Yes, it appeared Discord and Deimos had become the so called saviors of Olympus. But for how long would that title last?
The goddess of wisdom made her presence known as she emerged from the shimmering sphere of light that appeared before Discord and Deimos. The two gods took their time standing up from the chairs they had just been sitting in. A smug and condescending smile played on both their lips.
"Athena!" Discord said, with fake enthusiasm. "Guess you're here to thank us for getting raid of Xena and that little brat for you?" It was more of a statement than a question.
"Actually no" The goddess replied, taking a few steps around the room. "Tell me again how you two killed Xena and the child"
"Well first Discord and I attacked them during the night. While she was fighting the little blond I was taking care of Xena. Sure the 'warrior princess' put up a good fight at first, but she was no match for my incredible strength and speed. I hit her with a right hook then a left, and knocked her to the ground. Then I pulled out my sword and ran it into her stomach; I walked over to the child and did the same" Deimos finished his tale of triumph, as an air of arrogance covered his body.
Discord rolled her eyes at Deimos's great exaggeration of how it occurred.
"Is that what really happened?" Athena questioned.
"Yeah that's what happened. Why?" The god replied.
"Well imagine my surprise when one of my priest informed me that they had just seen Xena, Gabrielle and the child in a small town near Amphipolis. And here I thought they were dead, but it turns out no actually they're just fine" Her knowing smirk turned into an angry leer.
Discord and Deimos were frozen solid. Their expressions had fallen leaving their faces blank.
"But that can't be right, I know they're dead we killed them ourselves" Discord replied, as confusion began to set in.
"Then explain this" Athena made a small portal materialize before them, and an image of Xena, Gabrielle and Eve appeared. The goddess waited for their responses, but there was none. "I swear you two dim-wits can't do anything right. I should have known that there was no way in Tartarus that the two of you would be able to kill Xena. Thinking back to it now it makes me laugh, you both are truly pathetic. But no matter, the other gods and I have come up something, Xena is weak and we will strike soon. Be sure to tell my brother this, wherever he is." She gave them a wicked grin then vanished.
"I'll show you pathetic" Deimos yelled as he threw a lighten ball at the spot Athena had been standing in.
"I don't get it. What could have possibly gone wrong?" Discord asked out loud, frustration clearly in her features.
"Maybe it was that blonde friend of hers" The god replied, as he continued to throw lighten balls in the same spot.
"No that's impossible, she would have never gotten there in time. It just doesn't make any sense" She paused a moment to think to herself. They were missing something. Only a god would have been able to get to Xena and Eve in time. Maybe it was Aphrodite, but no goddess appeared shaken by the news of Xena and Eve's 'deaths'. She couldn't have known. If that was the case then who else could it have been. Suddenly she realized there had been a certain god that neither her nor Deimos had seen since the day before. "Ares" She said in barely a whisper. But why would he have saved Xena and the child? She wondered.
"Do you have any idea of what went wrong?" Deimos asked, bringing her out of her thoughts.
"…No I don't. Look, I have to go now" Discord disappeared before he could reply.
A cold drift filled the temple, and only the faint sounds of foot steps could be heard as the war god made his way into his chamber. It was not until he had closed the door behind him did he notice he was not alone. A dark figure was seated on his throne as if waiting for him to address her.
"Discord, what do you want?" He said as his expression turned into irritation.
"It took me awhile to realize it, but now I think I understand" She replied, as if continuing a conversation that they already had.
"What?" He questioned, with a hint of puzzlement in his voice.
"Oh you know, that whole thing about saving that foolish warrior of yours and her child"
"I have no idea of what you're talking about" His expression stayed the same.
"Don't play dumb with me Ares, I know it was you. I thought you were on our side, seeing as if the child lives it means your doom"
The god stared back at her and said nothing.
"What did you think you were doing saving them. It was almost over, they would have been dead"
"It was a cowards way out, I expected better from you"
Discord, who before had a smirk on her face now looked as if she would kill the god before her.
"Ares you pretend as if you would choose that woman's child over your very own existence. And for what? Xena, she will never return to you. Can't you realize that? I know you Ares, I know that you care for no one but yourself. And in the end you will choose to live, because that is the type of person you are" She said calming herself, then coming closer to him and touching his arm.
"What did you come here for?" He pulled away from her. The god's mood had darkened and anger flowed in his words.
"I wonder what Athena and the other gods would say if they were to find out that it was you who saved Xena and the child?" And with that her devilish smirk had returned.
"You wouldn't dare"
"Don't be too sure about that" Slowly she began circling him.
"And what will it cost for you to keep your mouth shut?" He asked, as he fought the urge to grab her by the neck and throw her across the room.
"Nothing really. You see, Athena and the other gods have come up with a plan. Xena is weak and would stand no chance against us if we were to strike now. Your part is simple, all you need to do is get Xena away from the child and we will do the rest"
"That's it?" He questioned, finding it strange how easy Athena's plan appeared.
"Yep, so is that a yes or do I have to see Athena about your little stunt?"
"I'll do it, now leave" He said looking away from her. Only his mask of irritation covered the dread he was feeling.
The goddess released an evil cackle before disappearing. She was satisfied and everything was going as planned.
Ares stood there for a moment, trying to figure out what he should do. He had to go to her, the god decided, he had to warn her.
The day had slowly gone from morning to night, and Xena watched with indifference as the sun rose and fell into the horizon. She had only left their room above the tavern twice, once to get supplies and again a check on Argo.
Gabrielle was worried about Xena; she could still see the sorrow and worry in her friend's eyes. Xena would seldom put Eve down, and the few times she did, she would never let the child out of her sight.
It was nightfall and the bard was peacefully sleeping after sending the last hour or so trying to get Xena to go to sleep. Gabrielle had closed her eyes to rest thinking that it had worked, but once she was asleep the warrior's eyes reopened. Xena stood up and made her way to the window, in the corner of her eye she could see Eve still awake lying on the bed next to Gabrielle. It seemed that she hadn't been the only one pretending to sleep.
A smile appeared on her face but soon disappeared once she felt that all too familiar tingle in her spine. She turned around to find nothing.
"Ares, what do you want?" She asked, moving back over to the bed where Eve had abruptly sat up and began reaching in the air for something beside the bed. Xena watched with curiosity, as it seemed like Eve could also sense his presence.
"I came to warn you" He whispered in her ear, as he stood behind her.
Xena slightly shivered as she felt his warm breath on her neck.
"Why?" She said, trying to control her racing heartbeat.
But he did not replied, instead he stood there in silence and began to slowly stroke her arm. Xena closed her eyes, trying not to shiver under his touch. Just when she thought she could not take it any longer he vanished.
She released a breath of air she didn't realize she was holding. After taking a few more breaths, she turned to Gabrielle and woke her up.
"Xena, what's wrong?" The bard asked still half sleeping.
"Ares was just here, he said he came to warn me. The gods are probably planning something. We need to leave here at day break, the last thing I want to do is get these villagers in the middle of a battle between us and the gods" Xena quickly said.
"But are you sure we can trust him?"
"Look either way something will probably happen, at least this way no innocent people will get harmed"
Gabrielle couldn't disagree with her, it was true that it would be better if they left but she couldn't help feeling that something terrible was going to happen.
"Okay" The bard agreed.
That night neither of them slept, afraid that the gods might not wait until the next day to strike.
Morning it seemed had come too quickly, and within an hour they were gone. Steadily they rode away from the town, hours had passed but still they continued. The afternoon sun was now above them as they finally stopped to rest. Their horses were exhausted and the small child with them was on the verge of tears. It was going to take them another couple of hours to reach their destination; an old abandon shack, which would be used as a place for them to rest for the night.
Xena slowly rocked the child in her arms before feeding her. With guarded eyes she watched their surroundings, looking for any peculiar movements, listening for any strange sounds that could be seen as warning signals. Some time had passed and the forest seemed the same, as if nothing had change. It was then that she realized it was much too quiet; the creatures around her were standing still as if they had sensed the presence of a predator and were waiting for it to strike.
Gradually she stood up with Eve in her arms. "Gabrielle lets start moving" She stated, still carefully watching for movements.
"But Xena the horses are still tired, they need more rest"
"We don't have time for that, let's go"
"Why, is something wrong?" Concern and fear covered the bard's face.
"I just think it would be better for us to start moving again. We shouldn't stay in the same place for too long" She had already begun repacking the few items they had taken out, when she suddenly froze. It was a faint sound one that any other person would over look but she knew exactly what it was, the sound of the blade of a sword brushing up against a tree.
"Gabrielle I think we have company" She said in a low voice as she pulled out her sword.
Before the bard could reply Athena, Discord and Deimos appeared before them.
A hail of lighten and fire balls hurtled towards Xena and Gabrielle, forcing them to leap out of the way. The three gods pulled out their swords and made their way to the warrior and the bard. Deimos attacked Gabrielle while Athena and Discord went after Xena.
The warrior princess struggled as she fought with one arm against the two goddesses. Their blades met time and time again and when it seemed like Xena was getting the upper hand a lighten ball appeared out of nowhere and missed her and Eve by a few inches. Xena instantly realized that there was another god among them, one still hidden. Throwing her sword in the air Xena quickly reached for her chakram and hurled it at the invisible god. Hades fell to the ground as his helmet of invisibility was knocked off his head. In one swift motion Xena caught her chakram placing it back and grabbed her falling sword.
Meanwhile Gabrielle found it surprisingly easy to battle Deimos; the young god was over confident and too self-assured. He would make stupid mistakes letting his guard down and not taking the bard seriously. With one fast kick she had knocked him down and brought her self-time to try to help Xena. Unnoticed she came up behind Discord and spent a bone crushing hit to the goddess' back. Then turned to realize that the helmet of invisibility was lying on the ground beside her.
Discord let out a loud screech as she fell, and with that Athena was distract for a moment. Xena took this opportunity to grab her chakram and throw it into the air, as Gabrielle also tossed the helmet into the sky. The spinning disk jumped from tree to tree then hit the helmet causing a mass of sparks to emerge.
While the gods were momentarily distracted Xena and Gabrielle leaped onto their horses and made their escape. The horses galloped as fast as they could, having sensed the urgency of their riders. It took only hours to get to the shack, but to them it seemed like days.
"Was that it?" Gabrielle asked once they had gotten off their horses. "Do you think they'll leave us alone for a little while now?"
"No, I doubt that it's over" Xena replied. The fact that Ares had come to warn her, told her that what ever the gods had planned would not be so small. No this was just the beginning.