Work Text:
Story
by Scorpio
First off, allow me to introduce myself. I am Ares; Heir to the Throne of Olympus, God of War, Protector of Greece, Lord of Violence and Head of the House of Aggression. *scowls* Secondly, stop cowering and whimpering. It's annoying, besides, how in Tartarus do you expect me to teach you anything if you're trembling on the floor? *sighs* And no, wailing for mercy won't help either.
Get up. *points to row of chairs materializing out of thin air* Sit down and listen. I'm not here to hurt you. I'm not going to turn you inside out, upside down or anything like that. I'm just here to talk to you. To tell you the truth.
*glares at person sitting at the end of the row of chairs* I can, and will, tell the truth. It's not exactly beyond my capabilities, you know. I have this horrible reputation and I finally get a chance to set things right. *rolls eyes* Mostly because the others are now having their reputations tarnished as well. Still, I'm not going to miss this opportunity.
*rubs forehead with one hand and sits backwards as large dark throne materializes out of nothingness* It's the television shows. Come on, you know which ones I'm talking about. Hercules the Legendary Journeys and that other one, *scowls* Xena the Warrior Princess. A pack of lies. All of it. And I'm here to set the record straight. When you leave here, I want you to tell everyone you meet about what you have learned.
*blinks and looks over at brave soul that questioned him* What? Why would they lie? *sighs* For the same reason that most of the surviving legends and stories about my family are wrong. Hercules.
*glares* No. I don't like him, that much is true. But not for the reasons that you think and if I could fix what's wrong with him, I would. Not just because he's spent the better part of the last two thousand years being a pain in the ass, but because I want my brother back!
*sighs and leans back against his throne* You see, Hercules is not a demigod. He never was. He's a full God. And he was born a full God and my brother. Hera, my mother only gave birth to sets of twins. Always. Eris and I are twins. Typhon and Hephaistos are twins. And also, Hebe and Hercules are twins.
*face takes on a faraway look* Eris and I are War and Hate. Violence and Conflict. We are the true product of our parent's stormy and horror filled marriage which was against the direct wishes of Hera. Zeus forced himself on her and stole her from her true love, Hades.
Typhon and Hephaistos embody Destruction and Creation. Both of them are deformed and ugly in some way, but there is real goodness and a desire for happiness and love in each of them. They came about as a result of our parents trying to resolve their eternal conflict and make peace, but it wasn't to be. Not yet, the wounds were still too fresh and forgiveness hadn't occurred yet.
That's what Hebe and Hercules were. Our parents had managed to forgive each other and find happiness. Youth and Protection. Innocence and Defense. *dreamy smile on face* Never has there been a happier time on either Olympus or in the Mortal Realm as it was then. For almost four centuries, peace and happiness reigned.
*smile melts into frown* Then a tragedy struck and Hercules never recovered.
What? *blinks at interuption* Of course I'll give you the details. *scowls* I'm not stupid, no matter what those television shows tell you.
*sighs and rubs eyes* Many of the characters on the shows really exist, just not in the way you are familiar with them. Xena? She's real. She is a full Goddess, just like both of her parents. Xena is the Goddess of Vengeance. I am the one who actually gave birth to her. Her other father is the God of Defense...Hercules. He was not considered her uncle even though that is also technically true. She always referred to him as "Daddy" and to me as "Poppa".
*glares* Yes. Hercules and I were lovers. Not that it was exclusive. We both had many other lovers, both godly and mortal. Although, Hercules was more like our father in that he preferred mortal lovers. His only other godly lover that produced children was Apollo. Hercules is the one who gave birth to Asclepius, the God of Healing. Apollo was his other father.
What? *sighs in exasperation* Fine. Alcmene wasn't Hercules' mother. He just wanted everyone to think that when he disowned us. Alcmene was never one of Zeus' lovers, she was one of mine. Iphicles was one of the few demigods that was a child of mine. Hercules chose Iphicles' family because it was through my demigod son that he met the love of his life.
*rolls eyes* Yes, I do mean Iolaus. Now, do you think you can stop interrupting me? *taps foot on floor* Good. Now shut up.
Hercules went to visit my son Iphicles to do something for me since I was busy with a war and couldn't get away. Iolaus and Iphicles were friends as they were both studying to be warriors from the same teacher. Hercules fell head over heals in love with Iolaus. When Iolaus got older, Hercules took him as his Consort. They had a child together named Jason. *smirks* Jason was particularly adored by our mother Hera and she helped him a lot on his quest with the Argonaunts.
When Hercules realized that his Consort was getting very old, they had planned to be married. His twin, Hebe was going to gift Iolaus with youth and then Hera had planned to make him immortal so that he could never die.
On the morning of their wedding, the Temple of the Fates was attacked and they cried out for help. I rallied the House of Aggression to come to their defense, but Hercules refused to go with us. He thought it was a trick to stop his wedding and stayed behind to guard his lover. Xena, Eris, Strissios whom you know as Strife, Demios and I were able to turn back the foreign raiders who did indeed attack the Fates.
*long-suffering sigh followed by a scowl* The Fates were not pleased that Hercules hadn't come to answer their cries and called upon the Furies to curse him. The Fates killed Iolaus and then the Furies made him insane with grief over his lover's death. Hercules renounced his godhood and left Olympus for the Mortal Realm. *growls* He then spent years trashing our Temples and our reputations with our followers. After a while, he disappeared and we hadn't heard anything from him since.
Now these television shows popped up and perpetuate the lies that Hercules tried to spread so long ago. Hercules never married those mortal women. They were his lovers and he had several demigod children with them, but they weren't his wives. Hera never killed any of his family. She is his mother and she loves him. Xena is his daughter and she is not a demigod. Yes, Gabrielle and Xena became very close friends, but Gabrielle was not fully mortal. She was a demigod and one of Apollo's daughters. She was also one of my lovers. *sad _expression_ on face* Our daughter was named Hope. Hope was not a demon child of a foreign god. In fact, Hope eventually became lovers with Xena. Not Gabrielle. Nor did I ever become lovers with Hope and have a son with her. *makes disgusted face* That's just not right.
*throws exasperated look at person sitting at the end of the row* I thought you weren't going to interrupt again? *smirks* The reason that I'm telling you this is because people are beginning to believe the lies. None of it is true. Besides, we think that we can finally cure Hercules and lift the madness from his mind. Unfortunately, we have to find him first and he has become very skilled at hiding his presence.
We think that if people start spreading the truth that he will come out into the open and then we can help him. *oddly soft look* I miss my brother. He was my friend, my lover and my right hand. I want him back.
*blinks and then scowls at everyone* What are you still doing here? Didn't I just tell you to go and spread the truth as I have told it to you? *stands up and pulls his Sword from it's sheath* GO!
*laughs as many people scurry away in a riot of fear*
SCORPIO
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