IMO: Xena was hypocritical when it came to Eve, she didn't get that Eve was to the Gods, what Hope was to the human race. Didn't she realize that if Eve meant the end of the Gods, that meant the extinction of an entire race? Yeah, her daughter's WAY more important than all the kids up on Olympus. The Gods are all sooooo evil for trying to save their own lives and those of their children. I just can't see her as the good guy in that whole scenario. Sure, the kid was innocent too, but she was going to bring about the destruction of the Olympians. Actually, Xena eventually did and I still don't know what made her think she had the right. Her daughter wasn't that important, those Gods were. They were important to the world. Didn't she remember what happened when the world lost War? Chaos! She killed dozens just for one kid, who went around to kill millions. Great job Xena. You've practically destroyed an entire race, who were basically only doing the same thing you were, but for 10 times the reason: trying to protect their entire existence and their children (think of Bliss! Poor baby!) and you've birthed a child who went on to kill and torture millions of people and nearly wiped out the Amazon nation. Battle on Xena. I don't know if the producers really thought this Twilight of the Gods out or maybe they just didn't expect people to see that side of it.

I just feel for the Gods. They were scared. They didn't want to die. They created this world, now a child comes along, and could destroy them all (much like Hope, who Xena herself said had to die). Some of them had children, like Cupid, his was just a little kid! Baby Bliss. Of course they were going to try to take the child out before it could hurt them. They don't want to die, they created the humans. It's their world, why should they die? Why should they be wiped from existence? Then Xena comes and kills them. She doesn't even sympathize with them. She doesn't even see it from their point of view. Doesn't even try to. She never thinks of THEIR children. She's met Bliss, but does she care? Noooooooo, that kid doesn't matter, die with the rest of them. She doesn't ever even think about how Ares and Aphrodite lost their entire family that day. How they watched them all be slaughtered, for one child. She's selfish. More selfish than the Gods.

Sorry, had to get that off my chest


By the Gods
By Jules

Part 2


About four summers later

The seven-year-old-like Acacia was supposed to be napping in her sister Aphrodite's chambers, at a temple, but the lure of the outside world was just too great. It also might have had something to do with the sip of her older sister's nectar Acacia took when Aphrodite wasn't watching, and now Acacia was majorly hyper, and wanted to play.

Aphrodite had been called away on matters of love, and thought Acacia was sleeping, and that she would be for a few more hours.

Acacia, though she couldn't aether far, could go short distances, like outside the temple walls. She wandered around until she heard familiar sounds of wood meeting wood with force, and grunts of exertion. She ran towards the noise eagerly and discovered two youths fighting with wooden swords. A boy and a girl. The girl looked to be about nine, she had long raven black hair and the most startling eyes Acacia had ever seen on a mortal. The boy was blond, and he was younger than his fighting cohort, but still older looking then Acacia, and his eyes were the same color as his sparing partner's, so Acacia guessed them to be siblings.
Acacia had never met anyone near her age before, so the sight of the two completely entranced her, which was really hard to do at her stage in life, even Ares had a hard time keeping her attention on one subject for more then a minute.

She watched the two in silence, until she saw something being done wrong and couldn't keep quiet.

"You shouldn't leave yourself open like that." She instructed the girl knowingly.

Xena and her younger brother Lyceus stopped abruptly and turned to see a very pretty girl, wearing a filmy pink dress (think Aphrodite) that would have been completely see through if not for the pink shift she wore.

"Go home little girl. You don't know what you are talking about." The older girl declared harshly, narrowing her eyes. She detested being interrupted, especially by people who were telling her she was doing something wrong. And to add insult to injury, this was just a little girl! Who was wearing pink!

"Yes I do! I'll show you." Acacia marched over, her curls bouncing behind her, eyes flashing and took the boy's sword from him, then put it under her arm as she forced the older girl into the position she had been in when she had made her error.

Acacia took the position the boy had been in, "Any idiot could have gotten you right here when you lunged." She hit the dark haired girl lightly on the side, "And don't constantly be the aggressor, let them attack you and wear themselves out. Fight defensively, and when you see an opening, then you move in."

She instructed the two on a few basics, taught to her by Ares, and the brother and sister were soon fighting more cleanly than before.

Taking a break, older girl turned looked to the pink clad one, "I'm Xena, and this is my little brother, Lyceus. What is your name?"

"My sister calls me Cia, and I like you, so you can too." Acacia informed them sweetly.

"Well, it's nice to meet you Cia. My brother and I are training, we are going to be great warriors someday, and win lots of wars."

"That's what my brother does! Makes war!"

The older two brushed this off as the confused ramblings of a little girl, and just nodded their heads politely.

"Are you from around here?" Lyceus asked, finally speaking, "Because we've never seen you before."

"Today is my day with my nice big sister. I'm supposed to be taking a nap." Acacia whispered the last part, as if letting them in on a secret.

"But you've been here for a couple of hours, you want to be getting back before someone notices your gone, otherwise you'll get in trouble." He advised her knowingly.

"Oooh, you are probably right. Thank you for letting me borrow your practice sword Lyceus. I had the most fun in my whole life!"

Xena and her brother waved goodbye, then went back to practicing, much more properly than before. Acacia contentedly began to bounce away, finally taking a look around at her surroundings. That was when the young Goddess realized, she didn't remember how to get back, and she knew it was still too far for her to aether back, since she was still learning how to control her long distances.

She bit her lip, knowing she'd be in trouble with most of her brothers and sisters if she called them, so she figured she'd better call on the guardian who took her side every time she got in trouble.

"Ares." She whispered, so as not to alert the villagers.

Immediately her brother appeared and picked her up into his arms, "What are you doing out here alone Acacia?" He demanded, alarmed to see her out in the mortal realm alone.

"Playing. I wasn't tired." She told him matter-of-factly.

"Where's Aphrodite?"

She hesitated, "Working . . ."

"Then where are you supposed to be?" Over the year's Ares had gotten to be the foremost expert to dealing with Acacia's misleads, which were much like those most children use, not that he'd had experience with many other children.

"Napping, but I got bored Ares! So I aethered outside, and played with some kids! I would have been fine . . . but I couldn't remember the way back to Dite's temple, and it's too far away for me to aether yet. But look at the nice girl I met! She wants to be a warrior just like you are!" Acacia pointed to the raven-haired pre-teen, "Her name's Xena, the shorter one's her little brother, Lyceus. He let me borrow his practice sword to teach them what they were doing wrong."

Ares made he and Acacia invisible, but didn't go anywhere, instead he watched the girl. She was good, much better than her brother. Her moves were visibly untutored, yet at the same time graceful and natural, though there was a hint of technique that was familiar, that Ares knew had to be from Acacia's short lesson. Ares made a mental note to watch her, and try to obtain her before Artemis and Athena could get their hands on her.

"Don't tell Athena or Artemis about her, and I won't tell that you went out during your nap, deal?"

"Deal. Are you going to make her one of your warriors?"

"I just might someday . . . I just might." Ares revealed to her absentmindedly, then he aethered them back to Aphrodite's temple and put Acacia back to bed before anyone ever even noticed she was gone.


Six harvests later

"Come one Ares, pllllllleeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaasssssssssseeeeeee?"

"I said no Acacia. The last time I brought you to a battle you made my warlord's horse throw him into a lake! Which caused a major set back in my warlords plans and slowed the win down by three months!" Ares grumbled, that had made him bitter for awhile.

"But Ares, I didn't mean to! He smelled bad. I just thought it was time for him to get a bath. Its not my fault the horse agreed with me when I talked to him about it. Please Ares." Acacia pleaded, her violet eyes, through still looking at him soulfully, sparkled with eternal mischievousness.

"Alright, but only playing tricks on the other army if you have to." He ordered

"Yesssss! It's one of Athena's armies, right?" She inquired, trying to sound like she was harmless.

"Yeah." Ares confirmed distractedly, going over his newest Warlord's battle strategy, not noticing the way his sister was rubbing her hands together.

"Excellent, then I can mess up her way too carefully made plans . . ."

From looking at the seven-year-old girl, you'd never guess she was devious like that. Even at such a young age, she was stunning. Violet eyes that flashed, long dark brown hair that went down to nearly the middle of her back in loose ringlets, like Discords though a bit tighter. It was very obvious she was related to the very handsome God of War and that gorgeous looks ran in the family. And when she grew up, she'd definitely give Aphrodite a run for her dinars, Dite of course being the most beautiful woman in the universe.

Ares looked over at the girl and did a double take. He chuckled, but then got down to their day's business, "It's time for your lessons Acacia. Today, hand to hand combat . . ."


The next day

Ares was watching his troops get into formation with satisfaction, and he never noticed when the young goddess disappeared in the flash of purple light.

Acacia reappeared in the tent of Athena's army's leader, with a devious smile. Invisible to the mortal eye, she walked over to the map on the table, and waved her hand over it, changing the oh-so-carefully constructed plans of her sister and the General of the Athenian army.

Whilst she was at the encampment she also sabotaged the tents, so that eventually, they would all just suddenly collapse. All due to the center tent poles, which would have been slowly slipping the whole day.

Ares did see his little sister reappear in his Warlord's encampment, and knew she done something that would cause some sort of trouble, "What did you do?"

"Well, you know how her army was marching north?" Acacia asked, sitting down in a thrown that she created in the tent.

"Yes."

"Most of it's marching west now. Right to the sea. The rest are headed right here. The trail for their 'sneak attack' they were going to be making supposedly curves around in the woods, so they would be end up behind you . . . it doesn't anymore, it comes directly right into camp after a few twists and turns in the woods. And in the forces coming here, is her General. Athena is going down."

"Athena's going to be very mad about losing." Ares warned.

"I know. Isn't it great?!" She giggled.


Two springs later

"Alright now Acacia, draw back the string . . . visualize your target . . . . Hold it . . . ." Artemis was instructing her young charge, watching from a distance, "When you're ready, let go."

The young dark haired Goddess let go and watched the arrow fly with a speed and accuracy only known by few, even to the Gods. The arrow went through a window in one of Athena's temples, embedding itself into the alter, next to a man making an offering to his patron Goddess, causing him to faint.

"That's alright." Artemis comforted the girl, who just had to be upset over hitting the alter of her sister. She put her hand on the young girl's shoulder, "Most miss their first target. You'll get the hang of it."

"Who says I missed?" Acacia inquired, a devious smile on her face. With that, the small girl turned away and walked off, disappeared, before Artemis could reprimand her, reappearing the Ares favorite temple, in his thrown at that. He was the only one who let her have any fun. He understood the most, that though she was truly sweet, it wasn't her fault who she was.

Acacia was Mischief and Daring. All of the Gods essentially understood that, but her tricks still made everyone miffed at her, with the exceptions of Ares, Aphrodite, Apollo, and Zeus, but that was most likely because she generally left them alone.

Nevertheless, the 'war' she'd waged on Athena since that first day Acacia had taken a breath upon Olympus still amused all on and off Olympus . . . . Well, everyone but Athena.

Acacia was still sitting there, pondering things when Nightstalker sauntered in, and jumped into the young Goddess's lap.

"You're home already. Did lessons with Artemis end early?" The feline questioned.

"Sorta. I shot an arrow into the alter of Athena's temple and scared a worshiper. So I hauled ass before Artemis could yell when she realized I'd done it deliberately."

"From how far?" Nightstalker asked, not losing sight of the big picture.

"300 yards or so." Acacia revealed, brightening up.

"Good shot!"

"Thank you!" Acacia smiled, scratching Nightstalker behind the ears, "So what have you been up to today my brilliant kitty?"

"Oh, the usual. Tormenting Athena's owl, hunting those infernal fish in the pond in Hera's garden, reading the books in the library . . ."

"Sounds fun! Did you get the stupid bird?"

"I scared him so bad he tore up the tapestries."

"Alright! So, what do you think we should do today?" Acacia questioned, getting up.

The black cat pondered for a moment, "Well, Apollo's got a new girlfriend . . ."

"Perfect . . ."

Hera actually found herself getting along with the latest bastard child of Zeus. And the girl actually tried to stay on her good side. Everyone on Olympus loved her, the little imp.

When Acacia turned 21, Ares got her a crossbow and a sword. Artemis got her a bow and quiver with a never-ending supply of arrows, forged by Hephestis. And Aphrodite gave her a temple. The young Goddess already had, unknowingly, created herself a small (for the moment) following of thieves, assassins, and jesters. Some warriors also prayed to her, hoping to increase their bravery.

It was an odd assortment, but they still were followers.

With the start of her first temple, Acacia had embarked upon her first steps of undertaking the responsibilities of her Godhood.

Aphrodite also decided it was time to start the quest, for the girl's own look, because she knew it would be a long and arduous task.

Acacia was a pro at sneaking out of her siblings now, and luckily, the number of her lessons had been cut down a lot these days. She now had appearance of an adolescent, and didn't need as much looking after. It also had freed her brothers and sisters up considerably to do their jobs, so all parties involved were much happier with the arrangement. Sometimes, she was left alone for weeks at a time, with only the priests looking in on her if she didn't go and visit with her siblings, and Acacia was really liking it that way. She could get a lot more done that way. Plus she had Nightstalker, her pranks, she could visit her Amazon village at any time, she had her horse, and tons of other things to do. For some reason, her family seemed bound and determined to keep her stocked with possessions that would keep her entertained and out of trouble. Not that it ever did.

Acacia had been sitting in the Halls of War, bored out of her mind. She had her legs slung over one arm of brother's thrown, and her arms and head hung back listlessly over the other. She'd actually been reduced to this. She just couldn't take it anymore. Sighing, she changed positions, sitting up, and unconsciously propped her head up like her brother did when he was thinking. Acacia really needed something to do. She racked her brain, trying to think of something, then she remembered. It had been a few years ago, but she'd had the best time of her life. It had been the first time she'd ever played with other children, or seen other mortals besides the priests and priestesses of the temples. Except for those trips she'd had to the Amazon village, she'd never been back there.

A wide grin grew across her face. Yes, this would be perfect. Sneaking out to the mortal realms was just what she needed to have some fun. And, to have even more fun, she could go in disguise!

Acacia jumped up excitedly. This was going to be great. But first things first. She looked down at her clothes, Aphrodite still hadn't found Acacia's 'look', so Acacia's clothes were provided by her guardians, though she had a closet full at each place, and was able to choose what she wore. However, they were all very eye catching, nothing that a mortal would wear, at least not from what she could remember. The things that came closest to it were a few of her black things from Ares, or her survival gear from Artimis. She'd have to wave herself up something. Biting her lip, which was a habit Aphrodite was trying to get her to break, Acacia through back to what she'd seen the children of the Amazon's wear. Due to extensive lessons with Aphrodite, she knew how to pull an outfit together.

Snapping her fingers, in a flash, Acacia was dressed, and her disguise in place. Her disguise wasn't elaborate, but she knew that her looks were enough to mark her as a God. She'd changed the color of her brilliant violet eyes, to a soft hazel, which she knew was more common among mortals. Another thing she knew set her apart, was her lovely locks. The perfect, soft dark ringlets were quite distinctive also, so they had to go as well, so she'd change them into soft waves and lightened her hair from it's very dark almost black to a light brown. Acacia had twisted the sides back then tied with a small piece of leather. She'd decided on a light tan, thin soft-leather wrap-around skirt that went to a little below mid-thigh and a matching bodice halter. On her arms she wore gauntlets with golden suns on them, the sun beams coming out in golden swirls around it, they had been actually been a present from Apollo, and on her upper arms she wore matching arm bands. Around her forehead was a headband that matched the armbands and outfit she wore. On her feet she wore sandals that laced all the way up to her mid-calf.

Acacia snapped her fingers once more and a mirror appeared (there weren't too many of those in the Halls of War). She looked herself up and down, and after a few minutes deliberation, she decided she really liked what she saw.

Please, I want replies, I know it sounds pathetic, but I live for feedback, good or bad! I need to know what you think so I know where to go with this.