"Aressssss !" the God's name left her lips- a mere whisper that the Bard was absolutely certain the cocky Olympian would fail to hear- on such an overwhelmed with grief tone that the broken sound of it could have made goose bumps appear on right about anyone's skin.

"Why are you calling him?" Gabrielle's totally overwrought exclamation broke out beyond control, from the very depths of her offended being.

Despite the dimness of the situation, her leafy green eyes still found the nerve to stare somehow accusingly at her hard to get friend, a reaction that she began regretting but seconds later, when, the birth of some fantastically brilliant idea, made her view things from a totally different perspective that instantly rushed to reveal it's so called "truth" to her :

"Does it have anything to do with the soldiers? It was him, wasn't he? He sent them…. "

Except for two more tears gliding down the Warrior Princess' face, no answer was given to satisfy the Bard's inborn curiosity or to extinguish that highly unjustifiable wrath burning her soul at that very moment.

And, just to complete the picture –and probably to fuel her shaky nervous system with a bit more rage- no sooner had she finished her phrase, that, only a couple of meters away from them, casting a silvery blue flash show light all around him, the annoyingly arrogant, self conceited War God made an appearance.

A brief, routine scan of the place and, seconds later, after a closer inspection of one of the cut in half bodies, the Olympian just felt the urge to nod approvingly:

"Now this is what I call a modern, art deco scenery…Extremely futuristic….certainly makes my adrenaline hit the roof….Did the two of you work at it…all by yourselves? "

Without stopping her fingers from caressing Xena's silky tresses, the fuming Bard just drilled him with a troubled, disoriented stare in response, her perfectly shaped frown confessing- in a rather indirect way, yes, but still a confession, nonetheless-quite an impressive quantity of all those frightening, murderous intentions that her busy brain had began projecting under the form of some pretty plastic images from the very minute he decided to respond to his Chosen's call.

Skillfully deciphering her coded message, The Olympian was unable to hold back that trademark, naughty grin of his…. Despite having noticed the Blonde's distressed demeanor from the very second he had materialized on the field, the concept of at least bothering to wonder what could have saddened the irritating Sidekick to that extent, was nothing but a far cry from his any thought- no matter how insignificant….

On the other hand, Xena's passiveness was rather disturbing….She hadn't made one stingy comment related to his previous lines- if that wasn't out of the ordinary, then nothing was- plus, her face was still turned away from him, somehow sheltered by the Bard's comforting hands.

"So….uh….." he began talking, making sure to gradually close in the distance between them, visually searching for his Princess' eyes, more than intrigued to find out what could the rare reason of her calling him, might have been. "…are you like…praying for the dead or something….?" the rather hilarious question erupted -given the concerning reality of those actual circumstances.

There was a long, afflicting pause, during which nobody said anything….in which Gabrielle was literally itching with eagerness to start ranting, but -in the absence of any type of answer- she simply preferred to expectantly redirect her gaze back at Xena, she herself waiting for some kind of explanation….

Two more steps was all it took for the highly observant God to shockingly notice a detail that the blatantly inattentive Bard had foolishly missed: that crimson stream of warm blood generously flowing from his Princess' palms…..She was clearly hurt, and the wound had been evidently inflicted by none other than the sharp edge of the sword she had been unconsciously clutching into her hands for some time now….

A blink later, as he finally reached the right angle to see her face, he almost froze in terror the moment he laid eyes on that inhuman amount of dark torment and pain written all over her beautiful features…..

An unprecedented feeling of panic instantly crept into his heart and thousands of scenarios began whirling inside his mind while he slowly curled up at her feet, carefully taking the sword from her hand as if afraid that she could willingly try to hurt herself….To his relief, she immediately let go of the blade , as if she didn't even realize she had been holding it all that time …

Needless to say that the sight of blood on her friend's hands just like the despondency of the situation made Gabrielle's eyes almost pop out of her head and her jaw drop to the floor in shock almost simultaneously, unable to comprehend what in the world was the vital liquid's origin - given the fact that just minutes before she had expertly checked the Warrior's body for any sign of possible injuries, only to discover that except for a few scratches and bruises , there was nothing alarming to be considered.

"Xena….?!" her partially chocked voice broke the silence while with the disruptive gestures of a madman she rushed to feverishly examine each and every inch of her skin for any visible or invisible wounds….

She finally stopped in surprise the moment she felt that pungently harsh slap that Ares' unbelievable calmness virtually threw her….When their gazes connected, she swallowed nosily before bowing hear head in shame and withdrawing her inquisitive fingers from Xena's stiff body….

She briefly glanced at the God again….As always, he seemed so relaxed, so in control, so fully conscious of everything that was happening around him , that she couldn't help thinking that from his perspective she must have resembled some ignorant, little peasant girl that for the first time in her life had found herself outside the comfort of her parents' protection and the idea of actually facing the difficulties of life scared the living Hell out of her….

What she couldn't in fact tell , was that Ares' level of anxiety and utter fear had reached astronomical heights way before hers had, and that it was costing him all of his godly power and will to keep that mask of never changing composure of his from breaking to pieces on his face- and all of that for Xena's sake, who, at least in his opinion, was way to shaken up so that she could actually stand having some else panicking around her.

The truth is that he was absolutely horrified to see her like that and her visible agony was tearing him apart with impressive speed….

When he started speaking though, firmly pulling himself together, his voice – despite the impossible to hide concern reverberating through his every syllable- was shooting, warm and carrying just like she had always heard it whenever she was on the verge of a nervous breakdown….

With the most delicate touch he was capable of, he softly wiped away her tears with the back of his hand…Her eyes were injected and red despite the fact that she had barely shed a couple of tears…..

"Princess…? Sweetie, what's wrong?"

In the absence of an answer, he quickly shifted his gaze towards the surrounding field instead, scanning the area with considerably more attention this time, hoping from the bottom of his mangled heart to find even the slightest clue about the unspoken tragedy that might have happened. When he didn't find any-the place looked pretty much like any other regular battlefield- he just placed an affectionate, protective kiss on her forehead.

…Something must have broken inside her at the contact, because, feeling the comfort of his nearness, she finally burst into tears, literally jumping into his arms with a desperation that made Gabrielle wanna look away in a zippy, unable to suppress any more the effects of that enormous wave of rage and jealousy crushing her heart from painting their true colors on the surface of her eyes…..

As ashamed as she was about the impudence of her reaction, the Bard found herself in the incapacity of doing anything concrete about it….Nonetheless, she bit her lip hard while doing her best to snap out of it - given the fact that the old habit of balling up her fists in the attempt of unleashing a part of that consuming frustration scorching everything from her stomach to her chest, led to no effective results….For the love of Zeus…the whole scene made no sense what so ever.

Ares on the other hand, during those immortally long seconds, felt at least one hundred times more helpless and fragile than any of those weak, pitiful mortals that he loved to hate with such blind, boundless passion…

Overly alarmed by his Princess' unnatural reaction, he just shifted his imploring eyes to Gabrielle as if begging for answers. She simply shrugged her shoulders, an apologetic expression painted on her face….She had nothing useful to tell him….She couldn't help in any way….She was just as clueless as he was….

"Shttt…" he vainly tried to calm her trembling form, putting a bit more force into his embrace, hugging her even tighter against his chest. "It's ok Darling, it's ok….."

"No it's not…" she barely managed to mumble in between broken sobs and irregular breaths….

Seeing his pride and joy as helpless as that, falling apart with each new breath entering her lungs, was inconceivable…He was so accustomed to the addictive sight of watching her win al fights at all times – no matter the cost- that more often than he cared to admit it- even to himself-he foolishly forgot that she was but flesh and bones and not iron and steel like he had wanted her to be….

"What happened?" he directly launched the question the minute their gazes accidentally interconnected.

Once more , her tongue refused to articulate the right words…..They couldn't possibly understand, but she was simply unable to voice it….she couldn't ….

"Show me….." he finally encouraged, apparently getting the drill…

It only lasted a millisecond or so, but her transfixed stare drifted unconsciously towards the damn blade she had been clutching into her hands right before the God took it away from her….

….His eyes followed hers, trying to solve a puzzle that at least until that very moment had no pieces what so ever…..The instant he took a closer look at the object of her terror, he sensed an unimaginable stab of pain and an equally wave of hate take over his every sense…. The earth itself started shaking violently under his feet, as his hands went almost immediately to his throbbing temples, completely flabbergasted at the implication of that sword's presence…

Gabrielle didn't dare ask what it was, but she had clearly seen the specter of death mirrored into his black pitch eyes…..Whatever it was, it was bad….

Without uttering a word, he just pulled Xena into his arms again, and mentally voiced a ritual prayer to the Fates that he could somehow find to strength to be there for her…..He hadn't felt like that in a long time, but the urge of drowning the entire space between earth and heaven in blood had never seem that irresistible before…..

"By the Gods…" he absently heard himself murmur against her shoulder, closing his eyes for a few seconds while the same endless stream of accursed memories began it's barbaric attack against his mind….

"Ares what's wrong with her….? " Gabrielle finally demanded to know, unable to restrain those tormenting worries any more….

He didn't bother gracing her with an answer- acting as if her question hadn't even reached his ears- but he did hear Xena's unrecognizable voice instead, pleading for a mind-blowing favor, one that finally made Gabrielle realize just how threatening and somber the situation must have been, whatever the details…

"….. Just take me away from here….Somewhere safe…."

"Aphroditeeeeee!" the Olympian called on the apocalyptic note of a ruthless Entity meant to bring about the end of the known world along with it's undeniable presence….

From the moment his perplexed Sister made an appearance, and the one Ares gave the order, it was but a matter of seconds.

"Take Gabrielle with you. We'll talk later. "

He didn't waste any more words and disappeared from sight, his Princess encased safely in his shielding embrace….