Innocence of War
Parts 11 - 12
by Arianwen P.F. Everett
Disclaimer in Part 1.
Part 11
Xena eyed the fortress of Ares exterior with trepidation. The traps that surrounded and were inside the fortress were legendary. Supposedly only Zeus had the power to make it inside unscathed, without Ares turning off the security system.
She blinked, as the light before her hurt her eyes, and when she opened them again, she was inside the fortress, what she knew to me the center room, the dungeon, where Ares could conjure and contain any beast he wished to use in his service. She had been here once, and this was the kind of room you never forgot. In the center was the largest cage she'd ever scene, forged by Hephaestus himself, and inside, sat Ares, catatonic by the looks of him. This was not good.
She'd seen that look on warriors' faces often enough. It was the only way one could hold back the flood of bloodlust and vengeance, when all they wanted to do was fight, kill, rip out the hearts of their enemy. She'd seen it in the mirror enough, whenever Caesar was involved.
Xena ran her chakram over the bars of the cage, to get the War God's attention. He barely lifted his eyes. "I've heard of a man's home being his prison, but this..."
Suddenly Ares bolted to the cage bars like a gorilla rushing towards a rival. "You know the danger! How can you make jokes?" Ares spat out.
"How can you be so abstinent that you let your desire for bloodshed and revenge overcloud your judgment! You should have known Zeus would never have allowed you to kill everyone in Britannia! That's insanity! Most Britannians are not followers of Dahak! But they could be very useful in finding out who is and where we can find them! You go on a rampage, and your hatred and rage will only give Dahak what he wants! A mass sacrifice like you could only dream of!" Xena shouted back. Ares could really piss her off sometimes. And he had been such a good baby.
Ares smiled one of his most infuriating smiles at her, and a small laugh escaped his sealed lips. "I bow to your brilliance, but what do you suppose we do?" he responded, mockery in his voice.
"We go to Britannia. We fight Dahak, Gods and mortals. We destroy his followers, And only his followers, then Hope. Once they're gone, we go after the one true evil itself," Xena purred emotionlessly, though Ares saw beyond that facade.
He felt how her blood called to his, its need to destroy that which destroyed her son, her friends, and that insipid bard's innocence. It was a fabulous feeling, and Ares absorbed it greedily.
"Well?" she impatiently asked the God behind the bars. She could feel him nursing off her emotions, and she did not like how natural it felt. It was like coming home, the completion of a circle, bloodlust feeding bloodlust, power being shared.
"Alright, but Dahak’s mortal followers..."
"Are fair game. Just don't get in MY way," Xena said menacingly.
"Never," Ares whispered, taken in by the wild look in the Warrior Princess's eyes. It was going to be like old times again, this mission, and he couldn't wait to see her massacre Dahak’s people. He wanted out of his cage NOW!
Xena looked over her shoulder, and saw Zeus conversing with Athena. She cleared her throat. No response. "Oh Jailer," she called, again rattling her chakram against the bars. Ares covered his mouth to keep a laugh from escaping from him.
"Yes," Zeus said, his slightly wrinkled brow furrowing. For the other Gods on Olympus, just his scowl would have struck fear, but this mortal woman seemed unmoved, and his son seemed equally defiant now, as if drawing confidence from the Lovely Warrior. This was something that could not go unwatched, and The King of the Gods made a mental note to pay more attention to this Xena woman in the future.
"I swear by my Godhood that I will not destroy Britannia, only those directly connected with Dahak. I've come to my senses. Now, please let me out," Ares stated pedantically, like a child reciting rules he knew by heart, and paid little heed to.
However, the oath was enough to bind him, and Zeus knew his tone and attitude were just meant to agitate him. However he wasn't letting these two troublemakers run loose just yet. He had to keep control. "Very well, however, there is one stipulation to your release. Xena, Warrior
Princess, you seem to have helped my son to regain his control, however, if I am to release him, it will be into your custody, until this matter of this evil foreign god is resolved. If he looses himself, and massacres the people of Britannia, it will be on your soul, and I will have Hades
create a especially nasty place in Tartarus for you to suffer eternity. Do you accept my condition, both of you?" Zeus asked. Now he'd see how strong their solidarity was. Considering the stories he'd heard from the other Gods, he seriously doubted they could work together.
"I agree," Xena stated, nodding her head. She didn't stutter or hesitate, and that impressed and worried Zeus.
"Fine by me," Ares stated, just as firmly, but with a leering lilt in his eyes, directed at Xena.
Zeus shrugged and opened the cage, setting Ares free.
"So, Princess, how should we travel to Britannia? Should I just whisk us away, or..."
"First we find Gabrielle. Then we gather an army. Then we sail to Britannia, and end Dahak’s reign once and for all!" Xena said, a smile crossing her face, as the plan rewound itself in her head.
Part 12
Ares waved goodbye to his uncle Poseidon, as he sunk beneath the ocean waves and away from the drifting ship, which suddenly started to move again. Well, it would cost him a favor, but Dahak wouldn't be messing with the armada he and Xena had strung together. Ares could only hope and trust that Dahak wasn't strong enough to challenge his uncle in his own domain.
He looked across the deck at the sailors around him, and sneered with disgust. He needed to be amongst his own ilk, and headed towards the door leading to the hold, where the battle hungry warriors he'd enlisted to fight the one true evil were being housed. He needed to test steel to steel, he was in a foul mood, made fouler by the traveling arrangements he'd discovered had been made only once he had boarded the ship.
Xena had insisted she did not want to sail with him and that it would be better anyway if they each took charge of one group of warriors, so they would not terrorize the sailors in boredom and bloodlust. She'd always had a head for that kind of organization in an army, rare in most warlords, and it had always been a point in her favor. That was not the problem however. The problem was whom she WAS currently traveling with on one of the other twenty ships, run by some woman pirate named Nebula. His damn half-breed half-brother half-wit!
Ares knew he shouldn't care but he did. It shouldn't matter whom on Earth or in Tartarus, this mortal warrioress chose to bed down with, but it most definitely did right now, and right now Ares needed the one thing that could surpass Xena in his consciousness, blood.
He stormed down into the hold, only to find his warriors not sparing, preparing for battle, but pushing each other out of the way in order to get closer to one obscured figure in the center. A high pitched female laugh struck him from the center of the crowd, and Ares sighed. He didn't need this right now, although, then again, she could be just the person to release his anger upon. "Discord! What are you doing here?!"
"Waiting for you, but these men seem to know how to show a lady a better time," the young Goddess said, making eyes with one particularly handsome buck.
Ares growled in response.
"Alright, alright, Zeus sent me. Said he wanted to make sure you and the lady warrior kept your end of the bargain. If you go nuts, not only does Xena get Tartarus, but I get your Godhood. I like it. Discord, Goddess of Massacre. Has a nice ring to it, don't you think Ares?"
"What, a big hole where Britannia used to be wouldn't be noticed by the King of the Gods?" Xena asked, trying to avert Ares attention a bit. Discord was baiting an already tense Ares, and Xena didn't want to spend eternity in torment, should he explode.
"Xena, nice to see you again," Discord said ingenuously.
"I doubt it, now why are you here? I doubt you'd be Zeus's first choice of chaperone, being a chronic liar and all," Xena asked, just as stand-offish as the two Gods in her company.
"Actually, you're right. None of the other Gods were interested, and I volunteered, so here I am. You didn't think I was going to let you and Miss Warrior Princess take a romantic little cruise together, did you Ares?" Discord teased.
Ares looked like he wanted to pounce, as most of the soldiers in attendance fought back a laugh at that remark. "This is hardly a 'romantic cruise', we're off to fight a viscous war against a God that wants you and your entire family dead and the entire earth subjugated in terror," Xena explained, striking fear in the hearts of the jovial warriors.
"Same difference, at least in Ares book," Discord harped. This time, no one was laughing, and Discord realized she was looking bad here. "Anyway, I'm going to pop on ahead to Britannia. See if I can stir up desertion in the ranks of Dahak’s followers,"
"At least you can do something useful," Ares commented.
"Oh, I can do many useful things, including keeping an eye on you two. See you around!" Discord said, flashing away. The warriors groaned at the loss of the only eligible woman on board, and Ares and Xena left the hold in annoyance.
"Damn her!" Ares shouted, once he had stomped all the way to the bow of the ship, Xena right behind him.
"Calm down!" Xena ordered, grabbing Ares chin, and forcing his eyes to meet hers.
Ares clenched his fists at his side, and took a deep breath. "If it was anyone but you, Xena..." he growled, forcing her hand off his beard. Xena held his eyes, challenging him to forget who she was and cuff her. The two stayed that way, each holding their ground.
Suddenly Ares felt himself knocked off his feet, a force ramming into him from behind. He quickly caught himself as he hit the floor, twisting in one movement to grab his sword and face his attacker.
Continue on to Part 13
Return to Part 10
Return to XenaCrazed's General Fan Fiction and Poetry
Go to the Absolutely XenaCrazed Home Page