LET'S BRING SOME MAGIC INTO THE MIX :)) THIS SHOULD SPICE THINGS UP A BIT :)

"Unfreakingbelievebale!" the God growled, sending the next fireball flying straight into the closest column, making a deep crack appear on its previously perfect surface. " Just when I thought things couldn't possibly get worse!"

Aphrodite blinked repeatedly, unsure whether she should use the opportunity to make a run for it or just stay there some more and...get fried, maybe, not quite understanding what could have been the reason behind her brother's unjustified rage.

" Fuck!" he grunted again through clenched teeth, hitting the column once again, and this time, it crumbled to the floor with a loud thud, making the Love Goddess jump back in shock.

" Jeesh, Ar! You can be such a brute sometimes! What are you so angry about anyway?! I mean, yeah, Gabby's poem sucked, but like c'mon! "

" Just keep your mouth shut ok, or I might just accidentally behead you! " he yelled at her at the top of his lungs, pulling the sword from his scabbard, fire burning in his eyes.

"Woooh! Down boy!...You're obviously upset...about something. Like really upset. The Bard's lack of talent alone couldn't have done this to you…That only leaves …the Warrior Babe….So, do tell me….wha' happened? Why did you two love birds fight, now?!...I can help, you know?"

"We didn't fight.." Ares simply stated, throwing his sword away as hard as he could- before doing anything foolish- and the sound of the blade landing on the floor became suddenly unbearable…

" What then? Is she getting….worse…?" the curly Goddess inquired, actually fearing the answer. Her darkest fears were nothing though compared to the harsh reality the God had to face.

" She was poisoned…"

" Poisoned?! Wha'….here?! " the question echoed like a church bell while the Goddess kept staring dumbfounded at her brother, unable to believe what she was hearing.

" Yes, here!" Ares burst in return, hands balling into fists at the thought.

" Do you have any idea who it could have been?!"

" Draja…" the venomous name left his lips like a storm.

" Oh! I've always known you should have killed that envious bitch! She has always been jealous on the Warrior Babe! " the Goddess exclaimed, narrowing her eyes at her brother. She had never understood why he had let her live after all the stunts she had pulled over the years...

" Yeah….tell that to Xena….."

"Well anyway….no biggie right? I mean there's an antidote for any poison….What did she give her?"

" The Dreams of the Damned…" the War God sharply articulated before a grave, agonizing silence covered even the sound of air entering their lungs.

An edge of despair crept into Aphrodite' voice.

" THE Dreams of the Damned?"

The pain engraved on her brother's face was all the answer she needed though.

" ….But how?! Ares….No one has dared use it in like….centuries….Not even Daddy….And besides, she couldn't have had access to all the ingredients needed to come up with such lethal cocktail….No mortal walking the earth could ever get their hands on the tears of Death, everyone knows that…That's an almost impossible mixture to obtain, even for a God…"

"She had help…Someone who hates Xena and I with a passion…" the War God clarified, closing his eyes for a brief moment. The choking desire to just gut someone, anyone, was getting harder and harder to suppress.

" Bro'…no one would risk that much…."

"No one in his righteous mind, yeah…."

" Is she….." the Goddess began asking, but her brother stopped her before she could finish the question. He couldn't even stand the thought.

" Not yet…"

"Not yet…" the Goddess repeated dully, forcing herself to swallow the unvoiced…" But she doesn't have much time…"

"No she doesn't…" the Olympian mechanically answered, his expression inscrutable now.

" Oh Ares! What are you going to do?! There must be something…"Dite broke out, refusing to accept the tragic outcome.…

" Celesta was our only chance….Damn it! Gods damn them all! When I get my hands on that treacherous bitch….."he finally exploded, releasing one energy ball after the other into one of the walls, panting with frustration and rage….They had poisoned her….they had poisoned her under his very nose….That was a rotten reality he just couldn't make peace with.

" ….Calm down or you'll bury us alive in here! Xena included! " Aphrodite finally had the guts to shout, and despite her doubts, her intervention did have the desired effect, forcing him to actually put an end to that maddening assault against the wall and inhale sharply before he finally let himself fall in a heap on the floor.

" She came to me…She called for me, do you understand?! For the first time in years, she called my name, asking for my protection….and I failed! " he spoke, in a low, defeated voice that sent shivers down his sister's spine.

" You couldn't have possibly known, Ares!" Aphrodite vainly tried to comfort him, cradling him in her arms. " You did your best…."

" I should have known! I should have been more careful! I shouldn't have left her side, Dite! I should have watched over her properly instead of letting that empty headed chicken do it for me!" he growled, fingers digging deep into the Goddess' flesh, and let's just say that it is a good thing she was immortal….

" There's no point beating yourself up for what happened , Bro….What you need to do, is pull yourself together and find a way to save her…."

"And just how am I going to do that, huh? "

"You need to find Celesta. If there's anyone who knows the cure, she is the one….But first, you need to come with me to Olympus…..Daddy is probably fuming by now….."

" Are you crazy?! If Celesta is indeed missing, this only means that a God might have something to do with it- well….either a God or a very cunning mortal with a death wish- The point is that Daddy dearest will soon start pointing fingers….." he concluded, rolling his eyes at Zeus' ridiculously primitive ways of solving problems.

"So…..?"

"So Olympus will probably be on lockdown until the dimwit who dared attempt such bold but uncalculated move is found…In the meantime, using the Chronos stone, Zeus will probably rewind every second out of every Olympian's life – at least starting with the moment Celesta vanished - which means that no one will get in or out of there for Tartarus knows how long…..!"

"And Xe doesn't have a lot of time left…"Aphrodite sighed worriedly, her voice dropping to a whisper. " What are you going to do?! If you don't come home with me, you risk being accused of something you haven't done…..They will all assume that you had something to do with Celesta's disappearance and needless to say, Athena and Apollo would be more than thrilled to force that idea down everyone's throat…."

For a few, seemingly endless minutes, the War God got up and began pacing the room nervously…His ditsy sister had a point….If he didn't go with her, he would only find himself in an even bigger mess and having all Olympus on his trail was the last thing he needed….Still, there had to be something…anything he could do to help his Princess….He was Ares, God of War for crying out loud, he wouldn't give her up, not without a fight, not even after a fight…..she was his and no one was going to take her away from him…..not even Death, not even Oblivion…not even herself!

Right out of the blue, a completely unexpected idea flashed through his mind, making him think that maybe, there was one shred of hope left...

" Hey Dite…." he started, and his gaze alone made the Love Goddess fear what he was about to say….Whenever he got an idea, in most cases it was a terrible, extremely dangerous one…..

"Like… yeah?"

" You and Circe spent quite some time together a few centuries ago, didn't you….?"

Aphrodite just shrugged.

"I guess…."

"You guess? I might have been drinking too much back then, I won't deny it, but I can still recall the fact that you two were forever besties in those days- until she tried to seduce your beloved Hephie….or more like Hephie was in the mood for a good fuck and as always, Circe was hot and ready to go... but that's another story..."

" He was not! That unscrupulous witch drugged him! She tried to take advantage of him!" the Goddess firmly contradicted, looking as if she were about to smack someone.

"I bet she did! Anyway….she did teach you a spell or two, didn't she?"

" Kinda….." the Goddess hesitantly answered, finally understanding where her brother was driving at…

" Prefect! All you need to do is to make a spell, and create another version of me- so that while my other self would accompany you to Olympus, I could mind my own business here, looking for Celesta, and keeping an eye on Xena…." the War God proudly announced his plan. He was actually pretty impressed with it, himself….

"Bad idea…." his sister bluntly disapproved, arching an eyebrow at him. Right before Ares got the chance to offer her a million reasons why it was the only idea they had and to casually remind her that time was ticking away, the Goddess went on with her line…"Circe's spells involve, dark, extremely powerful magic…rituals as old as time…."

" Great! That's precisely what we were looking for, right? The other Gods would be unable to tell the difference!" Ares exclaimed, even more convinced that everything would wok out perfectly.

"You don't understand….This kind of magic is blood magic ….It means that you bound yourself by blood to give something up in order to receive something…."

" Give up what exactly?"

" I don't know…nobody knows….but you will loose something. I saw people who only lost minor things like money, but there were also cases in which they lost everything they cared about…..I wouldn't advise you to take such risk….."she insisted, praying to the Fates that he would give up that silly idea…." There has to be another way…."

"Well there isn't!" he snapped, grabbing his sister's arm menacingly. "You will perform whatever ritual it takes and you will do it now…..!"

"But Ar'…."

"No buts….Now, Dite! "

" Ok….Don't say I didn't warn you, though….." she mumbled, while making a beautifully, coral encrusted, sharp dagger materialize in her hand. With a snap of her fingers, a circle appeared around the War God and she silently let him know that he was supposed to be standing in its center for the enchantment to work….Before Ares could tell what she was doing, she took his left hand, and from his palm, she drew blood….Three drops was all it took, and then a strange sounding text followed…..

"Kandily ameiyla hadul shivre, tahri mano,

Gertek hortius amthera parash alecto,

Jormah yana, jewu opostrivan gaffo,

Pelia dahar taro malia Kardah messa... "

A strong wind began to rise from the center of the circle the very following second, so strong that it could have blown the temple's roof away, but luckily, it stopped just as fast….

"Is that it? " the War God asked, taking a confused look around, a bit irritated that nothing had happened.

" That's it." the Goddess confirmed, drawing in a deep breath.

"Well... what was it you said, there?" he casually inquired, surprised to notice that blood was still trailing down his hand from the superficial wound caused by the blade.

"I don't know….."

"What do you mean you don't know?" the God questioned, a hint of panic in his voice.

"I mean I don't know…..Circe taught me the words, but I've never bothered asking what they mean…."

" I don't even know why I am so surprised….Anyway, what now…? Shouldn't I feel something?! "

"Now, you can start looking for Celesta" Aphrodite answered, giving him her brightest smile, while pointing over his shoulder…

As he turned around, the War God nearly had a heart attack...He was staring at himself…Well...almost...