By: Jade of Purple
Time Period: This takes place after Amphipolis under siege (season 5).
Disclaimer: The characters Xena, Ares, Gabrielle, etc. do not belong to me; they are the property of Renaissance Pictures, Studios USA, and MCA/Universal.
Rated pg/pg13: for some language and violence
Summary: Xena and Eve are faced with a life or death situation and Ares hesitantly comes to save them. Will Xena and Ares be able to put the pass behind them? Or continue down their separate paths?
Summer had just left and fall began slowly creeping in. The soft howling of the wind blew through their bodies leaving a small chill behind. The setting sun was almost completely gone as Xena and Gabrielle finished making camp.
Sitting down on a log Xena picked up her daughter, who was giggling as she played with her mother's hair. Gabrielle sat beside Xena seeing a far away look in her eyes, even though she was playing with Eve.
"Xena are you alright?" The bard asked with concern in her features.
"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"
"It's just that ever since the whole battle with Athena, you've been acting different. I know you're worried about Eve, I am too, but everything will be okay, I know it." Gabrielle said, in what she hoped was a reassuring enough voice.
"Gabrielle I'm fine, trust me. Besides I think we'll be out of harm's way if only for a day or two. I doubt Athena has gotten over losing Ilainus." Xena replied with a small smile, that she wished would get Gabrielle to change the subject.
The truth was, not even she was sure what was bothering her. Maybe it was the fact that because of her small child, an entire village was almost destroyed. Or that Eve would never truly be safe. Perhaps it was the look Ares had on his face when he realized that she had once again played with his heart. 'No that's ridiculous', she screamed in her head as she tired to shake the thought out. Xena was brought back to reality when she realized, she had been staring into space again. She turned away from Gabrielle hoping she wouldn't push the subject any farther.
The bard let out a small sigh; she knew better than to force Xena into talking about something she didn't want to.
"So where are we headed to?" The bard asked, changing the topic.
"Actually for now I'm not sure. The next town is only two days ride from here, I guess that'll be where we're heading to next " Xena replied.
Meanwhile on Mount Olympus Discord and Deimos were having a discussion of their own. Ever since Zeus' death Olympus has been upside down. Some gods see the baby Eve as their end, while others still do not believe she could cause them any harm. With Athena's failed attempt to kill the child, the other gods were uncertain whether they should try themselves. However Discord was not one of those gods, she had never liked the Warrior princess and this was just the excuse she was looking for to finally get rid of her and the child. Discord believed that with Xena gone, Ares would finally be hers. And as for Deimos this was all about making sure his future was protected.
"I can't believe the other gods are hesitating about going after Xena and the child. Just because Athena screwed up." Discord roared.
"Well she is the goddess of wisdom. If she couldn't out smart Xena, then who can? " Deimos replied.
"Goddess of wisdom my ass. Everything has to be so complicated with her. She could have easily appeared before Eve and killed her while Xena was distracted"
"So why don't you do that?"
"Are you insane? Xena won't let Eve out of her sight for even a minute now. Besides I have a better plan, unlike Athena's it's quite simple" The goddess said with an evil grin.
Then moments later both she and Deimos vanished.
Back at the camp darkness had completely surrounded them. Their only light was the flame of the small fire and the moon and stars above them.
"Looks like someone's tired" Gabrielle said, after seeing the small child yawn.
"It's getting late I should put her to sleep" Xena uttered, rocking Eve to sleep in her arms.
Xena walked over to her bedroll and laid the sleepy child gently down. Then she turned towards Gabrielle, something wasn't right she could sense it. Suddenly a strange wind blew across them and a dark figure emerged.
"You know what Xena I'll be glad to put the little angel to sleep for you, permanently that is" Discord offered as a ball of lighten materialized in her hand.
Xena and Gabrielle jumped to their feet. As the bard pulled out her sais, Xena grabbed her chakram.
"What do you what?" The warrior princess asked with venom in her voice.
"To kill that little brat, what else" Discord replied, throwing a lighting ball towards Gabrielle, who quickly jumped out of the way, landing beside Xena.
"What were you saying about being out of harms way again" The bard whispered.
"Watch Eve, I'll take care of our guest" Xena replied, pulling out her sword.
The Warrior princess then made her way closer to the goddess.
"I thought you gods would learn by now not to mess with my child. But I guess I'll just have to give you a personal lesson" She said, as she began attacking Discord.
Blocking with her chakram, Xena swung her sword at the deity. Aggravation could be seen on Discord's face she blocked blow after blow only to be knocked to the ground from a solid kick to the stomach.
Discord had a grin on her face as a ball of lighting materialized in her hands. Xena leaped out of the way as a sequence of lighting balls flew at her. Gabrielle left Eve's side for a second as she came up behind Discord and punched her in the head, momentarily distracting the deity.
All of a sudden Deimos appeared without warning and sent a lighting ball soaring towards Eve. By the time Xena saw him all she could do was lunge towards the baby and hope to shield Eve's body from the impact. When the lighting ball collided with Xena's body, she was hurled into the tree behind her, with Eve in her arms.
Eve's wails could be heard as Xena's body fell to the ground. Surprisingly enough Eve was not badly harmed, but her mother on the other hand could barely lift her head as Deimos made his way towards them.
Discord grabbed Gabrielle's hair and sent a hard kick to her back. The bard screamed in pain and fell to the ground.
"Xena!" Gabrielle yelled, but was powerless to do anything.
And before she knew it Deimos had vanished along with Xena and Eve.
"Where are they?" She demanded, turning towards Discord.
The deity let out a wicked laugh. She could have easily vanished and left Gabrielle without a clue as to the whereabouts of her little friend. But then she wouldn't be able to gloat; it wasn't like the bard would ever get there in time to save them.
"Mt. Etna, why were you going to go get them? Good luck with that, cause by the time you find them they'll be frozen solid" Discord answered, with a devilish smirk as she vanished.
"No!" Gabrielle screamed, as tears began falling from her eyes. 'How could this be happening', she shouted in her mind. She had to find a way to save Xena and Eve. There had to be a way. An idea popped into her head, one that she would never consider doing but could think of nothing else.
Trying to stop her tears she stood up and yelled. "Ares!"
But nothing happened. "Damn you Ares, I know you can hear me!" She yelled.
Within moments the god of war appeared before her, with an irritated look on his face.
"What is it blondie?" He asked, staring at her. He was somewhat surprised to see tear tracks running down her face, but said nothing about them.
"They took them to Mt. Etna, you have to go save them" Gabrielle blurted out.
"Whoa take it easy. What are you talking about?"
"Discord and Deimos took Xena and Eve to Mt. Etna. You need to go and get them before it's too late"
"Did you forget who you were talking to? I am the god of war, maybe you didn't realize it but Eve dying is a good thing for me" He replied in a harsh tone.
"Ares you can't leave them out there to die in the cold like that" Gabrielle said, anger boiling up inside her. "Where is your compassion? You said you cared for her, now prove to me that you weren't lying"
"I don't have to prove anything to you" He snapped, and turned his back on her, as he was about to leave.
"I'll give you anything you want. I'll fight for you and lead your armies. Anything" She pleaded.
"You have nothing I want"
"So what, you're just going to let her die like that? You coward!" She yelled, but he had already disappeared.