A funny thing happened on the way to the Acropolis.....

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"Xena! The army is storming the city, what are we going to do?!" The bard frantically questioned her companion as the enemy steadily approached. "The only thing we can do - Fight!" The warrior woman stormed from the city gates, ready to meet the fighting force head on. As the men drew closer, a dazzling blue light exploded between them and Xena, revealing Ares standing in it's wake. Raising a sword wealding hand, he brought the army to a sudden hault, just yards from the city hall. Without exchanging a word, the two warriors clashed weapons in a furious battle fired with both hatred and an intense passio....

"Hey kid! Wake up!" Annie felt a hand ruffly shake her from her dreams as slowly she opened her eyes. "I'm up. I'm up." She called out, looking around her. From her seat on the large commercial aircraft, she could see the crowd scurrying around to gather their belongings and leave to various destinations. Beside her, her sensei stood talking to the couple previously seated behind them, his carry-on firmly clutched in his arms. "Looks like you're ready to go." She commented, grabbing her own bag and joining the others in the isle. "Yeah. We have to get to the hotel by noon or our reservations go up in smoke, get me?" Nodding, Annie accompanied her instructor and the other students from the plane and into the terminal where they met up with their guide.

"Hello." The tall man greeted, his english laced with a thick accent. "Are you from the North of Carolina?" He asked, looking at the rather large group gathered around him. Being the representitive from his state, Steve extended his hand and offered the strange man a warm smile. "Yes, sir. And I assume you're Phillip?" The man gripped Steve's hand, squeezing it fiercely, almost jerking him off his feet. "Yes! Yes! And you are Steve, no? I talked to you on the computer." Steve nodded his head, jerking his now crushed hand from that of Phillip's. "These are my traveling buds. Tony, Guy, Chance, Annie and Jason." The group gave their greetings, all mutually wanting nothing more then to be out of the airport and into their rooms as soon as possible.

"I'm am very pleased having met you all, let us go now to the hotel and get you settled." Phillip's statement was met with six vocal aggrements as they rushed to retrieve their luggage and left the terminal. "I wonder if they know how to hail a cab here...." Tony whispered to Jason and Chance. "What do you mean, isn't it the same?" Chance questioned, looking at Jason and finding that the confusion was mutual. "Oh no. I was stationed in the middle east once and everything was backwards. You had to get a taxi by clucking. Ya know, like how you'd get a horse to gallop. That whole tongue thing." Suprised, the two rushed over to Steve and Phillip to tell them of their discovery.

"Oh you're just wrong!" Annie quietly informed her friend, as she watched the two attempt at 'hailing' a taxi. "I know....But its so much fun - how can ya resist.....Oh crap they're coming back!" Annie turned from her conversation to see Chance and Jason stalk back over to the group, annoyance evident on both their features. "That was not even funny!" Jason said, barely below a yell. His statement was met by a chorus of laughter from the group, accompanied by assorted cluckings and taunts. "Hey. Stop it and get in the cab oh so graciously summoned by our buds." Steve ordered the group, putting an end to their teasing but undoubtedly not the inside jokes that should last for years to come.

After the group spent all of twenty minutes deciding who should ride in which cab, Annie sat squished between Guy and Tony, glad the wonder boys were in the another vehicle. And far far away from a certain friend of hers. "You so know they're gonna kick your butt for that right?" Guy inquired from Tony as he tried desperately not to burst into laughter yet again. "Oh please. By the time we get to the hotel, Steve will have calmed them both down and they'll be back to their old annoying selves." The two men chattered awhile - talking of sports, the martial arts seminar, beavis and butthead, and women as Annie simply sat gazing out of the window, taking in the senery and thinking to herself.

She had been to countless seminars over the few years of her career. But this was the first time she had actually left the country - let alone the continent! She felt the butterflies rise in her stomach as the cab weaved it's way through traffic and ever closer to the hotel (which was to become their Dojo and home for the next few weeks.) "What's the matter, kid?" Blasted in a deep voice beside her. Annie looked up to see Guy staring at her intentively, concern etched on his face. "Oh..I was just thinking about the seminar. In the states, I usually know just about everybody at these things. But now.....I dont know...What if.." Guy held up a hand to quiet the girl. "Don't worry about it. If you spend the entire time fretting over what people think about you then that's a whole trip lost. Just do your best and you can't fail, grasshopper" With a reassuring smile, Guy playfully ruffled her hair and turned to look ahead at the nearing Hotel.

"Crap, this place is huge!" Jason exclaimed as he wrenched himself from the sardine can of a taxi. "You are so eloquient!" Tony jumped out from his own cab, throwing him his bag and knocking the man off balance. "And graceful too..." "Hey, cut it out. We've got too much to do for clowning around!" Steve scolded as he playfully pushed Jason into Tony and began to help retreiving luggage from the trunk. "I've got a Guy Widdel here! Do we have a Guy Widdel!" "That would be the one and only!" Guy took his suitcase from Steve and started to help the instructor with his task. "Ok. I'm seriously hoping this is yours kiddo! Cause if not....." Steve held up pink leather suitcase with various 'Xenaverse' pictures plastered on the front. Annie pointed curiously to herself and then gave a queer look towards the others. "Me? I would have sworn I saw Tony carrying it fro...." She was cut off short as the bag came hurtling towards her head, giving her barely enough time to catch it without bodily injury.

The group sorted out the various bags and suitcases in the cabs, paid for their ride and soon found themselves all crammed in Steve's room for a short 'talk'. "Ok, here's the deal guys.." Steve started but was interrupted by a loud cough and nudge from Annie. He ceromoniously rolled his eyes and started again. "Fine. Here's the deal guys and GIRLS." "Thank you" "Anyway..We need to figure a few things out before we all get started doing our on things and such. First of all I want to meet with you all every evening before bed so I can know who's going where the next day. Secondly, and I think this person knows who I'm talking about although I'm not gonna name any names...All sixteen year old girls with the nicknames 'kid' or 'LT' need to be with someone from this group at all tim.." "STEVE!" The sensei cut his eyes at his young student, annoyance evident in his demenour. "Look, Annie! You have to be with some one whenever you go somewhere and that's the end of it!" "But.." "No. That's final!" "Fine, DAD!!"

Annie stormed from the room, slamming the door behind her and leaving a room full of shocked men in her wake. "I am so sick of everyone thinking I'm some stupid kid who can't defend herself!" After repeatedly slamming her door shut, for the soul purpose of proving her point, Annie threw herself on her bed and sulked until a knock came at her door. "WHAT?!" "Calm down and let me in!" Was yelled back, followed by another pounding of the door. She quickly wiped her face and opened the door for her mentor. "What is wrong with you?!" He questioned, sitting at the foot of her bed and giving the girl an impaitent look. "Nothing...." "Bull shit! You don't act like that and everything be alright. Now spill..." "Well. I guess I'm just a bit annoyed with the fact no one can ever trust me to take care of myself! It's always, be careful, you can't do that, do you need any help little girl?" She plopped down on the bed and crossed her arms across her chest. After a deadly look from Steve, she uncrossed her arms but kept her pissed look.

"Hey it's not my fault, I'm just trying to make sure you don't pull anything and end up dead." "What do you mean pull anything? You mean you don't trust me?! I can't beleive thi..." "Well beleive it! You may train with adults hey you even beat up adults but you are still a child with the mindset and maturity of one. And until you learn a little responsibility then your my um..." "Responsibility?" "Yeah. You're not to go anywhere by yourself and that's the end of it!" "But.." Before Annie could protest, Steve had risen and left the room.

Now free of companions and a bit upset over the recent confrontation, Annie retreated to her bathroom for a much needed hot shower. After a few minutes of blissful unawareness, the young girl’s thoughts wandered to the dream of earlier that day. ‘Maybe I should make Ar miss Xena and slice open the blonde! Yeah, death to the bard!’ Her slightly violent thoughts were interrupted by yet another loud banging at the door. “Ok. My room is now central freakin station.” Annie muttered under her breath jumping from the shower and wrapping a ‘Hilton’ towel around her form. “Just a minute!” She yelled in a sickly sweet voice, obviously annoyed at her personal time being interrupted.

“Ok. I’ll just stand out here all day…” Tony yelled back, his voice taking on the same tone as Annie’s. The girl ran to the door, quickly unlocking it and then rushed back to the bathroom. From the safety of behind the closed door, Annie yelled “All right. Come in!” Tony entered the hotel room and made himself comfortable on it’s large bed. “Are you gonna be in there all day, or what?!” The man whined after waiting a few minutes, moving from his place on the bed to in front of the bathroom door. “Why are you rushing me, Ton? It’s not like we have anything to do tonight.” “That was the plan before Dillman found out we were here. He wants us to go on a tour of the Acropolis with him and a couple of the guys.” Annie peeked her auburn head into the hall, a shocked look on her face.

“What do you mean ‘a couple of the guys’”

“Uh, I mean a purple giraffe, kid. What does it sound like I mean? A couple of the guys most probably means guys numbered at a couple.”

Annie rolled her eyes. “Don’t be a smart ass! You know what I mean. Who's going?"

“Probably just Dillman, Jack, Pat, that Phillip guy and us.”

“Oh ok.”

Annie went back into the bathroom and started to get dressed. “Hey, why did you want to know who was going? You got a problem with somebody?” Tony asked as he kept his post at the door. “It's nothing." "Fine. Don't tell me. But if anyone gives you any trouble just knock a couple of ‘em on their ass. That should get their attention right quick. Now finish getting dressed and I’ll meet you downstairs.”

After Tony left, Annie threw on some black jogging pants and a 'Girls Rule' tee shirt then grabbed her ever trusty bag. Containing everything known to man, her large black shoulder bag was a constant companion. But among the many processions nestled in there, the most priced to the girl was her lucky pendant. Whenever in need of a confidence boost, she would pull out the necklace and put it on under her shirt. Only those closest to her even knew she owned the piece of jewelry, let alone when she was wearing it. Annie searched the bag for her lucky necklace, slipping it on when she located it. Searching for a bit of inner stillness, Annie grabbed the pendant part and studied it’s finely etched design. Crafted in the shape of the Chinese yin yang, the pendant was made of white gold suprisingly free of scratches and dents. While running down the hiking trail to one of her favorite training spots, she had slipped and fell right in front of the necklace. From then on it was a good luck charm, although she had no idea if it worked or not and seriously hoped she'd never have to find out.

Annie’s peaceful recollection was interrupted by yet another hurried banging at her room door. “GEEZ!” The girl exploded, grabbing her bag and stalking to door. “Dammit Tony, I told you I was coming and….” She stopped mid-word as she opened the door and was met face to face by an amused Master Jack Hogan. “Sorry, kid. If you want me to come back later…” The older man started, his voice heavily laced with sarcasm. “Sir! I didn’t know it was yo..” “Well that’s kinda obvious!” “Let me just get my bag, ok?” The master nodded his conscent as he waited for Annie to retrieve her things.

As the two made their way to the lobby, they had a chance to catch up on old news. “So you actually did the no touch on him?” Annie asked, her voice giving away her always keen interest in anything martial arts. “Yeah. The guy never knew what hit him. One second he’s pushing his girlfriend around and the next he’s out cold. And no one knew that I did it, so they can’t say I got involved in some marital thing, ya know?” “Cool!! You have GOT to show me that!” “Whoa kid! You’re only a red tip here. People your rank aren’t supposed to know that kind of stuff. It’s in the rules somewhere. Hell, you’re the only non-dan member in this organization that knows as much as you do. The guys are starting to worry about their positions.” “Oh please. I don’t know anything like you guys do!” “Yeah but we all started when we were already old men. No one here today was knocking people out at 16!” Annie threw Jack a grin which was quickly haulted as she reminded herself of the rather heated discussion with her instructor. "Thanks, sir. Atleast someone thinks so." "What do you mean?" "Nothing. It's just...."

The duos conversation was interrupted as they reached the crowded lobby. The sheer amount of jumbled conversations blasting from various corners was enough to cause her to stop her explanation and shake her head in wonder. "I didn't even know this many people were in DKI." "Yeah. It's scary to think this many people actually look up to a clown like me." "Scary? That's terrifying!" The two turned around to see Grandmaster Dillman standing behind them, a shit eating grin plastered on his face. "Enough with the chit chat. We've got a pile of old rocks to awe over..."

The warrior princess landed heavily on the ground as her feet were swept out from under her and a leather boot was applied forcefully to her throat. "You must be getting rusty, dearest. I guess that's what happens when you spend your life protecting pathetic mortals and battling only the nit wits known as warlords..." Ares gave Xena a triumphant smile as he sheathed his sword and keep the pressure constant on her throat. As he was about to order his men to take the city, a foot went flying into his crouch, causing the mighty god of war to stumble backwards catching his breath. "Not as rusty as one may think." Xena coughed out after rising from the ground and dusting off her armo.....

"Hey!! Let go!!" Annie was pulled from her slumber by harsh screams from the street nearby. Her group had just stopped near a statue of Apollo for yet another long lecture before finishing up their tour at the acropolis. Still a bit dazed, she glanced towards the direction of the cries to see an older woman struggling with a rather large man who was trying to take her purse. The thug pushed the lady to the ground and fled down the street, leaving a screaming woman in his wake. "Help me!! That man took my bag! Please, someone help me!!" Not taking time to think, Annie jumped from her place on the cold stone bench that had previously been her bed, and took off after the man. "ANNIE! WAIT!"

Not heeding the yells for her to stop, she continued after the man who, after he noticed the girl running after him, took a sharp turn towards the Acropolis. "Hey! You! Stop!" She screamed after him, inwardly thankful for those early morning runs. 'Damn' Annie thought as the guy leapt over the guard rails and tried to take a short cut through the actual acropolis. 'You're not getting away that easy!' Annie volted over the rail and flying tackled the thug as he stumbled over a loose rock. "Hand over the purse." She ordered while standing. When she saw that the man wasn't going to give up that easily, the girl cockily slide back into her fighting stance. The grin on her face faded rather quickly as the man stood and pointed a rather intimidating gun straight at her head.

Annie's muscles froze as her eyes stayed glued to the weapon aimed at her. Her breath caught in her throat and she took a fearful step backwards. A move that caused her foot to land on a loose rock and sent the girl failing helplessly backwards, off of the Acropolis. Her head connected harshly with a pillar and she felt a pair of arms grab her before her world faded into darkness.....

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Annie was jerked into consiousness as she felt her head hit something and she splashed into water. Her mind raced as she sank to the bottom, a splash beside her alerting the girl that she wasn't alone. In the mirky water, she felt two arms grab her and pull her to the surface. "What the..." She sputtered, looking around to her surroundings and shaking her head with disbelief. Instead of the bustling city or maybe the hospital she was expecting, she saw a secluded river, a group of strangly dressed women, and a forest just beginning to grow dark from the approaching night. "Lila! Are you alright?!" The woman who had saved her questioned, her eyes giving away her worried thoughts.

"Lila? What are you talking about?! Where am I?" The woman moved in towards Annie, causing the already bewildered girl to jump with fear and throw her violently into the water. A wave of shock went through the group of women as Annie jumped from the river and the woman rose to the surface of the water. "Lila! What are you doing?!" A girl about Annie's age asked frantically, grabbing her by the arm. "I know you must have been startled but your going to get whipped for sure! Throwing Elana like that...." "Get your hands off of me! I don't care who that was, she shouldn't have messed with me. And ain't nobody whipping me, that's for damn sure!!" Annie yelled at no one in particular as she threw the fair haired girl to the ground and began to back from the river.

She was stopped as she bumped into something tall. And dark. "Out of my way!" Annie ordered as she spun around to stand face to face with the god of war. She promptly passed out.

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"Is Lila going to be ok? That bump on the head must have really messed up her head or something. You saw how she threw the high priestess into the river. Then pushed her best friend, Allison. And when she yelled at lord Ares.....I thought she had lost it!!" Annie awoke slowly, keeping her eyes closed so that she could listen to the conversation above her. 'These people think my name is Lila. Wait. Lord Ares?! As in greek god of war, Ares? As in made up mythological type guy, Ares?!' Annie almost passed out again when something exploded beside her, and a very distinct presence filled the room. "Lord Ares!" "Rise, Cassandra, Reanna. Has she stirred?" "No lord Ares. I think Morpheius has taken her. She hasn't moved and she is barely breathing."

"Relax, Cassandra. She's fine. Besides, if we need to worry about interferrence from anyone, it's from Zeus not Morpheus. He hasn't called off his search for the girl and it's beginning to worry me. If my father wants her that badly then she must be important." "Why don't we just give her to him, sire. She is just a slave girl." "No. I want to know what is going on first. Call me when she decides to open her eyes." With that, Annie felt the presence leave and heard the two women leave. "What did he mean by that, Reanna?" "Who knows....Let's go to bed. We can check back on her in the morning." Annie opened her eyes and sat up in the bed when she heard the door close.

'Ok. I need to think.' Annie slowly looked around the room as she tried to gain her barrings. 'I know. This is a dream. I've had these kind of dreams before. Well, Ares usually has no clothes on.....but this is still a dream. Yeah! One of those dreams where you know it's a dream. Cool! I guess, I might as well enjoy it!' With that Annie jumped up and started to the door. Looking down she noticed her clothing. 'Hmm....I've never been one for the peasent girl look but hey why not....' She opened the door and began to creep down the darkened hallway. 'Night time, eh? I wonder if I can find Ares' bedroom before I wake up.....That would be so very cool!' Looking around her she could make out a few distinct shapes in the dark. From what she could see, the place looked like a castle of some sort, weapons and banners adorning the walls between the rows of doors. 'Crap. I'm stuck in the servent's area or something.'

As she walked quickly past the rows of wooden doors, Annie finally came to one that caught her attention. Instead of being drab and old like the others, this door stretched to the ceiling and was covered in strange markings and glittering jewels. 'Cool' Annie pushed open the door and was instantly caught off guard as bright candle and torch light flooded into the hall. In the newly found room sat a couple of statues, huge pillars, and most importantly, a large throne. Finding the room to be empty, she ventured further to satisfy her curiosity. 'Ok. It's official. This is the coolest freaking dream in the history of the world!' Annie ran her hand along the cool marble and let her eyes take in the beautiful pictures ingraved in the walls. "Troy...." She muttered as she looked at an engraving of the famous battle. From the wall, she let her gaze wander and eventually rest upon the throne resting in the middle of the floor. With a squel, she ran over to the throne and jumped in it's seat.

"I am ANNIE, the great goddess of WAR!" She said laughing as she threw her leg over the arm as she had seen Ares do in far too many 'Xena' episodes. "No no....Better yet. I am Eris! The wonderfully grand goddess of strife and discord. You may bow." She soon grew bored of this and paitently sat on the throne waiting for something to happen. Ok. Maybe not that paitently. "HEY ARES! Yeah! You! Get your leather clad butt down her before I wake up! Like NOW...." A loud erruption beside her alerted Annie to the war god's entrance. She looked up from her sprawled out position to see Ares above her, an amused/annoyed expression playing on his lips. "Its about time! I mean, I'm gonna wake up any minute now and you haven't showed up ONCE!" A look of confusion flashed over Ares face before he reached out his hand and offered it to Annie. "That's much better." The girl said as she jumped off the throne and, while crossing her arms, looked Ares up and down. "You look.....weird. I mean, you look like Kevin but ya don't. This is a freaky dream. I mean, Ares don't look like Ares, there's none of the 'good' stuff and miss warrior princess hasn't shown up once!"

Her last statement caught Ares attention, so as he sat on his throne, the war god gestured for Annie to come closer. "You know Xena?" "Yeah! Well, kinda....." 'Hey wait, this is my dream. I can be whoever I want.' "I mean ofcourse I know her! I kicked her ass this one time but we became friends after th.....AAAHHH" Annie's statement was cut off as she felt herself go flying through the air and land harshly into a wall across the room. Groaning, she looked up in time to see a woman run between her and the now angered Ares, and fall to the ground. "I beg your forgiveness, sire. It must have been the blow to the head, Lila would never disrespect you." "True, Elana. You may rise. Take the girl to her room. I think she needs to lie dow....." "I'm not going anywhere!" Annie screamed as she realized what was happening and jumped up from the floor. "My fucking name is Annie...not Lila or girl or anything but Annie! Where am I? You're not real! Dreams don't hurt and you're not real!"

Tears began to fall down Annie's face as she looked around her and finally began to realize that the world around her wasn't the product of one too many jelly beans before bed. "What is going on here?!" Elana questioned as she watched the girl break into sobs in front of her. "Has she gone daft, lord Ares?" "No......I think she's gotten her memory back....." Ares made his way to Annie who was, at the moment, crying in her hands. Gently laying his hand on her shoulder, he attempted to comfort the girl. His sympathies were met with a loud kia and a solid punch to the face. Annie jumped back into her fighting stance and waited for her new opponent to make a move. "Don't touch me." She growled angrily in an attempt to hide the overwhelming fear tempting to overtake her at any moment.

"You stay right....there." She ordered in her strongest voice while inside she was shaking. "Hmmm....well then. I have to give you credit, child." Ares said as he lightly touched his jaw. "You have guts....and balls the size of mt. Olympus....." With a cocky grin, Ares landed a right hook to the side of the girl's head, sending her sprawling backwards into the wall. With the room spinning, an angry god of war coming towards her and tears running down her face, Annie tried her hardest to think. 'You've done this hundreds of times in class....think!' Staying perfectly still, she pretended to be out of it until she sensed her opponent right above her. Then, tossing all thoughts of where she was, who she was fighting and just what she was doing, Annie let out her best Callisto scream and jumped into the air to hit Ares in the chest with a flying front kick.

Ares went back a step and shook his head. While the god was slightly distracted, Annie dived at him, hitting about seven pressure points before they hit the ground. With a sigh, Ares threw her off of him and made himself appear standing. "Nice try. Pressure points don't work on gods!" He said with an angry sneer. Then, forming a fireball in his hand, he poised himself to rid the world of this annoyance before him. Suddenly a far too familiar warcry echoed through the temple and a far too familiar foot connected with the back of Ares' head, sending him flying into a statue of himself.

"Lord Ares!" Elana screamed as she rose from her position on the floor and rushed to her sire. Instead of finding an angered god of war as she had expected, she found her lord holding the back of his head and actually laughing. "Sir?" She questioned as she checked Ares' for head damage "Really, Elana. I'm quite alright, being immortal and all." As Ares stood from the wreckage, Elana turned a bright red and slightly bowed her head. As they turned around, they both found a sword pointed in their direction. "Why hello, princess. Long time no fight, hmm?"

"Cut the bull shit, Ares. What's going on?" Xena demanded to know as she looked at the shaking girl in the corner being attended by her sidekick. Ares rose an eyebrow teasingly and wiped the dust from his leather. "Whatever do you mean, my dear? This is nothing more than a private temple affair. I really would appreciate it if, in the future, you would stay out of things that don't concern you." With a smug grin, he approached Xena. He was met by the blade of her sword going harmlessly through his chest.

"You think that after all this time you would realize that doesn't hurt...." With a sigh, Xena pulled the weapon from his being and sheathed it. "Yeah, but it makes me feel so much better." The warrior princess turned her attention to Gabrielle. "How is she?" The bard looked towards her friend, a grave expression on her young features. "It looks like she's ok. Just a few cuts and bruises. But she keeps muttering things Xena, I think she's gone into shock or something." As Gabrielle turned back to her paitent, Xena focused on Ares. "Now, it really is none of my buisness what you do with your priestesses, and sometimes I'd rather just not knowing. But you're not going to beat on some defenseless girl because you had a bad day, I don't care who you think she belongs to!"

Ares looked from Xena to Annie and back to Xena again. Trying desperately to control the laughter forming in his throat, the war god started towards the girl. Grabbing him roughly by the arm, Xena tried to stop him. "I'm just proving a point, princess." Ares grabbed Annie up by the arms, much to Gabrielle's protest, and forced her to stand. Her vision quickly began to focus and as she saw who was holding her, she let out a kia and kicked him in the head with all her strength. "I told you to stay away from me!" Annie screamed as she backed away to the wall. When she felt her back bump against something, she spun around to find herself face to face with the legendary bard of Potedia. "AAAAHHHH!" Annie punched Gabrielle in the face and took off out of the throne room.

With a smirk, Ares gave Xena his best 'See?!' look as she ran over to help Gabrielle to her feet. "Don't even try it, Ares! Just because she knocked you on your ass doesn't give you the right to fry her. She's just frightened." "Oh, yeah....frightened. Look. You don't want me zapping the brat, ok I can deal with that. Just find out what's going on before I take care of things my way." With that Ares disappeared, leaving Xena and the bard to deal with Annie.

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Cautiously, Xena crept along the dimly lit halls of Ares' worldly residence. Spending most of her warlord days roaming these passages, she had no trouble catching up with the confused young woman frantically making her way through the twisting corridors. Sensing someone behind her, Annie spun around, half relieved and half utterly suprised to find the warrior princess standing there. 'Well atleast it's not Ares.....I can't beleive I just thought that.....' "Are you alright?" Xena questioned from a bit of a distance, knowing it was better to keep her space from the skittish girl. "Not really. I should say thanks, I guess. Knowing my luck today, he would have blasted me into oblivion without another thought." Smiling Xena took a small step forward and rested against the cold stone wall across from Annie.

"Nah. Unless he's really angry, Ares is all talk." The warrior princess reassured with a small smirk. "Sure....I'll just take your word on that one....." Annie hesitantly ventured a look at Xena, quickly removing her gaze after their eyes met. "You know this would be really cool if it wouldn't so real. And if I hadn't just got my butt kicked by the god of war." Xena looked questioningly at the girl but decided not the press the issue. "Come on and I'll bandage that up for you." She said, motioning the wound adorning Annie's skull. The girl lightly touched the source of blood seeping slowly down her neck and cringing with pain, she followed Xena. 'Dreams really aren't supposed to hurt.....'

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"There you go. Good as new." Xena stated as cheerfully as she could, trying without success to put the room in a better mood. After putting the finishing touches on Annie's bandages, she forced the girl to lie down a bit and began to quickly put away her things. From afar, Elana sat watching the warrior woman in awe. She had met Xena a few times before but watching her physically abuse her lord without any sort of retaliation, well that was a first. For anyone. "Is she going to be alright?" The priestess asked anxiously as she aproached the group. Xena threw an annoyed look at the women and went in search of Ares, leaving Gabrielle to talk to Elana. "Um...well I think she's ok. Although you might want to keep her in bed for a few days." A smile formed on Elana's face as she gazed down on Annie. "Good. I don't know what I'd do if something happened to Lila."

At that, Annie sat up and looked at Elana in disbelief. "Get the point, blondie. My name is Annie. A. N. N...." As the girl noticed Gabrielle mouth 'head sickness' to Elana, she simply lay back down in defeat. "Forget it. Just freakin forget it."

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"Ares!" Xena raised her voice in a commanding tone after she entered the war god's personal chamber. As the warrior princess felt a familiar tingle run up her spine, she turned and found herself face to face with Ares. "Yes, my dear?" He replied in a smooth, deep tone before taking a step forward and letting their bodies touch. With an annoyed sigh, Xena took a corresponding step backwards before speaking. "What's going on? And I know she isn't a priestess, so don't try to give me the 'temple buisiness' line." "Well, then. The life of a 'hero' certainly hasn't dulled your senses, princess." Ares turned slowly and made his way to a large fainting chair in the corner of the chamber. "What exactly would you like to know?" He asked while sprawling out in the chair and making a glass of ambrosia appear in his hand.

Xena hesitantly approached Ares, a little uneasy at his seeming compliance. No teasing, no cheap attempts at seduction...Either this was really the warrior's day or something was up. And Xena had ten to one odds on the latter. "Ok...How about starting from the beginning." She ventured, sitting on her ex-lover's large canopy bed in the center of the room. "Well...She's been here about three months or so. Elana, my head priestess, was attending buisiness at the Acropolis when she found her. Said the girl was wandering around in a daze, her memory gone and wearing strange clothes. She took her in and a few days later Zeus started his search for her. Had the whole of Greece looking for the girl. So I brought her here and gave her a job as slave girl."

Xena rose a questioning brow at Ares explination. "Well that was aweful kind of you." "Not really, dearest. If the king of the gods would spend that much time and manpower to hunt down a mortal girl, then there has to be something in it for an enterprising young god such as myself." "But ofcourse." "And now that she's gotten her memory back, I think it's time to find out exactly what." At that Xena rose and prepared to leave. "Actually, I think not. Not you anyway. She's been through enough, already. You drilling her like a criminal isn't going to help the situation any." Ares stood to walk accompany Xena. "Oh, ofcourse not. I do have to insist, however, that she stay here." "Bu..." "Only so I can keep her from my father. And I give my word I'll let you handle her as you see fit."

Xena glanced at Ares, still not believing their entire conversation. "Uh...thanks. I need to get back to Gabrie...." Xena was cut off as she found herself to be back in the throne room with Ares at her side. "If you learn anything, you know where to find me." With that, Ares disappeared, leaving a speechless Xena in his wake. The war god wasn't one for diplomatic pleasentries but he also knew the ways of mortals. And the girl would give far more information to Xena than she would ever give him. Besides, he never said he wouldn't interfere just a bit.

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"How is everything? Have you gone crazy yet?" The bard asked Annie as she walked with the girl to a fountain. It had been a week since they had first met, and much to Annie's suprise, she kinda liked the blonde. Gabrielle and Xena had left soon after Ares' departure although not before promising to visit the next weekend. "Oh, I'm fine. Although the combination of getting used to things around here and that crazy festival is driving me not far from it." Annie said as she filled her bucket with water from the fountain. "Where's Xena?" "Oh, she had some things to take care of. She said she'd probably be here in the morning at the latest." "Cool. Come on, you can help me finish up my evening chores so we can have time to hang out." Annie glanced to the sun setting in the west and hurried back into the castle.

"You think they give you enough to do?" Gabrielle complained after having worked with Annie about an hour. "Nah. I've just got a lot to do today because I'm the only one here. Well me and the stable guy, but he works outside." "Wait, where is everyone?" Annie lifted a bag of grain and handed it to Gabrielle, taking one for herself and motioning for her friend to follow. As they were walking, she explained. "All the priestesses had to leave for some ceremonial thing in Athens. A festival or something. They've been buzzing around here all week getting ready for the stupid thing. They left me to look after the place since I'm just a slave and all. Set that down over there." Gabrielle let the heavy bag drop out of her hands and, thankfully, didn't question Annie further.

Before leaving the week before, Xena had quickly advised her to keep the guise of a slave girl and simply explain to everyone she had been captured from her home village of Sylosia and sold into service in Athens. Then, all she would have to do was add a little story about her falling off a ladder in her master's barn and losing her memory. That way she could explain the strange incident of her basically cold cocking the war god (and that whole her not knowing who she was thing) while covering up the truth long enough to get to the bottom of things. Which was exactly what Annie and Xena were intent on doing on the warrior princess' return that weekend. "So, you hungry. I've the place to myself and I bet I can figure out where the good snacks are." "You read my mind!"

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After filling up on all the sweet desserts they could find, Gabrielle and Annie decided to head to bed as to be well rested when Xena arrived the next morning. Annie lay wrapped up in itchy wool covers for about an hour before she gave up on sleep and slid quietly to the floor. Careful not to wake the bard snoozing soundly in the bed across the small servant's room, she slipped on a pair of shoes and a robe and went into the hall. 'Finally I can snoop around a bit...' Annie thought mischeiviously.

Cautiously, she left the living area and crept into the throne room. Although the place was enormous (as it would have to be, being Ares' earthly home), she had only been able to go into three areas of the castle ; The kitchen, the throne room, and her room. Annie knew there was much more to the castle but she also knew these parts were only accesible by secret passage ways and openings. Passage ways and openings she was intent on finding

It took Annie all of fifteen minutes to locate the first of such passages. A discovery she was sure was more luck than anything else. She had been looking around the castle for a bit when she reached yet another dead end. Annoyed beyond belief, Annie then decided to gather her thoughts while leaning against the stone wall and then venture forward. It was when she landed flat on her butt that she realized she had gone far enough. 'Ok, I'm suddenly thankful for those white belt falling drills' Annie thought with a smirk as she picked herself up from the dust covered floor of the passageway.

Suddenly, the door leading from the hall closed behind her, trapping the girl in utter darkness. Her hands fumbled around the wall hopelessly, searching for a trigger, a lever, a lightswitch...anything. In her panic, Annie's hand brushed across an unlit torch hanging in the hall. As she touched the object, a light sparked and the torch was lit. "Cool!" She muttered as she grabbed the torch and made her way down the hall. Suddenly, her journey was halted by an abrupt dead-end. With a small growl, she slammed the torch into a holder on the wall so she could look for yet another trigger. As she did so, the flame was extinquished and the wall before her slid open to reveal a large, elaborately adorned bedchamber. 'Bingo....'

After entering the room, she began to search through it with a new found (and strangely deep) curiosity. In the center of the black marble floor was a large four post bed with blood red silk sheets and soft black covers. On one of the walls was an intricately-carved engraving of some battle. Against that wall was a fainting couch, colored in the shade of a deep red wine. On the ceiling-stretching windows hung long, thick curtains that cut off the rest of the world. Instantly interested in seeing if she could guess where she was, Annie jerked back the curtains and peered into the blackness of the night. Although she couldn't quite make out any details, it was noticed that the castle was high on the top of a mountain. A very high mountain.

'Macedonia?' She thought with a shrug of her shoulders. Maybe. She had read enough fanfiction about the war god's fortress there....but this was real. As crazy as it was, this was actually real and she couldn't trust the imaginings of her internet buds this time. Besides, Annie had a feeling she would find out soon enough. Gazing around the room for some hint of what to do next, she caught sight of a long bar, beside which was a door she hadn't noticed before. 'What's behind door number two..' Slowly, she turned the handle and peeked her head into the new room.

This room was a far cry from the one Annie had just left, being of a more cheerful and bright nature than the droomy bedchamber. The floor had changed from dark black to a shiny silver and the walls were also silver marble. Sunk in the middle of the floor was a large, circular bathtub colored the same as the room. 'Ooh...a tub! A bath!' Annie thought with a sad excitement. The last time she remembered her skin touching soap was far too long ago and the mere idea of an actual bath (not a dip in the frigid waters of a river) made her a bit giddy.

Glancing around just to make sure she was alone, Annie located a black robe hanging on the wall and was quickly out of her clothing. Looking down at the simple dress now in a pile at her feet, the girl's thoughts wandered to her 'real' clothes. 'I wonder...' Her mind started as she tried to figure out just what happened to what she wore out of the hotel that day. (a day which seemed so very far away and dream like at the moment) The location of her precious bag was also a mystery to Annie. One that begged to be solved. 'When Xena arrives....' She decided with a small nod of her auburn colored head. That would be a time for finding many things out. Like what in tarterous was she doing waiting for the warrior princess in the first place.

But atleast she still had her necklace. With that small piece of metal adorning her neck, it seemed that things couldn't be that bad. With an unconsious glance to her necklace, Annie sat beside the sunk in tub and turned the silver handle at the front. Streams of clear water poured from the four corners of the tub. 'Hmm...running water.' She thought to herself, not at all suprised. This was Ares' residence after all. Besides, nothing suprised her anymore. Not even the fact that when she dipped a hand into the water, she found it to be hot. Perfectly hot to be percise.

Disrobing, she slipped into the blissful void and let herself slowly be emersed by the warmth. 'Suddenly, this whole prehistoy thing doesn't seem all that bad...' Annie thought with a sigh as she added an array of various soaps and soaks that were lying beside her. After the tub was sufficiently filled with bubbles, Annie let her head seep under the water. She let herself be lost in deep relaxation and even deeper thought. She was pulled from such things as a soft splash across from her alerted the girl that she might just have some company. Quickly pulling herself up, Annie came yet again face to face with the god of war.

"AAAAHHHH!!!" Echoed through the bathroom as Annie jumped backwards and began kicking around in the warm bath water. A shocked Ares reacted similarly, but immediately calmed down when he saw who he was sharing a tub with. "Calm down." Ares ordered the girl as he moved back to his side of the tub. Seeing that she was in no actual danger (at the moment atleast), Annie stopped her screaming and kicking. "What in hell do you think you are doing?" She choked out while sinking into the bubbles so that only her head could be seen. "What in what?!" Replied a confused god of war as an amused grin spread over his face.

"Oh never mind...."

"And what do you mean, what am I doing...this is my damn bathroom!"

"Well...So. You could atleast check to see if someone may be in the bathtub before you jump your happy ass in! I mean, Geez! You waltz into the bathroom, see a tub full of water and bubbles and stuff so you just get right in!"

"Hey! I just thought that one of the priestess' had run my bath."

"Yeah Yeah Yeah....that's what they all say."

With a shake of his raven colored head, Ares began to chuckle silently to himself. "What's so funny?!" Questioned the annoyed Annie as she sat up a bit in the water. "Nothing. Nothing. Just the fact that I'm sitting here, defending my actions like a small child who just broke his mother's lamp. To a mortal slave girl no less." That, combined with Ares' look of genuine amusement, caused Annie to forget herself for a moment and burst into laughter. "Well, breaking through your unsatiable urge to kill me are we?"

"No. Well not really." "Uh Huh." Was Ares' sarcastic reply as he relaxed a bit and leaned against the side of the tub. "How about this. You let me finish my bath and then you can take a nice fresh one." The war god offered in his best tone of fairness. Annie wasn't biting. "No way! I was in here first! Besides, there is no freakin way that I'm getting out of this water with you watching." "With me watching?! Please! You're a child! Although you do look a bit like Xe..." Annie abruptly through a bar of soap at Ares' head, cutting him off. "Don't even go there!" She warned, trying not to laugh as Ares easily caught the soap and gave her the coolest 'I -can't-believe-she-threw-soap-at-me look'.

"Well how do I know you won't check me out when I get out." Ares played along through the large grin plastered on his face. "Ofcourse I won't." Annie lied in response with her fingers crossed under the water. "Fine. But as long as you don't mind owing me a small favor." Annie sat in the water that was steadily moving to a luke warm temperature and attempted not to laugh aloud. "Yeah right! Do I have blond tattooed on my head now? I don't think so....How about this. You get out and you get one favor. As in one, really small, non-yucky, non-murder or crime against the gods, favor. Ok?"

With a small shake of his head, Ares sighed and disappeared from the tub. Instantly, he reappeared beside the tub, dressed now in a black silk robe. "Deal. Now hurry up so I can get my part of this farce of an agreement." With that, Ares teleported himself to his bedroom, leaving Annie to her buisiness. Although he couldn't exactly pull one over on the girl,(a fact that annoyed the tarterous out of him) the war god still had the advantage in this situation. He would, ofcourse, live up to his end of the bargain. Besides, whatever the girl had in mind for payment wasn't anything like what Ares intended. (Although she wasn't half bad, he'd probably have to kill her before being allowed within two feet of Annie) He meerly wanted a few answers.

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Leaning back against the cool marble tub, Annie sighed in relief, grateful at being able to breath easier now that she wasn't sharing a bath with the god of war. 'What am I thinking?!' She thought with a shake of her head. 'The god of war just got out of the tub with me and I'm thankful?! If only this were a dream...then I could freakin enjoy it!' With one last dip in the water, Annie then got and began searching for a towel. She found none. "Ares!" Then echoed through the bathroom, as the impaitent young woman stood cold and shivering in the middle of the floor. "I need a....." Her demands for a cover of some sort cut were short as an annoyed Ares appeared in front of her. "What do you wa....." At that, the fierce greek god of war burst into laughter.

This time, Annie was a bit too shocked to even scream or throw inanimate objects. She simply stood there, with a look of utter shock on her porcelin face. Ares took it upon himself to act. After turning around, he caused a black silk robe to appear on Annie's form. "Are you alright now?" He asked through his snickers. "Ofcourse I'm not alright! You just appeared in front of me, while I was nude, and freakin laughed!" Ares tried his best to control the laughter tempting to spill from his throat, but given Annie's high pitched ranting, found it all but impossible. "I wasn't laughing at you. Well, I mean I was laughing at you but not for the reason you think!" "Yeah, sure...."

With his trademark, cocky grin adorning his features, Ares turned around to face Annie. "I was just laughing at the look on your face and at the situation. That's all." At that, Ares snapped his fingers and the room was instantly back in order. The water was gone from the tub and the various bottles and soaps that had been hurled in his direction were in their rightful places. "There. Now follow me. We have a few things to settle."

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Hesitantly, Annie sat down across from Ares on the bed and waited for him to speak. "Ok. First of all, where did you learn pressure points? Very few people in the world even know such points exsist. And I can think of only one person who knows how to connect them. That's a warrior princess, not a slave girl. So spill." With a sigh, Annie stretched her long legs out in front of her and wrapped her arms around a black silk pillow. "My instructor.....he taught me points." She said in a low voice, her eyes never leaving the pillow that was being clutched to her chest. If only she hadn't freaked so much when all of this first happened. But she had no way of knowing that the man she was fighting was a...a god! She was just doing what she was trained to do. When in trouble, get out and get out fast. Oh how she wished she could do that now!

"That's all.....someone taught you. Fine, we'll come back to that one. Secondly, what is your name? Your real name. I know it's not 'Lila'." 'Shit!' Annie thought with a small pout. 'This deal thing isn't exactly what I had planned. I thought he wanted me to, like, help him with some scheme or something. Not tell my entire life story.' "My name is Lois Ann Triplett. Everyone calls me Annie though. Either that or LT." The girl then mumbled bringing her knees to her chest with a large sigh. After talking with Xena, she had told everyone that the blow to the head had scrabbled her brain a bit and that her real name was indeed Lila. (When was the last time you heard the name Annie in Greece?) But damn if Ares wasn't an observant guy. 'Great. I've been here a whole week and I've already screwed up one of Xena's plans. No wonder the bard and I get along so well.'

"Annie....interesting name. But we'll get to that later." Ares commented in a smooth voice, obviously enjoying making the girl squirm. "Now, where are you from? Yet again, it is quite obvious that you are NOT from around here. I've been to Sylosia and, uh, I don't think so..." Still staring at the silk pillow that was fast becoming a sheild, Annie tried to think of a way of the situation. 'Come on, Annie. You can do this. Lie or something. You're an actress remember. What's the worst that could happen?....Besides being instantly turned into a little pile of Annie ashes, that is.' "Eire. Annie is an Irish name...." Ok, so she wasn't really lying to the god of war. Her family really was from Ireland. Originally. And Annie was an Irish name. Yeah, she was leaving out a few key facts, that was all!

"Yeah, right. I don't even need to read your mind to realize you're lying." Ares stated harshly, an annoyed smirk playing on his lips. 'Read my mind? He can actually do that?!' "Yes, I can actually do that. Something else which proves my point. If you were from Greece, you would understand the full power of the gods. And you sure as tarterous wouldn't have decked the god of war. Unless you are somehow related to the warrior princess or something." At that, Annie's eyes rose to meet Ares' (who had a definate playful look on his face) "You know...You wouldn't believe me if I told you..." "Try me..." Annie sighed pulled the dark pillow closer to her chest. What was she doing? Don't tell anyone ANYTHING until I get back, ok? Especially Ares. Yeah, the girl could swear those were Xena's exact words....But for some reason she couldn't overcome this urge to just spill. To tell everything to the war god seated across from her.

'Maybe if I tell him, he can help me get back.' She thought hopefully, trying to give herself a valid reason for not listening to the warrior princess. 'Besides, everyone knows how Xena's relationship with Ares is. She probably just said that to spite him. Yeah!' "Alright. But no killing me or anything...You're in the habit of trying to do that and...." "Enough said. I won't try to kill you. Get on with it." "Ok. I'm from the United States of America. North Carolina to be exact. The year I left was 2001 AD. Probably about two odd millenia in the future from...." Annie was cut short as a deep throated laughter filled the air. "Hey! I'm telling the truth!" "No really..." "I'M SERIOUS!!" Ares wiped the corners of his eyes with a sigh and looked at the girl. She really was serious. (although if what she was saying was the truth could be debated for a while)

"The..future..." Was Ares' skeptical reply as he raised a sexy eyebrow at the young woman seated across from him. "See...I knew it! I knew you would think I was lying!" "Look....Annie. It's not that I think you're lying, it's just that I don't quite believe you yet. If you're really from the future then you should obviously know about the history of your time. And of the past. I do believe with a few questions, we should be able to figure this out." Annie sat staring at the war god for a moment, with only one thought running through her mind. 'Oh boy..."

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As the first rays of a new day barely streaked across the dusty, wooden floor of the servant's quarters, Gabrielle felt herself being softly shaken awake. Looking up through a groggy haze, the bard found Xena standing above her, instead of Annie as she had expected. "Oh...Xena...You're here already..." Gabrielle managed to get out while slowly rising in the bed and glancing around the room. "Did you already wake Lila?" She asked after seeing that her young friend wasn't to be found. "You mean you haven't see her either? Where is that girl?" Gabrielle gave an innocent shrug to Xena's questioning as she stood and began to stretch her body into semi-alertness. "She's probably off doing chores. She has enough to do, I'd get an early start too." With a sigh, Xena walked out of the room, a sleepy Gabrielle following.

After searching the castle grounds for about an hour, the duo stopped in the kitchen for regrouping and a bite to eat. (Gabrielle's input) "Ok, she's disappeared! And there aren't any pastries left!" Xena turned around to see her best friend searching hurriedly through the kitchen cabinets. "Gabrielle! Get out of there!" The bard spun around in shock and obediantly climbed down from the chair she was standing on. "Fine. Fine. It's not like they're going to miss one little pastry." "That's beside the point. Besides, I don't think raiding Ares' snack cabinet is such a good idea. Call it a hunch." With a small pout, Gabrielle returned the chair to it's previous position and stood paitently waiting for Xena to decide on something.

After a few seconds of doing such, the blond became impaitent and decided to speak. "So what do we do now? People don't just disappear, ya kn...." She was cut short as Xena abruptly turned and started walking away. "Hey! Wait! Where are you going?" "Mortals don't just disappear, Gabrielle." Xena called back over her shoulder while stalking down the hall away from the kitchen. Alone, the bard shrugged and shook her head. 'Whatever you say, Xe.' Was thought as Gabrielle grabbed her chair and began, one again, to search through the cabinets for sweets from the night before.

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Quickly and habitually making her way through the passage leading to Ares' chamber, Xena let her mind wander. Something was out of place. She couldn't quite put her finger on it but something was definately wrong. And that young girl was a big part of it. 'If only Ares hasn't gotten to her first....' The stone door seperating the passage from the bedchamber slid loudly open, causing the bed's occupant to stir under the blood red silk sheets. "Sleeping late, I see..." Xena muttered with a small, playful smirk on her lips. "We'll see about that...." Tip-toeing towards the large canopy bed, the warrior princess readied herself to thoroughly suprise the now vulnerable god of war. What she didn't ready herself for, however, was the sight she found.

Lying in a cocoon of covers was a slumbering young girl. Looking closer, she found it to be Annie, now clothed in a short black robe partally swisted around her lanky form from the night's activities. Xena saw red. Trying to control the confusion of feelings rushing through her mind, she took a small step backwards and collided right into the newly materilized Ares. "Xena? When did yo..." Without a moments hesitation, the warrior woman then spun around and landed a solid right hook to Ares' jaw. Drawn in by his slight stumble of reaction, she followed quickly with two more punches to the face and a final side snap kick to the midsection that sent Ares hurtling to the clean, black marble floor.

A pair of yellow-green eyes slowly opened and scanned the room for a cause to all the noise. Annie found said cause on all fours beside the bed, shaking his head. "Could you two kinda hold it down. I'm trying to sleep...." With that, the girl rolled back over and pulled the sheets over her head. Now pulled from her fight, Xena turned to the bed and yanked the sheets back. "Are you alright?!" The warrior princess frantically asked while searching Annie for any signs of foul play. "Huh?....What are you talking about?" Annie looked down at the floor where a confused god of war was slowly picking himself up. "Ares? What is she talking about?" Ares kept his distance from the warrior woman as he walked around the bed and sat on the other side. "For once, I have no idea...." "Oh. Well if it's ok, I'd like to go back to sleep now....This bed is really comfortable."

With a large smirk on his face, Ares playfully yanked the pillow from under the girl's head.. "Uh-uh. That wasn't part of our deal. We agreed on one night, no more. Now get out of my bed." Xena looked to Ares, confusion evident on her features. "Wait a minute. Deal? You mean she wanted to...." It was Annie's turn to get a look as Xena then turned to face her. "But why?! I thought that....I mean....Ok, Ares, you drugged her or something! I know it." "WHAT?!" "Don't try to play stupid. I haven't known Annie for that long but I know there is NO way that she would agree to sleep with you. Much less WANT to sleep with you!" Syncrinized 'What?!'s met Xena accusation as Ares and Annie looked at one another in shock.

"Like I said before, what are you talking about?! Do you think we...I mean you thought that me and him...that we..."

"You think we slept together?!"

"Yeah, what he said."

"Princess, no offense here Annie, but have you lost your fucking mind?!"

"No offense taken."

"She is a child! She is Anika's age for Rhea's sake!"

"Whoah Whoah Whoah.....Anika is real?! I thought I made her up!"

"Huh?"

"Nothing. I said nothing."

"Anyway....How could you possibly think such a thing?!

Never one to pass up a key opportunity for seduction, Ares made his way around the bed to where his princess stood. "Now, my dear. You can't blaim the child for innocent curiosity. I mean, how easy would it be for, well, just about anyone to stumble across that secret passage. Right?" A sexy, sly grin spread across the war god's face as he slid in behind Xena and removed all of the space between them. Xena felt her face turning red as Ares' body gently moved into hers. "Very funny!" She stated quickly, taking a purposeful step away from her former lover. Now suffeciently away from Ares, she then turned to the bed and motioned to Annie to get up. "Well, it's not cold anymore so come on. We need to talk."

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Xena stormed quickly down the castle hall, her long strides making it difficult for the young Annie to keep up. "Will you wait up?!" Annie finally pleaded as she grabbed Xena by the forearm. Her action was met with a venomous look that caused to mortal to release her grip. "Do you have any idea who you are playing with? Ares is dangerous, Annie!" "Well, duh, ofcourse I know that! I'm the chick who keeps getting decked by the guy remember!" Xena crossed her arms and sighed. "I need to you tell me what's going on. And exactly how much of it he knows."

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"And that's when you came in. If it wasn't for that flying side kick to the head, I would have been hydra food." Annie sat for a moment, leaning against the cool stone wall in the hall where they stopped. There she had told the warrior princess the entire story. From her arrival in Greece to the purse snatcher to well...Whatever it was that sent her to the past. "So" Xena started, her eyebrows furoughed in thought. "You are from the future. And in that time, the gods...they...they don't rule?" Annie nodded her head, wondering if her new friend believed her. "And.....I'm a....TV show?" At this question, Xena's eyes met Annie's and in those baby blues the girl found such a strange wonderment that she almost broke a smile.

"Yeah...That's how I know so much about you. And Ares. Well the show and Greek myth books....." At that she smirked. "Atleast I thought it was myth. Guess that's a big notta."

To Be Continued

...h.o.m.e...