''Ares! What's going on here ?!"

The Warrior Princess' sharp voice held both stupefaction, confusion and revolt- an unusual mix when it came to her. One could only rarely surprise the stoic Chosen of War, and given that particular shimmer in Amitys' forest green eyes, she was very proud of herself. All the hard work was finally paying off. In but a matter of minutes, her rival was about to exit the stage- once and for all, and, call it the icing on the cake if you will, this almost historical event was bound to take place right before her lover's eyes- an unexpected bonus that she was going to enjoy to the max- every freaking second of it…. .

Had she taken a few steps back and made even the slightest effort to see the bigger picture, she would have undoubtedly realized that such a perfectly written scenario was just too good to be true of course, but it seemed like for once in her life, the cunning Queen of Babylon was on the dangerous path of fully ignoring the biochemical cascade of signals that her brain was asiduously sending and take a leap of faith instead - faith in herself- in her supernatural abilities tot be more exact- and in her so called relationship with the deadly handsome Olympian.

''Nothing much '' came the War God's stern reply.''Just trying to spice things up a little bit…and testing the waters while I'm at it …''

''Care to elaborate ?" Xena spat,visibly displeased with his answer. Her heart sank ...The nerve that egocentric maniac had!

His following line wasn't any sweeter though, and it was only meant to add even more bitterness to that absolutely horrendous moment.

''Oh you know ….checking to see if my Chosen is still worthy of her titles and privileges…..''

''What is that suppose to mean? Haven't I proven myself enough, you Bastard?!''

And just like that, in but a split second, the ever so in control Chosen of War lost her composure, but sadly, the blood boiling in her veins had little or nothing to do with the actual treath, quickly finding a decent substitute for all the venom she was about to unleash.

'' I killed thousands of people in your name and you're still checking to see if I'm worthy?! ''

The almost palpable fury radiating from her aura only reinforced the Queen's theory that this could hardly be called a confrontation. It was most definitely going to be an easy win and her arrogant smirk did a poor job in desguising her take on things.

''It means that a lot has happened lately and I must admit, I have my doubts ….''

'' About ? My skills? My right to command your army ? Us?!"' Xena hissed, taking a few steps in his direction- his condescending sneer only deepening her urge to gut him like a fish.

She had every intention to skin him alive, Amytis thought and despite herself, for a brief moment she couldn't help thinking that Xena did have a point . Everyone-including her husband- had told her what a brilliant strategist she was- a fearless warrior possessing a unique mix of intelligence and determination to match the one of a god,- not to mention that her reputation preceded her –and yet, there she was, after all this time, struggling to justify her resume to him….Quite pathetic, she finally concluded.

''No need to turn this into a fucking drama, Sweetheart- it's so unlike you! Just shut up and fight! Show me what you're made of!'' he challenged, putting some needed distance between them while exchanging a furtive glance with Amytis- a subtle sign that she had the permission to get that show on the road already, without his godly interference, as promised...

''So Xena…..any other questions? Shall we ?"' the Queen inquired mockingly, swinging that lethal sword above her head, utterly impatient to hack her opponent to pieces and seize what was hers- ARES.

''I thought you'd never ask .I'll shove that blade up your ass, before you even blink !'' the Warrior Princess shouted, leaping into the air right behind the ridiculously confident Queen and hitting her straight in the back, with enough force to send her flying face down in the mud.

The haughty grin caressing her lips faded though the moment when, turning around to bathe in the satisfaction of seeing Amytis'outrageously sexy body covered in flilth she was just a split second away from being beheaded by the razor sharp blade that she barely avoided, unaware that the accursed thing had been flying menacingly right behind her.

''This will be so much fun !'' the Queen exclaimed, noticing that she had taken her opponent completely off guard, waving her hand in a magical gesture that did not mean good news for Xena . At the same time, the blade of Irkalla launched itself into what proved to be an impossible attack for any human being- it was merciless, restless, and flawless, every single strike more powerful and more difficult to parry than the other .

''Tired already, Chosen of War? I hope not, 'cause that would be extremely disappointing and we were really counting on you for a bit of entertainment…'' the Queen's scornful remark atatcked what was left of her pride and, judging by the look on her face, the endless echoes of Ares' bemused laughter was as problematic for the Warrior Princess' morale as that sword itself.

To all appearances, Xena was still flabbergasted to realize that her patron God had basically betrayed her trust and that she had obviously underestimated the force of the passion still burning between the Queen and him.

''You'd like that , wouldn't you?'' the Warrior Princess retorted , making an effort to control her labored breath while struggling to logically find a way out of that mess. One cut…one cut was enough to reunite her with Lyceus and all her long gone relatives sooner than anticipated.

''This isn't a fair fight, Ares!''she yelled with a hoarse, raspy voice, only to cry out in pain as, out of nowhere, a super light arrow pierced her left shoulder, tearing her flesh and shredding blood vessels in the process. Another one just above her upper thigh hit its mark the very following second, leaving the Warrior Princess no time to react .The pain was so intense that she immediately collapsed like a rag doll to the ground-ironically, in the same puddle Amytis had materialized from, just minutes before, and for the love of Gaia, although she had dealt with arrow wounds before, this….this was something else entirely- a stabbing pain like none other she had ever experienced. It left her breathless, her aching lungs scooping up the air in desperate gulps, grinded by the paralyzing sensation that the flesh itself was dissolving from the bones in the immediate area of the wound.

''It was about time, Darphus ! I was starting to worry. …'' Amytis said, stealing a glance behind her to the soldier now walking boastfully towards them.

If she had been stunned before , Xena was now literally in shock. She had killed that conniving scum in the early hours of the morning and hung his corpse for everyone to see it, a cruel but very much useful display of what treason could do, a reminder that the lack of loyalty would never be left unpunished- not in her army…There was no way in Tartarus he was still in one piece!

A quick meaningful gaze in the direction of Ares, and the so called God of War vanished from sight just to reappear in the Halls of War a blink later.

XXX

''Finaaaaaally!'' Aphrodite exclaimed enthusiastically, adoringly admiring herself in the full length mirror from her brother's room ."All that black nearly plunged me into an abyss of despair- not to mention that it made me look soooo old! Geesh! No wonder Ar is so grumpy most of the time!...Now this is what true beauty looks like ! Good taste in fashion and all !'' she said, materializing an off shoulder floral lace see through night gown on her luscious curves- bubblegum pink, if you were wondering about the shade. ''Totally rocking! Oh how I've missed you, you pretty little …''

Her brother's low moan did interrupt her loving speech though, and as if a bell had began ringing inside her head, it hit her that the reason why she had chosen to teleport there out of all places,had nothing to do with her outfit.

''You can do this ….Yes you can….It's not like you're made out of glass. He can't see right through you!'' she whispered- doing her best to summon enough courage as to continue their little sharade- gulping noisily a few times before she decided to dramatically run towards the bed where Ares was laying, ready to do her number.

Taking a closer look at the War God, she couldn't help thinking that his expression was anything but peaceful- quite the contrary, he had the appearance of a man who had been tormented by Hades's hecatonchires themselves.

''There goes nothing...''

A small puff out of a pearly white bottle and the sound asleep god was already starting to come to his senses.

''Studd Muffin! Studd Muffin ! What are you doing ?Wake up! '' she shrieked, shaking him as if there was no tomorrow .

''Dite?'' he mumbled, barely able to keep his eyes open.'' What's wrong ?''

''What do you mean what's wrong? ! I've been trying to find you for half an hour! The Warrior Babe! She's in trouble! You gotta save her Bro' !''