Title: The Struggle for Strife
Author: Shadowgrl
Fandom: Xena: Warrior Princess
Pairing: Cupid/Strife
Rating: PG-13
Archive: my site, RCOS, AJCS
Warnings: slash fic
Disclaimer: Not mine
Zeus and Hera sat quietly on their chairs. They were in an ornate meeting room, decorated in pleasant colors. Flowers bloomed outside the open window; filling the room with their fragrance. Normally, the sounds of Gods and Goddesses bustling back and forth would be heard, but ever since the death of Strife, God of Mischief, Olympus had been quiet. So had the mortal realm. It seemed they had all underestimated the nervous godling’s effect on life in general.
And that was why they were here. A decision had been made about Strife. It would not go over well with a few people and that was why these particular Gods and Goddesses had been summoned. They deserved an explanation and a chance to vent. And vent they certainly would, but the decision had been made and it would not be undone.
Hera glanced sideways at her husband. He had a faint smile on his face, no doubt thinking about the latest nymph to catch his attention. Hera gave a smirk of her own. The old goat would get a nasty surprise when he next visited said nymph. It would be difficult to seduce a briar bush. She sighed faintly to herself. She was not looking forward to the coming conversation. On the one hand, it was a cause for happiness; on the other, Ares and Eris would be absolutely furious. As for Aphrodite and Cupid, well, Hera doubted they would be pleased either.
But Zeus would not change his mind and she had to go along with him in public. She had tried everything to get him to alter his conditions, but he refused to budge. It seemed he had forgotten about the enmity the House of War had with, well, all the other Houses. War and Love usually got along, but this was stretching the limits and Hera feared the coming explosion.
But nothing could be done now. All that was left was to try and convey to her children how sorry she was for this.
There was a small flash of light and Hades, God of the Underworld, appeared. He held a small pouch in his hand; colored a deep midnight blue. Actually, the pouch was transparent; it was what was inside it that gave it the color. Hera found herself surprised at the rich, vibrant tone the pouch had. It seemed she had been just as guilty of underestimating Strife as everyone else. Hades nodded his head in greeting and seated himself. He had just sat down when there was another flash of light and Ares and Eris appeared.
Both of their faces were expressionless as they waited to hear why they had been summoned. Ares looked at his father.
“You wished to see us?” he questioned.
“I did,” Zeus replied. “However, not everyone is here.”
Ares looked around. Who else was supposed to be here?
He got his answer as a flash of gold light blinded him momentarily. When he recovered he saw his son, Cupid, standing by him. Cupid nodded at his father and took his seat.
“Where is your mother?” Zeus asked.
“She’s on her way,” Cupid said.
Aphrodite appeared in a muted flash, unlike her usual gold colored and rose scented one. The look on her face was not normal for the Goddess of Love either. She looked upset about something and she shot Cupid a look that clearly told him they needed to talk. Ares idly wondered if something was wrong then decided ‘Dite would ask for help if there were. She was one of the few on Olympus he would help without pause.
Zeus looked around. Everyone was here. It was time to begin. He stood up.
“I’m glad you all could make it,” Zeus started out, completely ignoring the fact that they couldn’t very well not come since he had ordered them to be here. “As you know, recently, we had a crisis here on Olympus.” He paused. Solemnly, he continued. “We lost one of our own. This has grieved me greatly.” Zeus either didn’t hear or chose to ignore the snort of disbelief that Eris gave.
“Because of the effects of this loss and the circumstances behind it, none of which were his doing, it has been decided that Strife, God of Mischief, shall be released from Hades’ realm and given his life back.” Zeus patiently waited for the uproar to die down. Eris and Ares were both smiling happily, as were Cupid and Aphrodite. “With a few minor conditions,” Zeus continued.
Everyone immediately went quiet. Worried looks replaced the happy ones. Zeus’s “conditions” were well known. They were generally not favorable except to him. Only Hera’s face was composed and that worried Ares more than anything did. Until Zeus smiled. Then he got nervous.
“Since the House of War has proven that they cannot protect their young and take their responsibilities seriously, it has been decided that Strife will no longer be associated with that House. As Mischief was once associated with Love, so it shall be again. From this day forth, Strife, God of Mischief, is a member of the House of Love, and, as such, will be protected by them. There will be no farther contact with the House of War in a business capacity and while Strife adjusts to his new life there will be no personal contact allowed either. And I do mean none. I will be watching. No notes, no messages, no orders, nothing will flow from either of you, Ares and Eris, to Strife. The two of you have proven you do not value what you have so you no longer have it. Both of you are forbidden from contacting Strife in any way.”
The study was silent. No one moved. All of the occupants save Hera stared at Zeus in disbelief.
“Surely you aren’t serious, brother,” Hades whispered.
Zeus glared at his brother. “I am indeed serious. Strife died due to neglect on Ares’ hands. Eris has never shown any love or concern for the boy. I feel it is in his best interests to separate him from the House of War due to these reasons. As for being placed in the House of Love, it makes perfect sense.”
The sound of a chair being pushed back made Zeus turn once more to face the rest of the table. Expecting to see Ares on his feet ready to challenge him he was surprised to see his daughter instead. “How dare you,” Eris hissed. “How dare you pass judgment on us when your own affairs are just as slimy as ours.”
Ares quickly leapt to his feet in an attempt to restrain Eris, but she would not be stopped.
Taking advantage of Zeus’ shock, Eris continued. “You know nothing of me, my feelings for my son nor what goes on in my House. You can’t even control your own, how dare you make stipulations on mine!”
“Silence!” Zeus roared. “This is exactly the type of behavior I am talking about. You have just shown yourself to be incapable of caring for Strife.” Zeus calmed himself down with some effort. “The subject is closed. Let us now turn our attention to bringing Strife back.”
“Umm, before we do that,” Aphrodite interrupted.
Zeus’ expression softened as he looked upon his favorite child. “Yes, ‘Dite?” he asked her gently.
“If Strife can’t see Ares or Eris where is he going to live? He doesn’t have his own temple, he stays with Ares.”
Zeus blinked. He looked at Ares. “He doesn’t have his own temple?”
“He never wanted one. He always insisted on staying with me,” Ares said, smugly.
Zeus thought. “Well, he’ll stay with ‘Dite then.” Pleased with that decision, his attention was caught by Ares’ and Eris’ restrained laughter. “Now what?” he growled.
Ares caught his breath. “Strife, no matter where you put him, is a child of War. You stick him in ‘Dite’s temple with it pink and red and hearts and flowers, he’ll go insane. And he’ll take the rest of you with him to punish you for making him stay there. I mean, have you even thought about this plan? You cannot put Strife with the House of Love. He won’t tolerate it!” Ares’ voice got louder as he tried to make his father see that bringing Strife back only to make him live with Aphrodite would be torture for the boy. “No, the only choice is for Strife to continue staying with me,” Ares concluded.
Cupid, who had remained silent ever since Zeus’s announcement, spoke up. “He can stay with me,” he said, ignoring Ares’ and Eris’ sudden glare. He’d explain things to them later.
Zeus beamed at his grandson. “Excellent idea, Cupid. Way to be a team player.”
“Yeah, way to go, Cupid,” Eris hissed snidely.
“Well, now that that’s settled, Hades if you would,” Zeus gestured to Hades.
Hades stood. Glancing around, he materialized a small bed. Carefully, he opened the pouch he had been holding and tipped the contents out over the bed. Ares and Eris leapt to their feet and quickly crossed the room to hover anxiously over the bed. For a few moments, nothing happened, then the blue glow that had filled the pouch began to thin and spread out. Slowly, it began to coalesce until a body was formed out of it.
Suddenly the deep blue glow intensified until everyone had to look away. When their eyes returned to the bed, Strife lay unconscious upon it. Eris reached forward a trembling hand and gently smoothed a lock of hair away from Strife’s face. He never stirred but Eris turned to Ares. “He’s really here, Ar. Really, truly,” she whispered in an awed voice.
Ares took his sister in his arms, uncaring about showing emotion in front of his enemy, for that was how he perceived his father. Wordlessly he nodded his head. Together they stared as the missing member of their family began to stir.
“Ares, Eris, you must go now,” Zeus said. “No contact between the three of you, remember.” Without waiting for the argument he used his own powers to flash Ares and Eris back to Ares’ respective temple and block the study off from them. Then he flashed himself, Hades and Hera out, leaving Cupid and Aphrodite to explain what had happened to the now conscious, but groggy, young god.
Strife groaned as he woke up. The last thing he remembered was Hades holding a pouch in front of him. Then he had felt a strange pulling sensation and then darkness. He opened his eyes slowly, not really wanting to know where he was. He blinked. Then he blinked again.
“Cupid? ‘Dite? What are you guys doing here? Where’s Hades? I’m not supposed to have visitors, you know,” Strife didn’t understand why these two had come to see him. Somehow he just couldn’t picture Aphrodite or Cupid willingly entering Tartarus and certainly not to see him!
“I don’t believe this!” Aphrodite exclaimed. “Hades didn’t even tell him!”
“Looks like it,” Cupid agreed with his mom as he took in his cousin’s appearance.
Strife yawned. He was exhausted which was odd since he hadn’t done anything. “Tell me what,” he questioned, not really caring. He just wanted to go back to sleep.
Aphrodite began to pace the room, muttering under her breath and waving her arms in the air. Strife perked up a little seeing as the movements made Aphrodite jiggle in all sorts on interesting places. But he really wasn’t interested in her like that, so he only blinked in appreciation before yawning again.
Cupid was amused by his cousin’s lack of reaction to Aphrodite. But his amusement quickly faded as he realized not only would he get to tell Strife the good news about being alive again, but also the, to Strife, bad news about living with him and not being allowed to see Ares or Eris.
Before Cupid could say anything though, Apollo contacted him mentally. “Cupid?” he heard Apollo say.
A bit startled at this, as he and Apollo rarely talked and certainly not mind to mind, Cupid answered. “Yes?” he inquired.
“Please take Strife to your temple. Father told me that’s where he’ll be staying. I need to examine him and also talk to you and Aphrodite about some things that you need to know in order to take care of Strife properly. Don’t worry about telling him what’s happening. He’s probably fallen asleep again.” Cupid looked and found that Strife was indeed sleeping and in imminent danger of falling off the bed seeing as he’d fallen asleep sitting up. Quickly, Cupid leapt forward and caught his sleeping cousin in his arms. Strife turned into him trustingly and nuzzled his head into the hollow of his neck. Surprised, Cupid barely caught Apollo’s next ‘words’. “I’ll meet you at your temple. Hurry, he won’t stay sleeping for too much longer. Only another few hours and I have a lot to tell you. Not to mention that you have to figure out how to tell Strife he can’t see Ares or Eris. I’ll handle the brought back to life bit,” Apollo finished up.
A little bemused, and now wondering how to break the news to Strife, Cupid easily lifted his sleeping cousin into his arms. “Mom, we need to go. Apollo wants to meet us at my temple.”
Aphrodite abruptly left off muttering angrily and nodded her head. Together, they flashed off.
Flashing into his temple, his cousin in his arms and his mother right behind him, Cupid was surprised to see that Apollo was already there. As soon as he saw Cupid, Apollo hurried forward. “Quickly, we must get Strife into a bed and restrain him.”
Cupid balked. “Restrain him?”
“Not with chains and things,” Apollo muttered impatiently as he grabbed Strife from Cupid and hurried off down a hallway. “Restrain him with a bracelet Hep made. Where will he be sleeping? It should be somewhere close to you Cupid; he’ll need lots of help and attention. I can’t believe you volunteered for it, personally. It’ll really cut into your social life.”
Confused, Cupid just pointed Apollo to his bedroom where he materialized another bed. Couldn’t get closer than that without being in the same bed. As an afterthought, he made the bed coverings to Strife’s taste. Not really wanting his beautiful and soothing blue room to look hideous, Cupid silently apologized to Strife and made the sheets and blankets different shades of gray. It went better with the blue than black would and would also be comforting to Strife.
Apollo gently placed Strife on it and then pulled a small metal bracelet out of his pouch. He snapped it around Strife’s wrist. “There,” he said. “Now it won’t matter how angry he gets, he won’t accidentally destroy anything.”
Cupid and Aphrodite exchanged a look. “Apollo, what are you talking about?” Aphrodite asked.
Apollo left the bedroom and headed back down the hall, Cupid and Aphrodite behind him. Cupid was beginning to get annoyed at being led around in his own temple but he held his temper. Strife was what was important now.
Cupid broke ahead and motioned Apollo and his mother into one of his private rooms. It was close enough they would hear Strife if he woke up but far enough away from the entryway that no one would be able to eavesdrop. Apollo nodded.
“Right. Let’s get to it,” he started with his explanation. “Okay, first of all Strife is the first God to ever be brought back to life from our pantheon. But gods and goddesses from other areas have been so this is how I know what to expect. When I said this was going to cut into your social life I meant it, Cupid. Strife is a God, but he has been gone for a while. When he wakes up he will be disoriented and confused. He will also be without his powers.”
“What!” Aphrodite exclaimed. “If he doesn’t have his powers how can he do his job?”
“He can’t,” Apollo said calmly. “Not right away. See, the energy that comes to Strife wasn’t able to reach him in Tartarus. So its been building up. Strife will need to reabsorb the energy, but it will take a few days for the energy to be attracted to Strife. When that happens, it will flow into him in a random pattern. Which is why he has the bracelet. This will prevent him from using his powers until he learns how to control them again. The bracelet can come off in a week. By then all the energy will have been absorbed, Strife will have learned to control it and keep it from bursting out, and he will have remembered how he used to use his powers.
The bracelet is a new design. It allows the flow of powers in and out but the outflow must be consciously directed. So Strife will receive the energy and be able to control it. But if he gets upset, say in frustration of not being able to do things like dress himself with a thought anymore, he won’t be able to make your temple blow up because it won’t be a conscious direction.
After the bracelet is removed you’ll have to retrain him. He’ll know how to do things but he won’t be able to actually do them. For instance, he’ll know how to transport to the courtyard because he did it before. But he won’t be able to do it because his powers will be sporadic for a while. That’s why he’ll need help. He’ll need retraining and also someone with him constantly to make sure he doesn’t accidentally flash himself into a volcano or anything. He’ll be almost like a child.
This is a full time job but we need a strong God to do it. Which is why Zeus chose your House, along with the historical significance, of course.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, Strife is waking up and I need to explain things to him. Cupid, I’ll call you when its time for you to tell him about Ares and Discord.”
As Apollo went off to talk with Strife, Cupid sank back on his couch, Apollo’s words running through his mind. This was not good. Cupid didn’t mind helping Strife out, he’d always been fascinated by his cousin, but he knew Strife had never cared for him. When he’d been younger, Strife had been jealous of the fact that Ares was Cupid’s father. Never mind the fact that Ares spent more time with Strife than he did with Cupid, Strife couldn’t call Ares ‘Dad’ and that upset him.
As Strife had grown older, Cupid had hoped that the bad feelings would go away. There had been a few years when Strife and he had gotten along and Cupid had enjoyed them. But then one day, literally overnight, Strife had started avoided him. And when Cupid caught up with him, after tracking him down, Strife was either nasty, made fun of him, or pretended not to even notice him. Cupid had been confused, but he’d kept on trying to talk to Strife. Nothing had worked. After those brief few years when Strife was a young teenager, they had never gotten along again.
Maybe this incident would change things, but somehow Cupid doubted Strife would like it. He would become the bad guy again, like he’d been when Strife was younger. Strife would see him as patronizing and as a jailer keeping him from his family of Ares and Eris.
Cupid made a decision. Strife’s death had upset him greatly. Now he had a second chance and he’d be damned if he would let some weird thing in Strife’s brain keep him from loving Strife. He would find out why Strife had started avoiding him and he would fix it. He would teach Strife how to use his powers again. They would be friends. And maybe, if he got really lucky, they would be more than friends. Cupid was not going to let Strife go this time, not without a fight. He’d been too young before to realize why Strife’s avoidance and general nastiness had hurt him. By the time he had figured it out, Strife had been involved in his own affairs and Cupid knew he wouldn’t have a chance. Then Psyche had come along, and then Strife had died. But he was back now and things would be different.
As he heard Apollo’s call in his head, Cupid stood. Determination almost radiated from him as he headed down the hall to Strife’s room, leaving Aphrodite staring thoughtfully at him from her position in the chair.
Maybe this time Cupid and Strife could connect with each other. She hoped so. The constant unrequited love coming from both of them was hard to handle sometimes.
Cupid entered the bedroom and found Strife curled up on his side facing the wall, his back towards Cupid. Apollo shrugged his shoulders when he looked at him and mind-spoke him again ‘He asked why he was here. I told him about Ares and Discord. I don’t think I did a very good job.’ Cupid sighed to himself. Quietly, he thanked Apollo who nodded and flashed out.
Cupid looked at Strife. Strife looked at the wall.
Cupid walked over to the bed and sat down on the edge. “Strife?” he asked gently. No answer. Not even a flicker of acknowledgement.
“Strife, I’m sorry about Ares and Eris. I know living here with me isn’t something you would want to do. But the faster you let me help you, the faster you can see them again. Please, at least look at me.”
Strife remained still. “Okay, Strife,” Cupid sighed. “I’ll tell you what I know. Stop me if I’m repeating something Apollo already told you. Your powers are going to be kinda out of control for the next few weeks. After you get used to them again, I’ll need to show you how to use them. But for now, you’ll have to do some things the mortal way and ask me to help you with the others. I promise you, I’ll do the best I can to help you get the hang of this as soon as possible. I want you to be happy and I know using your powers will help with that. In the meantime, maybe we can design you a temple? If you want. I assume you’ll want to get out of my place as quickly as you can, but since you can’t go back to Ares’ place you’ll need one of your own.”
“Why?” Cupid was suddenly interrupted.
Cupid paused. Strife hadn’t moved, but he had asked the question. And Cupid didn’t want to answer it. He took a deep breath and stalled. “Why what?” he asked Strife warily.
“Why aren’t I allowed to talk to Unc’ and Mom?”
Cupid flinched. He really didn’t want to tell Strife this, but he knew he had to and it had to be the truth. “Zeus feels that Ares and Discord don’t take good care of you. He thinks if they had, you never would have died. So he took you away from the House of War and replaced mischief as a House of Love godhood. Which makes you a God of Love now. While you relearn your powers you are allowed no contact with them. After you learn them again you can have contact with them, but only personal. Strife, I’m sorry, but Ares will have to find a new second-in-command. You no longer answer to him.”
Cupid waited for the explosion. What he heard was a small whisper instead. “So it was all for nothing then.”
Cupid was confused. “What was all for nothing, Strife?” he asked.
However, Strife ignored his question and asked one of his own. “So, if I’m not Ares’ second, who’s second am I?”
“You’re mine, Strife. You’ll live with me, eat with me, work with me and sleep with me.”
He would have continued, but Strife suddenly sat up and started hyperventilating. “Strife, Strife what’s wrong? Calm down, I know it’s a bad situation, but we can get through this, I promise.” Cupid frantically tried to get Strife to regulate his breathing. He rubbed his back and forced Strife to put his head between his knees. When Strife finally got his breathing back to normal and sat up Cupid was relieved. Until Strife started speaking. Then he was embarrassed.
“Look, I don’t know what kind of relationship you think Unc’ and I had, but fucking me was not a perk of being Unc’s second. So you’re just gonna have to find someone else to screw,” Strife hissed.
Color flooded Cupid’s face as he realized his mistake. “No, Strife that’s not what I meant,” Cupid spluttered. “I meant you had to sleep here, in this bed, in the same room as me. I have my own bed. See,” Cupid pointed to his bed, thanking whatever God watched out for other Gods that he hadn’t made the insinuation in front of Ares.
Strife looked suspiciously at Cupid. He was apparently judged sincere as Strife nodded his head once. Cupid breathed a sigh of relief. First hurdle successfully cleared. Little shaky on the dismount though.
While Strife and Cupid talked, Ares and Eris waited impatiently in Ares’ receiving room.
“I don’t understand, Ar. What’s going on? Why are we waiting for Cupid? That little twit betrayed us,” Eris groused to her twin.
Ares smirked. “No, he didn’t. He’s got a plan. Cupid is pretty devious when he wants to get something done. He caught something we missed and he’ll be here soon as he gets Strife settled to tell us what it was.”
Eris just hmphed in response. But inside she was thinking hard. Could Cupid really have a plan? A plan that would put Strife back where he belonged? Zeus was a fool for doing this, but then again the old goat was only ever able to see the surface of things. He never bothered to look deeper, probably afraid of what he would see if he did. And Cupid was fairly intelligent. He had fallen in love with Strife after all.
She smirked to herself. She was no lame Love Goddess, but she was a mother and she knew when someone was interested in her baby boy. She also knew that the interest was reciprocated. She had felt bad for Cupid in the beginning. He and Strife had been so close, but then Strife had started avoiding him. Cupid probably didn’t realize it, but Strife had done that because he had developed a crush on Cupid and was embarrassed to face him. Cupid had tried to figure out what was going on, but he’d never been able too. Eris had thought about interfering and getting them both to realize what they felt, but she had been told not too. Aphrodite had said that this was something they needed to figure out on their own.
But they never had.
And Strife had died.
Eris sighed to herself. She was jealous. Strife loved Cupid, had for years. And that love was returned. It wasn’t the emotion she was jealous of as the fact that now Cupid would get to see Strife everyday, would eat with him, sleep with him, work with him and she, Eris, his mother, was locked out in the cold.
And it was very cold without her mischief-maker.
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