creation5

11/022/2000

They shimmered into view in Aphrodite’s chambers by the pool, but no one was in view. The water toys were still in the pool like they had been, but definitely looked like everyone had left in haste. Considering how long it had been since he had come for Apollo’s aid and Athena taking Eve and all, the remnants of the pool party should have been long gone. Aphrodite was neater than this. Something was definitely not right here. "Sis? You around?" Ares called as he looked around a little puzzled. Her chambers even felt empty which was strange.

"I thought she said she’d be here," Xena told him, already getting bad feelings about the situation as they began to search through the maze of rooms looking for the Goddess of Love or for any of her attendants which were also notably absent as well.

"Yeah, me too. This is not like her. And where are all her helpers? This is not good," he told her and she nodded agreeing.

"Well, you want to try the main Council chamber and see if anyone is around or knows what’s happening? I know she was going to go talk to the other gods, but wouldn’t she have left word for us about where she was going?" Xena asked frowning after they had searched the last of Aphrodite’s rooms and found no one home.

"She should have," Ares agreed, confused and worried now too. "This is not like her at all. And no one around—period? That’s not right either. Let’s try the Council chambers," he told her taking her hand, and with a thought they were there.

It was eerily deserted too. Usually there was someone hanging around or passing through, but there was no one, It felt as empty as Aphrodite’s chambers had felt.

"This is getting too weird," Xena commented, noticing how her voice even seem to echo strangely in the emptiness of the vast hall.

Ares shivered involuntarily, "Yeah, really. This is not normal at all. Something bad wrong is up and I don’t like this. I also am not getting any responses from anyone either. I can’t feel anyone," Ares said alarmed as he tried to concentrate and feel the other gods and couldn’t.

Xena was getting scared too, and it took a lot for that to happen. "You’re not reaching anyone?" she questioned him, knowing all he had to do is think and he was in touch with his fellows if he chose to.

"Nothing! Nadda! Like there’s this thick wall I can’t get through. And I’m sensing something though, and it’s not pleasant coming towards us. Let’s get the hell out of here!" he yelled suddenly, grabbing her before they could be overtaken by whatever it was and vanishing quickly. Instead of going back to his chambers he headed towards Amphipolis figuring they might be safe there until he could get a better grasp on what in all the heavens was going on.

They materialized in Cyrene’s tavern much to her mother’s startled surprise as well as relief. Though several of the patrons seeing the God of War, and Xena appear together out of nowhere looking very grim, decided to leave rather hastily rather than find out why those two were there, and within a few minutes the once crowded tavern was empty. They all carefully mumbled apologies, and prayers as they left just to be on the safe side. They had just gotten through one siege with the gods and didn’t want to offend anyone for a repeat performance.

"Sorry about spooking everyone, Mom," Xena said shaking her head in embarrassment as she watched the last customer hightail it out the door. Ares sat down quietly at a vacant table, trying to stay out of the way, knowing that the next few minutes were not going to be pleasant. They both had a lot of explaining to do.

"Cyrene sighed, "they’ll be back. They always are. I thought you two would be back before this? And where’s Eve?" she asked noticing that her granddaughter was not with them. It concerned her that Eve wasn’t with them, but not too much as she thought Xena might have someone watching the child so they could have some time alone. Now that she wasn’t working she became conscious of her appearance with all the wine and food stains on her apron and wishing she had had just a little notice before they popped in to clean up. She tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ears and tried to look presentable for the God of War and her future son-in-law.

Xena sighed, not happy with the task before her, but she plunged on because her mother needed to know what was happening. "Things got slightly complicated once we left here. Do you want the long version, or the short?" Xena asked as she grabbed up a jug of wine from the bar, a couple of glasses, and went over to where Ares was sitting who looked up worriedly at her approach. It was clear he was thinking about what they had just encountered and what the absence of all the gods meant. He was also bracing for Xena’s mother’s reaction to what had happened to Eve. She was not going to be happy with either of them.

"Either. I just want to know something," she replied gently, knowing how skittish Xena could be. Cyrene followed puzzled, trying to get a gauge on what was going on. Whatever it was, was serious. That much she could tell by the way the two were sitting, being almost too quiet, and obviously worried about something. She grabbed a nearby stool and sat down waiting for Xena to begin.

Xena took a large sip of the wine and eyed her mother, trying to figure out how to explain this all. "I guess, the best is to start with what happened after we left. We went to the Council meeting with Eve on Olympus after making sure Athena was really pulling out of here.. When all the gods had gathered Eve was examined by them all and she passed their tests much to Athena’s dismay. They did say she had some sort of powers but they weren’t sure what they were. To be on the safe side for them it was decided that Eve had to become a goddess. She was also to be supervised growing up, and trained in the ways of peace and love. She was never to be trained in the arts of war or know weapons," Xena said carefully.

Cyrene started laughing, "Ohh, with you two as parents that ought to be interesting to make that stick."

"Yeah, we thought so too, but we had to agree to it or else let Eve be killed. Same with I had to become a goddess as well if I wanted to be with my daughter and live," Xena told her, ignoring her mom’s delight in the idea of her daughter being a goddess.

"But you’re not are you?" her mother questioned, not sensing that her daughter was any different than before.

"I was for a brief time. Except that I was given poisoned ambrosia and the only way to cure me was to make me mortal again. We know that it was Athena and she did it hoping it would kill me. While I was out of it and Ares and Aphrodite were distracted with saving me with Apollo’s help, Athena came and took Eve from Cupid and Psyche who were watching her. She took her to her temple in Athens and did some sort of ritual and now Eve’s spirit is trapped in a box. But to get her we need the other god’s help and all of them have vanished from Olympus. Something has happened to them. We felt something coming after us but we got away before it could find us," Xena explained, ignoring her mother’s reactions to all the god’s names she had mentioned. To Xena meeting gods and knowing them was no big deal, but to her mother it was hard to imagine that she knew them even causally.

"So Eve’s what exactly?" Cyrene asked taking in all in calmly, trying to understand what had happened to Eve.

Good question, Mom, Xena thought as she tried to figure a way to explain it. "She’s not dead, just in some kind of limbo is the best way to describe it. She’s a goddess now, and not mortal. She can’t be hurt or killed by ordinary means."

"But it sounds like you were?" she questioned confused.

"My ambrosia was tainted by hind’s blood which is one of the few things that can kill a god. I had a violent reaction from it from the start but we put it off to my being pregnant. When I started feeling worse and worse we knew something was wrong and Ares went to find Apollo since healing is his area. Aphrodite had been watching Eve while Ares and I were making some changes to his living quarters as part of the Council’s decree which was that Eve had to live and be raised as a goddess on Olympus with limited contact with mortals or this world. She was also never to know her true origins or have contact with Eli’s people or god. As far as she is to know Ares is her father and he is responsible for both her and me as well as our child, which we have found out is part of a prophecy along with Eve," Xena further explained taking another sip of wine.

"You’re still pregnant, aren’t you?"

"Yes, Mom. Apollo said the baby was not affected by my illness. When I was a goddess I was told I would have the baby in six weeks time, now I guess it’s back to normal?" she said turning to Ares with a question in her eyes and uncertain tone in her voice. He had just been sitting back letting her do all the talking.

He shrugged, "I don’t know these things, that’s Apollo’s department. If you go back to being a goddess, then it’s a mote point," he replied, trying to stay out of it.

Cyrene looked puzzled over that statement. "Xena can still be a goddess?"

"Yeah. Apollo told her to wait a couple of days to let any aftereffects work out of her system before she tries any ambrosia, but with the Council’s decree and with Eve being a goddess she’s going to have to," he reminded Xena, who glared at him.

"I know, don’t remind me. I’m only agreeing to it because of Eve. Being a goddess is not my idea of fun," she told him with a glare.

He grinned, mischievously. "You sure looked like you were enjoying being one when you saw what you could do with your powers," he reminded her, as she looked embarrassed, because she had actually had fun creating things out of nothing.

"It was okay. But I still like doing and experiencing things as a mortal," she said finishing her drink, ignoring her mother shaking her head in disbelief at Xena’s turning down godhood.

"But Xena, how can you be so casual about it? To be a god—what a wonder that would be. All the good you could do for people, more than you can now. How can you not want to be a god? I really don’t understand you," Cyrene said, not comprehending her daughter at all which got a wide satisfied smile from Ares.

"On this you don’t have to understand, Mom. I’ve been one before. It’s not that great. I’ve also been dead, and come back, and seen, and done things you can’t begin to understand which make me appreciate my mortality at lot more. Right now I’m more worried about my daughter and how to free her, since all the other gods have vanished all of a sudden. Is Gabrielle still around?’ Xena asked finally, waiting until she had finished explaining what had been going on.

"Yes," she’s upstairs in her room. She’s been there since the end of siege was declared by Athena’s people. She helped with the clean up but after that she’s stayed by herself saying she had a lot to think about and didn’t really want to talk to anyone. She said something about going to the Amazons or home. She wasn’t sure. Though a messenger stopped by saying Joxer was on his way and would be here in a couple of days. She got an odd expression on her face, and said she was going to her room. After that I haven’t seen her. That was hours ago," Cyrene said.

"I still need to talk to her. To explain," Xena told both of them and Ares just shrugged.

"If you want. I know you have to. Just make her understand this is a done deal. It has to be for Eve’s sake," he reminded her, trying to be gentle about it and not get her incited to riot again. He wasn’t going to stop her from talking to Gabrielle as she would do it with, or without his consent anyway, but he sure hoped the irritating blond didn’t talk her out of their deal now. Then he would kill her. He had Xena now and he wasn’t letting go.

"I’m very aware of that," she glared at him, and cut back the remarks she wanted to make to him for peace sake. She then asked him, "have you had any luck contacting anyone?" she asked knowing that he had been trying to while she was talking to her mother.

He looked frustrated and more worried. "Nope. Still nothing. It’s got me real worried now. I’m still wondering what it was that tried to get us earlier?"

"You don’t know?" Xena questioned with a raised eyebrow, assuming he had known and surprised he didn’t.

He shook his head. "Nope, I haven’t the foggiest. I got the impression of something old, ancient maybe before my grandpa’s day’s old, but not Dahaak, but someone—something just as deadly," he told her, not trying to alarm her, but letting her know what he had picked up.

She let his words register, comparing them with the brief impressions she had gotten in the Council chamber as well. "Me too, but I thought I was imagining it. Another Watcher?"

Ares looked thoughtful, steeping his hands as he rested his elbows on the table, trying to remember if there were any still left around or that could be resurrected through spells or other means. There were but it would take a massive amount of work to do so. "Could be? And somehow connected with Athena. An alliance, maybe?’

She had already caught his thought, and had a few of her own as well, but this was something they needed to discuss alone as her mother was already looking at both of them confused. "Against us? Against the prophecy? Could be, we’ll have to see," she told him, and he nodded, agreeing to take this discussion up later in private.

"A Watcher? Is that bad?" Cyrene asked understanding more than Xena thought she did. "And you said the other gods are gone? How is that possible?"

"It could be, Mom. We don’t know what we almost ran into or what happened to the other gods. I’m sure what is going to happen with all of them gone either," Xena said, coming instantly alert now as outside a there was a sudden burst of lightening through the tavern windows, and the sharp crack of closely thunder was heard as well as the wind began picking up.

"Hey, I’m still here. Don’t I count?" Ares asked, throwing her a look.

"Yeah, but you’re not a weather god," she replied pointing to the storm building up outside. "You can call up storms, but doesn’t it take a couple of you to keep the weather in balance all the time? And if the ones who normally do it are gone, who’s minding the store?" she asked.

He hadn’t thought of that. "No one. Oh shit!" he said. "Be right back," he said suddenly and vanished, slightly unnerving Cyrene. He popped back in a couple of minutes later dripping wet, but with a snap of his fingers he was dry again. "All Tartartus has broken out all over. It’s chaos out there which means no one is in control. This is not good," he told her, trying to keep the alarm out of his voice.

About that time the front door of the tavern burst in along with a soaked to the skin Joxer. "Xena you’re here?" he asked looking happy as he pushed the door back closed before he got yelled at, swiping at his face with the back of his hand to get the water off. He started walking towards her, and then saw Ares with her, and stopped nervously. "Ahh, hi, Ares," he said with a grimace.

"Joxer," Ares acknowledged with a flip of his hand. The mortal was a pitiful excuse for a man as well as a warrior, but he did have uses sometimes, and he was counted as one of Xena’s friends, and even Aphrodite liked him, so he tolerated him.

Joxer nodded, not sure what Ares was doing here as well as sitting and talking politely with Xena and her mother, but without Gabrielle around and the baby he had heard of but not seen yet. Maybe the baby was with Gabrielle. "So how have things been? I heard you had your baby," he asked, not having heard about the siege or much of anything since he had last seen her.

Cyrene went in search of towels while Joxer started taking off some of his soaked leather armor to let it dry off. She returned with the towels and a mug of hot mead to warm him up. He took it from her gratefully and sat down waiting for Xena to answer him.

"Yeah, I did, Joxer. A little girl named Eve. Except right now Athena has her," Xena told him.

"Athena? That’s bad. I heard that all the gods were after you? Is that true?" he asked, looking at Ares cautiously as he took a sip of his drink and focused his attention Xena who was trying to figure out what to tell him.

"There were, especially after Zeus and Hera’s deaths. I --we reached a compromise with the gods, or so I thought we had until Athena broke the Gods Council's decree with her actions. Joxer, I’m going to tell you right up front. Ares and I are together. We made a bargain to save Eve’s life as well as the lives of the people in this town from Athena. Part of that agreement was that Eve and I would be under his protection. Then the other gods met in Council and put some more conditions on it that Eve and I are to be goddesses, but Eve is never to know that she is not Ares’ daughter or about her birth or Eli’s god. She is supposed to be raised as a goddess of peace and love and not know war. They still consider Eve a threat to them, but under the conditions they have made a controllable one," Xena explained.

"You and Ares are together, together?" Joxer questioned, knowing how Xena generally felt about the arrogant god.

"Yes," she said simply, not wanting to go into more intimate details with her friend.

"What you’re not going to tell him the rest? That we’re married and you’re going have my kid?" Ares had to add in just to watch Joxer’s shocked expression as he damn near choked on his drink, and Xena’s wanting to kill him look as well as acute embarrassment.

"WE ARE NOT MARRIED!" she angrily shouted at Ares as she jumped up wanting to hit him for telling Joxer that. He just sat back and smiled.

"Damn near. Remember our discussion? You are my consort, and are under my protection, and my rules by the Council’s decree," he grinned, crossing his arms.

"Okay already. But we’re still not married," she told him determinedly, frustrated with how he was enjoying this, and she wasn’t. Right now she was furious at him and needed some space to go think before the really got into a fight again. "I’m going to go find Gabrielle," she announced, "if you make any contact with anyone let me know," she added and headed for the rooms above leaving her mother and Joxer with Ares.

After Xena stormed off Ares couldn’t resist asking, "Is she always this high-strung?"

"NO!" Joxer and Cyrene both said in unison glaring at him as he just ginned as he innocently sipped his wine.

Continued in Part 6

BACK

Complaints, Comments, Requests, Etc, write Vickey Brickle-Macky