Part 1 Part 2
Title: Divine Inspiration
Author: Amejisuto
Email: amejisuto_kagetsu@yahoo.com
Rating: NC17
Fandom: Xena: WP, Hercules: tLJ
Pairing: Ares/Joxer, possible Cupid/Strife later on, others in the background.
Disclaimer: I am just borrowing the characters from Renaissance Pictures, and from the Greek Pantheon. I’ll put them back
when I’m done.
Warning: Violence, swearing, M/M sex, possible character bashing.
Summary: Ares guides Joxer to being the warrior he could be.
Status: WIP, Chapter One
Archive: http://www.aresjoxercupidstrife.com/fiction.html
http://www.kyri.angels-oasis.net/ame.html
Website: http://www.livejournal.com/users/amejisuto/
Author’s Notes: This is my second attempt at writing Ares/Joxer, so I hope it’s okay. I am probably ripping cannon to
pieces, because I can’t quite remember the timeline so I’m just doing what I want! Hey, I do it to Spike and Xander too; I
just usually know what I’m throwing out the window.
Divine Inspiration Chapter One
Ares looked down at the battlefield in satisfaction. His Thracian armies on their side of the Danube River were overcoming
invaders from Scythia, despite their challengers overwhelming numbers. Of course it helped that the entire complements of
the Halls of War were helping today, even Phobos and Diemos were working together without bickering for once. When Fear
and Pain worked together they were a deadly combination.
How these invaders got the idea that the Grecian peoples would be easily conquered Ares had no idea. From what he could
tell they didn’t even have any gods on their side. They were savages that only believed in using people that were weaker
than them for labor and the women for breeding.
He was going to enjoy crushing them under the heel of his boot. Maybe he’d find the warlord or general whose bright idea it
was to invade Greece and make an…example out of him to his armies.
That is if any survived.
The most amusing thing about this battle is for once his dim-witted half brother was fighting with him, not against him. Oh,
not that Ares would point it out to him, knowing Hercules if he knew he was fighting on Ares’ side of things he’d switch to
the invader side just to spite his brother.
The little bastard could be so fucking annoying at times.
A flash of black sparks beside him heralded the arrival of his second in command. It was good to have Strife back, they
might fight but he knew he could trust his nephew to do what he needed done. With him dead at Callisto’s hands the amount of
chaotic mischief in the mortal realm became unbalanced and Zeus finally gave in to Ares’ petition that the younger god be
brought back from Hades’ domain.
“Hey Unc, I got Xena here just like you asked. Of course her two sidekicks are along for the ride.” The pale god gave a
maniac giggle.
“What did you do to them?” His tone was indifferent, bored even.
“Nuthin’ much, just made sure they had motivation to get to the river, seems that the blond harpy slipped in some mud
accidentally and it stinks to Olympus!” Strife’s laughter was contagious, and that, along with the image in his head,
actually had Ares chuckling on the battlefield.
“Good job Strife, where are they now?”
“Well Xena and her archivist are making their way into the middle of things, as always. They should meet up with Jerkcules
before too long. They left Joxer to guard a tree or something on the sidelines. I swear to god I halfway expect blondie to
put a fucking leash on the man and tie him to a tree with a bowl of water left out one of these days.” Strife’s voice was
bitter and Ares growled.
“Right. Go join your Mother, see what you can do to scare these Scythians off, try to keep out of the Freaky Foursome’s way
for now. Oh, make sure a few of the invaders make it through our lines near the medical tents on the Thracians camp.”
“Will do Unc!” Another flash of black sparks and Mischief was gone.
Ares sighed and transported himself to the edge of the battle. There, sitting forlornly was Joxer. He reminded the God of a
sad puppy waiting for his owners to come fetch him.
It was getting harder and harder to help his favorite follower. Finally after years of waiting, Joxer had finally asked with
the right reasons for help to become a warrior. Not to impress Gabrielle, Ares privately thought Joxer could have a golden
touch much like Midas’s and she still wouldn’t notice him.
It wasn’t about getting back at his parents either, or wanting to be like Xena. Actually Joxer had the potential to be a
great warrior, but unless he did it for the right reasons he’d become corrupted and Ares just couldn’t allow that. He had
too good of a soul, even if he was naďve.
Finally though, Joxer had asked for all the right reasons. Because he wanted to do it for himself, not anyone else; not for
power or fame or even love. Just to prove he could do it for himself.
Two days later Ares had influenced the man to pray at one of his temples and made sure one of his priests was on hand to give
a quick lesson on how to fall without hurting himself. Something that Joxer desperately needed; the man could trip over a
pebble in the sand and more than once while watching him Ares wondered if maybe the erstwhile pupil of his had perhaps had
too many blows to the head when he was younger.
Joxer was pretty much doing what Strife said, sitting on the sidelines moping. Ares shook his head. While the mortal wasn’t
that great a fighter all he really needed was someone to teach him. Xena and the Amazons had made sure the little blond
tagalong was able to fight and defend herself but until he stepped in no one had even taught Joxer the proper way to hold a
sword.
It was, in a word, pathetic. Not Joxer, but the situation that his so-called friends put him in.
Ares double-checked that to mortals he was invisible and stepped up behind Joxer. “I know Xena wanted me to stay put…but I
bet I could help somewhere.” This was the difficult part; giving any mortal an idea was a dangerous thing to do. Ares had
to make it a suggestion and give Joxer the option to follow it or not.
He looked over the battle and saw that Strife and Discord were following his orders. Two of the invaders were slowly making
their way towards the tent that was set up as a field hospital. “Hey, two of the bad guys are getting close to the injured.
And no one else seems to be noticing. They’re all too busy…”
Ares stepped back. He’d pushed as much as he dared, what Joxer did now was up to the mortal. Lucky for him, Joxer’s nature
was to help people. The mortal only hesitated for a moment before grabbing his sword and running down the hill, only
tripping once.
Ares was just glad that one of his priests had replaced that bent monstrosity that Joxer had used before. It would be
embarrassing to have one of his warriors’ fighting with that thing.
He watched over Joxer, making sure he wouldn’t be too badly hurt. Surprisingly enough he caught the two bandits while they
were separated, and knocked one out very quickly. Ares was impressed, his priests had taught the mortal well. He laughed as
Joxer used the bandit’s own belt to tie him up.
The mortal had such great potential.
He flashed into the tent to watch the next part. In fact he found he wasn’t the only one watching. There in one of the beds
was one of his faithful warriors, trying to get up despite having a broken leg. Yannis had always been one of his favorites,
noble without being sanctimonious and too damn stubborn for his own good.
He revealed himself. “Sit down you stubborn old man, you don’t actually believe I’d let my wounded get hurt do you?”
“Who are you calling old? You have several centuries on me, My Lord. Now what do you have up your crafty sleeve?” Yannis
sat back and stopped fighting to get out of the bed. None of the others in the tent even seemed to noticing the God of War
was among them, either being too hurt or just too distracted. It was sloppy, letting your guard down like that.
“I’m wearing my armor Yannis, it doesn’t have sleeves.”
“Details, details, Lord Ares.”
The bandit crept closer so Ares just elbowed the old man. “Shut up and watch.”
Joxer finally came into view. He didn’t try to sneak, which Ares was thankful for. The poor human always sounded twice as
loud when he was trying to be quiet as he did normally.
The bandit saw Joxer and turned to attack. Strife picked well, the invader wasn’t the best of warriors, about even keel with
Joxer in fighting abilities. This would be no good if Ares had to step in to save the mortal, the idea was to encourage him
to stand up for himself, not hide behind someone else even if it was War himself.
Their swords clashed and Ares could see the strain it was on Joxer’s face. They danced around each other for a bit until
finally the other man let his guard down and Joxer took advantage of it, slashing open a belly would that would kill the man
if he didn’t get medical attention.
“One of yours Lord Ares?”
Ares snorted. Joxer had been dedicated to him before the boy could walk by his bastard of a father, but it was the constant
prayers that made Joxer his, more than anything else. “You could say that. He still needs teaching though.”
Yannis looked at him, then at Joxer. The mortal was now trying to stop his opponent from bleeding to death. The old warrior
nodded. “Right. Leave it to me then, I know you’ve got better places to be during this battle.”
Ares squeezed his old friend on the shoulder in gratitude. Yannis never made a name for himself; he had wanted no fame or
power he just wanted to protect himself and his people. He would make a good teacher for Joxer if the younger man could be
pried away from Xena and her chattering shadow. “Thank you my friend, thank you.”
*****
Joxer swallowed heavily as he tried not to throw up. This was the first time he’d disobeyed Xena on purpose and it was the
first time he’d really hurt another man. The blood just kept seeping through the makeshift bandage and through his fingers
and the metallic scent of it was sure to cling for him to days if not weeks.
He didn’t feel brave or strong. He felt sick.
“You there, young man!! The priest is coming to help in just a moment.” It was an old man in one of the beds; he must have
seen Joxer trying to help. “Just keep putting pressure on the wound lad, it won’t be long.”
Joxer nodded, his throat too dry to say anything. Finally two of Apollo’s priests came, with clean cloths and herbs to stop
the bleeding and Joxer was left staring at his hands. They were stained red.
The old warrior called over again. “There’s some buckets and rags to wash with on the other side of the tent, you’d best
wash up lad, before you start to stick to everything.”
Joxer just nodded and did as he was told. There were only five buckets so he made do with using just one. Maybe later he
could get to the river and use some of the sand and mud to scrub at his hands; even after washing he could still feel a layer
of blood on them.
He looked around. The battle was close to being over and most of the Thracian army were tending to the wounded or savaging
among the dead. He’d seen war before, but somehow wounding another person made it seem sharper, seem more real somehow.
“Come over here young man, and sit. There isn’t much you can do now. What’s your name?”
Joxer went to the warrior’s bedside; the older man had been quite nice to him. “J-Joxer sir.” The usual brags about Joxer
the Mighty just didn’t feel right this time.
“Well you did well young Joxer, only a coward or an honorless bastard attacks the wounded. You did what was right. Don’t
doubt that. I’m Yannis by the way.”
He sighed and picked at the rough blanket covering his new…friend? Maybe. “Did…are you supposed to feel guilty, even when
you do it for a good reason?”
Yannis clapped him on the arm. “It’ll always feel wrong lad, if you’re doing it for all the right reasons and care about
people.”
Joxer managed a weak smile. “Great.”
Yannis laughed until he started coughing and Joxer hurried to hand him a waterskin. “Thanks again Joxer. You’re a good man,
and well on your way to being a good warrior. Don’t let anyone make you doubt that.”
Unwillingly his mind went to Xena and Gabby. He all but cringed thinking of them, they were going to be so mad at him for
moving. “Thanks. Listen I gotta go, I came with some friends and…”
“And you want to make sure they’re safe. I understand. Before you leave come visit me again, with this bad leg I’m not going
anywhere for a while.”
“Sure, I’d…I’d like that.” Joxer got up to leave. His helmet had been lost somewhere on the way, but for once he wasn’t
going to worry about it. It wasn’t as if the damn thing actually protected his head, repeated thumps from a certain blond
proved that. “Nice to meet you Yannis.”
He left the tent and stopped, wondering which way to go. In the rush to help he’d kind of lost track of which way he was
going and couldn’t remember where he was supposed to meet Xena and Gabby.
Luckily, or maybe unluckily, Gabby found him first. “Joxer! I thought we told you to wait for us! I don’t know what you
were thinking coming down here, you could have gotten someone killed!”
“Oh, hey Gabby! I was just…”
“We don’t have time Joxer, Ares and Discord are causing trouble again. Come on!” Gabrielle grabbed hold of him by his ear
and dragged him to the middle of the battlefield.
Joxer didn’t understand what the big deal was, of course Ares and Discord was there, and it was a war involving their people.
He really doubted that the Gods wanted people to come from outside of Greece and drag their worshippers away. Even if, like
Xena and Hercules seemed to believe, they didn’t give a damn about people they wouldn’t want to loose their power source.
By the time they made it to the middle of the fight, Xena was deflecting Discord’s lightning balls with her sword and Ares
was mocking Hercules.
“I really ought to thank you little brother. Without you, my little victory would have been impossible.”
“Ares! You bastard!”
“Actually Herk, I think that’s your title, not mine.” At Ares’ mocking laughter Hercules picked up a wagon and flung it at
the God. Or course Ares just flashed out of the way and the wagon ended up nearly hitting Joxer and Gabrielle.
Joxer could hear Gabby muttering under her breath about evil war gods, but for some reason he kind of thought that had been a
silly move on Hercules’ part. After all even Joxer knew that the God could move with a single thought, a hero like Hercules
should know that too.
He turned to watch Xena and what he saw amazed him. The Warrior Princess managed to reflect one of Discord’s energy balls
back at the Goddess and Discord was on her knees, her head in her hands trying to get herself together. To his surprise Xena
was going for what would be a killing blow on a human while the Goddess was down, trying to stab her through the back while
Discord was disoriented.
He acted without thinking, only knowing that it was wrong for anyone to hit another person while they were down. It didn’t
matter if it was Discord or Ares himself, it just wasn’t the thing for a hero to do. He cupped his hands around his mouth to
amplify his voice across the battlefield.
“Xena! Stop!”
Title: Divine Inspiration
Author: Amejisuto
Email: amejisuto_kagetsu@yahoo.com
Rating: NC17
Fandom: Xena: WP, Hercules: tLJ
Pairing: Ares/Joxer, possible Cupid/Strife later on, others in the background.
Disclaimer: I am just borrowing the characters from Renaissance Pictures, and from the Greek Pantheon. I’ll put them back when I’m done.
Warning: Violence, swearing, M/M sex, possible character bashing.
Summary: Ares guides Joxer to being the warrior he could be.
Status: WIP, Chapter Two
Archive: http://www.aresjoxercupidstrife.com/fiction.html
http://www.kyri.angels-oasis.net/ame.html
Website: http://www.livejournal.com/users/amejisuto/
Author’s Notes: This is my second attempt at writing Ares/Joxer, so I hope it’s okay. I am probably ripping cannon to pieces, because I can’t quite remember the timeline so I’m just doing what I want! Hey, I do it to Spike and Xander too; I just usually know what I’m throwing out the window.
Divine Inspiration Chapter Two
Ares heard Joxer’s yell and turned his attention from baiting his half-witted half-brother to the mortal. What he saw somewhat shocked him. Joxer wasn’t upset because his sister was about to disembowel Xena, no he was upset because Xena was using a cheap trick against Discord.
He was somewhat shocked. Joxer was smart enough to know that being stabbed by a sword wasn’t going to hurt a god, even if the Warrior Princess wielded it. Discord had heard the warning as well and waved one hand and Xena went flying across the battlefield.
Her little blond tagalong went after her but Joxer just stood there, looking confused. Ares took a chance and dipped into his mind, just a little. The main thing he found was a feeling of guilt and the thought that he couldn’t believe Xena would hit someone while their back was turned, no matter who they were.
Ares smirked. How very…Joxer. The mortal saw so much of the world as black and white, good and evil. He was very naďve in many ways, but mainly it was because no one had really taken him in hand and taught him how the world really worked.
And Ares was working on helping him with that.
A rather large rock came within the range of his senses and Ares absentmindedly flicked it away. Another came hurling towards him and Ares snapped. With another wave of his hand he sent a bolt of energy, shattering the rock. Bits of debris flew into the crowd and Ares looked at Hercules in anger. This little show of who had the bigger set of balls had gone on too long, some of his warriors were getting hurt because all the idiot knew to do was pick up things and throw them.
“You know, I don’t know what your problem is Hercules. I didn’t bring the invading forces in, in fact I want them gone and hope that they’ve been demoralized enough never to get within a mile of any of Greece’s borders again. You tossing things at me like a two year old having a tantrum is not going to do anything but annoy the crap out of me. I may not be able to kill you thanks to Daddy Dearest, but I can make your life a living hell.”
“Isn’t that what you do already Ares?” Arms crossed over his chest, feet set wide, Hercules looked as if he was posing for a statue. Ares rolled his eyes and fought an urge to fire a lightning bolt at him. He was such a tight ass it would probably bounce off at any rate. “No little brother, up to this point you’ve been amusement, nothing more. Keep up your sanctimonious attitude and you’ll move up from amusement to full time hobby.”
To the side of the small clearing he saw Strife flash in and help his mother stand. This second nodded and Ares grinned at him. “Now if you’ll excuse me Jerkcules, I have an enemy general to torture for a few hours. That’s one of my hobbies, you can ask him about it afterwards if he still has a tongue.”
Ares used his powers to take him back to the Halls of War on Olympus. A few moments later both Strife and Discord followed. They gathered around a large scrying pool to watch the battlefield. Ares looked at his nephew. “Where are Phobos and Diemos?”
“Don’t worry Unc, they’re just making sure all of the invading army’s forces have a good trip back to their side of the river.”
Ares laughed. “I hope that there are some of them left alive and sane to warn their countries peoples to never try invading our lands again. If they just end up gibbering idiots at the border it will just piss their leaders off more.”
“Hate to tell you Unc, but I kinda think they were idiots for trying it in the first place.”
Discord laughed. “You got that right kiddo. Where’d ya put the head idiot anyway?”
“I knocked his ass out and put him in the white room. A few hours of bright lights and no sound should have him ready to share with us who gave him this ever so intelligent idea.”
Ares nodded and closed his eyes. Gathering energy from a battle was always exhilarating but afterwards it tended to leave him feeling ungrounded. Almost like an adrenaline crash. “Strife, I want you to check in on the twins, I wasn’t kidding when I said I wanted most of the army to go back able to tell the tale of going against Olympus. Make sure they know that, then take some time off. We’ll have some fun with the general in the morning.”
“Will do Unc. Me and Cupe have a got date tonight, so I’ll make sure the trouble twins know to act right, don’t want you to start yellin’ just when things are getting good.”
“You know, despite the fact that I like you a hell of a lot more than Psyche, I still don’t want to know about my son’s sex life. Just get going.” Ares tried to keep his amusement from showing in his voice.
“Gotcha Unc, I’ll save you the blow by blow account then. See ya, bye Mom!” With a giggle Strife flashed out of the temple and Ares shared a fond look with his sister. “I can’t believe I missed that little shit for the year he was dead.”
“I know what you mean. It seemed too quiet without him and now it’s too loud. Hopefully Cupid will make an honest god of him and he’ll move out.”
Ares shook his head. “I’m afraid that after Psyche’s betrayal my son is going to be extra cautious about marrying again.” Psyche had let her newfound godhood go to her head, becoming vain and arrogant. Almost five years to the date of their marriage Cupid had asked his grandmother Hera to dissolve it, sating irreconcilable difference. They shared custody of Bliss but had very little else in common.
“Still we can always hope big brother.” Eris waved her hand and two chairs appeared beside the scrying pool. “Ares wasn’t that you’re little pet project that warned me about Xena’s sneak attack?”
Ares sighed. He should have known this was going to come up. “Yes Eris, that was Joxer.” He shifted in his seat, he loved his sister but sometimes she got upset, didn’t want to be treated like a damsel in distress. He hoped she didn’t take offence.
“Chill Ares, I’m not going to turn him into a frog or anything like that. You gotta admire the little mortal, he went against his friends to aid someone he thinks is his enemy. That takes balls.”
“Elegant Eris, real elegant.”
“What can I say bro? I’ve gotta be me.” Eris waved her hand so the scene in the pool changed from a general overview of the battle to a view of the area surrounding Joxer.
Joxer was definitely in trouble. He was on one side of a campfire while the other four was opposite him. Hercules was giving him dirty looks as Gabrielle helped Xena bandage her arm. “Look Eris, you gave Xena a boo-boo.”
“Awww, poor baby. Guess blondie will have to kiss it and make it better.” They watched the scene quietly for a few moments before Eris spoke. “You are going to make sure they don’t pick on the little dork, just for helping me, right?”
Ares looked at Joxer. The mortal looked depressed and kept glancing at his friends. He wasn’t hurt though, and all they seemed to be doing was ignoring him. Which wasn’t unusual. “Don’t worry Eris, I’ll watch over him.”
“Good.” His sister stood and brushed imaginary lint off the sleeves of her leathers. “And if you ever hurt him Ares, I’ll find out just exactly how much pain the God of War can take.”
*****
Joxer shrugged his pack over his shoulder and kept on walking. The past two weeks had been terrible. Xena and Gabby had been furious that he “picked” Discord over his friends. He tried to explain that it wasn’t that, it was the principle of how Xena was fighting.
In his mind, what good was it to be a hero if you did things like hit someone while they were down? It just wasn’t the right thing to do. Memories of all the times he’d tripped or had fallen only to be kicked or beaten for it as a child haunted him still. It wasn’t that it was Discord, it could have been anyone and he would have felt the same way.
They had spent a week with at the site of the battle since Xena’s arm had a cracked bone. None of his friends were really talking to him; only Iolaus and he just mainly gave him a smile before joining Hercules.
In the end he spent a lot of time in Yannis’ company. The old warrior had lots of interesting stories to tell, and actually listened to Joxer for a change. It had been…nice. More than nice really.
Yannis asked what sort of training Xena had given him after he admitted he traveled with her. He had been shocked to hear that Joxer hadn’t been given any at all. Joxer spent all his spare time beside the warrior’s bed, listening to lessons about tactics and history.
The older warrior had also done something not many people had done, told him the truth. Yannis had instructed him to get rid of his pieced together armor, explaining how it threw his balance off and made too much noise.
What was even better is that he did it gently, he wasn’t trying to make fun or hurt Joxer’s feelings, he just calmly explained. In the end Joxer had sold his armor to tinker and had bought two sturdy leather jerkins. Better to have no armor rather than armor that could get you killed.
He’d even had enough left over to buy a cloak, new pack to carry it all in, and a new pair of boots. That armor may have looked a fright but he’d melted down his mother’s best cookware to make it. He thought the tinker was going to pass out from happiness at such good quality bronze.
He had immediately felt the difference. He didn’t trip quite so much, and once the week was over and Xena started back to visit her Mother’s village he had found it easier to keep up.
The problem was he found himself not wanting to keep up. He had long ago put his feelings for Gabby aside; it was obvious that she and Xena truly loved each other. But he had at least thought of them as friends. After the events of the past two weeks he wasn’t so sure anymore.
Oh they weren’t out and out nasty, and Gabby could do nasty when she wanted. It was more like he was being left out. Unless he talked to them they never said anything to him, not even to joke or berate or anything. They didn’t even talk to each other if he was within hearing distance.
Part of him wanted to yell and scream. Another part just wanted to fade away. And surprisingly enough there was a small part of him that knew they were trying to drive him away and wanted to hang around and do annoying things just to make them mad. He had never been that vindictive of a person before, it was rather shocking.
He had spent the last two days thinking and had finally made a decision. The day before they had left camp Yannis had left to go home with others of his battalion. He lived in a small fishing village not far from Maronea. In another three days they would reach the road that went south to there, but Xena’s home was further west.
He truly liked Xena’s mother the few times he had met her, but he wasn’t sure of his reception most times. He knew that unlike his own most families stuck by each other and he didn’t want to cause problems.
Plus there was the fact that Yannis had given him an open invitation to stay with him. And the old warrior probably would need help around the home. Yannis had no children or family, his leg was bad and had a cough.
And, all excuses aside Yannis treated him better in a week than Xena and Gabby had, even before this latest difference of opinion. He was tired of being told to stay behind. It would be one thing if Xena and Gabrielle had at least tried to teach him, but they hadn’t.
He followed along behind Xena and Gabby quietly, but in two days time he pretty much figured that he’d be going south.
tbc