This is a response to the Stud Doubles challenge
Actually I had a weird idea this evening. What if Ares is a
virgin (the fates decreed that he must remain so until hope is
needed.), all of 'his' children are the result of "stud" doubles.
However *the time has come (so say the fates) for Ares'
sacrifice to be taken by one who loves him. And so shall Chaos be
defeated.*
Okay, strange it is but why not.
okay another addendum. What if Ares is actually
only holding the title God of War for his mate, at that time his
true godhood would be revealed. And that will be.... :)
I hope someone takes this idea up and gives it a home.
Toby
I've also decided that Ares' normal behaviour is how his father and
the rest of his family tell him the God of War should act, and he's
really very submissive.
Title: Innocence
Author: Jay
E-mail: Jessica.Robertson@ncl.ac.co.uk
Rating: Hard R
Fandom: Xena/HtLJ
Pairing: Ares/Joxer
Disclaimer: Not mine, they belong to those nice people at
Renaissance Pictures, who I'm sure won't sue me
Warnings: Contains issues of dominance/submission in a relationship.
Summary: Ares isn't the real God of War, he's only standing in until
his destined mate claims his position.
Ares watched his daughter and her pet bard ignoring one of his
most faithful warriors. He occasionally indulged himself in dreams
that a warrior who had caught his attention was his destined mate,
but none of those he had considered before had captivated him the
way Joxer did. By all rights Joxer should be a famed hero, or a
notorious warlord by now, his balance and co-ordination were perfect
when tested in isolation, Apollo had insulated him from the world
and performed all sorts of tests at Ares' request when Joxer became
clumsy at the age of fifteen. Ares had thought there was a curse or
something on Joxer, because prior to that he had been well on course
to fulfil his potential, a greater warlord than Xena at her best, or
a more noble and skilled hero than Hercules. Apollo had demanded
that Ares 'perform' for him - masturbate in front of him - and let
Apollo grope him in exchange, but had been careful not to compromise
his virginity.
The strict requirements for virginity, according to the Fates
were that Ares had never climaxed through another's touch, nor
caused another to climax by his touch. So he was permitted to
masturbate, and Apollo had collected the semen later to fertilise
goddesses who wished to bear a child by the God of War, even if he
was just a placeholder for his destined mate, and those mortal women
the Fates said were required to bear a child of War. Ares didn't
really expect his future husband to be faithful to him - who would
want to be faithful to a consort forced upon them? Especially a
virgin consort, who knew nothing about pleasing his husband.
Ares had never been able to understand why Joxer still
worshipped him, worshipped War, he had been dedicated with his
triplets but Jett had turned to Thanatos and Jace to Aphrodite. Why
had Joxer remained faithful when Ares had been able to do nothing to
help him? Nothing to help him fight at any rate. He had requested
that Joxer go to his daughter to guard her, as a special mission
from him - even going so far as to request that he wear that
ridiculous suit of armour so Xena wouldn't get suspicious. He had
known that in her quest for redemption Xena would immediately start
to protect Joxer when she could, and the armour had been made by
Hephaestus at Ares' request, it protected Joxer despite its
appearance. He hadn't been able to explain why he'd done that,
hadn't really understood it himself, but everyone assumed that Ares
just hoped Joxer would be his future mate, someone not too cruel,
but still a worshipper of War. That was the only thing the Fates had
permitted the rest of the gods to know, that Ares' destined mate
would be a worshipper of War. It was deeper than that, but Ares
wasn't sure how, any more than he knew why Joxer still worshipped
someone who couldn't give him what he needed.
Ares bit his lip and looked around guiltily. He wasn't supposed
to do this, to shapeshift into any form where he might be vulnerable
to rape, but he wanted to speak to his daughter on civil terms for a
change, and to see Joxer. He couldn't do that in any form that might
seem threatening. He changed into a woman, not beautiful. Her hair
was still black but it fell past her shoulders. Her nose was far too
large and strong for her face, the best that could be said of her
was that she was handsome. Ares chose a path that would allow her to
meet with Xena and her companions a few miles ahead, and created a
backpack with everything she needed to travel. The Sword of War she
changed into a small dagger, something any village woman might carry
to protect herself with.
Unfortunately she joined the main road as a group of men were
approaching the junction. There were about a dozen of them and the
leader grabbed Ares by the arm, pulling her to him and beginning to
undress Ares.
"Let go of me!" Ares tried to avoid hurting them too badly, but
she swiftly had to resort to using her dagger. She'd already dropped
her backpack and managed to kill three of them before they wrested
the dagger form her hand and pinned her down.
Then Xena's chakram came flying towards them, killing the man
about to force himself on her. That gave Ares just enough leverage
to roll out from under the men. She grabbed her dagger and killed
another before Xena attacked, then she just stayed out of the way,
watching the fight. Xena killed another four men and Gabrielle
knocked three out. Joxer hadn't managed to kill any, why Ares was so
fascinated by a blood innocent was beyond her.
"Are you all right?" Now she remembered. Joxer had bent down to
help her up, then he picked her backpack up for her as she replied.
"Yes, I think so..." No one had ever tried to force themselves
on Ares like that. This was the first time she'd disobeyed her
father's edict and gone out in the mortal realm in a form that was
at risk of rape. The rest of the gods had always protected him from
anything like that, even to the extent of disguising themselves as
him when he needed to bind someone to the service of War through
sex. So, although Xena was his daughter, she only thought she'd been
his lover. In actual fact it had been Cupid who'd taken her to his
bed. He'd known intellectually that his warriors often raped the
defeated, and Xena had even used a subtle form of rape, requiring
men to buy their lives by pleasuring her, in his presence. But until
now he hadn't understood the risk as it applied to him or the true
horror of rape, the feeling that it was to some extent your own
fault. Ares burst into tears in delayed reaction.
"Hush, it's all right. You're safe now. You can cry yourself
out, no one will think less of you." Joxer gathered her into his
arms and whispered words of comfort and reassurance to Ares, until
she was able to stop crying. "Xena, could we set up camp somewhere
close? She..."
"Call me Aria, please."
"Aria has had quite a shock and she needs to feel safe. You
aren't going to abandon her to be attacked again are you?" Ares
stiffened in Joxer's arms, scared at the thought of being forced
sexually. "I'm sorry Aria, I didn't mean to upset you, but I swear
if I can protect you I will." Joxer, it seemed, had learned how to
manipulate Xena himself, because she agreed, and Ares wondered what
it would be like to belong to a husband who would protect him
because it was the right thing to do, rather than merely because
Ares was his property. He'd been raised knowing he would be nothing
more than the property of his destined mate, all titles that were
his by right of birth would go to the true God of War, and he would
only be granted an independent godhood if his husband gave his
consent to it. Despite that Ares longed with all his soul for his
marriage to take place, so he didn't need to pretend to be something
he wasn't. He was coached on how to act by his father, his
nephew/son, Strife, his sisters, Eris - who was a true War Goddess -
and Athena - who was a different aspect of War, and many other
members of the House of War.