The God Within 9/?
Title: The God Within
Author: wildannuette
Fandom: btvs/herc
Email:auxilary25248891@aol.com
Website: http://www.livejournal.com/users/wildannuette/
Rating: FRT
Summary: The demigods realise something strange is going on and blame Ares again. Someone grows supicious of Cupids behaviour
Warnings: mpreg, angst, reminder of abuse
Notes: unbetaed at the moment :)
Joxer flinched and twisted to one side as he awakened from the latest set of nightmares, which he now painfully dubbed ‘Strife’s former life’.
Joxer flinched and twisted to one side as he awakened from the latest set of nightmares, which he now painfully dubbed ‘Strife’s former life’. A little sweaty and trembling slightly he sat up rubbing his face vigorously; he hadn’t expected more memories to resurface for a few days, he’d been sure that his dreams would be about his own worries. Tiredly dragging himself over to the small washstand in the corner of the room Joxer quickly bathed the best he could and, after briefly hesitating, used cold compresses on his chest. He grimaced as he massaged the tender skin around his nipples, not wanting to touch them when they were swollen; he was worried about what would happen if he didn’t, he didn’t want mastitis but worse was his worry that Asyinnitos would take over, massaging it herself if she thought he wasn’t doing it. The idea of anyone touching him there was embarrassing enough but from what he’d seen of the Goddess he doubted that would stop her.
Jumping at a knock on the door, Joxer got up and hastily pulled on his vest hiding his swollen pecs from view; he grimaced as the rough material aggravated him and opened the door almost falling backwards as Xena and Iolaus both strode in.
“Won’t you both come in,” he murmured sarcastically under his breath as they walked passed him.
Iolaus seemed intent on nosing around the room but Xena at least was courteous enough to speak to him, “Sorry Joxer, I thought you might like to come into town with us. Gabrielle refused to get out of bed, or bathe,” a look of disgust briefly crossed her face as she recalled the vile smell that had come from the bard. “I’m not sure how long Hercules will stay in bed but I doubt Gabrielle will be out till tomorrow, hopefully she’ll have at least washed before we get back;” she added under her breath.
Joxer stifled a laugh unable to feel in the slightest bit sorry for either of them and slightly impressed as he recalled the way baby Strife had manipulated them all the night before, “Yeah, there’s a few things I would like to get and...”
Xena nodded cutting him off, “Let’s go then.” Obviously taking charge she walked from the room leaving both Joxer and Iolaus to follow her. Whilst the hunter hurried to catch up with her, Joxer finished bathing before he pulled on his shoes and made his way after them; seeing them waiting outside the building he made his way jovially over to them, whistling slightly. Although he stopped himself from singing his song he still had a whistle it, even if it was just to annoy Xena and Iolaus. He managed to hide a grin as he realised that since Strife’s powers were suppressed, the mischief he was doing was all his own, as was his newfound attitude. His friend’s death had given him a new attitude and made him recognise that just like the God’s themselves had faults, so did their demigod offspring; Joxer knew that learning Strife and he were friends had tarred his own image especially in Gabrielle’s eyes but now he found himself turning away from some of his so-called friends. He doubted it was Strife’s influence; he’d tried to ignore the truth about them his friends for too long, now Joxer was being himself rather then pleasing the crowd they were starting to show their true colours. The idea that he would lose his friends, whether it was because they found out he was pregnant or because he had finally begun standing up for himself, hurt him deeply; Joxer forced himself to remain optimistic, if he could change so could they and if they didn’t that was their loss.
Joxer had to smile at the small frown on Xena’s face, the Warrior Princess had obviously expected him to jump to her commands and hadn’t been impressed when they’d had to wait for him. He whistled loudly as he joined them and broke off, grinning slightly at the grimace on Iolaus’s face as he placed the tune. “So is shopping all we have planned for today?”
To her credit Xena didn’t brush him off, “No, I thought we’d take a look at Apollo and Cupid’s temples, maybe try to talk to them. I heard a few disturbing rumours last night; apparently Cupid hasn’t been to his temple in months even to receive tributes from his favoured priests and Apollo has kept himself barricaded in his.” A slight smile curved her lips as she remembered some of the more interesting rumours, “apparently his favoured mortals are getting a little panicked, seems he hasn’t been blessing them in any way for a few weeks now.”
Even Iolaus couldn’t hide a smirk at that. Apollo, like most of the other God’s, prided himself on being a great lover and the idea that the God had gone soft (however appropriate the saying was) was more then a little amusing especially given the number of favoured mortals he had.
Joxer hadn’t smiled at the comment; it wasn’t that he didn’t find it funny, he found it amusing and appropriate, but Apollo had recently featured a lot in the dreams he’d been having and Joxer had gone from being indifferent to the God, to intensely disliking him. So far in Strife’s memories Apollo hadn’t gone out of his way to actually hurt the mischief God himself, unlike some of his other relatives, but he hadn’t helped him either. In the last dream Joxer had had, Strife had desperately gone to Apollo for healing; not only had Apollo refused to actually help him, he’d transported the injured God to the worst place he’d possible could- one of Discord’s temples. The injured Mischief God hadn’t stood a chance against Discord who’d taken great pleasure in tormenting him until Ares had finally realised what had happened and retrieved him. Joxer had no way of knowing how long it had taken for Strife to heal after his ordeal but he’d guessed it was a while especially since the mortal had been witness to some of the more imaginative torments she’d carried out on Strife. Deep in thought Joxer jumped slightly as Iolaus spoke, the sudden interruption snapping him out of the bad memories.
“There’s been a lot of that going around.” Iolaus crossed his arms over his chest; “This isn’t the only place where the God’s seem to be going insane. Before Herc and I got here we passed three villages, all whose shrines to Aphrodite had exploded and one city where her whole temple had vanished. The people there also said similar things happened to some of the other God’s; two of Athena’s statues melted, all of Ares horses were released from one of his stables and a bunch of Amazons tried to convert to Hestian virgins.” He shook his head, “sound’s like complete chaos to me”
Joxer knew exactly who was responsible but he wasn’t going to enlighten the others; catching sight of someone heading for them he groaned inwardly, having hoped for a morning off from Hercules opinions.
“Sounds like Discord to me,” Xena sighed looking grim at the idea, “You and Hercules know what she’s like better then I do, do you think she could be involved?” she asked the question to Iolaus but she didn’t turn her back on Joxer and shut him out, which the man was grateful for. Unfortunately Hercules caught the end of her sentence and couldn’t resist adding his own comments,
“She could easily be involved,” the scowl on Hercules face spoke volumes about his mood, “Especially after last night, she must have done something to us,” the demigod couldn’t believe that he’d actually become drunk and acted so boorish without Godly intervention. Iolaus rolled his eyes at the comment and locked eyes with Joxer as he gave a small shrug; although Joxer knew on some level Hercules was right and that he’d become intoxicated due to Strife but Iolaus just believed that Hercules was trying to justify and blame his behaviour on anyone else. The look on Xena’s face made it plainly clear she didn’t agree with Hercules either but she wasn’t about to argue with the hero; once Hercules got an idea into his head, especially one involving the Gods, he remained obsessed with it until something was done.
Joxer sighed quietly as he took in Hercules and Xena’s expressions, the differences between their attitudes sometimes amazed him; Hercules was so committed to protecting the innocent and fighting against the Gods, that he often came across as thick-headed and arrogant even though there were times when he could be the nicest person. Xena, like Hercules, didn’t get on with many of the God’s but even though she might believe them to be involved a lot of things she usually kept her thoughts to herself until she was sure; whereas Hercules jumped in like an overeager child, happy to point his finger at the God’s and blame them for anything and everything. Joxer had always been aware the God’s had their faults and were more like mortals then they’d care to admit, he also knew that they did interfere with mortals a lot and play games for their own selfish desires; but never once had he believed they were solely responsible. Hercules tended to conveniently forget that normal mortals did have some measure of free will. Hercules preferred to believe it was the God’s that caused each and every problem that there was rather then have to blame mortal failings, his own failings. Joxer hated that that it was Godly problems that were causing problems in Greece at the moment, that Hercules was right and not just jumping to conclusions.
“If Discord’s behind this then Ares is responsible,” Hercules was adamant that Ares was behind everything that went wrong regardless of what it was.
Looking around at the small group Joxer was amazed to see Iolaus nodding his head in agreement, he couldn’t understand how either of them automatically assumed everything bad centred on Ares and he couldn’t help feeling a little annoyed for the God too. Joxer was about to open his mouth and say something he’d have regretted when Xena interjected,
“I doubt Ares behind this just because Discord might be,” Xena sighed, rubbing her head, “Besides we don’t even know if Discord is involved anyway.” She looked from Hercules to Iolaus who were staring at her open mouthed, “well you don’t, do you?”
Iolaus shrugged, “It seems like she’s a good bet, the only other person I’d think blame would be Ares little toady but since he’s ugh!” he broke off sharply as Hercules elbowed him in the side.
Joxer’s eyes narrowed at Iolaus’s comment, “Ares little toady?” he asked quietly; an unpleasant smile started to form on his lips as he felt his anger grow, he kept his gaze firmly on Iolaus and didn’t notice Xena move close to his side.
“You have to admit this was his style,” Hercules smiled trying to lighten the mood but when he got no response he stepped next to Iolaus keeping an eye on Joxer. The hunter wasn’t used to Joxer losing his temper or taking a stand over anything and despite the rage he saw in Joxer’s eyes he couldn’t help defending his statement,
“I might not have used the best choice of words, but I stand by I said. If Strife was still around, he’d at least have a hand in what’s been happening.” Iolaus kept his eyes fixed on Joxers; he had always thought of Strife as nothing more then Ares lackey but he hadn’t meant to ever let Joxer hear him say it. Even though he had deeply disliked the Mischief God, Joxer’s friendship was important to him.
Joxer had always assumed Iolaus was the type of person who liked anyone and always gave them a second chance, whatever their actions, but the dislike that shone from Iolaus’s eyes contradicted that; to see such detest for his former friend, his soon to be son, made Joxer extremely protective and furious. His rage only increased as Hercules tried to play peacemaker and defuse the situation while agreeing with Iolaus.
“Joxer you don’t know the God’s like I do. They’re my family much as it pains me to say it and whilst some are harmless, like Aphrodite and Cupid, the rest of them wouldn’t think twice about causing all manner of problems.” The earnestness in Hercules words made Joxer feel like he was getting his first real bout of morning sickness, he couldn’t help laughing at them especially given the harmless comment.
Cupid, harmless? Not likely given the fact he was causing most of the chaos. Aphrodite wasn’t just the ditzy blonde Hercules believed her to be either, it was obvious to Joxer that she’d been manipulating her son for what she believed was his own good as well as making sure Strife was persecuted by the other Gods. The Goddess of Love wasn’t Joxer’s favourite person at present, only Cupid’s anger towards her appeased him slightly. Joxer trembled almost surprising himself over the level of fury he felt. It wasn’t just about the comments on Strife it was Hercules, and Iolaus to some extent, attitude towards the Gods. He couldn’t see how they could be so pig-ignorant over everything and refuse to believe anything other then what their tiny minds could think up. He was firmly set against ever telling the hero or his partner that he was pregnant and that it was with Strife. In fact the whole conversation made him more determined to keep his son away from both them as well as the majority of the Olympians.
“I’m a little confused Hercules,” Xena spoke casually but their was no mistaking her attitude it was pure defence, though what she would be defending Joxer wasn’t sure but he enjoyed the way Hercules eyes immediately snapped to her.
“Confused?” The hero genuinely looked baffled and Joxer had to admit to feeling just the same. Hercules attitude was clear, what could she possibly be confused over?
“Didn’t you help keep Cupid and Psyche together? You even suggested she was made a Goddess didn’t you?” The Warrior Princess’s tone was silky now; “Isn’t she a friend of yours? Only I’m pretty sure you’ve just made it clear you despise most of the Gods.”
Joxer stared at her in amazement, having to swallow back his laugh at the stupefied look on Hercules face as Xena continued, “You call Aphrodite your little sister and allow Cupid to call you his favourite Uncle but you seem to have a selective memory when it comes to the rest of your family. I’m not saying some of them aren’t complete asses but it sounds to me like you’re envious of them,” she raised an eyebrow, “And you’re worried that your more like them then you want to be. You make it clear you’ve got godly strength but you seem disgusted by where it came from; you may not like it but you’re a demigod which means that, like me, you have failings on both sides of who you are. The difference is I’m willing to accept mine.”
He wasn’t sure how but Joxer managed to hold off cheering Xena as she finished; the incredulous look on Hercules face was hilarious, the demigod looked like he’d just heard something far too complicated for him to conceive. He glanced at Iolaus, the man's face was a picture, and Joxer just wished there were an artist around to capture it. Although he was trying hard not to smile and impressed by Xena’s attitude he wasn’t ready to trust her with his secret yet but he was glad she was adhering to her original attitude; she’d made it clear she wasn’t fond of Strife but had also made it just as clear his death was unnatural and his friends had a right to grieve.
Feeling Xena’s hand on his shoulder he locked eyes with her as she spoke, “We should go and see Ares, he can tell us what’s going on. Even though I doubt he’s responsible.” As Joxer turned to walk with her, she added so only he could hear, “I’m not any of the Gods’ friend or defender by any means Joxer but what Iolaus said was unfair. I think you should give him the benefit of the doubt though, he’s not a vindictive person.” She squeezed his arm and glanced back at Hercules and Iolaus who were still too shocked to move, “I agree this is related to the Gods but I don’t share all of Hercules views, I’m well aware the gods can be petty but generally they don’t go against each other.”
Joxer nodded musing on her words as he walked; as stubborn and decisive as Xena could be, sometimes she surprised him, “It’s not Ares or Discord,” he murmured, when she glanced at him he quickly added, “I don’t think. It just doesn’t feel like either of them,” he paused thinking over his words, “If that makes any sense.
Xena’s mouth twitched slightly, “It does and I stand by what I said before, sometimes Hercules is a legend only in his own mind.”
Joxer stared at her for a minute before he burst out laughing, glancing over his shoulder he noticed neither Hercules nor Iolaus had made any effort to catch them up, something that made the walk with Xena a far more pleasant one.
A familiar imposing building caught his eye and he inclined his head towards it. It was unmistakably Ares temple; unlike the other temples in the town it had a set of rigid grey steps leading up to its doors and various disgruntled Warlords around it. “Ares temple. Should we just walk in?” Despite his relationship with Ares becoming a little more familiar, Joxer still wasn’t ready to just stroll into his temple and shout for him. The times he had before had been for an extremely good reason or to give tribute and prayers, something he had no inclination to do now.
Shrugging Xena strode past the Warlords and up the steps instead of replying; she easily pushed the heavy doors open, “We can try calling him, I doubt Discord will come and I know smashing the place up won’t help.” She held the door open for Joxer as he hesitantly moved up the steps and followed her into the temple. Swallowing hard, he looked around at everything that reminded him of Ares finding it extremely hard to stand around and do nothing especially as Xena started calling Ares name. The whole temple wasn’t just one of Ares temples it was much more though Joxer wasn’t sure what had changed his perspective; everywhere he looked was a reminder of the War God, not that Joxer didn’t expect that in one of his temples but what he didn’t expect was the temple to smell like Ares, almost feel like Ares. He closed his eyes, it felt like the War God was a part of each and everything in the room.
“What else did you expect?” The murmur in Joxer’s ear made him jump violently; as he let out a small cry, invisible hands steadied him on either side of his shoulders and Ares appeared behind him in a shower of sparkles. Joxer pulled out of the God’s hold and turned to glare at him as he tried to steady his heartbeat, he was extremely glad that the sparkles from Ares appearance merely graced his skin but didn’t burn.
Xena was at Joxer’s side before he had a chance to complain her eyes assessing the God, “Not funny Ares,” her voice was steady but Joxer could tell she wasn’t impressed. Joxer’s heartbeat was returning to normal but his jumpiness was now from his close proximity to Ares.
The War God took it all in his stride and shrugged at them both, “It is my temple,” he reminded them, “and you obviously want me for some reason, so what is it now? Come to start annoying me over some war or another?” His comment was directed solely at Xena although he had moved closer to Joxer; the mortal’s nervousness was apparent and inwardly Ares was delighted that the mortal seemed to want to be bothered.
Xena’s eyes narrowed thoughtfully as she took in the tension between Ares and Joxer but before she could casually slide in between the two and protect Joxer from Ares apparent new interest, the doors to the temple crashed open revealing a very disgruntled Hercules who Joxer (rightly) presumed had only just snapped out of his shock. Unconsciously Joxer moved a little closer to Ares, something that escaped everyone’s notice but the God’s, who was glaring at his annoying half-brother.
“Ares!” Hercules growled the word out, arrogantly striding towards the War god who was growing angrier by the second; luckily (for his own health) Hercules stopped himself from grabbing Ares by his shirt and merely stood in front of the God, his arms crossed as he glowered at him.
Ares managed to put his homicidal tendencies about his brother briefly to one side and raised an eyebrow at the scowling demigod, “Something wrong Hercules?” his voice was deceptively calm, “Or are you making a habit of barging into other people’s homes?”
Hercules scowl deepened but he was at a loss of what to say; his patented ‘you’re evil and behind this!’ speech only worked when Ares was hurling fireballs at him or obviously involved in some nefarious plot; the demigod was a little stumped at how to reply to his brothers comments on his manners. He glanced at Iolaus as the hunter joined his side, having got over his own shock seconds after Hercules had, and then looked back at Ares who was looking from Xena to Joxer with an expression on his face that cried ‘why me?’ Finding his voice Hercules did his best to intimidate his brother, he was so sure Ares and Discord were behind the latest problem’s they’d been experiencing he didn’t even stop to consider if they had actually been affected by them;
“What are you up to now Ares? I can’t see how any of this could accomplish anything for you,” he meant the words sarcastically but a small frown furrowed his forehead as it dawned on him that the chaos that was happening wouldn’t benefit Ares in the slightest. Not liking that thought, Hercules switched to the next guilty person on his list, “Or is Discord so out of your control, she would do this?” the frown only deepened as an amused smile spread across Ares face, “you think that’s funny Ares?”
“Actually I do,” Ares smile twitched slightly as his amusement grew, he’d caught the tail end of Hercules thoughts and realised that his brother was more upset about his rowdy behaviour when drunk then any of the Gods problems; he was tempted to tell Hercules that Zeus acted in exactly the same way when he’d had too much wine, but that would only lead to more confrontation and much as he enjoyed Joxer standing so close to him, he still had Strife’s name to clear. Holding up his hands Ares gathered his power as he concentrated on bringing Discord to him, the God found it mildly amusing that as he did Iolaus jumped to one side whilst Hercules took up a defensive stance. A bright green light gathered between his hands as the two tensed further and faded to reveal…a chicken.
Unable to hold it in anymore, Joxer burst out laughing as the chicken clucked and warbled in Ares hands. It flapped it’s wings angrily in Hercules direction making the hero back up a few steps; swallowing his laughter Joxer managed to straighten up and ask, “Is that Discord?” At Ares nod he burst out laughing again; a chicken was more then appropriate (in Joxer’s opinion) for a Goddess who bullied her own child.
Ares grinned, Joxer’s laughter was extremely infectious; the God could see Xena was trying valiantly to swallow her laughter almost to the point of choking on it and Iolaus looked torn between hysterics and embarrassment for his own presumptions. Hercules looked astounded; his mouth was wide open and he was staring at the chicken in shock, which kept trying to incline it’s head enough to peck him.
“That’s Discord?” The hero asked incredulously as he stared down at the chicken, he noticed had an eerily familiar psychopathic look in its eyes as it tried to peck his hand.
Smirking Ares nodded, “What you thought I’d turn her back right away? I quite like her as this, means she can’t get in my way,” his last words were in an icy tone and the chicken stopped flapping and pecking straight away. Ares stared down at her thoughtfully, he was fond of Discord despite her shortcomings; she had abused his nephew and she did anger him greatly a lot of the time but she was still his twin sister, Ares hadn’t turned her back at first because he was furious with her for acting although Strife had meant nothing but now he did it to protect Joxer (even if it was for the wrong reason). If Discord knew Strife had another child before Psyche, one who had no way of protecting himself he was sure she would transfer whatever she felt for Strife onto Joxer and subject him to the same punishments; Ares knew that Joxer, being mortal, wouldn’t survive her attentions.
“But she’s your sister, you lieutenant?” Iolaus looked shocked at the idea, “I thought you were joking when you said you’d keep her like that, that’s just…” he broke off not sure what it was, he disliked Discord as much as he had Strife so he couldn’t defend her.
Ares shrugged casually, "she’s stuck like that until someone changes her back and given everyone’s moods that will be for a while. It might also be safer for her to stay like this for now, I know at least one God and two Goddesses that want nothing more then to throttle her.” A slow slightly devious smile came over his face as an idea struck him, “actually Olympus isn’t that safe for her at all especially now I’m so busy so why don’t you watch her.” He sauntered forward and calmly dropped the chicken into Iolaus’s arms, he was surprised that Discord didn’t try to peck Iolaus and just sat glaring at him but he did notice as Hercules moved to take her she pecked him sharply on the hand.
Joxer couldn’t help the idle thought that Hercules wasn’t all that suited to chickens as the hero cursed and rubbed his hand, in fact he was much more suited to something else. He jumped as Ares patted his shoulder in delight as he caught the mortal’s thought, “I almost forgot, chickens aren’t really your thing are they Hercules?” Ares waved his hand and the chicken glowed reforming into a pig; Hercules noticeably took a step back and went slightly green as Discord started snorting and squealing at him the sounds translating, to him, into her furious voice.
Obviously on the verge of laughing Ares somehow managed to still appear intimidating as he looked over the hero, “Don’t forget little brother, she is a Goddess and Zeus’s daughter. You’d better take good care of her.” He spoke casually but meant every word; he had no doubt that Hercules would protect Discord even if she was a Goddess turned pig, ignorant and annoying as he could be Ares knew Hercules would keep her safe, “next time try someone else. I’m a bit busy at the moment and there are plenty of other God’s who are responsible for this mess.” He squeezed Joxer’s upper arm slightly as he addressed him, “I can see you do want bothering, so I’ll be sure to visit…again.” With a final smirk, he flashed out leaving Discord squealing in Iolaus’s arms.
He also left behind Joxer who blushed deeply as the hunter and two confused demigods, one of whom was getting sorer ears by the minute, turned to stare at him in disbelief.
*******
“Why?” The God turned his head briefly as he looked at the other behind him, they were close enough to touch and yet neither made any effort to.
“She needs you,” his Fathers voce broached no argument, “So does the rest of your family. By all means stay out of it if you don’t want to help with our Cupid-problem but your Mother needs you right now.” His hand hesitated by the God’s arm and then drew quickly back; glancing down at the object in front of the God, his Father shook his head refraining from touching his son; something the God was glad for and yet deep down hurt badly, his father hadn’t laid a hand on him in years not a hug, not a touch, not nothing. At the God’s silence, his Father flashed out with a final sigh leaving the God alone with his own thoughts.
*They’ll never believe it was an accident, * The God mused to himself, *or was it? Sometimes I wonder, * he waved his hand over the seeing pool making Cupid’s image appear; the image rippled briefly and the God watched in curiosity as Asyinnitos appeared next the rampaging Love God. He expected Cupid to turn on the Goddess and take his frustrations out on her especially after she’d cursed him along with everyone else or for the Goddess to start trying to plead with Cupid and apologise; what he never considered was that the Goddess would say something to Cupid that would have him roaring in laughter. The God had expected anger from Cupid, not laughter, the Love God’s attitude mystified him and made him suspicious that something was going on.
The God knew Cupid’s anger and grief had been real which made the God was more then a little confused; the God himself had been one of those to try to comfort Cupid before his grief was bound and yet now those bonds were released it appeared the winged God was involved in some kind of elaborate game, pretending to be more distressed then he was. Of all the Olympians to work on such a sham with Cupid he never would have expected the Goddess of Pregnancy to be involved, they just weren’t connected in anyway and yet she was saying something to Cupid that had his full attention on her. The God frowned, Cupid was no longer laughing but he was listening attentively to whatever the Goddess was saying. The God rested his fingers in the seeing pool as he wished he could hear what they were discussing; he slightly disturbed the image but it remained obvious the two were working together in some manner as they flashed out together. The God traced their signatures back to Cupid’s temple where both Bliss and Psyche were in residence; the seeing pool remained fixed on the spot where Cupid had been, it wasn’t powerful enough to show the inside of a warded temple and Cupid’s temple was warded.
The God waited for something to happen as he concentrated on Cupid’s temple, at the very least he expected some kind of confrontation between Cupid and Psyche. When nothing happened after a few minutes the God scowled and ran his hand over the seeing pool, the image blurred and changed to that of Ares- the one person the God was deeply afraid would find out the truth. The God couldn’t understand where Ares sudden need to know the truth had come from and why the God was so persistent with it; he had to assume part of it had come from Asyinnitos and her curse which meant the God would have to deal with her first. He sighed, things were becoming far to complicated to keep up with and he knew the truth was a better option then more deception but he still couldn’t bring himself to do it. Not paying attention to the seeing pool, the God missed Ares brief flirtation with Joxer and the seeing pools fluctuation as it focussed briefly on the mortal.
The God knew Cupid and Asyinnitos’ subterfuge would cause problems, more then he might have been able to cope with, but he wasn’t ready to turn his family against him by revealing the truth. He’d had many a sleepless night imagining the horror and guilt on his mothers face as she was confronted by the truth; his father he knew would be disappointed in him, something the God found worse then anything else. Even if he no longer had a proper relationship with him he still yearned to, if his parents knew the truth it would be impossible.
He clenched his fists believing that if he admitted what he’d done most if not all of the Pantheon would turn against him despite the deep hurt that had driven him to it and the accident that had resulted causing all the mess. The God could see of no way out and nothing he could do, save watching the others to try to find out what was going on; before the time came for the truth to come out, he was sure he would have to do things that weren’t in his nature. He clenched his fists; if he couldn’t admit to the truth then one way or another he’d have to bury it.
Author: wildannuette
Fandom: btvs/herc
Email:auxilary25248891@aol.com
Website: http://www.livejournal.com/users/wildannuette/
Rating: FRT
Summary: The demigods realise something strange is going on and blame Ares again. Someone grows supicious of Cupids behaviour
Warnings: mpreg, angst, reminder of abuse
Notes: unbetaed at the moment :)
Joxer flinched and twisted to one side as he awakened from the latest set of nightmares, which he now painfully dubbed ‘Strife’s former life’.
Joxer flinched and twisted to one side as he awakened from the latest set of nightmares, which he now painfully dubbed ‘Strife’s former life’. A little sweaty and trembling slightly he sat up rubbing his face vigorously; he hadn’t expected more memories to resurface for a few days, he’d been sure that his dreams would be about his own worries. Tiredly dragging himself over to the small washstand in the corner of the room Joxer quickly bathed the best he could and, after briefly hesitating, used cold compresses on his chest. He grimaced as he massaged the tender skin around his nipples, not wanting to touch them when they were swollen; he was worried about what would happen if he didn’t, he didn’t want mastitis but worse was his worry that Asyinnitos would take over, massaging it herself if she thought he wasn’t doing it. The idea of anyone touching him there was embarrassing enough but from what he’d seen of the Goddess he doubted that would stop her.
Jumping at a knock on the door, Joxer got up and hastily pulled on his vest hiding his swollen pecs from view; he grimaced as the rough material aggravated him and opened the door almost falling backwards as Xena and Iolaus both strode in.
“Won’t you both come in,” he murmured sarcastically under his breath as they walked passed him.
Iolaus seemed intent on nosing around the room but Xena at least was courteous enough to speak to him, “Sorry Joxer, I thought you might like to come into town with us. Gabrielle refused to get out of bed, or bathe,” a look of disgust briefly crossed her face as she recalled the vile smell that had come from the bard. “I’m not sure how long Hercules will stay in bed but I doubt Gabrielle will be out till tomorrow, hopefully she’ll have at least washed before we get back;” she added under her breath.
Joxer stifled a laugh unable to feel in the slightest bit sorry for either of them and slightly impressed as he recalled the way baby Strife had manipulated them all the night before, “Yeah, there’s a few things I would like to get and...”
Xena nodded cutting him off, “Let’s go then.” Obviously taking charge she walked from the room leaving both Joxer and Iolaus to follow her. Whilst the hunter hurried to catch up with her, Joxer finished bathing before he pulled on his shoes and made his way after them; seeing them waiting outside the building he made his way jovially over to them, whistling slightly. Although he stopped himself from singing his song he still had a whistle it, even if it was just to annoy Xena and Iolaus. He managed to hide a grin as he realised that since Strife’s powers were suppressed, the mischief he was doing was all his own, as was his newfound attitude. His friend’s death had given him a new attitude and made him recognise that just like the God’s themselves had faults, so did their demigod offspring; Joxer knew that learning Strife and he were friends had tarred his own image especially in Gabrielle’s eyes but now he found himself turning away from some of his so-called friends. He doubted it was Strife’s influence; he’d tried to ignore the truth about them his friends for too long, now Joxer was being himself rather then pleasing the crowd they were starting to show their true colours. The idea that he would lose his friends, whether it was because they found out he was pregnant or because he had finally begun standing up for himself, hurt him deeply; Joxer forced himself to remain optimistic, if he could change so could they and if they didn’t that was their loss.
Joxer had to smile at the small frown on Xena’s face, the Warrior Princess had obviously expected him to jump to her commands and hadn’t been impressed when they’d had to wait for him. He whistled loudly as he joined them and broke off, grinning slightly at the grimace on Iolaus’s face as he placed the tune. “So is shopping all we have planned for today?”
To her credit Xena didn’t brush him off, “No, I thought we’d take a look at Apollo and Cupid’s temples, maybe try to talk to them. I heard a few disturbing rumours last night; apparently Cupid hasn’t been to his temple in months even to receive tributes from his favoured priests and Apollo has kept himself barricaded in his.” A slight smile curved her lips as she remembered some of the more interesting rumours, “apparently his favoured mortals are getting a little panicked, seems he hasn’t been blessing them in any way for a few weeks now.”
Even Iolaus couldn’t hide a smirk at that. Apollo, like most of the other God’s, prided himself on being a great lover and the idea that the God had gone soft (however appropriate the saying was) was more then a little amusing especially given the number of favoured mortals he had.
Joxer hadn’t smiled at the comment; it wasn’t that he didn’t find it funny, he found it amusing and appropriate, but Apollo had recently featured a lot in the dreams he’d been having and Joxer had gone from being indifferent to the God, to intensely disliking him. So far in Strife’s memories Apollo hadn’t gone out of his way to actually hurt the mischief God himself, unlike some of his other relatives, but he hadn’t helped him either. In the last dream Joxer had had, Strife had desperately gone to Apollo for healing; not only had Apollo refused to actually help him, he’d transported the injured God to the worst place he’d possible could- one of Discord’s temples. The injured Mischief God hadn’t stood a chance against Discord who’d taken great pleasure in tormenting him until Ares had finally realised what had happened and retrieved him. Joxer had no way of knowing how long it had taken for Strife to heal after his ordeal but he’d guessed it was a while especially since the mortal had been witness to some of the more imaginative torments she’d carried out on Strife. Deep in thought Joxer jumped slightly as Iolaus spoke, the sudden interruption snapping him out of the bad memories.
“There’s been a lot of that going around.” Iolaus crossed his arms over his chest; “This isn’t the only place where the God’s seem to be going insane. Before Herc and I got here we passed three villages, all whose shrines to Aphrodite had exploded and one city where her whole temple had vanished. The people there also said similar things happened to some of the other God’s; two of Athena’s statues melted, all of Ares horses were released from one of his stables and a bunch of Amazons tried to convert to Hestian virgins.” He shook his head, “sound’s like complete chaos to me”
Joxer knew exactly who was responsible but he wasn’t going to enlighten the others; catching sight of someone heading for them he groaned inwardly, having hoped for a morning off from Hercules opinions.
“Sounds like Discord to me,” Xena sighed looking grim at the idea, “You and Hercules know what she’s like better then I do, do you think she could be involved?” she asked the question to Iolaus but she didn’t turn her back on Joxer and shut him out, which the man was grateful for. Unfortunately Hercules caught the end of her sentence and couldn’t resist adding his own comments,
“She could easily be involved,” the scowl on Hercules face spoke volumes about his mood, “Especially after last night, she must have done something to us,” the demigod couldn’t believe that he’d actually become drunk and acted so boorish without Godly intervention. Iolaus rolled his eyes at the comment and locked eyes with Joxer as he gave a small shrug; although Joxer knew on some level Hercules was right and that he’d become intoxicated due to Strife but Iolaus just believed that Hercules was trying to justify and blame his behaviour on anyone else. The look on Xena’s face made it plainly clear she didn’t agree with Hercules either but she wasn’t about to argue with the hero; once Hercules got an idea into his head, especially one involving the Gods, he remained obsessed with it until something was done.
Joxer sighed quietly as he took in Hercules and Xena’s expressions, the differences between their attitudes sometimes amazed him; Hercules was so committed to protecting the innocent and fighting against the Gods, that he often came across as thick-headed and arrogant even though there were times when he could be the nicest person. Xena, like Hercules, didn’t get on with many of the God’s but even though she might believe them to be involved a lot of things she usually kept her thoughts to herself until she was sure; whereas Hercules jumped in like an overeager child, happy to point his finger at the God’s and blame them for anything and everything. Joxer had always been aware the God’s had their faults and were more like mortals then they’d care to admit, he also knew that they did interfere with mortals a lot and play games for their own selfish desires; but never once had he believed they were solely responsible. Hercules tended to conveniently forget that normal mortals did have some measure of free will. Hercules preferred to believe it was the God’s that caused each and every problem that there was rather then have to blame mortal failings, his own failings. Joxer hated that that it was Godly problems that were causing problems in Greece at the moment, that Hercules was right and not just jumping to conclusions.
“If Discord’s behind this then Ares is responsible,” Hercules was adamant that Ares was behind everything that went wrong regardless of what it was.
Looking around at the small group Joxer was amazed to see Iolaus nodding his head in agreement, he couldn’t understand how either of them automatically assumed everything bad centred on Ares and he couldn’t help feeling a little annoyed for the God too. Joxer was about to open his mouth and say something he’d have regretted when Xena interjected,
“I doubt Ares behind this just because Discord might be,” Xena sighed, rubbing her head, “Besides we don’t even know if Discord is involved anyway.” She looked from Hercules to Iolaus who were staring at her open mouthed, “well you don’t, do you?”
Iolaus shrugged, “It seems like she’s a good bet, the only other person I’d think blame would be Ares little toady but since he’s ugh!” he broke off sharply as Hercules elbowed him in the side.
Joxer’s eyes narrowed at Iolaus’s comment, “Ares little toady?” he asked quietly; an unpleasant smile started to form on his lips as he felt his anger grow, he kept his gaze firmly on Iolaus and didn’t notice Xena move close to his side.
“You have to admit this was his style,” Hercules smiled trying to lighten the mood but when he got no response he stepped next to Iolaus keeping an eye on Joxer. The hunter wasn’t used to Joxer losing his temper or taking a stand over anything and despite the rage he saw in Joxer’s eyes he couldn’t help defending his statement,
“I might not have used the best choice of words, but I stand by I said. If Strife was still around, he’d at least have a hand in what’s been happening.” Iolaus kept his eyes fixed on Joxers; he had always thought of Strife as nothing more then Ares lackey but he hadn’t meant to ever let Joxer hear him say it. Even though he had deeply disliked the Mischief God, Joxer’s friendship was important to him.
Joxer had always assumed Iolaus was the type of person who liked anyone and always gave them a second chance, whatever their actions, but the dislike that shone from Iolaus’s eyes contradicted that; to see such detest for his former friend, his soon to be son, made Joxer extremely protective and furious. His rage only increased as Hercules tried to play peacemaker and defuse the situation while agreeing with Iolaus.
“Joxer you don’t know the God’s like I do. They’re my family much as it pains me to say it and whilst some are harmless, like Aphrodite and Cupid, the rest of them wouldn’t think twice about causing all manner of problems.” The earnestness in Hercules words made Joxer feel like he was getting his first real bout of morning sickness, he couldn’t help laughing at them especially given the harmless comment.
Cupid, harmless? Not likely given the fact he was causing most of the chaos. Aphrodite wasn’t just the ditzy blonde Hercules believed her to be either, it was obvious to Joxer that she’d been manipulating her son for what she believed was his own good as well as making sure Strife was persecuted by the other Gods. The Goddess of Love wasn’t Joxer’s favourite person at present, only Cupid’s anger towards her appeased him slightly. Joxer trembled almost surprising himself over the level of fury he felt. It wasn’t just about the comments on Strife it was Hercules, and Iolaus to some extent, attitude towards the Gods. He couldn’t see how they could be so pig-ignorant over everything and refuse to believe anything other then what their tiny minds could think up. He was firmly set against ever telling the hero or his partner that he was pregnant and that it was with Strife. In fact the whole conversation made him more determined to keep his son away from both them as well as the majority of the Olympians.
“I’m a little confused Hercules,” Xena spoke casually but their was no mistaking her attitude it was pure defence, though what she would be defending Joxer wasn’t sure but he enjoyed the way Hercules eyes immediately snapped to her.
“Confused?” The hero genuinely looked baffled and Joxer had to admit to feeling just the same. Hercules attitude was clear, what could she possibly be confused over?
“Didn’t you help keep Cupid and Psyche together? You even suggested she was made a Goddess didn’t you?” The Warrior Princess’s tone was silky now; “Isn’t she a friend of yours? Only I’m pretty sure you’ve just made it clear you despise most of the Gods.”
Joxer stared at her in amazement, having to swallow back his laugh at the stupefied look on Hercules face as Xena continued, “You call Aphrodite your little sister and allow Cupid to call you his favourite Uncle but you seem to have a selective memory when it comes to the rest of your family. I’m not saying some of them aren’t complete asses but it sounds to me like you’re envious of them,” she raised an eyebrow, “And you’re worried that your more like them then you want to be. You make it clear you’ve got godly strength but you seem disgusted by where it came from; you may not like it but you’re a demigod which means that, like me, you have failings on both sides of who you are. The difference is I’m willing to accept mine.”
He wasn’t sure how but Joxer managed to hold off cheering Xena as she finished; the incredulous look on Hercules face was hilarious, the demigod looked like he’d just heard something far too complicated for him to conceive. He glanced at Iolaus, the man's face was a picture, and Joxer just wished there were an artist around to capture it. Although he was trying hard not to smile and impressed by Xena’s attitude he wasn’t ready to trust her with his secret yet but he was glad she was adhering to her original attitude; she’d made it clear she wasn’t fond of Strife but had also made it just as clear his death was unnatural and his friends had a right to grieve.
Feeling Xena’s hand on his shoulder he locked eyes with her as she spoke, “We should go and see Ares, he can tell us what’s going on. Even though I doubt he’s responsible.” As Joxer turned to walk with her, she added so only he could hear, “I’m not any of the Gods’ friend or defender by any means Joxer but what Iolaus said was unfair. I think you should give him the benefit of the doubt though, he’s not a vindictive person.” She squeezed his arm and glanced back at Hercules and Iolaus who were still too shocked to move, “I agree this is related to the Gods but I don’t share all of Hercules views, I’m well aware the gods can be petty but generally they don’t go against each other.”
Joxer nodded musing on her words as he walked; as stubborn and decisive as Xena could be, sometimes she surprised him, “It’s not Ares or Discord,” he murmured, when she glanced at him he quickly added, “I don’t think. It just doesn’t feel like either of them,” he paused thinking over his words, “If that makes any sense.
Xena’s mouth twitched slightly, “It does and I stand by what I said before, sometimes Hercules is a legend only in his own mind.”
Joxer stared at her for a minute before he burst out laughing, glancing over his shoulder he noticed neither Hercules nor Iolaus had made any effort to catch them up, something that made the walk with Xena a far more pleasant one.
A familiar imposing building caught his eye and he inclined his head towards it. It was unmistakably Ares temple; unlike the other temples in the town it had a set of rigid grey steps leading up to its doors and various disgruntled Warlords around it. “Ares temple. Should we just walk in?” Despite his relationship with Ares becoming a little more familiar, Joxer still wasn’t ready to just stroll into his temple and shout for him. The times he had before had been for an extremely good reason or to give tribute and prayers, something he had no inclination to do now.
Shrugging Xena strode past the Warlords and up the steps instead of replying; she easily pushed the heavy doors open, “We can try calling him, I doubt Discord will come and I know smashing the place up won’t help.” She held the door open for Joxer as he hesitantly moved up the steps and followed her into the temple. Swallowing hard, he looked around at everything that reminded him of Ares finding it extremely hard to stand around and do nothing especially as Xena started calling Ares name. The whole temple wasn’t just one of Ares temples it was much more though Joxer wasn’t sure what had changed his perspective; everywhere he looked was a reminder of the War God, not that Joxer didn’t expect that in one of his temples but what he didn’t expect was the temple to smell like Ares, almost feel like Ares. He closed his eyes, it felt like the War God was a part of each and everything in the room.
“What else did you expect?” The murmur in Joxer’s ear made him jump violently; as he let out a small cry, invisible hands steadied him on either side of his shoulders and Ares appeared behind him in a shower of sparkles. Joxer pulled out of the God’s hold and turned to glare at him as he tried to steady his heartbeat, he was extremely glad that the sparkles from Ares appearance merely graced his skin but didn’t burn.
Xena was at Joxer’s side before he had a chance to complain her eyes assessing the God, “Not funny Ares,” her voice was steady but Joxer could tell she wasn’t impressed. Joxer’s heartbeat was returning to normal but his jumpiness was now from his close proximity to Ares.
The War God took it all in his stride and shrugged at them both, “It is my temple,” he reminded them, “and you obviously want me for some reason, so what is it now? Come to start annoying me over some war or another?” His comment was directed solely at Xena although he had moved closer to Joxer; the mortal’s nervousness was apparent and inwardly Ares was delighted that the mortal seemed to want to be bothered.
Xena’s eyes narrowed thoughtfully as she took in the tension between Ares and Joxer but before she could casually slide in between the two and protect Joxer from Ares apparent new interest, the doors to the temple crashed open revealing a very disgruntled Hercules who Joxer (rightly) presumed had only just snapped out of his shock. Unconsciously Joxer moved a little closer to Ares, something that escaped everyone’s notice but the God’s, who was glaring at his annoying half-brother.
“Ares!” Hercules growled the word out, arrogantly striding towards the War god who was growing angrier by the second; luckily (for his own health) Hercules stopped himself from grabbing Ares by his shirt and merely stood in front of the God, his arms crossed as he glowered at him.
Ares managed to put his homicidal tendencies about his brother briefly to one side and raised an eyebrow at the scowling demigod, “Something wrong Hercules?” his voice was deceptively calm, “Or are you making a habit of barging into other people’s homes?”
Hercules scowl deepened but he was at a loss of what to say; his patented ‘you’re evil and behind this!’ speech only worked when Ares was hurling fireballs at him or obviously involved in some nefarious plot; the demigod was a little stumped at how to reply to his brothers comments on his manners. He glanced at Iolaus as the hunter joined his side, having got over his own shock seconds after Hercules had, and then looked back at Ares who was looking from Xena to Joxer with an expression on his face that cried ‘why me?’ Finding his voice Hercules did his best to intimidate his brother, he was so sure Ares and Discord were behind the latest problem’s they’d been experiencing he didn’t even stop to consider if they had actually been affected by them;
“What are you up to now Ares? I can’t see how any of this could accomplish anything for you,” he meant the words sarcastically but a small frown furrowed his forehead as it dawned on him that the chaos that was happening wouldn’t benefit Ares in the slightest. Not liking that thought, Hercules switched to the next guilty person on his list, “Or is Discord so out of your control, she would do this?” the frown only deepened as an amused smile spread across Ares face, “you think that’s funny Ares?”
“Actually I do,” Ares smile twitched slightly as his amusement grew, he’d caught the tail end of Hercules thoughts and realised that his brother was more upset about his rowdy behaviour when drunk then any of the Gods problems; he was tempted to tell Hercules that Zeus acted in exactly the same way when he’d had too much wine, but that would only lead to more confrontation and much as he enjoyed Joxer standing so close to him, he still had Strife’s name to clear. Holding up his hands Ares gathered his power as he concentrated on bringing Discord to him, the God found it mildly amusing that as he did Iolaus jumped to one side whilst Hercules took up a defensive stance. A bright green light gathered between his hands as the two tensed further and faded to reveal…a chicken.
Unable to hold it in anymore, Joxer burst out laughing as the chicken clucked and warbled in Ares hands. It flapped it’s wings angrily in Hercules direction making the hero back up a few steps; swallowing his laughter Joxer managed to straighten up and ask, “Is that Discord?” At Ares nod he burst out laughing again; a chicken was more then appropriate (in Joxer’s opinion) for a Goddess who bullied her own child.
Ares grinned, Joxer’s laughter was extremely infectious; the God could see Xena was trying valiantly to swallow her laughter almost to the point of choking on it and Iolaus looked torn between hysterics and embarrassment for his own presumptions. Hercules looked astounded; his mouth was wide open and he was staring at the chicken in shock, which kept trying to incline it’s head enough to peck him.
“That’s Discord?” The hero asked incredulously as he stared down at the chicken, he noticed had an eerily familiar psychopathic look in its eyes as it tried to peck his hand.
Smirking Ares nodded, “What you thought I’d turn her back right away? I quite like her as this, means she can’t get in my way,” his last words were in an icy tone and the chicken stopped flapping and pecking straight away. Ares stared down at her thoughtfully, he was fond of Discord despite her shortcomings; she had abused his nephew and she did anger him greatly a lot of the time but she was still his twin sister, Ares hadn’t turned her back at first because he was furious with her for acting although Strife had meant nothing but now he did it to protect Joxer (even if it was for the wrong reason). If Discord knew Strife had another child before Psyche, one who had no way of protecting himself he was sure she would transfer whatever she felt for Strife onto Joxer and subject him to the same punishments; Ares knew that Joxer, being mortal, wouldn’t survive her attentions.
“But she’s your sister, you lieutenant?” Iolaus looked shocked at the idea, “I thought you were joking when you said you’d keep her like that, that’s just…” he broke off not sure what it was, he disliked Discord as much as he had Strife so he couldn’t defend her.
Ares shrugged casually, "she’s stuck like that until someone changes her back and given everyone’s moods that will be for a while. It might also be safer for her to stay like this for now, I know at least one God and two Goddesses that want nothing more then to throttle her.” A slow slightly devious smile came over his face as an idea struck him, “actually Olympus isn’t that safe for her at all especially now I’m so busy so why don’t you watch her.” He sauntered forward and calmly dropped the chicken into Iolaus’s arms, he was surprised that Discord didn’t try to peck Iolaus and just sat glaring at him but he did notice as Hercules moved to take her she pecked him sharply on the hand.
Joxer couldn’t help the idle thought that Hercules wasn’t all that suited to chickens as the hero cursed and rubbed his hand, in fact he was much more suited to something else. He jumped as Ares patted his shoulder in delight as he caught the mortal’s thought, “I almost forgot, chickens aren’t really your thing are they Hercules?” Ares waved his hand and the chicken glowed reforming into a pig; Hercules noticeably took a step back and went slightly green as Discord started snorting and squealing at him the sounds translating, to him, into her furious voice.
Obviously on the verge of laughing Ares somehow managed to still appear intimidating as he looked over the hero, “Don’t forget little brother, she is a Goddess and Zeus’s daughter. You’d better take good care of her.” He spoke casually but meant every word; he had no doubt that Hercules would protect Discord even if she was a Goddess turned pig, ignorant and annoying as he could be Ares knew Hercules would keep her safe, “next time try someone else. I’m a bit busy at the moment and there are plenty of other God’s who are responsible for this mess.” He squeezed Joxer’s upper arm slightly as he addressed him, “I can see you do want bothering, so I’ll be sure to visit…again.” With a final smirk, he flashed out leaving Discord squealing in Iolaus’s arms.
He also left behind Joxer who blushed deeply as the hunter and two confused demigods, one of whom was getting sorer ears by the minute, turned to stare at him in disbelief.
*******
“Why?” The God turned his head briefly as he looked at the other behind him, they were close enough to touch and yet neither made any effort to.
“She needs you,” his Fathers voce broached no argument, “So does the rest of your family. By all means stay out of it if you don’t want to help with our Cupid-problem but your Mother needs you right now.” His hand hesitated by the God’s arm and then drew quickly back; glancing down at the object in front of the God, his Father shook his head refraining from touching his son; something the God was glad for and yet deep down hurt badly, his father hadn’t laid a hand on him in years not a hug, not a touch, not nothing. At the God’s silence, his Father flashed out with a final sigh leaving the God alone with his own thoughts.
*They’ll never believe it was an accident, * The God mused to himself, *or was it? Sometimes I wonder, * he waved his hand over the seeing pool making Cupid’s image appear; the image rippled briefly and the God watched in curiosity as Asyinnitos appeared next the rampaging Love God. He expected Cupid to turn on the Goddess and take his frustrations out on her especially after she’d cursed him along with everyone else or for the Goddess to start trying to plead with Cupid and apologise; what he never considered was that the Goddess would say something to Cupid that would have him roaring in laughter. The God had expected anger from Cupid, not laughter, the Love God’s attitude mystified him and made him suspicious that something was going on.
The God knew Cupid’s anger and grief had been real which made the God was more then a little confused; the God himself had been one of those to try to comfort Cupid before his grief was bound and yet now those bonds were released it appeared the winged God was involved in some kind of elaborate game, pretending to be more distressed then he was. Of all the Olympians to work on such a sham with Cupid he never would have expected the Goddess of Pregnancy to be involved, they just weren’t connected in anyway and yet she was saying something to Cupid that had his full attention on her. The God frowned, Cupid was no longer laughing but he was listening attentively to whatever the Goddess was saying. The God rested his fingers in the seeing pool as he wished he could hear what they were discussing; he slightly disturbed the image but it remained obvious the two were working together in some manner as they flashed out together. The God traced their signatures back to Cupid’s temple where both Bliss and Psyche were in residence; the seeing pool remained fixed on the spot where Cupid had been, it wasn’t powerful enough to show the inside of a warded temple and Cupid’s temple was warded.
The God waited for something to happen as he concentrated on Cupid’s temple, at the very least he expected some kind of confrontation between Cupid and Psyche. When nothing happened after a few minutes the God scowled and ran his hand over the seeing pool, the image blurred and changed to that of Ares- the one person the God was deeply afraid would find out the truth. The God couldn’t understand where Ares sudden need to know the truth had come from and why the God was so persistent with it; he had to assume part of it had come from Asyinnitos and her curse which meant the God would have to deal with her first. He sighed, things were becoming far to complicated to keep up with and he knew the truth was a better option then more deception but he still couldn’t bring himself to do it. Not paying attention to the seeing pool, the God missed Ares brief flirtation with Joxer and the seeing pools fluctuation as it focussed briefly on the mortal.
The God knew Cupid and Asyinnitos’ subterfuge would cause problems, more then he might have been able to cope with, but he wasn’t ready to turn his family against him by revealing the truth. He’d had many a sleepless night imagining the horror and guilt on his mothers face as she was confronted by the truth; his father he knew would be disappointed in him, something the God found worse then anything else. Even if he no longer had a proper relationship with him he still yearned to, if his parents knew the truth it would be impossible.
He clenched his fists believing that if he admitted what he’d done most if not all of the Pantheon would turn against him despite the deep hurt that had driven him to it and the accident that had resulted causing all the mess. The God could see of no way out and nothing he could do, save watching the others to try to find out what was going on; before the time came for the truth to come out, he was sure he would have to do things that weren’t in his nature. He clenched his fists; if he couldn’t admit to the truth then one way or another he’d have to bury it.