Disclaimer: Xena: Warrior Princess and Hercules: the Legendary Journeys don not belong to me. Copyright is not intended.

A/N: Ages: 90 = 9. Enyo is 90, nearly 100. Strife, Cupid and Seph are in the 120/130 range (12 to 13). So when she's 140 they'll be 170/180 (Cupid the oldest). Antares is less than a decade younger than Cupid, about three years actually. When she's 170 they'll be 200 – 17 and 20, basically. Phobos and Deimos are 70.

Summary: "Let them think me a monster." She knows she's not… most days. Enyo had no one, so she raised herself. AU.

Paper Blood

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Chapter Two

Thalia, shocked that her mother hadn't already taught her to materialize and transport, was teaching her how to use her long suppressed and built up Godly powers. It allowed her to send notes to her father, and slowly they were building a relationship from a previous lack of contact. She still couldn't go to the Halls of Aggression, of course, but they were now able to work around that somewhat. She just told him that Eos had been too busy to teach her, which was sort of the truth in a twisted way since Eos would never have time to teach Enyo things she didn't want her to know.

And, since she couldn't transport before that, Eos had forgotten to block her from the mortal realm. She could go to Earthly temples if not Godly ones, so now she could visit her relatives sometimes – in another form, naturally, just in case. The shapeshifting had been passed down from Zeus; Eris and Strife had it too, while Ares and Cupid had Hera's wings.

With Thalia's help, she was slowly assimilating her Godhood, letting the blocks of her childhood unravel. Thalia and Calliope weren't so much friends as people sharing common interests, and Thalia seemed to now have taken on the role of a teacher, but she knew how to make Enyo laugh, and that was worth all the gold in Greece. Enyo didn't have much reason to laugh usually. Thalia was nice, and it was even nicer to be able to go down to Strife's few earthly temples and play with the kids.

Enyo still spent her days in the Halls of Time or buried in the Muses' Library or cooking with Hestia, but now she could get a real feel for the mortal world instead of just watching it. She could walk amongst them, observing up close instead of from afar. And when Ares had time he could come down and visit her; they'd go for walks. Aphrodite and anyone else who bothered to look in just saw another lover, this one perhaps more serious than others. He did have more than one-night stands on occasion despite what his reputation would imply.

And, like she had expected, Apollo had forgotten her; with nothing to do, her life wasn't all that interesting. She naturally had trouble interacting with people, what with the lacking contact most of her life thing. Donella, the Halls of Time, was as close to a friend as Enyo could get, but she was only semi-sentient. She didn't get the emotional aspects of living at times either. Ace was still busy, and Hestia, while a great Aunt, was still more like and aunt than a friend; besides, while she could follow a recipe she wasn't that great of a cook. Anteros – well, she had no idea what he was doing. That wasn't too unusual; he liked to do his own thing. She got visits with Ares and Strife now, though, which was something, and was now allowed to babysit Deimos and Phobos; she was now teaching them the fine art of lying. When they were older it would be daggers and throwing knives, which she'd had to learn on her own. She still didn't have a sword yet, not seeing how she could sneak that past Eos even if the woman wasn't home often.

"Hello!" the man said cheerily.

"Hello," she smiled, more an immediate reaction than out of any particular joy. "What can I do for you today?"

Looking at things, a lot.

"How much would it cost to get my sword fixed?" He asked this at every village.

"Hmm, how much you got?"

She'd had to make her own weapons, so when in the mortal realm she figured 'why not fix them'? Besides, being a blacksmith gave Ares more reason to visit her as a supposed 'lover', and she acted the part of a war widow who kept her deceased brother's business alive to make a living off of.

She may be a Goddess, but she wasn't perfect. She could whip up a story or a song right quick, dance and fight (which sort of went hand in hand), didn't charbroil soup like her mother, could even make and fix weapons (although naturally she was no Heph, and she didn't use God Metals usually), but she wasn't good with emotions and people; and love, especially, was foreign. But luckily, that wasn't needed in fixing a sword of any sort.

"Um, twenty-three dinars."

The kid expected to be turned away, as usual, she read from his mind. But Enyo wasn't a normal mortal who needed the money; she was a Goddess who could materialize anything she wanted. Not fully trained, truthfully, and she couldn't tap fully into her small worshiper base yet, but dinars were simple enough to make.

"Hmm, that's a bit too much," she lied. "Thirteen dinars for the sword and I'll throw in some metal/leather armor mesh that should work better than what you're wearing, if you let me use your current armor to make it."

He beamed.

"Deal!"

He was so relieved that she hadn't just laughed him out of her shop. Seeing this, she paused to review some of his other memories; nothing too intrusive, just a light scan. What she saw appalled her. She smiled gently and genuinely at him.

"Come back in two hours and I'll have it all ready. In the meantime, dear, there's an inn 'round the corner, Erie's Eye, that serves a mean luncheon. Tell them Deidara sent you."

Code for: put it on my tab. As an afterthought, she checked his mortal signature; well, not so mortal after all. By her guess one of his great-greats had been a God; by the markings, either Papa or 'Dite, maybe Cupid, possibly Strife. Gaia knows Strife wasn't allowed to acknowledge his few demi- or full-mortal children, much like Papa, and Cupid and Aphrodite generally didn't either, though less out of fear for their safety and more out of not wanting to bring them to Zeus' attentions. At any rate, the man was dedicated and a Protected of Ares and a Favorite of Aphrodite and Strife.

She'd have to watch over this little one more. Despite what some might say, he was no fool; he knew his limits. His imagination was runaway, though, and the would be well-suited to the life of a bard, actually, if he weren't so close to Ares in his heart. She wouldn't add her own protection yet – she didn't really know the teen – but he would certainly bear watching. Besides, she hadn't built her Totem yet to bestow blessings or curses and tie her energy to. Godly power directly on a mortal – or even a demi-god right now – would likely kill them. She hadn't actually decided what it would be yet. With her dad it was the Sword of War. With Strife it was one of many daggers. Who knew what Discord's was, and Dite used jewelry. She was thinking about a goblet that she'd leave to catch dust in the back of the pantry, or maybe a bag of flour or some such. Her mother was House of Intellect and while Eos hadn't really raised her she also hadn't raised a fool. She wasn't about to use a quill like Athena, who while intelligent severely lacked in the common sense department. Perhaps a button or the like. As long as it wasn't claimed by the power of another God, or taken from her sphere of influence, it was hers still.

Of course, she thought, hammering at the heated sword (sometimes she preferred to do things the mortal way, though she'd definitely just zap up the armor), watching the interesting mortal would have to take second to her new duties. Eos was now officially pregnant by one of her lovers – Astraeus, she claimed – and while he would likely help, Enyo figured that she'd probably end up with most of the childrearing. Eos already had four other children by him, all boys, but it was a girl so Eos would likely keep the child instead. Boreas, Eurus, Zephyrus and Notus didn't really bother her; in fact she doubted that they even knew she was their half-sister, or if they did they probably didn't think of her. Children brought light to her life, so she was happy about this new girl-child. But she'd definitely have to tread carefully during the pregnancy. Eos got… irrational, at that time. It wasn't pleasant. Luckily, she planned to keep the pregnancy dormant for a long while; maybe decades, if not centuries; so maybe Enyo would have time. Still, she'd have to prepare – Eos probably wouldn't tell her when the baby was to be born.

The kid was back.

"Hold on a minute…"

"Joxen," the teen supplied.

"Joxen, then. The armor's in the back."

Or it would be when she thought it up. A leather/metal mesh would work so much better for him than the heavy armor he wore now. He needed speed over protection. She came back out with a nice set in deep earthy browns.

"You come visit me, ya hear? Come 'round and tell me all 'bout your adventures the next time you're in Thebes. I could use a friend."

That she could. Being a female and a blacksmith didn't lend to friends any more than being the Goddess of Violent War did.

She sighed as he left with a smile and a promise to return. At least this one she could count on to come back. It was almost dark; she'd have no more business today, so maybe she'd go watch Strife's temple kids playing and laying down to sleep. She could always flash into the backroom of the shop if someone needed a late night weapon fix; it was set to alert her immediately anyway.

Maybe Strife would be there.

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