Disclaimer: Still not mine.
Notes: (words like this are private thoughts) #words like this are telepathic communication# "words like this are speech"
The four heroes elected to walk back to Strife's temple. After a lot of begging on his part Bliss got Jett to agree to walk with them instead of just flashing there. Just before they left Jett had a quick word with his Pop while surreptitiously pointing to where Joxer was deep in conversation with Ares. Strife nodded then made shooing motions at him.
The group started on their way and Bliss skipped around them and occasionally fluttered above the ground. Hercules noticed that no one seemed to notice Jett walking down the street or Bliss fluttering around them. When he mentioned this to him Jett said, "I made it so that the mortals can't see us. Bliss doesn't get to be down here that much and he's overexcited. I figured he didn't need the extra stimulation. Any new followers or those who wish to dedicate themselves to me won't approach me in the open. I'll take it off when we reach Pop's place."
Jett dropped his illusion as they walked through the gate. Two children came up to them. One looked as though he had been rolling in the dust. His friend, who was standing behind him and peeking over his shoulder, was sporting a vicious looking bruise in the shape of a foot on her face. The boy stepped up to Jett and gave a little bow. "Lord Jett, sir. Lila turned up after Lord Joxer and his friends left. She won't let the priests near her and she's hurt. I told her you could help."
Jett knelt down to look her in the eye. "I would never hurt you on purpose Lila. Would you let my Uncle 'Pol or Cousin Ace look at you so they can help you get better?"
The little girl seemed to be fixated on his wings as she nodded. The incredibly scary if you are an adult assassin smiled and stretched one closer to her so she could see it better. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the quartet of heroes take Bliss further into the yard to play with the kids. He called to Apollo as well as his Pops and Joxer. His Pops wanted to know when anything happened to one of the kids and he figured that this might be something that Joxer would need to deal with. You don't get footprints on your face by accident. When he felt several silent inquiries he explained what he know of the situation so far including how skittish Lila seemed of men. They flashed in out of her line of sight so they could approach openly.
"Hey Jett," said Apollo. "Who're your little friends?" While saying that he scanned the girl for injuries as best as he could without her knowing about it.
"This is Devon and Lila."
"Ooo…That's a nasty bruise there kiddo. Do you want me to fix that up a little? I can't promise that it won't hurt but you'll feel better when I'm done." He smiled encouragingly at her as he knelt down next to Jett. Lila looked from him to Jett and then Devon, who gave her a small shove closer to Apollo. She gave him a small smile as he reached out to touch her face. Lila winced a little but held still for the most part. He lifted his hand a moment later and looked at her. "That's a little better. You know what I could use a girl like you at my temple. My priestesses would love you." As he said this he sent to the others #I know what happened. There's no way that I'm letting her go home and the only way that will happen is to get her to Olympus. I'll tell you all about it in a minute.#
"Can Devon come too?" A small voice asked tentatively.
"If Devon wants to he can. Now why don't you two go play with Bliss or get your things together. I'll take you home to my temple and a little bit." The two took off and towards the main building and a little later were seen playing with Bliss with a small bundle nearby. Apollo made sure none of the kids could hear them then said, "It was her father. It's the first time it was this bad though. He may have killed her mother though. Ares, he's one of your warlords by the name of Jonas. "
Ares was furious. "I had no idea it had gotten to that point. One of his lieutenants had prayed to me about it yesterday. I was going to check on them later today and I had a feeling Joxer would want to help. Is she okay?"
"She will be. She had more injuries that I'll deal with over the next few days. I didn't want to hurt her more than necessary."
"It definitely falls under my domain," Joxer said. He looked over at the kids. Jett saw the look in his eyes and told him he would play with the kids for a while and to give him Tartarus.
"Come on," said Ares. "We'll go check on Jocasta then go to see Fertun, the lieutenant who alerted me to it. After that I'd like to help you with whatever you do to him."
Joxer nodded and Ares flashed them out.
"Hey Pop. Do you think they'll catch a clue?" asked Jett.
"Not sure. Knowing Unc and your brother they may need a little more of a clue," Strife replied. "I mean look how long it took you and Phonos."
"Hey… I knew I liked him he was just afraid I would be reluctant to help take care of Mania."
"Cupe's about to come here with Jace. Why don't you give the kids some rides and after everyone's seen the girls for a bit we'll head home." Strife smirked at his annoyed oldest who glared at him and went off to play with the kids while muttering under his breath. He giggled and looked to Apollo, who was grinning at him, and the mildly stunned looking heroes. "Teasing your kids never gets old does it?" Apollo nodded and they were both laughing when Cupid arrived.
Jayce said, "Pop stop teasing Jett." He then went off to give rides to the kids. Strife materialized a chair for Cupid and stared at him until he sat.
#Grandpa said he got a message from the Fates, via Apollo, before the presentation. The boys can't say anything about Xena being my half sister but we can as long as we don't come right out and say it.#
#That's great Feathers. We'll get them to be home permanently much faster now. # He took one of the girls and sat on the ground so the curious kids could get a better look at her.
Cupid looked over at the heroes and noticed that Xena was staring at him with a little bit of a longing look on her face. "Xena would you like to hold her?" The woman came over and nodded. "You'll have to hold her more sideways or on her front than other babies. The bones in the wings are still soft." She nodded again and gently took the baby Cupid.
As Xena held the baby and let her play with her fingers Strife saw an opportunity to bring up similarities. "Hey Cupe gets that exact same look on his face when playing with the girls. Unc does too but only when he thinks no one is looking."
Jett came over then and Jayce followed him. Strife called Bliss over and told him to bring Lila and Devon. An invitation to visit Olympus was extended to the heroes, which they all accepted, surprisingly.
AN: I was playing with the speech recognition software that came with Vista on this one so there might be some mistakes. I think I caught them all but if you let me know I'll go in and fix them. Please review...