Chapter 22

Xena and Lyceus got an early start to the day so she could show him around Athens for a bit. He had told her the night before that he couldn't stay long and that he was leaving a little after mid day. She hated that their time together was going to be so short but she would enjoy what time she had now and she knew she would see him again. She took him to the market area since he was talking about getting a new harness for his horse and she knew just the place. They joked and laughed as they walked down the crowded streets and as they were getting nearer to the store Xena looked out into the crowd and, to her boundless surprise saw Aphrodite standing by a nearby alley.

The Love Goddess had a worried look on her face and she had beckoned to Xena to come over to her. Xena looked around and noticed that no one else had seen the scantily clad Goddess standing in the center of the market as they continued to go about their business as if nothing was different. She gave her a small nod, discreetly telling her that she would be there in a moment and continued to walk with Lyceus until they got to the shop. She was going to leave him there to do his business and see what the Goddess wanted.

Lyceus noticed that Xena seemed to stare off into the distance, so he glanced in the direction she was looking but saw nothing.

"Is everything alright? You seem a little distracted."

"Everything's fine. Just thought I saw someone." she gave him a short reply as she looked back to where Aphrodite was standing and could once again see the worry clear in her face. Something was going on and the Love Goddess was a complete mess about whatever it was. They reached the store and Xena could see the Goddess grow more anxious.

"There's something that I need to take care of. Everything you need should be here. I'll be right back."

She didn't wait for his response as she just walked off into the crowd. Lyceus watched her go and just pushed it off to some type of warrior business and he moved to go into the store to search for the supplies that he needed.

Xena neared the Goddess and as soon as she was close enough Aphrodite quickly pulled her further into the alley.

"Okay, I'm here. No need to try and pull my arm out of its socket."

"Sorry." was the Love Goddess' mumbled reply.

Seeing that she was still uneasy about something Xena tried to get her to tell her what it was. "Is everything alright? You seem a little on edge about something."

"I didn't know who else to go to and I know no one else is going to want to help me. No one really likes him, you know. I figured that since you are his new favorite warrior you might be able to help me talk some sense into him." the Love Goddess started to pace the alley as she continued in her rant. "Yeah this is good, I like this plan, you can come with me. We can talk to him get him to calm down. He'll listen to you I know it, you're his favorite and then everything can go back to normal and..."

"Whoa there, calm down and let's start from the beginning." Xena reached out and stopped the Goddess from pacing back and forth in front of her. "Alright, first off who is this he that you are talking about?"

"Ares!" Aphrodite shouted out. "Haven't you been listening to what I've been telling you?!"

Xena kept herself from retorting the remark she really wanted to let out- that she had been babbling like a lunatic- but since she could see that the Goddess was indeed worried about her brother, she said nothing in the end.

"Ares...okay now we are getting somewhere." she sighed, letting go of the Love Goddesses' arms and straightening back up. "Why do you think I will be able to help you with him?"

"Well you're his warrior and his favorite, he'll listen to you." the Goddess of Love started, nodding her head in agreement to what she was saying as she knew this was a good plan. She did the right thing by coming here. If anyone could get her big bro out of this funk that he was now in then it had to be her. The Love Goddess had seen what a simple image of Xena had done to her brother and she figured having her there in person could only have a huge effect on him.

"I'm not his warrior Aphrodite." Xena said, and she could immediately see the confused look that came across the Goddesses' face at her response.

"You're not?" Aphrodite breathed out in shock. "But I thought... Never mind that doesn't matter, he wants you to be, and that is still just as good. You're his favorite how could he not?"

"That may be so but I don't see how he will listen to anything I have to say. I don't have any power over him."

Aphrodite simply shook her head at her comment; she didn't know how wrong she was. Xena held a great power over the War God whether either of them knew it or not.

The Love Goddess had never seen anything or anyone able to calm the God of War down by having him simply look at her. And since he wasn't willing to share what has been bothering him, she figured that a visit from his new fixation would be just what Ares needed to perk him right out of that nasty mood he was in.

"You don't know how much you can influence him.."

Xena gave her a puzzled look, silently wondering what she meant by that. He was a God and what power could she possibly have over him. She was going to ask her what she meant by that when she heard her name get called and she turned around to see Lyceus waving at her from the shop that she had left him at. He seemed to have found everything that he needed and was ready to go.

"Who's he?" the Love Goddess asked, curious to find out everything about the unknown male that was smiling brightly at her brother's new addiction.

"I thought you were going to tell me when you met Mister Right?"

"That's my brother Lyceus. He just got into town the other day and surprised me at the arena when I was training."

The Goddess of Love's eyes widened at this news. She had seen Ares and Xena together at the arena just when they were starting to get hot and heavy and there was no sign of her brother at that time. He must have shown up after she left and probably caught them in the act. No wonder her bro was that angry, after all, he didn't get to finish their little dance. Talk about embarrassing, getting caught by the sibling. Aphrodite could just imagine the look on Ares' face when they were interrupted.

"That's your brother? He's so cute!" she couldn't help her comment as she looked him over.

"Yeah don't let him hear you say that. He's got a big enough head as it is." Xena glanced back over at him and smiled. "I wasn't expecting him when he showed up and it had been so long since we last saw each other that I just forgot about everything else at that moment. It was nice to hold him in my arms again after all these years. He's not staying very long though."

Aphrodite's face grew grim at her words. If Lyceus had come in when she thought he did then he had certainly interrupted the two of them. Hearing what Xena said about forgetting everything that she was doing made her realize that she had given Ares the cold shoulder as she must have gone and embraced her brother. Knowing Ares like she did she knew that must not have sat too well for the War God and seeing how he was now fuming about it he did not stick around to find out that the man in question was her brother.

"Oh no." Aphrodite gasped out as she put the pieces together. He thought she slept with him just when they were about to do the deed themselves, that's why he was so angry.

Xena turned back around to look at the Love Goddess at her sudden exclamation. "What is it?"

"Xena I know Ares was with you at the arena." she watched as the warrior shifted uncomfortably for a moment as she waited for her to continue. "Does he know that Lyceus is your brother?"

"No, I kind of forgot he was there and when I did remember, he was already gone." She didn't know why he left so suddenly and figured he must have had some war business to take care of somewhere.

Aphrodite quickly vanished from the alley without another word to Xena on the matter. She needed to do some serious damage control. She couldn't believe she didn't see it before and she called herself the Goddess of Love. Her brother was hurting and on top of that, he was very much jealous. Aphrodite never would have believed it herself if she hadn't seen it with her own eyes. Her brother was extremely envious over a mortal man that was able to hold the affections of his warrior babe. Wouldn't he be relieved once she told him he had nothing to worry about the whole time? Too bad she didn't have this information earlier, maybe that army he decimated the other day would have had a better chance of surviving.

Xena just stood there not knowing what had just happened. The Love Goddess had clearly put something together, but what it was she was not entirely sure. One moment she was a complete mess and then the next moment it seemed like she had everything figured out and disappeared without another word. Lyceus came up to her and placed his hand on her shoulder startling her out of her thoughts.

"Hey is everything okay?"

"Yeah, everything is fine." She started to lead him out of the alley and took one last glance back to it. She wondered what Aphrodite had put together to get her to leave so abruptly, especially since the Love Goddess thought that she could help her with whatever this matter was that involved Ares.

"Come on, let's get something to eat before you set off."