Her mind flooded with memories and unanswered questions, it took Xena awhile to notice that, as if having known the way, her legs had somehow carried her straight to last place she should have been visiting given how vulnerable she was- the spring where she had clearly sensed- for the first time- that tempting darkness and power radiating from the War God's aura- right after that tragic battle with Cortese- and for the hundredth time that day, she sank her teeth ferociously into her lower lip- in a superhuman effort to prevent herself from calling out his name…
...By all the nymphs of the forest, had someone told her that leaving him would hurt like this, she would have never believed it…
Desperate to stay strong and chase him out of her cobweb of thoughts, the Warrior Princess ended up leaning her forehead against the rough bark of a nearby maple tree, only to methodically repeat that same contact- but in a slightly careless, self punitive manner- for what must have lasted for a full, long minute….Whatever it took, she had to shake him off her mind once and for all, and if that meant banging her head against any rough surface, then so be it! It wasn't like living the rest of her days missing his touch and his kisses was an option to be considered, that was for sure.…
" This is absurd…" she muttered unintelligibly, hugging the thick trunk and closing her eyes for a few priceless seconds as if by keeping them shut she could also shut away the rest of her falling apart inner world.
And then, without any previous warning what so ever, her heart nearly jumped out of her ribcage when she sensed it- that unique, unmistakable presence her brain had become so addicted to, the only one that could actually dissipate the sadness that had taken over her soul ever since she decided to start a new life, without him in it….One moment later and there it was.. ….his low, velvet voice - and by the gods, how she had missed it!
"Can't say I blame you…Boring village life is known to have mentally affected people before- countless victims…..enough to rival wars…." his words reached her ears like a much awaited melody, spreading through her system, invading even the farthest corners of her soul and before she knew it, his strong, muscular arms were circling her waist, pinning her between his solid body and the tree, and everything inside her started to melt like wax under a burning flame at the contact…For a brief but priceless moment she felt whole again, her heart no longer shattered by that atrocious pain and the longing she could hardly handle, but complete, untouched, as if nothing had happened.
Just like so many times in the past, she flinched when she felt the pads of his fingers pressing ever so lightly against her stomach and shivered uncontrollably when one hand moved gently upwards over her breasts and for what felt like not enough and forever at the same time, they just stood there in perfect silence, just enjoying that crushing feeling that they shouldn't have been apart in the first place….
Regrets and doubts savagely assaulted her mind again when his lips brushed lovingly against the top of her head, placing a chaste kiss on her hair, but to her utter amazement her body simply refused to protest against that unexpected- so very intimate- contact. It didn't feel wrong…it never did….
" …I'd hit harder if I were you, though. " he bluntly continued, breaking the spell…. " Who knows? Maybe the pain will help you wake up to reality… "
" Ares…" she whispered, instinctively licking her lips as she uttered the name- she could literally feel it...deliciously sweet on her lips- and for a moment longer, she focused solely on memorizing that divine sensation of having him so unbearably close again before she tried to free herself from his teasingly tight embrace. She was supposed to keep him away at any cost not to lose herself in his arms …...…
Surprisingly-very unlike him, too, may I add- the self conceited Olympian didn't hesitate in offering her the freedom she was looking for- so, the instant he sensed the building tension in her body, he just relaxed his grip and took one step back- giving her the needed space to turn around and face him….
" Gee….you still remember my name…I'm flattered. I assumed that you might have buried it along with our common past and your unjustified fears…." he pungently punctuated, cracking a smile despite the fact that through his warm, jocular voice, a distinct note of pain could be heard.
" Why are you even here? I din't call …." the question rolled impatiently off her tongue and, her mind set on avoiding any type of physical contact - she shoved him brutally aside and swiftly moved past him, as if the only thing that could keep her from falling to pieces right there in front of him, was distance…
A jolt of desire mixed with consuming frustration shot through the War God at the awareness of what those few feet between them actually meant…Damn it, she hadn't changed her mind about their break up..….! She was still set on starting fresh in Amphipolis and by Chronos himself, the idea alone was driving him insane!
Only three days had passed since she left and he was already desperate to have her back…And while his utterly disconsolate heart began to frantically scream at him to skip that stupid verbal interaction they were supposed to share and just whisk her out of there, sadly though, his brain didn't agree- and as much as he hated it, this was too delicate a matter for him to act on impulse...
...A whipped God of War …who would have thought?
" Yeah well…I like to be spontaneous every now and then" he casually replied, giving her perfectly sculpted body a quick once over….
He knew every inch of it….every curve …and he simply adored the way her skin would always heat up under his any caress - and now, to his great dismay, he couldn't even enjoy her company any more- and all that because of some stupid vision about a fantastic future that was as improbable as a hurricane wiping Athens off the face of the earth! "…I uh…I love the dress- " he felt the need to mention- a clever way of calming the loud drumming of his heart "…could be shorter if you ask me- but that cleavage….now that I'm ok with! Maybe this rural thing you've got going on here isn't so terrible after all.."
It was official, he was nervous- and though he didn't know it, she was just as nervous as he was…
" Ares, what do you want? And before you say anything, just to be clear, I haven't changed my mind…" she made sure to let him know, trying hard to keep her cool and to control her continuously wandering glance that just seemed to stubbornly disobey her and to foolishly focus on his lips instead of his eyes.
"…Who says I have to want something? ….Just dropping by to see what's new…courtesy call." he replied, a bit surprised by just how defensive she had gotten all of a sudden.
She naturally snored in disbelief at his answer. As if that were ever to happen….
" What?! Can't a God check up on his Chosen without having any ulterior motives ?!"
" Not if that God is you…..Why are you staring at me like that?!" she then asked, bothered by the way in which his own restless gaze seemed to glide up and down every millimeter of her face, as if looking for something.
" No bruises…hmmmm…This means that mommy dearest has actually welcomed you with open arms despite the hate and the heartache?!….My, my! Your brother's death did mess her up big time huh?!"
The guilt and the remorse still eating at her when it came to that subject only made her roll her eyes in disgust. He shouldn't have brought that up….She could understand why it was that he wanted some form of revenge, but he should have known better than to hit where it hurt most...She turned around, ready to leave, the only thing she felt she could do….
"Oh come on Xe, I didn't mean it like that….I'm just …surprised .
Knowing that his half supplicating tone was the closest form of apology she was ever going to get, despite her awareness that every second spent there with him made her even weaker and even more vulnerable, there was something in his voice as he continued speaking, something that kept her feet glued to that spot, preventing her to take one step in the desired direction. " Your last encounter didn't even come close to what sane people would describe like the ideal mother- daughter reunion, remember?"
" How could I forget? " she bitterly spat, visibly affected by his touch when, closing in the distance between them, his hand started gliding comfortingly down her cheek.
" So I'm guessing you're on speaking terms then…." he stated lowly, seeming genuinely concerned with the problem.
" Something like that. We're still working on it but….yeah…" she muttered, narrowing her eyes at him…What did he want? Why was he here? She had made it crystal clear before she left that she was never going to return ….
" Wow..! Not even Pythia herself could have predicted that one…Speaking of whom…How did you find the latest news?" he asked, changing the subject and looking utterly anxious to hear her opinion on the matter but she just gave him a long, inquiring glance.
" What news?"
" What do you mean what news?! The news...All Greece is talking about it…"
Judging by her expression though, she obviously had no idea what he referred to….and...how could she?! He had just killed the damned bitch!
" Pythia…..her unexpected death…." he cleared it up for her. " What a tragedy! Who would have thought…?! So young and uh….gifted. A loss for all human race…" he theatrically ended, a remark that was in striking contrast with the wide grin stretching on his face from one ear to the other..
" Pythia's dead?!" the Warrior Princess gasped in shock, stiffening instantly at his words.
" So they say…"
" Wha'..when ? How ?! Who…?"
" Earlier today I imagine. No one really knows but rumour has it that someone chopped off her head and placed it on Apollo's equally decapitated marble statue." he laughed. " She seems to have left this world screaming in agony. Her tongue was found- half rotten- next to the sacred herbs she was using to predict the future, on Goldilocks' altar…. Pretty sick huh? …Who would do such a thing?!" he questioned on a mockingly scandalized tone.
" You killed her?!" she yelled, shooting him an outraged, deadly glare.
" Shhhh! Hey! Not so loud- trees have ears you know?!" he exclaimed, taking a cautious look around." I didn't kill her….I…only helped her die…a little…."
" A little?! Ares! You killed Phytia?!" she hissed through clenched teeth, hardly restraining her urge to just slap him silly while her restless eyes kept scrutinizing his face- searching for a sign- even the slightest one- that this was only a joke….
" Why do you say it as if it is a bad thing? " he inquired, unable to understand her behaviour.
" Because it is! Ares have you lost your mind?! She is…was Apollo's Chosen!"
" ….My point's exactly ! Xena…now that she's gone…"
" Now that she's gone, once Apollo realizes what happened he'll go ballistic! The entire Olympus will want a piece of me! You know the rules…eye for an eye…" she spat, wondering if he had indeed lost his marbles during those few days they had been apart.
"Relax. I wouldn't let them harm a hair on your head, Princess…." he comfortingly reassured, sweetly brushing his fingers through her waist long tresses. " Plus, in the Halls of War you'd be untouchable…"
It took a moment longer for Xena's brain to make all the right connections, but it did happen in the end….
" Wait a minute….you want this…You want this to happen…." one sentence after another started stumbling out of her mouth.
" I gotta admit it, the mere perspective of such a confrontation sounds…. thrilling to say the least…. My entire being craves for a bit of action, of suspense. It's been so gods damn boring and peaceful with you gone…I'm not delusional though- as good a warrior as you are , you're not yet ready to face eleven raging Olympians at the same time…plus, that won't be the case anyway. As I said, in the Halls of War…"
" Forget the Halls of War, Ares! It's not like I'm gonna spend the rest of my life between four walls ! "
"Not the rest of your life…Just a few weeks until we come up with a brilliant enough strategy to smash Athens ! Olympia, Corinth and Mycenae, Thebes and Pylos they would all follow….That means more than half a Greece at our feet…With so many worshipers, we will be invincible- a force to be reckoned with…."
"What are you talking about?"
" They would be too busy fighting your armies, protecting their cities to focus on anything else….Problem solved. "
"You're daydreaming, Ares…I meant what I said…I'm not coming back…"
" Oh, I don't know about that…You see...a little birdie told me that a very rare pendant was found at the temple…"
For an instant, the blood stopped flowing in Xena's veins s at the news…It was right after her encounter with Pythia that she had lost the pendant Ares had given her when she pledged herself to him….
" A pendant?"
" Yeah. Silver…it had the rune of war engraved on it…..."
The frown his statement painted on her face could have certainly peeled paint.
"You conniving Bastard! Are you telling me that you framed me for…?"
" I didn't frame you for anything…I swear. " he calmly replied- looking utterly sincere, too, despite the fact that , with the War God, honesty and truth had the bad habit of becoming two very ambiguous notions. " And yes, I was furious so I might have inflicted that manipulating bitch a certain amount of pain, but that's it, no scheming involved. Call it fate, call it bad luck, call it however you want, but your pendant happened to be there. I spotted it on my way out right next to the altar….I just didn't bother to pick it up….Now, I might be paranoid here, but knowing Apollo like I do, I could swear he would read more into it….He'll start asking questions, the other priestesses might tell him that you were there, and one thing leads to the other…."
" You…" was the only thing that she could say, she was that angry.
" No need to thank me. Apollo and I had some unfinished business anyway. It was just a matter of time. ….Anyway, as I was saying, ding dong- the bitch is dead!...Nothing for you to fear anymore- no ridiculous visions about the future, no hallucinations, no….. nothing- which can only mean that we can see about our world domination plans in heavenly peace. So …shall we?" he said, offering her his hand, convinced that a refusal was out of the question.
" You killed her just to force me to come back to you?! Are you that deranged?!"
"Oh, you have no idea. I'd kill an army of Pythias if I had to….aaaand no, despite that note of negativity I can feel in your voice, I'm not trying to force you into doing anything, darling- I'm just presenting you an offer…."he announced, ignoring the look of consternation on her face.
" Oh yeah?! And what offer would that be, huh?! Come back with me now or wait here for the Olympians to kill you?!"
She was a fast learner.
" Yeah. Did it work?" he nonchalantly inquired, silently wondering how long she was going to carry on with this charade…
" No…."
He huffed out a frustrated sigh.
" Well Princess… like it or not…"he commandingly began- only to be interrupted by her sad, disappointed line.
" Ares…you just don't get it, do you?! "
This time he yelled. That was it. His patience was running out- just like the time she had to train her soldiers for the siege of Corinth!
" Get what? That my star employee , my number one girl, the woman with whom I was supposed to rule the world dropped me like a nasty habit because of some fucking premonition she had?! Well excuse me for having missed the deeper meaning of this nonsense! "
Right when his voice was getting ready to reach an even higher note though, she simply turned around and left, way too hurt to still face him, way too emotionally devastated to sill be anywhere near him.
"Don't you dare walk away from me! Xena!" he shouted even louder, but she didn't bother to glance behind and though his first impulse was to stop her regardless of the consequences, he knew better… " ...What about Apollo and the rest of the raging Olympians?!" he yelled behind her, as if that could have made a difference.
No answer came though, and that's when it hit him...
"...Damn….this might just have been the worst idea I've ever had…" he mused, clicking his tongue.
In less than a blink, the War God disappeared from sight- there was no point in crying over spilled milk, after all….Several moments later though, for a fraction of a second, a very familiar blue light could be seen shining in Xena's room- back at the tavern. It disappeared just as fast though as if nothing had happened….