TITLE: Unfurl

AUTHOR: Scorpio

ARCHIVE: The Nesting Place, The Den, Joxerotica, CKoS and any list archives that might want this.

FANDOM: Xena WP, Buffy

CATEGORY: AU

PAIRING: Great Mother/Uranus, Chronos/Rhea, Eris/Jett (implied) Xander/Anya, Buffy/Hercules, Willow/Tara and Ares/Spike

RATING: R

WARNING: Adult situations

NOTES: I have shamelessly altered the myths and legends surrounding many of the characters to suit my needs. Please don't look for accuracy. Just like Homer and Gabrielle; I use "artistic license" out the old wazoo.

NOTES Along with the mythological inaccuracies, This story has not taken into account the true history of the world or it's various species. In fact, it blatantly ignores modern theology and proven fact of the time period commonly referred to as 'Prehistory'. Please do not look for any historical or anthropological truths within.

DISCLAIMER: All things Xena are the property of TIIC aka Ren Pics and Flat Earth Prod. All things Olympian belong to the world.

SUMMARY: Time is a river which flows ever onwards in it's journey to eternity. We are merely vessels upon the waters. However, some journeys are, of necessity, longer than others.

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Unfurl
By Scorpio
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~roughly a hundred thousand years BC~

The Great Mother of All gazed out from her eternal garden at the very center of creation and frowned in silent contemplation as she watched her children frolic and play, hunt and gather, fight and reproduce. They were beautiful savage children. Her greatest achievement to date. Intelligent, self aware and capable of learning, communicating thoughts and feelings as well as actions. She was very proud of them.

And yet, they were doomed.

They had reached the very pinnacle of their potential. They could go no further in their development. These fierce children had roamed through her vast lands for hundreds of thousands of years, slowly emerging as the most skilled of predators despite their obvious weaknesses until they had reached the top of the food chain and claimed dominance and mastery over all others.

But all that was destined to change. Already she could see the effects of stagnancy upon them. They were growing complacent, stale and soon they would wither and die away. Regretful and sad, but it was inevitable. Even if she interfered, she would only be delaying that which must come to pass by a few dozen centuries at most.

The Neanderthals were doomed.

Reaching a hand down to her swollen belly, the Great Mother of All felt the new life stirring within. Power radiated out from her womb, stronger than any of the children that had been born of her before. This child would strongly resemble it's father, if not in looks, than in form. A new race, one born of both the power of the physical world and the spiritual world. A God.

A Titan.

With a mother's innate knowledge, the Great Mother of All knew that her newest child would never be able to find happiness with her beloved Neanderthals. They were crude compared to what this child would be even if they were so much more advanced than the rest of the life on this planet. That fact could be overlooked if the Neanderthals were still evolving, advancing and growing, but they were not.

A sudden thought struck her fancy and her frown slowly eased into a speculative smile. Perhaps if she forcibly changed the Neanderthals? It wouldn't be too hard to do. She could alter their shape slightly to make certain tasks easier, perhaps shift a few perceptions and basic ingrained needs. Change them in such a way as that they could begin to evolve once again. To adapt and grow and thrive. And most importantly, these new breed of Neanderthal could give a purpose and a focus to the child within her belly. Her beloved Titan.

She just needed to decide which attributes to force to the front and which to banish to the background. The Great Mother of All figured that it would be best to think on this prospect for a bit until she was sure what it was she wanted to achieve, then she would chose a few likely Neanderthals and she would practice until she got it right.

~one century later~

The Great Mother of All stood in the center of her workshop gazing at the Neanderthal crouched down in the far corner as he greedily sucked the marrow out of the bone he had just been gnawing on. She watched him silently as she considered all of the requirements needed to exact every change on her list. After a long moment, she decided that he was perfect.

Concentrating her power and focusing all of her energy, the Great Mother of All harnessed the primal forces of creation and wrought the changes desired. Light and heat pulsed from her being and bathed her doomed child in it's gripping waves; altering, changing, shifting. Sweat poured from her and her breath strained in her lungs even as her heart pounded behind her ribs and yet still she worked diligently, steadily, never stopping until an hour later the task was done.

Collapsing onto the rush strewn floor in a towering fit of exhaustion, the Great Mother of All glanced up in time to see what she had created from Neanderthal. With her last remaining moment of consciousness, she named him Homo Erectus.

~ten thousand years later~

The Great Mother of All stared with haunted eyes as she gazed around at her garden. Her beloved husband, her Uranus had gone mad and she had discovered his malady far too late to prevent tragedy.

Unbeknownst to her, Uranus had been devouring the children that they had produced together. He had told her that they had left home and never returned because of *her* and she had not pressed to issue, fearing of pushing her babies further away from her. And he had been so sincere while comforting her, letting her cry upon his shoulder, holding her tightly and whispering sweet words of love into her ear. Like a fool, she had believed his lies.

Her youngest, her baby, the infant Chronos was the only child she had been able to spare from that fate. She had exhausted herself weaving illusion upon illusion onto a common stone, disguising it to fool *all* of the senses, even Godly ones so that whomever beheld the stone would believe it to be her helpless infant. Uranus had indeed been deceived by her ruse and had devoured the stone. Using the last of her fading strength, she had used Uranus' distraction to spirit herself and her infant to a safe hideaway.

And then she had slept. Deeply. Her spell had taken much more out of her than she had imagined it would and her rest had been centuries long.

The Great Mother had awaken to a world greatly changed. Uranus had discovered the extent of her treachery and his madness had flared to a level none could have predicted. Unable to find her or Chronos and extract his revenge on *them*, he had attacked her in the only way he could. Her garden and the children which inhabited it.

Ice. Ice and snow. Everywhere one looked, the garden was buried under tons of ice and snow. And her children withered and died in heartbreaking droves. They froze to death, and when they found a way to survive the extreme cold, they starved from lack of food. It was horrifying.

Worst of all, the fruit of the vine which was Neanderthal, her beloved Homo Erectus, that species of creature which had been a gift to her Titan children were almost extinct. The last of her Titans, her precious Chronos had sworn revenge for the deaths of his siblings and the cruelty inflicted on their chosen people, but she could not feel that anger. She felt only remorse. And a fierce need to ensure that she save as many of the different species of children in her garden as she could.

Sad eyes staring out of her hut, she watched a herd of Woolly Mammoths desperately trying to graze for grass and plants under the densely packed snow. A slight smile graced her lips. She would start with them.

~twelve years later~

The Great Mother was tired after working so hard for so long, but her self appointed task was almost complete. She had altered and changed almost every species in her garden. Changing them, shifting them, helping them develop the skills needed to adapt and grow. To evolve.

She had discovered right at the outset that the energy released while she wrought those changes produced an incredible amount of heat and light. Enough so that each working would slightly raise the temperature throughout her entire garden just a tiny bit. And slowly, the snow and ice had receded, pulling back to the polar caps where it belonged.

She just had one more task to complete and then she would be done.

Turning to face the shaggy haired Homo Erectus who was exploring her herb jars with cheerful curiosity, she considered what she wanted to do. The changes she wanted to make.

A smoother and less sloped forehead which was the true secret of having a greater capacity to learn, to think and to reason. She was also going to shrink certain parts of the brain to make room for others that would enlarge. Her child would have duller, less sensitive senses, but he would become the first mortal creature able to learn and comprehend the type of knowledge that the Gods were born knowing instinctively.

Also the shape of his jaw and the size of his teeth would have to change as well as tension on his vocal cords. It would limit his diet and his mouth would no longer be as a weapon against the other types of children in the garden, but his capacity for creating verbal language would increase greatly.

She would need to make his finger and toe nails thinner and less claw-like if she planned to make the palms of his skin and the soles of his feet more touch sensitive and agile. This would also lessen his natural weapons, but would give him the ability to manipulate objects with greater skill and efficiency.

And his sex drive would have to be altered as well. Still continuous through maturity, but with a focus upon a single mate instead of which ever compatible person was in the local area. This would help to develop the basic emotional range he felt into the more subtle and finer levels that they had the potential to reach.

Less body hair, and what was left should be shorter and his range of motion and flexibility needed to be increased. Strength lessened slightly and endurance raised. Life span expanded by several decades.

Finally, she had everything set firmly in mind and she began to gather her power. The primal forces of creation answered her call, filling her with energy, heat and light. Focusing her abilities on the Homo Erectus before her, she directed her power over him and through him. Altering and shifting him. Changing him to her will.

The Homo Erectus writhed in the grip of her energy spell. His body twisted and shifted, his physical features melting and reforming at her whim. His mind was flooded with bright white pain and a rainbow of pleasures as he was dissolved and remade with her power.

The Great Mother trembled and panted for breath as sweat poured from her at her exertions. She was tired and she wanted to rest, but she knew that she couldn't stop until she was finished, so she poured her love and life and energy into him. She was almost done. She just had to adjust his life force so that he would live passed his twentieth year. A life-span of seventy-five to ninety years sounded good to her and she began the last step in her work.

Just then, her youngest child conceived from mad Uranus burst into the workshop. Chronos, his hair standing on end and his body slathered in drying blood dropped his great sword of silvery ice upon the ground and dashed over to her, clasping her in a crushing hug.

"Mother! I did it at last! I found father, cut open his belly like a fish from the sea and out spilled my brothers and sisters. Uranus had swallowed them whole and they lived, trapped deep within his body. But now they are *free*!"

And the Great Mother of All was so startled and overjoyed at his words that her concentration on the man-beast before her wavered and his life-force was extended far beyond what she had ever planned. In a flare of blinding white light and searing heat, the creature who a mere hour before had been Homo Erectus was made immortal.

Realizing too late what she had done, she pulled back from her son Chronos and faced the new life-form before her. One she named Homo-Sapien. Gently she reached out a hand to him and whispered, "Child, what are you called?"

The Homo-Sapien gazed up at her with tear filled and confused eyes, a whimper bit back in his throat and answered her with a wavering voice, "dJok'sturr"

~seventy thousand years later~

Rhea battled back the tears as she watched her beloved Chronos slip into the same madness that had claimed their father. At first, she had been loath to admit that it was true and her timidity had caused the destruction of her children. The only one left to her was the unborn babe which still lay below her heart.

Desperate to save at least one of her children, She prayed to the Great Mother of All for help. Immediately a sense of peace descended over her and the gentle scent of wildflowers filled her private rooms. Her mother had heard her and would help.

Sighing in relief, Rhea laid back upon her pillows and slept.

~three months later~

The Great Mother of All arrived in Rhea's bedroom in a whirlwind of autumn leaves and cherry blossoms. At her side and carrying several well packed bags stood her eternal companion and Chronos' first human friend. dJok'sturr.

Her mother bustled over to her and hugged both she and Chronos. Then the Great Mother of All turned and began issuing orders. "Chronos, go out to the main hall and prepare for your child's naming ceremony while dJok'sturr sets up my equipment. I'll then have him wait outside the door and bring you your child as soon as he is born."

Chronos smiled gently at them all, but his apparent joy never reached his dark eyes. They remained cold and dead.

As soon as the youngest Titan left to prepare, dJok'sturr removed a blanket wrapped stone from her mother's bag and handed it over to her. The Great Mother of All then began to cast illusion upon illusion onto the stone until it appeared to be an infant child. A Godly child.

Tired and weary from her work, she handed the stone back over to dJok'sturr and spoke her instructions, "Take this to Chronos while I spirit my daughter and unborn grandson to safety. Follow as soon as you can on foot. Meet me at my sacred groove at the heart of the garden."

"Yes mother. It shall be as you say."

Cradling the stone in his arms, he looked up at them with a sad haunted look in his eyes. Rhea wondered briefly what he was thinking, what was going on in his mind. He was wise beyond comprehension and brave without question, yet despite it all, he was still only human.

Before she could question him or worry any further, her mother whisked them away, leaving him alone with a mad Titan and an illusion of a newborn child.

~*~

The walk through the palace of Chronos and Rhea was one that dJok'sturr would never forget. He was frightened, yes, but not for himself. He was immortal in every sense of the word. He would eventually heal, no matter how grievous the wound and he never aged, never got sick.

No, he was frightened for Rhea and her child. The real child. Their safety was dependent on how well and how fast the Great Mother of All could hide them, for this ruse would only work for so long. Chronos would realize the deception as soon as he consumed the stone.

He was also afraid for Chronos himself. Chronos had been there on the day he had been reborn from a beast into a man by the Great Mother of All's powerful magics. He was her son as much as Chronos was and he had always considered the Titan to be his older brother. A brother who had taught him how to hunt and fight, how to speak several languages, how to chart the stars and how to travel by them. A brother who had taught him to tan hides, weave cloth and craft pottery. A brother he had always loved, respected and admired.

A brother who was now irreversibly insane.

Reaching a great stone door at the end of the long hallway, dJok'sturr took in a deep breath and pushed them aside. Chronos sat upon his throne, the hall filled with Titans as they gathered close to pay homage to the heir to the divine Kingdom of Olympus.

Walking forward, dJok'sturr handed the stone over to Chronos who then lifted it high in the air and spoke in a booming voice that rang from the mountain tops, "Hail Zeus, heir to Olympus!"

And dJok'sturr and all the Titans echoed that salute. "Hail Zeus, Crown Prince of Olympus."

Instantly, a party of titanic proportions broke out in the mail hall of Chronos' palace. dJok'sturr hoped that this spontaneous celebration would provide his mother with enough time to hide Rhea and her real child.

~*~

A loud booming sound echoed through the room violently shoving dJok'sturr into wakefulness and he sat up without thinking and nearly swooned from the massive wash of nausea from his monstrous hangover. Peeling open one blurry eye he found a furious Chronos looming over him, murder in his mad eyes.

"Infidel! Traitor! You were like a *brother* to me and you had the gall to *decieve* me?"

Instant sobriety slammed into dJok'sturr's mind and a conflicting wave of fear and sadness nearly drowned him.

"Where are they?! Tell. Me. Where. They. Are. NOW!"

The sadness won as he told Chronos the only thing he could, "I don't know."

Madness swirled in Chronos' eyes and his hands began to glow a deep crimson as raw energy crackled in the very air around him. His normally deep and soothing voice was cold and course, "I may not be able to kill you dJok'sturr, but I can rend your soul just as easily as you tore apart my heart. You are *banished* from Olympus until the day you finally heal and I hope you suffer the entire time!" And with that, Chronos threw a huge blast of crimson power at dJok'sturr.

Unimaginable pain sizzled along his nervous system and stormed through his mind. His vision wavered crazily and he felt as if he were being drawn and quartered. His wails and screams rent the air for long moments and then just when he thought he would finally die after all, the torment ended. dJok'sturr had one last moment of lucidity to realize that Chronos had indeed split his soul. Literally. Into thirds. He looked deeply into the eyes of his two clones and then all three of them lost consciousness.

~ten thousand years later~

Slowly, painfully, as if lifting a vast weight with a pitiful amount of strength, he opened his eyes. Light pierced his brain and he flinched back slightly. Dimly in the background he heard a sharp gasp of air and a crash as if something fell to a hard stone floor and broke. And then a deep male voice called out in a startled and excited tone, "GRANDMOTHER!" Losing the battle for consciousness, he drifted back off to sleep in exhaustion.

~*~

A soft cool damp cloth slid across his forehead like a blessing and he murmured his approval. "That's right my child. Wake up for mother. Open your beautiful eyes, my dear one." The voice was soft and sweet and it filled him with hope and peace and a desire to be with her.

He fluttered his eyelashes for a brief moment and then opened them wide. For a long moment everything was blurred, but then slowly the world came into focus. And at the very heart of that world was an aged and gentle face filled with deep wrinkles and a loving smile. Soft gray hair and lightly tanned skin.

"Mother?" His voice was rusty and gravely. It hurt to speak.

Her smile grew wider and instantly she slipped a few chips of ice between his lips. "Yes baby, it's mother."

He smiled back at her and almost drifted back to sleep when a painful memory stabbed his brain. With a shudder of fear in his voice he turned and whispered up at her, "He hurt me. I'm different now."

Sadness swam into her deep blue eyes turning them darker, almost like midnight. A single tear escaped the cage of her lashes and slid down her wizened cheek. "Yes child. He split you into three beings. You've all been asleep for a very very long time. In fact, the others are still sleeping in a coma. You are the first to awaken. In time, you will heal and become one again, but I don't know how long that will take."

As the truth of her words hit him, he began to tremble. Tears came to his own eyes and he cried for all that had happened to him and all that was yet to come. He didn't know it, but it would be the last time he cried. Finally, his tears dried up and he gazed up at his mother with a fierce look on his face, "I will call myself Jett. My two brother's shall become Jace and Joxer. We shall no longer be called dJok'sturr until we are once again whole."

Silently, the Great Mother of All nodded her head at the child who had been her only accident, and yet was oddly enough her greatest triumph and success.

~*~

It had taken Jett almost a full century to regain his grace and stability. At first, he had trouble coordinating his limbs and his mind tended to wander greatly. He was slow to learn things because he would get frustrated with the knowledge that he had already mastered these simple tasks and had been efficiently reduced to the level he had been at when he was first reborn. But learn and grow he did.

It was he who taught Zeus how to fight, how to plan and how to create a strategy to take down the Titans. As he practiced dulled skills and relearned old ones, so did Zeus grow into his own adulthood. Together they planned and plotted the release of Zeus' siblings and the overthrow of Olympus. Jett couldn't actually go to Olympus any more due to the curse, but Zeus could. And any Titan that fled the battle would find that they were running directly into his vengeful arms.

They *would* be victorious.

~five thousand years later~

Frightening and confusing thoughts and images danced in his mind's eye and he fought against the sleep that bound him for so very long. Fighting his own body's stiffness and ignoring the horrifying agony that raced along his nerve endings, he reached out a hand at the presence he sense next to him and grasped on tightly.

Through a time ravaged voice he rasped out his warning, "The Sky God is falling into the madness that claimed his fathers before him. Defend the infant child of Fire!"

Exhaustion and pain swam up and dragged him down once more. He collapsed into a deep silent blackness.

~*~

Wonderful delightful warmth soothed his cramped and atrophied muscles as callused hands massaged and rubbed his legs. Carefully, he fluttered his eyes open to see a young child staring back at him shyly. The boy's long hair was thick and shiny, it looked sinfully soft to the touch, but his face...his face was hideously scarred and his one arm was twisted and deformed.

"Hello Jace. Welcome back to the world. I am Hepheastus and I owe you my very life."

~five thousand years later~

The Great Mother of All sighed sadly as she watched Joxer stumble down the path of her sacred grove to head out into the garden. She didn't feel right about letting the last of the cursed triplets born from the remains of her beloved dJok'sturr leave so soon after waking from his sleep. Jett and Jace had taken a full century each before they had been ready to face humanity.

They had been forced to relearn all that they had learned before. Their memories had been disjointed and slow to return and their bodies had suffered greatly from laying in a coma for so long. And Joxer had slept longer than the other two. Jett had taken ninety-eight years to heal. Jace had taken one hundred and twenty-two. Would Joxer need a full century and a half? She didn't know.

However, as soon as he was strong enough to walk and run and climb he had insisted on leaving. He said he had something important to do.

~three months later~

His limbs ached and his stomach was in knots around his spine from hunger. He fought the weakness of his unhealed and wasted body, but his mission was far too important to give up or to wait until he felt better. No matter that he wished he were safely tucked away in the Great Mother of All's cabin in her sacred grove, he couldn't ignore the visions that invaded his sleep each night, driving him ever onward.

Jett had awaken with the knowledge that Olympus would fall to his plans. That the Titans would be banished to Tartarus and that the one he chose as his champion would sit on the throne, forever in his debt. Jace had awaken with the knowledge that Zeus had begun his own descent into madness and had managed to save Zeus' eldest son from his fate. Then he had raised that same child, teaching him about love and forgiveness and the joy of creating from stone and iron.

*He* had awakened with the knowledge that the youngest son of Zeus was in danger. The child had been hidden from his father, but *not* by the Great Mother and so he was found...by humans. Unknowing of his heritage, that child suffered inexcusable torments. Torments that Joxer could end, if only he got there in time to save him from his cruel fate.

~*~

It was the fourth city in the burning lands of Egypt that he had traveled to. This one was larger then the others and it teemed with life everywhere. A multitude of people from all walks of life and all corners of the globe walked in every direction, spoke a dozen or more languages and conducted a myriad of businesses. The city was also near to the great life bringing River Nile and it was overflowing with exotic plants and animals.

It also held a disproportionately large slave quarter.

Joxer headed directly for it. Pushing and shoving his way passed everyone in his path, Joxer went from slave pen to slave pen, peering into each one, hoping and praying that he found the face he was looking for. He didn't know the child's name, but he knew that face. He saw it every night in his dreams.

Finally, just as the sun was beginning to set and his hope was fading, he found the child. Huge dark eyes set in a too thin face under a shock of blue-black curly hair, the child was just little more than a baby. No more than ten years old. *If* that.

He was coated in dust and dirt. His body was far too thin from far too little food and his skin was liberally coated in bruises and welts. Joxer's heart broke for him.

Reaching out to grab a hold of the slavemaster, Joxer pointed to the child, "How much for the boy?"

The oily man glanced at him up and down, a greedy smile on his well fed face, "Twenty bronze."

Joxer scowled. "For a half starved waif with whip marks and no training? I'll give you twenty copper."

The man's eyes gleamed with interest and the haggling began.

Ten minutes later and eight bronze pieces lighter in his money pouch, Joxer walked away with his newest purchase. The youngest son of Zeus. The heir to Olympus.

~five hundred seventy years later~

Joxer looked over at his nephew from across the game board and marveled how much of Jett he could see in Strife. It had already been fifty years, but it still sort of blew his mind that he even *had* a nephew...or was that son, since he and his brother's started out as one being and in the fullness of time would return to one being.

Still, it was the first time since the Great Mother of All had wrought her changes upon them so many tens of thousands of years ago that a woman had been brought to his...their, Jett's bed. Ever since then, *she* had been the only woman in dJok'sturr's life. Only "mother". Any and all lovers and mates had always been male. A race of undying humans roaming the garden was too frightening to consider, so no fertile females had been even considered.

Until Eris. And a drunken night at the twin's birthday bash when Jett had slept with Eris on a bet. The Goddess of Discord had gotten pregnant and gave birth to a Godling. Half God, half Immortal, Strife had some of the powers of a God, but not all of them, nor their strength. However, he had gained the ability to grow, adapt and develop from his immortal half, so it all worked out in the end.

And right now Joxer was trying to teach his young nephew strategy with the same board game that he had used to teach Ares. As if thinking about the man who had once been his child and then his student had materialized him out of thin air, Ares appeared in a flash of angry red light and a supersonic boom that rattled everything not bolted down.

The furious War God tipped back his head and *screamed*, "Aaaarrrrrrghhhh!!!!"

Raising his one eyebrow in a frightened, but questioning glance, Strife silently offered him a smooth escape. Shaking his head slightly and then waving the Godling away in a vague gesture, Joxer watched as Strife disappeared in a shower of sparkles. Joxer didn't blame him. It was rare when Ares lost his temper this badly and when he did, he was dangerous to be around.

Staying in his seat in the hopes that it would keep him from startling the on edge dark God, Joxer spoke is a soft soothing tone that belied his fear of being blasted and his worry for Ares' sanity. "Ares? What happened to upset you so badly. Tell me."

Ares turned and threw a bolt of sizzling energy at a marble statue. It exploded in a shower of dust and pebbles. "Xena! She *left* me! My own *daughter* turned her back on *me* and my *protection*! I gave her *everything* she ever asked for and she just *tossed* me aside like I was a piece of garbage! How can I protect her from my father if she leaves my service? How?! I know it's all a way for HIM to hurt me. After all, Xena left me at the encouragement of HIS current favorite bastard son!"

Swallowing down a bout of nerves, Joxer spoke his idea, hoping that it would ease the mind of the person he loved most in the world. "If it will make you feel better, I'll go to Xena and place her under *my* protection. Not even the Old Goat will defy *me*. After all, my protection has kept *you* in one piece just like Jace has kept Hephy alive and like Jett has done for Eris and Strife."

For a long moment hope washed across Ares' face, making him seem painfully young to the ancient immortal, but then his hope crumbled and his face darkened once more. "No, that'll never work. I mean, you could kick the shit out of HIM in a fair fight, there's no *way* Xena will want someone that deadly trailing along after her."

For a second, Joxer was stymied, then he hit upon an idea. "Ares, when I first took you out of Egypt I was still very weak and sick from being stuck in a coma for twenty thousand years. It took me the better part of a century and a half to get even *close* to my former condition. If I pretended to suffer from the same problems *now* that I really did have *then* it would ease her worries, wouldn't it?"

Once again, Ares' face brightened. "Yeah, it would. She would probably feel the need to protect you, in fact. Try and keep you safe, even from yourself."

Joxer laughed at that thought. "Well, say hello to Joxer the Mighty, wannabe warrior out to right wrongs, hero-worship Warrior Princesses and place myself in a position to offer protection from vengeful Gods."

Ares just smirked.

~five years later~

Joxer watched with desolate eyes as the two women he had come to regard as friends battled against the demon Dahok alongside his student, his student's half-brother and said brother's friend. It looked as if Dahok and his minions would win.

He had sworn that he would kept up his disguise and that Xena would never know his true identity, but this was far more important. Dropping his clumsy and innocent facade, Joxer drew his sword and jumped into the melee, leaving a swath of twitching dying men behind him.

In a loud battlefield voice he barked an order at his student, fully expecting it to be performed instantly, "Ares! Call Hephy and Eris. Have them bring Jace and Jett. Now!"

Habits of several centuries are hard to break and to the surprise of Hercules, Iolaus, Xena and Gabrielle, Ares instantly complied, "Yes Jox." Minutes later four more well armed warriors appeared. Hepheastus, Jace, Eris and Jett. The tide of the battle began to turn. At least until Dahok summoned Callisto and Valessca.

As one; Joxer, Jett and Jace turned their faces to the sky and cried out in a single voice, "MOTHER!"

All fell still for one heart stopping instant and then the very earth trembled and writhed as a huge rent tore itself open in the middle of the battlefield. Steam boiled out and the sound of the ripping earth was deafening as they all tumbled from their feet.

The Great Mother of All floated up out of the ground, the primal forces of creation sizzling in the air around her. Dahok went pale and hissed at her, "You!" He began to tremble in fear.

Calmly she turned and fire twin bolts of energy from the palms of her hands. "Mortal you were born, mortal you shall return." Callisto and Valessca writhed as their Godheads were torn from them. They glowed a deep burnished gold for a long moment and then with a blinding flash of pure white light, they dropped into unconsciousness. Fully mortal once more, the effects of the stolen Ambrosia ripped from them.

Then, her blue eyes turning stormy and gray, the Great Mother of All faced the demon known as Dahok. Both hands held palm out, she channeled the vast forces of nature, feeding and focusing her power directly onto him. She shifted him, altered him, rearranged his very essence. She had been doing this for years and years, far many more years than he could even conceive of. However, before she had always striven to improve her children, to strengthen them. Now she worked to weaken, to devolve. It was heart-rending for her and a single tear slid down her wizened cheek.

Dahok's body twisted and flailed as he screamed in torment. He fought her power, trying to wrap her shinning energy bands of gold and blue with bands of black and purple. The magical battle summoned fierce winds, rumbling thunder and streaks of blinding lightening, but then he finally collapsed into a crumbled heap to lay still and dead upon the ground. A simple human corpse. Over the quickly decaying body hovered a boiling rolling dark purple cloud streaked with jagged red energy sparks and still the Great Mother of All continued to pour her power onto that cloud.

Then, a clear glass bottle appeared on the ground before her and the cloud was slowly sucked up into that bottle like air filling a vacuum. Then, with a resounding *pop*, a metal stopper appeared in the neck of the bottle. And yet she still focused on the bottle, wrapping it in spell upon spell. Sealing it, warding it, marking it with numerous warnings and protections.

Finally it was done. The Great Mother of All stopped her power from flowing out of her and she swayed on her feet. All three of the triplets rushed over to her and helped her to sit down and got her as comfortable as possible.

It was Hercules that broke the silence, "Great-Grandmother? Wha...what did you do to Dahok? And what happened to my brother's and sister?"

For the first time the others noticed that Ares, Eris and Hepheastus were laying upon the ground asleep. The triplets rushed over to their respective charges, trying to awaken them and search for injuries.

"Be still dJok'sturr, they are fine. They are merely asleep. It is from the backlash of Dahok's defeat. The energy rush was incredible and they were not strong enough to fight against it. In fact, as soon as I am well enough to travel home, I too will sleep."

All three spoke in unison, "Yes mother."

The mortals goggled and Gabrielle sputtered. "But...but..."

The Great Mother of All seemed to almost wilt with exhaustion. "Hush child. I don't have much time before I too must succumb to the Great Twilight and I am the strongest of all." She turned to face the triplets. "You must guard your charges well my sons, for they are the only Olympians not in the Heavens. The rest have also fallen asleep. Dahok is contained, so you need not fear him any longer."

Hercules was once again the one to ask her to explain, "But how did you contain Dahok? I don't understand."

The Great Mother of All smiled gently at him and reached out to pat his hand, "I know child and that's okay. The quick version is that Dahok was created by Zeus, but entirely by accident. You see, there has been a horrible madness in your family, passed down from youngest son, to youngest son. Uranus had it, Chronos had it and then Zeus had it. But Zeus was stronger willed then they and he tried to deny his madness and he succeeded for the most part. After his unsuccessful attack on Ares, he pushed his madness from him, but somehow, it became self-aware. Just thought without form, which is why Dahok needed to possess human bodies to function in this world. I forced him out of the corpse and then trapped him in the bottle. That magical battle is what triggered the Twilight."

Joxer faced his mother, "How long with you all sleep?"

Her gaze was sad and steady, "I believe that once you three are reunited again that the power and energy of the curse breaking will be strong enough to awaken us all. Until then, you will be alone with your charges."

Jett hooked a thumb over his shoulder at Hercules. "What about him?"

The Great Mother of All gazed up into the face of her Great-great grandson and sighed sadly. "He will help you with your tasks and be there for your merge into one being again. Train him. Teach him. Do not let his stubborn ways discourage you, for his heart *is* in the right place, it's only his mind that needs to be educated because his parents failed greatly in that task."

The triplets nodded in unison once more. "Yes mother."

And then, in a dim flash of light, she was gone.

~two thousand four hundred years later~

The big muscle bound man towered over the young bellhop by almost two feet in height and outweighed him by around a hundred pounds. All of it sheer muscle. The young man tried not to look at him, but when he did, it was with a mixture of fear and lust on face. When the elevator hit the penthouse level, the metal doors swung open and the uniformed bellhop grasped the metal handle on the bag cart and escorted the man and his luggage down the short hallway to the massive and highly decorative wooden door of the penthouse owner.

He rang the doorbell for the large man and shortly thereafter an aged butler answered the door. "Good evening Jonathan. Mr. Jason Herkolos to see Mr. Chronos."

The butler nodded his head and stepped back. With a sweeping gesture of his arm, he motioned for the visitor to step inside the large beautiful apartment. "Please follow me Sir."

The bellhop followed behind, leaving the man's baggage by the door for Mr. Chronos' servants to deal with as they saw fit. A quick inquiry to see if he was needed further and then he excused himself back to his duties. Jonathan turned and led Mr. Herkolos deeper into the home down a long hallway and into a lovingly decorated library.

After seeing that his master's guest was comfortable, he quietly withdrew. A few moments later and the door opened once again. This time the person who appeared from the other side was an extremely familiar man dressed in highly expensive and elegant clothing.

"Herc!"

With a flying leap into his arms, the man was transformed from one of the premiere entertainment moguls of the world into a trembling bundle of excited energy. Hercules, aka Jason Herkolos, cradled him gently in his inhumanly strong arms. "Jace, it's *so* good to see you again. It's been far to long this time."

Jace, aka Jasper Chronos, just cuddled him closer and giggled softly into his ear. The tickling sensation made Hercules smile. "What I don't understand is why you and your brother's chose to use Chronos' name this time around."

The slim man in his arms chuckled, but it was a slightly sad sound. "You didn't know him Herc. You only knew his legacy of madness. He was a good man once. A...a loving brother, in fact." Hercules hummed slightly in his throat, but he didn't comment on it. It was true enough, he *didn't* know Chronos personally and the triplets *did*. It was very possible that Jace was right and that in his youth Chronos *was* a good man.

Jace him one last squeeze and pulled back. Wiping at his eyes slightly, he stepped away and over to the sideboard where there was some alcohol in exquisitely carved crystal decanters. He poured out two drinks and handed one to his millennia old friend and gestured towards the pair of chairs over by the far wall.

Once they were seated, Jace spoke in a soft but excited voice, "It's going to happen soon. The curse is almost over. My brothers and I can push ourselves together. We can actually force ourselves to occupy the same space at one time. We can't *hold* ourselves together yet, put that's what we need to discuss."

Hercules was...shocked to say the least. His mouth flopped open and closed for a brief moment before he could process what he had heard and respond intelligently. "When did this development happen? How can you guys make it permanent? Has any of the family showed signs of waking that you know of? I haven't heard a peep out of them."

Jace chuckled with open amusement at his friend's obvious excitement and worry. At a little over twenty-four hundred years of age, Hercules often thought of himself as old, but to the triplets he was just a babe. And often an innocent one at that. The triplets had been ancient before *Zeus* had been born.

"We started being able to shift into each other's space about ten years ago, but not for any length of time. No, none of the Olympians have stirred. As for making it permanent, we think we have found a way." The older man took in a deep draught of breath and then drained his brandy. "That's why we contacted you. We are going to need your help. If our plan works then Ares, Eris and Hepheastus will awaken. Their last memories will be of the battle with Dahok and they won't know where or *when* they are. If we are...incapacitated by our merging, then *you* will need to be there for them. To help them and explain to them what has happened."

Hercules had been nodding his head in agreement with all that Jace had said until that last little bit, when his eyes snapped up and locked onto Jace, his worry clear for anyone to see. "What do you mean, if you are *incapacitated*? In what way? How dangerous *is* this idea?"

Jace patted his hand in a calming and soothing gesture. "It isn't dangerous. We have located a witch." Hercules looked shocked at that. "Yes, I know. They are very rare in this day and age, but this one is strong. The strongest on the planet today. The curse is weakened sufficiently that we think that she can shatter it. However, when we were forcibly separated we all slid into a coma. It could conceivably happen again. *That's* what I meant by incapacitated." Jace held up a hand to forestall the arguments he could see brewing in his friend's eyes. "Before you say it, *yes* it *is* worth the risk. And we *will* attempt it."

~two months later~

Buffy Summers glared up at the three men and shook her head slightly. "Let me get this right. You three say you'll take out Glory, the *HellGod Glorificus*, and keep her from harming Dawn and in return for this amazing feat, you merely want Willow to cast a spell for you. That's it?" Both her tone and expression was incredulous.

Jett raised an eyebrow and smirked at her. "Yes. That's it."

Buffy snorted in derision. "It's a deal." It was painfully obvious that she didn't think that they could do what they promised and that she thought them mad for even wanting to try.

"Buffy!" Willow and Giles voices were a harmony of shock and despair.

She turned and glared at them, her strained nerves and exhaustion making her reckless. "What? *This* I gotta see. And if by some way they *do* defeat Glory, then more power to them. Dawn is in danger of being killed by this psycho-bitch and if they think they can keep her safe then I'm going to take it. If they get themselves killed, then fine! They *know* the risks. You both *tried* to talk them out of it and frankly, I'm tired of arguing about it anymore."

Joxer's voice was not *quite* as cold as his brother's, but it was close. "We'll deliver the defeated Godling to you and then we *will* expect payment."

~one week later~

The bells over the magic shop's front door jangled and everyone looked up in time to see the three identical men from last week dressed in head to toe black leather. Being dragged in between the first two men was Glory, wrapped from neck to ankles in some sort of strange metal chains. She was snarling and bucking, trying to break free, but it was clear that she was trapped. The third man was carrying a large carved wooden box.

The Slayerettes all jumped up and rushed over to see the bound and gagged HellGod as they goggled and stared in astonishment. Giles ran his hand gently over a length of the chains that held her and gasped. "This is *Hepheastian* metal!!! It's the rarest, most precious metal in the world. Legend states that Hepheastian metal can bind a God's strength and magic as surely as steal can bind a mortal. How...how did you *ever* find this much of it?"

The Slayerettes all looked shocked and stared between Giles and the triplets in confusion. All except for one woman. Anya stepped forward and also touched the chains with one fingertip. Hissing, she pulled back and studied her finger frantically. When everyone jumped in fear, she looked up blushing. "I'm sorry. I forgot for a moment that I'm human again. And you're right Giles, this is Hepheastian metal. It's the only thing that can be used to capture a Vengeance Demon as well." She held up her finger for all to see. "But see? I'm fine. It didn't hurt me at all."

They all sighed their relief and one young man in particular pulled the ex-vengeance demon close, kissing her fingertip. Then as one, they all turned questioning eyes on the triplets. The man holding the box grinned. "I raised him from childhood, so I have *tons* of his creations laying about."

Giles looked up at him in confusion. "Raised who?"

The grin deepened into a smirk. "Hepheastus, of course."

Everyone except for Giles gave him a blank confused look. Giles on the other hand, looked terrified. "Just who *are* you three?"

Feeling nervous about the spell, Jett decided to get cryptic and intoned in a hollow voice, "Just as we were the first, we shall also be the last."

Stepping around the bound HellGod, Jace thrust the carved wooden box into Willow's hands. "Here. All that you will need for the spell is in here. We will begin as soon as you are ready."

~*~

The cell phone rang. Hercules jumped and spun around, his nerves stretched thin. Sighing in relief that he wasn't being attacked by some strange being, he stalked across the floor of the main reception room of the Great Hidden Temple as he and the triplets called it. Picking it up and opening it, he spoke briskly. "Hercules."

"I know who you are silly boy." Joxer's voice was amused on the surface, but Herc had known his friend for far too long for any sort of deception to work. There was stress and tension lying under those well known tones. "I was just calling to warn you that we will be starting the spell soon. Time to sit with your family and wait for them to awaken."

Hercules started to tremble in excitement and his heart began to race. He missed his family so much. He had always been close to Hepheastus. In fact, back when the Gods had been awake, his quiet and shy brother had been one of the few family members that he had been on good terms with. He had never been close to Ares or Eris, but after almost two and a half millennia of listening to the triplets tell the story of their lives, he had come to understand them in ways he never could have back then. He wanted to get to know them on his own the way the triplets did.

And even in the midst of all this, he was worried about his friends. So many things could go wrong with this spell and there was nothing he could do to protect them.

His voice trembled and cracked slightly when he spoke. "O...okay. I'm gonna go down to the bedroom and wait for them to wake up. I have everything ready here. Just...just be careful. We'll all be there as soon as we can. Okay?"

Joxer's laugh sounded free and easy, but Hercules knew better. "No problem Herc. You just take care of them. We're counting on you."

A swell of pride bubbled up inside his chest. He had always known that the reason he had been born was to be a protector. In his youth, he had thought that meant he was supposed to protect humans from his divine family, but he had been wrong. It was his divine family that he had been born to protect. And now, that task was almost over and he had done well.

Still, there was more to do, but this would be even harder. He would now have to usher his family into a world that had long since forgotten them. He only hoped that he was up to that task. The triplets, his only link to memory and sanity in an endless and yet ever changing world, were counting on him. "I know you are Jox. I won't fail you. I promise. We *all* will come for you as soon as we can."

Hercules could almost hear his friend's smile over the phone. "I know. And if...if I can't tell you for a long time to come...thank you. For everything." And then suddenly, the line went dead. A flare of panic rushed into him and he was tempted to call back and demand that they stop before they even started, but he knew that they wouldn't listen to him. So he pushed his panic aside and tried to focus on his immediate concerns.

Setting the phone aside, Hercules swiftly made his way deeper into the temple until he reached the subbasement level. In a secured and locked room there were three large beds set along one wall. There was a night-stand next to each bed that held a glass of ice chips, a bowl of water with a clean facecloth near it. A long table on the other side of the room contained a tray with a pitcher of Golden Apple Juice and several glasses, several lit candles and a single stick of incense scenting the air.

Each bed was draped in silks and satins. Soft fluffy pillows and the finest of sheets. His brothers and sister each lay upon one. Over the years, Hercules and the three triplets had taken turns living here in the Great Hidden Temple caring for the coma trapped Gods, cleaning them, feeding them water and sips from the juice they made from the Golden Apples that had once been Hera's responsibility. They took care to exercise their limbs to help prevent muscle atrophy as best as possible and they talked to them, loved them and kept them safe from humans.

And now they would be waking soon.

~*~

It hadn't taken them long to set up the spell in Buffy's Training Room. There was plenty of space there and all the necessary components were indeed in the box. Willow chanted the main incantation while Giles and Tara spoke the minor incantation in unison. Their three voices blended into an eerie harmony that the world hadn't been witness to in thousands of years.

Anya, Xander and Dawn each held a yellow candle in their right hand and a hanging brazier of burning incense in their left. Buffy held a single brown silk robe decorated with gold and red symbols embroidered onto it.

The triplets stood skyclad before the three spell casters, a look of joy etched onto faces that held too wise eyes. A rolling soft mist began to pour into the room from nowhere and it carried the scent of roses in bloom with it. The electric lights dimmed until only the glow of the three candles illuminated the room and still the Witches and the Warlock chanted the spell.

Pain and pleasure both swept over each of the triplets as they began to glow a deep gold. The golden light pulsed in time with their heartbeats. The chanting continued. Little by little the pulsing light slid into harmony, flaring bright in unison and growing dim in unison. Still the chanting continued. The mist grew darker and took on crimson undertones and the triplet's forms began to blur and grow hazy.

The chanting took on an urgent tone and became faster and faster. The three men began to sweat and tremble from the unimaginable pressure. Then, between one heartbeat and the next, the golden glow flared to a blinding hot white and the entire building seemed to tremble with the forces summoned. The sound of a huge iron gong ringing somewhere deep in the heart of eternity echoed through the universe and everyone tumbled to the ground.

Long minutes later when they could all look up, they noticed that where there had once been three men, there was now one. And he was asleep. Gently as she could, Buffy slipped the robe onto the unconscious man's body.

Willow's confused and exhausted voice broke the sudden silence. "Did...did we do it?"

~*~

Ares had always been the strongest of Zeus and Hera's children and he was the first to stir. His eyelashes fluttered and his right hand twitched towards the enchanted sword that lay at his side. Hercules rushed over to his brother and gently slid a chip of ice between his lips, wetting his tongue and throat.

"J...Jox?..."

Hercules dipped a corner of the face-cloth into the bowl of water and then rinsed off Ares' lips and then his forehead. "Shhh...Ares, it's me, Hercules. You're okay. Everyone is okay." Hercules dipped the cloth, wetting it again and then he wiped gently at his brother's eyes, loosening the sleep gummed lashes. "Can you open your eyes? For me, Ares. Please? Wake up, okay?"

Ares' eyelashes fluttered for a moment and then opened. Hercules' heart caught in his throat with happiness and relief when at long last he was able to look into his brother's eyes. "Thank you, oh Ares, I am so glad you're awake."

A flicker of confusion danced across Ares' face, but Hercules just grinned. "I'll explain everything as soon as the other's wake and you're all strong enough to understand." And then, being as gentle as he could, Hercules cradled his brother's head and held up a glass of the Golden Apple Juice for him to drink from. Instantly, Ares' face eased from some of it's pain and tension and a more natural glow rose upon his pale skin.

After Ares' had sipped some juice from the glass, Hercules settled his head back upon the pillow. Then, a faint rustling sound rose from the bed next to them. Hepheastus. Hercules grin grew even wider. "Ares, it looks like Hephy is waking up now too. Let me go see to him, okay?"

A weak grin and nod was his answer.

~one week later~

Zeus stared down at his youngest son, the only surviving child of his that was not a full-blooded Olympian, the only demigod child he had purposely sired. The tale he had told to them all was fantastic, spanned eons and was practically unbelievable. And yet, deep in his bones, he knew it to be true.

His family's greatest enemy, Dahok, was a bodiless madness that had possessed Uranus, Chronos and then he himself. After he had managed to banish Dahok from his mind before the madness was done with him it had tried, and failed, to attack Ares. The Great Mother of All had managed to contain the evil, but the backlash from the magical battle had washed over everyone Zeus' bloodline and set them into a coma which had lasted millennia. Only Hercules had been spared that fate, and it had been the mortal-half of him which had saved him.

That they had all suffered in a bound sleep, Zeus could testify to. While he didn't remember succumbing, he *did* remember waking to find himself withered and wasted, sore and disoriented. A half dozen Golden Apples and a pound and a half of Ambrosia had fixed that, however. And that remedy had also healed the rest of the Olympians which had slept in the magic induced coma.

It was the rest of the tale that was hard to comprehend. That Ares, Eris and Hepheastus had been trapped on the Mortal Realm and that Hercules and the triplets had dedicated almost two and a half thousand years to protecting and caring for them. That the world had moved on in ways undreamed of and that they were all woken by the breaking of the triplet's curse. The curse laid upon them by his own father one week before he had been born. And still, there was more to learn.

Hercules shifted slightly and coughed to clear his throat. Aphrodite handed him a glass of Apple Juice and he smiled at her in thanks. Taking a deep drink to wet his throat, he continued. "Right now, the triplets are one again. They are dJok'sturr. The witch who broke the curse is an ally of the girl known as the Chosen One or The Slayer." Herc flashed a grin at Ares. "She's a blood descendant of Xena."

There was a soft gasp from the WarGod at that news and Hercules squeezed his shoulder gently in sympathy. "They live in a town called Sunnydale. The mortal's who study myths, legends and magic refer to this town as The Hellmouth and battle what they call demons. They aren't sure *exactly* what it is they fight, they only know that they must. In reality, the Hellmouth is simply an area that is contaminated by Dahok. He is still trapped in the bottle, but the bottle is buried under the town."

Zeus frowned at this. "Is Dahok lose?"

Hercules shook his head. "The triplets could explain it better, but the way I understand it, no he's not lose. He is stuck in the bottle and he can't possess anyone that way, but his evil *can* influence and taint an area. The demons that gather there and that the Slayer and her friends fight? They are descendants of the creatures that Dahok created when he possessed Uranus, Chronos and finally even *you*. They are the children of his followers and creations."

There was a multitude of gasps, muttered curses and lamentations over this news. Hercules could only nod in sad agreement. "And the Bacchii? Well, after the death of Bacchus, they slowly drifted away from his teachings and are now tainted by the influence of Dahok. Many show great promise of being saved and turned back to his teachings, but many others are forever lost."

A sad silence fell over the main gathering hall of Zeus' palace as the newly awoken Olympians absorbed that information. Then Zeus spoke, issuing his orders, "Ares, Eris and Hepheastus. You will take Hercules to this...Hellmouth and retrieve dJok'sturr body. Bring him back here where we can care for him until he awakens once again. Hercules, you will stay with the descendent of Xena and help her on her quest to battle the demons that have fallen under Dahok's influence. Your strength and knowledge will aid her greatly and any time there is need, don't hesitate to call for any of us. We will respond *at once*." This last was stated loudly and Zeus stared out at the sea of divine faces, daring even one of them to defy him and refuse aid to Hercules. No one even considered refusing.

~*~

Buffy looked up from her breakfast with a gasp of surprise as four shimmers of sparkling energy appeared in the air before her. The scent of ozone filled the air and she jumped out of her chair, knocking it backwards to the floor. Dashing across the room, she forcibly shoved Dawn behind her and grabbed hold of a stake. With an echoing *pop* the four shimmers solidified into four people. Three men and one woman.

They looked around a bit, confusion and awe etched on their faces, but the one man dressed in black leather and with shortly trimmed black hair stepped forward and smiled at her with both happiness and a deeply rooted sadness battling for dominance in his unfathomable eyes. "Is that her? She doesn't *look* like Xena, but there is something in her energy pattern that just reminds me off her, you know?"

The tallest man tilted his head and seemed to study Buffy for a long moment, then he smiled softly and nodded his head. "Yeah. I think that's her. Joxer told me that she was blonde. He thinks it's because Xena's bloodline and Gabrielle's bloodline mixed and merged several times over the centuries."

Buffy wasn't in the mood to try and unravel the mystery of whatever it was that they were babbling about, she just wanted to know who they were, what they wanted and then to have them leave. Preferably without damaging too much of her furniture. "Who are you? What do you want with us?"

The woman chuckled then and gestured towards Buffy, an odd amusement in her eyes. "Well, she certainly has Xena's attitude." Then her smile faded away and she seemed to be worried, almost jittery. "We're actually here for dJok'sturr." At Buffy's baffled look she elaborated, "The triplets? The ones that your witch friend broke a curse for, turning them into just one guy? Well, we are here for him."

Buffy frowned. She didn't know if these people were telling the truth. The triplets had said that some friends would come for them after Willow did that spell, but they didn't say who. And no one could wake them up now, no matter how much they tried, so they couldn't ask them...him. She didn't want to hand over the guy to just anyone, Willow would never forgive her. She felt horrible enough as it was since they couldn't wake him up. "Once again, who *are* you? How do I know you're his friends?"

The one in black shrugged in confusion. It seemed he was at a loss to prove what they said, but he was willing to try. "We *have* to get him back. He...they, they *raised* us from childhood. They...or rather, *he* is our foster-father."

Something that one of the triplets had said when they brought in Glory echoed in her mind. "Hepheastus?"

The man that had been hanging towards the back finally stepped forward. Buffy saw that at one point he had most likely been extremely handsome, but at some time in the past he had been cruelly injured and fully half of his face and one of his arms was twisted and scarred. "That's me. I am Hepheastus."

Buffy frowned. "Metal HellGod-trapping chains and locks making Hepheastus?"

Confusion washed over all four of their faces, but the man calling himself Hepheastus held out his two arms. A bright flash of light that made Buffy jump back slightly appeared and when it faded a long length of chain with two wrist bindings was laying in his big hands. "You mean, like this?" Mutely, Buffy nodded.

With awe and delight shinning in her big round eyes, Dawn peered out from around Buffy's shoulder. "He...he's upstairs. In the last bedroom on the left." As one, the four smiled gratefully at her and then turned and dashed up the steps. The two sisters shared a long long look and then they both dashed for the telephone.

~*~

dJok'sturr was laying in a big soft bed, a brown silk robe wound about his body and his head resting on a linen covered pillow. He was deeply asleep, in a coma, yet the expression on his face was one of serenity and happiness.

On soft feet, Hercules walked over to the bed and gently grasped dJok'sturr's hand. "Rest well my friend and heal quickly. I will be waiting for your return. We have many battles left to fight together." He squeezed the hand once lightly and then carefully let it go.

Hercules stepped back and Ares walked forward. His expression was unreadable and his dark eyes were haunted as he looked down at the man who had bought him as a slave thousands of years ago in a dusty ancient Egyptian city only to turn around and set him free, educate him, raise him and love him as a father. Carefully, Eris and Hepheastus pulled back the blankets and Ares gently picked dJok'sturr up in his strong arms.

Turning back to face Hercules once more, Ares voice was soft and gentle in a way that Hercules had never before been privileged to hear. "Remember little brother, all you have to do is call my name. I'll hear you no matter where you are and I will come to you."

Hercules nodded silently and then in a flash of bright white light, they were gone.

~two days later~

The Slayerettes all sat around the research table at the magic shop and stared with varying expression of shock, confusion and suspicion at Hercules. He didn't blame them. It *was* a hard story to understand and he had given them the quick version. However, unlike most mortals, these children were *used* to dealing with the strange and bizarre. Each one of them seemed to have one point of interest that drew there attention in.

The blonde vampire in particular was fascinated with certain understandable aspects of Hercules tales. "You mean to tell me that vampires weren't always evil? That we had a God and a purpose?"

Hercules nodded his head. "Yeah. Uncle Bacchus was the God of the undead. His children, called the Bacchii never killed anyone except to bring someone into their ranks and that was always a person that *wanted* to join. They drank from the sick, the weak and the ill. There was something in their bite that helped to heal. I don't understand it myself, but after Bacchus was killed than that...healing property slowly began to fade away. Yet the Bacchii still needed to feed, so they did. Only after time they also began to kill those they fed from."

Hercules made a vague gesture towards the ceiling, "My father is currently trying to find a way to reproduce the effects that Bacchus had on the undead. He's hoping that the creatures you call vampires can be turned away from their evil ways. It's *not* the way they were meant to behave and we think many of them can be saved."

The Slayerettes all looked gobsmacked for a long moment, but then they all turned as one to stare at the blonde vampire called Spike. The Master Vampire appeared to consider it with an odd look of longing mixed with disbelief. "It's a lovely thought mate, but I *like* violence and killing."

Hercules nodded. "Bacchus was considered the God of Debauchery. He was always up for a good party. And the amusements of his Bacchii were much more...uh, dark than the average human could enjoy, but they weren't killers. The only time they ever killed was in defense of their Temples or the towns those temples were located in."

This time it was Giles that broke into the conversation, his voice one of rabid curiosity. "What of other demons and creatures on the Hellmouth. Is there anything that can be done to turn them from evil as well?" This question pulled everyone's attention away from Spike and back to Hercules, hope shinning in their eyes.

He shrugged, not wanting to dash their hopes, but needing to tell them the truth. "It may be possible, but I doubt it highly. The vast majority of them are creations of Dahok. Dahok is the same spirit that created what you call the Hellmouth. Those creatures that were made by him have no hope of redemption. Those, like the Bacchii, that were pulled from their *true* destiny by him..." Hercules spread his hands wide in honest ignorance, "I don't know. Maybe, if we knew what they had once been and how they had changed we could reverse it. The only ones we know for sure are the vampires. Two and a half thousand years ago they were Bacchii."

The youngest one, Dawn, spoke up from her spot next to her sister. "What about Glory? Where does she fit in with all of this?"

Hercules frowned in confusion. "What do you mean? Glory who?"

Anya perked up in an effort to be helpful. "Oh! Glory is a HellGod we have locked up in the basement. She's in chains."

Hercules blinked at her. "Excuse me?"

Willow tossed Anya a quick glare and then turned to face Hercules. "Glory is a HellGod. She was trying to kill Dawn. The tr...triplets offered to capture her for us if I promised to do the spell that...that..." The red-haired witch trailed off, a haunted look on her face.

Hercules came to her rescue. He knew she felt bad about what had happened to dJok'sturr after the spell and he wanted her to understand that she didn't do anything wrong. "...that *saved* them. You did good, Willow. You *broke* a curse that he lived under for close to thirty-thousand years. He was *born* a single man. Dahok possessed the Titan known as Chronos. *Chronos* cursed dJok'sturr, splitting him into thirds, when he saved my father, Zeus, from Chronos' madness."

Willow looked up at him earnestly, desperately wanting to believe. "Oh." She flashed him a wobbly smile and then continued her story in a trembly voice. "A...anyway, the triplets brought Glory to us in magic chains. She can't use her HellGod powers with them on. She's still here. In the basement. We...uh, we don't quite know what to do with her."

Hercules frowned in thought a moment. "Can I see her?"

~*~

Hercules stepped back from Glory and turned to face Buffy. "There's something about her. I...I don't know what. I'm only *half* God, so my perceptions are sometimes a bit muddled, but I feel like I should know her from somewhere."

They looked over at Glory tied up on the mattress that had been carried down here for her. She had her face turned resolutely away from Hercules. "Well, I have to admit, this is the first time we've ever come near her that she has been this quiet. I think there is something about you that bothers her too." Glory flinched visibly at Buffy's observation.

Hercules nodded in agreement. Then he had an idea. Tipping his head back, he cried out in a loud voice. "Ares! Can you come here for a moment? I want you to see something." Glory flinched even harder and began to sweat.

There was a long moment when everyone held their breaths, but then in a flash of sparkling blue light and the scent of burning ozone, the War God appeared. "You called?" Hercules didn't even have time to explain when Ares turned around and stalked over to Glory. His voice was a cold hiss of hatred and anger. "Well, well, well. Callisto. Long time no see. I see you've been granted Godhead once again." Ares reached out with one finger and touched her forehead. He hissed and pulled it back quickly. "Not Olympian, Titan *or* Asphodelian. Something...*foul*."

Glory turned to glare at Ares, a mad cackle of laughter erupting from her throat. "Well Ares. I see you finally woke up from your beauty sleep. To bad, it didn't work, huh?"

Without thought or pause, Ares' arm whipped out and he backhanded her across her face. "So...what happened to you Callisto? Last time I saw you, my Great-Grandmother had just ripped your stolen Godhead from your worthless hide and you were left to die a mortal human."

Glory's eyes burned with hatred and madness. "I *did* die War God. But I didn't go to Tartarus like you had hoped. Hades fell under the same spell as *you* did and his realm was barred to all the dead. I went somewhere *far* less pleasant. But that was fine with me. I met a *very* interesting Dark God there and *he* granted me my Godhead again and sent me to another Realm to rule over along with two others. It was *those* two who banished me back here to the Mortal Realm, trapping me in a mortal shell to die once more."

Ares grinned. "Serves you right you bitch. Let's meet this mortal prison of yours. Yes?" Glory flinched back and tried to escape Ares' touch, but the chains forged by Hepheastus held her tightly. Ares placed his palm on her forehead and a flash of his power washed over her, bathing her in a bright blue light. When it faded, Glory was gone and a young man sat in her place.

"Ben!" Buffy's voice was filled with shock and betrayal. "You're Glory!"

Tiredly, Ben shook his head no. "I'm not Glory. I was born to contain her, though. I'm just as trapped with her as she is with me. I...I *hate* her and I want her gone."

Hercules came up beside his brother and glanced down at the young man with pity in his eyes. "Ares? Can...can you separate them? Free this...Ben from Callisto?"

Ares considered it for a long moment and then shook his head. "No. Zeus could. So could Great-Grandmother, but...I know that they would both refuse. It would just create another Dahok. Ben would survive, just as Zeus did, but Callisto would end up a mad God without a body. And there's no way we coudl contain her without Great-Grandmother's help and that would create a *new* Twilight again. Even if we *didn't* contain her, there's too many humans, demons and Gods for her to possess to make it safe."

Hercules nodded in sad understanding. "Oh."

"The only way to *truly* stop Callisto is to kill Ben." Everyone gasped at Ares chilling pronouncement and Ben began to tremble.

"I...I don't want to die. It's not fair. Glory ruined my life and now I have to *die* for her as well?."

Ares frowned in sympathy. Then an idea came to him and his eyes shone with hope. "How about if you could be reborn? This time *without* Callisto tagging along for the ride?"

Ben frowned in confusion, his expression mirrored by everyone there. "How?"

"It's simple really. We kill you. At the moment of your death I can hold back *your* spirit from crossing over into the afterlife while Callisto goes back to whatever Tartarus spawned her. At that point, once she is completely gone, I would just have to place your spirit into some fertile woman's womb and make sure that she conceives. Your spirit would instantly latch onto that life-spark and in the natural course of time you would be reborn."

Everyone was silent for long moments as this information sunk in. Finally Ben slowly nodded his head, "Okay. It's...not what I had hoped for, but a chance at a normal life *is* what I want and if this is the only way to get it...yeah, I'll agree to it. But...but who would you get to give birth to me?"

Anya stepped forward at that, "I'll do it."

Xander grabbed her by the arm and goggled at her, "What! Anya, you can't be serious."

Anya set her jaw and nodded her head decisively. "Yes Xander, I am serious. I was a demon for over a thousand years and I hurt a lot of people during that time. *I* was given a second chance at life, so why shouldn't *Ben* get one? I want to do this one act of selfless good. Maybe it will help make up for all the not good things I've done to males over the centuries."

Xander looked at her helplessly for a long moment, then he nodded and stepped back. "If that's what you really want, Anya, then I won't stop you."

She offered him a wobbly smile. "Thank you."

Ares grinned and clapped his hands together. "Great. Now that that is settled, shall we get started?" Everyone nodded. "Okay. Herc? I'm gonna be concentrating on holding Ben's spirit here and forcing Callisto back to where she came from, so I'm gonna need you to do the actual deed. Can you do that for me?"

Hercules looked over at Ben, a haunted expression in his eyes. "Are you sure there's no other way, Ares?"

Solemnly, Ares nodded his head. Hercules sighed and closed his eyes for a brief moment. "Then yeah. I'll do it." He turned to face Ben. "I'll make it quick and painless. I promise."

Ares tipped back his head and whispered softly, "Dite? I need you."

Three heartbeats later an unbelievably beautiful woman with long curly blonde hair and an overly generous figure clad in what seemed to be pink lingerie appeared in a flash of white light and a shower of pink rose petals. "Hey, little bro. What's up?" Everyone stared stunned as the woman jiggled and bounced her way across the room, tossed one rounded arm around Ares' waist and one rounded arm around Hercules' waist. She leaned to her left and placed a kiss on Ares' cheek and then leaned to the right to give a kiss to Hercules.

"Bloody Hell, that's one *fine* looking chit."

Xander just snapped his jaw closed and nodded while Giles furiously polished his glasses. Aphrodite giggled and winked. Ares' merely sighed and introduced her with a long suffering tone, "Allow me to introduce my sister, Aphrodite, the Goddess of Love and Beauty. Oh, and boys? She's a married woman, so unless you *really* want Hephy to pound on you as if you were a lump of iron ore, I wouldn't recommend pinching her bottom. No matter *how* tempting it might be."

Spike smirked up at Ares. "Mean right hook, eh?"

Ares smirked back. "You have *no* idea how mean. His left arm may not be too steady, but his right one is stronger than Herc, here. Seven thousand years of metalsmithing will do that to a God."

Aphrodite turned to face Ares. "As much as I love to hear people talk about how wonderful my Hephy is, what was it that you needed *me* for?"

Ares gestured to Anya. "Her. I'm gonna transfer this guy's spirit into her body so that he can be reborn as her child. I just need you to make sure that she's able to conceive right this moment."

Aphrodite frowned, "That's more Hera's job." At Ares low growl, she shrugged and glided over to Anya. "All right, all right. I'll do it." The Love Goddess reached out one delicate hand and placed it against Anya's lower stomach. Her hand glowed pink for a moment and then that glow sank into Anya. "There. She's ready." She looked up at the ex-demoness. "I promise you this. If you have sex *anytime* at all in the next week, you *will* become preggers." Anya smiled.

"Great." Ares gestured to Hercules and he walked over to stand behind Ben. "Let's get started then."

Ares rested his hands on Ben's forehead and closed his eyes in concentration for a long moment. When he opened them again, they were glowing a deep blue. Stepping back so that he was no longer touching Ben, he spoke in an oddly hollow tone. "Now Herc. I've got a lock on Ben. Do it now." Without hesitation, Hercules reached out and wrapped both of his large hands around Ben's head. Then with a single twist, he broke the young man's neck.

A misty white shifting form rose up away from the body and floated over to Ares and rested in his hands even as a chilling scream of loss and denial in a feminine voice rose up from the corpse only to fade away eerily. Then, Ares turned and placed his hands against Anya's stomach and the white misty form slid into her.

"There, Ben's spirit is inside of your womb just waiting for you to conceive."

Anya reached out and grabbed Xander's hand, "Come *on*, let's go. We have a baby to make."

Xander balked and turned pale. "What? No. No, we didn't talk about this. I mean, this is a *big* step and I...I..." Anya looked ready to cry and Xander just looked scared.

Ares rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Dite? Would you please..." He gestured to the young mortal man having a panic attack. With another jiggling shrug of her shoulders, Aphrodite walked over to Xander and placed a gentle kiss on his cheek. He instantly fell silent, a dazed and confused look sliding over his face. "What was I doing?" He was truly baffled.

Dite giggled and pointed at Anya. "You were just getting ready to go take your girlfriend to some nice private spot and make passionate love to her."

Xander's face cleared off his confusion. "Oh. Oh, yeah. Now I remember. Thanks." With that, he grabbed onto Anya even tighter and pulled her out of the crowd and towards the basement stairs. Everyone could hear their feet pounding as they ran out of the magic shop.

Dite just smiled widely. "No problem." Then, with a giggle she turned back to face her brothers. "Now, if you guys don't need me for anything else, I left my warm and cuddly husband all lonely for me at home in bed." She wiggled her fingers at them all and then disappeared in another flash of light and a shower of rose petals.

Ares tapped Hercules on his shoulder and then pointed to Glory's dead body. "Bury this one still wrapped up in Hephy's chains. That way she won't come back from the dead." Hercules nodded and then Ares too left in a shower of blue energy sparks.

Willow spoke for them all. "Well...that was...um, wiggy."



tbc...part 6