" I'm sorry Xena I hope you can forgive me…."

XXX

As soon as the alarmed War God left the temple, he literally stormed the aether to the place where he knew his Sister was performing her childish magic tricks, in the ultimate attempt of leaving a bunch of brain washed, utterly imbecile peasants agape…..

He quickly discovered just how right he had been in assuming that she was doing exactly that- enjoying being worshiped in other words- when he finally spotted her, sitting on an artistically sculpted, golden throne, all covered in flowers, surrounded by a savage hoard of desperate men and women begging for her to heal their children….

He rolled his eyes at the cheaply staged scene….For the love of Zeus, he couldn't get himself to understand how exactly could she stand that horrid smell coming from their sweaty bodies….

With firm, hasty steps he started making way towards her, pushing a couple of very displeased with his macho attitude peasants aside, wondering just how upset she would be if he were to reduce a few of those obnoxious imbeciles to ashes.

" Xena's in labor…We need to split…" he whispered against her ear after having mockingly humored her with a perfectly elegant reverence.

"Already? Isn't it too soon?" she immediately questioned, as judging by her squeaky modulations, she appeared more than concerned about the situation.

" I have no idea, but one thing I do know….she's in tremendous pain. So stop chatting and let's go already! "

" Are you in a hurry somewhere little Brother?" a very familiar, devious voice filled the air around them, seconds before Athena had materialized just a few yards away from him, accompanied by Artemis, goddess of Hunting and Wilderness…..

" Yeah….Some very needy Priestesses are waiting for me with their legs opened and pussies dripping, ready for a barbaric fuck !" he snapped, her mere presence irking the very Tartarus out of him.

" Isn't that romantic? And you need Aphrodite's assistance because….." she satirically inquired, arching an eyebrow at his absolutely fantastic tale.

" I want to fuck her in the ass first…..She has a very special talent of turning me on big time…."

While the crowd around them gasped in revolt and Artemis threw him a disapproving glare, Athena limited her reaction at snarling in disgust at the intolerable obscenity of his comment….In her opinion, he surely wasn't worth the effort…..

Right behind him, the Love Goddess was the only one flashing a proud, shining grin.

"Just so you know, he's not joking" she said, only managing to make her Sister's face twist into an even more scandalized grimace. " And the way in which he can use that big, pounding co…."

Her line was unexpectedly interrupted by another explosion of booming uproars when that impressive ocean of people suddenly began expressing their vivid protest against such particularly unnatural but captivating family affair….. That until Ares threw a fire ball towards one of them, of course. During the following couple of seconds, they all started running in despair like a heard of mad cows, bumping into each other as if a natural disaster was about to wipe them all out from the face of the Earth.

"Now we can finally enjoy our little family reunion…." Ares remarked, winking at Athena playfully. "What's up Sis?"

" That monstrous child of yours, that's what's up. Where is she Brother? Where are you hiding Xena? Tell me!" she howled , clenching her fists at him..

" ….And spoil all the fun? No way! " he challenged, laughing in her face.

" By now, all Olympus is on your trail Ares. Tell me where Xena is, and maybe, with a bit of luck, Father will be merciful enough to spare your worthless life! "

" …Only if he gets to live that much! The Twilight's upon us, remember ?…." he theatrically replied-raising his hands towards the Heavens- imitating their Father, silently wondering though how much it would take for the dramatic event to begin. Would it be days, months, years….decades? No one could actually tell….And what if the prophecy wasn't true in the first place….?

With a slight shake of his head, he left all those somber thoughts aside.

"Have you seen your future, Ares? We will all perish." Artemis rushed to back up Athena's position regarding the child.

" You mean you will all perish …." he insolently retorted, fascinated in a way by the glorious perspective of getting to finally live the rest of his immortal days in holy peace, having no one to nag him 24/7...

" Yes…we! Your family! " Athena harshly reminded him, totally scandalized by his inexcusable lack of solidarity when it came to his own kin.

" ...Are we talking about the same family that's after my own flesh and blood?"

His words slashed the air like a Japanese katana, making both Goddesses flinch.

" Yes. But it's not really the child you're worried about, is it ? No, of course not! …..It's that cold blooded Bitch you're trying so hard to protect…." she said, closing in the distance between them until they were just a few inches apart.

He narrowed his eyes at her, as he felt a dark, lethal wave of rampaging hate fueling him.

"Calm down. You might pop an artery or something…What I'm actually trying to say is that we have nothing against Xena, Brother. As far as we're concerned, she can live a long, happy life, righting wrongs, fighting villains, settling down, running an inn ...whatever, we really don't care. It's her daughter we want. The Bringer of Twilight…" she clarified, doing her best to sound as impartial as possible.

" You mean….my little girl….?" Ares questioned, gnashing his teeth furiously.

"No. I mean Dahak's little girl. There is no One God, Ares. That's the child of Darkness. Just like Hope was, but much worse. How can you not sense that?! "

Instead of offering her a proper reply, Ares just smacked her dead in the face, sending her flying straight to Artemis' feet.

"Come on Dite, let's go….."

" She's not going anywhere. You're in this alone, dear Brother. " the fuming Goddess devilishly spit, once she got up her feet again. " We have little Cuppie, Aphrodite…I'm sure you'd prefer to keep seeing him alive and well instead of planting flowers on his grave…..."

To Ares' surprise, the Love Goddess just cast their pesky Sister a contemptuous glance, refusing to fall for that abject blackmail.

" Do anything to harm him, and you'll be spending the rest of eternity worshiping the ever so charming personality of a toothless rat that you'll be kissing on the mouth day in, day out!" she icily stated, grabbing Ares' arm.

" Do you actually think that you can defeat us all, Ares?" Athena finally exploded. " The minute your daughter sees the light of day, Zeus will know where to find her. Make sure to give her a sweet goodbye kiss before we get there, cause once we do, she will become nothing more than a memory forever engraved in that empty brain of yours!"

" I'll be waiting for you, Sis. Just make sure you fight in the first line. I can't wait to stick a dagger through your heart.!"

" Right…..Too bad that before you get to do that, both Xena and her brat will be given their own private tour through the pits of Tartarus!"

" Dream on it, you frustrated Bitch"

" I'm sorry to disappoint you, Brother, but that's no dream….It's pure, unmodified reality…" she continued, smirking at him.

" Ares….She's stalling. Something's wrong. Let's go. "

In less than a blink they were gone, and while Aphrodite's mind was still unwillingly hooked to that inhuman menace her own Sister had launched regarding her son, Ares was barely able to control that strangling need to unleash at least a part of all that maddening fury against someone….His head felt like a washing machine in which all thoughts were chaotically whirling without a specific purpose, everything on the exasperating background sound of a dozen hammers hitting some hidden gong somewhere in his brain...