Title: King of the Gods (3/?)
Author: Artemis Luna Diana
Email: artemislunadiana@yahoo.com
Rating: R
Fandom: Xena/Herc.
Pairing: Ares/Joxer, Cupid/Strife
Disclaimer: I own not a thing.
Warning: homosexuality, sex, reference to character death
Summary: Challenge response to Shadwmage7: Joxer becomes King of the Gods.
Status: WIP
Archive: AJCS, all others please ask.
Website: and
Thanks to: BlackUmbridge for the excellent beta.
Notes: My mythology source for this little piece of adventure was: .
"blah" - verbal
'blah' - thoughts
***
Chapter Three
***
"Considering that Psyche lived with Cupid, when she bothered to go home anyway, the Mind godhood does not have a Temple attached to it. For now at least, you can stay with me in my Temple. Once you've finished your training, you can move out, or you can stay. It'll be your choice." Joxer said as he flashed the two of them to the home of the King of the Gods.
Joxer and Xena looked around the extravagant Temple. "There's no question who this belonged to," Xena said dryly and gestured to the overly large statue of Zeus.
As the two explored the Temple, Joxer began explaining the relationships that had existed on Olympus before their ascension, so Xena would have a better idea of whom to expect trouble from. After they finished exploring, they ended up in Zeus' former bedchamber. Joxer explained what he was doing and how he was doing it, as he rid the room of all its furniture and trappings. Left with a blank canvas, he began redecorating. He stuck with the basics: a bed and a mirror. He would create more furniture as it was needed. The color scheme was white, blue, and gold.
Once Joxer was done, they went to the next room where Xena tried her hand at redecorating her new bedroom. As Joxer had done before her, she got rid of the furniture. You never knew if Zeus had been "visiting" his guests, and she most certainly did not want to sleep in a bed that Zeus had been in. Blood and gore may not make her squeamish, but thoughts of that dirty old man certainly did. Xena also kept things simple: a bed, that took a few tries to make properly; a mirror, which she needed Joxer's help on, and a stand for her armor and weapons, which she got on the first try. Her room was done in dark gray, dark blue, and dark purple.
Once she was finished, Joxer returned to his own chambers and slowly allowed sleep to claim him.
***
Strife didn't know quite what to think or even what to feel. He guessed it was shock finally settling in. Delayed reaction and all that. He knew that in their own way his family cared for him, but he'd never expected... his mother had cried over him. Had he been mortal, she would have crushed him within her embrace. Phobus and Demios had clutched the two of them sobbing.
He didn't know which frightened him more: his mother crying or the Gods of Fear and Panic. Even Ares hadn't been unmoved. After the shock wore off, the God of War had petted his head and his eyes had seemed a bit misty. But the God of War crying? Over him?
Strife kept expecting to wake up from some seriously twisted dream, but it just wasn't happening.
Ares had sent everyone to bed, and Eris had dragged Strife with her. He had vague memories of his mother allowing him to sleep with her when he had still been young, but by the time he was five it was a thing never mentioned and never allowed.
It had taken awhile for Eris to fall asleep, and the death grip she had on him to ease. He carefully got out of the bed and crept out of the room. As he figured, Ares was still awake and, from the expression on the War God's face, was thinking again.
"What does he want in return?" Ares asked and gestured for Strife to take the seat opposite him.
"He said he doesn't want anything, that you don't owe him anything. He brought me back for his own reasons."
"Did he say what they were?"
"That he wanted the best person for the job, and I was the best for my godhood. He's filled all the vacancies."
Ares frowned. "Do you know who they are?"
"Some guy named Zeraclies is the new God of Vegetation. Cycrops is the new God of the Sky. Iolaus is Retribution, and Xena is Goddess of the Mind."
"Xena? What happened to Psyche?"
"Joxer stripped her of her godhood and banished her from Olympus. Cut all her ties to Olympus, too."
"Well, that's something at least," Ares muttered, his distaste for his ex-daughter-in-law showing through. "Do you know what happened to Zeus?"
"Only that he was stripped of his godhood."
Ares was quite a moment. "We have to act quickly before he gains any allies among the other gods."
"It's too late. He's already got them."
"Who?" Ares demanded.
"To begin with, Gaia and Tethys didn't just use him to get rid of Zeus. They're completely in support of his rule. Which means that anyone who follows their example is now behind Joxer. He's got Athena completely in his corner as well. She talks about him like he's... I dunno how to describe it. I've never heard her so respectful of anyone. And from something she said, I think Aesclepius will support him too."
Ares stood and began to pace. "Considering Aphrodite's previous encounters with him, she'll probably join his supporters too."
"Joxer was one of her favorites."
Ares head snapped up, and he pinned Strife with a look of frustration. "I didn't know that," he admitted and began pacing. "Aphrodite is definitely a lost cause then."
"If he's got Aphrodite, he's also got Hephaestus and Hestia," Strife pointed out.
Both Gods looked up as they heard someone enter the room. Demios gave them a shaky smile.
"I thought I told you to get some rest," Ares chastised.
"Couldn't sleep," the younger God replied with a shrug of his shoulders. "I went to the Underworld instead. Joxer's got Hades and Persephone."
Ares gave in and punched the wall. He fixed the resulting hole with a thought. "If he's got them, he's got the Underworld."
"That leaves our allies and Apollo and Artemis' group," Strife said, pointing out how thoroughly Joxer had taken over.
"There's no one else?" Demios asked shocked.
"Hera and her supporters," Ares replied disgusted. "Demeter, maybe Poseidon. It depends on whether or not he follows Tethys' example."
"Joxer wants the pantheon to be united. He's going to be thinking of ways to bring everyone else into his fold. That includes us," Strife informed them.
"How's he going to do that?" Demios asked.
"He's probably going to start off by marrying people off," Strife replied.
"Including himself. The position of Queen of the Gods has to be filled," Ares continued.
"Well, who's he going to marry?" Demios asked.
Ares returned to his seat and exchanged a look with his first lieutenant. "Artemis," Strife offered.
"Hebe," Ares continued.
"Mom."
"Demeter."
"That's disgusting!" Demios gasped at Ares' suggestion.
Strife giggled.
"He'll probably use Iolaus, Xena, and Athena for marriage bargains," Ares said, ignoring Demios' reaction.
"Oooo, Unc' you could end up with Athena for a wife!" Strife said and began laughing hysterically.
"Okay, that's enough," Ares said, putting a halt to the speculation.
It was silent a moment, before Demios spoke again. "How did he do it?"
"What?" Strife asked, glancing at his cousin.
"How did he beat Zeus?"
"His power base is extremely strong. Even if he only had one of the godhoods, he'd still be very strong," Ares replied.
"Well, yeah, I knew that. I meant, how did he learn how to use his powers without Zeus or anyone else finding out?"
Ares stared at Demios in shock.
"Tethys and Gaia were shielding him," Strife replied.
"No. Zeus would have found out the second Joxer started using his powers. The first time he used his powers was when he attacked Zeus."
"But that's impossible," Strife said confused. "No one instinctively knows how to be a God. Everyone has to be trained."
Ares stood up. "We need to see what we can find out from the Halls of Time and if the Fates will tell us anything. Demios, you go see the Fates."
"Okay, Dad," he said and disappeared.
"What about me? Halls of Time?" Strife prompted.
"You are going back to bed."
Strife blinked, but before he could comment, Ares continued.
"I don't want Eris to wake up and you be gone."
Strife nodded slowly. "Okay."
Ares pulled Strife into a quick embrace. "I'm glad you're back," he said then flashed out.
Strife remained frozen for a moment. His family had always been very respectful to each other, but they had never been affectionate. He just didn't know how to cope with all this excess mushiness from his Uncle and his cousins. He returned to his mother's room and climbed back into her bed. Without waking, his mother pulled him back into her embrace. Strife didn't know how long his mother would remain affectionate, but he'd take advantage of this little bit of happiness. He burrowed deeper into her embrace and breathed in her scent. For the first time in a long time, he felt safe.
***
Joxer woke an hour before dawn. He tensed, unsure what woke him, and rose from his bed, dressing himself with a thought. He padded out to the main chamber and found Aphrodite pacing in front of Zeus' statue. When she sensed him, she stopped and turned to face him.
"Did I wake you?"
"It's alright," he soothed. "What's wrong?"
"I keep thinking about what you did for Cupid, and I couldn't figure out why you did it, and then I realized that you're going to marry the opposing sides together, and if Cupid is no longer married then you could use him as one of those to be married, and I wanted to ask you not to. Please, Joxer, don't make my son marry. Psyche really hurt him, and I couldn't bear to see it happen again. I mean Cupid would be faithful, but whoever you married him to wouldn't be. No one in the pantheon remains faithful, unless they're in love, and even then it's not a sure thing, and he's just not ready to deal with it all over again, and he's still got Bliss to care for, and I'll do whatever you want me to Joxer so long as you don't force Cupid to wed."
As Aphrodite paused to take a breath, Joxer held up a hand. "Stop." He guided her to a seat and then thought how best to proceed. "I am planning on using marriage to tie the pantheon together, but Cupid was not one of the ones I was considering. I separated Psyche and Cupid because that was part of her punishment when I removed her godhood."
"Wait," Aphrodite said. "You removed her godhood?"
Joxer frowned. "Yes. I assumed you knew, since you know they are no longer married."
"Cupid came to me when he felt their bond break. Neither one of us knew her godhood had been taken."
"I was going to announce it after Apollo finished his morning duties." He paused, then decided to continue. "But since War knows all of this by now, I'll go ahead and tell you. Zeus and Psyche have been stripped of their godhoods. I won't go into detail about their punishments, you can wait until the official announcement. All of the empty godhoods have been claimed. Strife has been brought back and reclaimed his godhood."
Before Joxer could continue, Aphrodite interrupted. "Strife is back?"
Joxer looked puzzled at her hopeful expression. "Yes?"
She squealed and jumped up to hug him. She bounced for a moment, then glanced around the hall with a grin. "You so need to redecorate, Joxie." Seemingly unable to contain herself, she grabbed him again, only this time she kissed him. With tongue!
Joxer stared at her in shock when she finally let him go.
She giggled. "Thanks, Joxie," she said and disappeared.
Joxer stared bemused at the space she had occupied. "What was that all about?" he wondered aloud. He glanced around the temple. Aphrodite was right: he did need to redecorate. But somehow he didn't think that was what he got the kiss for.
***
TBC...
