Chapter Six
It was a warm enough day already without the layers of cloak and cape that Joxer stood in, under the unbearable sun. The heat radiated off the mask he wore. He may be a half god, but the natural sun still gave him a lot of problems.
Still, he had chosen this path for a very specific reason. The reason was based on the fact that Joxer couldn't just waltz into Ares' temple. No one did that, except Joxer, and that would give away his whole plan. After defeating the Maggots, Joxer had decided that the best way to really know if his disguise worked (before fighting in front of Xena and Gabrielle) was to try it out in front of the man who had known Joxer his entire life.
So, he found this spot that had at least six pillars around, rising up into the sky and practically piercing the ground. Dust and dirt rose up around him, causing the heat mirages to wiggle in the afternoon air. This was the path that Ares would take walking. Normally the God of War would just disappear and appear at will, but when he was taking this route, normal god powers didn't work.
It was the only way to get in touch with the armies on the border of Rome. Ares became Mars when he entered these lands, and in order to get his powers to start appearing here, he had to walk in, and let the powers of the border passing change him from Ares God of War in Greece into Mars the God of War in Rome.
He once had explained to Joxer (the most boring lesson he had ever received) about the powers of the land and of the people who believed in him. So, Ares would walk, pass the border, and his powers would remain very similar to the ones in Greece. That's why he liked Rome. In Egypt for example, he wouldn't have the same powers. He might lose them totally.
Finally, just as the sun started acting as if it'd like to burn Joxer right through the mask, Ares showed. Joxer had to admit, even though he hated him now, that Ares did what he needed to do. There was no horse or chariot. It was just him, having had walked since he arrived in this land. He always did everything with style.
Ares suddenly noticed Joxer, and it would have bugged Joxer if he hadn't. Joxer had only chose to pose with his sword straight out, his knee down on the ground in the best warrior pose he could muster, and his hand had been beckoning for hours.
"A warrior?" Ares said.
Great! He couldn't tell his aura. That meant the cloak was heavy enough to block sense.
"I see you want to fight the God of War. Don't be foolish. I'm really quite busy."
"I am your son," Joxer said, trying to keep his voice in disguise. If he could fool Ares, he might be able to fool Xena as well.
Ares paused and shrugged. "I have over a thousand. What makes you so special?"
"I am Lockinus the Hero."
"I care," Ares retorted. "If you think I should have some kind of familial obligation, then you don't know me at all. Move, before I make you move."
Then Joxer pulled his best moves and started fighting Ares, who quickly drew his own sword and faced off against his opponent, under that beating sun. Joxer had sparred with his father before. So, he expected the normal fight. But it seemed that his father had gone easy on him before.
This Lockinus was nobody to Ares, just one of his upstart sons he couldn't care less about. It hit Joxer as he blocked blow after blow: Ares had chosen him. He hadn't just wanted to bond with a son. He wanted his destroyer.
Finally, after a fight that seemed unable to be won, Joxer pulled his last resort move and kneeled down, waiting for Ares to come in for the blow. When he did, Joxer used Ares' body as momentum, jumped over his head and kicked him twice in the back, sending the God of War face first into the dirt.
He turned over with a glare, but a curious one. "Who are you? No one can fight that well."
"Well, I have been training for this my whole life," Joxer said and removed his mask. It was gratifying to see Ares' jaw drop.
"What in the world are you doing? Playing dress up?"
"Fighting as someone other than Joxer the Mighty, Ares. Just wanted to check if anyone could tell who I really was. Good, it works."
"Oho, so this is your plan!" Ares said. He stood up with his face in a scowl, but Joxer saw something he had rarely seen in his father's eyes. There was a small glimmer of pride in there. "You get past Paci's curse and still fight. Well, have your fun. I am not worried."
"You should be. This way I can still fight alongside Xena. We can still end your crusades."
"Why would you want to do that?" Ares asked, honestly looking confused. Joxer would have felt sorry for him if he wasn't such a jerk. "Look, play your fighting games. No one trusts someone in a mask, especially Xena. She might accept help in battle, but I do doubt she would ever team up with you to take me down. Besides, I admit I panicked before. Then I realized I have so many warlords, temples, armies, vast supplies of weapons and more. Two against an army may win, but two against a thousand armies? Let's just say I am not worried about Lockinus the Hero.
"But nice job on getting past Paci's curse. I do have to say I trained you well."
Then Ares shook his head and walked off, chuckling.
"Nice try, Ares," Joxer said under his breath. He could tell, even despite Ares' demeanor, that Ares was worried. He would be a worst enemy than before to Joxer. There was something he had to do to ensure that Ares wouldn't just be able to go and tell anyone he saw that Joxer was a fighter and leave them dead behind them.
Justice was a blind god who lived in a swamp for some reason. He wore hermit's robes and trudged through endless paths covered completely with stinky water. He of course knew Joxer was coming and didn't bother to make a path at all, so Joxer's robes would need changing and cleaning before long.
"Come on, Justice," Joxer said as he squelched his boots across the endless mud. "Why do I have to search for you?"
"The path to Justice is a long and uncomfortable one," Justice's voice boomed out from across the way, as he stood there, waiting for Joxer to arrive at his door. "That's why mortals usually give up."
"I won't give up. Besides you must know why I've come. Paci's law isn't exactly just."
"No . . . but my powers don't reach very far these days. Would you like some tea when you arrive at my temple?"
"Tea?!" Joxer asked and scoffed inwardly at the word temple for the God of Justice. His temple was a mound of earth and clay, growing millions of different soggy plants out of it, until they dropped down and took over the whole area. One couldn't even tell it was anything more than a hole in the ground. In fact it kind of resembled a Hobbit hole, if Hobbit holes were gross, full of bugs and smelly as high Olympus.
"It has raspberries in it . . .," Justice added cajolingly.
"Aright fine, and little biscuits with honey," Joxer decided.
Finally, Joxer just started running. It would be worth the utter exhaustion to get the Tartarus out of this swamp, so seconds later, he was collapsed on a little chair inside Justice's fake temple, eating biscuits and drinking raspberry tea, hoping the exhaustion wouldn't last too long. It was weird that the running speed was the worst power that Ares' blood had given him. It just didn't work well. It could exhaust him for seconds or days.
"So, what's the problem?" Justice asked. "You've found a way of forming your own justice. I am not needed."
Joxer munched on a biscuit and drank some tea before answering. It was best not to bite off Justice's head. He was here to ask a favor after all. "Look, I need you, because I could see in Ares' eyes that he thought he still had the advantage over me. He can just follow my escapades and tell anyone I help who I was and doom them. Or he could tell his number ones, all two thousand of them, about my secret and have them yell out my name to anyone who'll listen.
"Your powers are far reaching, though you are fading more every day. If you could just put a spell on Ares, make him not be able to tell my secret, it'd be fair, more it'd be just!"
"I happen to agree. Your father had set that whole thing up and doomed you by your own act of kindness. It needs to be rectified. And . . . you have balanced out Ares' war with your peace for the last six years. I like balance."
He nodded towards Joxer, though he didn't see him.
"Alright, I'll help you." Justice stood up, and his white eyes glowed as a scales of justice appeared in the room. It was falling a little to the left in Ares favor, so Justice righted it. Now they hung equally. "Just one problem. I only can stop him now. What makes you think he hasn't told anyone in Rome?"
"I don't know anyone in Rome," Joxer said. "I think he's saving his ace right now."
"Okay . . . Oh, and Joxer, you could visit me more often than just coming for a favor. This swamp gets so lonely."
With a snap of his fingers, Justice sent Joxer outside the swamp. Joxer guessed it was perfectly just that he didn't have to trudge out through those swampy waters again.