Part 1 Part 2 Part 3
Fic title: A Solstice to Remember
Author: Qzeebrella
Author's e-mail: qzeebrella@yahoo.com
Date: December 20, 2005
Archive: Permission to archive granted to Joxerotica, AJCS.
Category: Slash
Rating: NC-17 for the end
Pairing: Joxer/Ares, Cupid/Strife implied
Summary: Joxer looses all memory of his relationship with Ares, can
he remember in time for a Solstice wedding?
Warnings: none
Series title: Solstice With the God's. First in series, next one to
be titled Strife: Abnormally Devious Hyperactive God (ADHD)tm
Beta: Penny Slade all remaining mistakes are mine, all mine!
Spoilers: none
Disclaimer: the God's belong to themselves, Xena and Joxer to
Renaissance Pictures, MCA/Universal. No profit is being made from
the story below.
Author's notes: written for Name/Pseudonym: Kerensa who wanted
Joxer/Ares, Cupid/Strife with Joxer and Ares as a couple. Joxer
isn't a god yet or even immortal. Ares is planning on asking Joxer
to marry him and become a god when Joxer is injured. Joxer loses his
memory and thinks he's still traveling with Xena and Gabrielle. He
doesn't really know Ares! and barely recognizes him. Strife goes
down to keep an eye on Joxer. He is in disguise and even Xena
doesn't recognize him. Cupid keeps an eye on Joxer as well and gets
to see another side of Strife. Before this he didn't really like
Strife, choosing to believe the nasty rumors that Discord has always
spread about him. Naturally Joxer will get his memory back somehow
and both couples end up together.
Bonus Challenge(s): I would love it Gabrielle was responsible for
Joxer getting hurt, because she was being mean to him. Joxer finally
standing up to his "friends" would be nice too.
I hope I did okay. Stars indicate a change in point of view from one
character to the next.
***
Ares was scared shitless, not that he would ever admit to it. After
all he was the God of War and able to inspire fear in countless
people just by walking by them and growling at them. (It was a
little known fact that when Ares was bored he would just go from
place to place in Greece and just growl at whomever happened to be
near by. It amused him to see villagers scatter away from him in
utter terror.) He needed his parents consent before he could ask
anyone to marry him and he knew it would be difficult to get. After
all it wasn't some nice God or Goddess he was hopelessly in love
with, it was a mortal. It likely did not help that the last time a
God took a mortal as a mate turned out to be a disaster. He had no
idea how to convince Zeus and Hera that this time things would be
different. That since Joxer was dedicated to him out of love and was
one of the few mortals alive who had a pure heart he would not turn
out to be another Psyche. So now he was faced with having to get his
mother and father to agree to the same thing, at the same time,
mainly allowing Joxer to become a God and marry him.
"Piece of cake.' he thought and walked into the throne room.
And immediately thought he must have walked into one of the many
alternate universes out there. For Zeus and Hera were sitting
together, holding hands, talking to each other and smiling. Ares
checked to make sure the universe had NOT just ended and then took a
quick peek into Hades' domain with his inner eye to make sure
Tartarus had not frozen over and then he just stood there staring at
his parents.
"Come here dear," Hera said with a smile, dressed in a flowing white
toga that made her look like an elegant, loving, grandmother.
Ares approached very carefully, ready to transport himself as far
away as possible as seeing his mother like this instead of the
bitter old woman she had become was just too bizarre for words. As
he walked to his mother, he kept an eye on his father who was
looking at him with pride and had an "elderly country gentleman"
thing going on today.
Hera gestured for him to bend down and once he had she kissed him on
the cheek. "Sit down my son, we have something we would like to talk
to you about."
Ares sat on the nearest chair, facing them, utterly speechless. He
had no earthy clue how to talk to his parents when they were being
so normal.
"Well son, it's just about time you took a mate." Zeus smiled in a
loving father fashion, "after all you are a few millennia old now
and it's about time you settled down. You've sown you're wild oats,
conquered quite a few villages, and wreaked havoc when havoc was
needed. Now you need a nice woman or man to come home to."
"Maybe that mortal of yours," Hera mused, "Joxer of Corinth, he's a
nice boy. A bit clumsy and rather strange, but nice."
Zeus nodded, "Of course if you do decide to marry the boy, he will
be given a Godhood and it would have to be a Godhood the boy is
suited for."
"He might even be assigned to the House of Love or the House of
Medicine, but would of course live with you and be married to you."
Hera reassured Ares.
"I'd have to think for awhile on what sort of Godhood to give him,
but once you are married he will drink ambrosia and once he has I
will know what Godhood the Fates intended him to have." The king of
the Gods smiled.
"Joxer would make a lovely God and would liven things up here on
Olympus. In fact, he would be perfect for you Ares, why don't you go
ask him to marry you now?"
Ares blinked and somehow managed to close his mouth, which had been
open since he sat down. "Who are you and what did you do to my
parents?"
Zeus and Hera laughed.
"You know, Strife was right, this was fun." The king of the Gods
said.
"It was, even if he did threaten to eternally prank us if we weren't
nice to Ares when he finally got up the courage to approach us. Just
don't expect it to continue you lecherous old man."
"I won't." Zeus assured his wife and seeing Ares' face become
blank. "We still give you permission to ask the boy to become your
husband Ares. Even if Strife manipulated us into doing so. For
Strife is right, Joxer would make a good addition to our family and
he certainly makes you happy. I know I haven't been much of a
father, but I won't stop you from having this little piece of
happiness. However, I will not change my ways, so when it does not
concern your husband-to-be I will be just as I have always been to
you."
"Understood. I had planned to ask him this weekend when he'll be in
Corinth. Is that soon enough?" Ares asked.
"Yes, it is, go with our blessing." Zeus knowing how important it
was for a God to ask his potential mate to marry him in the first
place that was dedicated to him. He watched his son disappear and
then turned to his queen. "So, what did Strife threaten to do to
you?"
"I'll tell you if you first tell me what he threatened to do to
you." Hera replied.
"You know, maybe I don't really want to know."
Hera nodded and went to go to her favorite grandson. She grinned
mischievously and ruffled his hair, "you did good."
"So did you, how did you manage to keep gramps from figuring out you
were helping me to get him to give Ares permission?" Strife asked.
Hera just smiled, "I'm afraid that's a trade secret. So have you
finally managed to ask Cupid out on a date?"
"Me? Ask Cupid for a date? The least popular deity in the pantheon
ask the most popular one out? You have got to be kidding me!"
"No, I think you would make a good couple. In fact, I likely could
manage to make it possible with just a little of my own brand of
mischief."
"NO! Please, grandma, don't try to fix us up. It's just... if we are
meant to be a couple; I want it to happen without you manipulating
him. It was because he tripped at the wrong time that he shot
himself a bit earlier than you had planned for him to and he ended
up with Psyche instead of me. Which created that mess of Cupid being
in love with Psyche, Psyche being in love with Ace and Ace not
daring to love Psyche for fear of the Green-eyed Monster."
Hera sighed, "True, it's a shame though. If you ever need to talk..."
"I know where to come." Strife hugged her and grinned
maniacally, "you know, if we ever want half the pantheon to keel
over in shock, including gramps, all we have to do is tell them just
who I learned my special brand of mischief from."
"Maybe next solstice, it would liven things up." Hera grinned. "Now
you go on back to work, I want to hear the children of Greece
chuckling to themselves post haste."
Strife saluted her and disappeared.
***
Though given the go ahead to ask Joxer to marry him right away, Ares
decided to wait to ask his love at Solstice like he had originally
planned. The man had told him time and again that the winter
solstice was really special to him. That it had become a time for
new beginnings and that he had always received the best gifts then.
Like his mother telling him she loved him, or Xena telling him she
was proud of him. Joxer was convinced that any agreement entered
into at the winter solstice would last forever.
Once Ares had learned of this he had started to plan on how to make
this solstice the best one of Joxer's life. The God of War wanted to
be able to spend a couple weeks with Joxer without anything or
anyone interfering with them. In order to have that he was going to
have to juggle his work schedule a bit. He was sure that his sister
would be willing to take on his work since she had been nagging him
for centuries on how he should take a vacation.
He just knew that this solstice was going to be one he never forgot.
***
Meanwhile, somewhere near Corinth, Joxer had nearly caught up with
his friends Xena and Gabrielle. He wanted to tell them about his
relationship with Ares before they heard about it from someone else.
He knew that Xena would be happy for him in spite of her and Ares'
differences. She had come to understand why war was sometimes
necessary, thanks to the incident in which Ares had lost his sword
and chaos has taken over Greece for awhile. She still hoped that
mankind would learn how to live without war, learn how to share
resources and keep the population at a sustainable number, but she
also knew it would not happen within her lifetime. The warrior
princess would also be glad since his relationship with Ares would
mean that the God would no longer try to pursue her.
Joxer knew that Xena was fully aware that after seeing what his
father's affairs had done to his parent's marriage, that Ares would
never do that to his mate. That once Ares committed himself to one
person that he'd work hard to make it work, that he would remain
faithful since he understood the value of loyalty. It would also
help that the warrior princess knew her father had the capacity to
love with all his heart, having seen him do so with his children.
Xena might even know whether it would ever be possible for him and
Ares to marry, for that is what the warrior wanted with his lover.
He was a little worried over how Gabrielle might react since the
woman could be incredibly close minded about certain things. The
bard refused to believe that Ares was capable of love, choosing to
think he was evil incarnate and that without him there would be
world wide peace. Joxer wasn't quite sure how she could still
believe this in light of what had happened when Ares lost his power
but he figured she likely thought that it had been part of some
elaborate scheme of the God's and he had actually been in control of
everything all along. Joxer knew that the blonde could not be
reasoned with once she made her mind up about something, but he
still hoped that she would come to accept his decision one day.
Hopefully the fact that he would no longer pester her with what she
had told him time and time again was unwanted attention, would have
her more relieved that he had someone else to love than upset.
***
Gabrielle was cooking supper for herself and Xena at the camp they
had set up for the night, content with how her life was going. She
was living a life of adventure in which she made an invaluable
contribution to a beautiful princess' quest for redemption. She got
to write about the quest in her own unique style which was ahead of
it's time. (She figured it must be ahead of it's time since no
one "appreciated" her art. It amazed her that no one realized her
shear genius, but there would come a time when they did. In a way,
she was right for in a millennium or two someone named Mary Sue
would discover Gabrielle's style of writing and copy it.)
Added to her talent and her life of adventure, she had her very own
warrior hopelessly in love with her incomparable beauty. Admittedly
Joxer wasn't very much of a warrior, but at least he was completely
faithful and always would be. She deserved such faithfulness as she
was beautiful, talented, graceful, an expert with her staff,
compassionate, and everything a woman should be. Thus she was
certain she would always have the warrior's devotion in spite of the
fact that Gabrielle would never love him back, especially since he
was not worthy of her. Her selfless devotion to her calling as a
bard and her dedication to helping Xena with her endless quest for
redemption meant she was much too good for him. The blonde
graciously allowed his helpless devotion for she knew she deserved
nothing less and she knew the warrior-wanna-be would never give up
on his pursuit. At least if he knew what was good for him he would
not give it up.
The bard looked up as she heard the tuneless whistle, knowing that
it could only be Joxer. She would be able to string him along with a
mix of come hither gestures and sneering disdain. The man was a
glutton for punishment and seemed to thrive on insults. He even let
her to tap him on the head with her staff and to grab his nose when
he deserved punishment. No matter what she did to him, the man kept
coming back. His devotion and worship of her as reliable as the fact
she was the best writer in Greece.
"Hey Gabby, where's Xena?"
"She took Argo down to the river for a drink."
"Do you think she'll be back soon?"
Gabrielle frowned, something was definitely wrong here. Joxer wasn't
fawning over her or making a nuisance out of himself or doing one of
the hundreds of things that proved his absolute worship of her. This
definitely would not do at all, she deserved his worship and she was
going to get it!
"She should be back in a few minutes," the bard noticed that Joxer
was not looking at her with his customary idiotic expression. She
watched as he almost bounced up and down with excitement.
"I have something wonderful to tell both of you! But since Xena
isn't here yet, I'll tell you first. I've fallen in love with
someone!" Joxer exclaimed, "so you don't have to worry about me
chasing after you all the time."
"You're what?" Gabrielle shouted.
"I'm in love with someone wonderful and gorgeous." Joxer repeated.
The Amazon was seized with unthinking rage. How dare her worshipper
stop loving her?
Before she knew it, she was swinging her staff in a long arch and
had hit Joxer in the head, knocking him onto the ground. `Serves him
right! Maybe it will knock some sense into him.' She had only one
brief moment to triumph though for as she looked down at him she saw
a pool of blood forming around Joxer's head and realized that Xena
would be back at any minute and see him. If the brunette saw this
and realized what the Amazon had done, she would refuse to let the
bard travel with her. Gabrielle would do anything short of kissing
Joxer to prevent that from happening since that would mean an end to
the inspiration behind her epic poems and she felt the world should
not have to face such a tragic loss.
So the bard did the only thing she could think to do, she called on
the Goddess she had dedicated herself to when a child, knowing that
Goddess helped all her followers regardless of whether they prayed
or went to one of her temples. She knew Hecate would help her and
that with her help everything would go back to the way it should be.
"Oh Great Goddess Hecate - Hear my desperate plea - I need thy help -
I deserve your help - For I am yours - And you accept only the
best!"
Gabrielle grinned in triumph as Hecate appeared, thinking how
beautiful the elegant huntress with a crown of stars was and not
realizing she did not see the Goddess as she truly was. The bard saw
an illusion created to win worshippers who would follow in her
footsteps, those worshippers never saw her three heads, one a horse,
one a bear, one a dog. Gabrielle was sure that she was the only
worshipper who got such a result whenever she called the Goddess.
The blonde was certain that she was the only one deserving of such
immediate attention from the Gods.
"Yes my child?" Hecate growled, though it sounded like soothing
speech to the young woman.
"Something terrible happened! This man who should be helplessly in
love with me, worshipping me and thus by extension worshipping you,
thinks he's in love with someone else! His attitude was so grating
that I inflicted punishment upon him. And now I need you to heal the
damage the wound has caused to him and get rid of all evidence of it
before the woman I travel with finds out. I also need him to forget
all about whatever floozy he thinks he's in love with."
The Goddess was impressed, her worshipper was almost as much of a
witch with a capital B as Hecate herself was. She decided to reward
the mortal since the girl's attitude fed her quite a bit of
power. "In order to do what you ask, I need to know the last time
you know for sure that he was in love with you so as to be able to
return him to that state and alter his memories since then."
"It was this last summer Solstice, he was tripping all over himself
to impress me."
Hecate nodded and then snapped her fingers, repairing all damage to
the man, eliminating all hint of the blood, and burying the last six
months of his memories under false memories that mirrored the true
ones. Memories of constantly thinking of Gabrielle and wishing he
was with her, memories of his travels from Athens toward Corinth,
making sure it would be nearly impossible for the mortal to uncover
the true memories. Hecate wondered for a moment if she should peek
deeper into the true memories before burying them completely.
Thinking she should if only to see who the man had fallen in love
with, but she decided she didn't really care which floozy the so-
called warrior had fallen in love with.
The Goddess turned to her worshipper, "I have done what you asked. I
have healed the damage your just punishment left him with. I then
buried the memories he has formed since summer Solstice under
memories of him going to the same places and thinking only of you. I
must caution you though, if his love for the floozy is a true love
of one soul mate for another, he will slowly remember the truth and
what you did today will come to light. If it does come to light the
warrior princess will loose all respect for you and forsake you for
another."
"Then I have nothing to worry about, thank you my Goddess." The bard
was certain that Joxer would never remember, after all she felt that
there could be no way a klutz like him could have a soul mate.
Hecate acknowledged the gratitude and then flashed away to her
temple to savor the energy she had just received from Gabrielle. The
Goddess drank deeply from the flashes of hate, anger, jealousy and
contempt her follower had unwittingly sent her way.
***
Joxer groaned as his eyes slowly opened, his head aching in a
morning after a night long binge of drinking way. The last thing he
could remember was running into the clearing in excitement at seeing
Gabrielle again and tripping over his own feet as he neared her. He
hoped he hadn't embarrassed himself too badly in front of the bard.
After all he was in love with...
He frowned to himself, wondering why his heart and mind insisted he
stop there. As far as he could recall he had spent the last 6 months
away from his friends pining for Gabrielle, just as he always had
when away from her. So why was he now hesitant to admit loving her
even to himself? Something odd was definitely going on but until he
figured out what his heart was trying to tell him by insisting on
leaving it as, "I'm in love with..." he would have to be careful. He
would have to pull his `Joxer the Mighty' persona around him like a
cloak, giving him a chance to gather information before doing
anything. After all, very few bothered to look beyond the persona to
see what he truly was like, most preferring to discount him as a
fool. The cloak had protected him from some of the world's cruelty
and had given him an opportunity to help his friend Strife cause
mischief.
The only ones who had taken the time to look beyond his persona were
his brothers, Xena, Iolaus and ... and ... someone he could not
quite remember at the moment. He had the feeling though that the
someone he could not quite remember was very important to him. He
could only hope that he would remember who the someone was with
time. Until he remembered why he could no longer truly say he was in
love with Gabrielle, he would have to pretend to be hopelessly in
love with her and he would have to be `Joxer the Mighty' while doing
so.
He grinned up to see a slightly worried bard watching him, "Hi
Gabby! I've come to help you and Xena; I just know you'll need the
help of a warrior in Corinth and who better than Joxer the Mighty to
protect two fair damsels? Where is Xena anyway?"
"She went down to the river with Argo to give her a drink, she
should be back soon."
"Good, I can't wait to tell you two how I took care of a gang of
bandits all by myself. When they realized who they were facing they
were terrified." Joxer knew his act was working from the way Gabby
looked as if she was just one second away from twisting his nose. He
had just braced himself for her abuse when Xena entered the
clearing, taking the bard's notice away from him. "Hey Xena!"
"Joxer!" She exclaimed in welcome, "it's so good to see you again,
it's been such a long time, I was worried about you."
"You shouldn't worry, Joxer the Mighty can take care of himself." He
puffed his chest out importantly and knew she was the only one
besides himself here who knew he was saying it with self deprecating
humor.
"I know, but I do hope you will travel with us for awhile. We could
use your help and we have missed you."
Joxer basked in the friendship and acceptance in her eyes. He
wondered if Xena knew she was speaking on behalf of herself and her
horse when she told him "they" had missed him, for he knew Gabby
never truly missed him when he was gone. "Never fear, Joxer the
Mighty is here and I will help you!"
Xena and Joxer ignored Gabby's snort of disgust at his words,
choosing to catch up on each other's adventures. The warrioress
putting Gabrielle in charge of cooking dinner to give herself time
to talk with her friend whose determination made him a warrior at
heart.
***
Ares woke slowly and had to remind himself to keep breathing through
the pain. Something terrible must have happened for him to be still
reeling from the shock. Fearing the worst, he checked on the
connection he had formed with Joxer when they had become lovers. The
cord of love stretching from Ares to Joxer was still strong, thick
and vibrant, but something was wrong.
Normally Joxer's own cord of love was strong, thick, vibrant and
twisting about his own. But now there was only a very thin line
extending from Joxer to him. Though the line gave the God the
feeling that it could not be broken, the fact that Joxer's cord of
love went from thick to thin in a matter of minutes terrified Ares.
He could think of no circumstance that could do something like that.
Ares could not even take comfort in the fact that since the cord had
not snapped, Joxer must still be alive for the pain from the drastic
change of thick abiding love to this thin whisper of love was
overwhelming. He fought the pain down, needing to find Joxer and see
him with his own eyes before he could even think of trying to figure
out what went wrong.
The God took a deep breath and followed the lines of connection back
to where Joxer was and quicker than thought he was there in the
clearing. He saw as Joxer doubled over with pain at the sight of
him, starting to scream. Felt the waves of pain his love was feeling
at the sight of him.
Ares did not notice Xena reach for her chakram and prepare for an
attack. The God of War barely noticed as a very pale Aphrodite
flashed into the clearing, accompanied by Psyche and Ascelpius. All
he knew was that he was being pulled away from the man he loved,
something that would normally enrage him. He was vaguely aware of
ending up in Dite's temple and helped into a chair. Though he heard
Hephaestus and Dite talking, he could make no sense of it over the
roaring pain in his head. The Heir apparent did not even blink when
the Goddess flashed away again.
Ares barely felt two strong arms wrapping around him as his brother
rocked him. The God of War did not know he was sobbing and did not
care. He was numb, cold, shattered and knew he would never be able
to be whole again without Joxer's love.
***
Xena saw Ares appear, Joxer fall over with pain, saw as her father
started sobbing and did not know what to think. She reached for her
chakram though she did not think it was an attack and had just
grabbed it when she saw Aphrodite pull Ares away. The warrioress
watched as Ascelpius and Psyche ran over to her friend, kneeling
beside him. She saw as Dite flashed back and growled.
"What in Tartarus is going on?" She yelled at the deities, chakram
in her hand. "What did Ares do to Joxer? What are you planning on
doing to him? If you don't answer me now I'll tear you limb from ...
***
Aphrodite blasted Xena and Gabrielle unconscious seeing as there was
no time to explain to them that she had no idea what was going on.
"Why did you knock the blonde unconscious? She wasn't threatening
us." Ace asked as he checked on his patient.
"She might not care about Joxer's well-being, but she does care
about Xena and she would not have sat still if I just blasted Xena."
Dite explained. "So, what's going on?"
"I'm not sure," Ace frowned, he definitely did not like not having
the answer.
"Someone has messed with Joxer's memories, but I don't know how and
I don't know who did it." Psyche said as she scanned Joxer, "there
is a very thick layer of false memories in his mind, burying
something."
"I see what you mean," Ace acknowledged, "but it looks as if the
false memories caved in for a moment, letting the true memories
surface."
"They did and that's what caused Joxer's pain, if the true memories
had stayed uncovered, the overwhelming pain would have continued
until it killed him. I had to bury the memories again to save him."
Psyche frowned, "I'm trying to figure out why the false memories
caved in and the true memories erupted within him, if we can figure
that out we might be able to help him regain his true memories."
"How can I help?" Ace asked.
Psyche sighed and concentrated, "I'm not sure ... I've scanned
Joxer's mind and have been focusing on the immediate past, hoping I
could figure out why the false memories collapsed." The Goddess
gasped, "Of course! Aphrodite, I think I will need your help and
Ace's. Will you join your powers to ours?"
"Anything to help my stud muffin out." Dite said, joining hands with
Ace and Psyche.
"See, here? The moment Ares showed up in the clearing, the vibrant
purple wave followed by gold washing through his mind?" Psyche shows
them.
"That's love," Dite said, "the purple of soul mates acknowledging
each other and a burst of overwhelming love."
"So when Joxer saw Ares, he remembered their love. But why would
that cause him pain?" Ace asked.
"Because it was all at once and remembering their love made the true
memories of what has happened to him lately surface all at once."
Psyche answered.
"Maybe we need to help him remember it slowly." Dite suggested.
"We'll try that, I'll work to gradually uncover the true memories,
Dite you see if you can help him handle the love, and Ace will you
scan him constantly and warn us at the first hint of danger?"
"Of course." Ace started the scan as the two Goddesses prepared to
start, glad the two had managed to become friends after Cupid and
Psyche's divorce. "STOP!" He yelled, just as soon as they started to
try to uncover the mortal's memories. He knew they had stopped
immediately due to the power link the three deities were sharing at
the moment. "Just as soon as you tried to uncover the memories,
unbearable pain started. If you had continued, he would have
experienced it and would have been overwhelmed again."
"Then we can't help him." Psyche murmured sadly.
"He'll never remember loving Ares?" Dite was horrified.
"Wait! See here?" Ace asked, letting them see through his eyes what
had happened with their attempt to help. "The love was helping, I
just don't quite understand why it was causing him pain."
"Because it was coming from an outside source." Psyche
exclaimed, "look, before Ares arrived, Joxer's own mind was starting
to barely remember the love and doing so was not causing him pain.
So I think he will remember on his own in time. I just wish I could
figure out who did this to him."
"Me too, I'd make sure they never messed with anyone ever again. It
would have to be a God or Goddess who did this, it would take a
deity to bury the memories so thoroughly. But why would they do so?"
Dite asked.
"I can think of three reasons." Ace looked at the Goddess, "One the
deity wants Joxer or Ares to themselves and thought if they buried
Joxer's memories that would stop the mortal's love and leave the
field clear for themselves. Two a deity did this at the request of a
worshipper who wanted Joxer or Ares to themselves. Or three, the
deity did this just because they could."
"Makes sense, do you think Joxie will remember who did this to him?"
Dite asked.
"Yes, I do." Psyche, "but since a deity did this he will need
constant protection and it can't be Ares who provides it. Even if
Ares was in disguise, Joxer would recognize him."
"But it should be Ares who decides who should be with Joxer to
protect him." Dite ended the connection and brushed herself
off. "Let's leave the three of them unconscious in a protective
bubble, tell Ares what is going on, and work from there."
***
It took Heph, Dite, Ace and Psyche working together to help Ares
recover from his shock. Once the God of War was capable of listening
and understanding Dite explained the situation to him. "I promise,
he will remember. Both Psyche and Ace say so and they both think it
will be sooner rather than later, but he needs to remember
naturally. And until he does remember, you can not be near him
physically. Your physical presence in any form will be painful for
him. But he needs protection, preferably a God or Goddess to
accompany him 24 hours a day."
"It will also have to be someone naturally suspicious of everyone."
Ace pointed out, "Though I don't think Xena is behind this, we need
someone who will at least consider the possibility that she is."
Ares nodded and went through his options before making his
decision. "Thank you for helping him, I know just who to send to
him. Strife is Joxer's friend and very protective of him and though
the God of Mischief respects Xena, he still remembers the days when
she was the Destroyer of Nations and will be willing to protect him
from her should it become necessary."
Dite nodded, "I'll have Cupid check in on them from time to time and
report back so we know what's going on."
"He will have to go in disguise since we don't want the God or
Goddess behind this to know what's going on. Who knows what the
deity might do if he or she thought they were going to be
discovered?" Ace pointed out.
"I'll tell him, thank you all for your help." Ares said, calling
Strife to him mentally.
***
Strife knew by the anxious tone in Ares' mental call that something
was drastically wrong. It wasn't often his uncle was anxious about
anything, in fact the God of Mischief could not remember the last
time it had happened. Strife dropped everything he was doing and
headed immediately to where Ares was and saw his uncle surrounded by
Dite, Heph, Psyche and Ace. "What's up Unc? You sick? Need me to
chase away Ace and company for you?" He offered though he hoped that
it would not come to that since he kind of liked the other deities.
"That won't be necessary at this time." Ares reassured his
nephew. "I just have a job for you, you see some God or Goddess has
blocked Joxer's recent memories in such a way that he does not
remember being in love with me."
"Just let me at them, I still remember where the Hind's blood dagger
is." Strife growled.
"Zeus' law will prevent us from killing the God or Goddess who did
it and I want to be the one who exacts revenge for the act. The job
I have for you is vital. Due to the God's interference I can not go
anywhere near Joxer physically, but we are worried the God or
Goddess will do all they can to keep Joxer's true memories buried
under false ones. So I need you to be with Joxer 24 hours a day
until he remembers the truth on his own and you need to be in
disguise while you are with him."
"Why would I need to be in disguise?" Strife asked.
"Firstly because he's with Xena and Gabrielle right now and those
two would not willingly let you travel along with them if they knew
who you truly were. And secondly, because we think the God or
Goddess who interfered with Joxer's memories will keep an eye on him
and if they knew you were there all the time they might do something
drastic to him to cover up their tracks." Ares explained.
"Makes sense, I certainly would keep an eye on him. It sounds as if
you expect him to remember the truth soon, what happens if he
doesn't? Will you want me to follow him around for years?" Strife
asked, wanting Ares to at least consider that it might take a long
time for Joxer to remember.
"If necessary, yes," Ares looked at his nephew. "I know I can trust
you to keep him safe and to be there for him no matter how long it
takes. I want him to be able to turn to you for support and comfort
as he starts to remember."
"Okay, I can do that." Strife looked at Ace and Psyche in
puzzlement. "I take it you two tried to help him remember and that
it didn't work."
"Yes, we tried with Dite's help but anytime an outer force or
influence tried to uncover his true memories he suffered unbearable
pain, a kind of pain that would have killed him given time. He needs
to remember the truth naturally and it is his buried love for Ares
that will help Joxer remember."
"Got it." Strife grinned at Ares. "Am I allowed to mess with Xena
and her pet bard?"
"With the bard, yes, but not Xena. Joxer sees her as a sister and I
don't want her harmed unless it turns out she is behind Joxer
forgetting the recent past." Ares said.
Strife nodded, "so he's near Corinth, right?"
"Yes, I'll take you to him." Psyche offered, "he and the others are
in a protective bubble that I helped form so you'll need my help to
get into it."
"Okay, let's go." Strife hopped up and down impatiently, flashing
away with Psyche.
***
Once in the clearing with the three companions Strife thought for a
moment. "I'll change myself into a dog, that way Joxer will have a
way of explaining why I'm following him around all the time. He'll
still recognize me since I've disguised myself as a dog before in
his company so as to be able to create mischief without notice. Xena
and the blonde will just assume I'm really a dog that's attached
himself to Joxer and since dog's are very protective of whom they
consider their master neither of them will think it strange that I'm
cautious around him."
Psyche nodded, "I'll let Cupid know, he will be the one who will
check in on you and Joxer and report back to Ares and us any
concerns you might have."
"Good to know." Strife morphed into a medium sized mutt with spiky
brown fur and a black leather collar with studs on it. The dog ran
around the clearing a couple of times before sniffing Joxer, Xena,
Gabrielle, Psyche and the area. Then he sat at Psyche's feet and
licked her to indicate he was ready.
Psyche smiled down at Strife in amusement, wondering at how she had
never seen how much like a hyper active dog he was until that
moment. She scratched behind his ears, took down the protective
bubble, and then erased the memories the mortals had from Ares
appearance in the clearing to the present time. Then implanted a
memory of Argo spooking at the sudden appearance of the dog and the
horse accidentally knocking the three over. She flashed away from
the clearing, knowing the three would wake up naturally.
***
Xena groaned, wondering what had just happened. She remembered
greeting Joxer and catching up with him on recent events and then
seeing the dog run into the clearing, right underneath Argo's legs,
spooking her. She looked around, saw the dog and glared at it.
"Mischief! Where did you come from?" Joxer exclaimed.
Xena watched as the dog ran to Joxer and started licking him. She
smiled as the dog started to lick her friend.
"I take it you know this dog." Xena grinned.
"Yeah, he's Mischief. I met him awhile ago. I'm the one who gave him
his collar." Joxer tells Xena, the warrior knows his friend would
not disguise himself as a dog without a good reason and realizes for
Strife to have done so and be with him now means that the God must
believe he was in need of protection. "He's been following me around
for the last few months, can he join us?"
"No!" Gabby yelled, "He knocked us over and hurt us. The dog's a
clumsy, ugly oaf and we already have one too many of those around!"
She picked up her staff, intending to chase the dog off with it and
the dog got in between her and Joxer and growled at her.
"Gabrielle, stop that!" Xena exclaimed going to grab her and back
her away from Joxer. "The dog was just excited to see Joxer, he
didn't mean to scare Argo and I'm sure Joxer will teach him to be
careful around her."
"I will and I'll provide for Mischief." Joxer promised.
"That's settled then, Mischief stays and you had better get used to
it Gabrielle." Xena told her friend and then held her hand out to be
sniffed. Watching as the dog waited until Gabrielle put away her
staff before cautiously sniffing her and the bard. Smiling as the
dog relaxed but kept himself between Joxer and Gabby, hoping that
meant her friend would not be able to twist Joxer's nose anymore now
that he had gained a guardian.
"But Xena!" Gabrielle protested.
"No buts, I like Mischief so he's staying."
Gabrielle pouted but knew there was no way she would be able to stop
the dog from joining them now.
***
Joxer scratched and petted Mischief, waiting for the girls to fall
asleep, hoping that once they did he and Mischief could go off
together for a bit. Once alone he hoped his friend would be willing
to tell him just why he was disguised as a dog and why he had joined
him and his friends. In the mean time he was content to just lavish
attention on Strife and whisper to him a few of his concerns.
"I'm not sure what's going on, but I think I'm forgetting something
important. Or maybe it's a someone I'm forgetting and not a someone.
All I know is that I don't think I'm in love with Gabby anymore, but
I'm afraid to tell her or Xena that. Something in me is screaming
that confiding in Gabby in particular would be a very bad idea. I
just wish I could remember what it is I'm forgetting."
Joxer sighed, "I wonder if it has anything to do with the fact I
don't love Gabby anymore, but am sure I'm still in love with
someone. I just wish I remembered who that someone is. All I know is
that whoever it is he is a he and that he loves me back."
"You know I'd like it if you and I could talk alone for awhile."
Joxer felt his friend tense up at that and realized that for
whatever reason his friend did not think it was safe for him to be
alone, even if it was alone with Strife. "Okay, no going off on my
own for awhile, even with you with me." And felt Strife relax so
maybe it was more that Strife wasn't ready to talk rather than
thinking they should not go off alone.
***
Strife wagged his tail as he listened to Joxer, glad that his friend
was so willing to confide in him. He just wished he could help the
young man. The warrior would not be happy when he learned that a God
had messed with his memories and that he would have to get them back
naturally. Strife snuggled to Joxer and slowly let himself go into a
light sleep so as not to let his guard down completely. He was
determined to at least listen for trouble as the others slept.
***
Strife woke early the next morning, just as Xena started to stir. He
kept one eye on her and the bard, resting his snout on Joxer's
shoulder. He wished he could tell the mortal something, but didn't
know what to say to him. He couldn't tell the man about Ares without
hurting him, he couldn't tell him about the God or Goddess who
messed with his memories for fear that Joxer would assume the worse
and think it was Ares who hurt him and he couldn't tell Joxer how
long it would take for him to remember since no one knew for sure
how long it would take. All he could do was follow Joxer around and
be the best damn dog the man had ever had for however long it took
him to remember.
***
Xena kept herself between Gabrielle and Mischief as they prepared to
travel since she knew the bard was not taking to their new traveling
companion very well. She wasn't quite sure why the blonde was acting
like a spoiled child, but she was. It was as if the Amazon resented
the dog's very existence and that she did so because the dog took
Joxer's attention away from her. It was odd.
The warrior princess welcomed the company as having a dog along
would only make their travels safer. The dog was also very cute if a
bit scruffy and a tad too skinny, but anyone could see that the dog
had a heart of gold and loved Joxer. Xena could only hope that the
Amazon could find it within herself to be glad that Joxer had found
such a devoted friend.
***
Strife kept a closer watch on Gabby than he did Xena and was not
afraid to admit that he did. The bard smelled off to him and not
just because he doubted she had washed herself in the last few
months. Her scent left a sour taste in his mouth and made his
hackles rise up. The blonde stank of anger, hatred and cruelty. So
much so he wondered why neither Joxer nor Xena had noticed the
stench.
***
Cupid watched Strife and the others from afar, not wanting to
disturb them in any way yet. He wanted to make sure his dad had made
a good decision when he sent Strife to watch over Joxer. He had
been worried that his father had assigned Strife to the task while
still in shock and maybe that the God of War had not been capable of
thinking straight at that moment as he could not understand why
anyone would trust Strife given all the rumors about him.
The God of love was ashamed to admit he had listened to those rumors
instead of searching out the truth for himself. He had assumed that
Strife was everything everyone had ever said he was and had never
bothered to take the time to learn anything different. Cupid had
believed in the rumors were true up until the moment he started
watching Joxer and the others make their way toward Corinth.
The rumors had convinced Cupid that the God of Mischief was flighty
and unreliable. Everyone said that the God of Mischief was flighty
and unreliable. Everyone said he took after Discord and thrived
through creating chaos. The rumor was that Strife was uncaring,
incapable of love, insane, and even a little cruel. But it had taken
only a few minutes for the God of love to see that everyone was
wrong.
Strife was as playful as a puppy, had a huge capacity to love, and
was capable of unending loyalty. Sure the God was nearly as
hyperactive as Bliss on a sugar high, but Strife took great care in
making sure he didn't knock anyone over.
The contrast between what Strife was truly like when you took the
time to watch him and what the rumors said he was like was greater
than the contrast between white and black. This got Cupid curious
enough that he extended his abilities a bit so he could get a sense
of the other God's emotions.
The first thing the God of love noticed was that Strife was fully
aware that he was being watched, that they all were being watched.
Cupid had watched as Strife ran around Joxer in a very playful way
and the God had assumed it was just aimless play, but it was careful
observance. Strife would run out in front of Joxer, dodge left
behind him, scamper off to one side and then end up in front of
Joxer again. Yet he was never more than 5 feet away from Joxer, ever
watchful, listening for suspicious sounds and smelling the air and
ground constantly. Cupid admired how the God of Mischief was keeping
a constant watch on his charge and the area around them while
seemingly just playing like an overgrown pup.
Cupid sensed that Strife was concerned about being watched so Cupid
relaxed enough to let the other God see him but not enough for Xena
to sense him. The God of Love wasn't sure if he should have been
glad or sad over the fact that Strife did not relax completely even
though he now knew who was watching him. He sensed that the God of
Mischief was still keeping an eye on him, treating him with caution.
Sure Strife was being cautious around Xena too, but that was
different somehow. The God of Mischief should have known he could be
trusted and was safe but was acting as if Cupid was a potential
threat. At least the God wasn't treating him with the same paranoia
he was showing Gabrielle. Now that Strife had relaxed his guard a
bit he could feel how concerned the God was for Joxer. He was able
to see just how close the bonds of friendship had tied the two
together built on the basis of love and mutual respect. The God of
Mischief was guarding the mortal both because he liked him and out
of a sense of duty. The God had a strong sense of loyalty to Ares
that was cemented with a deep respect for his uncle. Strife loved
Ares as a father, admired him and was very proud that Ares had
entrusted him with this duty.
Cupid realized from all of this that Strife was someone he really
wanted to get to know better. So he started to approach him while
taking care that Xena wouldn't accidentally sense him.
***
Strife had tensed up the moment he sensed that a God had shown up
and had gone on high alert without alarming Joxer. He had started to
constantly move around the mortal, using all of the senses available
to him in this form to keep watch. For some reason the scent of the
God watching was familiar and that fact had Strife wondering who it
could be. He wasn't exactly feeling threatened by the presence and
was pretty sure that whoever was watching did not intend to hurt
anyone, but he remained on guard. He would not fail in his duty by a
moments lapse of attention.
He continued checking the area around Joxer for hidden danger,
making sure to keep Gabby as far away from the man as he could. He
didn't trust that mangy cow and had no way to explain to anyone just
why he did not trust her. He was amused over how both Xena and Argo
had picked up on his mood and were now keeping an eye on the bard
and treating her with suspicion.
Strife blinked as he saw Cupid shimmer into existence and with one
sniff confirmed that the winged God was the one who had been
watching them. He also knew by the scent that Cupid was still hiding
himself from the mortals' so he pretended not to care that he was
being watched by the handsome God. Strife licked Joxer's hand once
before continuing to run about Joxer as if playing, ignoring the God
of love's presence as best as he could. He grinned though when Cupid
reached him and Joxer and greeted the God by sniffing his crotch,
nudging the impressive bulge with his nose.
`Hi Cupe! You checking up on me?' Strife asked, using the mental
telepathy the God's were capable of but rarely used since it took up
a lot of energy.
"Yes, Ares asked me to look on you once a day and see what was going
on."
"Well I have nothing solid to report right now." Strife sighed and
started scratching his ear with a paw. "I know Ares would want some
sort of proof as to which as to which God did this to Joxer and I
don't have any proof. All I have is a hunch. I think Gabby must have
had a hand in it somewhere, but the only reason I have to think so
is that she smells bad."
"Well she hasn't washed in a long time." Cupid pointed out, waving
his hand in front of his nose as if trying to get rid of the odor.
"That's not what I mean, she smells of hatred, anger and cruelty. I
would be very surprised if it turns out that she did not help
whichever God or Goddess that did this. But I don't have any
evidence to prove it. Joxer did tell me though that he thinks he's
starting to remember his love, so you can tell Ares that. Joxer
calls them wisps of memory he can't quite hold onto but he's having
more of them as time goes by."
"Well that's good news, I'll let dad know that but I won't tell him
about Gabby yet since all we have are suspicions and we need time to
find out the truth."
Joxer suddenly gasped and dropped to one knee, Strife immediately
went to him and nudged his cheek with a cold wet nose while keeping
an eye on the area around him. Glad to see Cupid go on the alert too
by grabbing his death arrow and his bow. He just hoped the winged
God would not need them.
***
Xena was glad to have Mischief traveling with them, not only was he
fun to watch, he was very observant. Constantly guarding the area
around Joxer and for some reason keeping Gabby as far from him as
possible. The warrior princess began to wonder if her friend had
been possessed again or something from the way the dog was acting.
It was as if Mischief was guarding against an immediate threat by
keeping the bard away from his human. Xena decided to keep an eye on
Gabrielle too, regardless of why the dog was being overly cautious
with her, after all it was always better to be safe than sorry.
So when Joxer gasped and fell to one knee she put herself and Argo
between him and Gabby and saw the dog comfort her friend while still
scanning the area. She joined him in looking around, Chakram in hand.
***
Joxer was glad to have Strife's company as he traveled with Xena and
Gabrielle. Having him so near made a tension nearly disappear, a
tension that he had not been aware of until it was gone. The warrior
trusted Strife to keep him safe and did what he could to help the
God maintain his cover as a dog. He threw sticks a little to the
right of himself so Strife could chase them and scan that area, loop
around him and return them to his left hand. He ruffled Mischief's
fur from time to time as the dog kept watch on the area behind him
and he made sure to always call him Mischief.
He definitely did not want Xena to associate the dog with Strife in
anyway. He was sure that the brunette had bought into all the rumors
Strife had started about himself with the help of a Goddess and
believed that the God was a flighty troublemaker. Joxer was sure he
was only one of a handful of beings who believed the God of Mischief
was an honorable man who just happened to love having fun.
Joxer had noticed that Strife had stepped up his surveillance of the
area, running around him a bit more often and just a little more
hyper alert. However, since he trusted the God so completely he did
not react to the dog's increasing vigilance, choosing instead to do
what he normally did when traveling with Xena and Gabby. He
concentrated on annoying them with questions and by singing or
whistling his theme song incessantly and they reacted the way they
normally did to such actions.
It was when Strife licked his hand that he knew the God didn't think
they were in immediate danger. He did wonder though when the dog sat
and suddenly tilted his nose up and down a bit but shrugged the odd
action off when the dog went back to running around him. His
protectiveness was very reassuring, much like getting a comforting
hug.
He suddenly remembered being wrapped in two strong arms, held close,
feeling safe in the man's protective arms. He remembered a deep
voice saying, "I love you Joxer" and soft kisses trailing from his
ear to his neck. The feeling of being cherished, the scent of
leather, sweat, and just "him". Turning so he could kiss the man,
tongues dueling, the feeling of a beard scratching his face and
wanting, needing more. Strong hands rubbing him, teasing him,
growing desperation and himself saying, "beloved, I love you Ar..."
It was too much and not enough, the memories made him gasp with need
and he fell to one knee. He felt the comforting nudge of Mischief's
nose, noticed both the dog's and Xena's increased alertness. "It's
okay," he reassured them, "just a few memories that overwhelmed me
for a moment. Nothing to worry about."
"As if you could have memories of anything." Gabby sneered.
"Gabby!" Xena exclaimed, appalled by her friend's attitude.
"Come on, Joxer's just an idiotic fool and I refuse to pretend he
could have any memories that could be overwhelming. And here he is
delaying us by falling and pretending he didn't. If we don't get a
move on we won't reach the village in between here and Corinth by
tonight and we'll have to sleep outside again." Gabrielle held her
staff at one end and moved towards Joxer stopping only when the bard
heard the dog growling and changed the direction of her swing to hit
it instead.
"NO!" Joxer and Xena yelled in concert.
***
Cupid made himself visible and stopped Gabrielle's swing just a
moment before it would have hit Strife. "What do you think you're
doing?" He growled at her.
"The dog was going to attack me!" She protested, "I was just
defending myself."
"All Mischief was doing was growling at you and he was doing so with
good reason." Xena kept an eye on the bard, ready to step in should
Cupid need help.
"Xena! How could you say that? I didn't do anything wrong."
Gabrielle whined.
"Mischief was minding his own business, was right next to Joxer when
you turned towards them with your staff raised, it was only then the
dog growled and he was doing so because you were threatening his
human. I just don't understand what you were thinking. You should
not have tried to hit Joxer in the first place, if he had not had
Mischief here protecting him you could have seriously hurt him."
Xena looked at Gabby with disappointment.
"And you would have hurt Mischief if you had hit him, I'm just glad
I was close enough to stop you." Cupid said.
"Me too," Joxer scratched Strife's ears, "I wouldn't want to see my
friend hurt."
"Xena, I want to confiscate all of Gabby's weapons so she won't be
as much of a threat to Joxer and Mischief. I'll give them back the
moment you tell me you think she can be trusted with them." Cupid
said noticing that Gabby was still trying to move the staff in spite
of his firm hold on it.
Xena sighed and nodded, "do it."
"Xena?!" Gabrielle exclaimed.
"I'm sorry, but I just can't take the risk that you will try to hurt
our friend Joxer or Mischief again. I'm frankly worried about you
Gabrielle."
Cupid flashed all of Gabrielle's weapons to a safe place and watched
as the bard fell to the ground.
***
Joxer kept a careful distance between himself and Gabby as Cupid and
Xena talked to her, making sure he was a bit further than a staff's
length away from her. He was pretty sure that Cupid had been in the
area for quite some time since Mischief hadn't reacted to his sudden
appearance. If Cupid had not already been around Strife would have
been barking and guarding him from the God of love and not just
keeping his eye on the increasingly unstable bard.
Something about Gabrielle taking a swing at him was familiar and not
just in the usual "oh Gabby's twisting my nose again" way. He wasn't
sure why it was familiar though, but he was certain he would
remember in time. He did know that Gabby taking a swing at him and
his not being quite able to remember who it was he really loved had
some connection, a fact that struck him as odd. After all how could
such two different things be connected?
***
Strife nudged Joxer with his nose again, sensing he was lost in
thought and leaned into the man as Joxer nuzzled him, nose against
his collar. His friend's hug was gentle even though the trembling
accompanied by it indicated to the God that he was holding back, as
if afraid to hug too hard for the dog to handle.
The trembling eased up a bit and Joxer petted him. "Thanks Mischief,
I really needed that." The man whispered in his ear. "I'm
remembering more about the person I love. His strong arms, his deep
voice, the way he cherishes me, the scent of your collar reminds me
of him somehow. I just wish I knew who Ar was."
***
"Ar?" Xena interjected, having overheard the last, "Why would you be
wondering about someone named Ar?"
"Well, for some reason the memories I have of the last few months
are clouded. I told you everything I could remember vividly but I
also have wisps of memory of someone holding me close, loving me."
***
No one expected what happened next. Gabrielle turned and ran,
yelling out, "Hecate! Hecate! I need you!"
Immediately answered by Hecate immediately appearing in the
clearing, followed by Aphrodite, Hephaestus, Psyche and Ace. Called
there by Strife and Cupid.
"Hecate, he's starting to remember and you said he wouldn't!" Gabby
yelled, not seeing the other deities as they were behind her.
"I said he would not remember unless he truly loved the other person
and the other person be his soul mate and he must truly love them to
be remembering." Hecate said.
"But he can't love that ... that floozy!" Gabby protested, "he
should only love me and worship at my feet."
"That floozy is my father!" Cupid yelled and kicked himself knowing
he would pay eventually for the way he worded that.
"Heph?" Xena and Joxer asked at the same time.
"No, Ares." Cupid corrected.
"Ares," Joxer breathed, memories starting to flow through his mind.
His first meeting with Ares brought about by him being thrown on one
of the God's altars by a priest and the God stopping the priest from
sacrificing him. Ares letting him know that he was impressed by
Joxer's determination, stubbornness, and his pure heart. He
remembered how they got talking about how necessary being stubborn
could be and had started talking about everything and nothing.
He smiled as he remembered getting to know the God and coming to
love the man he was and being ever so amazed and thankful that Ares
loved him back. He remembered the first time they made love and how
good it felt to have Ares so deep inside him that it felt as if they
had become one. He remembered the nights in which they just held
each other and whispered to each other their greatest secrets, their
most cherished hopes, and sweet, sweet nothings. He remembered the
depth of love he felt for Ares and wondered how he could forget
something so vital.
He started crying with joy that he now remembered everything and
looked at Gabby and Hecate. "You tried to take Ares away from me.
You hit me and suddenly I couldn't remember him, but now I do, I
remember everything. I remember falling in love with Ares and him
telling me he loved me. I remember wanting to tell you and Xena
about him and how I hoped to ask him to marry me and I remember you
hitting me Gabrielle, with your staff and after that I nearly forgot
all about Ares and all I could think of was you. How could you do
that to me?"
"I didn't do that to you, Hecate did, she took your memories away
when I asked her to. Besides, you can't love Ares, he's evil and
vicious. He makes humans fight in pointless wars and thrives on
violence. And he can't ever love you, even if you were worth loving,
he isn't capable of loving. Xena knows that, don't you Xena?" Gabby
turned to her friend and saw the disappointment in her eyes.
"He is capable of loving people, he loves Cupid and his other
children, he loves Strife and considers him a son, he even loves me
as his daughter. True I am a bit worried about Joxer, but I won't
stop him from loving Ares. It might be a mistake, but it's a mistake
that Joxer should be allowed to make." Xena told Gabrielle.
"It's not a mistake." Dite said, "Ares truly loves Joxer and would
never hurt him."
Xena nodded, accepting that Dite truly believed that but reserving
judgment. She hoped that she could come to accept that given time.
"Ares? Would you come here please?" Joxer said out loud and sent
along the connection he had with Ares and was surprised by him
appearing some distance away instead of right next to him. He ran
toward Ares with a shining face, Mischief at his heals and the other
deities keeping themselves between him and Hecate, Heph grabbing
onto Hecate and keeping her there. Joxer jumped into Ares arms,
wrapping his arms and legs around him. "I'm so sorry I nearly forgot
you, I love you, I'll try never to forget you again, I love you, I
love you, I love you!" Kissing Ares at each `I love you' and holding
him tight.
"Will you marry me this solstice?" Joxer asked his beloved God.
"Yes, I will." Ares answered, holding Joxer tight, kissing him with
all his love. "May I deal with the people who did this to you."
Joxer sighed and let go of his God, "yes, but please don't kill
them. I don't like what either of them did, but I couldn't stand
seeing them die for what they did."
"I'll try not to kill them where you can see it then." Ares promised
and stalked towards Hecate and Gabrielle, glad that his brother had
kept the Goddess there. "I should kill you for what you did, but
instead I will make both of you suffer for a very long time."
"Xena, you're not going to let him torture me are you?" Gabby cried
out.
"I don't think I could stop him from doing anything he wanted to do,
he is a God and I'm just a demigod." Realizing with her words that
Ares must have been restraining himself during their battles so that
she could fight him to a standstill.
"Oh, I'm not going to torture you little girl and I'm not going to
torture my beloved aunt Hecate." Ares said with as much sarcasm as
he could muster, "I'm going to do something worse. Heph would you
give me a collar to put around Hecate's neck, one made out of your
steel?"
"Of course," Heph snapped his fingers and a collar appeared, he
handed it to Ares.
Ares took it and put it around one of Hecate's necks in spite of the
Goddess snapping at him. He encircled the neck topped by the dog
head, and suddenly all there could see Hecate's true appearance.
Gabrielle gaped to see her Goddess with three heads, stunned by the
fact one of them was a snarling dog's head, she just could not
believe her eyes. "It can't be, Ares must have some how changed her,
she's really a beautiful huntress, she can't be three-faced."
Xena looked at Gabrielle in amazement, wondering how the bard could
have forgotten. "All the stories about her mention her really having
three heads and how the heads represent aspect of her personality.
Hecate is said to be a nag and that is why one of the heads is a
horse, she is said to be a sow or a beast and thus that is why one
of the heads is a bear. As for the dog's head, she is said to be a
bitch and to only take as worshippers those who are capable of
following in her footsteps, only those who can be just as bitchy."
"Gabrielle, I can not and will not ever allow you to travel with me
again. Not that I know you asked Hecate to take away his memories of
the person he loved. That you could hurt someone so badly who has
been such a good and dedicated friend to us hurts me more than I can
bear. Please leave."
"But ... but ... but ..." Gabrielle stuttered.
"Leave!" Xena roared and Gabrielle left, scurrying as fast as she
could.
"So, why the collar?" Dite asked Ares.
"It will keep her under control, it will prevent her from being able
to take anyone's memories from them again since it will restrict
some of her abilities. She will have to live with only two thirds of
her ability available to her. It's the most I can do under Zeus'
laws. If she knew what was good for her, she'd leave now and stay
away from me for a very long time. But be warned Hecate, I put a
tracking spell on the collar, if you ever go near Joxer again it
will inflict excruciating pain on you, tell me exactly where you
are, and I can't promise to remember Zeus' law should that happen."
Ares glared at Hecate.
Hecate was terrified of what Ares might do with her if she
stayed, "I'll go."
"It's enough," Joxer reassured him, touching his shoulder. "I'm glad
to know she can't ever do that again and I don't think she'll ever
bother me again."
"So, you two are getting married?" Xena asked, hoping to focus
everyone's attention on that, "may I help with the arrangements?"
"We'd like that." Ares said, smiling at his daughter as he petted
Mischief, thanking him mentally for his help with Joxer. "I'll zap
us all to Corinth and we can start arranging it, solstice is only a
few days away."
Mischief nosed Ares and then stepped away from him, taking a few
steps before looking back at the God.
Ares knowing Strife was asking for permission to leave so he could
change back to himself out of Xena's eyesight, nodded. "Mischief
will be going away though, I had just sent him to keep Joxer safe
and now that Joxer will be safe he has other things he needs to do."
Joxer went to Mischief and petted him, "thank you Mischief for being
such a good friend."
Strife wiggled in embarrassment as all present insisted on petting
him.
***
The next few days Corinth was bustling with activity as the city
prepared to host the God of War's wedding. Iphicles was glad of the
increased business and the various blessings that hosting the
wedding would bring to the city. He just hoped his brother Hercules
would not do anything to ruin it.
***
The day of the wedding arrived and Joxer was very, very nervous. He
wasn't sure why he was nervous though. He was marrying the man he
loved with all his heart and all his friends were there. He wasn't
sure what Xena had done to make sure that Hercules behaved himself,
but he was glad she had indeed done something. He was also glad that
Xena had agreed to stand with her father at the wedding, showing her
public support of the marriage. It meant a lot to him to see his
friend coming to accept his choices.
***
Xena watched as her friend Joxer walked toward Ares with a nervous
smile. She was happy that her friend had found his soul mate and
hoped she would do the same with time. She did wonder why Joxer had
asked Strife to stand up with him and frowned when the way the God
moved reminded her of something but she couldn't immediately think
of what. It bothered her that she couldn't quite figure out why the
God of Mischief ... Mischief! That was it! The way Strife moved was
exactly the way Mischief moved!
She had thought the dog was just a normal dog, knowing that Mischief
was in fact a God and the God of mischief had her reassessing all
she knew about the God's. From now on she would try to see them as
they truly were and not what rumor said they were.
***
Cupid loved the way Strife moved, he had so much suppressed energy,
stamina, and grace. It made the God of love wonder if he could make
Strife howl with pleasure. He was going to have to find out just as
soon as the ceremony was over.
***
Dite was nearly overdosing on the surges of love in the room. Hers
for Heph, Ace's for Psyche, Cupid's for Strife's, and Ares' for
Joxer, it was wonderful to bask in so much love at one time. She
sighed as Joxer took Ares' hand and looked in his eyes with love and
devotion, it was just so sweet!
***
Hera hid a grin as she looked at her son and his chosen mate,
knowing he had forgotten to mention to Joxer that he was going to
become a God through this ceremony. She wasn't worried though for
she knew the young man would make a wonderful God, husband and
father and she didn't think he'd truly mind Ares' not warning him.
She smirked at the way Cupid and Strife were looking at each other
and started planning their wedding in her mind. She just wondered
when she should tell them she had used some energy Strife had given
her willingly to add to Cupid's contribution in creating Bliss.
Psyche already knew that the godling was really a combination of
Cupid, Strife and herself, but no one else knew it, not even Ace.
Perhaps she would tell everyone once the honeymoon was over.
***
"I, Ares pledge myself to you Joxer, I promise to provide for you as
your husband, to love, protect and honor you and any children we may
eventually have. I cherish you and all that you are and know that I
am lucky to have your love."
Joxer met Ares eyes and smiled with confidence. "I, Joxer pledge
myself to you Ares, I promise to be there for you as your husband,
to hold you and to listen to you when you need me and I vow to love
you and any children we might eventually have. I cherish you and all
that you are and you better believe your lucky to have my love."
Joxer teased.
"You have pledged yourselves to each other and I now solemnize that
pledge. Husband to husband, never to be parted, soul mates, lovers
and friends, you are all these to each other. I give you my blessing
Joxer, so that you may bear your husband children. I give you my
blessing Ares for you have chosen your husband well and I am
pleased. I give you both my blessing by sharing this cup of wine
with you, drink deeply from it." Hera handed the cup full of
ambrosia wine to Joxer and watched as he drank deeply, grinned as
light erupted from him and transformed him into a God and grinned as
Ares kissed him before drinking some of the wine himself.
She took the goblet from Ares and drank. "You may kiss your
husband." She said, though they were already kissing.
"I'm a God?" Joxer asked when he came up for air.
"Yes, you are." Ares confirmed.
"What am I the God of?" He asked.
"You are the God of Compassion and Friendship." Zeus informed
him, "tasks you are well suited for."
***
Xena was astounded when Joxer became a God, but glad for him.
Knowing that it would mean he would be able to be with Ares forever.
She wasn't surprised when Ares zapped himself and Joxer away after
Zeus' announcement, knowing her father would not want to wait to
start the honeymoon.
***
Joxer only had a couple minutes to get used to being a God when he
was suddenly pulled away from the wedding ceremony. He didn't mind
though, considering he ended up on his back on Ares' ... their bed.
"I take it you couldn't wait?" He grinned up at his husband.
"No, I need you too much. I was so afraid that I had lost you
forever and to know that I now have you forever ..."
"I understand," Joxer kissed Ares, "I love you."
"I love you too." Ares kissed Joxer and caressed him, touching him
carefully, barely believing he had his love back. Tracing the
younger man's features with his fingertips, imprinting Joxer's
beauty in his mind. Stroking Joxer's face, undressing him the mortal
way wanting to unwrap the best solstice present he had ever received
in the mortal way.
Once Joxer was naked he stroked and kissed him all over, needing to
touch the soft white skin. Teasing the nipples with his fingertips
as he sucked at Joxer's neck, marking him. His husband's gasps and
the way he moved under his touch driving Ares' insane with need. The
way Joxer arched up into each touch, his gasps and moans so very
desperate, and his babbling "I love you" again and again. It was too
much and not enough at the same time.
He called some oil to him and dipped a finger inside before teasing
Joxer by circling his entrance with the finger. Stroking the finger
slowly inside the man underneath him, coating him and loosening him
before adding another oil covered finger. Kissing Joxer as he cried
out in need, swirling his fingers inside him and thrusting with them
before adding a third finger.
"Need you now!" Joxer demanded wrapping his legs around Ares.
He slowly entered Joxer, moving only to penetrate the protective
muscle with the head of his cock. Then rested his forehead on the
one below him, breathing deeply. Damn, Joxer was tight, it was
taking all his concentration to prevent himself from loosing
control.
Once he was sure he could remain in control he kissed Joxer again
quickly and started to slowly move further and further inside.
Feeling that tight passage welcome him and surround him as he did
so. Ever so slowly he went deeper and deeper until his aching
hardness was within the younger man.
They were both gasping now, with the effort to maintain control and
make this last. Ares paused and helped Joxer wrap his legs around
his waist and groaned when he felt his husband push his hips
upwards. Ares went with the momentum, thrusting in and out of the
man below him as slowly as possible. Caressing his nipples, sucking
at the left side of the neck, near where it joined the shoulder in
order to leave his mark. Claiming Joxer as his own.
Ares started to move faster and faster within his love, his love
meeting the pace and scratching his back lightly. They thrust
against each other, with each other, completely in tune with each.
He had found home again. He was surrounded by Joxer's scent. Need,
desire, and lust consumed him, lit him on fire, searing his soul and
heart, so that the only thing he knew was Joxer. His husband was the
only thing left in the universe at that moment in time, the only
thing that truly mattered.
He cupped Joxer's erection in one hand and started to stroke him in
time to his thrusts. The storm between them built, the fire grew
hotter, until the moment Ares was consumed by fire, thrilled to see
Joxer consumed at what seemed the same time and let loose. Letting
the fire sweep through him, burning everything away until there was
only the two of them and desperate need.
Ares watched the younger man gasp to catch his breath and recover
from that soul-shattering climax they had shared. Watched as he fell
asleep in his arms. Watched as Joxer breathed deeply, face so open
and full of trust, and swallowed sudden tears. Holding his husband
close to his heart, cleaning them both with a thought, vowing never
to take his love for granted. Joxer was the best thing that had
ever, could ever happen to him and he vowed never to forget the
present he got this solstice, that of Joxer's never ending love.
The end