Summary: Short piece that serves as an alternative to “Amphipolis Under Siege”.
Rating: Rated PG
And In the End
By Barb
Xena flipped over Illanis and Ares went flying from a punch from Athena. As both turned toward each other Ares let out a whistle of surprise and said "Oh shit"
" Now’s not the time to be guessing if we are going to win or not " Xena panted next to him.
" No Xena…… LOOK" Ares yelled to Xena and pointed his sword in the direction of a dark cloaked figure on a huge black stallion.
" Who in Hades is THAT" Xena replied fending off another blow from Illanis.
Ares stopped fighting Athena and lowered his sword when his sister saw the incoming figure. "That my Dear Xena …. Is our savior"?
Athena gaped at the cloaked figure. Lowering her sword she called for her troops to back off. Still standing in front of her brother she sneered " I didn’t think you had it in you brother. To destroy us all".
Xena wasn’t sure what was going on. She turned from Ares to Athena to Gabrielle who had too turned to see the new figure riding in.
The figure rode slowly straight for Xena and Ares. The magnificent black stallion stopped right in front Ares. Not bothering to remove the cloak a very femine voice said to Ares " hello Sweets long time no see"
" Ain’t that the truth" Ares smiled lightly " What brings you to our little battlefield today".
" I have heard some very disturbing news and came to see for myself if indeed it was true" the figure stated. Turning to Xena the figure said, " You must be Xena. I have heard a lot about you. Indeed you are very special to have captured the heart and soul of the God of War. Have no fear I am not here to hurt you or your daughter. On the Contrary… I have come for another purpose". With slow deliberate movements the rider dismounted and strode toward Athena. Unveiling the cloak for the first time they all saw that it was a young woman. About 30 in age with short mahogany colored hair.
Standing with composure and self-assuredness the woman spoke to Athena. "You oh Goddess of Supposed Wisdom are a disgrace to all. The life of an innocent is not the price you will sacrifice to retain your hold on mortals."
Athena looked shocked but recovered quickly " how dare you tell a God what is right or wrong. Who are you… more importantly WHAT are you"
" I am the life that exists through all time. I am the beginning and the End. I am the cradle of humanity, and the coffin of life. " Stated the strange woman cryptically. " the gods gave mortals the right to choose, the right to think, the right to think and to feel. You cannot take it away from them when it’s an inconvience to you"
" And how will you stop me from saving my kind" Athena threatened
" I will tell you the destiny of the God’s." the stranger stated, "The Gods were created out of needs mortals felt. They. You were a safety line where mortals could turn when things were bad. To save face when things went bad to create scapegoats if you will. You exist because Mortals needed you. Now Mortals have grown apart and aside from you and it is not your place to tell them they can’t be free of you. There is ONE god that will survive. One that will usher in the new order. One god that will know what it is to Love, live, and be loved in this new order. "
The strange woman then turned to Xena. Looking directly into the Warrior Princesses eyes, past the terror, hatred, and confusion, the stranger saw the truth. " You Xena, know in your heart where your heart has to be. How you want things. You have lived long and hard. The time is at hand to allow others to care for you and to bring you the peace you deserve. The end isn’t here for you or your daughter. As is the end not here for those who can adapt. The world needs its hero’s and heroine’s. You are special; you have a heart and compassion. See past the hurt and the anger to the person you know you love more then your own life." Placing a hand on Xena’s shoulder the stranger moved away back to the huge stallion stood.
" God’s of Olympus" the woman cried " Hear my voice… I who am the Beginning and The End tell you this. No harm shall come to Xena or her child. For if you go against what I say your fate will be sealed. And my wrath shall be endless and all consuming. I will not falter in this. If you insist on taking their lives in an attempt to save yours. You will forfeit your life to me. " With that the strange woman lifted up her sword, mounted her huge black stallion, and spun around galloping off.
" Oh boy " sighed Ares. Feeling kind of stupid that that was all he could say.
"Ares?" Xena questioned, " Do you know that woman? Who is she? WHAT is she? The other gods seemed to be afraid of her. "
" Um Xena" Ares stumbled for the words " That was Destiny"
" Destiny? Oh great yet another God. Hey isn’t there another god for that already? " Gabrielle muttered.
Just as Gabrielle made her statement Athena rode in towards them. All three stared at her. Not sure of what she was going to do. Xena grabbed her sword and chakram, Gabrielle grabbed her sais, and Ares grabbed his sword taking a defensive stance.
"Sis Leave it alone. You are done…. This battle is over. " Ares stated firmly. " It has to stop here. Eve’s life isn’t worth all our lives. If you kill that innocent child then you will bring our downfall yourself"
" Why brother? Just because some specter from your past says so? The baby must die. You yourself heard Zeus’, OUR fathers decree. " Athena glared at Ares.
" Athena know this here and now you will not hurt Eve, Xena or anyone else. For, in order to do so you will have to kill me. This fight is over Athena.”
" Will someone tell me what in Hades is going on? PLEASE" Xena yelled in confusion. " I’ve had enough of all this garbage already. Who was that and more important WHAT did she mean for me to look into my heart for what I know is true."
Ares slowly turned toward Xena. " To understand who Destiny is you must know her past. She was born of the forces of life. Both Gods and Mortals Alike. She rides the Stallion of truth. Calls him just THE BLACK, I believe. She sees into people’s hearts and knows the truth. There is NO lying to her for she sees people’s futures their Destinies so to speak. And her being here means she seen yours Xena. Or ours, depending on how you like her visions"
" What do you mean OURS."? Athena and Gabrielle spoke together.
" I’ve known Destiny for well over a thousand millennia. She is immortal. She can see the future because she’s been to the future. Actually she’s FROM the future. Trapped here so to speak, seeking nothing but a peaceful existence then from where she came from. I have never had the courage to ask her how far into the future she’s from. Her powers are amazing, things she knows the things she sees. Half of which scares the HELL out of me. " Ares intoned as if lost in thought. Then he turned to Athena and spoke quietly " destiny has told me about the Twilight. Athena, listen to me, there is nothing we can do. Mortals will choose our fate. They will determine if we are necessary anymore. Whether we are to survive or not depends on mortals. For was we Gods have created, Mortals have grown apart from us. We gave them free rein to think and feel and now they have the power to use that ability to destroy us. Not Eve. Destiny has imparted to me that Eve may actually be our salvation. You know the legends Athena. Listen to them. Remember hearing them on our mother’s knee. We aren’t so powerful that we can’t be overthrown ourselves. " Ares pleaded with Athena with his eyes.
" Ares. If what you say is true. Then what will become of us? Has this immortal, Destiny, told you that much? " Athena asked.
Ares took a deep breath. Almost as if he was resigning himself to something. " Athena, we will eventually cease to be needed by mortals. We will be no more then a footnote in history. We will remain immortal. We will retain some of our powers. But in the end it is up to mortals to decide when we are no longer of any value to them. We’ve created mortals; we’ve given them the ability to think and to feel. Now all of the Gods have to live with what we’ve created"
A collective gasp went up from the three women present. Xena hung her head. The thoughts of Ares living in such a bleak existence brought a twinge to her heart. Surprised at her own feelings Xena’s head snapped up. Looking deep into Ares eyes she saw there, lust, vengeance, war, regret, longing, misery and most importantly she saw Love.
Ares looked directly into Xena’s eyes when he felt her staring at him. Knowing that this was a pivotal moment for them he let her eyes probe his inner most feelings. After a few moments the tension between them relaxed. Ares also knew that it was time to tell the rest of the story of Destiny. It was time for ALL the truth to be told. Ares turned toward Xena, Athena and Gabrielle.
" I wasn’t kidding when I told you I love You Xena" he started taking a deep breath "To understand me, you have to know my past. My beginning, and what was done to me as a child. It’s taken me millennia to find that part of me that was taken from me as a child. Zeus and the other Gods decided on my birth that I was destined to be the God of WAR. To be defender of Olympus. I was raised and trained for that. But in order to make me into what they needed part of me had to be destroyed. And that part was compassion. I could not FEEL to be what they wanted me to be. I could not be allowed to think of consequences. I had to be able to simply react on a primal level. Destiny knew what had happened to me. She came back from the future for a purpose. To Find that part of me that was taken." Glancing from one to the other Ares continued, " When Destiny found me I was young. In mortal terms I was but a teenager. And believe me even gods go through teenage transformations just like mortal children. My father was trying to suppress that. But I was strong. Stronger then Zeus expected. I in essence rebelled against all that Zeus and the others tried to make me into. I wanted to feel. I wanted to do things that would endear people to me. I also would have given my life for Olympus. But Zeus wouldn’t hear of it. I had to be the way he envisioned me or I needed to be destroyed and another found. In a nutshell I was scared. I knew that Zeus was all-powerful. If I tried to fight back against him I would be destroyed. Athena, you are one of the only Gods to actually see Zeus destroy another god. Would even you wish that on me? "
" No" Athena murmured.
Ares Continued " Destiny came to me one night, in my grandmother Gaia’s garden. She explained to me that she could help. That she could take from me what Zeus feared? My Soul. She could keep it safe. However, she wouldn’t be able to just give it back. I would have to earn it back, because you see all the emotion and compassion and feeling that I had at that time would be stored in a vessel. A MORTAL vessel. And she explained that I would have to spend my life not only doing my ‘job’ so to speak but also searching for my soul. At the time I feared for my life. Even Hera was with Zeus on his treatment of me. So I agreed. I let Destiny take my soul into safekeeping. After she was done I felt hollow, empty. Void of all attachments to anything or anyone but duty. That night I became WAR. I became everything Zeus wanted. Destiny didn’t stay around long after she took my soul. Her parting words were ‘ you will know when you have found yourself. For you will no longer care about yourself but the vessel you are in.’ I didn’t know what she meant. And She actually laughed at me and told me that in time I would. That she was destined to remain here until her work was done. No matter how long it took. And so went time. I was searching, hunting if you will, knowing that somewhere out in the world there was a mortal who carried within them Me. But after so much time I had just about given up finding that mortal. That was until Amphipolis all those years ago. I was drawn to you Xena. I could sense there was something about you. But after all the time I had just about forgotten Destinies promise. And the dark side of me had had millennia to hone itself into every fiber of me. When you turned out to be my greatest warrior. I actually had begun to hope that you were the latest incarnation of the mortal who carried my soul. My souls mate if you will. But then Hercules took you away. Made you steer away from my and my dark path. What has taken me so long to realize, is that you HAD to leave the dark path. You had to become good. For if you died while being the Destroyer of Nations, You would have taken my soul with you for eternity. Another part of the prophesy so to speak was that if I did find the mortal and the mortal was as dark as I was when death came to the mortal then my soul would die also. I would have NO chance of reclaiming that part of me taken in my youth. However, being as evil as I was I didn’t see that. In my selfishness I didn’t realize that you were actually my light. I can’t explain why I did the evil things I did to you Xena. But know this here and now. I am truly sorry for everything. Destiny was right. You more then likely know in your heart that we were destined to be together. But I can’t force you to come to me. You must do so of your own free will. After you and Gabrielle were crucified by Caesar I damn near wanted to find the hinds blood dagger and do myself in right then and there. But, instead I vowed to try to get my soul back piece by peace. By trying to remember what it was like before I lost it. It’s been a struggle believe me but right here right now I can honestly tell you … I Love you. Destiny never told me this part of the prophecy; I have figured it out by myself. I needed to Love again in order to reclaim my soul. And you Xena have made me love again. " Turning to Athena " I don’t care what you think Sister, or what the other Gods think. I will remain here with Xena, Gabrielle and Eve, if they’ll let me, and protect them from you. I just don’t care enough about Olympus anymore to fight for you. The Greek pantheon has taken all they will ever take from Ares. From this day forward I will do my job, I will be the God of War. But for very different reasons. I want mortals and Gods alike to know that if their cause is just. If their fight is for the greater good. Then I will fight by their sides. No one God or mortal can stop wars. But I the once and future God of War can make sure that if men come to a battlefield they do so for the right reasons. Not just for blood lust. "
With that Ares slumped against a wagon feeling drained. Xena went to his side, sheathing her sword and putting her chakram away. She knelt in front of him. And asked three simple words.
" Are you Alright?"
Ares looked up into Xena’s eyes. And there he saw not Hate, not loathing, not fear, but COMPASSION. Ares saw his SOUL.
" Yes Xe, I think I will be. I’m tired that’s all. I’ve never told this to anyone. Maybe cause I feared it. What would mortals and Gods alike think of the God of War searching for his soul? Now that I have found it. I can’t make you love me back. I can’t make you care. But I can make sure that my sword is raised for the right reasons. Just as you have done. I would like the honor of fighting by your side. I’ve always told you we were meant for each other. In that I was right. I just went about trying to convince you of that the wrong way. I can never repay you for the things I’ve done. Nor can I expect your forgiveness. But maybe in time… who knows? "
Gabrielle had started to cry. Wiping away a tear from her eye she looked at Ares, then Xena and finally to Athena. "I’m done fighting Athena. Let your army destroy us. I don’t care. But I won’t raise a sword to your warriors again. Now you control destiny Athena. Use that power wisely. "
Xena looked from Ares, to Gabrielle and finally to Athena " Kill us if you will. Destroy my daughter. This village. But know this Athena. Today your brother has earned my respect. " She paused " and yes even my love. For he’s allowed that most vulnerable part of himself to be seen. And that tells me he’s been given back what was his to begin with. His soul. "
Turning to Ares Xena sat next to him, put her arm around his shoulders and rested her head on his shoulder " It’s done Ares. Either we will die here together with our friends & family. Or Athena will go from here and leave us in peace. But today, you have earned your redemption. And for that I love you"
The tension was thick. Athena stared from Ares and Xena to Gabrielle to the villagers to the warriors she commanded. Feeling for the first time exhausted she sighed. " So be it. Today I Athena Goddess of Olympus ends this battle. Not in victory for one side or the other but in victory for both sides. May this union of Hearts bodies and Souls between my brother Ares God of War and his beloved Xena the Warrior princess be blessed with both compassion and honor. I will tell all the Gods of Olympus that our fight with Xena is over. " With that Athena vanished in a shower of golden sparkles.
" Well that went well," Gabby said
Ares and Xena looked at each other and then back to Gabby, and they both started laughing.
" What’s so funny" Gabby demanded
" You… Us…. This whole ridiculous situation… " Ares stammered between peels of laughter.
" Ares…?" Xena spoke
" Yes love…?" he responded lifting her chin to see into her eyes.
" Do you think we can begin again? I mean is what we feel enough. I don’t know if I can forget so quickly all the things that you’ve done. In my heart I know I love you. I’m just. " She trailed off her question.
" Xe… I don’t know either…. From what Destiny’s told me the answer is yes. You and I are destined to be together. We are in essence a part of each other. You are the lightness to my dark side. And I am the embodiment of your dark side. We need both to be whole. But each of us is afraid of the other side we can’t control. I think Destiny meant that we need each other to deal with that side of us we can’t control. I needed you to learn how to love again. How to feel compassion for simple things and beings. You’ve taught me that might isn’t always right. But that sometimes it is necessary. I can tell you this Xena. This whole thing scares the shit out of me. I know I love you above all reason. I just don’t know how to go about showing my love to you. It seems I’ve spent the last thousand millennia making a complete ass out of myself. I don’t want to loose you Xena. I would like for us to maybe just start from here and see where things go. See how we are." Ares glanced to Gabby then " Besides maybe I can irritate Blondie here some now" that devilishly handsome smile washed over his face.
Offering her hands out to both Xena and Ares Gabby replied "Well in the words of one of the only other Gods I happen to like. Come on Stud Muffin " and she hoisted them both to their feet.
Xena laughed with them. " Ok Ok I surrender already. We’ll go from here. Start fresh. But PLEASE for the love of any of the Gods……… NO MORE Stud Muffin cracks."
Ares put his arm across Xena’s shoulders as they walked toward the village. On a distant hill none of them saw the cloaked figure of a woman, on the huge black stallion raising her sword in triumph, a large smile spreading across her face.
" Until we meet again Ares" the figure whispered in the wind. And with that she was gone.
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