There was no time to be lost in getting out of the temple. Xena threw the dazed and weakened Gabrielle over her shoulders like a sack of grain and yelled to her other companions to make for the door, and quick.

Even outside the temple, the earth was shaking violently. The group continued running until they reached the cover of the thick forest nearby, hoping that the trembling would somehow stop. It didn't. In the meantime, Xena tried to comfort a very distraught Gabrielle. "It's all right, it's all right. You're alive, and we're going to get through this together." Ares, paying no attention, was gazing intently at the sky, as if expecting something or someone to appear.

Hercules was keeping himself busy pushing away any trees that were falling in their direction, and Joxer couldn't tear his eyes from Gabrielle for a moment.

Nothing else happened for the longest time, except the tremors that shook them all to their bones. Then, a flash of exceptionally bright lightning lit up the sky, and then everything went dark, as if night had suddenly fallen.

Ares mouthed something which nobody else heard because of all the shaking. If they had noticed, they would've seen his lips forming the name, "Zeus".

The shaking stopped as suddenly as it began. There was complete silence for one or two seconds, and then the group could make out the faint sounds of something like moaning or chanting, and it was growing stronger. In the dim, they could barely see the figures of what appeared to be humans, many of them, coming through the trees. But it quickly became obvious that this was no welcoming party; the figures were moving slowly, stiffly, and their eyes seemed to all be glowing faintly blue. All five of them sensed the danger, and Xena helped Gabrielle to her feet as her arm reached for her chakram. It's no good – these are just simple villagers. They have no idea what they're doing. It's just like before, when they were chasing us to get to Seraphin . . .

Then Ares jumped forward, gripping Gabrielle by the shoulders. He fairly barked out, "Take us to Olympus!" Xena, sensing that there was no time to lose, and that maybe Ares knew what he was doing, nodded in her direction. Gabrielle nodded back, closed her eyes, and they all disappeared in a shower of emerald sparkles.

x x x

When they arrived on Mount Olympus, they found themselves in a large hall decorated in gold with lots of bowls of fruit, all of which were shaking violently. Odd. Hadn't the shaking stopped? There was a throne placed prominently against one wall, but there was no one sitting on it at the moment.

Ares spoke first, or rather, shouted, in order to be heard. "We need to find Zeus. He's the only one who can help us now!" He beckoned for the others to follow him, and Xena met his stride, walking alongside him. He felt the sudden, strange urge to clasp her hand, but then he thought better of it. Hercules picked up Gabrielle, who was still very weak, and carried her. Her small fist still clutched the red gem that was Hope. Joxer kept apace with them, not wanting to part from the bard-turned-goddess..

After a few minutes of winding their way awkwardly through the passages of Olympus, they felt the rumbling stop. Xena turned to Ares as they walked. "So what's this about, Ares? Why do we need Zeus? I thought you were afraid of him."

"Not anymore." His face was grim, and Xena noticed a dangerous determination in it that she had never seen before. "Zeus can help us get to Dahak. He has the power to create as well as to destroy . . . "

Suddenly, she had an idea of what he was talking about. Earlier, she had had an inkling of it . . . What was it? . . . off in my own little world . . . Dahak was in his own little world, literally . . . If there were some way to reach him, to create a realm in which he could be killed, then there was still hope. . .

After making their way through the endless passages which Ares seemed to know by heart, they reached a door. He halted, hesitating, now that they were so close. Xena looked at him questioningly. "What is it? This is where Zeus is, isn't it?"

"Yeah, it is."

"Then let's go in."

Ares looked to Gabrielle. "Only she can open this door – it's made for gods, you know." Xena realized that this was the first time he had been back to Olympus since he'd lost his godhood.

Gabrielle jumped down out of Hercules' arms and moved toward the door, closed her eyes, and the door was suddenly open. "Wow. I could get used to this."

Inside the room were volumes with books, flasks, jars, and many unidentifiable things. Over in one corner stood what looked like a rack of lightning bolts. Their eyes searched the room for a moment, and then they all saw it – or rather, him – Zeus was lying on the floor, dead.

Before they had time to check the body, a familiar voice from behind made them all turn around. "Tragic, isn't it? And at the worst possible time . . . Ah, well, that was our father for you."

Xena's eyes had widened with horror and were now narrowing in suspicion. "Athena."

"Oh, don't look at me like that, Xena. I certainly didn't kill him."

Xena, looking only slightly less suspicious, walked over to where Zeus' body lay and knelt down to examine it. "Then just what in Tartarus is going on here?"

"I was hoping you'd tell me." The goddess' aquamarine eyes showed no signs of remorse, but something in them told Xena that she was very, very uneasy, despite her calm, collected façade.

Ares stood as if spellbound, looking at his deceased father. "Well, I guess that's it, isn't it?" He spoke as one in shock. "There goes our last chance."

Hercules, who was also having difficulty absorbing this new turn of events, turned to him angrily. "You mean it's your last chance to get your godhood back! That's all you care about, isn't it?"

Xena wondered if that were the case. But surely that was all Ares wanted, wasn't it? It's not as if he'd be doing all this out of altruism. She pushed the thought away momentarily, looking up from her examination. "It looks as if . . . he's been . . . stabbed."

"Stabbed? That's impossible!" Hercules said, and his hulking frame shuddered.

"Oh, yes. Xena's right, you know." Athena's lack of emotion was chilling.

"But with what? How can . . . " Hercules began to sputter, then stopped.

Xena finished for him. "The Hind's Blood Dagger."

x x x

Zeus' body had been transported back to the main hall of the temple, where the shaking had finally stopped. Xena, Ares and Hercules stood in conference with Athena while Gabrielle entertained Joxer by testing out some of her new powers. Athena was poised upright upon the throne, having taken over Zeus' position. The other gods, apparently, had disappeared.

"I always knew they were cowards. They all fled when they found out Zeus was dead. They transported themselves to an alternate dimension, which is apparently much like our own world," Athena explained.

Xena's eyes widened. If there were other worlds where the gods could teleport themselves, then maybe . . .

Athena looked at her piercingly, then said, "I know what you're thinking, Xena. Forget it. You can't get to Dahak in that dimension, either."

"Yes, but if there's a way to get there, then maybe we can create another way to reach Dahak."

"Create? Only Zeus had that kind of power. And he's dead."

Hercules winced.

Ares turned to face his sister. "Your sensitivity is touching, but don't you think Xena has a point? I mean, maybe Zeus' powers, or at least his knowledge, are still here somewhere."

Xena looked at Ares thoughtfully. "He's got a point."

"What about all those books in Zeus' room? We could start looking there," Hercules contributed, agreeing with his half-brother for once.

Xena, Ares and Hercules all looked up at Athena. "Fine. Waste your time. Search the room. It's useless, though."

Five minutes later, the companions were rifling through Zeus' room, hoping to find something that would aid them in their mission. Two hours, later, they were still searching, but to no avail. The books were full of arcane symbols and strange riddles, and the strange devices on the tables seemed to be keeping their secrets hidden.

Joxer, finally bored with his part of the search, which mainly involved "guarding" the door, wandered over to the rack of lightning bolts that stood against the far wall. He idly tossed the gem that held Hope, which Gabrielle had given him to look after (and to make him feel useful), into the air, and caught it again.

Xena and Ares were absorbed in searching through an old, dusty set of books on "alternate universe theories". Every once in a while, their hands would reach eagerly for the same page, and they would touch. Xena didn't even seem to be all that offended when he let his hand linger over hers for a few short seconds before he pulled it away. Well, the end of the world does have its perks, after all, thought Ares. And the next moment, he thought it really was the end of the world, because suddenly there was a gaping hole in the room, and everything was enveloped in a strange purple glow. The book he had been looking at had been sucked out of his hands.

Xena looked over to where Joxer had stood, now seeing only the huge vortex which was pulling everything in the room toward it with an irresistible force. She looked around the room. Hercules was holding onto Gabrielle and keeping a firm grip on an iron ring that was affixed to the wall. Joxer was nowhere to be seen.

A figure stepped out of the vortex. "Well Xena, I am the last hope you have of getting to Dahak." Satisfied at the stunned expressions on everyone else in the room, Callisto spun around to inspect her new surroundings.

"What did you do with Joxer?!" Xena yanked her sword free of its scabbard and lunged at Callisto, only to be caught by Ares' arms firmly around her waist.

He ignored Xena's scowl, "Uh, Callisto... somehow I'm thinking that you might need to explain just a little more."

Shrugging, Ares released Xena when it looked like Callisto was about to speak. The warrior princess, for her part, glared at Ares but made no further moves to decapitate the newcomer.

Noticing the look of anger on Xena's face and, having investigated her new surroundings fully, Callisto shook her head and tried her best to explain. "Joxer and I switched places, I guess." She surveyed the others in the room, "'Cause I think I'm in the wrong dimension."

At this, Athena and Hercules started paying much closer attention. Before the others could voice any further questions, Hercules piped up, "So you're Callisto from an alternate dimension?"

It was only as this idea presented itself that everybody took notice of Callisto's unusual dress which, until now, they'd thought was just some sort of joke. Callisto was wearing a soft white dress made out of a strange material, shimmering slightly, with a dark belt and a small bag attached to it.

"How do we know you're telling the truth?" demanded Gabrielle, unnerved but unwilling to show it.

"Because," Callisto sighed and untied the bag and pulled out several spinning, shimmery objects, "I've been trying to get this portal open all day and, now that I'm here, you all have to come back with me."

By this point, Athena's interest was definitely peaked. "I suppose my first question should be how, but I'll go with why?"

Grinning at her newfound companions, this version of Callisto announced, "Dahak's influence has bled into my universe, but we need help stopping him - I'll explain when we get there, but you must hurry while the dimensional fabric is still weak." Seeing that the 'how' part would be the next question, Callisto hurried on, "I think the portal finally worked due to Joxer and what looked like a lightening bolt?"

The remaining occupants of the room took in this changed Callisto, her words, and the missing thunder bolt from Zeus' rack. But none made Callisto's hoped for rush to leave. She sighed and waited.

Xena glanced at Gabrielle, then Hercules, Ares and Athena. News that Dahak may have made himself known in this alternate dimension and that, there, they may have more of a chance at defeating him once and for all, Xena turned and nodded toward Callisto.

"All right. We'll come with you. Our luck hasn't exactly been in our favor here."

Gabrielle stepped up, touching Xena's arm. "Are you sure?"

"If we can defeat Dahak there then I don't see what we have got to lose."

"Then we have no time to lose," Callisto stated with a fair amount of urgency in her voice.

Callisto slung the bag over her shoulder and walked into the swirling blue vortex behind her. Hercules looked at Xena, a little unsure about entering the other dimension. "Iolaus and I had a close encounter with that dimension. From what Iolaus said, everything is completely backwards from our world. Sure you're ready for that?"

"We're sure," Gabrielle stated, stepping into the portal.

Athena looked at the portal, then at Xena. "I think someone should stay behind. Zeus is dead. I have to look after things for him. Besides, I don't want to leave in case Dahak somehow gets bolder in his attempts to overthrow us. I'll contact you if anything happens on this side of the portal."

Xena nodded, then walked into the portal, followed by Ares and Hercules.

x x x

Xena, Gabrielle, Hercules and Ares walked out of the portal into a dark and dusty room.

"Gabrielle!" Joxer shouted, running up to Gabrielle from out of the shadows. He hurtled himself toward her and wrapped his arms around her in a death-grip hug. "I thought I was gone for good!"

"No, Joxer," she said, patting him on the back, "we wouldn't let that happen."

Xena looked around the seemingly abandoned room, cobwebs hanging from the broken rafters, piles of old, broken barrels stacked against one of the walls, the contents of the barrels, broken glass bottles, scattered on the floor in front of them.

Xena turned to Callisto who was standing by a cracked beam holding up the roof.

"What is this place?"

"It's an old wine cellar. It's the only place I could find where the energy to open the portal to your realm was strong."

"Where do we go from here?" Hercules asked.

Callisto sighed. "We have to go to Olympus. There we can formulate a plan on how to deal with Dahak."

"Dahak...has he made an appearance yet?" Gabrielle inquired.

Callisto shook her head. "No, but you'll see when we get out there...Dahak has control of most of the populace. He's...infected them with thoughts of love and peace and changing the world."

Joxer raised an eyebrow, looking befuddled. "And, uh, that's a bad thing?"

"Well, it is when the leader, Althea, is really Dahak's chosen one, used to turn the people to Dahak with a belief that Dahak will be the savior of the world."

"How do you know this?" Xena wondered.

"Well, apart from the fact that I'm one of the only ones that have not succumb to Dahak's lies, I also have the ability to see into people, see their intentions, their feelings. That's how I know what Althea preached had been lies."

Callisto walked to the door and opened it. Dust flying everywhere, and sunlight flooded the interior of the abandoned cellar. The light was so bright that it nearly blacked out Callisto's form in the doorway, creating only a silhouette. "Let's go, then."

She walked out into a bustling street. Xena, Gabrielle, Hercules, Joxer and Ares followed. There were people walking around, going about their day. Everything seemed completely normal.

"So this is what Dahak's reign would have been like, huh?" Ares smirked. "You never would have guessed from the way he preached 'death to all humanity'."

"All is not what it appears, Ares," Callisto looked back at him. "Everyone may seem happy but there is something darker below the surface. Much darker."

Xena looked around at all the people, a concerned look on her face.

Gabrielle walked up next to her, shaking her head. "To think they would use peace as a cover for something darker. I guess even evil entities have to come up with more creative ways to accomplish their goals."

Xena looked at Callisto. "Callisto, who else doesn't believe the lies of Dahak? You must be working with someone."

"I am. The gods are on our side, well most of them anyway, as well as the Rebels."

Xena cocked her head. "The Rebels?"

Callisto nods. "Yes. Once, they rallied against the Sovereign when he was looking to take Zeus' life and make himself supreme. But then the Sovereign was trapped between our world and yours and the Rebels were able to overthrow the monarchy. The place belongs to the people and exists for the people now. They've done a lot of good. Their leader, especially. They made this place—peaceful, more or less."

"Not as peaceful as how it is now, I'm guessing," Ares stated.

Callisto shook her head. "No. We still had our problems—until Althea showed up and promised a perfect world for everyone. She claimed that she and her god could do what others could not, and the people began to follow her teachings without hesitation."

"They were under a spell or something, right?" Joxer asked.

"No. They knew what they were doing—they still know. But I, along with a few other people, know better. And we're going to stop Dahak."

"Where are the Rebels now?" Hercules asked.

"We've got a hideout in a cave beneath Olympus. That's where we're headed."

Callisto walked down the street.

"What's this leader like?" Joxer asked, catching up to Callisto.

She stopped and looked at him as Xena, Hercules, Ares and Gabrielle walked up. She smiled, grinning a little. "He's a lot like you, Joxer," she paused. "Well...in appearance, anyway."

Xena, Gabrielle, Ares, and Joxer looked confused.

Ares shook his head, disbelieving. "Don't tell me. We've got a Joxer double now?" Callisto nodded slowly. Ares shook his head. "Just what the world needs."

"Oh, don't make fun," she said to Ares. Callisto smirked and, for a moment, she seemed like the crazy Callisto that Xena and Gabrielle were so familiar with. "You'll be meeting your long lost twin in due time." She looked at Xena. "You both will."

Xena and Gabrielle merely exchanged quizzical glances, shrugged, and then walked on. The alternate-dimension Callisto was having them dodge in and out of some rather dark and dubious passageways, as if to avoid being out in the streets for too long. After about ten minutes, Hercules, who was walking in back, piped up with a question. "Callisto, there's something I don't get about all this. When someone in our dimension is killed, their double in this dimension dies, as well." The demigod glanced rather awkwardly at Xena and said, "You see, the other version of you . . . was killed. How are you still alive?"

This well-groomed Callisto turned around to face him. "Yes, I had thought of that. I have been able to see into your dimension for a while now, and I was able to step into the vortex you went through earlier, but only for a few moments at a time, not long enough to get through to you. You see, I already knew that Xena was about to kill her." She looked at Xena, as if to say that she understood, and that there were no hard feelings. "So when I saw that Callisto was about to die, I stepped into the vortex, and I survived. And I didn't even feel a thing!" She threw back her head and cackled, much like her double used to do, only with a true vivacity and richness of feeling which the other Callisto had lacked. This Callisto was very much alive inside.

Gabrielle spoke up. "But I still don't get it. How did that save you from dying?"

Callisto answered brightly, "My dear, the rules don't apply if you're in transit between two dimensions. That's pretty much the only way to do it, actually."

The rest of their trip was made in silence. They had made their way out of the city by now and were winding through some smaller cliffs that led up to a mountain beyond – Olympus.

Callisto led them into an intricate cave system which protected the hideout of the Rebels. They came at last to a door, which seemed very out of place in the seemingly natural setting. Their guide beckoned to Hercules to raise his torch to provide light. She then pulled some stones out of her purse and stuck them into the door in a particular order. They passed through another set of doors at which a Rebel guard stopped them, assuring himself first that it was Callisto who was leading the group.

Inside the Rebel camp, it was much brighter than in the tunnels, and there was a group of people gathered around a fire. One of them seemed to be telling a joke, which the others found hilarious. One of the guards tapped him to let him know that they had guests, and he turned around. He put out a firm hand to welcome the newcomers. "The name's Joxer. I hear you're interested in helping us against Dahak?"

The other Joxer stepped forward into the firelight, approaching his doppelganger. "Hey! You look just like my brother Jett!" he exclaimed, enthusiastically pumping his hand. Alt-Joxer looked from him to the rest of the group, then said, "Come on, we're about to have dinner. Let's get to know each other, and then we can talk strategy."

Xena and Callisto sat next to each other around the fire, relaxing after dinner, with Ares sitting on the other side of Xena. Sure, it was uncomfortable having a nice friendly chat with the spitting image of someone you had just killed, but there wasn't anything to do for it.

"So, I understand that we all have doubles here, just like you and Joxer do. So . . . " A wicked gleam entered Xena's eye. What's Ares' double look like? Is he a god, too? No, let me guess – he's a pacifistic shepherd." She smirked to herself at the image she had in mind of Ares, donning the simple robes of a shepherd, singing the sheep to sleep at night. Kinky.

Ares looked at Xena as if not amused (although he was secretly pleased that she was wondering about him). "Ha. Ha. And I bet you're my shepherdess wife, who keeps me company and gives all the sheep silly frou-frou names." Dammit, that's not a bad picture. What exactly would the Warrior Princess look like in a shepherdess costume? he thought, unable to keep back a wicked grin.

"No, not a shepherd, and yes, he is a god." Callisto smirked, glancing at Ares' black leather costume. "He's the god of love."

It took Xena a good ten minutes to stop laughing over this little tidbit. She insisted to the suddenly very pale Ares that she was going to have to meet this other version of him before leaving.

In the meantime, Gabrielle, Joxer and Hercules were getting acquainted with Rebel Joxer. The bard seemed fascinated by him and his amazing stories of their fight for freedom against the Sovreign. He told them of his time in prison, where he had met the Iolaus from their world, and, with additions from Hercules, explained how they had all worked together to defeat the evil half-god.

Joxer observed all this with a heavy heart – Gabrielle was looking at the man who looked just like him (well, just like his brother Jett, anyway), and she seemed to be eating up every word he said. Just my luck that the woman I love falls for someone who looks just like me, he thought.

Rebel Joxer, though, seemed completely oblivious to any romantic interest Gabrielle might have in him. In fact, he seemed to distance himself from her a bit, despite his generally warm character, and her pleasant attentiveness. Hercules noticed this and wondered to himself if this might be because of his association with the alternate-dimension version of her – not exactly someone he'd want to meet in a dark alley, come to think of it.

After the group had spent some time in telling jokes and stories, and filling each other in on what had happened so far, one of the Rebels came up to the leader and whispered something in his ear. Rebel Joxer stood up, raised his glass, and called for everyone's attention. "Everyone, please, listen up. I've just been informed that we have a very special guest who's about to meet with us. I know that she has done some bad things in the past, but she's willing to work with us now that the Sovreign has been dealt with. In fact, she may prove vital to our cause. Please, everyone, welcome our new associate, Xena!" The crowd stood up as a woman entered, their applause not totally enthusiastic.

The warrior princess looked rather confused, as if the Rebel leader had been talking about her all along, then she saw that he wasn't pointing in her direction at all. He was gesturing toward a tall, dark-haired woman who was just entering through one of the side doors. Ares realized it a moment before she did, and nearly fell off his log. It was Xena. A bit less muscular, with a short bob instead of long hair, and enough eye make-up to make a banshee say, "Oh, honey, that's just tacky."

Gabrielle's mouth opened and closed itself. Joxer's just opened and stayed that way. Hercules looked over at Xena, worried about her reaction. She seemed to be momentarily stunned, then covered her face as if not wanting anyone to recognize her. Ares was watching the newcomer intently. Xena peeked over at him surreptitiously, unable to keep herself from observing his reaction. Bastard's enjoying himself! But then again, she had just been teasing him about his other self a minute ago. Serves me right, I guess. I'm never going to live this down. If he ever brings this up . . . She envisioned the chakram leaving her hand and . . . Focus, Xena, focus!

The alternate-world Xena seemed pleased at the attention she was receiving from the Rebel crowd. She walked over to alt-Joxer, shaking her hips as much as possible in the very tight black sequined dress she was wearing. Ares' eyes followed her as she walked past them. Xena punched him in the stomach.

"Joxer, baby! It's so good to be here! I hoped you hadn't forgotten me." She batted her eyelashes at him seductively, ruffling his hair.

"Er. . . How could I forget you, Xena? You're . . . um, one in a thousand!" Rebel Joxer said, uncomfortably.

"More like one in a billion," muttered Ares, laughing to himself. Xena rolled her eyes.

Then the alternate-world Xena turned to the crowd, as if to give them a better view of her. She smiled and waved like a Miss Known World Pageant contestant. Alt-Joxer spoke up quickly before she could address the crowd. "You all know that the situation with the god Dahak and his followers grows more dire all the time. He clearly plans to rule our world . . . or worlds . . . through bloody force. His chosen one, Althea, helps to rile the masses in his favor, although Dahak only seeks to destroy them in the end. And Dahak's angels, Michael and Raphael, terrorize those of us Rebels who dare to try to reach those people. The only recourse we have is to destroy Dahak completely." At this, the crowd burst into clapping and enthusiastic whoops.

Alt-Joxer raised his hands to quiet the crowd. "One problem we have had is, of course, finding a way to defeat Dahak and his minions. This woman," he said, turning to Alt-Xena, "has seen the error of her ways and has offered us her assistance. She holds the key that we need to get to him." He moved aside to let her speak.

"Yeah, what he said." Alt-Xena batted her eyelashes again. "Like, the Sovreign is gone now, so I figure, why not help you guys out? You're good people." She winked at a man in the front row, who blushed. "So, anyhow, I lost the Hind's Blood medallion that . . . um, that I had before, but, ya know, that's not the only way to kill a god." She narrowed her eyes into cat-like slits.

"The Dagger of Helios!" someone shouted.

Alt-Xena looked slightly perturbed. "No, you moron, not that, either."

"A rib of Chronos!" yelled a woman in the back.

Alt-Xena looked askance at her with a raised eyebrow. "No. Somethin' else."

"The Light Chakram!" hollered Ares, excited at the prospect.

"Er, no, cutie-pie, that's not it, either." Alt-Xena pouted her lips at him.

"Then what is it, exactly?" said someone in the front row.

"It's simple, silly! I have the power to kill gods." She raised her fist, in which was clenched a round shiny weapon, and mimicked a slicing movement across her neck. Her eyes glittered in the torchlight.

The travelers from the alternate dimension all looked at one another, aghast. It was alt-Joxer who spoke first after this revelation.

"You say you have the power to kill gods. We need your powers to kill Dahak. But how can we be sure," he said, indicating the crowd of rebels along with him, "that you possess this power? How do you know that you can kill a god?"

Alt-Xena lifted her cat's eyes and addressed her audience once again. "Easy enough. I've already killed one."

For a moment, it seemed like even the torches gasped in shock. Alt-Joxer was again the first to speak to the dark-haired vixen. His normally cool exterior was starting to wear down. "You . . . you have? Wh-which one?"

"Zeus."

After the few seconds it look to process this shocking bit of news, Hercules and Ares both jumped to their feet. They shouted in unison, "YOU!!!"

At this, alt-Xena was visibly shaken, because before her (in her mind, at least) stood the Sovreign, whom she supposed to be trapped for good, and the God of Love, looking a lot more . . . rugged . . . and angry . . . than normal.

Hercules was like an avenging fury, only with more clothes. "You killed Zeus? How could you do that, you bitch?!" He ran up on stage, followed by Ares. Alt-Xena held her out the chakram to ward him off, but he knocked it out of her hand rather violently. "Why? WHY??" Oops. Not the Sovreign. The other guy. What was his name, again? Jerkules?

Ares, who was now up on stage as well, picked up the chakram that she had dropped. It was different from the one Xena had. It was encrusted with strange, ruby-like gems instead of pua shells, and had a design shaped like pointed waves in black against a silver background. His voice was calmer than Hercules', but the controlled rage in his voice was frightening. "Zeus was stabbed. I saw the wound! You didn't use this," and he looked down at the chakram in his hands, "did you?"

Alt-Xena mustered the courage to answer him, mildly comforted by the fact that this was only the God of Love. What could he do to her? Make her fall in love with that silly court jester-eunuch-fellow?

"It's . . . it's easy, I . . . I had this knife. Old man never saw it coming." She tried looking as innocuous as possible, despite her admission. Hercules released her, turning around and cursing.

The audience members stood up, all shouting different things at once, while alt-Joxer tried to quiet them down, urging them to return to their seats.

By this time, Xena was whispering urgently to Gabrielle and Joxer at the nearby table. While alt-Xena was facing Ares, Joxer helped Gabrielle escape to the nearest opening in the cavern wall. They couldn't afford to take any chances – who could tell whether Dahak hadn't sent this woman to kill Gabrielle, too?

Meanwhile, on stage, alt-Xena was running her fingers down Ares' chest, trying her best to distract him and get near that chakram in his hands. "You know, I could kill you if I wanted to," she cooed, "but you're kind of cute."

For a moment, just a brief flash, Ares lost himself in the thought of Xena's saying this to him, of her running her hands down his stomach. But the moment died when he met her face, which was cold and calculating, and had no trace of the warmth which he was accustomed to seeing there. He whispered back to her, "Yeah, well, I could kill you, too," but then his face hardened, because he knew he couldn't kill her – because then Xena – his Xena - would die, too.

And at that moment, he knew the proud warrior woman he knew was his Xena, whether she knew it or not. And there wasn't a damn thing he could do about it. Dammit, you fool. This isn't the time. You may lo. . . lo. . . have feelings for Xena, okay, but you don't have time for your urges right now.

The former God of War rallied. "I could kill you, but then, I prefer a challenge."

Alt-Xena raised a lusty eyebrow at the former god, and was just trying to think of something else provocative to say, when Ares noticed Xena beckoning – or rather, making a furious gesture with her head – telling him to get out of there. He pushed alt-Xena over toward Rebel Joxer and wound his way through the crowd toward Xena, who was trying to hide her face from her double. They made their exit through the same door that Gabrielle and Joxer had gone through.

x x x

Later that evening, Xena, Gabrielle, Joxer, and Ares were in sitting around a campfire in a small clearing near the edge of some woods that ran near the foot of the mountain.

"Xena, do you really think she's here to kill me? I mean, if she wanted to do that, don't you think there are more subtle ways to do it?"

"I don't know, Gabrielle. I know she's up to something, I just wish I knew what it is. She could be working for Dahak, or she could be working on her own, or something else entirely. But if she does have the ability to kill gods, and if she killed Zeus," she spoke softly, looking over at Ares with some concern, "then you're not safe. None of us are."

"That's not entirely true, Xena. She can't kill you." Ares mouthed the words quietly, looking into the campfire with a strange, faraway expression on his face. Xena wondered if he were thinking about his father. They had never gotten along, of course, but surely he felt something. Maybe I should say something? Or maybe Gabrielle could talk to him. She's better at that sort of thing.

Ares wasn't thinking of his father at that moment. He was thinking about that moment in the cavern when he had realized that this obsession, this attraction for Xena was much more than just some kind of godly phase. He was thinking that he had finally found something he never knew he'd been looking for – her. This magnificent woman who was taking care of him and helping him, who had helped him in the past, and who had no real reason for doing so. She just . . . helped. By the gods, I'm getting soft as a mortal. But I don't think I mind it as much as I thought I would. He thought about getting his godhood back, and realized the idea had hardly been in his mind lately – in fact, he snuffed out the idea like a dying candle.

Xena watched Ares intently all the time he was thinking these things. "Ares, I – I'm sorry."

"Sorry?"

"I'm sorry about Zeus." But I'm glad you're still safe, came the thought, unbidden.

"Thanks."

"I'm sorry, too." The bard looked at him thoughtfully, as if considering him as a human being for the first time.

"Yeah, I'm sorry, too," Joxer piped in behind Gabrielle.

Ares cleared his throat. "Anyway, we have to figure out what we're going to do next. Hercules is going to be back from scouting soon, so he can tell us what he finds out." Ares realized that this was probably the first time he'd said his half-brother's name without malice.

"And Callisto's got something cooking on her end, too – she thinks she can help us to get to Dahak," Xena added.

"And when we do see Dahak . . . then what?" Ares asked.

Xena had looked back toward Gabrielle, surprised that she wasn't being more chatty. It was then that she caught her in the middle of a surreptitious glance at Joxer, which held both confusion and the feeling of looking for something that isn't there. Probably wondering how Joxer and his look-alike can be so different, she thought. Although I can't exactly say much, myself!

After this brief moment of reflection, she returned to the subject at hand. "Ares, you talked to . . . the . . . um . . . her. Do you think there's any way she's going to help us, really?"

Ares paused to think for a moment, then said, "I don't know. I don't . . . I don't trust her."

"Well, what did you . . . " Xena nearly blushed in the darkness. "What did you think of her?"

"Well," Ares answered the unexpected question without thinking, "she's no you." His voice was lowered as he spoke, and Xena felt an unbidden flush of pleasure at this sudden frankness. Then she pushed it aside, businesslike.

"So you don't think we can trust her?"

"Not as far as we can throw her. With an anchor tied around her legs. Of course, I guess "good ol' Herc" could still throw her pretty far . . . " They both laughed at the corny joke. It felt good, even though they weren't getting anywhere.

Gabrielle spoke up then. "I'm . . . I'm going to bed now."

"Yeah, I'm beat. I think I'm gonna hit the hay, too." Joxer added.

The two of them drifted off to their separate bedrolls on the opposite side of the clearing and left Xena and Ares to talk.

"Do you even think she has the power to kill gods? I wonder . . . "

"You think she's lying?"

"Well, I don't think she's telling the truth, and I don't think she's working alone. Maybe she still has a stash of Hind's Blood somewhere, and that's what she used – " She broke off. "Sorry."

"Don't worry about it. Hey, I've been looking at this chakram. It's different from yours, see? Maybe it's got something to do with all this."

"Very possible."

Then a flurry of pink, red, and purple hearts interrupted their conversation. A man dressed in a white leather vest and extremely tight white pants appeared before him. He looked just like Ares, only without the facial hair and with a much more laid-back expression. In fact, it looked like Ares, God of War had been through a bleaching, scrubbing, and thorough drugging with henbane.

"Well, hello, handsome. Don't you two look cozy!" The God of Love beamed at them, jutting out his hip. "I hate to interrupt, but I just couldn't help but notice that, well, it's about time we were properly introduced!"

Neither Xena nor Ares could speak, so the god kept going. "My name is Ares, but I guess you knew that!" Ares, God of War, blinked as his double winked at them. "Now, I know things are pretty grim right now, but don't you fret!"

Xena finally managed to mobilize her lips into coherent words. "Uh, I'm Xena." Ares looked at her, still unable to comprehend this new and unexpected arrival. Then she burst out laughing, almost waking Gabrielle and Joxer.

"Xena, this is NOT funny!"

Xena broke through her laughter long enough to choke out the words, "Yes . . . it . . . is!"

What a day this has turned out to be! thought Ares. First I realize that I'm in lo-. . . that I have feelings for Xena, and urges, and . . . gods, now she's never going to let me live this down.

The god was growing impatient with their inability to speak. "Now listen. I know you two are planning on defeating Dahak and all, but you just can't do that without my secret weapon!" He had their attention now.

"Secret weapon?" Xena asked.

"L-O-V-E, baby! You know, the stuff dreams are made of, the air that I breathe, the reason for living! Love, ya gotta love it!"

"Oh, gods." Ares groaned.

Xena smirked. "Go on."

"You can't defeat Dahak when you're so . . . tense. You both need to lighten up! Live a little! Seize the . . . day!" The god was smiling intensely at them now.

"Uhh . . . yeah. Maybe some other time. We're kind of busy right now. You know, trying to stop an evil god from entering the world, that kind of thing?" Xena looked at him, wondering if any of this was sinking in.

"Dahak, schmahak! I know you two are busy . . . but now I think it's time to get busy, if you know what I mean, and I think you do!" He winked at them.

Suddenly, Xena and Ares caught his meaning and looked at each other in alarm. But there was nothing they could to – it was already too late.
Their shouts of protest were cut off abruptly as a pink, heart-shaped bubble engulfed them and collapsed to a point before disappearing.