Xena stepped back into the clearing where Hercules and Joxer were supposed to be setting up camp. Her instincts immediately told her that something was not right, and she confirmed this when she realized that Hercules and Joxer were nowhere in sight, and neither was Seraphin.
She was about to turn around and search for them when she heard a muffled groan coming from behind a rather large fallen log on the edge of the forest. Her sword drawn, she stepped silently over toward it. Peering over the side, her face drew up in shock.
Hercules was lying on his back, his large arms and legs sprawled wide around him. She grabbed a nearby torch for better light and returned to get a better look. Now not only did she see the unconscious (or dead??) body of Hercules on the ground, but she also realized that he was lying on top of something – Joxer. And Joxer was NOT happy about it – but at least that meant he was alive.
Xena awkwardly rolled Hercules over to one side, trying not to hurt him in the process. She checked his breathing and realized that it was still strong. He's not the son of Zeus for nothing, Xena thought, grinning in spite of herself. Seeing that Joxer was in pain, she decided to see to him first, now that she knew Hercules was alive.
Joxer, in the meantime, had found his bearings and was starting to babble semi-coherently. "Sera . . . Serpico . . . Seralin . . ."
"Seraphin?" Xena asked, gently questioning.
"Yeah, her. She . . . she did something . . . woods . . . a rock or something . . . snake eyes . . . said something about Dahak. Gonna get him. Find Xena." Joxer finally lulled into a confused silence.
"Joxer, it's all right. Just calm down. You've got a nasty gash on your head. I'll take care of it."
"But –"
"Shh. Let me have a look at that. Here, do you think you can hold this torch for me? Good." She looked at the blood trickling from Joxer's forehead. It looked like he'd run into a tree, or like somebody pushed him into one . . . hard.
Xena gave Joxer a cloth to press against his head, which was still bleeding, but not as badly as before. She made him lie down in a spot where she could keep an eye on him, and then she turned to Hercules.
She couldn't make out what had happened to the demigod, either, except that he had received a pretty hard blow to the head. Probably something coming at him from some distance away. His breathing grew stronger.
"Xena, there's something important . . ." Joxer tried to speak.
"Not now, Joxer, just try to get some rest." Xena glanced worriedly over at him. Poor guy. He can't even think straight, he's so out of it.
Hercules was starting to come to. His eyelids fluttered delicately – delicately for a son of Zeus, anyway. When he saw Xena, he sat up quickly and clasped her hands between his. "Xena, are you all right? Did you see what happened? Where's Joxer?"
"He's all right – " she pointed over at him. "And I'm fine. What about you? Are you okay?"
"I feel like I slept on a rock, or something, but I think I'm all right." He chuckled and smiled bravely at Xena.
"Not on a rock, buddy – on ME! But don't worry, for I am Joxer the Mighty! I can take it!" Joxer was starting to get worked up, and he began to hum his personal theme song, pumping his elbows in and out to his own music.
"Joxer, I told you to lie down. Please." Xena tried to soothe him, pressing gently on his shoulder to get him to lie down again. He cooperated, but just as soon as he did, he sprung back up again, grabbing Xena and shaking her by her shoulders. "Xena! You've got to do something! She's going after him! She's gonna kill him, I know it!"
Alarmed, Xena asked, "Who? What? What did she say?"
"Ares. She's – gonna get him."
The realization of what Joxer was getting at struck Xena like one of Zeus' lightning bolts. And before Joxer knew what was happening, Xena was gone, running like a banshee into the woods.
"Ares!" She called his name at the top of her lungs, all the while racing at breakneck speed through the small but dense forest. "Where are you?!"
She heard no reply, but finally she heard a noise coming from the north – it sounded like a wild animal in heat – only something told her this was no animal.
She hid herself behind a tree and struggled in the weak light to see what was making the noise. She froze when she saw Seraphin kneeling over Ares, kissing him. She was moving to unbuckle Ares' sword belt. Ares made no move to push her away. Xena's blood ran cold at the sight, then hot at the thought of Ares' doing something like this – I should've known he was up to something.
Then she realized that Ares wasn't moving at all – She must have him under some kind of spell, then. A wave of relief washed over her, unbidden.
The next moment, Xena flung her chakram at Seraphin, who uncannily moved out of the way, then hissed at Xena before bounding cat-like away into the night. Xena caught her chakram and ran over to where Ares was lying, not completely unconscious, but in some kind of drug- or spell-induced haze. She held his head up on her lap and slapped his cheeks gently.
Ares blinked one eyelid, then the other. When he saw Xena leaning over him, he nearly jumped out of his skin. "Get away from me, you harpy! You're not Xena!" He paused. "What've you done with her?!" By now he was standing over Xena, and moved as if to run back to the campsite, when his legs crumpled beneath him.
"Ares, it's all right. She's gone now. It's me, it's Xena." She crawled over to where he sat, struggling to get back up. "Ssshhh, it's all right! It's me." She grabbed his chin and made him look into her eyes. She opened them wide, hoping that he would know the difference between her and a look-alike. "It's me."
Ares quit struggling, and a spark of recognition came into his still rather unfocused eyes. "Xena? It's really you this time?"
"Yeah, was I interrupting something?" She gave him a playful look, hoping to relieve some of his anxiety.
"Hah. HAH." Ares looked insulted, but then smiled, relieved that he hadn't just become the father to another quill-filled baby.
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I think so. Now."
"I guess I should have listened to you after all."
"What?" Ares looked surprised.
"You know, you said we shouldn't trust Seraphin. You were right."
Ares shivered. "That chick gave me the creeps from the get-go – and now I know why!"
Xena helped Ares to his feet, then put one of his arms around her shoulders. "We'd better get back to the campsite to make sure Hercules and Joxer are okay. Do you think you can walk if I help you?"
Ares glanced at her sideways, and in the dim light she could see that he was grinning mischievously. "Yeah, I think so," he uttered, in a voice that was huskier than usual.
"Great. Let's get moving." She couldn't quite keep her lips pursed, and let a small smile slip out into the darkness.
x x x
They got back to the campsite to find Hercules and Joxer sitting around the newly-made campfire, anxiously waiting for Xena to return. Hercules had wanted to follow her when she fled so quickly, but he knew he couldn't just leave Joxer alone, and he wasn't feeling too hot, himself.
After some brief explanations were made and the dinner of quail that Xena had caught was cooked, they sat down to eat. Nobody said much, and everybody seemed hungry.
After Xena checked the three men over again for signs of more serious injuries, they all settled in for a much-needed rest, while she stood guard for the first watch of the night. She kept her eyes and ears alert and her chakram ready, but she neither heard nor saw anything.
x x x
The next morning, they decided to look for the nearest trail that might lead them back toward Amphipolis. Once they found their bearings, they would decide where to go next.
Xena had seated Ares, who seemed to still be feeling the effects of whatever had happened to him the night before, on Argo, while she walked alongside. Hercules and Joxer walked a little ahead to "scout" the area.
"So, are you feeling any better?" Xena asked with concern.
"Yeah. It actually feels a lot like that . . . what was it? . . . hangover thing I had after I got drunk. Not good, but I'll survive. At least you saved me from doing something I'd really regret." He winked at Xena.
"I'm glad you weren't . . . I mean, at first I thought . . . Well, she was kissing you, and – "
"You thought I betrayed you again."
"Well, only for a second; I mean, you haven't always been the most trustworthy," and then she wished she hadn't said anything. He didn't do anything wrong, and you still judged him for it. "Sorry. Forget I said anything."
"No, Xena, it's true." He looked down, pausing for a moment. Then he said, "Thank the gods you showed up when you did. Even Zeus!" He chuckled at his own joke.
But Xena didn't laugh – she had stopped short in a sudden moment of recollection. Something had been nagging at her ever since the episode with Hope and the Destroyer in the temple, before they had reached Amphipolis. Something she wanted to ask Ares. He had said something, but in the chaos of the fight coupled with her anger over his marriage to Hope, she had forgotten what it was.
"Ares, what did you mean when you said, 'He didn't'?"
Ares' eyes grew large, but he showed no other signs of understanding. "What do you mean?"
"Back at the temple. Hercules mentioned Zeus' taking your godhood, and you said, 'He didn't.' What did you mean by that?" Her eyes were concentrated on him intensely.
Ares avoided his gaze and cleared his throat, instead focusing on a nearby blue jay which seemed to be mocking him in his predicament. "I . . . nothing, I just said that to get him to leave me alone, that's all!" He tried to look sincere, but wasn't very successful.
Just as Xena was about to open her mouth to question him further, the pair was interrupted by a fountain of golden glitter bursting into the shape of Aphrodite. The goddess' eyebrows were knit together in a perturbed fashion.
"NOT cool, bro. You have to tell her!"
"Shut up, Aphrodite!" He hurled the words menacingly at his sister.
"Tell me what?" Xena asked, slowly.
"What he's been hiding from you all this time. Come on, bro, time to 'fess up! She has a right to know."
"Beat it!"
"Nuh-uh. If you won't tell her, I will." The goddess of love and beauty stuck out her tongue at the former god of war.
"Damn it!" He paused, looking between the both of them. Xena didn't look interested in hearing the story from Aphrodite, but looked like she might beat it out of him. "Fine! I'll tell her, just . . . leave us alone, okay?"
"All right, but I'll be keeping an eye on you," she threatened as convincingly as she could in her scant pink nighty. "Toodles!" She raised her fist and disappeared in the same cloud of gold sparkles.
"Ya gotta hand it to her, she knows how to make an exit," Ares joked, lamely.
"Tell . . . me . . . what, Ares?"
"Okay, okay!" He raised his hands as if in self-defense. "All right. Zeus didn't take my godhood. I . . . I gave it away."
"Gave it away? Why?"
"Dahak forced me to marry Hope, right? I had to agree to protect her and any of our 'children' as long as she lived. But that wasn't enough of a commitment for him. He ordered me to kill you."
Xena raised one eyebrow, but didn't seem overly shocked.
"Well, I kind of prefer you alive, ya know? But Dahak wouldn't take 'no' for an answer. He planned to get his full use out of me as long as I lived, and then he'd get rid of me, just like he planned to get rid of the other gods.
"I had gotten really tired of being Dahak's lackey, and I knew it was just going to get worse. I figured as long as I was a god, he'd keep using me. So I . . . gave my godhood away." He looked up for a moment, but then hurriedly continued, "Everybody assumed Zeus had taken it. Zeus was pretty pissed about my involvement with Dahak, anyway, so when he found out about my new status as a mortal, he just let everyone go on thinking it. He even sent his armies out after me for good measure. I figure he'll cool off eventually. I never was the golden child of the family, you know." He spoke this last part with some venom, flicking his eyes in the direction Hercules and Joxer had gone.
Xena had taken everything in, and was stunned by what he had told her. Reading between the lines, she realized that Ares had basically given up his godhood to save her. Of course, he had been looking out for himself, too, but . . . still, he hadn't wanted to kill her.
Suddenly, another question entered her mind. "Ares, you said you gave up your godhood. Well, you can't just give it up, right? Someone else has to take it."
"Yeah." He seemed reluctant to answer her.
"So? Who was it?" She paused, afraid of what he might answer. "Who has your godhood now?"
Ares met her stare with fearful brown eyes. He hesitated, then remembered Aphrodite's warning. He steeled himself for what he was about to tell her. "Xena, when I brought your friend to my temple to be healed, she was pretty badly injured."
"Gabrielle? What's she got to do with this?" Xena's voice trembled when she spoke.
Ares knew that he had to go on now. He cleared his throat, then spoke: "The temple healers said she probably wouldn't make it."
The horror of realization was beginning to dawn on Xena, though she was determined to hear everything. She waited for him to go on.
Ares continued, "So I . . . I figured . . . She's a goody-goody, right? She won't use her powers to hurt anybody. Plus, Dahak will never suspect she's a goddess as long as she never uses her powers anyway. And I figured it was partly my fault she almost got killed, anyway, so I owed it to her . . ."
Xena spoke slowly. "What . . . are . . . you . . . saying?" She didn't want to hear what he was going to say, but she knew she would have to if she wanted to know what had happened to Gabrielle.
Ares took a deep breath, then spoke. "Your friend . . . Gabrielle . . . is a goddess."
"A goddess."
"Yes. She's the new goddess of war."