He'd rather send his own son to Tartarus, stripped of his powers than seeing Greece destroyed. This country wouldn't stand a chance against my armies, Xena...Speaking of which, I could also need a general... if you're interested, you could always… "

"I don't trust you…." she slashingly let him know, narrowing her eyes at him.

"And you shouldn't " he calmly replied, caressing her cheek. "But I give you **my word**. And a Germanic God's word is worth a written contract. I will break our bond the minute you no longer find yourself under Ares' influence."

" What's with this zestful drive to help me? And don't tell me that it's all because of my specialness and my unearthly beauty…."

" I have a bone to pick with Ares myself…." he confessed, and the Warrior Princess couldn't have missed how his eyes became darker as he said it, just like Ares' were turning whenever anger consumed him. " It's ancient history, really…."

"Tell me…"

She needed to know.

When he started talking, his voice was no longer the one of the Germanic War God that could stand up against the entire Greek pantheon and kick their asses with a hand tied behind his back, but the one of a man who had suffered incurable injuries that were still bleeding till that very day. He didn't look her in the eyes while telling the story. Instead, he preferred to stare down at the fluffy fur they were seated on. No mortal had the right to see the pain eating at his soul….No mortal or immortal for that matter.…

" It happened many millennia ago, but it still hurts as if it was yesterday. …." he spoke, inhaling deeply before the truth finally came out. " He seduced my wife while I was away negotiating an alliance with the Celtic tribes. He got her pregnant and then made sure to rub my nose in it during a meeting with the Indian pantheon…."

At this point, Xena felt her head on the verge of exploding. Even her heart had shifted its natural position, now beating in her throat, making her as uncomfortable as a mermaid on land.

"What happened?" she asked in a sad, shaky voice.

"I killed her. "

For some reason he sounded horribly cruel and inhumanly cold.

" You killed your own wife?! "

"Yes…."

"Knowing that she was with child….?"

" That, I didn't know. She didn't mention it to me. But** that monster **made sure to tell me once she was dead." he said, pointing towards Ares

"Maybe he lied to make you feel even worse about it. Ares wouldn't…"

" It was true." he cut in, raising his tone a notch. " I looked for her spirit in the afterlife. I saw her. ….she was with her unborn son…"

For a moment there, the Warrior Princess closed her eyes as the new avalanche of information falling over her crushed her under its deadly force.

"I'm sorry….." she muttered, in a barely distinguishable voice. " What was her name? "

He waited a long time before his lips parted again. When he did reply though, he sounded strangled with pain. The mere mention of her name made him wanna scream.

"Freya. Her name was Freya…"


	29. Distant memories

**SO MY ROMANTIC HEATHER, AND ALL ROMANTIC FANS OUT THERE, YOU CAN STOP CRYING NOW- FOR A LITTLE WHILE...:)). THIS IS FOR YOU. NOTHING NASTY I PROMISE:) **

" How could you take away her life?!" Xena couldn't suppress her astonishment, revolted by what she had just heard.

There was obvious discomfort painted on Teiwaz' features. He still felt guilty about it, that was for sure.

" You can judge me all you want, but I had no choice, Xena…"

" Of course you had a choice! Everybody has a choice…" she answered, in a ridiculously high tone. ….In the end why was she even affected by this, when in fact she should have been affected by Ares' part in the tragedy?

" I didn't. Our law back then said that if a woman cheated on her husband, the husband had to kill her in the same place where the betrayal took place….If I had refused to do it, she would have been tortured to death by the other Gods…..I just made things easier for her….She asked me to…" he said, wiping away the salty liquid now leaking from his eyes.

His confession hit Xena like a boulder.

"I want to be your Chosen…" she finally whispered, barely holding back her own tears... She had made up her mind though. There was no going back now..

"Your trust honors me…" he said, smiling lightly at her. "It will hurt tremendously…...when your bond with Ares breaks…" he then warned, unaware that she already knew that.

"Sometimes a bit of suffering can be good for the soul." she replied, returning his smile.

"I couldn't agree more.."

As she knelt at his feet though, ignoring completely Ares' now savage screams, the instant she began uttering her vow, contrary to her gloomy expectations, it was not physical pain she felt, not even sadness….But, as time itself stopped for what on earth lasted but a few insignificant seconds, time that she felt like long, never ending hours, her spirit was literally pulled out of her body and sent into the past…..She needed to remember….

**XXX**

_It was the first night after the fatal one in which, during a fight, in brief moment of carelessness, too busy focusing all her attention on the three eager to make her bleed creatures that have appeared right out of nowhere, Xena had been foolish enough as to forget that Gabrielle also needed her protection. A split second was all it took for the blond Bard to fall down on her knees, her earsplitting scream filling the air as a sharp arrow tore through her flesh just like a sickle through a bunch of wheat. _

_As she automatically turned her head, desperately searching for her friend, Xena's heart almost stopped beating for a moment. With an absolutely terrified expression on her face, Gabrielle was staring at the wooden shaft sticking out of her chest as well as at the blood wetting gradually her dark green top. _

"_Xena?" she murmured, her voice barely above a whisper, and that was all she needed to say for the Warrior Princess to get a pretty clear idea on just how urgent the situation was. _

_A minute later, the rest of her opponents were biting the dust and a river of claret was now coloring the ground beneath their feet. Once again, she had done miracles on the battlefield. It seemed though as if that miracle didn't include keeping Gabrielle safe from harm. _

_As she rushed by the Bard's side, her legs were shaking, and she could barely control the tremor in her hands. Her breathing reached a closer to normal level only when, taking a look at her friend's injury, she noticed that the arrow was far enough from the heart to cause any serious damage…._

" _How bad is it?" Gabrielle asked in a weakened voice, trying hard to suppress a whimper when__ the Warrior Princess cut her top open to inspect the wound, reluctant about singing victory too soon.._

" _You'll live…." _

" _Are you lying to me?" the worried Bard questioned, reading the distress in her friend's eyes. _

" _No, I'm not lying to you. It didn't touch any vital organs. It's inches away from the heart. Damn it! I should have seen it coming. I should have kept an eye on you…."_

"_Stop blaming yourself. I should have been able to take care of myself. There was nothing you could do…."_

"_I almost got you killed." Xena ended, as if she didn't even hear her friend's previous line. _

_The rest of the rather uncommon scene unfolded quite rapidly, respecting the very specific rules of the unpleasant art of removing an arrow…..pushing the metallic head all the way through Gabrielle's back, cutting the wooden shaft, stopping the bleeding, cauterizing the flesh, applying the bandages….The piercing screams, the agony, the tears falling down the Bard's face, were unavoidably part of the bigger picture….It almost ripped the Warrior Princess' heart out but it had to be done. And now, a night later, the memories were still haunting her mind, forbidding her to close her eyes for even one single hour…..Three inches…**.three inches** and she had been dead…Her stomach tightened, only thinking at the possibility. _

"_Is she dead yet?"_

_His deep, shooting voice numbed her pain like nothing else could, partially calming her anxiety despite the obvious, irritating sarcasm reverberating from his words. By the time she parted her lips to offer a reply, he had already materialized under the furs, next to her, his hands wrapped comfortingly around her. _

"_Do you** always** have to act like a jerk? Couldn't you make an exception for once in your life?" _

"_Someone sounds** edgy**." he answered unsympathetically, while planting kiss on top of her head. _

"_Someone sounds **tired**." she sighed, rolling her eyes at him, and turning around in his embrace so that she could look at him. She scanned his face for a few moments, arching a brow when she noticed that his gaze had lingered on Gabrielle's sleeping form longer than usual. _

"_What's wrong?"_

" _She's having a fever. The infection must have spread." _

_She instantly flinched at his statement. _

"_It can't be. I've just checked up on her moments ago. " she contradicted, getting up and rushing by Gabrielle's side. He had been right. She was burning. _

_With a helpless expression engraved on her face, she ran to the saddles from which took out a white piece of cloth that she intended to put on her forehead. _

_Ares' hand gripped hers the very following moment. _

"_That won't help, Xe. "_

"_Well what do you suggest? Do you have a better plan?" she snapped. The lack of sleep and the stress were obviously taking their toll on her " It's better than nothing." she mumbled while damping the piece of fabric in water and placing it on her friend's forehead. _

"_Can you keep an eye on her for a couple of minutes please? I'm going to find some ginger root…"_

_Right when she was about to leave though, Ares' fingers, now mercilessly clenched around her wrist, like handcuffs, kept her in place. _

" _Could you let me help you, for once? Ginger root wouldn't cure the damn infection." he made sure to let her know, raising his tone at her. She was as stubborn as a mule, and sometimes, that just irked the Tartarus out of her. _

" _I don't need your help, ok? And if you're not in the mood to baby-sit her, just go back to Olympus. I don't remember having called you, anyway!" she spat, trying to pull her hand free from his grip. It was useless though cause he wasn't planning on letting her go anytime soon. _

" _You might not need my help, but** she** does. And if you had taken the time to look under that rotten bandage you would have noticed that she started bleeding again."_

"_That's not possible. I took the precaution of cauterizing the wound, just in case."_

"_Not well enough I'd say…." he answered, finally releasing her hand and moving by Gabrielle's side to remove her bandage. _

_Xena' s breath got caught in her throat at the sight. He had been right…**.again**….A fine trickle of blood started to flow from the now exposed injury under her very eyes…Not a life threatening one for the time being, but enough to alarm her beyond words. _

" _She lost a lot of blood." the God casually reminded her, as if she hadn't been aware of that. "She shouldn't be out in the cold, and judging by the goose bumps on your skin it's quite chilly tonight…."_

_She didn't say anything this time. Whatever she would have responded, she couldn't deny the fact that fighting his judgment was a lost battle. He did have a point. _

" _Let me take you to Sparta. I have the best doctors there. They can watch over her tonight and you could get some rest, you're dead beat…..Unless you want to watch her dying, that is…." he added_ in the low, confident voice of a man who knew what he was doing,_ once he noticed her hesitation. _

_There was nothing else to add….She gently placed her hand in his and one blink later, they were gone. _

_About an hour later, Gabrielle's torturous screams were once again exploding from her lungs as a red-hot iron shaft was pushed through the gnashing wound to stop the bleeding once and for all. Seconds later, she fell exhausted on the bed, all covered in sweat and tears, her body convulsing violently under the effect of the still present pain…..Milk of the poppy- in a high enough dosage to drug a horse- was the only thing that finally calmed her down and gave Xena herself the chance to breath out a sigh of relief. _

"_She's gonna be ok….They'll make sure of that, __**or new heads will be decorating the entrance of the Halls of War **__" he added grimly, on a commanding and menacing enough tone as to leave the doctors with no doubt about what they had to do…_

_It didn't take long before both God and Chosen vanished from before their terrified eyes straight to his chambers, but for some weird reason , when he jumped in bed, already half naked, having only a pair of dark silk trousers on, she didn't look very surprised. _

"_So…is** this** what I owe you for having saved her?" she questioned, taking a long, displeased look at her suddenly naked body. He had made sure to get rid of her clothes while they were still in the eather, seconds before they materialized there._

" _It's nothing compared to the Bard's life, I'd say…" he brashly replied, tilting his head back a bit, while his eyes remained fixed on her incredibly sexy breasts, and, to his immeasurable shock, she didn't start yelling at him what a cold hearted bastard he was, but, with detached, elegant moves, she simply took a sit by his side, and, when their gazes finally met- or better said when he found in himself the power to unglue his burning amber moons from her perfect form and redirect them towards her equally flawless face- she simply captured his lips in a ravishing, almost violent kiss that left them both breathless. _

" _Well , let's get this done then, shall we?…..The last thing I want is to be in your debt." she murmured once they pulled apart a bit, her skillful fingers moving straight to his groin. _

_A low moan left his throat as she began massaging that rock-hard bulge in his pants, and it's safe to say that her shock was at least ten times greater than the one she had lived the previous day- when she had seen her friend falling to the ground in the heat of the battle- the moment he hastily took her hand in his and, with a swift move, he turned her around in his arms. _

" _As much as I appreciate your fairness, Princess…and I do appreciate it, this isn't precisely what I had in mind….." he said, snaking his arms around her, and placing a soft kiss on her naked shoulder. _

"…_..And by the way…you don't owe me anything…." he added, barely a whisper against her ear. _

_Needless to say, she was flabbergasted. From her past experiences she had learned that a selfish Ares was either a __**dying Ares**__ or a __**cooking something different Ares**__ . _

" _Is that so….?!" she skeptically articulated, looking at him over her shoulder, turning around just in time to see the amusement glistening in his eyes. When he didn't answer, she just continued her line of thought. " Is the Twilight upon you or something?" _

"_Call it an **act of kindness** if you will…"_

"_**An act of kindness**__…? See, now you're really scaring me... "_

"_Come on Xe. Can't a God do anything sweet for his Chosen without being suspected by Fates know what** devious….****schem****e?** " he questioned, in a mock- hurt tone. _

" _Not you…So….what are you really up to? And please try to put it in as less words as possible, cause I can barely keep my eyes open."_

_Instead of speaking, he simply pressed his lips against her own, in a gentle enough kiss to prove her wrong. _

" _Go to sleep, will you? There's no hidden agenda, no sick plan, no nothing…"_

"_I don't know about that._._.With you, favors don't come for free..." she specified, shifting her position so that they were face to face again, and nestling her head in the crock of his shoulder. "By the way, I'm naked because….."_

" _Because you like sleeping naked, silly. I just wanted to hold you …." _

" _Couldn't you have hold me with some freaking nightdress on?" she protested, letting out a deep yawn, without waiting for his reply. _

" _You gotta be a guy to understand…" he briefly concluded, caressing affectionately her long silky hair. _

_In response, she lazily entwined her fingers with his own, and placed a feather like kiss on his chest. _

_He smiled lightly before they both drifted to sleep. _

**"**_**I love you….You matter to me more than life itself."** he murmured before all colors changed their intensity._

…_She failed to hear him…._


	30. The Elysian Fields on Earth

**HOLD ON NOW...:))**

As she finally managed to pull herself from the disturbingly chaotic labyrinth of emotions her memory had mercilessly thrown her into, Xena took one last glance in Ares' direction, and for a second there, her heart shed a tear of blood at the image she now had before her….His face was literally disfigured by the striking desperation grinding against the walls of his soul. Indeed, a devastating shock wave of agonizing pain had smashed into and through him with so much force that facing the tragic situation they were in like a man- by putting a mask on and feigning indifference- was an inconceivable reality since every little cell of his body felt as if the universe itself had exploded to smithereens inside him.

Whatever trace of sanity he still had left, fractured the moment when, in a cold enough voice to freeze Tartarus itself if needed, she finished her vows, thus pledging her allegiance to Teiwaz, defying all written and unwritten laws, morals, life threads, Gods and the Fates themselves…defying him and whatever past connection they might have shared.

As if the world was about to come to an end, the skies, the eternal, unchangeable skies split in half the very following moment with an earsplitting blast that made the ground beneath their feet tremble and the trees bend, for, at the same time with the anguish and with that unbearable sadness that crushed the War God's heart- that massive block of ice he had used to carry inside his chest pretending it was a real ticker until the day she came into his life- all the anger, the frustration and the immeasurable disappointment were released under the form of a lethal enough dark energy wave to wipe off the face of the map Greece itself.

The energy shield protecting the Warrior Princess and Teiwaz first cracked and then shattered into tiny pieces with an almost equally deafening sound, the collision of the two forces sending both mortal and God flying straight into solid trunk of a colossal oak situated at about fifteen yards away. The Germanic God hit the tree first- much to Xena's luck- and the impact was so strong that the bole broke in half, falling noisily to the ground under the Love Goddess' terrified eyes.

As the War Gods' aura began pulsating dark again, obviously getting ready for a second, this time deadly attack, Teiwaz rushed to his feet and helped Xena up, casting her a worried glance.

"Are you ok?" he asked, giving her a quick once over, as if wanting to check if she was still in one piece.

"I'll live " she answered, doing everything in her power not to scream. Her entire body hurt so much that she could barely get herself to inhale. She felt as if each and every bone in her body had been broken, and it was neither the time nor the place to start complaining about it.

" Get behind me, and don't even dream about leaving my side. Whatever idea you might come up with, leave the heroics to me, got it?"

She just nodded slightly. That was everything that she was capable to do, anyway. By Chronos, the last thing haunting her mind was to face Ares now that he seemed more determined than ever to unleash all his inner daemons on earth, now that her own inner pain was so incredibly intense that the physical one felt like a bee sting compared to a thousand daggers carving her flesh.

She literally had to fight with herself to keep her eyes open when a sparkling crimson electricity wave was generated by the Germanic God's imposing- and seemingly unaffected by Ares' previous attack – form , obviously meant to let his opponent know that anger was not about to win him this confrontation…

" Ares…?" was all that Aphrodite's childlike voice managed to whisper, in one single futile attempt to somehow calm her brother down before the unavoidable happened, but the only thing that she- dramatically unsuccessfully- attained was to be thrown back a couple of feet just like Tewiaz and Xena had been, the instant she tried to put into practice the very poorly inspired idea of touching his shoulder. The energetic wave smashed her fragile body against a tree trunk as well, and she couldn't help thinking- seconds after the moment of the impact- that, had she been mortal, her internal organs would have been squashed like rotten tomatoes against a brick wall, beyond any shadow of a doubt.

"Ouch….I shouldn't have done that..." she muttered to herself as she struggled to ignore that unprecedented sensation of having her brain gliding uncontrollably inside her head, from left to right and from right to left….She instinctively covered her ears with her palms as if fearing that somehow, part of it – probably the one which had turned into soup-could have leaked out through one canal or the other….

Her horrified eyes soon met Ares' demonic ones, and she froze on spot at the sight….That was not her** Stud Muffin** she was looking at….That was definitely not her **brother**, not even the **War God**…..Nothing that had once been mortal inside him-at least at the emotional level- was there anymore….and not even his immortal, Olympian legacy was present in the entity that he had transformed into….He was **War**…just that….. pure, unmatchable, senseless essence of War and Death…..And judging by the lack of humanity screaming at the world through his now hollow orbs, he had one purpose, and one purpose alone: to kill the Warrior Princess….and for this, he had to eliminate her fairy tale knight in shining armor first….

"Sweet mother of Zeus!" ….

Aphrodite's words marked what appeared to be the apocalyptic beginning of an historic battle.

**XXX**

" You have something that belongs to me! I want it back!" Ares growled in such a beastly voice that for a split second it gave Xena the chills….The darkness in his tonality reminded her way too much of a very old, familiar voice that she didn't want to hear again in her life…. Dahok's…

"Not any more it doesn't. Your bond has just dissolved into nothingness. You must have felt it, I'm sure…."

The pungent sarcasm reverberating from Teiwaz' words was more than enough to set the War God ablaze.

" She will always belong to me!"

"She sure doesn't feel that way or she wouldn't have accepted my offer…." his opponent contradicted, blocking the lethal energy jet that sprang almost instantly from Ares' palm. "You want her? Come and get her you lousy buffoon! You've never been a true War God, and heavens know you will never be one! You don't have what it takes to face me, we both know it, and a few parlor's tricks won't help you this time. Not today…" he then challenged, ecstatic by the fact that he was actually offered the opportunity to exploit his enemy's weaknesses.

"You're dead." the son of Zeus howled furiously in response, launching himself in such a violent attack, that Xena's blood froze into her veins while following the incredibly cruel blows exchanged at dazzling speed, barely perceivable by mortal eyes. Her body became petrified with shock moments later, when her Germanic protector was projected over the woods as a result of such an intense display of inhuman force that Ares himself could barely believe it.

At a considerable distance away from them, Aphrodite too was flabbergasted. She had never seen such an extreme manifestation of energy in her entire godly existence and to top it all, that** thing**, that unique** force of nature** she was gawking at, was none other than her brother. …

" Hey Baby…" Ares finally addressed Xena, once he noticed that there was no movement in the woods, thus able to focus all his attention on her barely able to hold herself up form. "Come to papa , we have a lot of things to….**.talk** about" he mockingly invited, while pulling a dagger out of his boot, and one didn't need to be an oracle to tell what was about to happen.

"We have **absolutely nothing** to **talk **about, just like we have nothing to share any more. I made a choice , Ares, just accept it and move on with your life. Gods know that's what I'm planning to do." she bravely stood her ground, aware that it was the only type of reaction he would accept from her part.

"To move on with your...** life**? Did I hear you correctly?" he inquired, in such a low, nefarious voice that she felt a shiver going down her spine. As he began walking towards her with unhurried, death bringing steps, she unwillingly took one step back, as her self defense mechanism got into red alert mode.

" You're right to fear me, you know..." he spat, as he watched her muscles become more and more tense, as if getting ready for attack. Her blue irides suddenly lost their azure intensity though, the moment she accidentally stumbled over a fallen branch and fell to the ground.

Always the gentleman, the War God made sure to help her up, with a distressing tenderness, grabbing her arm, and pulling her up as if she weighed nothing at all…

Once they were face to face again, with a heart-stopping precision, he thrust the razor sharp blade through her right shoulder, right into the muscle area, and , with a brutal enough push to make her scream her lungs out he shoved her pain blocked body against the same bloody rock Teiwaz had been fucking her on only a few hours before.

" You're right to fear me Honey. " he menacingly repeated, a somewhat seductive whisper in any other circumstances, while temptingly brushing his lips against her earlobe."…. cause what I'm about to do to you, has never been tried on humans before…Make sure you pray to any divinity on this planet that I get bored of you fast enough as to wanna send you to Tartarus ….By the way….once I'm done with you, I can guarantee that place will seem like the Elysian Fields on earth…"

**...DON'T HATE ME :)))...YOU KNOW WHAT THEY SAY...HOPE DIES LAST:)) **


	31. More than death itself

Against her entire strict set of rules when it came to their interaction, the Warrior Princess didn't put much effort into hiding the fear now glistening like ice in the moonlight in her eyes. She could count on the fingers of one hand the moments in which the War God had really managed to frighten her, but she could definitely add this one on top of her list.

Just like the Love Goddess had discovered earlier, Ares was no longer Ares, and looking at him now, sensing that pure, baleful anger spreading inside his body, like fire on dry grass- almost tangible- she suddenly felt small, very small in comparison to him. Apart from that, she was well aware of the fact that he was telling the truth about hurting her, she was going to be in a lot of pain soon; there was no doubt about it in her mind.

In a last attempt to search for an escape route she briefly glanced to her left, her brain still working hard to get her out of that mess-despite the pain that his hands- now pressing roughly against her temples were inflicting, as if wanting to crush her skull.

When the suffering became unbearable, she unsuccessfully tried to hit him, to push him away for a at least a couple of seconds- enough so that she could pull herself together, to think clearly again- but judging by his blank expression she had to ask herself whether he had felt that blow at all.

"You filthy bitch!" he exploded, when, with a savage growl, he grabbed a fistful of her dark, silky hair and slapped her over the face, so hard that the mark left behind by his fingers seemed to have been tattooed on her right cheek….Again, and again and again…..the slaps came pouring over her face, each one more violent and more resonant than the other until she finally escaped a low moan of pain.

Hearing her, he finally put a temporary end to his attack, pushing her brutally against the cold boulder, grunting with the satisfaction of a serial killer tormenting his victim. In the meantime, his hand had found a more comfortable spot to rest- around her neck, that is- while his free one, he used it to twist the knife that was still sticking out her shoulder into her bleeding wound, making her breathing speed up considerably and her eyes to close shut while struggling to keep herself from fainting.

"Do you like that? " he murmured darkly against her ear, without actually expecting an answer, his erratic thoughts flying on their own back to those maddening moments in which he had watched her making love to his enemy.. "I hope you do, 'cause this is nothing compared to what I have in mind for you…." he said, pushing the blade even deeper inside her shoulder, so deep that now even part of the hilt was drilling mercilessly a whole though her flesh.

Instead of freely offering him the pleasure of hearing her vocalize her excruciating pain, the Warrior Princess just clenched her teeth as hard as she could, and, hearing the sound of them grinding against each other , she decided to focus on that rather than on the nauseating feeling building in the back of her throat. Her legs, she could barely feel them supporting her weight, and she was almost sure that if it hadn't been for his vicious grip around her neck, she would have fallen to her knees a couple of minutes before.

With the last of her strength, she tried to push him away again, as if suddenly realizing that she hadn't put much of a fight so far, and he just let out a loud, contemptuous laugh at her ridiculous attempt. With an almost detached gesture, as if she didn't mean anything to him, he pulled the blade out of her now heavily bleeding shoulder and wiped it clean against her lips, making sure to "accidentally" make a fine cut in their rosy surface.

His eyes flickered with pleasure at the sight of her, broken like that. He obviously liked what he saw.

With an almost mesmerized glance, he watched the warm blood trickling down her chin, and the point of the blade soon followed the path described by the crimson thread down to her chest, stopping right above her heart.

"What if I cut it out and keep it as a souvenir? " he grimly asked, while already thrusting the blade an inch through her flesh, making some more fresh blood gush out. " You don't need it anyway…Whores don't need hearts. They're useless in their line of work. As long as you have that dripping cunt between your legs, you'll be just fine." he continued, pushing the knife a bit more inside, his hand already covered in the claret pouring generously from her cut.

" You sick Bastard! " she finally broke out, disgusted by his patronizing attitude and by the scandalous twist of their story. " You still dare call me a whore after all the cheating, the manipulation…. the …. "

She didn't get to finish her line though, for she was abruptly interrupted by the ripping scream leaving her lungs once the dagger pierced her left breast, inches above her heart.

" You can torture me all you want, Ares, but that won't change the fact that **it was you** who pushed me into Teiwaz's arms. It was **your indifference** and **your fucking nonchalance** that you can blame at night for having lost me, cause that's what happened, **you twisted son of a bitch**! You lost me! And yeah, you can have my heart….at least what's left from it, cause you made sure to break it piece by piece with every lie and deceit. If I could, I'd shove it down your throat myself!" she yelled, her entire body trembling with rage now at the nerve the Bastard had.

She couldn't believe it! So in his point of view, she was a worthless slut for having finally slept with someone else because she just couldn't tolerate anymore the idea that he was fucking an infinite number of women while continuously telling her how special and amazing she was and how much he loved her?!

Her hatred towards him was more than justified, that was for sure. But just when she was getting ready to add some more poison to those already uttered words, and right when the War God had removed that blade, probably eager to shove it in the right place this time, a red energy ball collided with his steel like body, sending him flying, a few yards away from Xena. In her turn, the Warrior Princess fell instantly to the ground, and her hands got immediately stained with the blood that kept flowing from those ugly wounds. Before she realized what was happening, Teiwaz was already by her side, and just like Ares had done it so many times in the past, with a wave of his hand he healed her otherwise lethal injuries, and made all the scars disappear.

"Are you ok? "

"I'm fine. How about you? I thought…"

That's all she managed to say though, cause before she got the chance to finish her line, the Germanic God was already on his feet, sending another energy ball straight to Ares' midsection, keeping him down. Great, she said to herself! Just what that pig deserved!

The rest of the scene unfolded extremely fast, and if by then Xena had failed to hear Aphrodite's deafening screams on the background- probably because her brain had chosen to ignore everything that wasn't vital for her survival- now she could definitely hear them, and they were so piercing and heartbreaking that for a second, her attention drifted away from the fight to the Love Goddess's absolutely terror stricken visage.

"ARES!" she screamed, while somewhat in slow motion- or at least that's how Xena's exhausted mind had filtered everything- she started running his way, tears streaming down her face.

It was only when looking back at the two struggling man-curious to see the reason of Aphrodite's unjustified distress- that the Warrior Princess finally realized the horror: Ares was bleeding. Teiwaz had thrusted a dagger straight through his heart... the Hind's dagger, she noticed to her unspeakable shock.

The mute scream that left Xena's half parted lips got lost in that densely contaminated with imminent death, atmosphere.

"No…" she murmured lowly, completely taken aback by what was happening. Almost instantly, she tried to get up and walk their way, but she uncontrollably hit the rough surface of the forest floor again after the first two steps, and, if minutes before it had been the atrocious physical pain the one to force her legs give way under her, now it was the awareness of the tragedy that she had indirectly caused and its soul shattering consequences.

"Ares, please! " Aphrodite's trembling voice pulled her out of her trance again, and to her immense surprise she discovered that the Goddess was already by her brother's fallen body, and that her hands had gotten covered in blood while trying to stop his bleeding…..

It was a nightmarish sight, the Warrior Princess thought while staring in disbelief at how Aphrodite was trying to help her brother, too frightened to get that damned blade out of his chest, and also too terrified not to.

Then, as if through a distant dream, she realized that Teiwaz had been talking all along. And he was still saying something….For some reason, he couldn't help the smile gracing his face while looking at his defeated opponent. In all appearances, everything had gone according to some perfectly executed scenario...

" It's over Ares…..How does it feel, huh? How does it feel to know that you're leaving this existence, tail between your legs, after having lost everything you loved, knowing that the **only person** who ever mattered to you betrayed you in the lowest of ways….**To know that she plotted your murder just to get even?** It hurts doesn't it? ….More than death itself…."


	32. Past and present

_"_**_To know that she plotted your murder just to get even_….**_**plotted your murder, plotted your murder...**_**"** the inhumanly wicked words echoed unbearably loud through Aphrodite's falling apart spirit for what seemed like forever. When her eyes met Xena's stony ones, there was so much hate burning on their liquid surface, that, despite her innocence, the Warrior Princess couldn't bare hold her gaze. Transfixed with the pain and the revolt mercilessly carving at her soul, she just looked aside for a second, a reaction that the Love Goddess obviously rushed to identify as guilt.

In the meantime, on the background, Teiwaz's mockery kept pouring from his lips, damaging irremediably whatever was left whole of the War God's dying heart, scarring him beyond recognition...

" It's quite ironic don't you think? In spite of the …**affection** ….you had for her, and definitely despite the fact that you must have offered her the world and a place by your side, she threw everything away in but a matter of seconds, when your back was turned at her….Just like my Freya did, all those millennia ago, remember? Whatever you were ready to sacrifice for her, it was not enough….Just like the cheap, shallow mortal that she is, she stumbled against the **one mistake** that you did, the **one weakness** that you had, ignoring completely her own endless chain of mistakes and weaknesses...It's quite funny, you have to admit it….."

…..As the ache in his heart grew more and more intense, causing more and more suffering, everything turned pitch black before the War God's eyes, his surroundings dissolving into a cold - glassy night that made him shiver with fear and not even his sister's desperate voice, imploring him not to leave her, didn't mean anything any more as his mind drifted away towards the setting sun of something else…..something unknown, something sickeningly scary, but something where he hoped that immense pain now crushing his chest would finally stop….He wanted to die...

Slowly, his spirit got pulled further and further away from the mortal realm by an unseen, superior force, and about one minute later, he could no longer feel the warm tears falling from Aphrodite's bloodshot eyes, washing over his face. He finally allowed that loathsome emptiness inside him engulf him completely, without the slightest thought about any possible consequences..

**XXX **

He couldn't really tell how he got there, but one furtive glance around the room was more than enough for him to realize the exact moment in time that mysterious higher power had chosen to send him to, and despite his inborn stubbornness, he couldn't restrain the heavy sigh that escaped his lips when he noticed his rather agitated ten years younger self, waiting for someone on the edge of the dark silk covered bed, in the Halls of War.

There was impatience in his younger version's eyes, along with a subtle sparkle of a barely contained enthusiasm. He couldn't help hating himself for it, and in a new fit of impossible to control rage, he threw a fire ball at his mirror image…He had to laugh at his own stupidity though when he noticed that absolutely nothing happened. It was as if he weren't even there. Obviously , he was nothing but a mere observer of some past, painfully distant and unchangeable events…

With a firm shake of his head, as if he couldn't get his brain to accept the absurdity of the situation, he turned his back at the scene and started walking towards the door, adamant about leaving the room, about putting behind him whatever was left intact of his memories, only to find out that there was no way he could get out of that place. The heavy doors were closed shut, and his powers were useless in this freaking timeline.

He naturally let out a frustrated curse, throwing yet another fireball- at the wooden door this time- , just for the sake of consuming part of his fury somehow. Once again, his outburst had no visible effect except for him feeling even more frustrated than before, overly scandalized about the fact that he was forced to assist at the rest of the easily to anticipate scene. He knew his own life story by heart, and for all the world, he didn't want to relieve the past…Not a past in which **she** was so present in his life that it hurt…

Before he got the chance to finish his line of thought, he suddenly heard the familiar sound of the door cracking open, and with wide, teary eyes, he saw her walking inside, wearing nothing but a flimsy towel wrapped around her still half wet, gorgeously looking body.

" Damn you!" he yelled at the top of his lungs, rushing towards the eighteen years old Xena haunting his vision, wanting nothing more than to rip her apart, limb from limb. It was useless though. His hand entered through her tantalizingly sexy form as if she had been a ghost, a mere figment of his imagination. She was untouchable, and that drove him even crazier if possible. **" You're a snake! A seven headed Hydra in disguise to whom I gave everything! I trusted you, you wretched bitch! I trusted you with my heart!"**

She didn't hear his accusations though. With slow, gracious steps, as if she were floating, she closed in the distance between herself and the visibly bewitched by her presence God, seated casually on the bed.

From the corner he had chosen to let his body crumble in pain, the real Ares was watching her every move with hollow eyes. He had always said that this woman was going to be the death of him….and sadly, today the Fates proved that he had been right all along…

Through the ceaseless tears now washing over his face, he kept looking at her...she was so beautiful that he could feel his soul screaming his loss inside his chest...And yes, her stunningly blue moons- the same ones that had fascinated him ceaselessly for a decade- were for a reason that he knew far too well as empty as beads of glass, but her still wet, waist long, dark, silky strands falling freely over her shoulders, and those blood red cheeks- red from the hot bath she had taken earlier - made her look like some supernatural appearance, totally eclipsing the sorrow present in her eyes.

Within seconds, the gloomy room was invaded by the addictive fragrance of oriental jasmine coming from the lotion she had used on her skin. Unlike his younger self- who looked absolutely ravished by the scent- this time, the alluring perfume made the War God barely repress the urge to vomit. So many times before she had used it- knowing that it was his favorite- for so long he had associated the accursed flower with her, that, now that the scent filled his nostrils again- and under those devastating circumstances- instead of pleasure, it made his stomach convulse in disgust….It was an absolutely impossible to explain sensation…The memories brought to surface by that overly sensual perfume threw him immediately in such an incredibly intense fit of panic that for a minute there, he genuinely felt as if the air refused to fill his lungs.. He was chocking, and at the same time he wasn't. On the one hand, he wanted her close so much that it hurt, and on the other, he would have broken every bone in her body if he could physically reach her….Indeed, during those accursed moments, he would have given everything, all that he had, to see her bloody and broken, to hold her heart in his hand, to taste her life as it faded upon his tongue...

His vision blurry from the tears, he watched her taking a sit on the bed by his younger self's side, her back turned to his mirror like image and facing him, and he mechanically covered his grief-stricken visage for awhile, just like a traumatized child would, when the images became unbearable to watch.

With, gentle, long strokes, the Ares from the past had begun brushing** his Xena's** hair. Unwillingly, through hardly parted fingers, he cast a long, wondering glance at himself….He was literally holding his breath during the entire ritual, as if afraid not to startle her, as if one wrong move alone would have made her vanish from sight.

" You imbecile!" he beastly growled in a tired, ragged voice. " once again exasperation taking over him." She's gonna betray you! She'll be the dagger sticking out your fucking heart!" he yelled, spitefully throwing another fire ball, not at his Princess who was actually staring his way, as if she could have felt his presence for a moment there, but at his irritatingly dumb version- so dumb that he looked like he would have kissed her feet had she asked him to.

Once he placed the brush down on the bed, his arms snaked around her in a tight embrace, and the God immediately felt a sting of pain noticing the tears falling from the young Xena's beryl moons. The sorrow engraved on her enslaving visage was so touching that he could almost swear it equaled the one he was now feeling while looking at them together. He nearly slapped himself at that thought...She was nothing but a heartless slut, she didn't deserve his compassion, not at all, on the contrary!

His blood boiled again in rage as he heard himself whisper against her ear the most tender words he had ever spoken to a woman in his life. Whatever this bitch had between her legs, it looked like she owned him- the idea involuntarily popped inside his head- and his lips just twisted in disgust the very following second as he remembered that they hadn't even had sex at that early stage in their relationship. That was only their first week together, the first week after her brother had died…Just seven days since she had accepted to be his Chosen, since she had sworn to be forever his, to belong to him….No sex yet, just the enticing, subtle promise of it….

Their future together back then looked enviably bright…..And judging by how intoxicated he was by the dark energy flowing through her veins, he couldn't possibly guess how terribly far fetched his expectations were…

As if in slow motion now, he watched his ten years younger self brush his lips against the smooth, velvet like skin of her neck. With unhurried, but visibly greedy moves, he traced the contour of her body, from her shoulders to her waist, and he could see his own eyes darkening with lust as he heard a soft whimper escaping her throat. The warm, musky scent of her desire perfumed the air with almost the same intensity that the jasmine fragrance had done it minutes before, and, as he pulled the towel down her breasts, letting it slide further down her waist, he could feel his jaw clenching in fury at how gullible he had been….By Chronos himself he must have been at least one thousand times more naïve that his ditsy, empty headed sister…..At least she had an excuse...she was blonde...

His eyes were now glued to her breasts though…those ultimately arousing breasts that were just begging him to touch them- and that were theoretically off limits….In less than a split second, the magic ended with a royal blue silken gown covering her indecently exposed body.

Visibly displeased with his own decision making abilities, the God was just getting ready to curse his mirror image's ultimate lack of tactics when, to his boundless surprise, she turned around and captured his other self's lips in such a warm and surreal kiss that he could physically hear the sparkles sizzling between their lustful bodies…As her hand moved straight to his belt, unwillingly, Ares frowned at the image of her, available like that- just like his younger version was now frowning, despite not having bluntly rejected her.

" Sweetheart…" he heard himself say moments later, while gently freeing himself from her grasp, looking for the best way to phrase what he had to say without offending her.

She just cast him a long, almost frightened look.

"I'm sorry…I shouldn't have done that…." she said, covering her lips with the tips of her fingers.

" There's nothing to feel sorry about. Gods know I'm not..." he muttered, taking in a deep breath, while literally struggling to keep his mind clear. "It's just that….you should wait…..as long as it takes for your emotional wounds to heal….You're overly sensitive right now, and…..I wouldn't want you to regret this ok? Just…..take your time. I'm not going anywhere." he murmured, sealing his promise with a chaste kiss on her forehead, and next thing he knew, she was biting her lower lip so hard that it bled, while fighting a lost battle with herself, doing even the impossible in trying to stop herself from falling apart in front of him.

With infinite care, as if he was holding a porcelain doll, he pulled her in his lap, and, making sure that she was comfortable enough, he wrapped his arms around her.

"It's ok…..You're not made of stone, Princess. Let it out, just let it all out, Honey…"

Looking at them, Ares tried to swallow, but suddenly his throat had gone as dry as the desert sands...

**XXX**

An earsplitting sound preceded the darkness that surrounded the War God again, and for a never-ending moment, his head felt like exploding into a million pieces as memories and thoughts began whirling nosily inside his head, old and recent memories that rushed to tear chunks of what was left of his soul. Everything stopped all of the sudden though with a bright, unbearably white light and an unusually blue sky that was opening up before his troubled eyes. He couldn't tell if he was still dreaming or not, if the voices and the faces he was seeing were actually real, but he could swear that was Aphrodite's quivering voice somewhere in the background, in between sobs and screams.

"Please 'Thena , please! You gotta do something! There must be something you can do! Please don't let him die, I beg you! "

" Go get father." the Goddess' suspiciously low but commanding voice could be heard, and despite his dizziness, he immediately detected the fear in her tone.

_The ever so wise Athena afraid of something_...he said to himself while once again feeling his consciousness slip away...Something major must have happened...

" No! I'm not leaving him! Athena, please! "

Unable to say anything, the God just listened for a split second more, mute witness as her voice finally turned in what sounded like a river of despair when her muffled cries filled the air again...

"Do as I say! Now."


	33. Expect the unexpected

His eyelids were heavy now….so very heavy that he could hardly keep them open….And all those sickening bright neon colors rocketing towards the sky- leaving behind a fading trace of smoke that when it finally dissipated kinda looked like broken winged butterflies- were mixing in such a strange, unnatural way, that for a second there Ares didn't know what to think…..What in Gaia's name was happening? And why was Aphrodite sobbing as if she had broken a nail right before one of Bacchus's decaying orgies?

"_Shut the fuck up, already…..! "_ he tried to say, but the only sound that did get out was a loud moan followed by a fine thread of blood trickling down his lips.

All the while, his throat was burning and his chest was burning even harder as if someone had cut out his heart and had planted a handful of hot , glowing coal in its place. It wasn't what he used to call a very pleasant sensation, not when his flesh appeared to be cremating along with all the rest of his inner organs….

He squeezed his tired eyes shut for a split second. Gods, that damned light was a bit too much!

"_What's going on, Sis ?" _he wanted to ask the desperate Love Goddess once he realized that those irritating, barely muffled screams weren't going to stop any time soon, making a real effort to look her way, and the pain that invaded his whole body at the mere attempt of turning his head in the direction in which he was certain she was at, was almost impossible to bare. It felt as if a thousand arrows had ripped holes in his flesh, sinking deep into his muscles and joints at the same time….

**"Don't move…"** a different voice reached his ears, and for a minute there, he thought he had only imagined it. He tried to swallow again, but there was something in his throat, something blocking nearly everything, even air from moving past that unfamiliar barrier….Something he was choking on now….something liquid, and disgustingly metallic in taste...something like ...rusty iron …

As the realization that it was blood he was tasting- **his own blood** he was choking on- finally washed over him as some sort of sacred, divine revelation, his eyes widened in panic. That surreal voice caught his attention again though, diverting it temporarily from the genuine fear that had managed to pierce that seemingly impenetrable armor of blessed childlike innocence - the same one that had been efficiently protecting him from the moment he began to slip away from the world- and had infiltrated into his bones…. It was rather unknown feeling up to that day, that didn't really do his immeasurable pride any favors, a feeling that he had somehow identified almost instinctively though, as if it had always been present inside him, hidden in some remote corner of his godly nature, waiting for the right moment to come out and shame him in front of the whole world.

" Don't move, Ares! It will only speed up the bleeding!"

And that's when he saw her…**.Athena- **leaning protectively over him, her hands covered in blood as they struggled to cradle his limp body in her lap. ….Was he seeing things- he had to ask himself ? Was this really happening? Was that **concern** he saw in her eyes…? Frustration? Pain?

He involuntarily smiled at his own thoughts, at his own absurdity …

"_I must be losing it_" he said to himself, closing his eyes for a moment.

"Hey! Don't even think about it ! Look at me! Ares, look at me! "

As if he had been a solider obeying his general's command, for some strange reason, the Olympian acted on impulse. And his first impulse was to do as he was told.

" Good…..You're doing great. Now stay with me….Stay with me…"

As if a far away echo- so far away that he could hardly make out the words - the dying God heard another feminine voice whose inflections doubled effectively his sister's shooting encouragements.

" What have you done?!"

He frowned a bit at the sound…..The voice appeared to be filled with grief and immeasurable pain. A male voice immediately answered. This time, his brain identified instantly the possessor of that extremely mocking tonality. And along with him, as if having woken up from a self induced dream, he also recalled the woman…..

" What do you mean? I only did **what you** asked me to. I **freed **you from him. " the man continued, making sure to emphasize what really mattered according to him. His voice was anything but friendly though, the War God could clearly sense it. " In order for your bond to be broken, one of you had to die….Luckily, it was an easy choice…" he sarcastically replied and despite the numbness that had taken over his body just a few seconds earlier, a new wave of hate shook Ares' entire form, making him tremble in rage again as memories flooded his previously foggy mind….She had been part of this….Of that sick plan to kill him…

"What are you talking about? I'd never…." she barely murmured under her breath, her head spinning from the shock and the pain and the absolutely unexpected turn of those accursed events.

"Now , now! Don't be ungrateful! It was what you wanted. I gave it to you….."

" You two are going pay for this! I swear it on the Styx. The moment my brother leaves this realm, you're dead. Both of you!" the Goddess of Wisdom growled like a wounded beast, staring daggers at the unusual couple standing just a few steps away from her.

" Well get ready for the fight then, cause it won't be long now. His life is hanging by a thread….a thread that I intend to break, and no one, not even your sister- who was in such a cowardly hurry to leave us- not even Zeus, not even the Fates themselves, no one on this planet is going to take my revenge away from me! He deserves to die. He should have paid for his crime a long time ago!"

"And what crime is that?!" Athena inquired in a puzzled tone, unaware of just how dark the two War Gods' common past actually was.

" It doesn't matter. Not any more. " Teiwaz simply replied as a murderous grin stretched his lips in an almost grotesque, distorted way. It's quite the irony to put it this way, I know, but in less than a heartbeat, taking Athena completely by surprise, with the swiftest and skillful of moves, the God cruelly stepped on the handle of the dagger, making sure to push the blade as hard as he could, even deeper into Ares' immortal heart.

An energy bolt left the Goddess' hand the very followings second, but it was too late…..there was no way for her brother to survive that final thrust ….

And then, the incredible happened! In one last act of despair, she did it…Under the Warrior Princess' disconsolate gaze, Athena gave up everything that defined her in life:** her godhood**….her precious immortality- the one thing that differentiated her from all the pathetic mortals out there, from that universe of crass ignorance, of…idiocy….

It only took a second, a split second for her to take out the dagger from her brother's chest with one hand while with the other she made the energetic transfer needed to keep him from dying.

A moment later, Xena was staring like a marble statue in Ares's now cold, insensitive but very much alive moons….

...And despite the fact that-with all that roller coaster of emotions- she had failed to notice it, almost simultaneously with the Olympian's miraculous resurrection, about thirty Gods had made an appearance just a few yards behind the now mortal brother and sister, all of them carrying destructive weapons in their hands…..

"With me, you should learn to expect the unexpected, Xena." the Germanic War's line broke harshly the creepy silence that covered them all along with a dense, inexplicable fog.


	34. Let the games begin!

" Shiva! Krishna! It was about time! I was starting to believe that you might have had a change of heart about our little arrangement…." the Germanic God continued, without taking his eyes away from the Warrior Princess though, stubbornly adamant about seeing the shock in her eyes as the monstrous proportion of the drama her life had gradually turned into was finally revealing its borders….and no, he wasn't disappointed….The slashing pain he saw in her wide, deeply troubled moons was worth the effort….almost as rewarding and as sweet as the one disfiguring Ares' usually mocking, unaffected features.

" Is it me or you were a bit worried that Zeus might get here before us?" Kali joined the conversation, displaying an equally ironic smirk just like most of the the other Hindu deities standing by her side.

" **Worried**? I'd say that's too strong a word…**.Impatient**, maybe…..I've been orchestrating this play for far too long to just carelessly muck up the ending….It would be a shame, really …." he retorted , casting them all a displeased glare as his previously stern eyes confronted the dark skinned Goddess of Time and Change…..

His lips tightened into a thin line at their equally defying stares….They were a hard not to hate pantheon….He had always held within him a barely contended aversion towards them…He would have gladly squashed their rather fragile forms as if they were bugs, a long time ago if opportunity had presented to him….

But still, it appeared that for once in eons of existence, that annoying herd of inept immortals could finally prove its usefulness….

" A shame indeed." Lakshmi responded, her eyes fixed on Athena's petrified visage. " A loss, for all of us. It is only** wise** to take advantage of every single chance we get in life…" she commented as if having loudly articulated Teiwaz's own regrets.

"And this is certainly an epic one…" Ganesha added in a similarly detached tone, his undivided attention being – unlike Lakshmi's – focused entirely on the Warrior Princess' perfect form.

" One that mortals will write and sing about for generations to come. " Teiwaz concluded, deciding that it was high time they agreed upon something. " As promised, there you have them: two Olympians, the King's flesh and blood….both of them of high enough value for Zeus to give you anything you want in return. A very rare bargaining chip, you must admit it…."

"And thus your father's debt has been paid, son of Donar!" Vishnu mentioned, touching lightly his forehead with the tips of his fingers. "Make sure to tell that to our old friend..."

" They are mortal…!" Rama remarked at about the same time, rolling his eyes in discontent while meticulously scanning Ares' faint aura…." This one is so weak that he can barely be qualified as a mortal….."

" I can easily detect the anger radiating from his disgustingly mortal body though…." Kali specified while, closing in the distance between them, she demonstratively traced a sharp nail along his chest, lingering for a second along the edges of the shining silver of his pendant.

" I can't blame him though…..He has probably fantasized about drinking your blood in a thousand ways so far…."

" Too bad his fantasies won't turn real anytime soon…" the Germanic God replied, trying not to snap at the overly nonchalant Goddess.

"And that unearthly charming creature by your side…..is she Olympian as well? " Ganesha demanded to know, licking lecherously his lips while awaiting for the answer he was hoping to get.

His completely justifiable curiosity made Ares' blood boil even more now, his maddening- unfounded- rage oozing through his skin, evaporating in the refreshing night air like a nearly visible and palpable steam….For once , the Greek God swallowed all the smart retorts piling into his throat though….Why the fuck did he feel bothered about the fact that someone showed interest in** her** anymore? …He would personally kill the bitch anyway with the first chance he got- **that** he could swear it on the Styx, on the head of Zeus, on the forever sacred name of the Fates themselves…He would have his revenge, oh yes he would…

Teiwaz' harsh voice broke his musing though….well, that and the repulsive sensation of Kali's palm rubbing hungrily his crotch in hope of a reaction.

"No…Actually this is the one to whom we all owe a debt of gratitude. It is through her generous contribution that I was able to turn your precious prisoners from feared Gods into harmless mortals….And it is thanks to her that we now know that the Olympian kind can be annihilated if we have the right weapon at hand…**.Hind's blood**…."

"A rare thing to find..." Vishnu stated, despite the fact that he looked delighted with the news. On the other hand, he was not really thrilled with the answer he was given, still puzzled about the secret identity of the slightly disorientated naked woman standing before them.

In complete contrast to the Hindu God's initial reaction, the Warrior Princess was literally scandalized by Teiwaz' version of the story. She had been incredibly foolish to place her trust in him….What was she thinking? By Gaia what was she thinking?

" What are you talking about? I have never…." she hissed through clenched teeth, frowning at what had just reached her ears.

Her words were barely audible though, and this time no one could have possibly blamed neither her way too weak- uncharacteristically restrained- key nor the utter lack of physical explosion at the Germanic God'd false accusation, and that was mainly because of the earsplitting sound that seemed to bring about the beginning of the Twilight itself…. An annoying, intermittent light caused by the impressive thunder balls flashing across the sky was now descending menacingly towards the earth, apparently straight into that crowd of plotting traitors recklessly gathered on the eternal Greek soil.

" It seems like that the party's about to start!" Athena murmured to her brother once she noticed the golden chariots coming down from the heavens at dazzling speed.

" Good…..I hope it doesn't last long though…..I have my own agenda for the day…" he replied in such a dark, menacing tone that his Olympian Sister couldn't help arching an eyebrow at the iciness in his voice…She could tell that he was talking about Xena, but for once , she wasn't happy about the perspective of getting that slut out of his life…. There was something bugging her about these unexpected twists and turns, something that she couldn't really put her finger on….Something just wasn't adding up and that was surely a challenge for her overly sized brain….

"Let the games begin!" Shiva's voice echoed throughout the foggy night once that Zeus himself stepped proudly out of his chariot, weapon in hand- and one couldn't have missed the impressive display of force and the light radiating from his aura. It probably played the part of the yet missing sun- but one thing the Olympian King was sure of: that was all the warning the other Gods needed in order to reconsider their discourse.


	35. My way

"Shiva! Vishnu!" to what do we owe this….unannounced... **visit**? " the King of the Gods inquired, steel in his voice while closing in the remaining distance between them.

Behind him, from the other chariots the rest of the Greek Gods descended, each one armed to the teeth, and drunk on bloodlust. They haven't been in a real fight in quite some time and judging by their fierce expression, the perspective of a full scale war wasn't at all disturbing, on the contrary.

"Sightseeing…." Vishnu ironically answered wasting no time with analyzing his opponents' feisty attitude. "…..we were in Rome and decided to spend some time in the beautiful land of Greece as well…..You have an amazing taste in architecture here…" he continued, his mocking grin stating the exact opposite.

" Yeah well, I'm glad to hear that you admire our style so much. Maybe you can copy a few sketches and if you ever decide to redecorate the Temple of the **Sacred Cow** you'll have a reliable source of inspiration…" Zeus bit in an equally sarcastic tone.

An intimidating gaze exchange later and after circling each other for a few seconds, Zeus decided that there was no point in beating around the bush.

" You're far away from home…..What are you doing here? And why are my son and daughter mortals?" he demanded to know, taking a mental note at the fact that the Hindu Gods were numerically superior…. _Almost two to one_, the God said to himself while silently evaluating his odds.

" Always so upfront….We're here on business…..working on a project that is supposed to help human kind evolve. Our goal is to take humanity to a new level of civilization."

" By blowing the entire planet to pieces?"

" I'm afraid that's over reacted….." Shiva intervened. "…By keeping around the ones who can bring a contribution to the new age that is about to come. You know what our ancestors said, Zeus…..**from chaos to order**? "

"And who are you to decide who deserves to live and who doesn't?"

" The ruler of one of the oldest pantheons in existence?" Shiva answered with a laugh. "To make a long story short, you have a choice Zeus: either you stay out of our business and we'll stay out of yours- we'll even be generous enough as to leave these two alive. " he said glancing towards Athena and Ares. " Or….we can lose a lot of precious time and energy fighting and killing each other, and destroying half of the planet in the conflict anyway. What should it be?"

" You know you'd lose. As my brother said….you're far away from home. Your energy is at half capacity. We might as well kick your asses and send you flying back to the Indies!" Hades hollered, the darkness around him vibrating with every uttered word.

" I'm afraid we'd be the only winners of that scenario, Hades!" Kali replied, visibly thrilled by the perspective. "I have nothing against a decent fight. There hasn't been one in a few millennia…."

"And for good reason!" Athena firmly reminded them. " During the last confrontation, the human race was almost extinct."

"We had to create new prototypes…." Saraswati added, apparently agreeing to his Greek counterpart's opinion.

"The half Gods…." Hera concluded, making a face at the memory…."We should have let humanity perish. It would have certainly been better, many complications would have been avoided" she spoke with a frown…That's how she saw things ever since Hercules was born…

"Maybe…." Krishna added. "But then again who would have worshiped us? Life would be boring in the absence of our mortal pets. We can find good use for them if we use our brains properly…." she said, making Xena throw her a deadly glare.

All this while, the Warrior Princess had been carefully analyzing the situation, doing her best to keep up with the endless flood of information, still tormenting her brain into finding a valid answer to her original question: how in Tartarus had she managed to get herself in that mess?

A few times her gaze met Ares' but there was nothing in his eyes to indicate the fact that they were going to meet each other again for any other reason than him cutting her to little pieces and her fighting for her life- another problem for which she needed some kind of solution and fast….How in the world was she going to explain to him that everything Teiwaz had spat were lies, poisonous lies and that she had nothing to with his scroungy betrayal of the entire Olympian pantheon let alone with plotting his death, ….

From a few yards away of Xena and the Germanic God, while the other deities were still ranting and ranting- in a rather unfriendly tone –on one subject or the other, Athena's attention deliberately shifted from Zeus' boring, classical discourse -on how important it was for peace to be maintained in order for progress to be possible and how each pantheon should mind its own sphere of influence- to the brief eye contact between the Warrior Princess and her brother. She flinched…In his rage, Ares must have missed the fact that she didn't look at all like a person who had just taken an active part in planning someone's murder….Unlike Teiwaz, she look rather….helpless, not at all hostile….Maybe slightly frustrated and still angry, but as far as she could see, her anger was not directed towards Ares, but rather to her new lover….What in Tartarus was wrong with that picture….?

Before she could reach a conclusion, she felt a slight touch on her shoulder. It was Aphrodite….Her eyes were still puffy and red from all the crying, but at least now, an expression of utter relief and gratitude was engraved on her previously pained visage.

" Thank you 'Thena…Thank you. "

" You don't have to thank me. That moron is my brother as well…..and I'll make sure he returns the favor, don't worry about it. He now owes me his life…." she made sure to specify, without looking at her sister.

After thinking things through a couple of seconds more she whispered lowly in Aphrodite's ear, making sure that Ares couldn't possibly hear her:

" I need you to do something for me….."

"You name it!" the Love Goddess replied in a cheerful voice, without hesitation.

" The moment you get the chance, take Xena away from here….Take her somewhere safe. And don't tell anyone about it. "

"What?!" the Goddess retorted in a scandalized, almost offended tone.

"Shhhh! Keep it down! This is between you and me!"

"It is because **of her** that Stud Muffin almost died! Why would we even care about what happens to her?!" she exclaimed, consternated about what Athena was asking.

" We don't know that, ok? "

"Yes we do! You weren't there! Teiwaz said that…."she argued, only to be abruptly interrupted by her sister's cutting line.

"Teiwaz could have lied! He had an alliance with these bastards after all. What makes you think that he was telling the truth about Xena?"

"She didn't disagree with him when he…."

" We just don't know…."

"Why do you want to save her anyway? You've never been their number one fan, quite the opposite!"

" There's only one thing more dangerous than an angry War God for the world…." Athena explained.

"A guilty War God….." Aphrodite concluded, casting a long, sad glance in her brother's direction. He was so furious with the Warrior Princess that his rage was almost palpable. She was certain that had he been a God, she wouldn't be breathing any more.

"If he kills her, he'll never forgive himself….And my life will turn into a living Tartarus! Father would make me clean up his mess for the rest of eternity, and babysitting him is the last thing I need!" she hissed, the aggressiveness in her voice telling Aphrodite that their conversation on the subject was over.

The Love Goddess arched an eyebrow at her sister's perspective….Could she actually have a point? Could the handsome Germanic God have lied about Xena's implication in his brilliant scheme? Had she been **that** blind as not to notice that the Warrior Babe had nothing to do with that horror?

Slowly shaking her head as if wanting to shake the thoughts away, she narrowed her eyes at Xena, as if trying to see beyond the flesh and into her soul….She looked sad and desperate….Now that was new….

" Well if what you're saying is true, this is a matter that should be discussed in an official meeting and the main members of every pantheon in the world should be present, Shiva! This entire misunderstanding and my son nearly losing his life was useless…." Zeus thundered, pulling them all of their trance-like state.

"It was the only way to get your attention. You wouldn't have listened." the God explained in a radically calmer tonality.

"You're right. I wouldn't have. I'll send Hermes to contact you for further details in the following days if that's ok with you. "

"It's precisely what I wanted to hear. "

"Perfect then. " Zeus said, heading for his chariot. You have till sunrise to leave my realm though. You're armed…."

"I agree. We have no reason to linger here anymore…." he said, and in a minute they were gone.

"As for you Teiwaz, given your disrespectful attitude towards me and my home, I forbid you to set foot on my lands for the following three millennia. And do tell Donar to drop by. We have a couple of things to clarify regarding his son's ludicrous behavior. " he said, glaring daggers his way.

" I have no other reason to hang around either…My purpose has been reached, wouldn't you say so, Ares?! " he mockingly articulated, his fingers tracing softly Xena's jaw line.

"You son a bitch….." Xena murmured, pushing his hand away.

" ….Make sure to kill the Warrior Princess. She has caused enough problems as it is…." Zeus casually ordered Hades, pure ice in his voice, without giving too much attention to the scene.

"No !" Ares intervened, making the entire Olympus turn in utter astonishment his way. "No one will rob me of that pleasure. I'll take care of her later. **My way**…" he darkly announced, his eyes gleaming with hatred.

" Fine." Zeus agreed, having no reason to doubt his son's words. " Just do it…."

In a split second, they were all gone, both Ares and Athena being transported back to Olympus by Hermes and Hephaestus.

Xena and Aphrodite were the only ones still standing in that suddenly vast, empty space…


	36. That went well

A mere blink later, and definitely before Xena got a good grasp about what was happening, Aphrodite had already transported them to one of her temples, as far away from that damned place as she could.

What in her mind appeared like a huge favor though, to the angry Warrior Princess it proved to be an unspeakable offense, one that she made sure to reward with a resonant slap that collided to Aphrodite's cheek at such superhuman speed that it left behind the red mark of her fingers.

" Gee you're welcome!" Dite snapped, irritated by the warrior Princess' ridiculously brutal reaction. If there was anyone who had every reason in the world to act like a killing machine that was her , not Xena. "I'd say you owe me an apology!" she hissed, narrowing her pretty blue eyes at her brother's flame….well ex flame to be more accurate…

"Me?! " she sniffed, making a face at the Goddess. "I'm still surprise that you have the nerve to look me in the eye after what you did !"

"After what** I** did? Did I like hear you right? This is like totally incredible! "

"How could you, Dite? " the Warrior Princess shouted, doing her very best to keep herself from strangling her then and there. The disappointment and the aversion in her trembling voice were impossible to miss though. "How could you? I trusted you….I can't believe I actually trusted you!..You pretended to be my friend all along and you just stabbed me in back when you first got the chance!" her voice thundered accusingly through the room but it was strangled with pain and despite her immeasurable rage, tears had started forming on the surface of her saddened moons. .

Judging by the Goddess' expression, Aphrodite couldn't believe her ears. She was completely taken aback by the illogically violent outburst she was witnessing. For all the perfume and makeup in the world, she couldn't get it! Here she was with her brother's killer accusing** her** out of all people for having stabbed someone when **she **was the one who had done just that only half an hour before…like literally.

For a second there, she kept staring at the infuriated Warrior Princess in mute amazement, not really knowing what to say.

"What's **your **problem?" she finally inquired, pushing Xena out of the way and putting some distance between them , slightly frowning at her friend as she passed her by, a look of confusion painted over her divine visage.

It was obviously everything that Xena could take any more... The only thing she knew was the she would have liked to beat the crap out of her…..

" **My problem**?! I don't know…Maybe the fact that that accursed veil finally fell from my eyes, or maybe the fact that I finally got the opportunity to see your true colors!"

" Should this make any sense to me, cause I have no idea what you are talking about"?!"

" No idea huh? I shouldn't be so surprised I guess. For someone who doesn't have the minimum of decency this is probably considered normality!"

"What are you talking about? "

" I'm taking about the fact that for the past several years you fell over backwards to convince me that there was nothing going on between you and that demented Bastard anymore, that whatever happened between you two at some point belonged to the past, just to see him all over you tonight! Does that ring any bell in that empty head of yours?! I should have seen it coming, really…." she ended in a rather resigned note.

As if someone had hit her with a hammer in the head, the Love Goddess finally realized where all that fury was coming from….She must have seen them earlier that night…..

"Xe….." she started, closing back the distance between them and trying to caress her hair, but she only got another slap over the face in return.

"Don't you dare Aphrodite! Don't you even dare!"

"Babe , you've got it all wrong…..Nothing happened. Stud Muffin was just comforting me…."

"**Comforting** you?! That's quite an original way of** comforting** someone! I didn't really know that such process was synonym with a good fuck! Thank you for sharing this priceless information with me...This conversation has been extremely enlightening! " she spat, disgusted by what she had just heard.

"It wasn't like that Xe…He didn't….we didn't…."

"**I saw you**, ok?! So there's no point in lying to me, really, cause nothing you're gonna say will ever change how I feel about you! "

" He was just trying to make me feel better, Xe. I know how it must have looked like, but truth is, I was bumped and he was just …."

" Trying to help?... By licking your nipples?! Come on Dite, this is just…..I don't even want to hear anything else about it! I don't care actually! You can just go to Tartarus! Both of you! And take me back to the forest, will you? I'm not planning to spend one more minute in your company! I don't want to see you, I don't even want to…"

" Xe I'm sorry! I didn't mean to hurt you, I swear, but you gotta believe me!"

" Well you did! " she screamed at her, tears streaming uncontrollably down her face. " You did….Now take me back…You caused enough harm for one day! ."

" I'm afraid I can't do that. Babe, I'm sorry…please…."

Before she finished that line though, Xena's fingers were already avidly clutched into her blond curly hair, and her lips were just inches away from hers. When she spoke she didn't yell anymore, but every single word was uttered on such a dark, low tonality that for a moment there, the Goddess forgot all about the fact that she was immortal and that there was no way in Tartarus that Xena could do any real damage to her body….But she was scared…yes she was…

" Now listen to me and listen to me good Love Goddess, you'll do what I asked or I might just forget the fact that I once considered you my friend!"

" I can't.." she whispered her barely audible reply, terror clearly present in her eyes. " You heard him….He's gonna kill you…."

"Like you cared!"

" I do…I know I messed up Xe, big time, but I'm telling you the truth here. Nothing happened between us…I would never do something like that to you, you know that…."

"No, I don't... I thought I did. I must have been out of my mind…."

" By the Fates….That's why you did it, isn't it? That's why you plotted his murder…." the Goddess concluded, realization washing over her…

" What? Don't tell me you actually bought Teiwaz' crap! I wouldn't need to plot that Son of a Bachae's murder with anyone if I wanted him dead! I would just do it myself! "

For a few seconds, while still struggling to assimilate this new, unexpected information, Aphrodite stared emotionlessly into Xena's ice cold cerulean eyes….She was telling the truth…

"How did he know about the Hind's Blood dagger then? Excepting Herc, you were the only one who knew…."

"Me and** the entire Olympus** you mean…." Xena underlined in a mocking tone.

" They would have never told anyone such a thing! Let alone a foreign God!"

" I don't know how he found out about it Dite. I don't even give a damn, really! I'm just relieved that…" she immediately stopped though the moment she realized what she was about to say.

" That Bro' isn't dead, right….That's what you wanted to say…'

She didn't answer. She just turned her back at the Goddess and headed for the fire place. Despite the fact that it was the middle of the summer, at nighttime it was quite cold, despite the torrid temperatures over the day.

"Oh I'm sorry, you must be freezing! I like totally forgot that you were…." Dite excused herself, pointing towards her friend's naked body, and instantly materializing a dark blue satin dress on her. "I hope you like it….We can change it if…"

"It's fine…" the Warrior Princess cut in, without looking neither at the Goddess nor at the dress.

With slow, cautious steps, the blonde daughter of Zeus took a seat on the sofa next to her, not really managing to gather the needed courage to touch her hand like she had initially wanted to….Her wounds were still too deep and too recent for such intimate contact….

" Please let me make it up to you…." she hesitantly begged , starring at the pink plush rug beneath their feet.

In return, the Warrior Princess cast her a venomous glare, venomous enough as to mach the Goddess' insolence. She didn't articulate an answer though, a gesture that naturally Aphrodite interpreted as an invitation to keep ranting on the subject.

" Once things calm down, I can try and explain to Ares what…."

" Stop it! Just stop it! I don't want you to do anything!" Xena barked, startling a bit the ditsy Olympian.

"What do you want then?" she lowly inquired, her face still covered in the guilt and shame of having caused such an inexcusable wound to her friend.

" Right now, I just need to get some sleep….It was a long day….." she muttered, mechanically wiping away the fresh stains of tears from her cheeks.

"Sure…" Aphrodite sighed, wondering if she should continue her line. " …do you want me to stay with you…?" she finally asked, searching for Xena's sad moons. No eye contact was made though. The Warrior Princess couldn't really stand looking at her at the moment.

" No. " was all answer the got.

"Ok …..I'll see you later then….Call me when you wake up…."

That being said, the Love Goddess left, leaving a broken to pieces Warrior Princess behind. The instant she dematerialized from the place, endless sobs were finally freed from Xena's nearly exploding chest…. Nothing felt right anymore…..

**XXX**

As soon as she set foot on Olympus, the Love Goddess felt another hand clutching her hair, but this time, the pain she was feeling was different. It appeared as if the intention of the one holding her in place was not to simply immobilize her, but to actually leave her hairless.

"Ouchhhhh! That hurts!" she whined, staring up in wonder at the one who was so jealous of her golden, beautiful curls that they couldn't stand seeing her in one piece like that…

Her jaw almost fell to the floor when she noticed that her tormentor was none other than Stud Muffin himself.

" And it will hurt even more, trust me!"

"Like what's wrong with ya'? Has being a God again brought that violent side of you out so soon?" she inquired, feeling his change in aura.

"Were is she?" he yelled, eyes sparkling with hate and anger.

" Where's who?" the Goddess asked as if she had no idea who he was talking about.

"Don't play games with me Dite, cause I'm so not in the mood!" he threatened, pulling the Hind's dagger from his belt and menacingly placing it at her neck.

" I don't know what you're talking about Bro…." she murmured, making efforts to sound as clueless about the problem as she possibly could, aware of the fact that had he known where Xena was, he would have skinned her alive….and she couldn't allow that. Not now when she finally realized that the entire drama had happened because of her….

"** Xena**! Where is she?"

" I'm telling you, I don't know. She was in the forest when we left, wasn't she? I mean you were there too…."

"You were the last to leave and you didn't come back to Olympus with us! Where were you?!" he exploded, pulling roughly her head backwards.

"I was to Thessaly. One of my priestesses called me…" she replied, without hesitation, looking her brother dead in the eye. He immediately let go of her, convinced that she was telling the truth.

"You do have a screw loose, you know that, right?" " she finally snapped, throwing him an accusing glare.

" She's gone." he responded, pacing restlessly back and forth the room like a caged animal.

" She couldn't have gotten too far, Stud…..But, don't you think it would be better to wait a day or two before talking to her….You should both take some time to calm down…" she started, aware that would have been her classic line in that situation. The last thing she wanted was to attract his attention in any way….

"To** talk** to her?! Who said anything about** talking**? I want to rip her heart out! By Chronos that slut will beg me to kill her! She will beg me on her knees…."

"Well….maybe Teiwaz took her with him given that she's now his Chosen and all…."

Next thing she knew, the Love Goddess was hitting a wall full force, and for a second there she was under the impression that the entire room was spinning with her.

Once she recovered, the War God was gone…

"That went well….." she said to herself, while rubbing the back of her head. "At least he didn't set my hair on fire like the last time he was furious with me…"


	37. An ocean of confusion

**SO, DO TELL ME, WHAT DO YOU THINK IS GOING TO HAPPEN? LET'S SEE WHO GETS IT RIGHT :)) **

He blew the gates of Asgard like a dark storm, and one slight movement of his hand was enough to send that rather impressive number of soldiers guarding it flying as far as the human eye could see- as if they weighed close to nothing….Feathers…they were like feathers, and the moment they landed on the shining surface of the knee high snow, none of the woke up.

With firm, determined steps, the fuming War God advanced through the large stone yard. Everything was covered in a solid layer of ice. Gods how he hated this place! He had never been a fan of this fake crystal realm and the thought alone of being here was making him even angrier. Having lived in Greece for most of his life, had certainly marked his tastes for weather….for fine, decent weather, that is…The kind that allowed him to enjoy the eye pleasing sight of short raw silk tunics and a bit of tanned skin…something that Asgard definitely lacked….

The second set of gates- wooden this time- were turned into ashes before his very eyes seconds before he stepped over the sill. The raging wind howled at his back but despite the intensity of the blizzard , not one speck of white fluffy snow had dared touch him….The few snowflakes that did – probably accidentally- reach his radiant skin, turned instantly into water…Just like a torch, he was burning on the inside, and one could say that- at least metaphorically- everything had been carbonized inside his chest along with his heart, the very moment he understood what had happened…the very moment he finally understood the magnitude of her betrayal…

**XXX**

Sixteen Gods were gathered at the grey council table, each one wearing thick bear furs that appeared to be protecting their immortal bodies from the biting winds whipping the lands. That was another thing Ares had never been able to understand: why in Gaia's name did they use those uncomfortable, smelly animal coats when their stamina itself was all the clothing required in order to ensure them the needed protection against Mother Nature's nasty, unpredictable moods?

All similar thoughts were left aside nonetheless the instant he reached the dimly lit council room. An energy ball aimed straight to Teiwaz' chest crushed his opponent against the fireplace, at such force that the stone beams holding up the roof were shaken by the impact…It took the Germanic God about thirty seconds to find in himself the minimum of strength to at least try and stand again and he eventually did, despite the awkward sensation that his legs weren't quite in place….With an unaffected expression, he glanced down at his aching limbs. He immediately noticed the unnatural position of one of the bones that was literally sticking out through his flesh. His left wrist bone had also cracked and the fingers were unnaturally twisted , problems that in spite of their obvious gravity he solved in the blink of an eye, without even putting to much effort into it. A dusty white light was enough to reshape his body as if nothing had happened.

All this time, the War God didn't move. He didn't even think about looking at least once in the direction of the other gods, apparently not at all worried about the possibility that, having attacked one of their own –in their own sacred fortress to top it all- the rest of the Germanic pantheon might just want to wipe his intrusive self from existence. Instead, he patiently waited for Teiwaz to get up just to direct again and again and again, in what for a mortal would have been- a rain of death bringing, laborious blows to the stomach, each and every one followed by a slashing enough line to match the anger unleashed from his tireless fists and legs.

As if made out of modeling clay, Teiwaz barely moved a muscle to defend himself, and his scarce attempts were rapidly and effectively reduced to a few clumsy and rather defensive gestures meant to protect his head and other vital organs.

For any observer, the silence that appeared to have taken over the room while Ares paused to catch his breath would have been absolutely uncommon, just like the fact that not even one of the present Gods had lifted a finger to help one of their kin. Not even one….not even his own father, Donar, who, from the upper end of the table where he was seated, was watching everything with great interest while sipping nosily from his cup of wine.

All the other Gods were doing pretty much the same thing, casting from time to time a furtive glance in the direction of their iron-hearted King, probably checking if he hadn't by any chance changed his mind, thus expecting them to intervene, waiting for one word, for one order to rush into action….For almost twenty minutes, nothing happened though, and when the War God's breathing finally became so heavy with the effort that he could barely feel the air entering his lungs, Donar's roar could be finally heard thundering throughout the hall:

" That's enough! "...And time itself seemed to freeze in place along with Ares' consuming rage.

"I think he might have learnt his lesson by now. Sit with us. It's been a long day. Have a cup of wine. Let's talk." the Germanic King ordered in a harsh, manly voice that didn't leave any room for protest…When Ares' steely eyes met his, it was quite obvious that there was no way in Tartarus he could ever dream about refusing such invitation, for the axe placed somewhat suggestively in front of him, on the table, would have most likely been put to good use.

" **Where is she?"** the War God inquired the moment he gulped down the first cup of wine, the frown on his face looking as deep as the grooves and lines on the bark of a hundred year- old – tree.

" The woman? She's not here." Donar simply stated, while discreetly signaling to one of his daughters to refill their uninvited guest's now empty goblet.

" I don't believe you." Ares hissed through clenched teeth, his fingers clasping angrily around the cup.

" Why would I lie to you Ares? I've just allowed you to shame my own son in front of the entire Asgardian elite just to prove to your father that I had nothing to do with his impulsive recklessness and with that uninspired idea to attack an honorable member of the Greek pantheon …It is not in our best interest to break the alliance we have with your kin just like it is not in your best interest to start a war with us. We both know who the winners would be if such scenario were ever to unfold; the only problem is that such destructive confrontation would temporarily distract our attention from what is really important: the Indian pantheon and their overly radical ideas about reshaping the world."

The God's deep, friendly voice had a shooting effect on everyone present. He wasn't the type to waste words and when he did speak, his message was completely deprived of any literary embellishments. He was always frank- maybe way too frank for some- and he never lied. His brute honesty along the cruelty that he showed to his enemies had made him a rather disliked- but feared- character from the Mediterranean Sea to Thrace and way beyond. The ones who knew him better called him the Just One, while all the others called him The Hearthless King of Asgard or in short, the Beast.

"I was told she was brought here. It makes sense. She's **his** Chosen now…" Ares retorted, suspicion in his voice, the words almost refusing to leave his mouth towards the end of the line. It cost him all of his pride to actually say that out loud, but he finally did. He had no other choice. He needed to know.

" I'm afraid you were misinformed. "

" I don't know about that" the War God insisted, turning back to Teiwaz and flashing him a deadly glare.

"Is there anything I need to know, boy?" the King asked in his glacial, commanding voice, searching for his son's eyes.

" No father." Tewiaz answered, his own gaze never leaving the floor.

Ares arched an eyebrow at his enemy's incredibly coward attitude. Not in a million years would he have imagined the great Germanic God of War so weak, humble, so full of fears and so….obedient in his father's presence….To think that he had always considered Zeus one of the scariest Gods in existence…..Man, was he wrong! This Donar guy had to be quite the tyrant if no one had dared address him one word without his approval...For once, the legends must have been true...

" Are you certain of that?" he once again asked, and this time his voice made even the hairs on Ares' nape stand on end. There was no way in Hades that Teiwaz was lying….

" Yes. I didn't have the slightest intention to bring her here. As I told Zeus, I'm pleased with what I've accomplished. There was no need to take it out on her for Ares' crime." he muttered on an accusing tone that made the War God's blood boil inside his veins. " Though I did enjoy fucking her wild…She's very good at everything she does…." he maliciously added, his eyes sparkling with mischief.

" You piece of shit…" Ares exploded, rising from the table, ready to beat the crap out of him again, just to stop in mid sentence as Donar's voice echoed deafeningly throughout the hall, making walls, columns and Gods tremble at the sound of it.

"Silence! I had enough of your childish quarrel! For centuries on end you two have been at each other's throat, your foolishness and your lack of manners seriously jeopardizing the fragile alliance that your fathers have been struggling to build from way before you were born! You selfish brats! You shall learn to behave or I will gut you both and feed you to my dogs! "

And it was silence again, such a graveyard silence that one could actually hear the crackling sound of the logs in the fireplace…

" Sit down! Both of you!" he barked, his hand now moving menacingly towards the short double axe -the slashing blades of which were glistening under the faint sparkles of the flames.

"If my son says that the one you're looking for is not here, that means that you should start looking elsewhere, Ares, for he's telling the truth. He wouldn't dare lie to me, not if he values his life.." he added, making most of the Gods at the table nod in agreement at their King's determined attitude, and despite the tension still present in the room, Ares appeared to actually believe him.

He simply nodded his understanding, gulping down the rest of his wine…

" Do tell Zeus that I accept his kind invitation to Olympus and that I'll be arriving in the first night of the full moon. My dear wife and our youngest son will be accompanying me. He's just dying to meet Hephaestus. He has heard a lot about him and he desperately wants a Greek sword. "

" It will be an honor." Ares said rising from the table as Donar did the same. The rest of the Gods followed their King's gesture. "Thank you for your hospitality" the War God mumbled, slightly bowing his head in respect. The Sixteen members of the pantheon returned his discreet salute.

" Have a safe trip back home, Ares, and we shall see each other soon."

Within a blink, a vortex was opened for the War God to use, and before he could cast once last glance in Teiwaz' direction he was already being sucked into the energetic wormhole and brutally projected at an almost disintegrating speed back to the Halls of War…

**XXX **

" Are you ok? What happened? ….What's wrong with your hair? " Athena asked in an alarmed voice, while helping her sister up, the tips of her fingers arranging immediately a stray lock of hair out of her eyes...

"You are awfully…humane… these days." the Love Goddess remarked, shooting her a questioning glance, obviously puzzled by Athena's unnatural behavior. " Are **you **ok?"

" Just because I asked you a question doesn't mean that I actually care about your welfare, Aphrodite. So stop flattering yourself!" the Goddess of Wisdom defensively replied, forgetting that the curly daughter of Zeus was the one person in Olympus who could read right about anyone like an open book, without putting too much effort into it either. And she was right…Aphrodite had indeed noticed her sister's slight pause before uttering her response as well as the way her gaze jumped around instead on focusing on her face as it should have.

" Oh 'Thena! You're so cute when you're trying to act all tough! You and Stud Muffin are so much alike in sooo many ways! That's like totally crazy, huh?! Who would have thought?!"

" Yeah….**totally crazy**…." the Goddess muttered, rolling her eyes at her sister's ridiculous comparison. " Speaking of Ares, where is he? ... And did you manage to take Xena to safety?"

Aphrodite sighed as the reason for her ruined hairdo suddenly rushed back to her mind.

" Yes, the Warrior Babe is perfectly safe at one of my temples…I left her sleeping like a log. She was super extra tired. " she explained. "But you were right, you know…she had nothing to do with Teiwaz' sick plan to kill Bro…" she felt the need to add, carefully analyzing her sister's reaction.

"It doesn't come as a surprise. If there's one thing I've always admired about Xena- besides her expertise, that is- that would be her incorruptible sense of loyalty. I honestly don't know what was going on in Ares' head when the idea of her betraying him like that actually occurred to him…."

"It's a mystery ." Aphrodite solemnly whispered, instinctively making the snappy decision not to reveal any of the new information she had on her favorite couple's love life. "I wish I knew though….." she added just for effect.

There were a few moments of silence before the Love Goddess spoke again.

"Speaking of mysteries...I'm kinda worried Thena….I think Ares might have gone after Teiwaz…."

" After Teiwaz? How comes? I could have bet my godhood that his main target was going to be Xena…"

"I uh... I might have suggested the fact that being his Chosen and all, Teiwaz could have taken her with him….." she confessed as fast as she could, as if hoping that letting it all out in less than a second would somehow diminish the gravity of her actions.

" You're out of your mind….Why did you do that for?!" the Goddess of Wisdom snapped, throwing the ditsy Dite an irritated glare.

" I don't know. I was just trying to divert his attention from **me**, I guess?…..He was under the strange impression that I had something to do with Xena's sudden disappearance…" she answered in the most innocent tone she could find, making Athena burst into laughter.

" You're usually a terrible liar. I'm surprised he bought that. Anyway, I wouldn't worry about him too much if I were you. Donar wouldn't let Teiwaz harm a hair on his head. His alliance with father is way to precious to risk it. He needs us just as much as we need him…."

"I hope you're right….."

"I am."

**XXX **

_In sleep he came to her…He always came. He was always there, in her dreams, for she always ended up calling his name, calling him…..__**Aresssss.**_

_His alluringly dark, intoxicating presence was an undeniable constant in her life even in those tormenting moments when consciously she would have rather given up her own life than admit the truth to herself…._

_**Aresssss **__…As so many times in the past, the name poured like an enchanted melody from her lips, and the sound of it made her close her eyes for a moment, fully enjoying the sweet ecstasy building inside her as a result of its electrifying vibrations,the rich __symphony of sensations making her body tremble in anticipation…..It was unbelievable! The boundless power offered by that comfortably familiar word alone could unmistakably fill her veins with a honeyed darkness for which she found no earthly comparison,and she indulged herself in the ravishing frenzy it brought …._

" _You came …" she murmured, her lips barely parted as she spoke…- a statement, not a question, for things were crystal clear for both sides. _

_She kept her eyes closed for a few seconds longer, preferring to focus on the cocktail of feelings offered by his spine-tingling nearness rather by the hypnotizing image that she knew she was going to see once she glanced in the full length mirror in front of her…._

_A light caress on her arms made her change her mind though…he was so irresistibly close to her that she could distinctly sense his hot breath on her neck…but still, __not close enough yet….._

" _You called…..How could I ever ignore my Princess ? " he whispered back, his lips almost touching her overly sensitive skin…._

_Bright blue, curious eyes stared inquisitively into the looking glass just to meet his amber like set gazing back at her…..They were burning with a barely repressed lust to posses her…to own her, and it scared her to death to realize that they held the same amount of desire that had already numbed her brain, tricking her heart into believing that maybe she could keep playing with fire without having her wings turned into ashes…An unrealistic expectation or better said, a naïve illusion- as she herself could tell in a faraway corner of her heart…_

_Faithfully obeying his silent command, his hands continued to roam up and down her flawless form until they finally rested on her unusually tense shoulders, and despite the fact that the turquoise satin dress she was wearing was covering her almost completely, Xena could distinctly feel his demanding touch on each and every inch of her skin as if she were wearing nothing at all….as if she had been naked all this time…naked in his arms…_

_While one hand snaked around her waist, pulling her closer so that her back was now pressed against his chest, his other one took the liberty of tracing her jawline…..She had to fight with herself to keep her eyes open and to control her breathing despite the fact that she felt as if she had a ticking time bomb inside her ribcage…._

" _You didn't use any of the cosmetics I left for you…" he casually remarked, his gaze lingering a bit more on her reflection, in the mirror. _

" _I haven't got to that part yet….." she hastily answered, a bit ashamed to admit that she had never used such extravagant things in her life and that she had no idea how to use them in the first place…..She had been just a simple village girl up to the day he stormed into her life on that battlefield, and thus such luxury had never been a part of her old life style….Skin care creams, primers, several types of powder, eyeliners, blushers, foundations, lipsticks….learning how to wield a sword had been much easier…_

" _Not that you'd need any…" he gently continued as if he hadn't even heard her. " You look illegally sexy without all those useless womanly artifices anyway….But still…..Olympus is stuffed with envious, criticizing harpies….And trust me, you don't want to give them an extra subject for gossip tonight." _

_She smiled lightly but she wasn't the least amused. Actually, he could tell just how nervous she really was. _

"_Here…..allow me…" he murmured, courteously inviting her to take a sit on the leather armchair strategically placed in front of the imposing mirror. _

_She cast him a slightly concerned glance when she realized what he was planning to do, but as if having read her mind, his following line shattered her any scenario, no matter how wild…_

" _Don't worry, Princess. I've spent enough time in Aphrodite's company to know a thing or two about make up…..Just relax, and let me do the heavy work." he said with a charming smile while taking a small transparent container full of an amazingly perfumed moisturizer ….._

_With delicate, circular moves, the God began massaging the creamy lotion into her silky skin with the tips of his fingers and for all the world he couldn't have concealed the veneration he felt for this woman...It was transpiring from his every touch. He smiled discreetly noticing that he had her mesmerized, but before the blazing fire in his eyes had made her feel uncomfortable, he thoughtfully directed his attention towards the small vanity table where four or five different sized face cleansing brushes were placed and without hesitation he picked a soft powder pouf one. Soon, the Warrior Princess' visage was being pleasantly caressed again while he began applying a thin layer of mineral powder and a dab of peachy blush on her cheeks. _

_Completely taken aback by the wave of arousal conquering her body with his every new touch, Xena almost forgot that she also needed to breathe, way too preoccupied with forever storing in her memory the unique fragrance of the God's skin- a rare combination of, spicy, woody incense and leather…_

" _Close your eyes Darling…." he sweetly ordered, affectionately caressing her cheek with the back of his hand, his voice breaking though rather abruptly her endless stream of thoughts, even if only for a second…. _

_The rest of the ritual didn't last by far as long as she had wanted it to, but whatever he did, felt amazing…She wasn't really able to tell how much time had passed since that sugar-coated torture had started, given that all she could focus on was the breathtaking contact of his fingertips with her eyelids….._

"_And now, a captivating shade of red for those tempting lips of yours…." he whispered, while attentively selecting another container from the vanity table. This one was filled with a dark crimson powder, and, after dipping his index in it ,with an almost demonically tormenting languidness, he began massaging her lips, making sure that the color had the nuance he wanted…..A thousand different thoughts screamed simultaneously in his mind though, so loud that he could barely resist to urge to give in their primal requests, and as her own chest- so perfectly still just minutes before- began rising and falling more and more rapidly, his index was soon replaced by his thumb….._

_With her entranced gaze bound irremediably by his lust filled eyes, Xena made one final effort not to give away the fact that her heart had been pounding in her ears ever since he had materialized in the room. _

" _You look like Goddess." he concluded, biting his lips hard as the need to devour her then and there became suddenly physically painful._

_When she finally lifted her eyes to look into the mirror she was petrified….He was right….she was….__**divine**__….She had never ever suspected that he-** the God of War**\- had the power or better said the knowledge to transform her to that extent._

"_Thank you…" she murmured, still too surprised to utter a longer sentence, silently wondering if he could see the effect he had on her….."I had no idea that you could actually tell apart an eyeliner from a lipstick….." _

_His warm, magical hand now brushing a stray strand of hair from her face, increased her aching desire tremendously….Unconsciously, she bit her lower lip just like he had done it seconds before….She wanted him so much, like she had never wanted anyone in her life…And the grim awareness of just how dangerous he was, only made everything even more exciting… _

" _There are a lot of things you don't know about me…" he said, fingers clenching into her hair, pulling her closer to him, so that their mouths were now just a breath away. _

" _Let us change that….." she seductively suggested, arching an eyebrow at the idea. _

"_I don't know…..You're a very addictive woman….It wouldn't be very wise of me to give you my heart on a silver platter just like that…." he playfully replied, his eyes never leaving her delicious lips._

"_Who said anything about your heart?…." she chuckled lightly, teasingly caressing his chest…._

"_Hmmm…..I like the way you think…." he concluded, devouring her almost savagely, completely forgetting all about the fact that he was running his own work of art...Body art..._

**_XXX_**

"_**Aressssss" **_

With a jolt, Xena woke up in the middle of the night, all covered in sweat. Her heart was pounding to the point of jumping out of her chest. Her hand went to her lips almost instantly…She could still feel the bruises left behind by his violent kisses….And the enthralling smell of his perfume…Either she was going crazy or she could sense it all over her her skin. As for the room..the air was charged with his presence...a presence that at least theoretically she could no longer feel...Was she still dreaming?


	38. Dark passion

The vortex threw Ares back to the Halls of War with a hard not to remark brutality, and as his body was literally spat in this new physical realm, he felt every bone in his body getting smashed against one of the stone walls, so hard that he could hear some of them snapping nosily at the impact. He couldn't help make a face at the ironic similarity between that rough fall and Teiwaz' immortal form colliding against the fire place earlier that night….If Donar had done this on purpose, that old buck had a very twisted sense of humor….Strikingly similar with his own, as a matter of fact….

Taking in a deep breath, he rose from the ground, shaking his limbs a bit before directing a wave of sparkling blue energy throughout his entire body. Within seconds, he was in perfect shape again, and with a light frown he cast a long, pensive glance around him…It was back to square one again. Xena was not in Asgard….Damn, that had taken him completely by surprise…He had genuinely believed that his ditsy sister's wild guess was in fact correct...After all, it had made perfect sense... She was** his** fucking Chosen now, and it was pure logic and normality for that disgusting pig to want to drag his pretty prize doll to his iced cave by the hair if that's what it took to keep her within an arm's reach…

The memory of them together made Ares sick to his stomach. He growled animalistically at the thought, his fist hammering repeatedly the wall in a vain attempt to bring at least one moment of peace over his shredded soul…He could feel such an unbearable pressure pistoning against his temples again that simply clenching his teeth was not enough anymore. He felt the suffocating need to scream, to scream at the top of his lungs, to find her, to beat the living crap out of her, to fuck her brains out and to break her neck just to bring her back to life and to bruise her lips with kisses, to fuck her senseless again and again and again until the only thing she could see before her eyes would be his thick cock ramming inside her…

" You treacherous bitch!" he roared, sending a bright energy ball in one of the numerous shields covering the walls of the depressingly dark room, drinking in the spectacular sight of the copper-coloured metal disintegrating magically before his very eyes….A huge part of him desperately wanted to see her flesh do the same….to hear her tormented screams as he peeled every inch that satin skin from her bones…..To hear her begging for him to forgive her, just to inflict her tempting body even more pain…To hurt her, as much as her betrayal had hurt him…..

"I hate you!" he sighed in frustration, his hard- drawn breath laboured in heartbreaking sobs…He immediately stopped though, realizing how ridiculously weak he had become, and he was right about to go straight after Aphrodite, when something held him in place as if his feet had been nailed to the floor…

"_**Aressssss…" **_

Was he going crazy?

"_**Aressss.."**_

It was her….It was her…

Within a blink, the walls of the room dissolved as if they had never even been there ….There was nothing else around him anymore…no matter, no time, no physical reality, nothing to divert his attention from that deep, sensual, vibrant voice surrounding him …Her longing voice calling out his name…

" _**Aressss….." **_ the sounds broke somewhere inside his chest, spreading like poison into his veins….A sweet, lethal poison that he would have never refused to drink no matter the tragic effects it had on his immortal body.

Soon, way sooner than he would have expected, all his senses went wild along with the billion questions that had abruptly invaded his mind.

How in the pits of Tartarus could he still hear her? Their bond had been broken, and yet, she was still there….Closing his eyes, he channeled all of his energy into finding her….It was a faint presence at first, but then everything turned into an overwhelming, orgasmic sensation brought by the free, limitless access to her mind…..She was dreaming….and he instantly found himself drawn in her nightly visions, unable to escape, as if he had been an unlucky mosquito who had stupidly fallen into a sticky cobweb- his grave…

He instantly recognized both the dream frame and their conversation….it had taken place sometime during the first year of their ambiguous, labyrinthine relationship….. He was supposed to take her to Olympus, since everyone was just dying to meet the skilful witch who had convinced the War God to change his mind about the whole **having a Chosen **business.

Through her memories, he could relieve everything again…the sexual tension in the room, that magnetic attraction between them….She had been so nervous that night, despite being so breathtaking beautiful. He couldn't have controlled himself not even if he had tried to…As the muffled moans leaving her throat filled him with desire, he literally ripped that accursed dress off her, her waist long, raven tresses being the only thing still partially concealing her perfectly sculpted breasts from him….With a demanding urgency he placed her on the vanity table, and her knees immediately bracketed his hips, her pelvis resting right above his, pressing hard against his throbbing erection. His palms cradled her head and his fingers entwined savagely into her hair, pushing her hard against the icy mirror….She moaned again, this time at the pleasant contact of her super heated skin with the blessed cold surface of the looking glass, and every muscle in her body tensed as his tongue tangled with hers…He could distinctly smell that impossible to ignore fragrance of her arousal, and the scenarios whirling inside his head only made his mouth scorch against hers with an even more determined ferocity, the aggressiveness of their kiss making his own blood pound so hard in his temples that it made him dizzy.

Hypnotized by that irresistible mixture of his wicked ministrations and the imperious need to feel him inside her, Xena left out an abandoned sound of pleasure as the God thrusted hard into her, shifting slightly until he found that spot that he knew would soon turn her soft caresses into deep, nail –scraping grabs…

Minutes later, she was screaming his name, her orgasm bursting hot and explosive inside her, his shouts mingling with hers as his own release came washing over him…

" **Aressss…" **

Her intoxicating voice pulled him out of their common reverie and projected him back into the gloomy room of the Halls of War.

He couldn't help a bemused laugh when he realized that he had just come into his pants, his body still shaking from the force of that earth shattering climax…

He groaned in frustration….every muscle in his immortal body ached, every square inch of him still wanted her, and her perfume, her obsessive presence were imprinted on his brain to such extent that, for a moment there, he felt he was going to lose his mind unless he had her….She was his poison, yes, but she was also his antidote, and all those erotic sensations still swimming through him- clouding his mind like never before- weren't really helping any….He didn't care anymore, he would rape her, torture her, whip her whatever the fuck it took just to get what he wanted…

With impulsive, hasty moves he opened a portal.

" Show me Xena….."


	39. Chosen or not

The image that the slightly unclear portal soon revealed was by all means, not very different from the one that he had expected to see….Her bewitching, azure moons were still closed, she was obviously still sound asleep and excepting those dried, seductively parted lips and the tiny drops of sweat trailing languidly down her forehead, neck and chest, there was nothing else that could have betrayed the amazingly wet dream that had been plaguing her overly ecstatic mind; old but still extremely arousing memories that were soon to show him just how much impact he still had on her.

Animalistically irational in his arrogant determination to prove to the object of his desire that nothing had changed, that she was still** his **property, the War God took a long, musing look at the very familiar décor of the room...A victorious, wicked smiled pulled at the corners of his lips the moment his utterly observant brain made the association between the image he had before him and the damned place keeping her away from him….It was one of Aphrodite's so called temples of course- and that had been a piece of cake in guessing, especially with the rose scented candles burning all over the room, the naked marble statues depicting the most unusual sex positions one could imagine , the plush rugs and that accursed coral sofa that he had grown to hate so much- the ridiculously looking object was literally present in her each and every temple…..It was a artistic torment to the eyes… For the love of the nine muses, how could anyone in their righteous mind could ever stand living surrounded by so many shades of pink was beyond him! After all those millennia they had spent together- more or less together that is- he still couldn't brag about fully understanding his sister's peculiar sense of fashion….

Anyway, to make a long story short, our War God's spark of genius pretty much resided in the fact that after only five minutes of looking for his prey, he strategically narrowed the location of the temple to three possible ones after having noticed something very unusal about a ceramic amphora placed somewhere near the balcony. The very skillfully executed traditional masterpiece- which had been initially created to store the finest Corinthian wine- was apparently in the Love Goddess' sanctuaries- used to keep flowers though, at least that's what Ares came to realize while staring in horror at the richly colored bunch of plants sticking out of the fine quality object ….Seconds later, he barely resisted the physical impulse to pat himself on the back when he had a totally mindblowing revelation….one of the bouquets contained a unique type flower, the kind of which only grew in one single place in Greece…..the solitary island of **Lesbos**….

"Figures…" he muttered, rolling his eyes at his sister's frightening lack of imagination. " Couldn't she have found a secret cave or something if she really wanted to hide her from me?"

Within a split-second, he thus made a silent appearance in the exact same room Xena was located, making sure to become invisible to human eyes the instant he saw her shift in her sleep. Despite the death bringing darkness of his gaze and despite the contempt glistening on the surface of his once warm amber moons, his treacherous, unusually sentimental heart skipped a beat nonetheless when he heared her low, barely audible moan….By all Gods of Olympus, the lust he felt for this ungrateful woman almost equaled his severely injured ego….How he hated her, words are just too poor to describe!... And still, he had never been able to free his wretched soul from the drugging effect that her magnetizing beauty had on him, regardless of the nature of her mistakes…It was an absolutely frustrating conclusion….

Doing his best to avoid thinking about her in any friendly terms- better said in any way that could have extinguished the flames of rage consuming his heart- he chose to focuse on the bitter memory of those needy, tormenting moans breaking out of her throat while she was melting in Teiwaz' arms, instead ….The kitty cat sound of her decadently sexy voice whispering that pig's name while he kept hammering deep inside her with a brute passion had almost thrown him into the claws of insanity that day, and he couldn't really state that he was feeling any better about it…..She was supposed to be his and his alone, the bitch…He had killed countless soldiers, peasants and priests for having had the sick nerve of looking her in the eye, for crying out loud, he had almost sent Apollo to Hades with his bear hands- his own brother- because he had dared disrespect her….He had treated her like a Princess, he had laid the world at her feet, but she seemed to have wanted to be treated like a whore all along….

A blood freezing frown pulled his brows together at that heart grazing truth, and, as the dagger of Helios appeared right out of nowhere in his right hand, he was just about to dramatically step out of the invisibility cloak and satisfy his most basic needs with her before sending her body and soul straight to the pits of Tartarus, when something very unexpected happened…She woke up….She woke up with a jolt, as if from a terrible nightmare, though her flushed cheeks and her overall expression indicated quite the contrary. He knew what she had dreamt about and he could tell by her still labored, uneven breathing that she had enjoyed it as much as he had…. No…that had definitely not been a nightmare…..

His fury fading a bit, he followed her with still angry but rather curious eyes while her inquisitive moons scrutinized the room as if she could actually tell that he was there, and then, without any apparent reason, probably after having convinced herself that it was all just a figment of her imagination, she burst into wave of tears, such heartbreaking, uncontrollable sobs that she had to cover her mouth with her hands in order to silence herself- as if fearing that someone might actually hear her….

What the fuck was wrong with this woman, he couldn't help wondering? Why in Tartarus was she crying?! In her dream she didn't have the slightest objection to what was happening and now she was breaking apart over it as if she had been some Hestian virgin who had just been brutally raped by a drunk Roman soldier.

Still puzzled by the unjustified drama of the whole scene, he kept studying her ,almost patiently one might say, as if she had been some weird natural phenomenon the likes of which he hadn't seen before. Her hands soon moved from her mouth to around her knees and she quickly buried her face in them as she kept crying, crying like a disconsolate child in the middle of the night without anyone to comfort her….

For a few more minutes, he stood there in awe, just watching her, not really knowing how to react to such surprising behavior…..Before his mind was made though about what the best course of action could be, something even more ridiculously unexpected happened: his ditsy sister popped in the room- at the most innoportune moment ever, of course - and in the now suddenly brighter room, he could clearly see just how red Xena's eyes were ….She was obviously exhausted and the dark circles below her eyes only came to confirm that she hadn't been getting much rest lately….

" Sweetie what's wrong?" Aphrodite asked in a low, shaky voice, rushing by Xena's side when she noticed the sorrow engraved on her troubled visage, obviously too preoccupied with seeing her like that to also sense her brother's threatening presence…

For what appeared to last forever, the raven haired Warrior Princess couldn't stop crying though, and once the Love Goddess' arms went gently around her shoulders she only started crying louder.

" Shhh…. oh Honey what's wrong?...Did you have a bad dream, is that it…..?"

" I dreamt about him….. " she finally managed to reply in between sobs…..

"Who ? That Teiwaz jerk? Don't worry Babe, he's gone, he won't find you here, I promise…." the Goddess tried to reassure her, wiping a few tears from her face.

"Ares….." she murmured on a sad, heartbreaking tone, wiping with the back of her hand the tears that Aphrodite had missed….." We were making love…."

" Oh Sweetheart…..well that can't be **that **bad, right? Bro's a great lover….. " the Goddess encouraged, without really filtering the information before letting it slip out her bright coral lips…"I didn't mean it like that…" she apologized the instant she took a glimpse of Xena's stern face.

" I wish I had never met him, Dite….I wish I could turn back time and just have the strength to say **no** when he asked me to be his Chosen….I wish I had the wisdom to see beyond my naïve thoughts of vengeance….."

" Sweetie…you don't mean that…..You're just upset with him right now, but Honey…I, told you there was nothing going on between us last night…..You've just pictured it wrong…."

" Oh please Dite, don't give me that!….Before you, there were those two Amazons and before the Amazons there was the barmaid and before the barmaid some priestess and before her who knows how many other bimbos!...The list could go on forever, really!" she yelled, getting up angrily from the couch and heading for the balcony for a breath of fresh air...She couldn't take it anymore...all that tension, the sadness, the disappointment...

"What are you talking about Xe?" Aphrodite quickly questioned, a note of concern in her voice, obviously in the dark about the catastrophic proportions of the whole mess.

" About the fact that I hate myself for having stupidly allowed my crazy heart to fall in love with that Bastard! And I hate you too for having defended him each time he did something wrong and for having found excuses for his cheating and lying instead of opening my eyes to what a lame ass hole he really was!"

" Xe…..you don't believe that...I know you don't…."

"Oh yes I do…..!" the Warrior Princess roared, her voice thick with boundless hatered, all of it now expertly directed towards the disconsolate Love Goddess.

" Well hallo there. I hope I'm not interrupting anything. Was this some private get-together or can anyone join in…..? Ares' mocking line thundered right out of the blue when he finally decided that it was about time he intervened. " Hi there Sugar….." he then addressed Xena, casting her a murderous glance" Fancy meeting you here….:"

Aphrodite was the first one to look petrified with fear.

" Stud Muffin….let me explain…."

"You make sure you move your cute, rosy cunt back to Cyprus and wait for me there…Me and ….Xena we have a lot of catching up to do…"

" Bro please…You're not thinking things straight right now. "

" Do as I say or there won't be enough ambrosia up on Olympus to fix what I'm gonna do to you…."

" It's ok Dite….We do need to talk….." the Warrior Princess tried to reassure her, to no avail of course, cause the Love Goddess had a pretty clear idea about how her brother's dirty mind worked, her eyes now glued to the shining blade he was holding.

" We most certainly do…" the God added, while casually walking towards the black leather armchair he materialized somewhere at his sister's right.

Her heart in her throat, and a helpless expression painted on her face, Aphrodite left in a shower of pink sparkles, her head spinning with worry….

The minute the Goddess was gone, the Warrior Princess's cold gaze immediately connected with the War God's glacial one. As always, she wasn't scared of him and facing him had never been much of a problem for her, but this time, just like back in the forest there was something different about him…Something unknown to her that she was well aware she couldn't ever fantasize about controlling. His gaze was devoid of humanity again and his eyes held a very special glow within them….For some reason, the whole picture, along with the smashing amount of tension reverberating from his aura, made her tremble….

" Come here….." he calmly ordered, without breaking their gaze.

"What do you want, Ares?"

" Come here…"

His voice was just as calm as before, but she instantly recognized that calmness…It wasn't the type of tonality that anyone, mortal or immortal would have wanted to hear him use. She knew what it meant. She couldn't help it though...

"And if I don't want to? What are you going to do about it huh? Torture me? Kill me? Kill everyone that has ever meant something for me? Something along those lines? I'm not your Chosen any more remember….? You mean **nothing** to me and I should mean nothing to you…So stop acting as if you still own me!" she scornfully spat, eager to somehow return him the favor and hurt him as much as he had hurt her. Despite the pain that she was well aware she had inflicted him, they still weren't even, not in her point of view…

Hardly had she articulated that last word that, within a blink Ares flashed by her side, and the slap that she received right across her mouth was so strong that blood began welling up instantly behind her lips.

Next thing she knew, he was pushing her face down on the balcony, pinning her legs between the waist low rail and his radiating with rage body, his fingers, firmly clenched in her hair keeping her from falling over when he lifted her up the ground a few more inches, eager to teach her a lesson.

" You listen to me you little wench, you're gonna do exactly as I say and when I say it, did you hear me? I couldn't care less if you're my Chosen or not, you're gonna kneel if I tell you to kneel, you're gonna spread your legs if I tell you to spread them and you're not gonna breathe unless I fucking tell you to, do you understand? It's either that or you'll be begging for me to stop dulling the edge of this blade in your flesh! Do you see those rocks over there? There is where you'll land at the end of this night if you behave...Call it your personal little prize if you will, and look at me….I'm not kidding…" he barked, pushing her a bit lower just to prove a point. " Now, I want you to sit... So sit! " the scream pierced her eardrums while he threw her violently back to the center of the room from where he made sure to pull her up on his way towards the armchair- dragging her by the arm this time but in an equally demeaning manner. Once he took a seat, he pulled her in his lap, with such primitive ferocity as if he had hoped for her to break at least one bone at the impact with his steel like chest.…..


	40. Catching up

" Turn around and face me." his acid order broke out on a tone that completely excluded **no **from her answer.

" I'm perfectly comfortable, thank you." she sneered in disgust, rolling her eyes at his command.

" I didn't ask you if you were comfortable or not. " he spat while menacingly pressing the sharp blade at her throat. "Come on. And don't tell me you have turned shy overnight cause you sure didn't have a problem with acting all slutty and naughty when Teiwaz' cock was plunging into your hungry pussy earlier tonight. Turn around…" he whispered, on a considerably softer tone, almost sexy if one could have ignored the fine thread of blood now trickling down her throat from where the edge of the dagger had grazed. " I missed looking in those pretty eyes of yours…."

Without bothering to vainly repeat her protest when she clearly knew that he had left no room for such revolt, she silently complied, refusing to also hide her discontent though when she obediently turned and straddled his lap.

She was immediately met by a blank and distant gaze, but she knew better…She knew what was hiding behind that apparently empty stare…She knew, and the thought sent shivers down her spine…The languid caress of the blade now tracing teasingly slow the area between her neck and her chest only made her anxiety increase and the color of her skin turn a shade whiter.

"So…do tell me Doll, how did that brain damaged fool manage to find the Hind's blood dagger? There is only a handful of people who know about its location and neither of them would have risked their very existence for the sake of making new friends…." he caustically demanded to know as the tip of the blade stopped warningly right between her alluring breasts.

Her boldly formulated answer skillfully concealed the visceral fear that made her desperately want to be elsewhere….Anywhere else but right there, so dangerously close to him.

" I don't know….I guess he must have outsmarted you…"

" Or….maybe** a certain someone **spilled the beans….." he said, in a grave, irritated tonality. Then, as if in an additional reply to her uncalled for brashness, he swiftly cut the low cleavage of her dress, ripping it open and thus exposing her perfectly round breasts despite the fact that the message of his following line appeared to have nothing to do with any sort of punishment…." What's this rag doing on you?"

"Maybe…" she answered, completely ignoring his question and apparently unimpressed by his gesture, without flinching a muscle to stop him from pulling the soft fabric off her, as if it was in his right to do it….As if she wanted him to…

"That **certain someone** must have forgotten about the fact that breaking a sacred oath is punishable by death…." he continued, making the rest of the dress vanish from her flawless curves, leaving her completely naked in his arms, a hard to resist temptation that made his cock swell with carnal need, aching to thrust into her soft core over and over again. The sensuous sight of her hard nipples lightly pressed against the silver studs of his dark leather vest sent a wave of uncontrollable desire twisting painfully through him.

" Probably that certain someone didn't give a damn about your sacred oath." she audaciously bit back, breaking his savage fantasies about possessing her.

" Don't play with me Xena! Don't play with me cause only the Fates know how many sick scenarios about hurting you are whirling inside my head right now…." he grunted, frustrated by her suicidal stubbornness.

" A very difficult decision, I'm sure. Given your creativity it would make an amazing spectacle though…"

" Don't underestimate me."

" I would never do that. I know you far to well to make such dreadful mistake. That's probably why I can't help regretting the fact that Teiwaz didn't push that accursed dagger a bit more to the left …" she venomously barked, her lips slightly brushing against his own now.

In response, his hands moved automatically to her temples, like a vice grip, putting so much force into his squeeze as if he had every intention to make her head explode.

" Unlike him, I'll make sure to stab you in all the right places….I won't miss….!"

She didn't answer right away this time, she just arched an eyebrow at him…She could see how mad he was , she could almost hear the blood boiling in his veins, but the strangling need to hurt him, to cut as deep as she could, was so urgent that simply keeping her mouth shut was an impossible task.

" Don't worry….he knew exactly where to stab…."

For a few seconds, their gazes remained locked, throwing almost visible lightening bolts in their limitless fury against each other. The War God's body was so incredibly tensed that his muscles felt like snapping. There was nothing that he would have loved more than to give way to his darkest fantasies and just chain that arousing body against a wall and fuck the life out of her for hours, just to end it all by a barbarously whipping demonstration until even the last drop of blood had left her tempting form.

….He could make the gauntlet appear like a distant, beautiful dream by the time he finished with her, and she didn't have the slightest clue about it….She claimed she knew him….no one did….No one knew just how much pure darkness, how much pent up rage had gathered inside his soul over so many millennia of waging war, of killing and sentencing people to death… He could have broken her to pieces then and there had he wanted it to...

Taking his time to study her, he pulled her a bit closer to him, moving his hands from her head to her waist instead, a very possessive gesture meant to let her know that he wasn't the least affected by the bitter poison she was injecting along with those words.

" I know what you're trying to do…I see right through you, Sweetie, remember? Let me spare you the effort though and tell you that you have already done all the possible damage that is in your power... There is nothing else you can do." he whispered against her ear, a bit angry with himself that she could still get to him like that, in spite of the fact that he was bluntly determined to prove to her otherwise. "I, on the other hand…" he continued while gently tucking a strand of hair behind her ear " I am just getting started…Your pretty body is still immortal….It will last awhile until you die…torturing you might prove to be a decent source of entertainment if you ask me."

"And don't you think that you have already done all the possible damage as well?" she hissed, slapping him over the face with the same rough force that he had used a few minutes before.

To her boundless surprise though, he didn't react as violently as she had expected him to. Instead of slapping her back, he just licked his lips while literally drilling a hole through her neck, with his piercing gaze. The only physical reaction that he graced her with, was to tighten the hold on her waist, with a force that became gradually more and more uncomfortable. She didn't move one inch though, she stubbornly refused to give him that much awaited satisfaction. Truth was that he was just split seconds away from breaking her neck…The whore still had the nerve to fight back when she should have knelt at his feet, begging for mercy…..Unfreakingbelievable!

" As I can see, you're still in once piece, so whatever I did to you back in the forest doesn't seem to have had the desired effect. I can definitely do better than that. …But first thing's first. I still have a couple of questions for you." he announced, lightly caressing her neck before his fingers clenched around it, without actually applying any pressure for the time being.

" What else do you want to know?" she ironically bit given the fact that her previous response has been ridiculously evasive.

" What kind of alliance did he have with the Indian pantheon and what exactly did Donar owe them?"

" I didn't ask . I didn't really care actually."

" I somehow find that hard to believe."

" You can believe whatever in Tartarus you want, Ares. It still doesn't change the fact that I don't know. Even if I did, I wouldn't tell you, anyway."

" Yeah, your loyalty is…. **legendary**…" he sarcastically emphasized, rubbing her nose in her so called betrayal.

"Unlike yours. " she pungently retorted, giving him a mocking sweet smile.

" Unlike mine? " he finally lost his patience with her, both hands now gripped furiously around her throat, hard enough to leave some very ugly looking marks around it, hard enough to kill…. " Let me just remind you, you little slut that I was not the one who cowardly plotted your murder, it was the other way around. "

" I hate to be a disappointment to you, but unfortunately I can't brag about having had such a brilliant idea. I wish I did though! " she hissed through clenched teeth while her own hands clenched around his wrists, a self defense, impulsive reaction meant to prevent him from choking her.. " You more than deserved it, you fucking Bastard!" she additionally managed to mumble as the rest of the air left her lungs.

" Nice try. I'm afraid it won't help your cause any!" he grimly let her know while applying some extra pressure on her neck, his eyes transfixed with the pleasure of seeing her fight for her life.

" _I hate you!" _she yelled at him in her mind, unable to articulate one sound, unable to do anything else except for struggling to inhale a needed breath of oxygen.

As if having hit him straight in the head, right when her own grip loosened- a clear sign that she was seconds away from passing out, he finally let go of her, allowing her to breathe. He looked absolutely dumbstruck.

" What?!" she finally spat a few deep breaths later, pure hatred reverberating from her still strangled voice, while hesitantly rubbing her aching neck.

He was staring at her as if he had seen a ghost.

The next thing she knew, the tips of his fingers went straight to her lips, covering them, keeping them shut. For an instant, her first reaction was to draw back, as if having expected him to come up with a better, more thrilling way of killing her….

He had never intended to have a heart to heart conversation with her that was as clear as daylight ….**Having a lot of catching up to do** was just another way of saying that she was soon going to wish she were dead…..

In an unexpected moment of panic, she tried to pull away from him but his other hand, wrapped firmly around her waist kept her in place. She didn't dare remove his hand from her mouth, she just frowned a little at his unusual behavior….She was right…he had indeed lost it.

" _Can you hear me?" _

His lips didn't move, he hadn't uttered one word, and yet his vibrant voice echoed through her head, with so much clarity that the blood froze instantly inside her veins at the sound of it. She didn't answer his question, she was too stunned to do it, but her bright beryl moons, widening in horror as realization washed over her, gave him all the reply he needed.

" You can….."


	41. Who are you?

**THANK YOU FOR YOUR REVIEWS GUYS, AS ALWAYS, THEY ARE VERY HELPFUL:) BELIEVE IT OR NOT, YOU ARE THE ONES WRITING MY STORY MOST OF THE TIME:))**

"Well isn't this a fascinating turn of events..." he muttered, in a low, husky voice, the relief painted on his face capturing her attention to such extent that she didn't realize she had been staring at him for some time before she finally spoke.

" What is?"

"Oh come on. You must have felt it! "he teased- unable to hide the excitement playing on the surface of his his suddenly warm, liquid eyes- without really offering any further details, as if he had indeed expected her to know what he was talking about.

" Felt **what**?" she insisted, gazing at him inquisitively while stubbornly fighting with all her remaining strength to annihilate that smothering feeling of panic that had taken over her.

There was a moment of oppressively, heavy silence that followed, a heart stopping minute in which her entire body tensed again as if waiting for him to unleash his fury on her, waiting for that dagger to start shredding her flesh just like he promised….waiting for anything ….What happened though, disarmed her like nothing else on the planet could have…

" Xena, Xena, Xena…My pretty Warrior Princes….." he coldly uttered while pressing the sharp blade against her heart, pushing the tip enough as to draw blood. A crimson thread soon started to flow, mixing with the faint one coming from that graze in her neck. She winced, gasping silently at the sting, but didn't make one sound, and she certainly didn't flinch a muscle to defend herself. It was completely useless and she knew it. She stood no chance against him, not when he was** this** mad….no chance in Tartraus. She had seen enough in her lifetime to know that he would have effortlessly pulverized her within the blink of an eye had she tried anything.

" ….What the fuck am I going to do with you? " the words rumbled low out of his mouth- a rhetorical question really- while he rose up from the armchair with her in his arms, the dagger vanishing from his hand at about the same time.

By now, Xena's mind was racing even more than her pulse….What was he doing? Had he changed his mind? Was he going to smash her against a wall or something instead of cutting her to pieces?

It was no wonder that when he placed her back on the armchair, she just stood there like a marble statue, her muscles so tense with the anticipation of his upcoming attack than when the tips of his fingers touched her jaw- in an incredibly delicate gesture, one might add- she unwillingly flinched at the contact, exhaling a breath she didn't realized she had been holding for the past minute.

He couldn't help the sarcastic laugh that escaped his throat. For once in his life he had actually managed to frighten her….An unexpected accomplishment, that at least temporarily he felt very proud of. She needed to be reminded every once in awhile who she was dealing with.

Before she recovered from her shock, as if only wanting to put her brain to work even more, the God made a stunning dusty golden dress appear on her captivating form, one fit for a queen.

"Now this is what I call a proper dress…The finest Indian silk…" he stated, arching an appreciative eyebrow at the delicious way in which the soft fabric was gliding over her every curve, the gesture almost throwing her mind in an even deeper abyss…." Quite the irony huh?"

She wanted to answer but not really knowing what to say, she just gulped nervously, silently praying to all Gods and Goddesses that her suspicion was wrong….

" Gems and silk…That's the only thing of value they have in that disgustingly filthy place." he continued, while materializing with a wave of his hand a breathtaking, black onyx collar at her neck and an equally amazingly crafted bracelet around her left wrist…

… Xena couldn't have noticed, but all traces of blood along with the fine grazes on her ivory skin were long gone….

"What are you doing?" she finally inquired, in a barely audible voice…By all Olympus how she feared that answer….

He just frowned lightly at her question as if having failed to understand what it was that she wanted to know.

" What do you mean?"

She briefly cast a restless glance at the dress and jewelry …

" Would you have preferred to stay naked….? I did notice you've turned it into to a habit lately **and** in the wrong arms as well, but…."

" I thought you were anxious to kill me or something….Is this your new idea of torture?"

" You still refuse to get it, huh?" he grimaced, bending over her, bracing his hands on the arm rests.

The Warrior Princess studied his face for a second. All that dark, mind fogging rage had melted, being replaced by fierce, barely restrained passion….She knew that look, that fire…She involuntarily shook hear head in disapproval.

"No…" she murmured, a barely audible sound that only made his grin stretch even wider at the expression plastered on her face.

" _Who am I ?" _he whispered seductively into her head, a voice as old as time, so magnetizing, so filled with desire that the breath caught in her throat as an endless sequence of images and random bits of conversation at once rushed from their common past to fill her mind …

"No…It can't be…" she murmured again, her heart hammering so hard against her chest that she was dead sure he could hear it too….And he did….

" _Who am I?" _he asked once again, and this time, the reply came automatically from somewhere inside her, without her conscious consent, despite her every effort to stop her lips from articulating it.

" Ares God of War…"

"_And who are you?"_

" _Your Chosen…." _

"Who are you?"

He need to hear it out loud…**.She** needed to hear herself say it…

"** Your Chosen**…." she whispered hot against his hungrily parted lips as blue sparkles of electricity started sizzling between them.

It was an undeniable, impossible to take back line, one that ripped through her like a summer storm, hitting her with the speed of a thousand arrows, shredding her from the inside out.

"That's impossible" she immediately protested to her own statement, refusing to believe it true. " Teiwaz said that…"

"Teiwaz is a lying, manipulative Bastard who will pay with his own useless life for what he did. It is just a matter of time now…" he thundered angrily, a wrath that this time she could clearly see it wasn't directed at all against her.

" It can't be….I felt it. When our bond broke I…"

" Our bond cannot be broken, Princess… Mortals, Gods, demigods, Furies, you name it, they have no power over us. I thought you might have gotten it through that thick skull of yours by now…"

_**Princess**_…the accursed word echoed again and again and again through her exhausted mind, the implications of the power associated to it almost making her throw up. She instantly diverted her gaze from his burning eyes, as if his stare alone had the power to keep her chained to him….

" You're crazy!"

" No! **You**'re crazy if you have ever thought that I will ever let you go... If you have ever assumed that I will give you up, just like that to the first loser that had their eyes set on you! No one will ever take what is mine, and you my Dear, **you are mine.** You are chained to me and this is how it shall be until the end time whether you like it or not."

As if all Tartarus had broken inside her, Xena snapped at the sound of his words, and yelling seemed to be the only way she could still force back the tears welling in her eyes, all that pain threatening to slip down her cheeks.

" **I am not yours** and I will never be yours, you sick maniac!" she screamed in his face, trying to push him away from her, acute indignation boiling inside her like molten lava. "I HATE YOU! I hate you like I have never hated anyone in my life!" she kept roaring hysterically while her fists pounded into his massive chest.

"Is that so…? " he asked, not the least impressed by her violent outburst, without moving an inch away from her but without closing in the distance between them either. " I thought I heard you say something slightly different earlier tonight…" he calmly stated, his gaze searching for hers. She refused to look at him. She focused on the silver pendant around his neck instead.

Once again, he surprised her that night. Instead of a brutal kiss meant to break her, to forcefully prove to her otherwise, the War God just clicked his tongue before biting musingly his lower lip and giving her the space she needed. Before she knew it, he was heading for the door, ready to vanish.

" Where are you going?"

"Missing me already?" he joked, casting her an amused glance. "…To look for answers…I need to know if that moron has managed to damage in any way our bond. "

" I hope he did.."she snarled, pinning him with the most scornful, hate- filled glare she was able to come up with.

" Don't be stupid. That connection is the only reason why your arms legs and head are still in their right place. " he rasped, doing his best not to sound hurt and vulnerable. "Now get some sleep, you look exhausted. And Xena….be here when I come back. Don't make me turn every stone in Greece to find you…You wouldn't want that. Plus, once you're up we need to have a long, serious chat…"

" About?" she asked, rage still radiating from her body like heat from a furnace.

" **Us.**" the answer came, brief, blunt and as sharp as a blade.

" There is no **us **you son of a bachae! You made sure of that with every damned harlot you fucked while you told me you loved me!"

Her scream was accompanied by a large silver cup that went flying through the room straight to his face, stopping but inches from it, frozen in place. It fell noisily to the floor just a few seconds later.

This time, he didn't answer. He just vanished in a shower of blue sparkles, leaving a still fuming Warrior Princess behind.


	42. Destiny has a name

**HAPPY NEW YEAR, XENA FANS! **

Grief and sadness tearing at his heart like blades, the visibly shaken up War God entered the massive stone gates of the temple. As every time he had to walk down those long, dark corridors, he could feel cold shivers running down his spine, raising the hairs on his neck…Oh how he hated that feeling! The helplessness, the weakness, his ridiculously, impossible to accept vulnerability in front of those three annoying women who control the destiny of mortals and Gods alike…The incorruptible** Fates**….

Only a few minutes later, he found himself in front of the same old scene- unaltered by the passing of time- one that he had seen on countless occasions before during his long, often boring, immortal existence...Clotho was as always seated on a wooden chair, restlessly spinning the thread of life with her tiny, childlike, hands, Lachesis was measuring the threads- her blank gaze indicating that she didn't even need to pay much attention to what she was doing for in her line of work everything was done instinctively- and last but not least, the worst of them all, Atropos, the scary looking lady holding the scissors…**.the cutter**….He hated her nose….she looked like a witch, he said to himself while narrowing his eyes at the old woman as if wanting to take a better look at her.

Advancing a few more hesitant steps towards the center of the room, he waited for them to acknowledge his presence. When nothing happened, he nervously cleared his throat, silently wondering how on earth could those three live in that dungeon like temple for like….forever, having no one but some colored woolen yarns as company…

"It's certainly better than pitting people against each other, I assure you, War God" Atropos' voice slashed through the room like a Roman whip, making the blood freeze in his veins.

"There's no doubt in my mind about it…" he answered, trying hard not to roll his eyes at his own stupidity. He always forgot that the three lunatics could read even Zeus' mind as if it were an open book.

"I'm sure there isn't." the old woman retorted, in that same steely voice- a very unpleasant one to listen to- and Ares couldn't help gulping uncomfortably as the woman's gaze connected with his own for a second, eyes burning with wretched intent, or so it seemed to him.

" We were expecting you God of War"

" You're here because of Xena."

"…your Chosen" the three Fates started talking, once again making use of their annoyingly / creepy way of finishing each other's sentences.

" Is there anything you **don't** know?" the God inquired, arching an eyebrow at them. Their flawless awareness of absolutely everything that moved on the face of the planet was unbelievably disturbing.

" Not really, no…"

"...for we work …"

" …with the threads of life…." they calmly answered, without looking at him, every one of them fully absorbed by whatever she was supposed to do.

" Figures…" he mumbled not really surprised by their answer. It made sense. But that didn't make it less irritating, not at all, really…

"What is it that you want to know, War God? We have no time to waste here…"

" Right. I can see you're **very busy**…" the nonchalant line escaped his lips along with a mocking grimace that gave his figure an utterly sexy, bad boy look.

Atropos' ice cold, extremely intimidating glare, made him to desperately want to take his words back though. He had never fully realized the limitless powers those three ladies had, but now that the old woman's gaze refused to leave his own, he could distinctly feel a thin layer of ice forming on his lips, on his eyes, on his fingertips, as a strange, unmet before frostiness started creeping into him, and he immediately flinched when he realized what it really was: the essence of Death.

His body shivered violently in response to that undesired state…

" Do accept my most sincere apologies…" he finally uttered in a grave, resonant voice, aware of what could have easily happened unless he started behaving properly.

" Apologies accepted.." Clotho answered in her thin, merry voice, smiling widely at him.

He forced himself to crack a smile back, and he did, even though he couldn't help cursing the fact that somehow, he always managed to get himself into enough trouble as to return to that wretched place despite the fact that whenever he left those premises, he always made a solemn promise never to set foot in there again! A promise he always broke, of course, like so many other promises he had carelessly broken up from the beginning of time up to that particular moment…

" What I wanted to ask was whether the bond I share with Xena has been in any way damaged by her newly formed bond with **that jerk**…" he roared, taking in a deep breath when he realized that his pulse had started to race again as a river of painful memories began assaulting his mind "…..with Teiwaz" he underlined as if wanting to clear any possible doubt about his old enemy's identity.

" Your Chosen could never share any other bond with any other God, Ares. Not in this lifetime. "

" There is no connection between them…."

"….No ties bind her to him,…" the other two Fates continued, leaving the God completely agape.

"That can't be…I felt it! The pain when she pledged herself to him. It's not like I imagined it!" the God contradicted, very sure of himself, taking a few steps closer to his priceless informers.

" The pain was real." Atropos stated, in a soft but utterly impersonal tonality.

"…It comes from the fear of losing her. "

" …Out of the love you feel for her." Lachesis added, her voice trailing off like a melody.

"I don't get it. I didn't feel her presence for awhile after that. That has never happened before." the God insisted, feverishly looking for an explanation. " That shouldn't have happened under any circumstances…She is mine. I have to know where she is, what she'd doing what she's thinking about 24/ 7! " his rough voice echoed through the hall.

" We have done our part, War God! " Clotho thundered- despite the illusion of her tender age.

" We have created a connection impossible to break between the two of you…." Lachesis joined in, in a somehow accusing tone.

" Impossible to break **from the outside**" Atropos clarified. " But don't delude yourself that there is one single thing in this universe that doesn't have a soft spot."

"Meaning….?" he demanded to know, already edgy about the possible answer.

" Your bond** can** be destroyed- **but only from the inside**" Atropos continued, while her scissors tantalizingly glided over Xena's life thread. If that couldn't get Ares into alert mode, than nothing could.

"Hey, hey hey! Don't even joke about it!" he authoritatively barked at her, instantly forming a fire ball in his hand, ready to strike at the smallest hint that the old lady had actually turned suicidal.

The other two Fates burst into a wave of laughter almost simultaneously.

" What's so funny? Do I look like a jester or something? " he sneered, irked by the fact that these three weirdoes were actually taking him for a fool.

" Your powers have no effect here, War God. This place is protected by the undefeatable power of Destiny." the youngest of the Fates courteously let him know, while with a wave of her hand she put out the fire burning in Ares' palm. Needless to say, he was dumbstruck.

" Is there anything else you need to know?" Lachesis asked, but before he could answer, a vortex opened, sucking him in, and in a split second he found himself lying on the cold marble floor of a temple….

**XXX**

It only took one brief glance to realize that he was in one of his sister's temples….The one in Cyprus probably, he concluded with a sigh when he finally noticed his sister's sexy figure lying on a sofa- strikingly similar to the one on which he had found Xena sleeping, back in Lesbos…..

" _**THE**__ sofa" _he said to himself, rolling his eyes at the disgustingly fluffy piece of furniture.

A few extra seconds later, he got up from the ground , his gaze fixed on the Love Goddess' pretty face. She refused to look at him and she was pretending to be very busy trying on dresses, all her attention focused on the full sized mirror placed in front of her.

" Shouldn't you be standing while trying on dresses?" he asked, in a bemused voice, throwing himself dramatically on the couch by her side, and pulling her roughly closer to him so that her perfectly sculpted legs were now in his lap.

Without waiting for an answer form her, he just cast the coral veil of her so called gown aside, thus giving him unrestricted access to those long, silky, slender legs that he began caressing as if there was nothing unusual about it, as if he were doing it every day….

" I'm not talking to you Stud! " she sternly let him know, running her pained eyes over his face.

" Why ever not, Sweetheart?" he innocently inquired, chuckling softly at the way in which her body tensed the moment his palm glided an inch upper towards her thigh, skillfully disguising the poisonous anger still slowly torturing his heart at the memory of what she had dared to do.

" The Warrior Babe's right! You're such a major jerk sometimes! I like totally hate you right now!" she said with a pout, doing her best to put on her most furious face.

" Is this the " **let's hate Ares day"** , by any chance? Am I missing something here?" he questioned, in a slightly higher note this time while pulling her even closer to him, and while one hand went straight between her legs, squeezing brutally her crotch, to other plunged viciously into her long, golden curls, keeping her in place.

" Why did you hide her from me, huh? I asked you, were she was and you lied…."

"I was trying to save her life!" the Goddess defended herself, pure fear glistening on the surface of her azure eyes, so very similar to Xena's. " You would have killed her, we both know it! " she added, trying to get free from his grasp, but her useless efforts only managed to generate a very delicious friction between her legs, one that left her breathless….

"What did she say to you?" the question left his tempting mouth, while his skillful fingers started gliding rhythmically up and down the fine transparent lace of her underwear, " Tell me …" he ordered, but this time, his voice was low, hypnotic and absolutely irresistible. The alluring presence of his lips so close to hers didn't help her cause too much either.

" You hurt her very much, Ar. She's very upset with you…" she murmured, struggling to snatch herself from his enslaving influence, but the explosive contact of his fingers with her moist flesh and with her achingly swollen clit, as he pushed the thin fabric a few inches aside so that he could have free access to her blazing center, gently stroking in all the right places, literally made her body tremble, clouding her mind to anything that wasn't his arousing caresses.

" What else?" he demanded to know, his face now but a breath away from hers and the deepness of his voice vibrated through her every cell. It was a delightful experience.

" She said something about a barmaid and some Amazons…" she whispered , closing her eyes when his fingers slid torturously slow inside her, filling her, making her back arch as if her spine were going to snap.

"She also saw us last night….I think it might be what got her so upset in the first place…." she murmured hot against his lips once she managed to draw some air in her lungs.

Hearing her, the War God paused a bit to look at her, allowing his brain the needed time to process that last information.

"What did you tell her?"

"The truth…That nothing happened…." she answered, groaning in frustration when for a second he pulled his fingers out of her.

The next thing she knew, he was turning her face down, on her stomach, pinning her with the weight of his own body, whispering something against her ear….

She cast him a displeased glance over her shoulder in return, but when she took a better look at him and saw that grave, hard to endure pain flickering in his amber moons, she decided to grant his wish. With a wave of her ivory hand, under Ares' very eyes her body gradually transformed into a very familiar someone, her curly , golden hair turning into straight, silky raven tresses in which he immediately and brutally tangled his fingers.

At the same time, in front of them, the full sized mirror showed the War God the reflection of something absolutely spectacular….something that he had longed to see for the past few days- him, fucking Xena….Once he entered her, she clenched around him almost violently and as his dick kept pushing into her hungrily, impaling her on its rigid length for what felt like an eternity, the moans the pants and the barely restrained screams filled both the room and all the rest of the long halls of the temple.

An hour later, they both fell exhausted against each other, and as their eyes connected, the War God kissed the beautiful Warrior Princess' lips one last time before, with a snap of her fingers, the ditsy Aphrodite changed back into her normal self again.

" Bro…..don't get this the wrong way, but you should be on medication, I swear. " she said with a soft chuckle.

He instinctively pulled her closer to him, and when she nestled her head in the crook of his arm he just placed an affectionate kiss on her forehead.

" I know….I couldn't help it, sorry. By all Olympus Dite, I want her so much that sometimes I feel like I'm gonna lose it….What has that woman done to my head?" he said in a strangled voice, rubbing his temple with the tip of his fingers. His head felt as if it were going to explode any minute now…

" It's called** love**, Bro'…."

"I totally blew it with those harlots. Damn! I just wanted to prove to her that she **did **care, that what we had was important to her. I guess it got out of hand…And now she hates me…." he murmured in a sad, heartbreaking voice.

" She doesn't hate you Stud! She's just angry and hurt….But she doesn't hate you! Trust me….I know these things."

" She's never gonna forgive me. She's too damn proud to do it."

"Try doing something sweet for her. "

" Something sweet? Come on Dite. Not even all the presents in the world could help me now."

" Not presents…" the Love Goddess contradicted, winking at him playfully. " Flowers. Lots and lots of flowers! You told me she loves black roses, right?"

" **Flowers**! Are you kidding me? Do you actually think that roses will magically wipe her memory?! She's gonna hit me in the head with the bouquet!" he sneered, rolling his eyes at his sister's crazy, far- fetched idea.

" Not** one** bouquet, silly! **Hundreds of them**. You have to impress her like big time, you know?"

" I don't know , Dite…..It's the dumbest thing I've heard all day...no offense..."

"Just do as I say, ok? I am the Goddess of Love, remember?"

He just gave her a puzzled glance before getting up from bed. Within a blink, he was already fully dressed and ready to go.

" Thank you…" he murmured, bending down to give her mouth a long, hot, soul searing kiss.

" You're welcome. It's my job to help people deal with their emotional problems...and I love my job! "

" Not for that , Silly…" he whispered, placing another kiss, a short and tender one this time on her nose.

"Oh…..It was fun…" she blissfully replied, flashing him a wide, beaming smile. "Bro! " she suddenly added, right before he dematerialized from the room. " Don't remove the thorns from the roses. "

"What? Why not?"

" You'll see…."

**DON'T PANIC! KEEP CALM AND DON'T THINK ABOUT KILLING THE WRITER :))) THE WRITER KNOWS WHAT SHE'S DOING :))))**


	43. Black, lethal roses

After a few more hours of restless sleep in which she once again relieved the painful and disturbingly humiliating experience of getting to see Ares fuck a bunch of women during some bacchanalia, Xena's eyes fluttered open in horror, just to discover the fact that she was no longer in Aphrodite's temple. She was lying on a large four poster ebony bed, covered in black silken sheets, in such a familiar décor that she could barely restrain the need to scream her frustration….The Halls of War. The Bastard didn't even have the minimum of decency as to at least take her to her chambers, thus offering her a bit of privacy, instead- as if she had been his personal sex slave, one of those meaningless, empty headed bimbos he loved to fuck –he took her straight to his bed, his sick mind obviously refusing to ask itself for one single second whether she wanted to be there or not….As always, he didn't give a damn about her feelings, that much of the story was clear to her.

With slow, careful moves as if every bone in her body had been broken, she stood on the edge of the bed, only to make a second discovery…She was no longer wearing the golden dress he had materialized on her hours before, but an equally dark see through satin negligee that barely covered her body. She shook her head at the sight, a look of utter irritation pulling her brows together in a frown. He just refused to get it….

Already angry and frustrated by the still vivid images of the nightmare that had been tormenting her soul for the rest of the night, she was almost ready to call him and start screaming her lungs out at him when, finally glancing a bit to her left, she saw something that instantly pushed the words back down her throat: the room was literally packed with flowers, beautiful dark roses….hundreds, thousands of them, so many as if an entire garden had been replanted right there in between those four walls, in white ceramic amphoras…..She couldn't believe her eyes...It didn't melt her anger any, but it did shock her enough as to forget all about wanting to rip his head off for a few seconds.

With slow, languid steps, she approached one of the massive bouquets, and, after careful consideration, with trembling hands she hesitantly touched one of the petals with the tips of her fingers. The contact with the soft, velvety surface immediately brought tears to her eyes, as her treacherous memory sent her back into the past into a flash, to one of those ever so special moments from the beginning of their relationship, when everything seemed way more simple, when they were just getting to know each other, when he was still Prince Charming and she was his Princess, when her naïve mind still refused to believe that there was so much darkness inside him that not even all the light in the world could engulf it….Those were the days in which she hadn't found out yet that one can't possibly keep playing with fire without getting burned sooner or later.

_Her eyes closed for a second as the unmistakable sound of that ever so shooting music invaded her senses. She didn't know where it was coming from and she didn't really care, she just stood there, unmoving, enjoying the pampering feeling of that warm ocean breeze caressing her face, and the cooling sensation of the waves breaking against her feet - for not many were the moments in which she had the time to do anything else than sleep, eat, command armies and plan strategies…._

_It was then that she felt his strong, manly hands wrapping around her waist, pulling her closer to him so that her back was now resting against his hard, muscular chest, enfolding her in such an unique, disarming feeling of protection and peace, that for the first time since she had taken a blade in her hand, she forgot for a few minutes everything about how disgustingly bloody and filthy her life had become._

" _And just what might a beautiful, __**defenseless**__ lady such as yourself be doing in a deserted place like this, all alone in the middle of the night , may I ask?" he whispered sensually in her ear, his lips gently brushing against her earlobe as he spoke, a touch that made her mind spin with delirious arousal. _

" _I have to warn you War God, __**I'm hardly defenseless**__…So if you as much as think about making a move on me…" she jokingly threatened, and the electric charge that was released when her head turned slightly to glance over her shoulder- her lips almost touching his- made her eyes glitter with excitement despite the obvious discomfort of having his focused gaze suddenly so determined about analyzing each and every inch of her face. _

" _Are you now? " he murmured back, his gaze transfixed by her utter perfection. She was a stunningly beautiful woman, a Goddess. She could have had any man on the planet she would have wanted to, and yet she was so self conscious. "Does that mean that if I tried to kiss you right now, you'd break my neck or something?" _

_The tension, he could feel it too now, lingering between them, almost palpable, making his own heart hammer wildly against his chest, and, as he delicately reached out and touched her fingertips, only to continue with a light caress on her wrist then slowly up her arm, and upper still towards her shoulders until he reached her jaw line, he could swear that he could suddenly feel that time had stopped flowing along with the wind, the weather and her breathing… _

"_Do you want to kiss me?" she asked, in a barely audible voice that set him ablaze, desire and untamed passion burning through him like wildfire. _

_Was she kidding? He wanted to pin her down that accursed beach and bury his cock inside her as long and as hard as she could take and just fuck her brains out until sunrise …Too bad she was way too young for that though….He still needed to wait. _

_Instead of a proper answer, he just let out a soft chuckle at her naivety and regretted it the very following second when her bright beryl moons became shaded by sadness and shame... _

_Before she got her the chance to feel awkward enough as to want to put some distance between them, he pressed his lips against hers, with such feverish passion that she felt a lightening bolt coursing through her body, from head to toe, paralyzing her under the effect of his drugging kiss…_

_As she turned a fraction into his embrace, wrapping her arms around his neck, his hands tangled almost brutally into her long, raven hair, cradling her head, and his tongue darted out insatiably to meet hers. Taken aback by the hunger reverberating from his enthralling possessiveness, she escaped a soft moan at that new sensation building between her legs, and as she involuntarily bit his lower lip, she genuinely flinched under the impression that something had exploded inside his chest. ….She could feel the distinct heat radiating from his divine body as if he were the sun itself…. Only a split second later, he abruptly ended their intoxicating kiss, pushing her a few good inches away from him and barely controlling his breathing. _

_She looked almost startled at his reaction, frowning a bit while searching her mind for something._

" _Did I do something wrong?" she finally questioned in a small, childlike voice, that only made his body tense even more. _

" _Oh no, Honey. Trust me, you're a natural " he managed to answer while he once again began studying her, amber eyes roaming lustfully on every feature of her flawless visage. He didn't even dare allow his gaze move lower than that….No force in the universe would have managed to stop him from ripping that shift off her and fuck her right then and there on that beach. " Before I forget, I have something for you…" he murmured, tucking a strand of dark silky hair behind her ear, as a clever way to distract her. It worked, of course. _

" _For me? What is it?" she asked, curiosity gleaming in her mesmerizing eyes. _

_Just like magic, with a wave of his hand, the God made a pitch black rose materialize itself in his hand, and offered it to her. _

_She was stunned. She had obviously never seen a black rose before. _

" _Ares! It's beautiful…Thank you…!" she exclaimed as the brightest, little smile pulled at the corners of her lips, a smile that was absolutely contagious. He just had to smile back…he loved seeing her happy…._

" _Not more beautiful than you…" he whispered, placing a soft, protective kiss on her forehead….._

The memory made something break inside the Warrior Princess. The way in which their relationship had evolved was unbearable….From that, to him forcing her to watch him fuck other women and to her having revenge sex with other men just to get even….They had gone a long way, indeed.

A pained, furious growl later, all the ceramic amphoras began to smash with a thunderous noise against the rough surface of the marble floor, and through the savage sobs that followed, thorough the tears now flooding her face, completely ignoring the sharp fragments of ceramics shattered right about everywhere, she fell in a puddle to the ground, on that magically scented carpet of dark roses that had caused her so much joy but also so much horrible suffering.

**XXX**

It only took a minute for the War God to materialize back into her room, and what he saw terrified him. The place was a mess, it looked as if a tornado had ravaged it, and at the center of it all, completely heart broken, her face buried in the palms of her hands, the Warrior Princess was crying convulsively, racking sobs shaking her whole body.

Her legs and her hands were covered in grazes, and crimson blood was languidly flowing from the still opened wounds, a detail that she hadn't even noticed given the soul crushing grief echoing from her broken form.

" Princess?" he barely found the voice to utter before rushing by her side, cradling her in his arms, a task that proved to be more challenging than Hercules slaying the Hydra.

" Get away from me! " she savagely screamed at him like an untamed beast, hate burning in her read, injected eyes.

He had never listened to her though; he wasn't going to start now. Completely ignoring her wish, he forcefully wrapped his arms around her, pulling her against his chest, while once again his astonished gaze roamed over the perfectly devastated room.

" Let go of me! I hate you! I hate you!" she yelled with a strangled cry, her voice trailing from the pain grazing at her heart. She couldn't take it any more…..

" No you don't….Shhh…..Don't say that…."

" Oh but I do! I hate you like I have never hated anyone in my life! " she barked back, while struggling into his embrace, trying to free herself from his strong grip…Pointlessly though, for he was holding on to her for dear life…" I wish I have never met you, Ares. I wish I have never loved you…." she articulated in between sobs while he was feverishly caressing her hair in the hope that that could miraculously calm her down.

" I'm sorry Sweetheart, by all Olympus I'm so sorry…..I never meant to hurt you like this, Honey, I just wanted to prove to you that what he have matters to you more than you think, more than you're willing to admit…."

He sounded almost desperate….

" Shhhh…please stop crying, Princess , you're breaking my heart. You know I can't stand to see you cry….Shhhh…." he pleaded, rocking her gently in his arms, his fingers caressing her hair in the process. He hadn't lied, seeing her sad, and hurt like that was tearing his soul apart like nothing else could, and through their bond, he could feel her pain, so strong, so sharp…as sharp as the thorns of the roses….

" What heart?! You don't have a heart! You probably have a block of ice instead of it you Bastard! " she spit again, while trashing in his arms, despite the fact that she could barely

gather the needed energy to breathe, let alone free herself from his iron like clasp.

"You know that's not true….You mean the world to me…."

She couldn't help sneering at his comment.

"Do the Amazons know that?... And that freaking barmaid? And all the other sluts you've been fucking behind my back?!" she broke, despite her best efforts to keep her mouth shut. She had told herself over and over again that showing him that she cared was a lousy idea, that he should never have the slightest idea of just how much he got to her, that she should keep herself at a safe enough distance from him….All that theory went straight to Tartarus that day though. She couldn't keep all that locked inside her chest, She felt like her ribcage was about to explode.

" I know how stupid this might sound, but Princess, they didn't mean anything….You're the only woman on this planet who has ever gotten to me, you're just too damn stubborn to see it, to accept it…Sweetheart…one word, one word is all I need from you and I would drop them all like a nasty habit…You just need to ask…" he hopelessly tried to reason with her.

" Are you serious?! Is that supposed to make it all better, Ares? Is that supposed to make it all bearable?! " she exclaimed, scandalized by his ridiculous explanation.

" It should make you reconsider a few things. Had I known that you feel this way, I would have reacted differently to so many things, Xe…I would have done things differently…But you never talk to me. I always have to guess what's going on inside that devious little head of yours….With you it's like I'm constantly banging my fists against a wall of ice…You're constantly building shields to keep me out of your heart!" the words rolled out of his mouth on an almost furious tonality. He had to fight with himself not to scream back at her.

" And this is precisely why I do it in the first place!" she snapped, taking in a deep breath before continuing. " I guess this time the wall wasn't high enough!"

"Princess…" he sighed sadly into her hair, noticing that her wrenching sobbing had finally ceased, leaving behind only salty, silent tears that continued to ooze down her cheeks.

With the lightest, softest of touches, the God lifted her chin so that he could look at her, and, moving his hand to her face he patiently wiped the tears away.

When their gaze connected, despite her boundless anger, the Warrior Princess saw in his eyes the same raw, grievous pain that she just knew he could read in hers.

He couldn't look at her for too long though….The guilt, the awareness that he was the reason for all her heartbreak was just too much. Hades, how he hated himself for it!

" By the Fates, you're all covered in scratches and blood..." he murmured, taking a long, musing look at the rest of her body.

She didn't answer.

" I'm sorry you didn't like the roses…." he apologetically added, while lifting her off the floor and taking her back to bed.

Within a blink, before he placed her down, all the previous mess was gone: shattered amphoras, flowers, everything.

" Stand still ok, I need to remove these thorns before I make these nasty marks vanish." he demanded, kneeling in front of her while carefully inspecting one of her legs.

" The roses were gorgeous…" she finally murmured, staring blankly at whatever he was doing. " ….but full of thorns, and lethal for my heart, just like your love for me…."


	44. Silent tears

**OK...HERE GOES NOTHING...SO WE'RE SLOWLY GETTING TO THE END OF THIS WILD RIDE:) THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR REVIEWS, GUYS, THEY HAVE BEEN EXTREMELY ENCOURAGING...I HOPE THIS CHAPTER DOESN'T DISAPPOINT YOU AND THAT YOU'LL BE HAPPY YOU DIDN'T KILL ME AFTER ALL:)))) NOW...I REALLY NEED SOME INSPIRATION FOR MY LAST CHAPTER, CAUSE I HAVE SOOOO MANY SCENARIOS WHIRLING IN MY MIND...HOW DO YOU PICTURE IT? I DO HAVE MY OWN VISION HERE AS YOU MIGHT HAVE NOTICED, BUT YOUR REVIEWS HAVE BEEN INCREDIBLY HELPFUL IN REMINDING ME FOR INSTANCE THAT I STILL HAVE SOME QUESTIONS TO ANSWER...SO BY ALL MEANS, ENLIGHTEN ME :)) LET'S WRITE THE ENDING TOGETHER :) **

" The roses were gorgeous…" she finally murmured, staring blankly at whatever he was doing. " ….but full of thorns, and lethal for my heart, just like your love for me…."

His hand froze right below her knee for a split second at her line, the meaning of her words making him feel just as if Teiwaz had run that blade through him all over again, but straight to the heart on this occasion, and twisting it a couple of times too just for the sheer pleasure of seeing the pain engraved on his face.

He frowned a bit at her comment, but didn't move his gaze from her wound, and a moment later he continued to pull out the thorns from it as if nothing had happened, as if he hadn't even heard her. This "talking about it" wasn't his thing. It was just to heart wrenching to do it- admitting that he was the reason for her suffering, was maybe a little bit too much for him.

A few seconds passed, with them both silent, and with fresh new tears welling up into her eyes again before she gently placed her hand on his shoulder, an unexpectedly light touch that made him flinch. When she spoke, her voice cracked…It sounded sad and tired just like the voice of a person who had reached the end of her life, and was now looking back to a very tumultuous ride….She was too exhausted to even think….

" Ares….I can take this any more….."

" Hold on just a sec , I'm almost done here…" he casually replied, while still struggling to get a thorn out of her scraped skin.

" I'm not talking about the leg…" she explained, moving her hand to his face and delicately caressing his cheek.

When he looked at her, his eyes were filled with an unimaginable sadness.

"I mean** this**…." she continued, trying hard not to burst into tears again. " **Us**….Can't you see what you're doing to me? Ares, you're killing me…."

He wanted to say something but he couldn't. He swallowed dryly in return, clearing his throat a bit as he literally felt those accursed thorns grazing him on the inside, keeping the words away from his mouth.

" This isn't working…" she added, biting her lips as soon as the tragic conclusion slashed the air.

" Xena…." he finally managed to whisper, resting his head in her lap for a second, struggling to somehow turn off that ceaseless, irking buzzing he could swear he was hearing in the back of his brain and that was forcing him to lose his focus. " I don't know how to explain this any better….Those harlots…."

"It's not that, Ares!" she raised her voice a notch, wiping furiously the tears that were once again staining her face.

" What is it then?" he inquired, searching desperately for her gaze, just to regret it a moment later, when he saw her crying again. "Honey, you're driving me crazy here…Does this have anything to do with your feelings for me? Is that it? Was I right when I asked you that question a few days back? Don't I have a place in your heart anymore?" he asked, a new flash of pain mixed with blood freezing fear running across his troubled eyes as he said it. Her voice stopped him short though, putting an unjustly fast end to his misery.

" It's not like you're the easiest person to love…." she murmured, her gaze shifting from his. " Not when you're constantly tearing me apart….I know this could never be an ordinary relationship, but I'm just horrified that…."

"What?" he asked, barely above a breath, visibly terrified but what she was about to say.

" ... that I will wake up one morning and I won't have the strength to pick up the pieces any more. That the hate I feel for you right now will be stronger than the love you shattered…"

A nauseating feeling crept into him at her words , making his stomach twist convulsively and his muscles tense so hard as if they were about to snap. What was she saying? What was she driving at?

"What do you want from me? What do you need me to do? Just tell me and I'll do it! I won't be sleeping around if that's what you want, I won't even look at other women, Hades I can even wear a pair of white trousers and turn into the freaking God of Peace if that's what would make you happy! I don't think you'd appreciate the outcome as much as you think though!"

"I don't want you to turn into someone you're not!" she yelled out her exasperation, as that disturbing feeling that an invisible hand was choking her , made her rub her neck nervously ….

"What do you want then?"

" I don't know! I just know that I'm falling apart here. I feel like I'm drowning!"

Blazing blue eyes met their fiery brown counterparts. This time though, he didn't recognize them anymore….He had never seen her so upset…Not even when Lyceus had died…

He feverishly kissed her palms…as if that was supposed to make it all better.

"Are you saying you need a break or something? Some time to think things over ?"

" No…. " she lowly answered after careful consideration.

He was stunned for a few illogically long seconds, just to freeze in place again when the harrowing awareness of a new possibility hit him like a lightening bolt…..He was just about to argue with her when she abruptly continued her idea.

"**I love you**…It hurts like Tartarus but I can't help it….But you're no good for me, Ares. You're like poison….sweet, tempting poison….but at the end of the day …"

" Don't…" he pleaded, covering her lips with his fingers.

He delicately pushed his hand aside. This time she was not going to hold anything back anymore…

" Don't ask eternity from me, please….Let's just take it one step at a time…."

"What?!" he couldn't believe his ears. Had she gone mad?

"Ares, please…"

"Why do we always end up debating the same old subject? "

"Because that damned immortality is pushing us apart!" she snapped, her body shaking in rage again. How could he be so blind at times, it was beyond her! "I can't live forever in this strangling pain! I'm not made out of stone, Ares! What do you expect from me?! I know you don't want to hear it, but this isn't working. Not for me. Not like this. I love you, but keeping me chained to you like a slave, with no way out, this is not the answer!" she screamed this time, at the top of her lungs, sick and tired of everything.

Needless to say, the War God was dumbstruck. In the vain attempt to clear his head, he started rubbing his temples. He just couldn't believe his ears. The thought alone was inconceivable to him.

"Do you even realize what you're asking of me?! Xena, this isn't some **I want to change sides and set on a redemption path** crap! This is me living without you for the rest of time!"

"You lived without me for eons, before!" she pointed out, despair reverberating from her voice.

" And I don't ever want to go back to that! To the emptiness I was feeling !"

" How about what I feel?! Doesn't that matter to you at all?!"

"Of course it matters, damn it! Have I ever denied you anything?! Have I ever stopped you from doing whatever the Tartarus you pleased? Hades, I even agreed with you playing the hero with Blondie all day long! " he barked back, irritated that she couldn't make the minimum of effort to see things from his perspective for once. " I lost a part of you that day…But this….this is different Princess….This is….Don't give me that look…" he murmured, seeing the hopelessness in her eyes, shifting his gaze when another tear began rolling down her perfect visage.

In response ,with slow, doubtful moves, she reached out to trace the beautiful contour of his lips. He kissed her fingertips with an absolute worshipfulness, not daring to look up at her.

" Look at me…." she finally asked with a sigh.

He stubbornly refused though. He had to struggle and hold on to the bit of dignity he still had left. Everything broke though went she continued her line.

"Look me in the eyes and tell me what's going on between you and Dite…."

"This isn't about Aphrodite!" he defended, grabbing her wrist and pulling her down on the floor with him, so painfully close that he felt as if he were going to flip out at any moment now. The mere though of losing her was drilling a hole though his heart...

" No it isn't! It's about us. I'm asking you to tell me the truth…." she gasped, silently praying to all Gods that her sick imagination had only played tricks on her…

" You wouldn't understand" he softly replied, his lips tightening into a thin, nervous line at her reaction.

"Just say it…"

He shook his head a bit, unable to get himself to articulate it.

" Tell me, gods damn it!" she snapped, anger flaring again in her eyes.

" Sex! Lust, mostly and a drop of love…." he yelled back at her, only to silently curse his own sincerity the very next second.

Her reaction was by far surprising. She was of a concerning calmness. Even the tears had stopped falling. Her soul was way too petrified for that.

" See? This is what I was talking about…"

"You don't get it…" he explained. " Me and Aphrodite are like the two different sides of the same coin. Love and War go hand in hand, Sweetheart, I can't change that. I can't help it. She can't help it. We didn't choose this, neither of us did. This is just the way things are. She's part of me…"

As another wave of pain racked through her, she burst into a storm of convulsive, almost tearless sobs.

"And what about me? What am I to you?"

" **You're my heart! **I could survive without Aphrodite, but Honey, I couldn't live without you! By all Olympus, why is it so difficult for you to understand?! " he rhetorically questioned, pulling her in his arms. " This is who I am…." he whispered into her hair while gently rocking her back and forth. " You are everything to me. I chose you and you chose me, and before that even happened, you were destined to be mine. I waited for millenias for you to be born. I can't even imagine my life without you!" he said as tears began streaming from the corners of his eyes.

" Please…Please stop doing this to me….."

" Shhh….."

"I beg you….."

If that couldn't shake his inner world big time, than nothing could….Not even her sobs, not even her tears…but her begging him….? It was unconceivable…What had he done to her?! That heart wrenching realization made his skin crawl…


	45. The game never ends

**HI GUYS, SO THIS IS IT! ENJOY THE ENDING, AND FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO ARE INTERESTED AND WHO HAVEN'T READ ONE OF MY OTHER STORIES, " SEVEN STEPS TO BEING A GOOD FATHER" , I JUST WANTED TO LET YOU KNOW THAT SOMEHOW, THAT STORY CAN BE IN A WAY CONSIDERED A SEQUEL OF THIS ONE. SO IF YOU'RE INTERESTED, THERE ARE ELEMENTS THERE THAT COULD FIT PERFECTLY WITH THE NARRATIVE LINE OF THIS ONE:) THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONSTANT SUPPORT AND STAY TUNED:)) **

" Shhhh…..What are you doing? You don't have to beg…You shouldn't beg, you're my Princess. Damn it , you can have whatever the fuck you want…." he murmured sadly tightening his embrace even more, closing his eyes hard and inhaling the discreet flowery perfume of her hair as some way of calming his torn, aching heart.

In response, she just threw her arms around his neck and held him close, as close as she could- or better said as close as her distress could allow it- apparently wanting to lose herself in that embrace, as if she was silently hoping that maybe, somehow, all that inhuman suffering cutting her on the inside would go away, along with all the pressure , the thoughts, the doubts, the fears, the disappointment, thus leaving her live her life in peace….with him by her side as she knew she was supposed to….

He loved her, she was well aware of that deep inside, she could tell it by that dense sorrow that had darkened his eyes the moment she told him what she really wanted….She could also tell what was happening inside his heart…the battle that he was fighting with himself just to force his mouth to actually utter those infamous words, to literally give up on her- cause that's what it was like for him- just because she wasn't happy living in the golden cage he had so craftily created for her, just because she couldn't stand seeing him with other women when she herself had so adamantly denied them the chance of a real relationship, so many times that she had lost count….

" I'm sorry…" she whispered against his ear - a barely audible sigh- sweetly caressing the back of his neck with the tips of her fingers while new tears flooded her face. " I'm so sorry…But this is the best thing that has ever happened to us, you'll see…"

"_Not as sorry as I am…"_ he replied into her mind, unable to voice the words. _" I still don't see how this could ever benefit me any….It's….." _he paused a bit, and for a split second their connection broke…_"Damn it, I can't even get myself to think about it…" _

The next thing he knew, she was cradling his face in her palms, lifting and holding his reluctant gaze.

" It's the right thing to do…"

When he answered, his voice was strangled with helplessness…

"I don't care what the right thing to do is… I just want you…..I just want you…." he repeated in a ghostly voice, wishing from all his heart for it all to be a nightmare- a freaking nightmare from which to wake up eventually and find all things in their proper place…." Plus, how could you giving up your immortality even help, anyway…..Won't I be a Bastard anymore if you die on me?!" he continued, in a considerably more revolted tonality.

She parted her lips to speak, but he was too busy with his own speech to notice…

"I'll lose you…" he murmured, frowning at the distinct feeling that's someone had punched him with an iron fist straight to the gut, leaving him breathless.

" You will not lose me…..You'll never lose me…." she protested, such an honestly uttered line, that for a few moments they stood staring in awe at each other. "Ares, I love you….It's just that it's high time you saw things from my perspective for once…I'm not going anywhere….."

" Not yet…Not for the next five, ten years….Not until you slip during a fight, not until the right arrow hits its mark….Tartarus Xena, for all that I know you could die tomorrow. How am I supposed to live without you?!"

She didn't answer this time…In the end, he was right….What could she possibly say to ease his pain, to help him conquer his fears when it was obvious that what he was saying made perfect sense….

"We'll find a way. We'll make this work….Maybe with me being mortal and all, you'll reconsider a couple of things…" she murmured, hoping to all Gods that he got the message.

" Xena, I can do that even if…."

"No. No you can't. Not as long as you know that I'll always be here….That I'm not going anywhere…..that you have all the time in the world to set things right….Ares can't you see? You keep going on and on about how much you love me and that you don't want to lose me, but what you should actually worry about is me giving up on you….for real….And I don't want that….But I fell like that's where we're heading if we go on like this…".

She stood a moment to analyze what had just escaped her lips….She couldn't believe she had actually said it….All of it…All the truth….She had finally got rid of that heavy burden that had been crushing her heart all that time…

With a deep sigh, Ares finally placed the tips of his fingers on her forehead…A split second later, a bright blue string of energy could be seen passing through his hand and thus exiting the Warrior Princess' body.

"Shazam!" he acidly responded, a bit furious with himself that he had decided to give in her own selfish desires again.

" Thank you…." she simply whispered back, ignoring the tone of his voice and placing a chaste, affectionate kiss on his lips.

"Gods Xena….May Zeus have mercy on the one who dares touch a hair on your head…..!" he finally ended, his face darkening at the thought.

She just rolled her eyes at him.

"I am your Chosen remember? That hasn't changed, Ares. I can take care of myself! "

Gradually, silence settled in…

" So what now? " he asked, gazing uncomfortably at her, not really knowing where they were suppose to go from there on…

" Now you're gonna make love to me …" she answered in the naughtiest tone ever, arching an eyebrow at him, aware of just how wrong that was after everything that had happened during those last days...She couldn't help it though...The need to physically feel that she was the most important person in the world for him was getting unbearable...

His answer left her agape for a moment.

"I don't want to make love to you…."

"You don't?" she incredulously asked, suddenly frowning at the perspective.

" No, I don't. I want to bend you over an altar and fuck your brains out so that you can keep in mind that you're still mine…that you still belong to me" he replied, licking his lips at the wave of arousal that had invaded her body, and that he could distinctly sense from a mile away...

" I could live with that…"

"Good….."

In the blink of an eye they were gone…...

**XXX **

Back at the temple of the Fates, Clotho and Lachesis were watching the scene with a sick, vivid interest. Out of the two, the youngest of the three Moirai appeared to be the most amused by that new twist.

" You were right…..this proved to be an interesting challenge after all." she said, flashing a smile at her sister.

" I'm always right. My intuition is flawless, you know that. So…..my turn. **Truth or dare**, Clotho? "

"Hmmmmm…..Given how fun the last round was, I think I'll go for the **dare **as well…" she replied, her eyes sparkling with anxiety.

"I dare you to fix everything and make Xena immortal again…..Before Atropos realizes what happened, that is…." she whispered, casting a glance at the deeply asleep old lady…..

" Hmmmmm…..An **immortal child** might just do the trick…." she finally answered after careful consideration.

"Perfect. Start setting the stage…."

** THE END **

***** YEAH, MOST OF YOU GOT THE ENDING RIGHT...I SURE HOPE I MANAGED TO KEEP IT REALISTIC:)*****


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