A petrifying emptiness filled my heart the instant he dematerialized from the room…I was stunned….What was there for him to think about? I played him by the book…. I did everything right, according to the plan: I chose him over Gabrielle, deceived them both, made him think that I was willing to go back to being his number one butcher, I even gave myself to him….What in the world had gone wrong? What could have made him doubt me….cause I could surely swear it was doubt I had read in his eyes just moments before.

While silently going over our conversation in my head, I accidentally touched his side of the bed…It was still warm, and for reasons unknown, I couldn't stop my brain from frantically replaying the images of our previous lovemaking before my tired eyes…I guiltily covered my chest with the thin, vermilion velvet blanket, wrapping it tightly around me….I could still feel his lips everywhere on my skin...By Zeus Almighty, we were so right together…

I gulped noisily, as the arousing sound of his thick voice- filled with an almost frightening amount of ecstasy and adoration- reached my ears through a painfully live, burning memory….

"…Yo do realize that with every hour slipping by you lose more and more dominion over your own soul, don't you?"

Fates knew I hated those words with every fiber of my being….I guess I hated the truth in them the most…

With slow, languid moves, I got out of bed. Sleep was definitely out of the question that night, with him gone. I briefly considered calling him, but then again, what was the point in doing that ? Call him to tell him what? That he had got it all backwards? That it might have started like a devious, well outlined plan in the beginning, that I had intentionally manipulated him, played with his feelings and carefully tested the waters before finally deciding to use him for purposes that would never even cross his self conceited mind, but none of that mattered because I had fallen in my own trap by the end of the day? That I could literally feel the earth beneath my feet shaking as during an earthquake in his absence?

I frowned, disgusted by the low, shameful methods I had used to get him do what I wanted, by the unpardonably long string of lies I had been injecting him with ever since we got there…

The worst part of it all was that I was rapidly running out of time and I had no clue about what my next step should be…My charade wasn't going to last much longer-that I could tell - and I was absolutely positive that he was going to question my real intentions way before I got to the point of staging the attack on Athens….

My chest felt unnaturally heavy, as heavy as a Roman armour..I sighed again, cursing the minute his totally unexpected emotional involvement had set a fire so wild in my heart, that I just couldn't get myself to ignore it….

Despite the regrettable dimness of the situation, as so many times in the past, my purpose was strikingly clear: a lot of people were depending on me and I couldn't let them down. The lives of hundreds of innocents were hanging by a thread….Ironically enough, the thickness of that thread was bluntly menaced more and more by my evolving relationship with Ares….Once again, I had to bury my feelings deep and act according to the need of others…Once again, I was forced to push him out of my heart for the sole reason of keeping a broad perspective on things…Gods knew that with him constantly haunting my thoughts, reality was always foggy, dangerously subjective and uncertain….

...As seconds passed, I closed my eyes real hard, doing the impossible to stop the images from unfolding and the tears from falling...That soft trail of kisses that he had so sensually spread down my spine hours earlier, felt like thorns now. My entire body hurt and my heart felt as if someone had torn chunks of it and twisted them around a broken rib...But damn he was right…we were perfect together…

...Out of the imperious need of finding some sort of distraction I started gazing at the intricate patterns covering the walls of his room...My efforts didn't last long though, for, in but a matter of minutes, my mind was already drifting back to him, feverishly analyzing any possible hidden meanings of his lines, hoping to find the one fatal error in my attitude that had caused his explosive reaction.

One more furtive glance in the direction of the bed was enough to make me desperately want to call him..I bit my lower lip as hard as I could, vainly trying to prevent the words from leaving my mouth...….

Nevertheless, the very moment I felt the distinct, metallic taste of blood on the tip of my tongue, the corrupted sounds of his addictive name formed their specific melody into the air... I shivered at that longing note in my voice...

"Aressss..."

XXX

As I left the fortress, my head was spinning. The chaos that this woman had unleashed inside me was literally making me go insane. I loved her and hated her at the same time, with an incredible, titan like force. I hated her for being that perfect, for being exactly what I had wanted her to be just to paradoxically prove me wrong….Now that I finally seemed to have her back, thirsty for blood and vengeance just like I had always wanted her to be, completely willing to see and experience things my way, now that we were finally seeing eye to eye when it came to our perspective on world domination- even if different motives were pushing us in that particular direction- everything appeared to be falling apart inside my wretched soul….Now that I had her, I didn't want her anymore…not like that…

In the vain attempt to get a grip of myself, I mercilessly punched one of the countless marble columns of Aphrodite's temple ….And yes, that's the first location that came into my mind once I entered the vortex…I really needed to talk to someone, or, by Styx, half of Greece was to be covered in blood by morning light.

Seeing that my airheaded Sis wasn't there, I decided to pick up her trail through the aether…Imagine my surprise when the vortex opened, throwing me at the outskirts of Athens…..

"Show me the Goddess of Love. " I briefly commanded to the now opened portal.

My jaw instantly fell to the ground when I saw her just a mile away , already inside the city, accompanied by none other than the blabbering Bard….

"Well I'll be damned….She did take the bait " I whispered in excitement, and suddenly ,the night itself looked visibly more starry and bright, from any possible angle…

One meaningless exchange between them and a hug later, and Dite was gone from the picture, materializing by my side instead.

" Are you following me?" she harshly asked, slapping my chest.

I just wrapped my arms around her and placed a short but affectionate kiss on her rose pink lips.

" Not you, Darling, not you….."

She gazed at me wonderingly for a couple of seconds before the interrogatory began.

"Ok…what are you up to…?"

"Do I have to be up to something? Maybe I'm just keeping an eye on her…."

I must admit it, that sounded as ridiculous as Zeus wearing an organza nightgown while sitting on his throne.

"Keeping an eye ….on Gabrielle…..?" she laughed. "Do pigs fly?"

" No, but you will soon if you don't tell me what is she doing here…." I playfully replied on my bad boy tone, making her chuckle softly.

"You're so cute when you play the bad guy…"

"Irresistible " I corrected, my eyes now firmly fixed on her lips, sensually licking mine while still waiting for an answer.

"Are you flirting with me Stud?"

" I guess I am…" I replied, gently caressing her bemused face with the tip of my fingers, as if she were a rare, priceless marble statue.

" Well, you do know how to make a girl talk..." she sighed. " All I know is that it has something to do with your Warrior Princess…..She said she had to stop her from making the biggest mistake of her life….I was obviously curious what she was talking about, so ...I did her a favor and brought her here."

She paused a bit, and for a moment there, I felt hypnotized by the infinite blue of her wide, inquisitive moons, so strikingly similar to Xena's. I unconsciously gazed away, an absolutely insignificant gesture one might say, but enough for my fairly observant sister to realize that something was wrong.

"Oh oh! Do I smell love problems?"

Busted!

" I don't know what you're talking about. " I stupidly denied, despite the fact that I had initially looked for her, eager to make a confession….

And while I was still lost in that electrifying, stunning gaze that had unwillingly captured my undivided attention, right out of nowhere, it hit me: it was the screwed up Bard who had been the main cause of my confusion all along….She was the only one to be blamed for having planted that crazy idea in my head, that ever so ludicrous but mind grinding idea according to which my influence on Xena was bound to destroy her ….It was all her fault…

"You've finally realized that drawing her in your bloody world again would only turn you into her executioner, that you would only end up crushing her spirit!" she told me….

I just had to smirk at the awareness that I had underestimated her….She wasn't as stupid as I had thought her to be, quite the contrary…The irritating Blondie was a tough little Bitch, that had cunningly got me dancing to her tune, expertly drifting me further and further away from Xena in the cleanest and most irreproachable way possible...

"What?" Aphrodite worriedly asked, sensing my change in energy.

"Nothing…..I've just realized what I have to do….And I should have done it a looooong time ago….."

" What are you talking about?" she said, barely above a whisper.

I just gave her a devilish grin, placing one more kiss, on her forehead this time, before I left that unwelcoming place.

"Do you know what is the best way for someone to achieve their goals?"…. I sharply questioned, winking at her.

She didn't get the chance to answer. By the time her brain started processing the information, I had already vanished in a shower of blue sparkles, leaving her dumbfounded at the gates of the city.