Title: Flames of Fate
Author: Cat
Rating: T (Possible Language and Situations)
Status: Complete
Summary: Events following A Friend In Need...
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters from the Xena Warrior Princess show or Hercules the Legendary Adventures. I do however own the story line
Lachesis sings the things that were, Clotho the things that are, and Atropos the things that are to be
When the dust settled, Ares calmly stood in the middle of the room, directly in front of him, the Fates.
Clotho, Lachesis and Atropos spoke in unison "You were warned, you were forgiven and again you cross us God Of War" each in turn focused in on him "now you will pay the price for your folly" Atropos voice came calm and deadly "you will be abolished, it will be as you never existed" in her hand the shears appeared, between Clotho and Lachesis a black thread intertwined with a purple appeared "your thread" she continued "shall not only be cut, it shall be destroyed completely" a smile crossed her face "Farwell Ares Son of Zeus" she brought the shears to the thread, closed them down upon it and nothing "I don't understand" Atropos whispered as she again attempted to cut the thread to find it would not sever.
Ares smiled at their confusion "Perhaps you should turn around ladies" he gestured behind them.
During the confusion and their threats to Ares, Xena quietly snuck into the room and hung back to the shadows. Desperately she looked around the barren room "where in Tartarus is it?" she questioned herself, doubt filling her that she would be worthy to see it, then a glimmer to her right, directly behind the Fates. The glimmer slowly became a loom, a grand loom. It took up the entire wall. Through their connection Ares felt her relief at finding it and in her hand a torch appeared, she smiled. Without wasting another second she raced across the room, still unnoticed by the Fates, who were currently attempting to assassinate Ares and threw the torch at the loom. Slowly the ancient timbers began to burn and the flames made their way up the monstrous structure. Xena stumbled back, just as Ares pointed out to the Fates what was happening.
Clotho screamed "NO" as she turned to her sister Atropos "Why did you not stop this" she demanded "You had to have seen" she accused.
Lachesis collapsed to the ground, Clotho joining her and Atropos as they wailed at the loss of their loom.
Ares quickly pulled Xena to him. He held her close, his breath mixing in her hair "you did it" he mumbled softly "I knew you could do it" he kissed her hair.
Clotho was the first to gather herself, she shrugged off her sisters as she stood, biting back the despair and anger that filled her "you will pay Xena, you and Ares" she looked to her sisters "Get up" she commanded. "This is just a temporary setback" taking her sisters' hands, the three faded from site.
Xena and Ares both breathed a sigh of relief before she turned to him "Now what?" she asked.
Ares kissed her upon the forehead "Princess" he began "we face whatever awaits us" he smiled down up on her releasing her from his hold and taking her hand "together."
Xena smiled back "I like that idea."
The pair made their way out of the cave, hand in hand. When they crossed the threshold, a foggy landscape so dense, she could not see her hand in front of her face met her, and the warmth that had enveloped her hand was now replaced with the cool wet air "Ares" she said softly already knowing he was gone. That Ares no longer existed, as they had altered the future.
For a moment she stood there, her mind running through the possibilities of what to do next. She should find a way to free Ares, Zeus will need to be stopped, get Solan back and make sure Gabrielle is safe. These thoughts were interrupted as the fog lifted directly in front of her to reveal a woman.
A tall woman, nearly two head taller than herself. She was stately and put Xena in mind of the Titians. Her long dark hair hung to the ground, her eyes were dark as night, she wore a simple robe of white and her voice was commanding as she began to speak "So it is you who have destroyed the Fates' Loom yet again" a smile crossed her ageless face "curious" she continued as she walked closer to Xena. They now stood in a small circle clear of the fog "Do you know who I am child?" she asked.
"You have me at an advantage" Xena replied, her mind racing as to how to protect herself from this creature.
It was a genuine smile that crossed her lovely features "I am Gaea, Mother to all of Creation" she saw Xena tense further "you have nothing to fear child, I have come to the call of my Fates asking that I once again repair their loom, but instead I find you, a mortal born of an immortal of a different realm. So I say to myself, this mortal is curious, she has twice now played a hand in the destruction of the loom yet many years apart, and I want to know why and how."
Xena relaxed a bit, perhaps there was a light at the end of this nightmare that had been her existence "Your Fates were playing a dangerous game, using the Olympians and the Fey of Kintaria as their pawns in a play, as I now assume, to control not only this realm, but eventually Kintaria as well." Her eyes filled with unchecked tears "those witches have played with many lives, destroying and controlling them for their own gain for centuries."
Gaea seemed to ponder these words "I see" was all she said, her head dipped in thought before she met Xena's gaze "You were Xenia, Princess of the Seelie Court of Kintaira" she began "but you walked away from it because you thought you needed to redeem, or fix, an error you had made" she smiled "a big error in judgement I might add" she closed the space between them, her hands gently taking Xena's "but you needed not redeem yourself, I will make this right." She pulled Xena into an embrace "You are after all my blood in the end" she released Xena "the Fates will be punished and I will make sure they no longer have the extent of the power they did."
The breath, she didn't' know she was holding, was released "How can you fix this?" her head shaking as she let go the Goddess's hands "how can you fix what they have done, what reorder time, erase everything, start over" her head dropped as she shook it "you can't just take away everything, it happened for a reason" she was rambling to herself more than Gaea "The events we lived through, the lives we led forged us into the people we learned to love, without all the bad, the good would mean nothing, without all the events that happened, we would be nothing" a single tear escaped and trailed down her face "I wouldn't be the person I was meant to be, he wouldn't have become the man that unfroze my heart" a sob escaped her as she slowly collapsed to the ground "it isn't fair" she cried as she finally allowed herself to breakdown "after everything sacrificed, the blood spilled" she paused her head still shaking in disbelief "it was for nothing and we shall travel this path again to the same end."
Gaea said nothing through her tantrum and breakdown, her heart breaking at the pain this child had suffered, the lifetimes robbed from her. She softly reiterated her words again "I will make this right".
Xena looked up just as a bright light overpowered her, blinding her.
She struggled to see, but slowly the blindness ebbed away, and her vision returned. She was in a hall, a hall she knew all too well "Olympus" she said to herself. She looked down, she wasn't wearing her well-worn leathers, but instead wore a gown of deep purple, silver laced through the one strapped dress, with the skirt merely panels of material to allow ease of movement. Carefully she felt her hair; it was piled high upon her head with jewels woven in. She remembered everything, except why in Tartarus she was here.
His voice broke the silence "Xena?"
She spun around to face the voice "Ares?" she asked, her heart skipping a beat at the sight of him, he was young, very young in fact.
"You remember?" he asked
A smile broke across her face "Yes, and you?"
With a wave of his hand, a splash of grey appeared in his dark locks.
"Ares" she cried as she ran to him and he pulled her to him. Kisses frantically placed all over her face until he pulled her in tight to a hug "I am not letting go again" he whispered into her hair as she sobbed into his chest. He broke the embrace, and pushed her back "No tears Xena" he smiled as he wiped them from her face.
"They are tears of joy" she replied with a smile before pulling him in for a kiss.
When they broke for air, he again pulled her to him and held her there "Why are we here?" he asked "what happened? The last thing I remember was leaving the cave with you and then, bam here I am back where it started."
She pushed back from him "Back where it started?" she asked "When you vanished, Gaea appeared" Xena began "She said she could fix it" her eyes telling him she was just as confused as him. "Where are we? Isn't this Olympus?"
"I think the more appropriate question would be when" he looked down at her "and yes this is Olympus" he looked back to the throne room door "and if I had to guess, this is the day you renounced your immortality to play out the game of the Fates." He looked back to her "It appears Gaea meant to fix it by starting it over"
"But leaving us with the memories of the life times" Xena finished "Does that mean"
"Yes I can see your aura has changed, you are Xenia again, a Seele Princess of Kintaira, half Fae, half dark elf" he answered her.
She broke the embrace, stepped back from him "I don't feel any different" she said softly. She closed her eyes, and before Ares her clothing warped back to her old leathers. Xena opened her eyes "that feels better" she smiled making sure her charkarm and sword were secure "I guess I could get used to this, it feels right."
Ares replied "It should it is the real you" his smile faltered "Should we find out what is gonna to play out in there" he gestured to the door.
She nodded her head in agreeance, reached out and took his hand "Together" she said "Together" he replied.
Together they walked through the door and to their unwritten future...
This is the end of this tale, but the beginning of many more to come..