Return To Being A God

Part 4

By: Tracy

They walked for the rest of the day and into the night. They wanted to reach the lake before making camp for the night. But after walking half the night, they stopped and made camp. Neither had eaten that day and both were very hungry but to tired to do anything about it. They simply made a fire, spread out the blankets and fell asleep. The next day, they didn’t wake until the sun was half way to its zenith. Before they broke camp, they found some fresh, ripe berries and enjoyed a morning of feeding each other. At noon, they broke camp and started out for the lake. They reached the lake in about ¾ of an hour. They studied the map and realized that they were going to have to go the long way around the lake because the forest on the shorter side of the lake was too dense to get through. They figured it would take them about another five to seven days to get to what they assumed was the location of the ambrosia. Provided they didn’t encounter any problems on the way. It also showed that they would be leaving the perimeter of the mapped area for about ½ that time. Starting almost immediately. They weren’t worried about it. It just made Gabrielle curious if Zeus planned it this way or if having to take the long way was just a result of nature taking over. Thinking about Zeus also made her start to wonder about the inscription. It consumed her thoughts like nothing had in a long time.

By the next day she wouldn’t shut up about it. “A change…A change…hummm…A change of what? It has to do with how we feel about something. But what?”

“Maybe he’s talking about what we feel when we touch something. Like how a sword feels in our hands or how it feels when as it cuts into someone one. Or when it cuts into you.” Ares suggested as he remembered the different feelings and giving off a slight shutter with the last one.

Gabrielle looked at him like he was an idiot. “That’s just dumb.” She stated. “Why would he mean something like that when we have hardly even seen anyone on this trip? No, it means feelings. Maybe it’s a change in our feelings about going after the ambrosia. Or about you becoming a God again. That’s more reasonable.”

Ares’ temper was quick to rise at what he thought was an attack to his intelligence. “Look Blondie, I knew Zeus a lot longer that you did. You never even met him, did you? Well, I can easily see him referring to physical touch rather then emotions. Remember that he was a God and according to most mortals, you included, the Gods were all self-servicing, non-emotional, not-worth-anything beings. So why would he put anything about emotions into a trap?”

Gabrielle couldn’t believe he just upbraided her over Zeus. And he called her Blondie. He hadn’t called he that in years. She was about to respond when he continued.

“Besides that, there is no way he could be talking about me getting my Godhood back. Hercules killed him what? 27 years ago and I’ve only been mortal for 2 years. So now, which explanation is dumb, yours or mine?”

Gabrielle was silent. She didn’t know what to say. He did have some good points. He had known Zeus a long time and she didn’t know him at all. And that part about his getting his Godhood back also made a lot of sense. Maybe he was right. Then he started in again.

“Also, on top of all of that, do you know what this area was like all those years ago? Maybe this place was alive with people. I know for a fact that one of Artemis’ favorite temples is about a ½ day’s walk from here. So maybe people aren’t here now. That doesn’t mean that people weren’t here then.” He looked very smug when he countered her with that bit of reasoning.

He didn’t notice it but he was holding his head up a little higher and there was a little bounce in his step. Gabrielle almost burst out laughing but he interrupted her for the third time.

“I think we should make that detour to Artemis’ temple. If I remember right, it was more of a private hunting lodge. I only know about it because she took me there a very long time ago for a weekend of hunting. I bet that there are still some the weapons Heph made for her there. I think we should have more than your sais and my sword with us. Especially since we don’t know what traps lay ahead.” Without even waiting for Gabrielle to agree, he headed off with a quick step in the direction he thought the temple should be.

Gabrielle watched him walk away and just couldn’t take it anymore. She burst out laughing. She had to support herself against a tree she laughed so hard. It was sometime before she was able to bring her mirth under control enough to follow him. She was chuckling as she walked. When she did catch up to him it was only because he had noticed that she wasn’t with him and stopped. He looked a little agitated at having to wait for her. He was standing in the middle of the path, arms crossed and tapping his foot. This sent her into peals of laughter again.

“Just what are we finding so funny, may we ask?” the formal way he asked just made her laugh harder. She couldn’t make herself stop because every time she looked at him, she started laughing again.

When she could at least speak between laughing fits, all she said was “you’re funny.” This did not go over real big with him.

“FUNNY!?! I wasn’t trying to be funny.” He sounded insulted but this just made her laugh harder. He was actually very angry with her now and told her so. “Thank you Gabrielle for finding my thoughts funny.” When he spoke next his voice was lower and it sobered her up almost immediately “I didn’t realize that you thought so little of my intellect.”

His arms were crossed over his chest and he was glaring at her to hide his hurt. She put her hands on his crossed arms and looked into his eyes. “Oh Ares. I know you’re very smart. It’s just that, well, you’re funny when you’re mad. My father was that way. He would get mad and start to rant and rave and he would get his arms into it, throwing them this way and that. He became more alive. The madder he got the funnier he became. You were acting the same way. It reminded me of the good times I had with my father. Please don’t be mad at me for that.” She smiled at him and looked at him with those incredible eyes.

What could he say, she saw him in a way that nobody ever had before. She saw him as just a person. Not the God of War, not the being that caused them nearly constant grief, just a person and that made him feel like she had forgiven him. Had she? Until that moment he hadn’t realized that he wanted her forgiveness. But would she be able to forgive him for killing Eli? The question continued to nag him. He decided not to think about it right now.

It pleased him to make her laugh and remind her of her father, but the feelings he had for her were definitely NOT fatherly. He didn’t let that thought continue. “Come on you. Let’s see if those weapons are still there. And I was NOT to quote you “ranting and raving”. Nor was I “throwing my arms this way and that”.”

He sounded indignant and just like her father. She decided it was best to leave it alone even though she wanted to start laughing again. She started a different subject, “What type of weapons do you think are there?”

He noticed her quick change of subject but accepted it as the offer of peace that it was. “I’m not sure. I was there, um…300 or so years ago. She might have destroyed the temple or changed it. We’ll just have to see. But as I remember, she kept at least 3 bows there and a lot of arrows. There was a sword or two, I think, and some other weapons. I don’t remember them all but I remember she had quite a few of them there.”

“Wow, she kept quite an arsenal didn’t she? Why keep all those weapons way out here? I would think she would keep them close.”

“You, little missy, are thinking like a mortal again. She was a Goddess. To her, this was close and it was private. Since Heph made most of these weapons himself she would be very protective of them. Nobody would be able to get to any of the weapons except her. What more could she want?”

“Did you have a temple like that? A private one that you would retreat to for time alone?” She asked.

“Yes and no. I very rarely spent time alone in any of my temples. Especially the private ones, there was always some…um...person who would accompany me.” He cleared his throat and almost looked embarrassed.

Mischievously, she asked, “Ares, you mean you would take a warlord there? To discuss battle plans before some war you planned to start.”

“No. I have only ever taken one warlord there. And she & I didn’t discuss much of anything while she was there. Especially battle plans.”

“Hmmm. Whatever do you mean?” She saw he was uncomfortable with these questions, but just had to needle him a little more. “I don’t understand what you’re trying to say.”

He turned and was about to try and answer her without actually answering her when he noticed the impish look on her face. “Ugh.” There was just no dealing with her when she was in this kind of mood so he didn’t even try. “How has Xena put up with you all these years?”

She was about to answer but he cut her off again, “Yea, I know, you’re best friends. I’m beginning to think I was lucky not to have any friends.”

“HA! You couldn’t have bought a friend, any friend, with the way you used to be.”

Their conversation continued like this the entire time so they reached the temple before they realized how much time had really gone by.

The temple was completely covered with vines. It was so overgrown that if Ares hadn’t known what to look for, they would have passed it by and not given it a second glance.

“Just as I remember it.” Ares was smiling in triumph.

“Is this really how it looked? How did people get in? Why would she let it get all covered over like this? Two years is not enough to account for this much over growth.”

“Just wait and see.” Was all he said but he had an excited look on his face. Similar to children who were about to open their Solstice gifts.

Twenty minuets later, Gabrielle was still waiting to see. Because Artemis, like all the other Gods could come and go without the use of doors, Ares discovered that she hadn’t put an actual door in the temple.

“Aphrodite, we need your help.” Before he could finish the word ‘help’ she had arrived.

“Hi ya! Bro, Little one.” She had a knowing sparkle in her eye when she looked at them. “Whatcha need?”

“We would like to get into Artemis’ temple but there isn’t a door. Can you transport us inside and then wait and transport us back out again?”

“Sure but what temple are you talking about?”

Ares and Gab both pointed at the building of vines and overgrowth. “Yuk! Are you sure you want to go in? Looks creepy to me.”

They both nodded their heads so she held out her hands for them to take. Within a second they were inside the temple. Now Gabrielle understood what Ares found so exciting. The temple was actually made from the vines and overgrowth. The walls were leaves and thick stems of plants. The roof was made of intertwined branches from trees. The whole building was literally alive. There were four rooms. The main room, two smaller rooms and one room that looked like a large closet. It was to this room Ares headed because it was the weapons room.

Gabrielle looked in every nook and crany she could find as Ares went through the weapon’s room looking for anything that they could use. Aphrodite was strangely quite. She was holding her arms in front of her and she looked pensive.

“’Dite, what’s wrong?” Gabrielle asked when she noticed her friend.

“I’m not sure. Something feels funny.”

“Funny?”

“Well, wrong I guess is better. But I can’t put my finger on it.”

“I bet if it was a diamond you could put your finger on it.” Ares joked. He didn’t get a response and that made him pay attention. “Okay, how does it feel wrong?”

“Wrong isn’t the right word either. Off is better. Can we get out of here, please?”

“I’m not done yet, ‘Dite. Give me a minute.” Ares said.

“NO! Now!” She walked over and grabbed Gab by the hand and dragged her to Ares. She grabbed his hand and before they could do anything, they arrived at one of her temples.

“What did you do that for? And why are we here?” Ares was a little displeased to say the least. Gabrielle just kept watching Aphrodite. Aphrodite just stood there puzzling over what she had felt in the temple and at other times.

“What is it? Why did you bring us here?” Gabrielle asked.

“I have a feeling I know what was making things feel off. Ares you would have felt it also if you still had your powers. But I want you to think back to what happened to all of Zeus’ magic when he died. Not the stuff on Olympus, but everything else. Do you remember that?”

Ares was looking at her. “Yea, the magic died.”

“Did it? Maybe Zeus’ magic didn’t die when he did. Maybe it just changed. How would we have known the difference? He was the first one of us to die. When we were in Artemis’ temple it was the magic that felt off. ”

She had Ares and Gabrielle’s full attention now.

“I have felt a lot of different things since the twilight and one thing I have recently noticed is that magic isn’t working like it use to. My magic and the magic of the remainder of us hasn’t changed except to grow a little weaker, but the magic of the ones that are dead has changed.” She looked at them and was greeted by blank faces. “You’re not following me are you?” Both shook their heads.

“Let’s see if I can make this clearer.” She paused to try and find a better way of explaining what she had been discovering. “Okay, look at it this way. The God is gone, but is the magic? I know that after Heph died, some of the spells he had done kept working. Now, those same spells aren’t working as they did before. They are almost working backwards.”

“’Dite, are you saying that if Ares put a spell on someone to make them warlordish, that they would now be kind?”

“I’m not sure about Ares magic, he isn’t dead, just mortal.”

“Besides, I never put a spell on anyone to make them more ‘warlordish’.” Ares complained. “But I did put spells on things like my scrying mirror. ‘Dite, can you get my scrying mirror and Athena’s scrying mirror and bring them here? It would be a good test to see what was happening.”

Gabrielle and Aphrodite agreed. Aphrodite disappeared to get the mirrors. “Ares, do you really think that the magic is broken? What would that mean to people?”

“I don’t know. But it makes me nervous.” After about five minutes ‘Dite reappeared with four scrying mirrors.

“I found Zeus’ mirror as well. I thought you might like to know what his magic is doing since you’re headed into his traps. And I brought mine along so we know what is correct.”

“Good thinking little sister. We have already come across an inscription of his that we haven’t figured it out yet.” Aphrodite continued to impress him with how smart she really was. “How did you get by with playing the ditz all these years?” Before she could answer him, he continued, “let’s see what happens. ‘Dite let’s use my mirror first. Let’s look in on Xena.” Aphrodite picked up Ares mirror and passed her hand over it. The mirror fuzzed but didn’t do anything else. “’Dite you will have to use more effort than you would with yours. The magic may have come from the same source but yours works different from mine. Try again.”

This time she passed her hand over the mirror slowly and concentrated hard. The image fuzzed then cleared to show Xena in the middle of a fight. This caused Gabrielle a start, then mass panic because a sword cut into Xena.

“XENA!!!” Gabrielle shouted at the mirror. Her yell startled ‘Dite’s concentration and the image faded as ‘Dite leaned onto a chair. Gabrielle looked at Aphrodite “Bring back the image!” Aphrodite looked tired but Gabrielle was frantic.

“I can’t little one, the mirror’s magic takes too much effort to keep going for long. I need to rest before I try it again.” She took a long breath, “Ar, hand me my mirror will you?” Ares handed her the mirror and she passed her hand effortlessly over it. Xena appeared but not as she had in Ares’ mirror. She was walking through the village with Eve as they talked and laughed. Everything was peaceful.

Gabrielle, Ares and Aphrodite were all looking at each other very confused. “What does this mean? Is Xena alright or is she dead?” Gabrielle wanted to know.

“Well, since I’m still a Goddess, I would think that my mirror has the correct image. What that says for Ares’ mirror, I don’t know. I think I should try Athena’s.”

Because Athena was the Goddess of Wisdom her mirror took a little more effort from Aphrodite. This time the image was completely different from the first two. Xena was walking through the forest with her sword drawn. She was looking around when all of the sudden she was captured in a very obvious trap. Before they could see what happened next, Aphrodite’s energy waned and the image disappeared.

“Could someone get me something to drink?” She sounded winded and exhausted. Ares’ walked over to the offering table and poured her a challis of wine. He also brought her some of the fruit that was on the table. “Thanks Ar. I’m not sure what the images mean. Any ideas?”

“Predictions of the future.” Was all Gabrielle said. “’Dite, when you can, can we look in your mirror again? I just want to make sure Xena’s alright.”

“Sure.” And she passed her hand over her mirror and the image appeared. This time Xena was watching Eve play with some of the village children.

“This just isn’t making any sense. What does all this mean?” Gabrielle asked.

“I think that we need to see what Zeus’ mirror shows.” Ares said and handed the mirror to his sister. He was very pensive about what might happen.

Aphrodite took the mirror and looked at the other. She swallowed and took a couple of deep breaths as she passed her hand over it exceptionally slowly and concentrated even harder than she had with Ares’ or Athena’s. The image that appeared didn’t make them feel any better. Xena was dead, laid out on a funeral pyre and Eve was lighting it.

tbc