Rating: R
Spoilers: Livia
Summary: Ares always comes running when Xena calls, this time is no different...
Disclaimer: There's no way in Tartarus that I own them, Baby!
Believe
By Alicia
The two women slowly made their way down the mountain and to the nearest village.
"Gabrielle, I don't recognize this place," Xena murmured to her companion as they surveyed the little village they came upon.
"Are you ladies lost?" a village woman asked as the other villagers gathered around, all trussed up in their warm furs.
"Well, that depends," Xena told her. "Where are we?"
The woman pointed to the snow-capped mountain in which the two warriors had been entombed. "You're at the foot of Mt Etna."
"Mt Etna?" Gabrielle turned to Xena, still reeling from the effects of being frozen. "How did we get here?"
"Ares..." Xena concluded. "Ares!" she called out. "Come out! I know you're here!" she spun around, waiting for him, but she still couldn't sense him.
"Pardon me, miss," the old woman interrupted her summoning of the God Of War. "But Ares hasn't been seen in these parts since the legendary Xena died...about twenty-five years ago."
Xena stared at the woman as if her world was crumbling around her. "Twenty-five years?"
The woman nodded, not knowing what to make of this clueless woman.
Tears were ready to seep from Xena's eyes as she looked up to the clear blue sky and screamed his name in anguish. "Areeeeesssssssss!!!!! "
In a flash, a furious Ares appeared. "Who dares?!?! " came the thunderous roar. He looked around at the intimidated villagers, who couldn't believe that the god was in their area once more.
" I do..." came the feminine voice from behind.
He froze. He recognized the voice immediately, but his precious Xena was dead... "You have one full minute to get out of here before I blast you straight to Tartarus. You mortals should have learnt by now that no one, and I mean no one impersonates my Princess and gets out of it alive..." His tone was deadly. Xena couldn't believe the wealth of feeling that oozed from his once-so-mischievous voice.
He stood there and silently counted to sixty before slowly turning around. It was a shock to see her...Stop it! She's dead! You saw it yourself, don't torture yourself like this, Ares, it's NOT HER!!!! he berated himself, but couldn't help but drown in those icy blue orbs that he would have sworn were hers...
The villagers watched in silence, waiting to find out what the God Of War would do. "Why are you doing this?" he murmured sadly. "I've had twenty-five years of taunts from mortals and gods alike because of my love for her, why do you have to do this...? Isn't it enough that I'm to suffer eternally without her...?"
Shock rendered her features still. Xena could barely believe what he was saying. There was only one thing that she could think of. She pulled her chakram free of its resting place by her side and held it in both hands, offering for him to do the same.
The god placed his hands around the weapon and waited. Images washed over them, as well as everyone else present. Each piece of a memory ran through the mind of each and every being in that village...
Xena giving birth to Eve...Ares' offer of a child and protection for Eve...Ares battling Athena to save what he thought was Xena's child in Amphipolis...The night before Xena's 'death' when she collected Celesta's tears...Gabrielle drinking from the vial...Xena and Gabrielle being forced off the cliff by Athena, Hades and Hephaestus...Ares appearing just as Xena went to plunge a sword into her stomach...Ares looking on helplessly as Xena drank from the vial of poison...Xena 'dying' in Ares arms...Ares taking she and Gabrielle into the cave on Mt Etna...Ares telling Xena how much he loved her and saying goodbye...Ares sadly sealing the cave and disappearing...The avalanche...Xena waking up...Xena using her chakram to escape the cave...
Ares was thrown off balance when awareness came back to them. Many of the people were gasping for breath, the God Of War included, some women openly crying and distraught, others stone-faced, not wanting to admit that the pictures they had seen affected them, not wanting to believe that the God Of War could feel so much...
"Xena...?" Ares was staring at her, as if seeing her for the first time...which he was. A hand came up slowly and caressed her cheek. She placed her own hand over it and gazed into his uncertain and sorrowful dark eyes.
Suddenly, the consequences occurred to him. He snapped out of his gentle mood and almost appeared to be panicking. He stepped back and began pacing. "I have to get you out of here before the other gods find out. I'll create another realm, by the gods, this isn't going to be easy..."
Xena opened her mouth, but shut it again as Ares continued muttering to himself. "It'll be wonderful. Lots of trees, rivers...maybe a few horses...speaking of horses..." he looked at her.
She shrugged.
He rolled his eyes. "Of course, Argo would have died by now. Well, we can find a few other horses...I'm not saying that they can replace Argo..." he continued raving. "And I suppose you're going to want the annoying bard with you..." Ares grumbled, not noticing Xena's incredulous gaze.
He was acting like a lunatic!
And still, he continued. "That should be it, though...oh! If you and the blond are here, then what about Eve? No! I don't want to know...wait! Yes, I do." He turned to Xena. "Is she...?"
She nodded. Xena paused for a moment, an automatic defense. Ares was still a god, and even though it had been twenty-five years of mourning, for him, it had been just yesterday when the gods had tried to kill her child...
"She's probably been brought up in Rome. That's where Octavius, the man who was looking after her was from," she finally admitted, ignoring Gabrielle's warning glare.
"Octavius...sounds familiar..." Ares frowned in concentration, knowing that he would do almost anything to make it up to Xena, and never wanting to be parted from her again.
Xena elaborated. "Octavius was Caesar's nephew. I helped him by defeating Brutus and Mark Antony in Egypt ..." She hoped that it would jog his memory.
Ares froze. "Caesar...Octavius...Augustus..." In one split second, he knew exactly who she referred to... "No..." he whispered in denial. He knew where Eve was... "No! This can't be happening."
The group of mortals all stood back and watched Ares go through another bout of muttering angrily to himself. "This really can't be happening. My pride and joy, the one female I could really relate to...no, I'm not going to do this, I won't beat myself up about something that's already happened. I'll just tell her the truth. I mean, just how long can she ignore me???"
Xena punched him. She just balled her fist and planted one right on his jaw. The God Of War immediately shut up.
Ares looked longingly at his beautiful Warrior Princess and cringed noticeably. "I'm sorry..."
"Ares, will you please tell me what in Tartarus you're going on about?" Xena exclaimed.
"Eve...I know where she is, but it won't do you any good."
Xena held her breath. "Why?"
Ares resisted the urge to gulp. "Only one thing can really be said about her, Princess. She's definitely yours and Callisto's daughter..."
She immediately understood. A shiver ran down her spine. "What do you have to do with it?"
"I trained her...like-"
"You did me..." Xena finished for him. "Is she your-?"
Ares denied the implication emphatically. "No! There's been nobody since..."
Xena stared at him in disbelief. "Tell me you're joking?"
Ares decided that a subject change was in order. "Anyway, I can go in and get her to come with me to our new realm. She'll follow me if I ask, but the problem is getting her to change, even a little..."
"I'll talk to her," Xena told him.
"She hates everything and everyone to do with Eli...she's Rome 's champion, and the one who 'disposes' of his followers..."
"I'll talk to her forcefully ," she amended.
Ares nearly hung his head in shame. "Xena, I swear, if I'd known who she was..."
"You'd have killed her?" Gabrielle muttered sarcastically.
Both Ares and Xena turned and glared at her.
"Do we have to take her with us?" Ares asked Xena in sarcastic hope.
Xena continued to glare at her friend. "The jury's still out on that one..." Xena tuned back to Ares. "We'll have to do this quickly. How long do you think it will take for you to create this other realm?"
Ares considered it. "Maybe a day or two, depending on how many people call on me. I'll talk to Eve now and tell her to be prepared for a little trip, then I'll collect her when I'm done. Then I'll come and get you and your friend."
Xena looked to Gabrielle for her consent. She nodded. "Okay, but where are we going to stay for the next couple of days?"
Ares grinned. "It just so happens that there's this little tavern about an hours' walk from here dedicated to..." The God Of War put his arm around Xena's shoulder as the trio began walking out of the village, following Ares' lead.
Xena didn't care that she had spent years fighting this god, because right then, she had a kinder, gentler God Of War by her side, one that she knew would never stop loving her...
The End