Megaera shivered. The pull at her heart was unmistakable; one of her sisters was in danger.
Alecto…
Closing her eyes, her hands trembling, Megaera focused on finding the soul signature of her beloved sister. She found it, but it was weak, fading.
A cold chill ran over her skin when she materialized in a small clearing in the woods with Alecto in the middle, on the ground, unconscious. Megaera dropped down by her side, her hands shaking.
"No, no…" she sniffled, pressing the side of her face to her sister's chest, in search of a heartbeat. "No…!" she cried out, bursting into tears.
Her vision clouded, with the corner of her eye she registered Tisiphone walking up to them. She didn't even notice her sister's arrival.
"What happened?" Tisiphone inquired, kneeling down beside them, wide-eyed, but Megaera wasn't able to offer her an answer. Her throat contracted so tight that she couldn't breathe. Never in her immortal life had she felt such despair.
She was snapped out of her trance by the sound of the ether being slashed open just inches before her. Her eyes widened. Kneeling down by Alecto's head was a blonde-haired, winged man, reaching with his hands for Alecto's head. Megaera pushed him away with a scream.
He didn't even flinch, he just looked her in the eye with a look that, strangely, brought her breath back. "Let me help," he said, and Megaera didn't oppose this time; she didn't know who the exotic, winged stranger was, but she knew she could trust him when she saw his palms cradle her sister's head. It only took a moment before Alecto started coughing, fighting for breath.
Megaera couldn't find her own breath at this sight. She crushed her sister into an embrace so frenzied that Alecto had to push her off.
Looking up to her sister's savior, now standing above them, she felt a wild rush of gratitude, almost like he just saved her from her own death. "Thank you…" she uttered, and he nodded only just slightly.
"Give her a minute," he instructed, and Megaera exhaled with relief, sitting back and looking at her panting sister.
It was the happiest she had felt in forever.
#
Alecto adjusted herself in her throne, eyeing the winged stranger with smug curiosity and a hint of fascination.
Her savior.
She didn't know what it was about him, but she felt drawn like a moth to a flame; maybe it was the wings. She could imagine how beautiful those huge feathery wings would look in the mirror when he would take her from behind.
But first things first — she had to know what his business was, and what he expected in return for saving her life. Somehow, she suspected that the mirror scene wasn't going to be enough of a payback.
"So, to whom do I owe the pleasure?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.
"The name is Michael, and I believe there is something we have in common," he glared seductively at Alecto.
"Oh, really? Pray tell," she purred, a pleasant tingle running down her back as she eyed him head to toe, her eyes gliding from his sharply chiseled face down across the silver-plated chest armor and stopping to linger on the robe that covered him from hips to knees.
"An enemy…" he started enigmatically, "…or two," he finished, closing the distance between them.
Alecto's ears perked up with attention, a little tingle running up her spine at the close proximity of the exotic stranger.
"As for praying, you're welcome to start right away," Michael offered huskily, his eyes drilling into hers, his gaze intensifying with each passing moment; Alecto didn't know what it was, but the stranger made her sweat with just his gaze alone, plus the curiosity about what the robe was hiding was getting the better of her.
She heard the stranger gasp, and it pleased her as much as what she now had a mouthful of. It wasn't the God of War, but it was good enough.
Besides, nothing — nothing was like the God of War.
#
"Ares the God of War, and Aphrodite the Goddess of Love," Michael said, and watched as Alecto's face beamed with delight.
"We are already on it," she assured with satisfaction.
"That much I know, and the part with the Love Goddess — that is quite crafty, I must admit," Michael mused, stroking his chin. "But then again, she is not much of an opponent. Her brother, on the other hand…"
"… is mortal, and don't you worry, Ares is for me to handle," Alecto interrupted, accentuating the last part in a way that caught Michael's attention. So, she was somehow involved with the wargod. The way her voice and face changed when she said his name betrayed her; for her, this was personal. Very well, it might be for the better.
Even if she hadn't been too successful with any progress in the matter so far.
"Well, pardon me for assuming that the situation might have gotten somewhat out of hand…" Michael suggested, trying to poke her a bit to see what she reveals.
"Whatever you mean by that?" Alecto queried, raising her chin with nonchalance, not really taking the bait the way he'd expected. Maybe he underestimated her.
"It seems to me that you've been on it for quite a while, and yet, there he is, still out there, yet another day closer to becoming a god again."
"Believe me, his death is only a matter of time…" she smiled sweetly, but Michael didn't buy it. She wasn't as good as he thought. But he was going to wait and see what else she had in stock.
"Oh, it was a matter of a very short time when his jealous girlfriend just killed you… you were lucky I was there to pick up the pieces, mind you," he said, topping it off with a smile of his own.
"And you'll be soon very glad you did, when you see the rest of my plan come to fruition," Alecto assured calmly, but he sensed a hint of unease in her voice.
"Xena… she really is something, isn't she?" he mused, watching Alecto intently for any sign of what he supposed he was going to see there. And he did; her jaws clenching, lips pursing.
"For a mortal whore…" Alecto sneered, desperately trying to sound indifferent, but, yet again, coming across quite transparent to him.
Interesting; Alecto's hatred for Xena was unmatched even by the fire he saw in her eyes every time he mentioned Ares. That might be a good thing, for future reference.
Come to think of it, Xena's service for the Lord had run its course some time ago, when she birthed the Messenger of Peace and wiped out the Olympian pantheon. If anything, Xena could now only pose a threat, seeing how she seemed to be getting all chummy with the ex God of War ever since he had given up his immortality to save the Messenger of Peace. If she were now to return the favor and give him a hand at getting his godhood back — well, should that be the case, the time was of the essence. Xena was too dangerous, too cunning of a mortal to be taken lightly. If they didn't solve the Ares issue now when he was still mortal — well, it was now or never.
Frankly, Michael did not see how Alecto could make it happen, for Xena to kill Ares, but he was nonetheless curious to see how her alleged plan was going to unfold. They were devious, the pagan gods, some of them more than the others, and this one seemed most corrupt of all of the Greek pantheon that he'd come across so far — so, he might as well just give it a shot and see what happened.
The only obvious setback to Alecto's plan — whatever the plan included — was Xena, of course, with her power to kill gods — the gift bestowed upon her by the Lord for the purpose of wiping out the pagan gods; which she had pretty much accomplished, to be fair.
The thing was that currently, that gift was only going to hinder Alecto's plan to get rid of Ares — considering how it only took Xena's bare hands and mere seconds to kill Alecto just a moment ago. Not to mention, Michael wasn't safe around Xena himself — as much as he hated to admit it, having seen they way she handles the sword, he realized well enough that should they ever end up in a duel, the chances of him winning were slim to none.
No, that gift no longer served its purpose. Michael would have to present this case to the Lord.
Meanwhile, it was going to make a perfect bargaining chip to get the rotten sisters to swear their allegiance to the Lord as the eyes and ears on Olympus and among the lesser deities.
Let's see just how desperate Alecto was to receive such a favor.
"So, let's say… Xena loses the power to kill gods — would that help your case?" Michael inquired, his eyes meeting Alecto's agitated gaze, knowing that the personal vendetta against Xena was now the most enticing bait he could offer.
"You have no idea…" Alecto uttered sultrily, getting up from the throne and walking up towards him.
"Actually, I think I do…" he muttered, watching her drop to her knees before him, her lips parted, eyes never leaving his. Something told him the Lord wouldn't necessarily condone such style of doing business, but well — those things came with the job, whether Michael liked it or not. And he quite enjoyed this particular incentive.
A while later, the party he was negotiating with rose up from her knees and faced him, flashing him an arrogant, self-satisfied smirk. "Do we have a deal, then?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Oh, it's gonna take a bit more than that, I'm afraid."
"Do tell," Alecto replied nonchalantly, although he saw how hard she was trying to mask the anger and a hint of panic that overshadowed her eyes. She wanted to get Xena so badly, it would only be more obvious if she yelled it out loud. Inwardly, Michael smiled at this unexpected leverage he got over her.
"Xena losing the power to kill gods is not a small favor to ask," he finally said.
"If you elaborate on the conditions, I will assess whether it's something I would willing to offer in return."
Michael sneered inwardly at her attempted nonchalance; she would lick the floor under his feet if that would allow her to get her hands on Xena without the risk of being killed.
He looked at her and held her gaze for a few seconds before he spoke. "With a view to how it is in our common interest that you and your sisters neutralize our two common enemies and become the rulers of Olympus, I am more than sure than we are going to come to an understanding that will leave both parties satisfied."
Several minutes later, having presented the conditions to her, Michael grinned inwardly; just as he assumed, Alecto's hatred for Xena held the utmost power over her. Jealousy, it was an interesting phenomenon, although up till now he thought it was rather the domain of people. But clearly gods weren't immune to it, either.
There was only one flaw in this newly made pact.
It was the object of Alecto's jealousy.
The God of War.
He was one of the enemies that Alecto claimed she was about to get rid of, but the fact how agitated Alecto would get at the very mention of his name could only mean two things — she either hated both Xena and him and wanted them both dead out of jealousy, or she just wanted Xena out of the way to have Ares for himself.
The second option couldn't be ruled out, although considering how greedy Alecto was for power and how desperately she was clinging to that throne she was now sitting on, she wasn't going to want to share the kingdom with a god more powerful than her, who could crush her like a pesky fly if he wanted to. She might want to fool around with him for a bit now that he was still mortal, but Michael was convinced that at the end of the day, she wanted Olympus all to herself.
And seeing her malevolent grin just now only reassured him in his belief.
"Shall we seal the deal, then?" she asked, rising from the throne and passing him by with a lewd look in her eyes. He followed her out of the main hall into one of the corridors that led to a golden door.
It was a spacious white room with a huge bed with golden, silken sheets.
What captivated his attention was the huge floor mirror in a richly ornamented golden frame, standing right by the side of the bed, as if put there by accident.
