It hurt like shit from the minute she dared put her feet on the ground. All of her body ached as if she had been torn into half, and every step she took , she felt it like a vicious stab through the guts, hitting straight into that invisible, totally unexpected and uncalled for child she was carrying.

For the first time in her life she didn't have a plan. She didn't know where she was heading to or what she was going to do next, but she did know that she needed to put as much distance between her and Ares as possible. She couldn't stay there any more. She was literally chocking in between the walls of that temple, and Gabrielle's absence only made her even edgier…

She walked out of the white marble structure without looking back…She could have called Aphrodite, she could have asked her to take her away from that place, but for some odd reason she just didn't want to have anything to do with anyone, human or immortal…

As she reached the margin of the woods, she silently wished she could somehow close her eyes and wake up under a totally different sky, embracing the light of another lovely morning, next to a deeply sleeping Bard , while of all of those new, complex problems that she couldn't control, would rapidly dissolve into the hot summer wind, leaving behind but the faint trace of a horrific nightmare that she could simply lock inside her brain and throw away the key….

She unconsciously wiped away a bitter tear rolling down her cheek….There was something very wrong about that whole situation and she didn't like it….There was something very wrong with her….

XXX

Hours later, when Ares finally found her, she was sitting next to a small spring, gazing blankly towards a fallen tree trunk situated a couple of yards away from her.

The God cast her a long, wary look. Usually, he could read her like an open book…As expected, this time was not an exception, and despite the fact that her face was as inscrutable as a clay mask, he easily recognized the large spectrum of emotions well hidden beneath the dark shadow of long, thick lashes protecting her stunningly blue moons.

He wasn't particularly thrilled of the amount of pain he could detect in her aura either...and she was still as pale as wax...

...She must have felt his presence, he was sure she did; she didn't say anything about it though, she just went on pretending that he wasn't there.

As he progressively closed in the distance between them, the Olympian finally noticed that his Princess was clutching something in her left hand….He instantly recognized it: mandrake root….

A few more steps, and he silently sat down on the grass beside her, every cell of his brain screaming at him to snatch the poisonous plant from her hand. He effectively repressed his instincts though…He knew her far to well to realize that forcing her to do something that she didn't desire would turn into nothing more but a resonant failure to dominate her volcanic temper…

"Watcha doin' here? "

His voice was soft and his tone casual despite that unbearable pressure pulsating inside his temples.

"Knitting…" she acidly replied, visibly annoyed by his presence.

" Ok…I'll just take the liberty and blame your attitude on the… mood swings…All pregnant women have them…."

To no one's surprise, she flashed him a baleful gaze- a very specific one that was usually reserved for him and him alone.

"...Don't worry about it though, they say it gets better as the pregnancy progresses…"

"This is not my first pregnancy, Ares. I already had Solan, remember? "

"Well yeah….technically….."

"Technically and practically " she stressed, wondering what he had meant by that word.

As if having heard her thoughts, he immediately started to explain himself…He proved to be better than the Oracle of Delphi ….

"Technically you were his mother….Practically you weren't there for him…I was just trying to say that probably the idea of living the full experience now, with Eve, scares you to death…."

"No it doesn't…cause there will be no Eve…" she murmured, tightening her hold on that mandrake root with a ferocity meant to suggest that she was actually holding the most valuable diamond in the world and that Ares was in fact the embodiment of the ultimate self improved Autolycus aching to steel it away from her..

For more than a few seconds, the God was speechless. Then, for reasons that he himself was unable to comprehend, he became mad at her.

"You don't wanna do that…"

"You don't know the first thing about my feelings, so don't you dare tell me what I want or don't want to do!"

"You'd be surprised…" he uttered in a grave voice, covering her hands with his own. She just pulled them away, as if his touch alone would have some kind of boundless power over her.

"Xena…."

He needed to choose his words carefully, he was well aware of that…He was walking on thin ice while the ice she was standing on was already breaking…

"…Look….this is hard for you and I get it, really ..I do…"

"No you don't! You don't get it! I just woke up one morning and found out that I was carrying some unknown deity's child ! Even saying it sounds as ridiculous as Hades and Zeus playing tag in the Elysian Fields! "

"Sweetheart…"

"I don't want this baby, Ares! I hate it! I want it gone, and I know how horribly inhuman it might sound, but that's what I feel!" she finally burst with frustration, tears streaming down her face.

"It's only natural to feel this way given the circumstances, but Honey, give yourself a chance! Give that child a chance. Once the shock wears out..."

She stubbornly shook her head, frowning at some unseen illusions unfolding before her eyes….Her imagination was already running wild…

"No….."

"You'll do fine…Trust me, you'll be the perfect Mom. " the God encouraged , but he could clearly see how his words kept hitting an impenetrable wall built around her brain….

He tried caressing her hair, but she firmly pushed his hand away…..Completely defying her will, he forcefully pulled her closer and wrapped his arms around her. Any attempt to break free proved to be useless of course, and consumed by tears and panic as she was she didn't really want to be released after all.

In a few minutes, she was visibly calmer, and the slow motion movements of the God's rocking seemed to have done the trick.

"It doesn't feel like she's mine….It's like she doesn't even belong to me…."

"It will pass soon, I promise. "

A heartbreaking sigh followed. Right out of nowhere though, as if something in her mind had clicked, she turned around to look him in the eyes:

"You said that she'll bring about the end of the Gods…She will be the death of your parents, of your brothers and sisters…of Aphrodite….How comes that you're ok with this?!"

Truth being told, she had every right to be suspicious…..

There was no delay in his answer. No second thoughts…

"I couldn't care less about those two faced siblings of mine- as you well know-….As for Aphrodite…she's tougher than you think…..I'm sure she'll survive…."

His honesty was mind blowing.

"You do realize that I'm having some other entity's baby, right? And that someone is not you… " she acidly bit, adamant about hitting him where it hurt the most.

"Yeah well….if I can deal with it, I'm absolutely positive that you can do the same…."

This time he sounded cold and detached. Still, that awfully long pause in between breaths, gave him away quite easily ….Plus, there was no more warmth and sensitivity in his voice.

" Well…that's my decision to make…" the Warrior Princess made sure to point out, shifting her glare towards her still flat abdomen.

It took but one skilful move of the God's hand and a second of inadvertence from Xena's part for him to take the mandrake root and turn it into a crisp.

"Not any more ….." he said, vanishing with her in his arms back to the temple….