AresJoxerCupidStrife - DaasBuffy

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7



Title: The Extent Of Revenge

Author: DaasBuffy

Email: daasbuffy@yahoo.com.au

Fandom[s]: Hercules: TLJ/Xena: WP

Pairing[s]: A/J at the end & mentions of C/S

Rating: 15+

Status: WIP

Category: ? [Hey if anyone has an idea how to what category
this is please tell me]

Series: N/A [I hope!]

Archival: Yes to the list's website, but anywhere else please
ask.

Feedback: I'm addicted and I want you to be my enabler. If
you don't, my temperamental plot bunnies will abandon me!

Summary: Ares gets his revenge on Hercules and Zeus, while
his daughter gets revenge on everybody.

Warning: Mentions of homosexual relationships [considering
the list I'm posting on well duh], details of suicide, mentions of
homicide and rape. And swearing, can't forget the swearing.

Disclaimer: I don't own these characters; I don't even have
permission to use them. However if I was sued all they would get
are my debts, several half-finished stories and lots of plot bunnies
that would gladly hit them with cricket bats.

Credits: This is a response to my own challenge; `Hercules
killed Ares. That Bastard! Challenge', so this is like a "Yeah
me!". [In my own defence I was watching a lot of South Park at the
time and thought the title was funny.]

Notes: "spoken", `thoughts', /telepathy/, & *actions*



Part I

Ares was finally going to have his revenge against his dim-witted,
half-brother and that complete and utter bastard that called himself
his father. He couldn't kill his brother, or even harm him because
of that damn decree that Zeus made quite a few years ago, which by
the way made Zeus very unpopular, but the bright side was that now
all demi-gods got protection, not just Zeus's bastards. Contrary to
popular belief he wasn't stupid or hotheaded enough to actually try
to kill the "hero". Although he would have to admit, at least to
himself, that he had thought about it – a lot and often.

Ares retrieved the Hind's Blood Dagger that he had rescued after
Hercules had hidden it, and to be truthful hidden wasn't quite the
word, a lobotomised monkey* would have been able to find it. He then
teleported himself to the garden where the Pathway to Olympus
exited, it was a nice little closed off area and wasn't near any
temples, and then set up a protection bubble**. Ares then checked on
Hercules, 'This is almost to easy,' Ares thought to himself when he
discovered that Hercules and his little sidekick were camped not
even an hour walk away from the Pathway to Olympus.

Ares pushed both the hero and the hunter into a deeper sleep and put
a little protection bubble around the camp and he then teleported
Hercules to the garden. Ares posed Hercules into a more natural
sleeping position, curled against a tree. The God of War then put
cuts and bruises on Hercules and himself to imitate fighting and
defensive wounds of hand-to-hand combat. Ares put the final piece
into place when he put a memory block on Hercules and he altered the
power signature to male it look as though Zeus put it on the "hero".
Most of the War Gods could alter their power signatures, it was a
nice little trick that he made sure no-one outside the House of War
knew about.

Ares let out a dark chuckle; it was going to be absolutely perfect!
Not only did Hercules know where both the Hind's Blood Dagger, well
at least it last known location, and the Pathway to Olympus was, and
thanks to a little suggestion on his behalf, Hercules camped near
the pathway, also he put a couple of blocking spells that only Zeus
is suppose to know to block certain times in the Halls of Time.
Hercules always hated him, he felt as though it was his father's
doing. Well now they were going to pay for what they did him and his
family over the years. Enyo would make a lovely Head of the House of
War; she didn't have any of his weaknesses and can keep the Old Goat
in check. What she did to Apollo when he got a little fresh – well
lets just say, she made her Daddy proud that day.

Ares plunged the dagger into his abdomen with such force that the
wind was forced out of his lungs, he crumpled to the ground. He
looked at the sky, twilight was breaking and dawn was arriving
fast. A long forgotten heartache engulfed Ares when he realised
that Eos*** would be the first to discover his body.


* I don't know if the ancient Greeks knew what either
lobotomies or monkeys were, but it sounded good.

** A protection bubble isn't really a bubble but it's a spell
that renders an area for a short duration unable to record for the
Halls of Time. It is a spell that Zeus created to help with his
conquests, or rather help him not to be caught; everyone knows about
it, but it's only something that Zeus is suppose to know.

*** In myth, Ares and Eos had a passionate affair, which ended
when Aphrodite, in a fit of jealously, made Eos fall in love with
someone else.




Part II

The Gods and Goddesses of Greece were awoken by a large power surge,
a power surge that could only be caused by the death of a God. Many
on Olympus never thought that they would feel that again.

In Asphodel, its King was awaiting in the throne room for Thanatos,
the God of Death to him the shade of the dead God to him. Nobody
knew who the dead God was yet, there were quite a few Gods and
Goddesses have not reported to either Zeus or Hera and no-one had
reported that they found a corpse, although there was Helios and Eos
had yet to finished their duties, they were the ones the three Gods
were certain would find it. Hades was thankful that his brother was
in a good enough mood to tell him that his wife, Persephone had
reported in as soon as ordered.

/Lord,/ Thanatos called mentally as soon as he entered the throne
room. Beside the dark god was a very familiar shade. It was Ares,
the former God of Aggressive War, Productive War and Warriors.
However it was not the Ares of the day before where his personality
was warped beyond recognition by the power of the Sword of War, but
it was the Ares that returned from Egypt after he had finished his
training to be War*.

"Ares how are you?" Hades asked, paternal feelings for his sister's
youngest son surfacing for the first time in 2,000 years.

"I'm fine I guess," Ares answered uncertainly. "Um . . . Uncle Ades,
why am I here?" Hades held back the smile when he heard his nephew's
faint Egyptian accent; his nephew was such a sweet child he always
felt as though he was the wrong choice to be War**.

"You are here because you are dead," Hades said gently, he didn't
want to frighten the recently deceased god.

"I am!?!" Ares exclaimed shocked. "How?" He then asked. Hades
sighed, sometimes a shade wasn't able to remember his death and on
occasions that memory gap spanned weeks, months and sometimes even
years before their death, and it sometimes took months for them to
recover them, could the world survive until Ares remembered.

/Thanatos,/ Hades mentally called. /Could you please take Ares to
Sephie's garden. Please summon Strife and inform him of the
situation and could the both of you keep him company./

"Ares, I have to inform your parents of the situation. Thanatos will
keep you company until I return," Hades told Ares before he
transported to Olympus.


* This is AU, from the ages of 10 to 15; Menthu, the Egyptian
God of War trained Ares in Egypt.

** Ares was not destined to be War, it was Godhood that had to
be immediately filled, but no one was born destined to be War. Zeus
decided that his youngest godly son should pulled his weight [Zeus
considered the Godhood that Ares was destined for useless].



Part III

The remaining 11 of the 12 Olympians appeared in Zeus' Hall, all the
Gods, except for Hera, Hades and Zeus were surprised when they
noticed that Ares' throne was empty. Everyone just assumed that
another War God had gotten themselves killed and Ares was in the
Halls of War trying to hold the house together.

Zeus stood up and cleared his throat to gain the attention of the
other Gods. "As all of you know, this morning a God was killed. We
were all awoken at dawn by the power surge." Zeus looked over to his
wife, Hera, who looked seriously pissed. Everybody wanted to know
who she caught him with this time. "I will allow my lovely wife to
continue."

Hera, Goddess of Marriage and Childbirth and the Queen of the Gods
stood up as her husband sat down. The irate goddess then shot the
King of the Gods a murderous glare. "This morning, Eos and Helios
found the body of Ares the God of War and the Heir of Olympus. Ares
had been stabbed with the Hind's Blood Dagger. Near the dead body
was the man who murdered him, Hercules, the son of Zeus and
Alcemene."

"Will Hercules be punished?" Hebe, the Goddess of Children and
Youths, asked as she served the 11 god and goddesses their drinks*.

"Hercules and Zeus will face an Olympian trial over the death of
Ares," Hera answered. All the other Gods broke into whispers, why
wasn't Hercules be punished immediately and why was Zeus also facing
punishment.

"Why would Father be put on trial with Hercules?" Athena scornfully
asked as soon as the whispering had died down. "The father should
not be accountable for the crimes of the child."

"There was evidence that came fourth upon the examination of
Hercules and the scene of the crime that Zeus might have been
involved in the planning of Ares death." Hera explained.

"When will Ares be brought back?" Apollo asked. No one in the room
wanted to think of world without the control that Ares had over the
world.

"Ares will not be brought back until he has made the transition
between life and death. And then that is if he wants to be brought
back." Hades added to the meeting.

"What do you mean by transition?" Aphrodite asked, she was trying
not to frown as frowning gives you wrinkles, she did so not need
wrinkles.

"What do you think it means?" Artemis asked feeling catty, she had
been interrupted during an important hunt.

"When a soul arrives in the Halls of Judgement, some souls do not
realise that they are dead. Also souls who die a violent death do
not recall their final moments leading to their deaths." Hades
explained, wondering why all the important Gods and Goddesses seem
to have nothing but air between the ears. "Ares doesn't remember
the last few hours before his death, and until his does remember
bringing him back to life is only going to cause trouble**." Hades
didn't want to explain further, his reason was that at most 3 of his
fellow Gods were going to understand.


* While Zeus did bring Ger to Olympus and make him immortal,
he didn't replace Hebe as the cupbearer to the Gods. He may be
stupid but he likes his balls the way they are - functional.

** When I'm talking trouble I mean; violent flashbacks, they
can't tell the difference between life and death and other nasty
stuff because their soul couldn't find resolution before they were
resurrected.




Part IIII

Zeus looked over at his wife nervously, she was seriously pissed,
and that was an understatement. Zeus rosed from his seat and
prepared to speak. It was an obvious the situation was a set-up to
frame him for the death of his volatile son, and including his
mortal-son was just disgusting. But Hera's hate for Hercules and her
mistrust for him was blinding her to that obvious fact.

"Ares was prepared in case that he dies before the twilight, he had
prepared a will that included funeral arrangements and who will be
named his successor," Zeus explained, he then sat down and Hera
rose.

"Ares wishes will be respected," Hera announced. "Enyo, Goddess of
Chaotic War and Destructive War, daughter of Ares God of Productive
War, Aggressive War and Warriors come fourth," She then commanded in
the formal manner, because while it is bad form to appear to any
summons, you only have to appear if the summons is formal.

Enyo appeared before the 12, well now 11, Olympians in a cloud of
red smoke.
She almost looked like a female version of her father; with her dark
brown, almost black eyes; long curly hair, which was a rich auburn
colour, which reached the small of her back; she was slim and
muscular and had moods swings so violent that she made Discord on
the rag look slightly cranky.

"You called Grandmother," Enyo said in a respectful but sombre tone.
Enyo was dressed in her usual clothing; a pair of tight, red leather
pants, a long black shirt with flowing sleeves and a dark red
bodice.

"Yes we did child," Zeus said a he rosed and walked up to his
granddaughter. "I Zeus, King of the Gods and Ruler of Olympus decree
that Enyo; the Goddess of Destructive and Chaotic War, the daughter
of Ares; the God of Aggressive and Productive War and Warriors, and
Eos; the Goddess of the Dawn*, Day and Dusk is now the Goddess of
Aggressive, Productive and Destructive War. And as the oldest Godly
child of Ares that is in the House of War, is now the Head of the
House of War. You will now take you father's place on the Council
of the Twelve."

Everyone at the meeting, except for Zeus and Hera, gasped in
surprise at the announcement and everyone wondered exactly how much
trouble Zeus was in because Zeus would never put a woman as the Head
of any house, okay they were dismissing Aphrodite because everybody
knew she fucked her way to the top. While Hera claimed loudly and
frequently that Zeus used Hercules as weapon against herself and the
House of War, it wouldn't be enough to put Zeus in seriously hot
water.

Zeus noticed that everyone was staring at him in shock and he had a
good idea of what they were thinking about. He didn't like being
embarrassed by anyone. "Dismissed," he bellowed.


* For the story I assumed that Enyo wasn't the daughter of
Aphrodite [it will become clear why in later parts]. In the myths
where Enyo is described as Ares daughter she has an uncertain
parentage, and because Ares and Eos had an affair it's easier to
assume Enyo was Eos' daughter rather than someone he wasn't
romantically involved linked with.



Part V

Enyo was sitting in the garden that was in the back of the Halls of
War. She was completely exhausted, which was a surprise, considering
the amount of excess energy that she was receiving. As Head of the
House, she was receiving the energy from the missing Godhoods of her
house as well as the energy her own Godhood. She was afraid she was
going to self-reproduce if the excess energy built up. How the hell
did her father do this? Although it did explain why father made it
a habit of nagging Hades for Strife back on a daily basis.

However, she did have an idea, several in fact, all she had to do
was make a plan and put that plan into the action. Enyo walked to
her father's study and she searched for her father's secret safe,
not the safe that was put in plain view for everyone aka Strife to
find, but the safe that her father kept everything that he didn't
want in the hands of others. It was so well hidden that Strife
couldn't find.

She had to go to the Underworld and see if her father was up to
having visitors. Enyo grabbed a quill and several pieces of
parchment. She then transported herself to the Underworld, to the
official reception room. Enyo soon found herself facing the King of
the Dead, Hades.

"Enyo, how are you?" Hades asked with sincerity.

"Exhausted but otherwise I am fine," Enyo answered with a tried
smile. "Thank you for asking Uncle Hades."

"What do I owe for this visit, child?" Hades asked.

"Can I visit father?" Enyo asked, a tremor in her voice.

"Yes but he hasn't remembered his death or the events leading up to
it," Hades said. "So don't ask your father anything relating to his
death, it distresses him."

"I understand," Enyo said with a nod of acknowledgement.

"Your father is in Persephone's garden and Strife is with him,"
Hades
said before Enyo could ask the question.

"Thankyou Uncle Hades," Enyo said as a goodbye as she teleported to
Persephone's gardens, the Queen of the Underworld's little piece of
Earth in the Underworld.



Part VI

It had been two weeks since she visited her father in the underworld
and she had a plan, a great plan in her opinion, but she wanted to
make sure that it was the right thing to do. She needed to visit her
grandmother, Hera. Enyo transported herself to her grandmother's
garden, if Hera was on Olympus; there was a good chance that she
would be in her garden.

She found her grandmother, weeding, she couldn't figure out why Hear
insisted that she do such things without using her powers, everyone
avoided her when it was time to manure her rosebushes. Hera had her
long, thick auburn hair in a loose bun, and she had dirt smudged on
her dress and on her skin. Enyo waited until her grandmother had
finished weeding that area and was started to get up, she then
helped her up.

"Enyo, what a pleasant surprise," Hera exclaimed quietly.

"Grandmother, I have a question and you are the only person who can
answer it," Enyo explained as Hera led them to a nearby bench.

"Of course," Hera said gently. Enyo was amazed that her grandmother
was the same entity that Hercules hated with a passion, but then
again she didn't go out of her way to piss off her grandmother.

"Um . . . I know this is a difficult subject for you, but you do
have the right to refuse to answer," Enyo started.

"Just ask the question," Hera snapped, she last thing she needed was
for her children and grandchildren to coddle her.

"If you had the choice, would you choose to have never know of Zeus'
infidelities?" Enyo asked as she prayed to Gaia that Hera didn't get
upset or angry. Hera, as the Goddess of Marriage could feel every
time a mortal or god broke their wedding vows but Zeus' infidelities
were more intense because he was her husband.

"Why have you asked such a question?" Hera asked quietly. She
assumed that her granddaughter wouldn't ask unless it was important.

"I have some information that would bring to life in infidelity of a
married god. I wonder if it is the right thing to, if their spouse
would want to know about the infidelity.

"If you do this nobody in this situation will think very highly of
you,"
Hera said, looking Enyo in the eye. "People will gladly be hate the
messenger than be angry at the real culprit."

"I know that, but I feel as though this indiscretions brought to
light," Enyo said seriously. "This person has as much issues with
fidelity as Zeus does, doesn't he have the right to know."

"Be careful, you nor the House of War does not need more enemies,"
Hera offered the only advice she could think of.

"I didn't know the House of War had any friends left but I'll try my
best grandmother," Enyo said. She then stood up and teleported
herself back to the Halls of War.



Part VII

Enyo transported herself to her Aunt Hebe's temple, she had a plan
and she needed someone to help her and she wanted Aunt Hebe to be
that person. Hebe and her father had been very close and she was the
only one that she felt was completely innocent of wronging her
father in any way. Enyo looked at the bottle that she was clutching
tightly Hecate's cauldron. She was glad that all the remaining
Titans stick together after their defeat had the hands of the
Kronoids*, and that included any Titans that were born after the
war; and it didn't hurt that Hecate had a really wicked sense of
humour, all she had to do was to mention that she wanted to cause
some trouble during the Meeting of the 12 and Hecate made it that
extra potent for Enyo.

Enyo wandered around her Aunt's temple and mentally called out to
her Aunt, she tried not to yell it was rude, she added to her mental
checklist; never answer someone if they were yelling. She knew that
her Aunt Hebe and her father were close was during that debacle when
Aphrodite was pregnant with Cupid. Ares had
help raised Hebe when Hera was swamped with work which almost all of
Hebe's childhood, so Hebe knew how good of a father Ares was, and
testified that when Aphrodite was trying to block Ares rights as the
father of Cupid. To bad that Aphrodite slept with Zeus and Poseidon
to win the Judgement, the only reason she didn't sleep with Hades
because he was pinning after Persephone, okay and the fact that
Hades wouldn't poke her with a stick if he thought she was dead was
also a contributing factor. Lucky for her father that Hera soon
found out and she forced Zeus to declare Hebe as the official nanny
for Cupid and any child fathered by Ares. Know one knew what Hera
did to Aphrodite but she has been scared to approach the Queen of
the Gods for anything.

Hebe soon appeared before her niece; "Hello Enyo, it's bine awhile,"
Hebe greeted Enyo with a gentle hug and a kiss on the cheek.

"Aunt Hebe," Enyo said as she returned the hug.

"While your visits are pleasant I must admit curiosity as to why you
are here?" Hebe asked.

Enyo laughed; "You know me to well, Aunty. I know of the wrongs that
were committed against my father and I know how you felt about the
treatment of my father. I would like it if you would assist me in a
form of revenge, a form of justice," Enyo's voice became grave as
she spoke the last part.

"What do you mean in a form of revenge and justice," Hebe asked with
an eyebrow raised, trying to determine what her niece is planning
and whether or not she would want a part of if. Hebe made it one of
her personal rules not to get involved in plots and plans that had a
good chance of blowing up in her face.

"I want the truths of the wrongs against my father brought to light
and recorded, during the meeting of the 12**," Enyo explained.

"A good idea but what are you planning to do to bring about this
major feat?" Hebe asked, the only thing that Hebe could honestly say
about the reason she hated Olympus is the fact that her beloved
brother and sister, Ares the God of Aggressive War and Productive
War and Eris the Goddess of Discord and Mayhem, were treated so
poorly and that they themselves were blamed for their poor
treatment. For as long as she could remember Ares and Eris were
treated as such and they never retaliated, as the Goddess of
Children and Youths she knew that their behaviour had to be a result
of that situation and others treatment of them must have been since
early childhood. How could a 3 to 5 year old be to blame for the
problems of others? How could anyone in good conscious treat a child
like that?

Enyo held up the truth potion for Hebe's inspection. "A present from
Hecate, a truth potion. She promised me that it would be tasteless,
and long lasting but takes 30 minutes to hour for the effects to
start showing, however it mixes lovely with wine and nectar***,"
Enyo explained. "I want everyone but you and me to ingest it."

"I'll do it, I want justice and revenge for what has happened to
your father and his twin," Hebe said. Hebe smiled sadly as she watch
Enyo disappear, she let the tears of grief fall, she wondered why it
took her brother's death for the truth to be revealed, why were the
fates so cruel to her brother and sister.


* The Kronoids were the children of Kronos

** In this story, all the Meetings of the 12 were recorded.

*** While Ambrosia is the food of the Gods, Nectar is the drink
of the Gods, there are several Ancient Greek recipes for nectar each
more disgusting than the last. Since the first time I've
encountered the word I've always imagine that Nectar was really
flower nectar.




tbc

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