Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10
Title: Death is only the Beginning 1/10?
Author/pseudonym: Coniraya
Fandom: X:WP
Pairing: Joxer/Ares eventually, Cupid/Strife, Apollo/Hermes
Rating: NC17 eventually
Archive: yes to list archives anyone else just email me I'll say yes
E-mail address for feedback: Coniraya_S@hotmail.com
Series/Sequel: Let's just get done with this then we'll talk
Notes: First story in this fandom ever feedback is much appreciated
Hades awoke in the middle of the night not sure what it was
that had jerked him so quickly from sleep. He turned to where his
wife should have been sleeping only to see an empty spot on the bed.
Figuring she was getting another midnight snack he mentally called
out to Persephone. After receiving no response he got up and promptly
felt his knees buckle under him. He fell to the floor in agony and
tried to cry out only to find his powers paralyzed and his body
unwilling to move. He heard a crackle in the air just as he was
beginning to black out and looked up to see the person who appeared
smiling before him and had time for one last thought.
You
***
Ares woke up at the same time as the rest of Olympus to the
same scream that woke the rest of Olympus. The death cry of a God and
not just any god but one of the Twelve those who sat at the head in
council while Hestia tended the fire before them. Ares immediately
felt dread, the only thing that could kill any god was hinds blood
and to kill one of the Twelve a god had to imbue the blood with some
of his power. All this ran through Ares' mind within seconds of
waking up years as God of War had taught him how to assess a
situation better and quicker than anyone else on Olympus except maybe
Athena though he would never admit that tidbit out loud. So they had
a murder as well as a murderer on Olympus this was not going to be
pretty. Just as he was mentally running through his list of suspects
and possible victims he got a call from his father as did everyone
else on Olympus. With just a thought he was dressed and flashing to
the council chamber. He stalked up to his throne, a dark thing made
of Ebony that seemed to absorb light instead of reflecting it. The
only darker throne was the one of his uncle Hades which was made of
obsidian and had skulls made of silver for hand rests. The lower
seats in the chamber were already full and Ares watched the rest of
the Twelve arrive waiting to see which one wouldn't. Hestia arrived
first and sat at her stool in front of the thrones, though not
officially of the twelve since she gave up her seat for Hermes she
still had power enough to have issued the cry that woke them all up.
The next to arrive were Hermes and Apollo arm in arm the two of them
becoming exclusive lovers was something no one on Olympus could have
predicted. Though it wasn't the first time a father had slept with
one of his progeny to see the two self-proclaimed eternal bachelors
paired up was enough to convince you the world was ending. Hermes
moved off to his silver throne decorated with jewels he had stolen
and Apollo moved off to his Golden one with a back in the shape of a
rising sun. Hephaestus and Aphrodite also arrived together and kissed
lightly before moving to their separate thrones. Ares let out a
silent breath of relief, he still loved his sister even if she could
get on his nerves like no one else could. Plus she was the mother of
his children it would have devastated Cupid to lose his mom.
Athena arrived and she and Ares exchanged looks each saying
the same thing with they're eyes Why couldn't you have been the one.
Zeus and Hera arrived within moments of each other and simultaneously
moved to their thrones at the head of the room both made of white
marble and both the most imposing things in the room. The smell of
fresh fish heralded the arrival of Poseidon just as the smell of
flowers preceded the coming of the Demeter. As Ares looked around he
noticed that all the Gods in the room were looking decidedly nervous
the only two of the Twelve still missing were Artemis and Hades and
either death would cause huge repercussions on Olympus. Though not
many talked about it or even thought it too loudly there were
certain members of the Twelve that were considered disposable.
Demeter because Gaia could always take over those duties and Thetis
could take over for Poseidon they could even unchain the Titan Helios
to take over if Apollo had died but there was no one to take over for
Artemis or Hades any Titans who had shared duties with them had died
in the war and neither had any heirs as far as anyone knew. Which
meant a New God which always caused a time of upheaval as everyone
tried to feel the new god out. There was a flash and everyone looked
towards it, to see Artemis appear and go to sit next her brother,
then let out a collective gasp as they realized that Hades had been
the one whose scream had awoken them. There was a scream from the
midst of the lower court. Ares looked down to see Persephone sobbing
and surrounded by Muses who were trying to console her. He was
knocked out of his reverie by the sound of his fathers voice speaking
the traditional words of passing.
"We are here to mourn a passing. Hades the God of the Dead
and the Underworld is no longer with us but he shall always be
remember by everyone here today." Everybody bowed their heads and let
out keening wails. Wails that told all those who heard it what the
person was feeling at that moment. Mostly there was just fear but
there was a whiff of satisfaction though Ares couldn't trace it right
now he intended to follow it up as soon as he could. Persephone's
wail cut through everyone's mind and let them feel her pain. As the
wailing ended the informal part of the meeting began with so many
shouting to be heard that it became just a clamoring of words until
Zeus roared.
" QUIET!!!" Silence reigned in the Council of the Gods. "Our
first order of business is to find the murderer and to do that we
will need the body. Hermes, Apollo go fetch it now." The two gods
winked out quickly eager to find out who did it but also eager to
find a dark spot to kiss in. "Next order of business Hades power and
godhood must be given to someone each of the remaining Twelve will
give their nominations and then the whole Pantheon will decide. I
shall go first I nominate Hercules."
Ares wasn't surprised by that nomination he had expected it
just as he expected Hermes to nominate Autolycus it was natural for
every god to want the new god to be beholden to them in some way.
Apollo and Hermes arrived back and Ares saw the fear on their faces.
Hermes turned towards Zeus
"Grandfather we found the place of death and saw his power
signature but there was no body and the trail was hidden."
"That's okay we'll deal with that later along with the matter
of the murderer right now we need a God to take Hades place
nominations are open. Once a new god has been chosen he will be able
to contact Hades' spirit and we can find out what happened." For the
most part the nominations went the way Ares had assumed they would
except for one or two surprises like Aphrodite nomination of Iolaus
or Athena nominating his own daughter Xena. Although that did make a
weird sort of sense, the best for Athena would be to have a Goddess
of the Dead that wouldn't work with War. Since War and Death were
usually allies it would cause enough trouble for Ares that Athena
could probably make a play for his throne. As for the rest of them
they had all nominated either their own children or their high
priests or priestesses including Ares. Then the voting began,
"The voting shall go like this every god will use their power
to create a stone with a name on it the stones will be calculated and
that will be our new god." Zeus explained cheerfully almost sure that
he had finally gotten his favorite son a godhood. When all the votes
had been calculated he wasn't nearly as happy, neither was Ares when
it was announced that Iolaus had won. Aphrodite squealed and was
given the task of bringing the mortal before the council. As his
sister disappeared Ares settled back and summoned his favorite
scrying mirror to watch the fun when Aphrodite appeared on earth.
***
Joxer looked around the fire and the four people
traditionally called the Heroes of Greece and repressed a shudder of
revulsion at their pure stupidity. Although Iolaus was all right and
Xena had her moments Hercules and Gabrielle however were hopeless
stupidity combined with immense strength or being Queen of the
Amazons could only lead to trouble that's why he was down here
traveling with them to keep an eye on them. Otherwise he would be at
Meg's sampling the fine male and female specimens they had there. If
he didn't love his father so much he would have left long ago but he
had been given a task and he would do it `til his father called him
off. Suddenly he felt that tingle that told him a god was arriving
and he tensed in preparation.
Aphrodite appeared in a flash of sparkles and smiled widely
at them. Though Joxer noticed the smile and her eyes held sadness.
Hercules was the first to get up and greet his sister although greet
was maybe to strong a word.
"What now Aphrodite?"
"I'm not here for you bro I'm here for sweetcheeks." Joxer
heard Iolaus squeal at this pronouncement and leap up.
"Me. Why me?"
"There's been a death on Olympus" everyone started at that
bit of information "and Iolaus has been chosen to take his place."
"Me?!?! a God I think you got the wrong guy."
"Nope honey we took a vote and-" Xena interrupted the goddess.
"Which God died?" Joxer looked over at her and saw a twinge
of worry on her face. He knew that no matter how much she denied it
she cared for Ares, he was her father after all. This was one of
those moments when Joxer actually thought Xena might be worth all the
fuss made about her.
"Who cares as long as their dead one less god the better."
Also one of the moments Joxer thought the bard should have her mouth
sewn shut.
"Hades" At that Joxer felt his face drain of all color and he
looked around to make sure no one saw him leave the campfire and
gather his things. He would mourn for his father later now he had to
hurry and remember everything his father had told him to do in case
of this. Joxer staggered off the fog of grief held off by the mission
set before him. He knew as long as he had something to do he wouldn't
break down in sobs. His leaving went unnoticed by the heroes who were
all talking at once there was one however who noticed his departure
and way up in Olympus Ares wondered what the hell Joxer was doing
Title: Death is only the Beginning 2/10?
Author/pseudonym: Coniraya
Fandom: X:WP
Pairing: Joxer/Ares eventually Cupid/Strife Apollo/Hermes
Rating: NC17 eventually
Archive: yes to list archives anyone else just email me I'll say yes
E-mail address for feedback: Coniraya_S@hotmail.com
Series/Sequel: Let's just get done with this then we'll talk
Notes: First story in this fandom ever feedback is much appreciated
IMPORTANT NOTE: I have received an e-mail from author JaimeBlue
saying that she already had a story by this name in this fandom so I
have to rename this story. I was thinking about "Death Becomes Him"
but I don't know if I like that so if you have a better idea e-mail
me with it I'll much appreciate it thank you.
Ares stared at the image in his mirror, watching Joxer flee
through the night over hills and through the forests. The mortal had
long ago thrown off his armor and discarded his weapons he now wore
simple brown leather pants and a black cotton shirt, for protection
he had a dagger sheath on each forearm. Ares studiously ignored the
stirring in his groin at seeing Joxer in those clothes and studied
the humans movements it seemed as him he was moving faster than a
human should be able to. Ares thought about going out to check it out
or sending a tendril of his power to check. One look at his father
and mother squashed that thought, they were obviously impatient for
Aphrodite to return and for the investigation to begin. Ares was
about to look back at his mirror when a flash of light erupted in the
middle of the room. When it cleared not only were Aphrodite and
Iolaus standing there but the rest of the foursome as well. Ares saw
all of their eyes widen as they saw the sheer number of gods sitting
in the council room slowly they all relaxed as they realized that
even if they did fight there would be no way to win. Ares watched as
his father slowly rose and approached Iolaus who looked up with fear
filled eyes.
"Iolaus Are you prepared to accept this godhood?" Iolaus
shivered and then Ares could see him gather courage about himself.
"No sir I really don't wish for this honor." All the gods in
the room gasped as they saw Zeus' eyes light up. They knew that if
the chosen refused the honor the King of the Gods got to choose the
successor and they all knew who it would be. Ares sat up in his
throne quickly and he wasn't the only one. No one in the room wanted
Hercules to become a power on the council. Already he caught the eyes
of his mother and knew he had an ally, he may not get along that well
with his mother but she hated Hercules and Ares was Zeus' son too no
matter how much the old goat wanted to forget that fact. At that Ares
relaxed a little having the Goddess of Marriage and Queen of the Gods
on his side would be enough to balance out Zeus having Hercules on
the council. Even as all this ran through his mind he saw Zeus smile
and approach Hercules.
"Then as is my right as King of the Gods I choose Hercules to
become the next God of the Dead." He had barely reached the end of
that sentence before there was a voice yelling.
"No I refuse to become one of you." Zeus looked his son in
the eyes and slowly stopped smiling.
***
Joxer ran as quickly as he could knowing that he had to reach
the cave soon. He raced through the forest and over rocks
occasionally falling and cutting himself. He ignored his wounds
ignored the pain in his feet as he drew upon his more than human
endurance to push him faster. As his body moved faster and faster he
let his mind drift trusting the automatic memory of his body to find
the cave. His mind drifted off to his childhood to all the
punishments he had received from his mother's husband Jonus and how
on his fifth birthday Hades had appeared to Joxer and his brothers
and had revealed that he was their real father. He remembered running
through the Elysian field his brothers next to him and his father
laughing somewhere in the distance. Joxer remembered his father
explaining to them why they had to be kept a secret because others
would use them as bargaining chips to try and bring loved ones out of
Hades grip. He remembered his father coming to them and telling them
what to do in case of his death. He knew that even as he raced
through the woods his brothers had probably received word of their
fathers death and were on their way to the temple in the cave as
well. He did not worry about Jace, last he had heard Jace was
somewhere in Egypt getting to know Cleopatra. Jett however was in
Greece and Joxer had no idea how close he was to the cave or when he
had received word. His father had instructed them all to race to the
cave as fast as they could and Joxer was doing exactly that.
***
The silence in the council room was palpable as Zeus started
to lecture his son "Son do you know what will happen if there is no
God of the dead? It means that no one will die no matter how much
pain they are in, how heinous the wound. In a matter of days the dead
will start to escape from Tartarus and that means the Titans as well.
The world would be plunged into chaos and you wouldn't want that
would you?"
Hercules silently thought about this, he knew insisting his
father pick someone else wouldn't work because Zeus would let the
whole world go to shit so that Hercules could see his point. He
looked around and saw anxiety on many faces. Surprisingly the only
ones who looked relaxed were Ares and Hera. Hercules would have
thought they would be the most worried. This simple fact made him
worry that they had a plan for him he knew that Zeus had said the
gods weren't allowed to kill one another but that hadn't saved Hades
had it. He looked over at Iolaus and saw his lover shaking with fear,
fear that if Hercules refused he would be forced to take the godhood.
Hercules couldn't let his lover go through that. He stepped up to his
father and got ready to voice his decision.
***
Joxer reached the cave and ran down into the dark for what
felt like miles. He finally entered a cavern that had a golden temple
sitting in it's center. He was running quickly toward it when
something leapt out of the shadows at him. He ducked and rolled and
came up facing the thing with a dagger in each hand. As he looked
closely his eyes became more accustomed to the dark and he found
himself facing Cereberus the three headed dog. He slowly put away his
daggers and started to whistle a slow tune his father had taught him
as a way to subdue any creature of the underworld. There were other
ways but they inevitably took way too long this way Cereberus was
whining and laying down after only a few minutes. Joxer continued on
to the temple as the dogs three heads slowly fell asleep one after
the other. His father had warned them there would be traps but not
what they would be. Joxer pushed the door open and warily moved
inside. He felt a displacement of air and barely moved before a sword
came down where his head had been. Joxer had his daggers out again in
seconds and turned only to see his own face staring at him.
"Well brother looks like it's just you and me." With that
Jett lunged at Joxer and one of the most furious fights Joxer had
ever been in started. Jetts superior fighting style was offset by
Joxers quickness and it looked like the fight would go on forever.
Then when one of his daggers went wide he felt the sword slice deep
into his upper arm. That's when it occurred to him Jett wasn't trying
to incapacitate him Jett was trying to kill him. With that thought
Joxer realized what was going on. Jett and Joxer may not have seen
eye to eye on a lot of things but they would never try to kill one
another this was another of the tests. Joxer looked directly into his
own face and said.
"You are not my brother." With that the fake Jett disappeared
in a puff of smoke. Joxer clutched his arm and walked to the inner
sanctum. There on three different pedestals were three different
helmets. They were identical but only one was his fathers and that
was the one he needed to pick. He looked them all over and then
immediately walked to the one on the right because on it he could
still smell the scent of his father, a mix off shadows and dirt a
scent he would remember `til the day he died. He slowly picked up the
helmet and placed it on his head and screamed out in the greatest
pain he had ever known coursed through his body.
***
" I will accept the position of God of the Dead." There were
gasps around the hall the loudest one coming from his lover. A smile
broke out on his fathers face and Zeus reached forward to clasp his
hands. Hercules felt a tingle go up his arm and then his father
closed eyes and almost immediately they snapped back open and Zeus
jerked his hand free.
"What's this? Hades godhood has already been claimed!!!!"
Zeus turned towards the council "Who dares?" His eyes seemed to spend
an equal amount of time between Ares and Hera who were looking as
perplexed as the rest of the pantheon. Just then there was a cloud of
black smoke and a smell of brimstone. A figure wearing black armor
appeared in the center of the room right in front Hestia and said in
a very deep ominous voice.
"I DARE"
Title: Death is only the Beginning 3/10?
Author/pseudonym: Coniraya
Fandom: X:WP
Pairing: Joxer/Ares eventually, Cupid/Strife Apollo/Hermes
Rating: NC17 eventually
Archive: yes to list archives anyone else just email me I'll say yes
E-mail address for feedback: Coniraya_S@hotmail.com
Series/Sequel: Let's just get done with this then we'll talk
Notes: First story in this fandom ever feedback is much appreciated
Part 3
Everyone in the hall started as the figure appeared. Ares
could practically see all the gods in the room begin to draw on their
power bases ready to defend if attacked. The heroes had drawn
together and were in battle stance though Ares could see Iolaus was
standing as far from Hercules as possible. This person was an unknown
factor and if he really had claimed Hades' godhood he held a lot of
power in his hands. Zeus walked right up to the figure and without
any preamble or warning drew his hand forward and let lightening
streak from each finger towards the person in the armor. The figure
quickly threw his own hand forward and there was an explosion as the
lightening hit and invisible shield that was even now warping the air
in front of the figure. As Zeus drew his hand back to release an even
larger burst of lightening the figure spoke.
"DO NOT TRY MY MIGHT KING OF THE GODS. I HAVE COME TO BE
ACCEPTED ON THE THRONE OF MY PREDECESSOR. I AM THE NEW GOD OF THE
DEAD AND I SHALL BE RECOGNIZED." The voice had the deep baritone that
always occurred whenever Hades had worn his helmet, Ares had often
wondered if his Uncle did the voice just for effect but it seemed to
be a side affect of the helm. Zeus slowly lowered his arm and
approached the figure Ares could actually see him trying to calm his
anger.
"By what right do you claim the mantle of Hades?" Ares was
aware of his father gathering power about himself so he could gauge
the truth of the persons next statement.
"BY MY BIRTHRIGHT." At that statement gasps echoed across the
hall. Many people were looking pointedly at Persephone to see if she
was the mother or if she knew of this child in anyway. The only
problem was Persephone looked as shocked as the rest of them. Hades
had never been like his brother Zeus spreading demi-god and -goddess
bastards all over Greece. In fact as far as anyone knew Hades hadn't
had any children at all. As Zeus tested the veracity of this
statement Ares could see the fight drain out of his father. The right
of birthright was a sacred one and no one could violate it not even
the King of the Gods.
"Agreed. All Hail the New God of the Dead and the
Underworld, Head of the House of Death, Ruler of Tartarus, Asphodel,
and the Elysian Fields. All Hail." After Zeus said it the whole of
the pantheon repeated it in perfect unison. The they all watch in
amazement as the person sat on his designated throne and the throne
began to change. The material of the throne changed from obsidian to
a shiny white marble flecked with black and gray equally and the
silver skull-shaped handrests turned a deep black. The with a whoosh
of air two large black dogs appeared chained to either side of the
throne. The overall look was quite disturbing and Ares made the
decision that this was not a god to be messed with. Zeus gingerly
moved up to his throne, one of the dogs growling when he got too
close to the new gods throne. He tried to catch his sons eyes but
Hercules was busy trying to get Iolaus to talk to him. Finally he
turned to the new god.
"Are you going to reveal your name?"
The figure gestured to the four mortals in the center of the
room and they disappeared in a puff of smoke. "THE MORTALS DID NOT
NEED TO BE HERE FOR THIS. I HAVE RETURNED THEM TO THEIR CAMPSITE."
Then the god reached up and removed his helm causing Ares, Aphrodite,
Cupid, Eris and Strife to drop their jaws in shock. The other gods
simply looked at the five and wondered what was so special about this
mortal. There sitting on the throne of the God of the Dead wrapped in
power sat Joxer. Ares remembered that Joxer had been dedicated to him
and send out a tendril of power. All gods had the power to bodily
take over their followers whenever they wished although they rarely
exercised this power. His power tendril reached for Joxers mind, if
he could control the God of the Dead he would become more powerful
than his father, the tendril hit a shield that felt like a wall made
completely of ice. Ares shivered as he pulled his power back into
himself and looked up to see Joxer smiling at him. This however
wasn't the goofy smile Joxer usually displayed, this was a predator
smile that made another shiver go down Ares' spine and caused the
shiver to set up house in his groin. Joxer turned his eyes from Ares
and back to the assembled gods.
"I am Joxer son of the god Hades and the mortal Lavina now
God of the Dead and I want to know who killed my father." The glower
he showered on the assembled caused many gods to cower before him.
Without the helm his voice had returned to normal but a thread of
power still wove through his words. Aphrodite was the first to find
her voice.
"Joxie you can't be Hades son... I mean you never showed any
powers and you were always so ....Um...well..." Aphrodite hesitated
because Joxer or not he was the new God of the Dead and that was not
someone you insulted. Luckily Joxer finished the sentence for her.
"Clumsy. Inept. Yes well that was all a ruse for Hercules,
Iolaus, Gabrielle and Xena. Father was worried that Hercules would
get Iolaus killed again and Hades couldn't return him to the state of
living again without raising suspicion. Unfortunately Hercules would
always lose me on purpose when I hung out with them so I figured
tagging along with Xena and Gabrielle was the next best thing. They
run into each other often enough and all those times I wasn't with
Xena I was following Hercules at a distance to make sure Iolaus was
okay. As for powers I can move faster that any mortal in the world,
my brother Jett has superior strength and Jace has a superior mind.
As for our other powers we have to be together for those to work and
we're not often in the same place all three of us, at least not now."
Ares was about to ask why Iolaus was so important when Aphrodite
spoke very loudly again. To Ares it looked as if something Joxer had
said disturbed her.
"What other powers?"
"I have the power to raise a corpse into a semblance of
living. I can't return the soul so it is basically a zombie. Jett can
control the dead that I raise and Jace can but them back to rest. As
you can see one without the others is quite useless." Ares sat with
his mouth open, the mortal he had so often ignored as insignificant
could theoretically raise an army of zombies. Ares promised himself
not to underestimate Joxer anymore this mortal turned god obviously
was more that anyone had counted on. Ares finally got a chance to ask
a question without his sister interrupting.
"Why did Hades want Iolaus protected?"
"Because Iolaus is the son of his favorite niece." Aphrodite
let out a squeak and everyone looked over at her in shock. It wasn't
unknown that Aphrodite favored Iolaus and now everyone knew why. Ares
looked over at Hephaestus and saw no shock on his face so he must
have known about it. Then the thought struck the God of War, this was
why Aphrodite had nominated Iolaus as Hades' replacement she wanted
her son to become a god. The murmurs in the council had risen to a
fever pitch as the speculation on who the father was grew. Everyone
knew that Hephaestus was sterile as a result of his fall from
Olympus. Just as Ares was about to ask the question to Aphrodite's
face, instead of letting everyone talk behind her back, Joxer sat up
in his chair. Ares looked over and saw Joxer's eyes fill with black
fire and both dogs had raised their faces to look at their god as
Joxer's voice took on the full power of his office without the help
of the helmet.
"NOW BACK TO MY ORIGINAL QUESTION. WHO KILLED MY FATHER?"
Title: Death is only the Beginning 4/10?
Author/pseudonym: Coniraya
Fandom: X:WP
Pairing: Joxer/Ares eventually, Cupid/Strife Apollo/Hermes
Rating: NC17 eventually
Archive: yes to list archives anyone else just email me I'll say yes
E-mail address for feedback: Coniraya_S@hotmail.com
Series/Sequel: Let's just get done with this then we'll talk
Notes: First story in this fandom ever feedback is much appreciated
Extra Notes: I have decided not to change the name of the story as
JaimeBlue says she doesn't care if I keep it and I'm rather fond of
the name. Also I'm a stream of consciousness writer for the most part
so I never know what's going to happen until I write it then I see if
it works and then I rewrite everything to fix anything I missed. Well
I was writing in my Philosophy class and I wrote a scene that I was
not excepting so now I think Jett and Jace might become supporting
characters in this story when they were only gonna be minor before oh
well.
Part 4
Joxer sat on his throne waiting for a response to his
question all the while concealing that his head was throbbing. The
helmet had caused an immense amount of pain when he had put it on
because aside from changing him into a god it had also dumped
knowledge on his new powers directly into his brains. That was how he
knew how to teleport and change his throne and all of that. His
father had planned for everything...and thinking of his father was
not the way for Joxer to keep up his tough guy facade. He remembered
the part he was playing, the Big Bad God of the Dead. He knew enough
of the power plays in the council through his father to know he
couldn't act weak in front of these people. They would chew him up
and spit him out. Joxer could have ridden on his fathers coattails
but the memory of Hades would only hold them off so long. So he
decided to show them that he was just as strong as his father and
could be ruthless when it was needed. At the continuing silence he
realized that the others had no idea who had killed his father so he
took a deep breath and turned to Zeus.
"Zeus." Suddenly all the whispering in the hall quieted and
all eyes were on him. "I wish to call on the Law of Retribution and
take on the godhead of Nemesis until this is over." There were
shocked gasps across the hall, ever since Nemesis had given up her
godhood anyone who wished retribution went through this but to call
it against a god meant that Zeus had to lift his law against
murdering gods. Everyone also knew that Zeus couldn't refuse the
request of a son going after his father's murderer.
"Agreed." A glow settled over Joxers shoulders as the amnesty
was lifted from him alone then among nervous whispers he disappeared
in a puff of smoke. The council dissolved into shouts of fear and
smoke as gods disappeared at alarming rates. They all had to plan on
how to turn this to their advantage.
*******
Joxer was back in the temple where he had received his
godhood. This time however he wasn't alone, his brothers sat on the
floor crying in each others arms. No matter what they thought of each
other at times they all had loved their father very deeply. He sat
with them and they all held each other as they cried their grief out
into the night. After the tears had been cried out they turned to the
same thing they had used to comfort each other as teenagers, sex.
Clothes was quickly divested as kisses were exchanged and Joxer used
his power to create a bed. The fact that they hadn't spoken in two
years meant nothing this came from a bond so deep nothing could break
it.
Later sexually satiated and all cried out he was still unable
to sleep as his brothers drifted off into Morpheus realm. He decided
to start his investigation into his fathers death and with a thought
was dressed and standing in his new palace in Asphodel. He walked to
the main hall and saw Pershephone sitting on her throne. Her eyes
were red and she still had tear tracks on her face.
"Did he cheat on me?" For a moment Joxer considered lying to
her to gauge her reaction. No matter what she looked like she was
still a suspect in his fathers death. Unfortunately Joxer was soft
and he finally decided to tell the truth and spare her some more pain.
"No' We were conceived before your marriage." She simply
stared at him for a little while deciding whether she believed him or
not. Finally she just nodded and closed her eyes as if she were in
pain. "You have the right to invoke the Heir's Law if you so choose."
Joxer stared a little he knew of the heirs law of course it stated
that if part of a mated pair died then the heir of the dead partner
could claim the other partner in marriage for one year, as long as he
or she was not the child of the surviving mate. It was seldom done
anymore because forcing a god or goddess to marry you was not a safe
thing to do. Joxer looked at Pershephone with renewed suspicion. If
she was as grief-stricken as she appeared to be, why would she offer
herself to him.
"No Thank you. You may return to Olympus and live their
forever the underworld gives up its claim on you." Pershephone's eyes
opened and she looked at him blankly for a moment before
disappearing. No sooner had she left than another female appeared at
the doorway of the throne room. She was obviously one of the gods
under Hades dominion she had the pallor that always accompanied the
underworld gods. She was dressed only in a shift of midnight black
and her fiery red hair that reached the floor was so curly that it
would probably be five times as long if straightened. She glided
towards him slowly feet barely seeming to touch the floor. Joxer
finally recognized her for who she was, Hecate Goddess of Witches and
Crossroads. He had only ever seen her in her other form which was not
pretty at all and to Joxer's understanding that was her preferred
form so why was she appearing to him like this.
"All Hail Joxer, New God of the Underworld."
"Hello Hecate what is it you wanted?" Joxer knew enough about
Hecate to know that she always had a plan in the works to gain her
more power, more followers or both and to trust her was sheer folly.
"Nothing My Lord only to service you in any capacity you
need." Now, Joxer knew what her game was, she looked to seduce him.
Her emphasis on service left no doubt to what she had in mind. Joxer
knew he should have expected this. Without a spouse or a lover he was
fair game and any number of minor gods would try to update their
status by clinging to one newly of the Twelve. They would assume that
he knew nothing of the politics in the godly world being formerly
mortal. Joxer looked at her hard, this was another suspect for his
fathers murder if rumor on earth was correct. She was to have been
wed to Hades before he set his sights on Pershephone thanks to Cupids
arrow. Apparently the title of Queen of the Underworld still appealed
to her.
"As a matter of fact you can help me." Hecate smiled and
began to press herself against him before he put a hand on her chest
and held her off of him. "You can show me where they think the murder
took place." Hecate's face flushed red but whether with anger or
embarrassment Joxer couldn't tell. She turned away from him and
impatiently gestured for him to follow her. After following her
through many corridors he ended up in one he knew and realized where
they were going. As Joxer walked into the bedroom smell of his father
hit him hard, as well as another smell he couldn't identify at first.
Then as he looked around the room it hit him it smelled of the earth
in here. Joxer assumed it was Pershephone as an earth goddess it
wouldn't be unusual. The fact that the murder had occurred in the
bedroom narrowed down the field of suspects considerably. There were
wards surrounding the bedroom and you had to be keyed in to enter it.
As Hecate left him he realized he would need help on this, just the
investigation he could probably handle but that plus the intrigues of
Olympus were too much for him alone. He transported his brothers
directly onto the bed and they continued to sleep. As he watched
their faces smoothed out in sleep he resolved to heal all the rifts
between them but before that he needed to make sure his brothers
would survive the investigation. They would be investigating gods and
as long as his brothers remained mortal they also remained
vulnerable. Though you needed Zeus permission to make an independent
god, to make a godhood that was under your jurisdiction you needed no
ones permission but your own. He looked at the two soon-to-be-gods
and tried to decide what they would be suited for. As his brother
Jett let out a snore it all came to him. Jace so happy and carefree
even after all these years and Jett so dark and angry ever since he
was a child. Just as he was about to shake them awake he remembered.
He needed another's permission for this however it was not his
jurisdiction alone. With a thought he found himself in Morpheus'
realm.
"Morpheus I need a favor."
******
After striking a deal with Morpheus Joxer returned to his
fathers bedroom just when his brothers were waking up. He
materialized two plates of ambrosia and gave them to his brothers. In
an act of complete trust they just looked at him for a second and
then cleaned their plates quickly. Joxer watched the little changes
affecting his brothers as they became gods both became paler and
their eyes seemed to darken as the ambrosia took effect. Jace's hair
seemed to get lighter streaks of Brown in it and Jetts seemed to get
darker in places. Joxer stood them up and placed a had over each of
their hearts.
"I proclaim you Jace God of Dreams from the Dead and you Jett
God of Nightmares from the dead. From now on it is your job to help
convey messages between the dead and the living. Morpheus has given
up his claim on both of you so you shall serve me alone." His
brothers looked at each other and then answered in perfect unison.
"We shall serve you alone." Then they sat down and talked to
heal all the rifts between them. After hours their relationship was
still not what it once was but it was close. They were so wrapped up
in talking that they didn't notice the two pristine white feathers
laying on the floor next to the bed.
Title: Death is only the Beginning 5/10?
Author/pseudonym: Coniraya
Fandom: X:WP
Pairing: Joxer/Ares eventually, Cupid/Strife Apollo/Hermes
Rating: NC17 eventually
Archive: yes to list archives anyone else just email me I'll say yes
E-mail address for feedback: Coniraya_S@hotmail.com
Series/Sequel: Let's just get done with this then we'll talk
Notes: First story in this fandom ever feedback is much appreciated
Extra Notes: I don't write sex scenes that much so I was having a lot
of trouble with this one because I couldn't use names. Anyway I hope
you enjoy the scene all you people who asked for a little smut I'll
try to have some more in the next few chapters and make them longer
scenes too. I have decided not to change the name of the story as
JaimeBlue says she doesn't care if I keep it and I'm rather fond of
the name.
Part 5
Ares still sat on his throne after every other god in the
hall had left. He was still shocked that Zeus had granted the godhead
of Nemesis to Joxer. By his own laws the old goat couldn't refuse but
to grant it against other gods meant any weapon Joxer now took up
while channeling the godhead would be deadly to any being immortal,
god or even titan. Joxer was now the Judge Jury and Executioner of
the gods until such time as he found Hades killer. Ares' emotion
moved passed shock and fear quite quickly since he knew he had
nothing to do with his uncle's death.
Ares started contemplating the Joxer he had just seen, not
the meek little thing he had thought him to be. A tough warrior with
an attitude to match his own and a body that was built for fighting
or fucking. Ares squirmed around on his throne glad no one was around
as he felt his pants grow tighter. After a few minutes Ares decided
to contact Joxer and offer his assistance in the investigation. The
offer would serve him on two ways first of all he could prove he had
nothing to do with it and second he could get closer to Joxer. A
warrior with that kind of attitude didn't come along that often and
they were usually great lovers like Xena. So he could help find who
had killed his uncle and either get into Joxer's pants or get rid of
the constant erection he had in the God's presence.
He quickly summoned his scrying mirror and tuned it over to
Joxer's image and what he was doing right now. What he saw caused his
hand to rub the growing bulge in his pants. He saw three identical
images of Joxer all writhing together on one large bed. They were
moaning and grabbing each other and kissing whatever piece of skin
happened to be closest to their mouth. One of them positioned himself
up against the headboard as the other two trailed their lips and
tongues along his erection slowly sharing a kiss around the head.
Finally one sucked the erection completely in while the other one
moved up and sucked on his tongue. Slowly the one on the bottom
released the erection and began to lick the balls of the first one.
Ares slowly took his penis out of his pants and began to stroke the
engorged organ as the one on the bottom prepared the first one to be
penetrated. As he slowly entered the man the one who was kissing the
first one moved his hand down and started fondling the first ones
erection. As the first one began to orgasm the one who was fucking
him leant over and stole his mouth from the other one. Ares ran his
thumb over the head of his penis as he rubbed the shaft faster and
faster. As the other two came in synch with each other Ares howled
out his relief in the council room. When he had enough strength to
open his eyes he found his hand and mirror covered in his steaming
release.
Ares quickly cleaned himself up and turned his attention back
to the mirror, his hopes for a repeat performance were dashed as he
watched all that Joxer was doing, his meetings with Pershephone and
Hecate plus his turning Jett and Jace into gods. That caused Ares
some amusement, that particular loophole in the law had always been a
thorn in the old mans side luckily not many people thought about it
or used it. For the most part because it was like birth, you gave the
child a portion of your divinity and though it didn't diminish you at
all you still had a connection with your child for all time. Most
didn't want that level of intimacy even with their lovers.
********
As Joxer awoke he felt a disturbance in his palace and sensed
the presence of another god in his meeting room. He rose from the bed
careful not to wake his brothers and felt something crunch beneath
his foot. Joxer examined the two broken feathers as he dressed
himself. Finally he just stuck them in the drawstring bag tied around
his waist. He looked down at himself barefoot with black silk pants
and a red sleeveless cotton top he figured it was professional enough
in his own home. He summoned his helmet to him and put it on just
long enough for it to teach him the layout of the palace. He padded
quickly down the hall towards the door to his meeting room. As he
opened it he looked directly into the eyes of the God of War dressed
all in black leather of course.
"Ares this is a pleasant surprise." He wasn't lying Joxer had
always had a secret crush on the dark god going as far as worshipping
him while in the guise of the stumbling idiot he had to play. If he
had worshipped Athena or Aphrodite he wouldn't have gotten in as many
fights with Xena and Gabrielle as he had, but it was the only way he
could show his affection so he stuck to his guns and continued to pay
homage to the God of War. "Did you have a question? Because if it's
not that important , there are a lot of things I have to do." Joxer
pulled out one of the chairs situated around the round table in the
room. He was happy he was sitting when the net words came out of Ares
mouth.
"I want to help you find Hades killer."
Joxer started a little at that information and then thought
about it. It wasn't that he didn't trust Ares in fact Ares was one of
the two people he was sure hadn't done it. Ares and Aphrodite had
been his fathers favorites among his many nieces and nephews and
Joxer knew the bond ran both ways neither would even contemplate
harming him. The thing that gave him pause was working so close with
the attractive god. He had managed to hide his attraction a long time
even from his father but with Ares around all the time it would be
harder. Finally he gestured for Ares to sit.
"Agreed. I found these right by where father was killed."
Joxer pulled out the two broken feathers and laid them on the table.
Ares picked up one of the pieces and concentrated on it for a second
a red glow surrounded it and disappeared quickly as Ares placed it
back on the table.
"Anyone of us could grow wings if we wanted to or create a
few wings to plant for that matter but they would have a different
feel around them. These came from a living thing someone or something
born with wings that's all I can tell."
"Cupid?" Joxer waited to see how Ares would respond to the
suggestion. He needed someone who wouldn't be so emotionally attached
to someone that they might ignore evidence.
"Not Necessarily, many gods are born with wings they just
choose to keep them hidden because they don't see a use for them,
Cupid is the exception and Bliss hasn't learned how to do it yet.
Some are born with white wings some golden or black or any color you
can imagine a few even have wings that are like bats. As for white
feathered wings a lot of the gods and goddesses associated with love
have them even Aphrodite. All of the Muses have white wings as does
Nike goddess of Victory and Hypnos God of Sleep. As for just wings in
general there's Hermes, Apollo, and Artemis even some underworld gods
like Hecate and Thanatos and it wouldn't be a big deal to turn a
black or gold or green feather white. Or the murderer could have just
gotten the feather when Cupid or Bliss was molting last time or just
from an ordinary bird."
"So we're back to square one."
"No, because whoever put these there was hoping you would
think Cupid was involved just like you did."
"What makes you think he wasn't involved? It took my father a
long time to release Strife back into the living. Even in Greece we
heard of Cupid's anger."
"Yes, but Hades did eventually release Strife and he didn't
have to. Cupid knows that no matter how many petitions or threats
Hades received he was under no obligation to release Strife." Joxer
decided to reserve judgment until he talked to the love god losing
your lover could be a devastating thing.
"How about Psyche? She must not have been happy to have to
share Cupid and she could easily get one of his feathers."
"Very few gods on Olympus only have one lover at a time. I
myself have six lovers scattered throughout Olympus and the mortal
world. Psyche understands that, but perhaps we should talk to them
anyway if only to see who Cupid may have angered." As they prepared
to flash away to the shared temple of Strife/Cupid/Psyche Joxer kept
himself from saying two things. First that Psyche had started out
human and humans didn't share well and second he refrained from
asking if Ares wanted a seventh lover.
Part 6
When the two arrived at Cupid's temple Joxer had barely gotten
over the disorientation when he was summarily splattered with mud.
The saw the culprit zip by on white wings followed quickly by a
harried looking woman. Joxer and Ares sat down, cleaned themselves
off and waited for the two to notice them all the while enjoying the
show of godling versus goddess, because by this time Joxer had
realized he was looking at Cupid's wife Psyche. She had finally
gotten the little boy calmed down and mostly cleaned off when he
finally noticed Ares.
"G'pa" Bliss launched himself from Psyche's arms and
fluttered straight across to Ares. Psyche looked up in surprise and
Joxer was sure he saw a flash of fear on her face before she composed
herself. Joxer was suspicious until he realized who wouldn't be a
little afraid to see the God of War appear in the room. Joxer watched
the goddess while Ares explained the situation to her, he didn't know
that much about the Goddess of the mind except that she had only
about three temples throughout the entire land under the Greek Gods
sphere of influence. Hades had always described the goddess as a
weakling and looking at her now Joxer couldn't help but agree with
the assessment she looked harried and tired and hadn't even thought
of using her powers to stop her son. As far as Joxer could tell she
still thought of herself as a mortal even after over five years as a
goddess and his father had always said that godly powers were a
muscle if not exercised they atrophied and you had to work twice as
hard to bring them into shape. She probably only had three temples
because that was all she could handle at her current power level.
When Joxer drew himself from his examination of the goddess he
noticed Cupid and Strife were now in the room as well. Bliss had
settled into Strife's arms comfortably and from the looks Psyche was
shooting in their direction she didn't like this one bit. Joxer
decided to add her name to the list of suspects no matter what Ares
said, if she was angry at Strife being back she could have taken it
out on his father. When Joxer tuned back into what Ares was saying he
agreed with the plan Ares was outlining.
"…so I was thinking Joxer could act as if the planting worked
and he believes Cupid to be the murderer. He announces this at a
forum of the gods that Cupid will be mysteriously absent from and
we'll see peoples reactions. Not the best plan but the only thing we
have right now, it would also necessitate Cupid hiding out so Joxer
could act like he was hunting him down."
Joxer sent a tendril of thought out to his brothers and
finding them awake mentally filled them in on all he thought of the
murder including his suspect list which now included Pershephone,
Hecate, Cupid, Psyche and a few other gods he knew had issues with
his father. Then realizing they didn't have to benefit of his helmet
taught them how to transport so they could join in the planning
session. They appeared in a flash of light that startled the other
gods. They both walked over to where Joxer was sitting and positioned
themselves on either side of him.
"How about Cupid goes off now and I'll call a meeting right
now to introduce Jace and Jett to the pantheon. In the same meeting
I'll state my suspicions, and Strife and Psyche have to protest so it
looks real." As everyone nodded Joxer grasped his brothers' hands and
flashed them to the central hall of Olympus. Unlike the council room
the central hall only had two thrones for the King and Queen if
Olympus. Joxer looked down at himself and changed his clothing to a
black silk shirt and black leather pants with silver knee high boots
and silver braces on each of his forearms. His brothers studied him
for a little while then changed their clothing to imitate him except
Jace chose silver and white and Jett had black and red. Joxer studied
his brothers with satisfaction noting that they had done it
perfectly. His brothers were fast learners and Joxer was glad, they
all needed to be strong to get through this. Joxer walked up to the
bell in the middle of the room and touched it. At the touch of his
hand the sound of a bell tolling resounded throughout Olympus. Gods
started to appear immediately and take their seats many watching the
three identical brothers with trepidation. Something was going on and
no one knew what it was or more importantly how Zeus would react. In
less than a minute most of the Gods of Olympus had appeared and after
five minutes Zeus brought the meeting to order.
"Who calls this forum?"
"I, Joxer of the Dead and the Underworld, do." All eyes were
on him now and he took a deep breath before he continued. "I have
called this meeting to introduce two new gods---" Joxer only got that
far before he was interrupted by Zeus shout.
"WHAT?! Creating a new god without my permis... the
permission of a majority of the twelve is expressly forbidden. In
doing this you have ---" Joxer returned Zeus favor and interrupted
him before his tirade could begin.
"Not if the godhood falls under my jurisdiction and it does."
Joxer waited for everyone to calm down and took the time to look
around the room. Looking at Hera he saw her wink at him smiling
apparently anyone who put the old man in his place was an ally of
hers. When he noticed the room was quiet again he turned around and
pulled his brothers forward until they stood on either side of
him. "Allow me to introduce my brothers Jace and Jett gods of dreams
sent by the dead and nightmares sent by the dead respectively."
There were gasps as many in room re-evaluated their opinions of Joxer
because in less than 48 hours he had put one over on Zeus and created
his own power block. A small power block to be sure with only members
in the House of the Dead but after this no one doubted that he would
increase it in no time.
"I also wish to state my first suspicions on the death of my
father." In the ensuing uproar Joxer looked around the room and saw
that almost every face in the room looked at him with worry and
anxiousness. They all looked interested as well especially Hera;
Joxer remembered that she was to have married his father before Zeus
claimed her. He felt a pang of sympathy for the goddess. Just as he
was about yell for quiet and name Cupid as his suspect he saw
something out of the corner of his eye that caught his attention. He
slowly turned around and saw Psyche talking to two people in the
corner of the room. As he noticed that one of those people was Hecate
those two jumped to the top of his list. He realized Zeus was saying
something, trying to bring order to the room but he ignored him in
favor of trying to see who the third person was unfortunately he/she
was wearing a hooded cloak and was facing away from him. He
immediately ran through any reason the two goddesses would have to
talk to each other and couldn't come up with one unless Psyche was
warning her of the plan. He quickly looked directly over at Ares and
caught his eyes. When he had Ares attention he skirted his eyes over
to the corner where Psyche was. He saw Ares frown as he saw what was
going on in the corner. By this time the room was under control and
all were looking at him. He quickly changed the plan.
"Actually I've decided to keep my suspicions to myself right
now." He promptly grabbed his brothers and flashed back to his palace
in Asphodel. He was just explaining what had happened to his brothers
when Ares appeared.
"Well?" Joxer knew Ares would understand what he was talking
about.
"Psyche definitely told her. When you flashed out Hecate
looked surprised that you didn't finger somebody. Also I couldn't get
a good look at the other god they were talking too."
"Shit"
"Why would she do this?" Ares looked a little angry and
unsure which Joxer could understand, his daughter-in-law might be
responsible for his favorite uncle's death that could make anyone a
little irritable. Joxer just shrugged his shoulders in response.
"I believe when we figure out who the third person is
everything else will probably fall into place" Jett and Jace who had
been silent up until now, looked at each other and Jett stepped
forward.
"So will we have to fight them all." Joxer looked up at his
brothers and notice Jett was fidgeting looking anxious for a fight
while Jace looked nervous about anything that might happen.
"I hope not because if it were just Psyche it wouldn't be
that bad because she doesn't have that many followers and the ones
that she does have are not physically powerful. They do have certain
powers that Psyche gives them but we could take them down no problem.
Hecate's followers are a little scarier she has some but the exact
number isn't known because they keep their secrets and they're very
strong witches. Hecate's priestesses and priests are powerful witches
they're probably responsible for Hades soul not arriving here."
Everyone just stared at him in shock. "Come on if my father were here
don't you think I'd just ask him who killed him. The others in the
pantheon probably just think I'm not strong enough or skilled enough
to locate an individual soul but whoever took my father's body used
it to imprison his soul. That takes a lot of powerful and dark
magicks so either way it points to Hecate because even a god would
need her permission to do it. Everyone had the same response for that.
"SHIT."
"We're going to need warriors and right now the mortals may
know Hades is dead but they don't know who replaced him and I want to
keep it that way. I don't have the time to enforce my rule right now
so I can't use dad's priests. Also I know what you are gonna say Ares
but I don't trust your priests to be loyal. You know who we need?"
"No."
"I know I would rather just have Xena and Iolaus but neither
will fight without their partner." Jett looked angry, he still hadn't
forgiven Xena for his jail stint; Jace looked excited, he still had a
crush on Iolaus and Joxer knew he had the same look on his face as
Ares, resignation.
Title: Death is only the Beginning 7a/10?
Author/pseudonym: Coniraya
Fandom: X:WP
Pairing: Joxer/Ares eventually, Cupid/Strife Apollo/Hermes
Rating: NC17
Archive: yes to list archives anyone else just email me I'll say yes
E-mail address for feedback: Coniraya_feedback@hotmail.com
Series/Sequel: Let's just get done with this then we'll talk
Notes: First story in this fandom ever feedback is much appreciated
Extra Notes: I wanted more in thi8s chapter but I wanted to put out
something soon so let's called this the first half of chapter seven.
Responding to Feedback:
Avid Reader - You probably do know who it is. I'm not that good at
the whole murder mystery thing.
ShadowMage7 - Thank you so much for the feedback I am glad that
someone is enjoying this story.
Scorpio - God I don't know what to say. Getting praise from you is
amazing considering you are one of my favorite authors in this and
the Buffy fandom, so thank you so much.
Part 7a
The three brothers and Ares all looked at each other
nervously; they knew that their meeting with the freakish four was
not going to be a happy reunion. Joxer summoned his helmet and put it
on just so the four wouldn't waste his time by denying that he was
the new God of the Dead. He also made sure he was wearing his two
daggers on his wrists and two short swords on his back. In case this
turned ugly he wanted protection. Ares began to get ready stripping
down with a snap of his fingers and starting to redress himself one
piece of clothing at a time. Joxer tore his eyes away from the
spectacle so that he could speak to his brothers.
"YOU TWO WILL STAY HERE UNTIL I SUMMON YOU. WE DON"T NEED TO
GIVE THEM TOO MANY SURPRISES AT ONCE." Jett and Jace both nodded at
him and turned to sit and wait until he called. Joxer turned to Ares
and saw that Ares had finished dressing and was staring at him. Joxer
felt the heat start to pool in his cheeks and other places right
away. Instead of acknowledging anything he spoke quickly to disperse
the tension between himself and the War God.
"DO YOU KNOW WHERE THEY ARE RIGHT NOW?" Joxer saw Ares close his eyes
and concentrate.
"Yeah they're still right where you sent them around the fire
waiting for someone to come inform them."
"LET"S GO THEN." Both gods disappeared in a shower of black
and red sparkles. As they left Joxer noticed his brothers share a
smiling glance. He really hoped they wouldn't try to `help his love
life along' like they had growing up but as he remembered the smile
he realized the chances were slim to none.
Hercules was still trying to get Iolaus to talk to him almost
two days after their trip to Olympus. Iolaus felt betrayed by
Hercules acceptance of the godhood.
"Iolaus I only accepted because I knew you didn't want to."
"Yes, I did not want to become a god but do you know why, did
you ever bother to even think of it. I mean what human would turn
down unlimited power and a seat on the council? I only refused so
that I wouldn't be separated from you but you obviously didn't have
the same issues as me." Hercules sighed in frustration the argument
just went around and around neither making the point they wanted to.
He turned away from his partner to see Xena and Gabrielle studiously
ignoring them as they prepared the fish Xena had caught earlier that
day. All of them were on their feet in an instant when two figures
suddenly appeared in the middle of the campsite. All the anger and
frustration he had been feeling over the last couple days came
blazing to the forefront and Hercules started to charge not wanting
to even hear what the gods had to say. Suddenly he was in black
manacles chained to a tree.
"STOP ACTING BEFORE YOU THINK SON OF ZEUS THAT IS YOUR
GREATEST FAILING." Iolaus made a small sound of agreement as Hercules
slumped in the chains recognizing the work of Hephaestus. The
remaining three simply faced the two gods and waited.
Joxer looked over at Ares and realized the proud god could
never be made to ask these people for help so he would have to do it.
"WE COME FOR YOUR HELP, THE MURDERERS OF MY FATHER ARE STILL
AT LARGE AND WE NEED YOUR HELP IN TRACKING THEM DOWN." Xena was the
first to react to the statement.
"We don't work with people who hide their face. Take off your
helmet and explain and we might be willing." Joxer looked at the
three facing him; he knew the biggest problem would be Gabrielle.
Keeping one eye on the bard he reached up and pulled the helmet off.
Sure enough the Amazon rushed him all along yelling something
about "pretending to be a God" and "scaring them half to death". She
next found herself in the same situation as Hercules chained to one
of the trees and silent with shock. Xena always a quick one took
stock of the situation right away and walked over to pull Joxer into
a hug.
"We were worried about you."
"I doubt that but thank you for trying." Joxer looked over at
his two prisoners; they still looked pissed but less likely to rush
him so he released both of them. "We shall sit and I will explain."
When they were all seated Joxer began to explain the situation in
broad terms leaving some things out such as his brothers and why he
had been following Iolaus. When he had filled them in on how his
father's soul was missing and the powers it would take to do
something like that to a God. They automatically realized the trouble
that could spell for mortals and so they agreed to help almost
immediately.
"What do you need us to do?" Hercules asked still curt with
the visitors though they didn't seem to care in the least. Even Ares
didn't know this part of the plan Joxer had formulated it while he
had been explaining the situation to the foursome. Since Ares hadn't
said even one word since they had arrived in the mortal realm Joxer
assumed that he didn't have a plan as such. He seemed to be thinking
about something very hard instead of concentrating on the matter on
hand. Joxer decided to speak with him when they got back to Olympus.
"Our prime suspects right now are Psyche, Hecate and an
unknown third party. Before you interrupt Hercules trust me we have
reason to suspect Psyche, she has changed since her godhood was
granted. She is not the naďve and vapid girl she once was Olympian
politics change everyone they come in contact with Now what we need
is Hercules to approach the main temple of Psyche and see if there is
any buzz about their goddess. We need you to go because your demi-god
status will shield you from the priests' and priestesses' mind
tricks. You need to pretend to be a humble petitioner to the goddess
so she won't be suspicious, do not reveal your true name to anyone.
We will change your face so that no one will recognize you that way.
Gabrielle will do the same at the main temple of Hecate, it will be
easier for her because they prefer women worshippers and any amazons
they can turn from Artemis is considered a victory. After visiting --"
"Wait won't you need to change my appearance as well."
"Not necessary your face is not as well known as Hercules' and
therefore most likely no one will even notice you or know who you are
unless you reveal your name." Joxer noticed Gabrielle fume a little
at that and contained his smile at that." As I was saying, after
visiting the temple stay around town and snoop a little. In two days
time send up a prayer to me and I'll pick you guys up. Do not reveal
your name to anyone. Xena and Iolaus will accompany Ares and me to
Olympus and try to root out the third culprit." Xena raised her
eyebrows at that.
"Won't that raise suspicion in and of itself, most people know of my
issues with Ares"
"It is also known all over Olympus that he wishes to bring
you back into his fold Ares will just say he is attempting to repair
the rift with his daughter. People will think he is lying and that
this is just another one of his schemes. Iolaus will be claimed as my
guest and no one will question it because they will think I simply
want mortals around because I am used to them." Both Xena and Iolaus
nodded at that satisfied that Joxer had thought the plan out.
Gabrielle however looked constipated which Joxer took to mean she was
thinking.
"How are Hercules and I going to get to the temples they're
both miles in opposite directions."
"My brothers will take you." There were exclamations at that
Jett's reputation was well known and to travel miles with such a
person was not a trip anyone relished. Joxer turned his mind to his
brothers and summoned them. "I made them gods when I ascended to my
father's place on the council." Ignoring the four gasps he turned to
his brothers. "
Jett take Hercules to a mile out of Thebes and change his face so he
is not recognizable." Seeing his brothers' joy at that statement
Joxer amended it. "Change his face with your powers. Jace take
Gabrielle to the shore of Crete" He turned back to the foursome all
of who were watching him with slack-jawed surprise. "They cannot get
to close to the temple or they will be sensed; when you finished
transporting them meet me in father's temple on Olympus not back in
Asphodel." His brothers quickly grabbed their charges and then were
gone in a flash of light. Joxer turned to Ares, gestured and they
grabbed their mortals and disappeared back the temple.
Hercules felt a shudder in his stomach as the ride through
space finally ended, he barely kept his breakfast inside as he fell
to his knees. Hercules looked up at Jett of Corinth and took in the
smug look on his face and decided not to comment. Instead he simply
looked at the man and raised an eyebrow. Jett simply smiled in reply
and roughly helped the Hercules to his feet.
"Sorry about that."
"Well, are you going to change my appearance?"
"Already did." And then he was gone. Hercules shrugged his
shoulders and headed in the direction of the city of Thebes. It was
in Jetts' interest that he succeed in this mission so he decided to
believe the man had done something to his face even if he hadn't felt
anything. He hadn't been walking long when three men on horseback
bore down on him from the direction of the city.
"You traveler have you seen a tall broad man with blond/brown
hair on this road he answers to the name of Hercules." Hercules
schooled his expression so he wouldn't show any surprise and answered
in what he hoped was a subservient tone. Obviously Jett had done
something to him or else he would be fighting right now instead of
talking.
"No sirs not run into anyone but me. May I ask what you
wanted this man for sir?" Jett had also done something to his voice
instead of the strong tenor he usually had his voice came out a shaky
and simpering alto.
"None of your concern peasant, just forget we ever talked to
you." And then they were gone but not before he saw the symbol of
three eyes on their robes. Psyche's symbol. Psyche knew he was coming
that definitely was not a good thing; she had probably warned the
people in her temple so he would have to be more careful than usual.
As he approached the city and started to pass people on the road he
noticed unusual looks sent his way and young children staring. He
finally understood why when he passed a small pool of water and saw
what Jett had done to him. His hair had been darkened to black and
turned into coarse thatch on the top of his head. His nose had
increased in size and had red veins all over it, one eye was its
regular blue but the other one had the milky white look of blindness,
his mouth was tight and lipless and he had scars running down the
ridge of the blind eye and one on his cheek. All in all he was a mess
but at least he wouldn't be recognized. He quickly headed toward the
temple district of town.
Psyche's temple was not hard to spot it was the most run down in the
square and had almost no people entering or leaving. He ignored all
the other people on the street and headed straight for it, as he
passed the symbol of three eyes on the wall and entered the temple he
noticed a sudden silence as if he were entering a completely new
world. It was as if the world of preaching and screaming outside the
door were suddenly gone. He slowly entered the main room of the
temple and saw a man of maybe twenty years tending the hearth.
Hercules slowly walked in making sure to make enough noise that the
man turned to him.
"Greetings goodsir, here to pay homage to our glorious goddess?"
Hercules knew the best way to get people talking was to put them on
the defensive so that's what he had to do.
"My wife asked me to come down and pray for her on my way home but
personally I don't see the point of this why not pray to Athena or
Hera?" He saw the priests face get red and knew he was on the right
track. "At least they perform miracles so you know they exist what
was the last thing that Psyche did that got renown except for
marrying Cupids of course."
"Our goddess is very powerful she just chooses to work in the shadows
not revealing her true powers until she can use them to their
fullest. She is as cunning as she is beautiful."
"Really. I heard that she shares her husband with the God of
Mischief."
"That is an unfortunately true fact but that will change soon. She
will not be sharing lovers for long."
"Really?" Now Hercules was getting to the things he needed to know if
Psyche had a plan for Strife the pantheon needed to know. He may not
like most of the gods but they didn't deserve to be hunted down like
dogs.
"Yes, you may have heard that Hades has been killed recently."
"Rumors have been spreading to that effect."
"Not just rumors he is gone and the God of Mischief will be the next
and then…."
"LATRAV you reveal secrets to the uninitiated." Both Hercules and the
young priest turned to the doorway and saw an older woman standing
there. From her dress Hercules could easily tell that she was a high
priestess and from the look on her face very angry.
"Sorry, my priestess."
"As punishment you are assigned to volunteer at the temple of Pan,
you will help clean up after the animals." The priest face twisted at
the pronouncement but he simply nodded and left. Hercules prepared to
leave too but then he felt something flutter across his mind. It was
like have moths skirt across his brain trying to find a way in, he
realized that these were the powers that he had been wanted about,
the ones Joxer said Psyche granted her followers with. He turned back
to the priestess and noticed a look of consternation on her face, he
was careful to keep his expression neutral since he figured mortals
wouldn't be able to feel this invasion or else Psyche's followers
wouldn't be practicing in the open. He turned and saw that she had
seated herself in on of the wooden chairs haphazardly placed around
the room.
"Sorry if I have caused trouble in your temple priestess I shall
leave now."
"Hold sir. I would like to ask you a few questions if that is
alright?" Hercules recognized the tone of voice as more demand that
request and knew that no matter how small the temple was there were
bund to be temple guards. If he fought he would be recognized no
matter the disguise if they knew his fighting style better not to
chance it. He slowly approached the priestess and sat when she
gestured to a chair near her.
"So sir what brings you to our humble temple?"
"As I told your priest I was stopping because my wife asked me too."
"Really and to what god do you belong?"
"I am a worshipper of Deimos." Just as Hercules had wished the
mention of the god of pain had the priestess shrinking back from him.
Worshippers of Deimos usually enjoyed inflicting pain on others and
on themselves which would explain the scars on his face quite nicely.
He smiled at her slowly and let a malicious lilt slip into his
voice. "Any other questions for me priestess?" She shrank from him
and began to walk towards the door keeping her eyes on him the whole
time.
"Only one. Are you a priest of his?" Hercules finally understood this
line of questioning she was trying to understand why her powers
wouldn't work on him. It would make sense if he were the favorite of
another god there would probably be protections around him.
"No." The priestess just looked at him closely for a second and then
left the temple without another word. Hercules looked around the
temple he had a day and a half left before he had to call Joxer so
there was time. He slowly snuck to the back door the priestess had
gone through, he opened it quietly and peered around seeing no one he
entered the hallway and looked around. Many of the wooden doors had
names carved on them Hercules assumed those were the priests rooms
and left them be but then he came to a room labeled Meetings. He
entered and looked around, there was a black sheet draped over what
proved to be and oak table and candles burning all over the room. He
was just about to leave when he noticed something silver glinting in
corner of the room. As he reached over he realized it was a necklace
with a weird symbol on the end since it was just lying in the corner
of a room he figured no one would miss it pocketing the clue Hercules
quickly left the temple and went to explore the rest of the town.
Title: Death is only the Beginning 7b/10?
Author/pseudonym: Coniraya
Fandom: X:WP
Pairing: Joxer/Ares, Cupid/Strife Apollo/Hermes/?/?
Rating: NC17
Archive: yes to list archives anyone else just email me I'll say yes
E-mail address for feedback: Coniraya_feedback@hotmail.com
Series/Sequel: Let's just get done with this then we'll talk
Notes: First story in this fandom ever feedback is much appreciated
Really really bad pic of the necklace Hercules found in the last
chapter.
http://www.angelfire.com/indie/coniraya/index/necklace.htm
Part 7b
Gabrielle awoke spitting sand out of her mouth, when she had
finally coughed it all up she noticed a pair of boots by her head.
She was tempted to ram her staff into Jace's smiling face but decided
not too seeing as she didn't want to end up chained to a tree again.
So she simply brushed herself off as she stood up and turned to him
expectantly.
"The city is about two miles inland."
"Hercules only had to walk a mile." Gabrielle knew she was
pouting but didn't really care at this point; she was dizzy, still
had the taste of sand in her mouth and now she had to walk twice as
far as Hercules.
"Hecate is a mid-level god not lowly like Psyche she doesn't
just have a temple the whole city is under her protection and
worships her. Good Luck." Just like that he was gone and Gabrielle
started her trek towards the city after she was finally off the god-
forsaken sand, which slowed her down so much, she entered some rocky
forested area. Gabrielle found a path that looked more like a game
trail that a proper path but it was all she had at the moment. After
so much walking over rocks and getting hit in the face with branches
she finally came in sight of the walled city. It didn't look like all
the other walls she had seen around cities like Thebes and Helio
those walls were much more perfunctory, citizens not worrying that
invaders would get that far into their territory. Crete was wrapped
up tight as if they were prepared for attack at any moment the walls
reaching at least 35 feet high and at regular intervals along the
wall was Hecates symbol of a pentagram. Gabrielle cautiously
approached the gate which was eerily quiet and looked to be unguarded.
"What is your purpose here Amazon?" Gabrielle started at the
voice that seemed to come from nowhere and everywhere at the same
time. Just as she was about to answer she spotted two women standing
in the shadow of the wall. They carried no discernable weapons but
Gabrielle knew the aura that surrounded people of Hecates and these
two women had it in spades.
"I wish to become a devotee of Hecate." The women finally
stepped into the light and Gabrielle could see that neither was
extraordinary in anyway and yet Gabrielle could feel the power
emanating from these women and it raised goose pimples on her flesh.
"Really it has been long since one of Artemis' came to the
island of Hecate. At least ten years but we welcome any who would
leave the lying goddess and be welcomed into the warmth of our lady."
With that the ladies stepped aside and allowed her into the city.
Just before she was out of earshot however the guard who had been
silent yelled out: "Choose your facet well girl so we do not meet in
combat." Gabrielle felt a stab of foreboding ride her spine but just
kept on walking. The first thing she noticed of the city was the
disproportionate amount of women in the city there seemed to be five
for every man that she saw in the streets. The second thing was that
everyone in the city was shooting her hostile looks like they would
like to take a piece out of her hide. The third and final thing she
noticed was that there were no signs anywhere in the city nothing to
point her in the direction of the temple Gabrielle wandered around
the city for about an hour before she realized that she needed
information if she was ever to find Hecates temple. She wandered
into the next tavern she saw and sidled up to the bar. The male
barkeep walked over to her slowly taking her measure.
"What'll it be Amazon?" the way he said it made it seem a
slur and from the way he was looking at her, he meant it that way.
"Ale and information." Gabrielle dropped two gold pieces on
the table and watched them disappear up the barkeeps sleeve. Soon she
had her ale and the barkeep got another man to cover for him while he
talked to her.
"What kind of information?"
"What started the feud between Hecate and Artemis?" The man
leaned back in his chair and thought about it for a second.
"No one is really that sure some say that it was over this
city, some say that Hades was to marry Hecate but fancied he was in
love with the virgin goddess. All the people in this town know is
that one day Hecate appeared before us and declared we were not to
consort with the goddess or her precious warriors. The Goddess of
Crossroads always treated us real good so we saw no need to disagree
with her feud. So the people of the city have taken it to heart
which is why you will not be welcome anywhere."
"Where are the temples in this city?" The man looked her as
if she had lost her mind.
"There are no temples in this city; the temples are
underneath in caverns. The whole of the city is just one big altar on
top of the temple."
"How do I become a devotee of the goddess?"
"Which facet?"
"What do you mean facet?" The man looked at her like she had
lost her mind. "You really came here knowing nothing didn't you?
Hecate is the goddess of crossroads as well as witchcraft so as such
there are several different facets to following her. Black robes are
those who train their body above all else, using magic only to
enhance their weapons and bodies. White robes are the ones who
concentrate only on the magic not caring that much about their
ability to physically repel an attacker. The gray robes are a mix of
the two. Of course within each robe there are different divisions but
they explain that to you when you've passed their tests and been
sworn to secrecy. If you want to find your way into the temples find
someone wearing the robe you want to join and tell them what you
want. Now if you'll excuse me I've got to get back behind the bar."
After the man left Gabrielle was contemplating which of the robes to
join. She needed to be trusted enough to learn something, chances
were that wouldn't happen in two days but she might end up somewhere
where she could spy. That's when fate answered for her in the form of
a gray robe walking over to her table.
"I hear you wish to be initiated into the secrets sister. Is
this true?" Gabrielle looked up at the woman and nodded her
head. "Then come with me." Gabrielle rose and followed the woman all
the way back to the gate she had entered from. As they passed the
same guards she had passed on entering she heard a whisper.
"Wrong choice little one." Gabrielle looked back but both
guards were still and silent. Out of nervousness Gabrielle attempted
to start conversations with the woman as they waked deeper into the
scruffy forest. The woman ignored all of her attempts except for an
occasional grunt. Finally they were standing before a black hole in
the ground with stair leading down, the woman stood aside to let
Gabrielle in first. As she entered and walked down the steps, she
realized there was no light anywhere up ahead. Just as she turned to
ask her guide what was going on she felt a strong blow to the head
and a voice saying. "Good Night Amazon." She knew she should have
demanded a disguise.
Xena and Iolaus recovered from the dizziness quickly and
looked around the room they had appeared in. It was musty as if it
hadn't been used in years, just as Xena was about to voice this
comment Joxer beat her to it.
"Sorry, Dad didn't use this temple that often. He preferred
the palace in Asphodel." Just then Jett and Jace arrived within
seconds of each other. They all sat down and talked about their game
plan. Joxer started the discussion.
"We need a way for Xena and Iolaus to figure out who the
third person behind the murders is." Ares looked at Joxer for a
second and then got a glint in his eyes. He knew a way to get rid of
everyone and give himself and Joxer a few minutes alone.
"Xena and Jett can go to the muses, they're always interested
in stories especially ones of war and they'll trade so ask them all
you can about Hades without making it too obvious that we're looking
for his killer. Iolaus and Jace can go to Apollos' temple, the sun
sees all things that happen when he is in the sky and if he doesn't
know anything, Hermes is quite possibly the biggest gossip on all of
Olympus." The two brothers looked at Joxer and seeing his nod took
their charges by the arm and led them from the room without a word.
Joxer nervously looked across at the wet dream in leather sitting
across from him. He rose quickly and started pacing back and forth.
"What do you think their next move is going to be? I'm sure
they didn't intend for this to be the end of it." Joxer watch Ares
slowly rise from his position on the couch and creep over to him.
Suddenly he was being escorted to a chair, as he sat down he felt
strong fingers rubbing into his shoulders. Knowing that Ares was
touching him only made him tenser.
"I'm sure there's more to it but we have no way to know so we
need to relax until we get any information."
"How can I relax, for all I know they're coming after yo...
er one of my brothers next." Ares caught the slip but let it go for
now. He continued to massage the shoulders in front of him.
Joxer felt the hands go from a massaging him to just rubbing
soothingly over his back. He knew something was happening but decided
to just go with the flow for once especially since the flow was going
in the direction he wanted it to.
"You can't think about things like that." Suddenly Ares had
knelt down and was at Joxers eye level. "Live for the moment." Then
all Joxer could feel was heat, the fire of Ares mouth was devouring
him. The tongue took him not asking permission just forcing its way
in and Joxer let it, enjoyed it. He wrapped his arms around Ares'
neck and buried his hands in the dark mane of hair at his fingertips.
When Ares rose to his feet so did Joxer reluctant to release those
lips for even a second. He was a God now wasn't he; he didn't need to
breath did he? Joxer decided the question was moot as he'd gladly die
of suffocation for this. He wrapped his legs around Ares waist and
let himself be transported to Ares bedroom. He finally broke away
from Ares' and flopped onto the bed. He stripped his clothes off and
looked up into Ares' eyes. He saw all his lust and want returned but
Ares' wasn't coming towards the bed. It took Joxer a minute to
realize what was going on, he wanted Joxer to ask, to beg for him but
Joxer'd be damned if he'd do that. So he settled for another plan he
slowly slid both hands down his chest until they reached his groin.
Then one hand began to play with his balls rubbing them while the
other pulled on his penis slowly masturbating himself while looking
directly in Ares' eyes.
"How long have you wanted me Ares?"
"…too long..."
"Really I've wanted you a long time too…so long…wanted to
feel you enter me to take control…. To fuck me raw and ride me long
into the night…is that what you wanted." Joxer slowly brought two
fingers to his mouth and started to suck on them long and hard. He
saw Ares snap his fingers and then Ares was naked and his penis was
drooling. Joxer moaned and started to suck harder; Ares took a step
closer to the bed and then visibly restrained himself. Joxer knew he
had to take it farther, he took the fingers out of his mouth and
brought them to his opening and slowly started to fuck himself on his
fingers. Then he began to whimper and moan.
"Ares do you want this to be you? Don't you want to take me…
claim me… make me yours." Before Joxer could utter another word Ares
was on him taking his mouth and ripping his hand from his opening.
The next thing he knew Ares oiled penis was opening him up spreading
him wide. Joxer wondered when Ares had oiled himself and then he
didn't care because Ares was deep in him and that was all that
mattered. He let Ares pound into him for minute after minute until
time lost all meaning. Finally he pushed Ares over and rode him
slowly until Ares started to beg.
"Please Joxer please faster I need this I need you now
please." Then Joxer slammed himself all the way down and clench his
muscles around Ares cock. Ares let out a roar and came and just the
feeling of the liquid heat inside of him made Joxer come as well. He
collapsed onto Ares and let Ares roll him over onto the side and
clean them up with a wave of his hand. As Joxer felt himself drift
off to sleep he asked the question he had been holding back.
"Want me as your seventh lover?" He heard Ares chuckle and
listened hard to the response.
"After that, I am not going to let you go. You can be my
lover numbers seven through ten." Joxer smiled and snuggled himself
closer to the warmth that was his new lover.
Ares gathered the sleeping God close and brushed the sweat
soaked hair out of his eyes. He had never met anyone who could take
him on and make him beg instead of the other way around. Oh yeah he
was never going to let this one go no matter what he had to do to
keep him.
Title: Death is only the Beginning 8/11?
Author/pseudonym: Coniraya
Fandom: X: WP
Pairing: Joxer/Ares, Cupid/Strife, Apollo/Hermes/?/?
Rating: NC17
Archive: yes to list archives anyone else just email me I'll say yes
E-mail address for feedback: Coniraya_feedback@hotmail.com
Series/Sequel: Let's just get done with this then we'll talk
Notes: First story in this fandom ever feedback is much appreciated
Part 8
Xena looked at Jett as he led her out into the thoroughfare
that ran through the middle of Olympus. There were temples lined up
on either side and as she looked at the names they all belonged to
gods from the House of Death. They kept walking until they came upon
a center circle with five roads leading off of it. They were labeled
Death, Love, War, Intellect and Nature, Xena turned to Jett.
"Which way?"
"How the hell should I know?"
"Well you're the god here I'm a mere mortal."
"First of all you're a demi-goddess and I've been a god for
like two days" Xena looked at him for a second and then turned to
Iolaus and Jace heading down the Intellect thoroughfare.
"Your brother seems to know where he's going."
"Yeah, well Jace has always paid more attention to things
than me."
"Okay well let's just use our common sense. The Muses
wouldn't be in Death or War that's a definite. Love either I would
imagine so either Nature or Intellect. I think Intellect would be the
most likely one if we don't see them for a while then we'll head back
and re-think it." Xena turned to see Jett looking at her curiously.
"Whatever you say."
So they started down the road and looked at both sides to see
if they could spot the muses temple. That action was unnecessary
because the temple of the muses was hard to miss. Unlike many of the
other temple which were done in the Greek style and rarely roman or
Egyptian the muses seemed to go for an English style of building. The
temple appeared to be made of huge blocks of stones and had nine
graceful towers soaring above it, each one with a different name in
gold embossed on the tower. They walked up the path slowly and
knocked on the massive door. When the door was wrenched open the two
leather clad warriors were greeted by the sight of nine faces
giggling and smiling.
"Hello", the word issued from all the throats at once and
sounded like music instead of speaking voices. "How can we help you
two today? Its not often we get visits from representatives of Death
and War." Shooting a look at Jett she saw him imperceptibly nod and
allow her to take the lead.
"We came to exchange stories." At this the gasps and laughter
grew in volume and Xena didn't get the chance to say anything else
because she and Jett were grabbed in multiple hands and dragged
through the castle all the while being chattered at in the that weird
musical one and all voice. They were led to a large room that had
rolled up parchments on thousands of shelves. The next thing Xena
knew she was recounting the story of her first encounter with
Gabrielle while one of the Muses copied down every word and Jett was
doing the same at another table. When she had finally stopped telling
of the battle on top of the pillars the five muses that were around
her stopped listening and smiled at her.
"Okay the trade is a story for a story. What did you wish to
hear about for this fine story?"
"I wish to hear about the triangle of Hecate, Hades and
Persephone." The five looked at her for a second and then spoke.
"Usually we would refuse this request from a mortal. You
however are the child of Ares and as such are afforded more
privileges." One of the muses ran off and grabbed a scroll of one of
the shelves. She walked back over to the table unrolled the scroll
and began to read.
"The troubles between Hades and Hecate started long before
Persephone entered the picture. This was an a marriage of power not
love, Hecate wanted the power of being Queen of the Underworld and
Hades wanted access to higher magicks that only Hecate could grant.
They were arranged to be married in a year but about five months in
Hecate started to suspect that Hades was in love with the Goddess
Artemis. Hades staunchly denied the claims as did Artemis but Hecate
refused to believe and she began to take it out on Artemis'
followers. No one could prove it was her but Amazons and others began
to have freak accidents such as being struck by lightening. Artemis
retaliated and it would have broken into all out war if Zeus hadn't
interfered. Then just a few weeks before the wedding Hades caught
sight Persephone fell in love and then married her. Hades as leader
of the House of Death forbade Hecate to take revenge on either one of
them. From then on however there has been a lot of tension between
Hecate, Hades and Persephone."
Xena contemplated this and then began to tell the story of
how Gabrielle became Queen of the Amazons. At the next table Xena
heard the muses over there telling Jett about Hecates' powers and
such. Xena realized that Jett was quite the tactician but if he was
preparing for a fight then she had to find out all she could about
who the third god might be.
Iolaus looked up at the temple in awe. It looked as if all
of the walls and pillars had been sheathed in gold yet there was no
glare only a beautiful sheen. As they went up the front steps Jace
looked over at him and smiled. Iolaus caught himself smiling back and
wondered at the attraction he felt for the young god. He had always
thought that Joxer was quite attractive and this man had the looks
and a quality that made it seem as if he could be a partner and
friend. Iolaus quickly turned his mind from that train of thought; he
was still with Hercules wasn't he, technically at least. There was no
answer to the knock so Jace tried the door and pushed it open. Iolaus
followed him into the temple and peered around, the inside was much
like the outside but with the addition of portraits of Apollo hung at
intervals along the walls. They heard sounds as they approach the
central room and walked inside to find Apollo and Hermes fucking on
top of a golden throne. Apollo stopped when he saw them and met their
eyes.
"Dudes either join in or wait out in the hall." Jace and
Iolaus rushed out and sat in the hallway panting, after a while
Iolaus looked over to see Jace giving him a glazed look and then
noticed his head was getting larger. It wasn't until their lips met
that Iolaus realized that the head wasn't getting larger only nearer.
He let the kiss go on for quite a while then pushed away.
"I can't I'm still with Hercules and no matter what he's done
to me lately I can't cheat on him."
"I understand but think about it." Iolaus had no doubt that
this would be all he could think about for the next two days. When
Hercules got back they were going to have to have a talk.
"I will" Just as Iolaus was about to add something Apollo and
Hermes emerged wearing nothing but robes.
"What's up guys? Welcome to my wonderful home. What did you
guys need." Jace took the lead in the conversation and outlined what
they needed to figure out.
"So basically we wanted to know if anyone gained a lot from
this turn of events." Both lovers looked puzzled for a moment and
then Hermes spoke.
"Well I think Persephone can be ruled out the only thing she
got out of this was a huge loss in status. No one I can think of has
benefited yet, but we can keep ours eyes out. I think you should be
looking at this from a different point of view though. Instead look
into Hades past find out who had a grudge with him and wanted him
dead also remember the Hinds blood, who could have gotten that and
handled it safely. That pretty much leaves out anyone in the House of
Love except for Aphrodite, there not much for potions and chemicals
except her. Also I would concentrate on the House of Intellect their
sneaky enough to do anything they put their minds to. I mean look at
us."
Iolaus and Jace thanked them for the information and began to
leave the temple buy just as they were about to exit Apollo called
out to them.
"Check with Aphrodite she's smarter than she acts." Deciding
they should check with Joxer and Ares before anything else they
headed back into the Death Quarter only to find Joxer's temple empty.
They sat down and talked while they waited for the two gods to return.
Joxer was covered in warmth and moved farther into it, the
smell of musk and blood invaded his nostrils and he cautiously opened
his eyes. He was blanketed in the God of War and realized he didn't
mind it at all. As he mentally inventoried his body he realized that
his opening was sore from the roughness of their sex and he sensed a
trickle of blood. With a flex of his mind he quickly healed and
cleaned himself off. He turned his attention to the god draped across
his body. There was a sheen of sweat across his body and his dark
hair was falling over his eyes. Simply thinking about the God was
making him hard and he closed his eyes to will it down. Just as he
was getting it under control he felt a tongue on his throat finding
its way up to his ear and biting softly. He opened his eyes and found
two dark pools looking at him and a hand reached down and grabbed his
half-hard penis.
"Don't get rid of this yet, lover." Just the sound of Ares
calling him that caused his penis to get hard immediately. This was
different from their lovemaking before, this was slow and deliberate
the heat slow burning and long-lasting. When Ares eased himself
inside Joxer thought he might cry because it was too slow. They moved
against each other over and over, cries lost in each others mouths.
When they were finally done they collapsed onto each other and shared
long slow kisses where they devoured each other.
Finally Joxer pushed Ares off of him and stood up. He pulled his
clothing back on and turned to look into Ares puzzled expression.
"We should probably head back to my place in case any of them
show back up" Ares nodded flashed his clothing back on and sat on the
edge of the bed. Just as Joxer was getting ready to flash out Ares
grabbed his hand and pulled him onto his lap. He lost himself into
Ares mouth for a few more minutes and then pulled away.
"Joxer, I want to give you something." Suddenly Ares was
holding out a necklace of silver with an A dangling from it. "It's a
symbol I give to all my lovers and it has a charm on it that if you
need me I'll feel it." Joxer looked at it for a second and then
turned around so that Ares could slip it on him. Then he concentrated
for a second and made a twin arrive in his hand with a J on it and
worked the charm on it as well. He didn't even speak simply held it
out to Ares. Ares looked at it for a moment and then looked into
Joxers eyes. Joxer hoped he could see the truth there, that he didn't
mind sharing Ares but he would not be treated as an inferior, he was
Ares' equal in all ways. Ares took the necklace and slipped it over
his head. Joxer smiled and flashed them both to his temple.
When they appeared they were faced with two faces one shocked
and one smiling at the position they were still in. Joxer took in
Jace's smiling face and did the most mature thing he could think of
stuck his tongue out. Jace just continued to smile at him. Iolaus
just looked away quickly but not before Joxer caught the smile that
had bloomed on his face as he looked at Jace. Joxer was tempted to
say something but decided that they needed to work this out on their
own. Joxer just wanted to be there when Hercules found out about
this, the laugh factor alone would be worth it. Iolaus turned back to
them and started to talk.
"Well, Apollo and Hermes didn't really know anything but they
suggested we contact Aphrodite but we wanted to check with you guys
first." Joxer looked at him and spoke.
"I guess I should have told you guys that Aphrodite was okay.
She's loved Hades just like Ares. Go talk to her she might know
something."
"Hermes also suggested we work on the murder weapon. Hinds
blood should be gone so we need to figure out who could get it."
Joxer leapt up and started pacing.
"Fuck I should have thought of that how stupid am I?" He
quickly turned to Ares. "What happened to the dagger?"
"Zeus had it destroyed after Strife was killed."
"Okay is there anywhere else the blood would be available."
"Not that I can think of no one was there when they were
slaughtered except me. I didn't have any of it saved and when Serena
died the last bit of it was gone."
"Shit. Shit. Shit. There's got to be a way that we're not
thinking of. Okay fuck split up Iolaus go talk to Aphrodite and tell
her I said you need to know everything, those exact words. Jace I
want you to go to the Hall of the Past and watch everything you can
find on the Hind's see if you can catch anything that Ares might have
missed because he was busy at the time. Also I want you to swing by
Cupid's temple and tell him and Strife everything we know. I want
them to be on guard but don't let on to Psyche. Also I want them
ready to disappear with Bliss at the slightest notice." Both of them
nodded and headed out of the temple.
"Ares I need you to bring Eris into it we might need her if
this comes to war. But I need you to be sure that you can trust her,
that she's not the third. Okay?" Ares nodded and got up but before he
left he grabbed Joxer around the waist and kissed him. Then when he
flashed out Joxer turned to the mirror in the room, cut his finger
and spread his blood on the mirror. The surface turned dark and
lightening flashed across it. Joxer got ready for his part in the
investigation and hoped it didn't take too much energy out of him.
Part 9
Joxer screamed over and over again, he felt as if his body
were being pulled apart and put together differently each time. He
felt his body burn and freeze all at the same time. He heard voices,
his brothers, his father and Ares all screaming at him telling him he
was useless and would never amount to anything. That he was screwing
up the world so much by becoming the God of the Underworld. The tears
fell unheeded as he listened to them. The voices began to change and
became more and more angry, they were no longer voices he recognized
but they were louder more painful.
Ares walked back to Joxer's temple with his sister, she
didn't really care all that much about a fight for good but any kind
of fight where she got to hit Psyche was her kind of fight. Ares knew
as soon as he mentioned Psyche was the enemy Eris would jump at it,
she had been most vocal in her objection to giving Psyche godhood. As
they entered the temple and he surveyed everyone gathered around four
things registered very quickly in his mind. First of all Aphrodite
had finally told Iolaus of his godly heritage Ares could tell by the
paleness of his face. Secondly Hercules and Gabrielle were back and
looking extremely agitated. The most interesting thing however was
the fact that Iolaus seemed to be leaning on Jace instead of Hercules
and no one in the room was ignorant of the fact. It was the fourth
thing that worried him the most though, Joxer seemed to be nowhere in
the room.
"Where's Joxer?" Everyone else looked at each other and Jace
finally spoke up.
"We thought he was with you."
"He wasn't here when you guys got back."
"Nope he contacted us telepathically to pick up Hercules and
Gabrielle but when we got here, he was gone." Ares started cursing
then looked at Hercules and Gabrielle. "So what bad news do you have
to add to the party?"
"Only that Psyche is planning something really big her whole
temple is on this kick about how she'll soon be a major goddess and
anyone who starts worshipping her now will be favored later. Also I
found this in the temple." He held up the necklace he had found and
Ares started cursing.
"Shit shit shit a triumvirate we are so screwed." This time it was
Xena who spoke up.
"Um... What's a triumvirate and why are we screwed." Ares
looked over at his daughter and sighed, time for explanations.
Usually this information wouldn't be shared beyond godly ears but
except for the bard they were all at least half godly so he guessed
it was okay.
"Okay the form of gods you see before you is our human form.
We can change into any physical form we want but one form that humans
never see is our energy form. In that form we are pure power and it
would kill humans to see us. The problem though is that in physical
form we only channel a fraction of the power that we do when in
energy form. The problem is in energy form we can't really affect the
world around us as well as can in human form so it's a choice more
power and less effect or less power and more effect. But there are
two ways around this; the first is a triumvirate when three gods pool
their power the connection to their power gets steadily stronger and
stronger."
"Wait I don't understand if the body can't hold more power
how does that change when three are joined." Jace interrupted. This
was something his father had never mentioned to him. Ares looked kind
of pained at having to explain all this.
"See when they're joined they can each sacrifice a third of
themselves to become pure energy thus creating one being that is pure
energy. The being or pool of energy because it really doesn't have a
consciousness..." He noticed the blankness on everyone's face and got
back to the point ". anyway the three then use this pool of energy
and channel all the power it can hold through their physical bodies."
Now that everyone understood what was going on there was a round of
cursing from everyone. Then Iolaus looked up at Ares.
"You said there are two ways to increase your power what's
the second way?"
"The second way is much more dangerous. The only one to come
out of it alive was Mania and she came out more powerful but
completely insane." Eris who had been quiet throughout the whole
conversation finally spoke up.
"Only a complete idiot would try it." Ares looked like he
agreed with Eris.
"You have to contact the Titans." Looking at the shocked
faces around him Ares continued before he could be
interrupted. "Technically they are our parents and as such can open
our connection to power wider than we can. They are closer to Chaos
which spawned Gaea who then brought them into being. The more in
connection we are to Chaos the more power we have but to touch it too
long leads to insanity. You have so much against you because not only
is Chaos fighting the connection but the Titans don't want you to
have more power so they fight you as well." Iolaus looked even paler
than before if that was possible.
"How would a god do it?"
"They would either have to go to an old Titans place of power
or contact them through their own blood."
"Like this." Iolaus held out a mirror that had blood streaked
across it and huge cracks across the surface. Ares snatched the
mirror out of his hands and wiped some blood of the mirror with a
finger and then brought the finger to his mouth.
"It's Joxer."
"Like I said only a complete idiot." Despite her tone though
Eris looked worried, she knew that if one of the twelve opened the
link too wide and became insane there would be no stopping him.
Everyone looked really worried at what was happening to
Joxer, possibly at that very moment.
He couldn't remember his name or anything that existed before
the pain, before the screaming of the voices.
"You think you're worthy of power."
".of Love"
".of Life"
".of Happiness"
"You are not important and never will be."
"useless"
"unlovable"
"spit upon"
"weak"
The man curled in on himself even further letting their barbs
cut his skin into ribbons. The cuts never healed, they just kept
bleeding. Blood, Sweat and Tears now covered him in a light sheen
that wouldn't come off no matter how many times he rolled around on
the floor. Then the kicking began again, his face was the first, his
nose broke immediately and then his groin was the site of the next
attack. He howled out in pain as he felt his genitals mangle. He
cried as he felt himself being washed away by pain. He looked down at
the floor and started in surprise. The floor was like a black mirror
and he saw himself, not covered in cuts or face smashed in but how he
appeared as the God of the Dead. He remembered his name and why he
was here and slowly he stood up.
Joxer felt the pain leave his body as he realized it was only
in his mind. The voices still thundered all around him but he ignored
them now. He remembered why he had come in the first place; he needed
more power to make sure everyone he loved survived the upcoming
battle. Joxer looked around, he was surrounded by darkness with no
way of knowing which way to go. So he just picked a direction and
walked with only the voices for company. After so long Joxer realized
that this was getting him nowhere. He sat down to think and figured
that if the pain had been in his mind maybe this whole thing was.
Joxer began to concentrate on the core of power within him and he
felt things melting away including the voices, when he opened his
eyes he was seated in a throne room similar to the one on Olympus.
The difference was the people who sat chained to the thrones. The
titans looked at him with ill-concealed anger and disgust all but
one. He identified that one as Rhea, she was the only one not chained
to the throne.
None of the Titans spoke to him just looked at him. Joxer
turned to Rhea and spoke aloud.
"Hello Grandmother. I've come because a fight may soon break
out on Olympus."
"Why do you speak to me alone?"
"You are unchained therefore I assume you are the caretaker,
so you are the one I must ask to open my connection wider. One of
your children has been murdered and I need more power to fight who
did it." Rheas' eyes widened and she paled considerable.
"Which of my children has been killed?"
"My father. Hades. I have assumed his mantle and want to put
his spirit at rest." Rhea looked at him closely and then waved her
hand.
"If you can survive the power is yours to keep." Joxer screamed as he
felt his connection to his ultimate progenitor open wide. Chaos
poured into his mind and he felt the power pour into his body, his
mind went off track as he saw everyone and felt everything the world
had to offer to him. He felt his sanity start to slip away and tried
to pull it back. It was failing and he could feel the world start to
slip away when his brothers came to mind. The more he thought about
Jett and Jace the more rational he felt, the power began to slow down
as it poured into him until it stopped completely. He looked at Rhea
and nodded his thanks before flashing away.
Ares and the others were discussing what to do about finding
Joxer when there was a flash of black flame in the middle of the
room. The person that stood there looked like Joxer but it was not
the Joxer who left. His hair had become a midnight black that seemed
to absorb light from the room and his eyes were the same no whites or
irises only pitch black. He was wearing a tunic of black with no
sleeves whatsoever and the right arm had intricate black lines
running from wrist to shoulder, his left had white lines. And when he
saw them and smiled they saw that the canine teeth he had were
elongated just a little beyond the rest of his teeth. Then he noticed
everyone staring at him and the smile slipped away.
"What is it?" Ares simply grabbed Joxer and directed him to a mirror.
Joxer looked at himself and ran fingers down his arms feeling that
the lines were slightly indented into his skin. Apparently this was
now his template form. He concentrated and his appearance changed to
what he looked like before he left. Ares was the first one to speak.
"Joxer what happened? Are you still sa... ok?"
"I received power and a wider connection."
"What are we going to do now? We're up against a trium."
"I know I saw a lot when the power came to me but I still don't know
who the third is, he or she is well shielded. We don't need to know
though I've got a plan." This time Gabrielle was the one to speak up.
"Well what's the plan?" Joxer looked at her for a long second and
then he was back to his template form and the black lines on his
right arm were laced with fire.
"First you die." And with that all that was left of Gabi was an inky
splotch on the floor. As all the others froze in shock.
Part 10
Joxer looked up just as the sword sank into his gut he
glanced at Xena and simply raised an eyebrow. He sent a pulse of his
dark power down the sword and watched her fly into a wall. He saw
Hercules lining up a punch to his head and turned intangible before
it landed and then watched the demi-gods momentum slam him into the
floor. He looked around and no one else looked like they were ready
to fight so he sat down and waited for Xena and Hercules to collect
themselves.
"Are you ready to listen or do wish to try and attack me
again?" When no one approached him in any way and kept their distance
he began to talk. "This wider connection to the titans offers me many
extras besides the ability to use more power I am also able to see
things on an elemental level. I can see the winds that interact with
each other and how any particular thing will cause a storm or
tornado. I can see the level of things as well and how one act will
affect another which means I have a very limited power of prediction.
This new power offered me the insight that the person I just killed
was not Gabrielle it was a person wearing her face I also saw that if
I killed her at that very moment then the knowledge that I was more
powerful would not be transferred to her mistresses. There was a
delay in the link between them that meant everything she learned took
a few minutes to get to her owners." Xena was the first to speak.
"If that wasn't Gabi then where is she?"
"Now that's the question isn't it?" He looked around at the
people gathered around him as a plan started to form in his
mind. "Okay this is what is going to happen Hercules and Iolaus I
need you two to go to the temple of Hephaestus and get us a set of
unbreakable chains. Jace and Jett I need you two to bring Artemis and
Persephone into the circle tell them everything we know and then
swear them to secrecy and tell them to be ready if I need them. Xena
you go to Aphrodite tell her I need her strongest truth serum and to
meet me in Asphodel in two hours. Eris tell Cupid and Strife that
it's time for them to take Bliss and disappear tell them to contact
me or Ares in a day and we'll tell them if it's okay to come back.
Ares I need your help in my temple. Okay that's it if anyone needs to
contact me let out a prayer I'll hear you." With that all the gods
flashed out and the others began their tasks.
As Hercules and Iolaus walked towards Hephaestus' temple a silence
hung heavy in the air between them; neither wanting to start the
conversation they knew was coming. Iolaus finally sighed and stopped
walking.
"Herc stop a minute we need to talk."
"I know."
"We can't go on this way I'll always be your friend but we
can't be lovers anymore. Our opinions and reactions are just too
different. I mean our thought processes just don't blend well as
lovers. I don't need or want someone to protect me and that's all you
want to do."
"I know. I'm sorry."
"Me too." Iolaus began to walk again with a few looks over at
Hercules. They both kept the silence until they reached the temple.
It was an open air temple with four pillars a roof and a forge in the
middle. They entered Hephaestus' workspace without him noticing and
before Hercules could say anything Iolaus stepped forward and bowed.
Jace had already told him how to play this meeting and he was going
to do it to the letter.
"Hephaestus God of Fire and the Forge, Joxer God of the Dead
and Ruler of Tartarus, Asphodel and the Elysian fields requests a
boon of you." Hephaestus turned to them and looked them over; Jace
had said that if he answered with the traditional words then they as
well as had the chain. Jace had also explained that when asked this
way the requesting god didn't need to explain what he needed the item
for and the messenger couldn't be questioned. It was simply a yes or
no answer and Hephaestus would want to be on Joxers' good side since
no one knew what exactly the new god could do.
"What does my equal on the twelve want of me?" Iolaus cheered
inwardly and went on with the traditional request form.
"The benevolent God of the Underworld would like your
strongest chains strong enough to hold a god." Hephaestus' eyebrows
raised at this, Iolaus knew that such chains were Hephaestus' prize
possessions.
"The request is granted."
Joxer sighed as his lover entered him and he reached up and
kissed Ares lips hungrily letting his new level of power dance over
his skin to tease Ares. He felt the rhythm increase more and more as
his power infused Ares. Then he was filled with warmth but there was
no lessening of the girth inside him and Ares started again for the
fourth time. Joxer realized the new powers must have altered his
brain chemistry as well because while most of him was writhing in
pleasure there was actually another section of his mind that was
concentrating on answering prayers directed at his father and another
part that was planning for the upcoming battle. As far as Joxer was
concerned anything that allowed him to have more sex with Ares so he
didn't have to stop to think was a good thing to him.
Xena hesitantly knocked on the door to Aphrodite's temple
then pushed the door open when there was no answer. She looked around
and slowly drew her sword Joxer had shown how useless it would be
against a god but it was the only weapon she had. She heard a noise
and followed it to a door in the wall of the main temple she could
hear noises including the humming of a woman. She knocked on the door
with the swords pommel and heard the sound of glass shattering
followed by cursing in Aphrodite's high pitched voice.
"Come In." Xena slowly opened the door and sheathed her sword
at what she saw. It was room that unlike the rest of the temple was
substance instead of style. The room had shelves on all four walls
and they were filled to the brim with scrolls and vials of liquids
that were all the colors of the rainbow. In the middle of the room
there was a huge silver cauldron and next to it stood a very irate
goddess with a broken vial at her feet and blue liquid covering her
feet.
"What is it?"
"Well Joxer says he needs your strongest truth serum that you
have and to meet him in Asphodel in two hours." Before the words
truth serum were out of her mouth Aphrodite was heading towards one
of the bookcases and grabbing a scroll off the wall. She read it over
and then gestured for Xena to come closer.
"Okay I don't have any in stock so we are going to have to
brew one on our own."
Jace and Jett had decided to talk to the goddesses as a team
so that they would feel more comfortable and look more powerful. They
knew that Persephone would be the easy one she would want to capture
her husbands' killer, but they also didn't know if Joxer had cleared
her as a suspect or if it was a trap for her. Either way Artemis was
the one they went to first; they manifested in her greeting room and
waited for the goddess to appear. She appeared in full hunting
regalia and looked pissed at being disturbed when she saw who it was
however her face with from anger to interest in a second. She walked
over to her silver throne and reclined on it.
"What do the two newest gods on Olympus want of me?" Jett had
decided to take the lead on this and so he was the one who spoke.
"Your cooperation our brother has need of your help."
"Is he so sure that I was not involved in the murder of your
father?"
"Oh yes quite sure."
"And how does he know this." The interest in her eyes had
grown and she leaned forward in her throne. This time Jace answered
her query.
"Because he knows that one of the perpetrators was Hecate."
At this Artemis jerked back on her throne. Taking this as a good sign
Jace continued. "Your antagonism with the goddess of the crossroads
is well known and he believes you would not aid her."
"Your brother is correct what do you need of me." Jett took
the thread of conversation back.
"He has discovered that Hecate is part of a triumvirate." At
this announcement Artemis gaped at them and gestured for them to
continue. "He has a plan and wishes for you to be ready in case he
needs your aid in the soon. Also you must tell no one"
"I will be ready and no one will hear it from me." The
brothers nodded at her and then disappeared on to their way to the
next temple.
Persephones' temple was not so much a temple as it was a
garden with seat made out of a tree trunk. Persephone herself was
tending some of the flowers growing freely in the garden. When she
saw the two of them she rose and gestured for them to come closer.
The brothers approached her and began to tell her all they knew.
Eris appeared in her sons' temple and looked around almost
throwing up when she saw Psyche's touches to the temple. She walked
into the main hall and saw Strife Cupid and Psyche on the floor
playing with Bliss. They all looked up and saw her at the same time.
Bliss launched himself at her yelling.
"Gram Eris." She grabbed the tyke and lifted him up in the
air. She held him and looked over at Psyche who disappeared quickly.
She took the boy over to where Strife and Cupid still kneeled on the
floor. She used her powers to make sure Psyche couldn't listen in on
them and with another flash of power put Bliss to sleep.
"Okay guys Joxer sent me he wants you two gone with Bliss as
soon as possible you tell no one where you are going. You stay in
hiding for a full day then you contact Ares or Joxer and they'll let
you know if it's okay to return you understand?" Both the boys nodded
and them Cupid looked up.
"What are we supposed to tell Psyche?"
"Tell the bitch whatever you want but I want you guys safe,
tell her you are going so Bliss and Strife can bond or so that she
can have a little vacation. Say whatever you need to but don't tell
her the truth." They both nodded but Eris made a point of catching
her sons' eyes so she could establish a connection with him that
Cupid couldn't hear.
He's going to need you be there for him and Bliss. And for
Zeus' sake don't get yourself killed again please
Strife simply nodded and Eris flashed out quickly.
Joxer sat in his main hall in Asphodel with Ares two hours later and
watched the people appear all over the room. First Aphrodite with
Xena then Jett and Jace; Eris appeared and nodded at Joxer to let him
know that Cupid and Strife were in hiding. He received a prayer from
Iolaus and transported both him and Hercules to the room. Then he
stood up.
"Okay now that everyone is here, it's time for the plan I want Dite,
Ares, and Eris in separate corners of the room and use your powers to
mask yourselves. Xena, Iolaus and Hercules join one of them. Jett and
Jace get the chains and cast a charm to hide them then sit with me
and I need all the gods in the room to lend me power when I reach for
it." At everyone's nod Joxer walked over to his chair and sat down
with his brothers on either side. He let his form blend back to what
he looked like before. He let out a mental summons and waited
patiently until there was a flash of black smoke in the middle of the
room and Hecate appeared.
"Yes, lord how may I serve you today."
"I wish to know what you have to do with the disappearance of
Gabrielle of the Amazons." Hecate looked frightened for a minute and
then covered it quickly.
"I have no idea what you mean."
"Yes you do and I will have to truth of it NOW." Joxer felt Hecate
trying to flash away and swiftly blocked her attempt and then he felt
her siphoning in more power and so Joxer reached out and called power
from all the gods in the room except his brothers. It was no contest
to cut her power flow and make her immobile. Jace and Jett rushed
forward and bound Hecate within the chains made by Hephaestus and
Joxer released the others' powers, now that he had cut her off it was
easy to maintain the shield between her and her powers. He nodded and
the others revealed themselves and walked towards the chained goddess
in the middle of the room. Joxer simply held his hand out and
Aphrodite placed the vial in his hand.
"Now we will have our answers one way or the other."
tbc