In his weaken state Ares would not be able to accompany them; so they would have to find a way to conceal his location amongst the trees in the forest. But if someone were to still find him Ares would have no way of protecting himself, which meant that it would be best if someone stayed with him instead.
"Who do you think should stay?" Hercules asked.
"I think Eve should" Morrigan answered.
"Yeah, that'll work" Solan said in agreement.
"No, I'm going" Eve spoke out in a dominant voice. And for one moment even she was surprised by her tone. "What! But there's no point in you going. What are you going to do pray the soldiers way?" Evander asked, in a mocking voice.
"For your information I can fight, no doubt better than you" Eve replied, defensively.
"Yeah right, and let me guess all this time you were just taking it easy. Right?" Evander asked, with a chuckle.
"It's true she can fight extremely well, but I'm not sure about this" Xena said.
"Mother I am not going to stand by and do nothing"
"Eve the last thing I need is for you to lose your path over this"
"I won't, trust me. Mother I'm begging you, you and I both know how good I am. And I wouldn't be able to live with my self if I knew I wasn't able to help you when you needed me the most"
Xena stared into the eyes of her daughter and saw a younger version of her self many years ago. When the warlord Cortese first attacked Amphipolis. She understood what was going on in Eve's mind, so how could she possible dismiss her daughter's plea for consent.
"…Okay" Xena hesitantly agreed.
"But wait, now who's going to stay with Ares?" Morrigan asked, with a small speck of irritation in her voice.
"I will" Brigid answered.
"Are you sure about this?" Morrigan asked, concern hiding the relief she felt knowing that her daughter was not coming with them to face Dahak.
"Yeah I'm sure"
"Good then Brigid will stay here while we find a way into the castle" Gabrielle said.
As far as they could tell the sun was still shinning brightly as the afternoon began to creep away. Gabrielle was sitting beside Ares just as the others had done moments before; trying to ease his mind.
"This isn't goodbye you know" The bard said, with a tear trailing down her face.
"Then what is it?" Ares asked, in a voice that was barely a whisper.
"Just think of it, as 'I'll see you later'"
"Well when you say it that way, it makes everything better" Ares replied in his usual sarcastic tone.
"I see you haven't lost your sense of humor"
"I guess not" He replied, with a few coughs.
Gabrielle made a small sigh as a sadden smile appeared on her face. It was strange, not too long ago she thought of Ares as her enemy, but now he was more like a friend of sorts. Sure a reluctant one, but a friend none the less.
"Everything will be fine, just hang in there" Gabrielle said, half expecting a sarcastic replied from Ares. But it never came, instead he merely nodded.
Soon after that Gabrielle turned to find Xena standing behind her. With a composed look that tried to hide the anxiety she felt inside. Gabrielle turned back to Ares.
"I'll leave you two alone" She said, getting up. She walked to Xena and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder before walking away.
Ares watched as Xena came closer and kneeled down beside him. His eyes never leaving hers, and hers never leaving his. He wished he could just hold her one last time and feel her silky smooth skin against his. To feel their lips meeting together in a passionate dance, and to be entangled in her warmth. He wanted so much to simply touch her, but when he tried the shooting pain in his body quickly stopped him.
"Ares" Xena said, as she gently grasped his ice-cold hands.
She hated to see him like this so weak, so helpless, so fragile. And in some way she believed she was to blame. She should have been the one suffering the slow painful agonizing death he was going through, not him. Damn it, she thought, why did it have to be this way, why did he have to interfere? He had no right to interfere, she could have handled it. Or at least that was what she told her self.
But her guilt would not allow her to get angry with him. She knew she had no right to put the blame on him, after all he was just trying to protect her. And there was no doubt in her mind that if Ares had known what would have happened to him, before he fought the dark warrior, he still would have done it to save her. She so deeply wanted to let her guard down, to not hide her fear, and have him hold her tight in his arms. But she knew that was more of a dream than a reality.
"What are you thinking about?" Ares asked.
"…Nothing" Xena replied, startled.
"I guess I got my self into a real mess this time"
"Looks like it"
"Luckily I have my warrior princess to protect me" Ares said, with a partial smile.
Xena couldn't help but smile back, and for a moment she forgot all about Dahak. But only for a moment.
"Ares… if I could change what happened that day, it would be me--"
"Stop!… Don't you ever think something like that again. Got it?" Ares said, in a slightly rough voice.
Xena looked into his eyes. His face, pale and tired showed no real emotion. But his eyes were filled with hurt and pain. At that moment Xena felt a hollow feeling in her heart. She looked away from him as her face became filled with a small trace of shame.
"But still I could have done something"
"Xena, it wasn't your fault" He struggled to say.
"Then why do I feel like it was?" She asked turning back to him. "Ares you're going to die if Dahak wins, and I'm starting to wonder if we're going to be able beat him. For all we know Dahak could have already gained all his powers by now"
"Don't worry, he hasn't"
"How can you be so sure?"
"Because if he did…we'd both be dead by now"
"Yeah that made me feel a whole lot better"
Ares made a small chuckle, which soon turned into a sequence of coughs.
"Are you okay?"
"…Do I look okay?"
"You know what I meant" She said, raising an eyebrow and tilting her head to the side.
"Yeah, but I love it when you make that face"
Xena made a wry smile then rolled her eyes.
"Xena, in case I don't make it--"
"Shhhh" Xena said, bringing her fingers to his lips. "You'll make it, and you'll be right here waiting for us when we come back"
Ares made a small nod and kissed her fingertips before she moved them. Xena then heard the sound of footsteps coming from behind her, but didn't care to turn around to see who it was.
"Xena it's time" Hercules said standing behind her.
"Okay" Xena replied, while still looking at Ares. She leaned in closer towards him. "I'll be back" She whispered, as she stroked his hair back then placed a loving kiss on his forehead.
"I'll be here waiting" He whispered back.
Xena sat there gazing at him for a moment before getting up and walking away. Ares watched as she soon disappeared amongst the trees. He then looked up at Hercules who was still standing there, with his arms crossed. Attempting to hide his obvious sadness Ares tried to clear his painfully sore throat.
"What?" Ares asked in a hoarse voice, as he pretended to look down at the ground.
"Do you care about her?"
"What, isn't it a little obvious don't you think?"
"No, I want to hear you say it" Hercules demanded.
He knew Ares the God of War would never admit he actually cared for someone, let alone loved them. His pride would never allow him to confess to something so un war like. Something that was such a mortal emotion. But if Ares had truly changed then he would have no problem answering the question truthfully. Hercules thought to himself.
"What's wrong Ares, cat got your tongue?"
"Funny" Ares replied then paused. That bustard. Ares thought to him self. Who the Tartars does he think he is, asking me a stupid question like that. Of course I care about her, and damn it he knows that. He's just trying to be a jackass as usual. Well then to Tartarus with him, I'm in no mood for this bullshit. "I don't think it's any of your concern"
"Ares if this is another one of your dumb ass games, I'll kill you my self" Hercules said with hatred burning in his voice.
"Does this look like a game?" Ares asked, finally turning to look at him.
"No, but usually when you're involved things have a way of being a lie"
"Well this is not a game…and I don't need your damn approval" Ares struggled to say.
"Never said you did, but Xena is my friend and I don't want to see her get hurt"
"How noble of you, Herc."
"Just answer the question. Do you care about her or not?"
He's not going to let up is he? The moral god asked him self. Fine then I'll just say it. What's the big deal anyway, it's not like I'll be any less of a man. But if I do answer him he would have won in a sense. Getting the God of War to admit to something that was the opposite of everything he stood for. No, I'm not going to confess anything to that little jerkules. But if I say I don't he'll probably tell Xena, and he'll win either way. Damn it. Ares thought to himself.
"Ares" Hercules called out.
But the moral god did not respond. He sat there with his head turned away, and a look of indifference on his face.
"Exactly what I thought" Hercules said, with a hint of both irritation and dismay in his voice.
Slowly Hercules turned and walked away. With a sigh Ares gritted his teeth and cursed him self, for he knew that his stubbornness had once again gotten the best of him.
Xena and the others gathered their weapons and began making their way on foot, to the Gates of Avalon, leaving Argo and the other horses with Brigid. It wasn't until moments later that Solan realized someone was missing.
"Mom, Evander's not here"
"What! Where is he then?"
"I don't know, I think he might still be at the camp. Should I go get him?"
"No, we don't have time for this. We'll have to do it without him"
"What a coward" Eve said, coming up behind her brother.
"I doubt it's that" Solan replied.
"Fine then, what is it? He got lost?"
"Never mind" Solan replied, deciding to ignore the apparent smile on his sister's face.
Evander being the reclusive type he was, had no desire to tell anyone about his decisions. He had stayed back at the camp not because he was afraid, but because his conscious would not allow him to leave. There was something eating him up inside, and there was only one way to make it stop.
Brigid was sitting beside Ares, who was resting up against a tree. Hearing footsteps she quickly sprung up and picked up her sword.
"Who's there?" Brigid asked.
But there was no answer. She slowly walked towards the place where she heard the sound, and saw a figure standing beside a tree.
"Show your self" Brigid ordered.
"Hey take it easy, it's me" Evander said, throwing his hands up in a surrendering gesture.
"What are you doing here? The others left a while ago" Brigid asked, lowering her sword.
"I know, I just wanted to…" Evander replied, trailing off.
"Oh, okay. Well yeah go ahead, I'll be over there or whatever" Brigid said, then stopped as if she was pausing. It seemed like she about to say something else but decided against it. She then walked away, leaving the two alone.
Ares couldn't hear Brigid and Evander's conversation from where he was. But it wasn't hard to figure out why Evander was there. Ares braced himself, knowing that whatever Evander had to say to him wouldn't be too pleasant.
Slowly the brown eyed young man made his way to the dying moral god. And for a moment a trace of sadness could be seen on his face. But it soon quickly vanished leaving behind a look of anger in its place. He could feel the hatred he had for this man boiling inside of him. And for some reason he could also feel the grief and sorrow he had for him. But how could this be? This man had done nothing for him, and had never cared about him. Why should he feel sorrow for a stranger? Why should he care if he lived or died? This man meant nothing to him. And he meant nothing to this man. Or did he?
Evander then remembered how Ares had saved him when the group of Dahak's soldiers attacked them. How for a second there he could see a look of worry on the moral god's face. And even though he appeared ungrateful, he was actually thankful that Ares had cared enough the help him.
No matter how much Evander denied it, he could never truly hate Ares, for some reason or another his soul would not allow him to. He remembered the way Ares would play with Sabrina. The way he would throw her up in the air and how she'd fall into his welcoming arms. He wished he had been able to share such a moment with his father. But reality quickly reminded him that he was no longer a child and that he was much too old to have such foolish dreams. Suddenly whatever sorrow he had was gone, and only anger was left. Now Evander wanted nothing more than to grab Ares by the throat, and make him feel all the anguish he had endured in his life. But something stopped him from acting on it.
At this moment the young man was breathing heavily, with his hands balled up into a fist. Ares lay there uneasily as the silence was began to get to him; he had to say something, anything to end the silence.
"I--"
"NO, there's something I have to say first…I hate you, probably more than I've ever hated anyone else. I grew up without a father, YET you claim you cared about me. But if you really did, then WHERE the Tatarus were you all my life? You can't honestly expect me to believe that Hercules and my mother stopped you from being there. You could have visited me from time to time without them even realizing it. But YOU didn't, and I want to know why" Evander shouted, as the intensity grew in his face.
"You're right, I could've but I didn't…but what do you expect me to say, you know the type of person I was"
"You mean am" Evander spat out.
"I probably deserve that…But you wouldn't be here if you only wanted to offend me" Ares replied, with a sequence of coughs.
"Guess that proves how little you know me. The only reason I'm here is to take one last look at the pathetic being you have become"
"You don't fool me, trying to pretend that, that's the real reason you're here. You're a lot like me, and I can see right through your cover"
"YOU'RE WRONG I'M NOTHING LIKE YOU"
"Is that what you think?"
"THAT'S WHAT I KNOW. You're a heartless monster and I would rather die then to ever be known as your child" Evander replied. His conscious yelled for him to stop, but it was too late the words had already left his lips. And there was no calling them back.
The words tore at Ares, the pain was even worst than that of the poison. He looked away as his eyes began stinging with anger and disappointment.
"…Fine then, you've seen me, now go"
Damn it. Evander thought to himself. Say something, anything it can't end like this. Desperate to respond he said the first thing he could think of. "So I guess that's it, right? I tell you something you don't like, and you run away scared like a cowardly old man. I shouldn't have expected any more from you"
"What do you want from me?" Ares yelled in a hoarse voice, as he turned to Evander. "I'm trying the best I can, but you keep pushing me away…so then what do you want from me?" He asked once more.
Evander was once again silent, and couldn't help but wonder whether Ares was correct. What do I really want from him? He asked himself as the question raced back and forth throughout his mind.
"I-I don't want anything from you" The young man answered.
"Yes you do, you're just too stubborn to admit it"
Evander paused for a moment unsure how to respond. He then realized something that was in front of him this whole time. He did want something from Ares, but it wasn't riches or power or anything of that sort. He simply wanted a father. The thing he has been trying to get away from is the same thing he's wanted ever since he was a child. And now was his chance, but would it be worth it. Accepting Ares would mean letting go of all the anger he has kept inside of him. All the hatred and disgust, all the rage and fury that has over the years consumed him. Was he truly ready to forgive Ares and start all over again? No, no he wasn't, but he was ready to at least try.
Evander looked back at Ares and merely nodded as if to seal unspoken agreement.
"I should go now" The young man then said.
"Wait" Ares called out. The moral god then reached beside him for his sword. Pulling out the weapon Ares held it out towards Evander. "Here you'll need this…It has no more power in it but it is still a fine sword" The young man stooped down gratefully accepted the sword. "Good luck son" Ares said, with a hint of pride in his voice.
"Good bye…father" Evander replied then quickly left.