Raising Xena
By Scorpio


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Warnings and Plans
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Joxer the Mighty, Immortal Demigod son of the Goddess of Discord and Conflict, walked silently through the encampment of armed soldiers. In his wake tent ropes were tightened, stacks of equipment were straightened, armor was polished and weapons were sharpened. Fearsome warriors snapped to attention in salute as his gaze washed over them and the camp followers cringed in fear of the thought that he would require their services, for the Mighty One as he was known throughout Greece, was notoriously difficult to please. Only the small band of Priests and Priestesses of Discord seemed to be comfortable in Joxer's presence and that was because they shared his absolute devotion to his divine mother.

For his part, Joxer was a little worried. Unlike his Uncle Ares, Discord only had one army that was hers to do with as she pleased and he was the General of that army. His mother's last instructions had been irritatingly vague. Something unexpected had happened and she had ordered him to bring her troops to this location, set up camp and then wait for her next instructions. That was a week ago and the warriors were getting restless.

Lost in thought, Joxer was taken completely by surprise when something solid connected painfully against his shin before sweeping his foot and leg out from under him even as something else slammed into the middle of his shoulder blades. Overbalancing, Joxer fell to the ground face first. At the last possible second, he got his hands under him to prevent him from getting a mouthful of dirt. Rolling with his fall, Joxer tucked his body and then sprang back up onto his feet, dagger in one hand, sword in the other. He was confronted with the insane giggling of his younger brother. Almost against his will, a grin broke out over his own face.

"Strife! You flee bitten doggy chew-toy! Gonna get you for that."

Without hesitation, Joxer swung his sword at the grinning face of the Mischief God. Squealing giggles filled the air as Strife ducked down under the swing and then leapt up and over Joxer's head to land behind him. His own smile stretching even wider, Joxer pivoted on one foot and let his dagger fly towards his brother's chest. Strife dropped to the ground as the dagger sailed harmlessly over his head. It didn't stick into a random tree behind the young godling, however. Instead, it hovered in midair as the Goddess of Discord and Conflict slowly materialized around it to reveal that she had effortlessly caught it in one bare hand.

"Boys! Stop that. You two can play with each other later. Right now we have important business to take care of."

Strife pouted up at her from where he was squatted down on his haunches.

"Ahhh, but mmmoooOOOOooommmm! We were having ffffffuuuuuUUUUuuuunnnn!"

Eris and Joxer shared a quick glance of amusement even as Joxer sheathed his sword and stepped towards her. As he passed by his younger brother he reached out and whapped him on the back of the head.

"Don't whine. As soon as we have time, we'll pick this up again."

Dodging out of the way before Strife could return the light slap, Joxer made his way over to their mother and bent over her hand before kissing it gently.

"Mother, you look lovely. As always."

Eris grinned at him as Joxer slid his arm around her own in order to walk her to his command tent. Out of the corner of his eye, Joxer could see his warriors pale and tremble at the sight of their Goddess walking among them even as her Priests and Priestesses rushed to set out wine and platters of fresh fruit inside of the command tent so that Eris would be as comfortable as possible. He ignored them in favor of his mother while Strife picked himself up and walked behind them still pouting. When they arrived at the tent, Joxer reached out and pulled the tent flap aside, gesturing Eris to go first. Strife scowled playfully as he followed their mom.

"What I wanna know is how in Tartarus did you and Jett, th' two most ruthless guys I know, end up being such mamma's boys? Discord says some guy needs ta die an' th' next thing ya know he's sproutin' one a Jett's daggers. Discord says some town needs ta be razed an' th' next thing ya know *your* on th' move wit' this pack a bloodthirsty loonies behind ya."

The God of War's voice echoed through the room even as he shimmered into view in a shower of red sparkles.

"Easy. They're Discord's boys and they're just following their nature. So does Jace, if you think about it. He creates discordant energy where ever he goes as well, it's just on a less... widespread scale."

Joxer grinned a nasty grin at the War God's reference to his other brother even as he felt the need to defend him.

"Aww, Uncle Ares. Jace will eventually come around and join the family business someday. Honest. He's just going through a phase right now. He's on this quest to find the perfect lover, that's all."

Ares merely raised an eyebrow, but Eris chuckled in open amusement.

"I know, but he'd probably have better luck if he didn't always decide to seduce people who were already married. Last time he broke up a solid marriage, Hera destroyed his entire wardrobe and it took me three weeks to console the poor dear."

Ares smirked and gestured from Strife to Eris.

"See? Like I said, Jace causes discord and conflict on a smaller scale, but it's still his nature to do it. His lovers wouldn't be half as attractive to him if a relationship with them didn't create havoc."

Strife seemed to consider this as everyone moved to sit down around the small table that Joxer had in the tent. Finally he nodded his head, a wicked grin crossing his face.

"I nevah thought a that. I guess I should go an' spend some time wit' him. Ya know, help him find th' love of his life or somethin'. Could be fun an' besides, it's sorta my duty as his brothah an' all."

Everyone just rolled their eyes as they weren't fooled by his pretense of chivalry. Strife saw the situation as a great opportunity for Mischief and they all knew it. However, none of them felt any desire to stop him. As long as Jace didn't get hurt by Strife's mischief making, they didn't care what happened. Finally, Joxer cleared his throat and glanced between his mother and his uncle.

"So. What's the plan? I'm sure that you guys didn't stop by to discuss Jace's love life, no matter how interesting it might be."

Ares sighed and reached up with one large hand to palm his face and scratch his beard as if he were tired and slightly annoyed. It was a personal quirk that mortals never saw but that usually indicated that his uncle had recently received bad news. He was obviously passed the 'yell, pace and blow things up' stage, but he hadn't settled into the 'I can turn this to my advantage so its a good thing' stage. Joxer braced himself.

"I had a visitor this past week. An unexpected one, but I'm sure that if we try hard enough, we can turn the information I got from him into a plan to prevent what happened from happening."

Joxer scowled. He couldn't help it. His uncle's words made no sense.

"Um, Uncle Ares? What do you mean, we can prevent what happened from happening? Was this visitor from the future? Because I always thought that Zeus had banned time travel."

It was his mother that picked up the tale at that point.

"Zeus did ban time travel. He also banned travel from one dimension to the next, as well. This visitor didn't come from *our* future, but from the future of a different dimension. Apparently, his dimension was at war with another dimension and he somehow got trapped in a pocket of time and space in the void between worlds. When he tried to escape, he landed in *our* dimension by mistake. We helped heal him and send him home. In payment, he told us about his dimension so that we could avoid some of the... difficulties that he has faced."

There was a long pause as Ares poured himself a goblet of wine while Joxer and Strife slowly absorbed this information. It was a lot to wrap around the brain, however, and Strife recovered from his shock first.

"So, Unc. Who was this dimension travelah, anyway?"

Ares grimaced slightly and sighed again.

"Me. It was another Ares God of War. From what I gather, his world is a lot different from ours is already, but there are two people in particular that I'm worried about. Right now they are both babies, but they have the potential to cause *incredible* amounts of problems if we don't do something about it. We can't let what happened on *his* world to happen on ours."

Joxer frowned and shrugged.

"So, send Jett after them. I mean, he normally doesn't like to kill children, but if you explain that this is a special case, he'll do it."

Eris shook her head.

"No, it's not that simple. These two are Demigods. The older of the two is Hercules, son of Zeus. The younger one is Xena and she's Ares' own daughter. We can't just kill them."

Joxer nodded his head in acceptance. Even without Zeus' no killing of Gods or Demigods rule, neither Jett or Joxer would ever do that to a family member. Fighting and arguing was one thing, but killing was another. Even non-godly family members got that protection with them.

"Not ta be soundin' like an idiot or nothin', but how are these two kiddies supposed ta be that big of a prob? Okay, Zeus' brat, I can see, but why would we havta worry about your daughtah, Unc? Wouldn't she be one a us?"

Ares tossed a glare at the Mischief God, but answered his question seriously.

"Actually, this other Ares said that she was his greatest warrior. His champion, in fact. Then she ran into Hercules and that all changed. He persuaded her to turn against me and she became his greatest enemy."

Strife frowned.

"Bummer, dude."

Joxer voiced his own confusion at that point.

"How could she turn against her own father? I don't get that. I can't even *imagine* going against Mom. I mean, I don't always agree with her, but I'd never disobey. I just tell her my opinion, maybe even hope to change her mind, but that's it. She's the boss and her final decision stands. Why would Xena be different?"

Ares and Eris were both scowling, twin looks of disgust on their faces by this point. However, it was Ares that answered.

"Apparently, his Xena didn't know that he was her father. His version of Zeus had gotten pissed off him and his Eris and made some stupid pronouncement that neither of them could acknowledge their children. His version of Cupid and Strife were forced to call him Uncle and his Strife was forced to call his mother Aunt Eris. The duplicates of you and your brothers were dumped with your father and no one knew the truth of your birth. The same with Xena."

Joxer felt his jaw drop down as shock and horror washed over him. The very idea of not being acknowledged by his parents was so abhorrent to him that he shuddered. His mother was the Goddess of Discord and Conflict, his father had been her High Priest at the time of his conception. He was *proud* of his heritage. His godly half-brother was the son of both Discord and War, and he knew for a fact that Strife was proud of *his* parentage, as well. He turned horrified eyes on his younger brother only to see his own expression mirrored on the Mischief God's face. They both shuddered.

"Well, there ya go right there. I mean, not that thin's are perfect here or not'in', but at least we're a family, ya know? That's gotta add up ta some changes right there."

Joxer nodded in full agreement with Strife. After all, when he, Jett and Jace had been born, all of Olympus knew about them and celebrated their birth. They had been raised in the mortal realm in Eris' main temple where their father was the High Priest. On their thirteenth birthday, they had been apprenticed to their Uncle Ares' Champion and had learned the art of war. On their twenty-fifth birthday, they had been summoned to Olympus for the first time since their birth and were offered immortality from their Grandparents. If his mother hadn't been allowed to acknowledge him and his brothers, their life would have been completely different.

"Actually, that's what your mother and I had hoped would be enough to change Xena's destiny. According to that other Ares, she would naturally be drawn to his service and she would end up as his Champion. However, her encounter with Hercules would change that. That other world's Hercules sees the Gods as his enemies and apparently the alternate Hera and Ares were right at the top of the list."

It was at this point that Discord picked up the tale.

"It seems that, in the other world, when Hercules was a young boy, he became friends with the Prince of Corinth during a time when Hera wanted him to be harassed and tormented. That Hera sent the alternate me and Strife to do this and as a result, Hercules started to see *us* as his enemy. However, it was nothing really bad or unfixable. At least, not until later. That other version of Zeus offered Hercules a chance to ascend to Olympus as a God by doing twelve labors. And he did it. This infuriated Hera and to punish him for what she saw as over stepping his position, she killed his mortal wife and children. It was at that point that he declared war on the gods."

Joxer felt that he was reaching the limits of how much he could be shocked. Any more and he would just start to go numb. He rarely felt pity or compassion for anyone, but he pitied the alternate world's people. It seemed, to him anyway, that Zeus made arbitrary decisions and then ignored the consequences of his actions. He couldn't believe how stupid the supposed King of the Gods was on that world.

"What was that Zeus thinking? First he tells Hera that she can't have anything to do with her own grandchildren because you and Uncle Ares aren't allowed to acknowledge any of your kids, then he turns around and rubs his own children in everyone's faces. I mean, Grandma might have a bit of a temper, but she *is* fair."

Ares poured himself more wine, his expression dark.

"It's worse than that. Apparently, that Zeus would throw a hissy fit whenever Hera had any children that weren't his. Hebe was shunted into the background and practically ignored by him. However, the worst was Hephestus. That other world's Zeus tossed him off of Olympus when he was only hours old and while he survived, the injuries he suffered were permanent."

Joxer was wrong. He *could* be more shocked. And horrified. And his younger brother, apparently, was too. With a cry, Strife jumped up out of his chair and began pacing about the room.

"What?! That's insane. Aunt Hebe is *great*. I mean, how many times did she baby-sit me when I was little. How could anyone just decide ta *ignore* the Goddess of Children. An' it's not like Grandma was sleepin' around ta get Hebe. She was created by a freakin' power surge that Hera got from a baby-boom in th' mortal realm that was th' direct result of Aunt 'Dite an' Unc Dionysos holding a month long celebration. Aunt Demeter got knocked up wit' Persephone at th' same time. An' that whole thin' wit' Unc Heph? That's wrong on so many different levels that I can't even begin ta explain it."

Eris ignored her youngest son's pacing even as she gestured in the air with her hands.

"I know. And that other Hephy? About a month after he was born, Zeus was proven to be his father and all those that accused Hera of sleeping around were silenced. I'm just glad that *our* Zeus never chucked him outta Olympus. I can't see Mom just forgiving *that*. Ever."

Joxer shook his head in amazement. It would take him a long time to settle everything that he had just heard into his mind. Things in that alternate world were just too different and too bizarre. It seemed as if, over there, his family continually tore itself to pieces over and over again. However, he also saw that things were different enough that they could prevent the future from mirroring events in that other world. And he was to be a part of that, otherwise he wouldn't be here now at the planning stage. Looking up at his mother, he caught her gaze.

"What is it that you want me to do? I mean, how can I help to keep everything from repeating itself?"

With a sigh, Eris glanced over at her twin and gestured with her chin.

"We want you to deal with Xena. Instead of letting her find her own way towards being a warrior, we want to try and guide her path with full knowledge of who and what she is."

Joxer nodded his head. That made complete sense to him as well. He just had one question for his Uncle Ares.

"How old is she. I know that you said that she's a baby, I just need to know when I have to go get her from your temple."

Ares scowled at him.

"Xena's with her mother in the town of Amphipolis. She's about two years old now. What does that have to do with anything? You don't have a problem apprenticing my daughter, do you?"

Joxer scowled right back.

"Of course not. She's my cousin and I'd be more than happy to take her as my apprentice. It'd be a pleasure and an honor. However, unless her mother is a warrior, then there is nothing that I can do for her right now. I'm not running a day-care center here, this is the personal army for the Goddess of Discord and Conflict. There is no way that I can guarantee the safety of a baby for any long stretches of time. Especially during the middle of a battle. Once she's old enough to be an apprentice then at least she'll be able to run away from danger if the situation comes to it."

Ares and Joxer leaned on opposite sides of the table glowering at each other. Neither one was willing to back down, certain that they were correct. It was finally Eris who stepped in to settle the issue.

"Actually, Ares, Joxer has a point. I didn't let him or his brothers out of my temple until they were thirteen and that was to apprentice them to your current champion at the time. You might want to consider doing that. Move Xena to one of your temples and let the Priests raise her for you. That way, she'll get to *see* you being worshipped from her earliest memories and whenever you have down time, you can go and visit her personally. It'll also give the rest of the family a place to go and visit her as well. That way she'll be less susceptible to hearing people badmouth the Gods. If her mom is a warrior, then you can consider pushing her apprenticeship up to an earlier time since her mom can come along and act as her defender."

Ares leaned back in his chair and palmed his face. Once again he just looked tired and oddly human-like.

"No. Her mother isn't a warrior. She was a war-widow and I visited her right after her husband's death."

Joxer nodded as an idea came to him.

"Then why don't we do what that other Ares was forbidden to do? I'll go to Amphipolis with the entire army at my back and announce to the whole town that I was sent by you to collect this woman and her daughter... Uh, does she have any other children?"

Ares nodded.

"Two older sons. They are the sons of her husband."

Joxer smiled and continued.

"Okay, so I'll tell them I want the woman and *all* her children. I'll tell them that her husband was a great warrior who had found the War God's favor and that he sent me for them. I'll announce that Xena is a Demigod and your daughter. Then, I'll escort them to whichever Temple to War that you want so that you can acknowledge her publicly and declare that on her thirteenth birthday she will become my apprentice. Then, I would suggest you also offer sanctuary to the mother and her boys, as well. Those boys will probably try to do everything they can to please you, especially if they see you as an extension of their own family through their sister."

Eris nodded her head and gestured with her own goblet of wine.

"Joxer's right. That would work. I know that's what I did with the triplets. However, it's Hercules that I'm worried about. Even though our Hera doesn't have the same resentment against Zeus' illegitimate children that the alternate world Hera did, he still has the potential to be a major stumbling block. I peeked in on him after that other Ares first told us about him and he's in a bad situation that could end up pissing off our Hera anyway."

Strife stopped pacing and turned his chair backwards in order to straddle it. He frowned at the Goddess of Discord.

"Whacha mean?"

Eris shrugged and sighed.

"I could feel the discordant energy before I even fully materialized. Hercules mother is very pretty and very dumb. She's also very very proud of the fact that Zeus took a liking to her and gave her a son. She's been rubbing Hercules' paternity in her older son's face and demanding that he be more like the baby. There is a *lot* of resentment there. Not only that, but she's been bragging about her "conquest" in the local villages. Hera may forgive the old goat his dalliances, but she *doesn't* stand for being made a fool of. That woman is under Zeus' protection, as is Hercules, but that doesn't stop retribution being called down on anyone else's head."

Strife gasped and pointed at his mom.

"That's probably why that other Hera ended up frying Herc's wife and kids, huh? As punishment for all of the things that his cow of a mothah said about her."

Ares nodded and put his empty goblet down.

"Most likely. That's something we've got to prevent from happening."

Joxer frowned.

"So, the punishment should be aimed at *her*, not Hercules. After all, he didn't really do anything and after growing up hearing this sort of stuff, he'd end up believing it anyway. So we need to stop *that* as well. If she's under Zeus' protection, she can't be killed, but... can we take the boys away from her? I mean both of them. Or would Zeus fight against that?"

Strife and Ares scowled at him, but Eris smiled an evil and sneaky smile. It was the kind of expression that made grown men cringe back in mortal terror. Her family, on the other hand, just thought it made her even more beautiful.

"Perhaps there is a way. After all, *we* can't do that, but *Hera* can. If I was to go to her, saying that while in the area I felt a strong pulse of discordant energy and went to investigate and I just stumbled upon them. I can tell Hera that Alcemene is bragging about seducing Zeus and is turning her sons one against the other. That, as the Goddess of Discord, it is my right to take action. After all, I *have* to control any large pockets of discordant energy to prevent it from getting out of hand. Raging unchecked it will lead to chaos and no one wants that. It has to be channeled. If I ask that the children be taken as punishment for Alcemene stirring up the populace against her and be given to Hebe to raise, I think she'll go for it."

They all stared at her for a long moment before Ares' scowl slowly faded into a mild grin and his head tilted to the side in thought.

"Okay. That might just work. If Hera gets a chance to act *before* her anger reaches a flashpoint, then there is a lot less chance for destruction and unthinking rage. Mother would have a much better chance of convincing Zeus to pull those kids away from his little love toy then we would, anyway. And if he says no, you can always just casually offer to have Joxer swing through the area to raze the town to the ground so that the people stop bad mouthing Mom. When the bitch and her whelp are the only living people in a ten mile radius, it's *possible* that she'd learn her lesson."

Joxer looked on in shock and jumped up from his seat.

"But I thought this was to prevent Hercules from turning against the gods. Having his village razed on the orders of Mom would *not* accomplish that."

It was his younger brother that reached out a hand and pushed Joxer back into his chair.

"Naw, Gramps is a lot a things, but stupid he ain't. He'd never let mom *or* you do that. It'd not only turn his brat against him, it'd turn his love pillow against him as well. But he'll be forced ta take some type a action ta stop it, even if he doesn't give th' brats ta Hebe. After all, even wit' his protection, that broad is still just a mortal. Hera can make his life miserable for *centuries* if he doesn't appease her."

Suddenly, Ares' raised up one eyebrow and a half grin quirked his full lips in amusement.

"That other kid of hers is around the same age as my Xena's brothers. Since I'm going to have them at one of my temples, I was thinking that I should have my priests start them in basic training. Nothing too strenuous at first, but very thorough. The kind of training that could lead to them becoming priests or even members of my elite guards. Since Hercules older brother is the same age, I could always extend that offer to *him* as well. It would get him away from Alcemene and it would be one less brat that Zeus has to worry about what to do with. We look like the good guys trying to help stop a problem before it starts and we end up with a tie to Hercules... his mortal brother."

They all paused a moment to consider this idea. It had merit, especially if Hercules was given free reign to visit his brother whenever he wished. It would give him time as a young impressionable child to see them as family and not as enemies. Eventually, they all nodded their agreement at the War God. It was Eris, however, who brought the meeting to an end.

"Okay. That's it then. Me and Ares will go speak with mother about our concerns over Hercules. Joxer, you head towards Amphipolis and gather up Xena and her mortal family. Ares will let you know which temple to bring them too once he decides which one will work best for our purposes. Strife, you go and see Jace and Jett. Warn them about what we discussed here. Tell them that they could end up getting some assignments if our plans don't pan out the way we hope. After that, head on down to Corinth and try and piece together what's happening that would cause that other Hera to want to harass Prince Jason. Any questions?"

Both Joxer and Strife shook their heads no. They both knew their jobs and they both understood the importance of these events. Ares nodded his head.

"Good. Get to it then."

In a cascading shower of red, green and blue, Joxer watched his family shimmer out of view as they dematerialized away from his command tent. With a soft sigh, he poured himself a goblet of wine and stared into it's deep red depths for a long moment. Pulling himself out of his introspection, he drank down the wine and then stood up and walked to the tent's entrance and pulled back the flap. With a quick gesture to his personal aide, he summoned his Lieutenants and his mother's highest ranking Priest to him. He had orders to give and decisions to make. What's more, he planned to have his army on the march before the hour was out.



END