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Part 1 of Death's Gift
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2020-11-05
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Death's Gift

Summary:

SUMMARY: Hades makes some decisions that will have greater effects than even he had realized.

Notes:

(See the end of the work for notes.)

Work Text:

Death's Gift
by Scorpio

Hades, God of the Dead, Lord of Asphodel and Supreme Ruler of all levels of the Underworld sat upon his gem encrusted throne staring down at the desolate and pathetic soul standing in judgment before him. The dead mortal, one Joxer of Corinth, was a sad and dejected soul.

As Hades reviewed his life, he found that the bumbling man had known very little true happiness in his life. Starting as a young child, Joxer had been handed a raw deal. Cruel and twisted parents who were more interested in their own greed and power than in his happiness, education and physical well being. A harsh childhood filled with sickness, neglect and a harsh environment, both physically and emotionally. From there, Joxer had entered into adulthood, only to be shunted to the background with his chosen companions as well.

Belittled, looked down upon and jeered at every turn, this mortal had never experienced the same fierce devotion and loyalty that he had routinely lavished upon others. This... Joxer had never had anyone to guide him or comfort him or even offer themselves as a source of strength and knowledge. He had never been given the *opportunity* to reach his full potential. What's more, while he had offered up his heart and mind to others, not once had anyone returned his affections. The closest thing to love this pathetic man had ever known was his brother's twisted possessiveness and cruelty... and Xena and Gabrielle's begrudged tolerance.

Hades felt rare compassion and pity for him. And a spark of admiration as well.

It had been centuries since he had seen someone who had suffered as many disappointments and disadvantages throughout life and yet still manage to hang onto an almost childlike sense of innocence and belief in their fellow man. Not only that, Joxer had a pure and loving soul, one not tainted with evil. Only a vague desire to *be* someone. To feel and know respect. Both from himself and from others.

Without any doubts as to the worthiness of this mortal soul, Hades rewarded Joxer by sending his spirit to reside in the Elusion Fields of Paradise. Still, it seemed... lacking. He wished there was *more* that he could do for this sad man. Suddenly needing the calming and soothing love that radiated from his beautiful wife, Hades transported from his Throne Room to Persephone's Garden. Once there, he saw his wife sitting to his left upon a pale marble bench. Turning, he walked over, intent on telling her about the sad and lonely soul he had just cast judgment upon.

~

Strife peered over the outcropping of rock and into the dimly lit cavern of heat blasted rock. Small pools of lava bubbled and boiled in their deep pits and dark thick ash floated through the superheated air. It was... an unlovely corner of Tartarus and for a moment, Strife wondered if his best friend had gone slightly daft.

Turning his head, he squinted his icy eyes at the Asphodelian that crouched next to him. Thanatos' long black hair was pulled back into a thick braid that lay between his black leathery wings. His pale skin glowed in the red light radiating from the burning lava and his teeth gleamed like razors. It *looked* like his best friend, still... *why* had Death dragged him *here* of all places?

"Than?"

Death turned his head and gazed at him with eyes so pale as to seem almost completely white.

=YES?=

"Um... what are we doin' here? And... where's here?"

Thanatos smiled, displaying all of his teeth and their impressively deadly needle sharp points.

=THIS IS THE CAVERN OF REBIRTH. A MORTAL SOUL HAS BEEN JUDGED WORTHY FOR  CHANCE TO GO BACK TO THE LIVING REALM AND BE BORN ONCE AGAIN. THE MORTAL WILL THEN BE GIFTED A NEW LIFE, A SECOND TIME AROUND THE WHEEL.=

Strife, the dead God of Mischief, considered this. A new life... It was an amazing concept and it sparked a renewed sense of hope in him, as well as some confusion.

"Okay. I think it's cool that Unc' Hades let's a few mortals outta his realm once in a while, but that don't explain why *we're* here."

Thanatos' grin grew even wider.

=I THOUGHT YOU MIGHT LIKE TO TAG ALONG WITH THE MORTAL WHEN HE STEPS THROUGH THE PORTAL. YOU'D GET TO BE REBORN AS WELL. THE MORTAL WILL REMEMBER HIS OLD LIFE ONLY THROUGH HIS SUBCONSCIOUS DREAMS. IT WOULD TAKE A GOD TO MAKE HIM RECOGNIZE THEM AS TRUE MEMORIES. BUT YOU... AS A GOD, WILL *NOT* HAVE THAT PROBLEM. YOU ONLY NEED CONVINCE ONE OF YOUR FORMER RELATIVES TO FEED YOU AMBROSIA. INSTANT GODHOOD.=

Strife leaned back against the rough stone, shocked. It was a lot of information to absorb all at once. When Than had asked him to come with him to see his 'surprise' earlier, Strife had not had *any* idea that Death Incarnate would be offering him a chance to sneak back into the mortal realm... *alive*.

Of course, he wouldn't be a God, he'd be a mortal, but still... How hard could it be to persuade someone to help him out? Ares was his favorite Uncle and he *had* been Ares' First Lieutenant after all. And then there was Cupid... his long time lover. Surely *one* of them would help him out. Right?

Granted, his relationships with the both of them had not been the best. He could see that now. Ares had been strict, ruthless and more than a bit demeaning in his treatment of Strife. Cupid had often seen him as a willing body and someone to blow off steam with, but the Love God hadn't taken their relationship seriously. Of course, at the time, Strife didn't *realize* that his relationships with the two Gods had been... off. He'd had nothing to judge them against, no basis for reference. Until now...

Thanatos had taken him under his wings, almost literally, as soon as he had died and found himself in his Great Uncle's realm. Death Incarnate had befriended him and shown him a whole new way to view both himself and others. Their friendship wasn't based on meaningless, although mutual, pleasure like his and Cupid's had been. He hadn't even *considered* sex with Thanatos. Not that the Asphodelian wasn't totally hot and sexy, but more because that wasn't a part of the equation. On the other hand, they weren't locked into a power-struggle of dominance and submission either. His relationship with the War God was a bizarre cross of Father/Son and General/Lieutenent.

With Than, he had simply *enjoyed* his company and the two often went off on adventures of scaring and playing tricks on the dead souls in Hades' realm. They talked long into the night and opened up to each other in ways neither had before. They both had found the first friend either had ever had. And Strife was awed at the profound deepness and intensity Thanatos regarded their friendship with. By doing this, Than was risking his own neck to give Strife a chance at the one thing he wanted more than anything. Life. What's more, in order to do that, Than was willing to say good-bye to his one and only friend. It was... touching. No one had ever sacrificed so much for him.

Suddenly, Than tapped him on his shoulder, pulling him out of his introspection. Following with his eyes where Death was pointing, Strife saw Hades talking with a soul in front of a swirling portal. The Mischief God hadn't heard what Hades had said to the dead man, and he only had a brief second to recognize the soul as being Xena's friend Joxer, when said soul stepped into the swirling light. Not wanting to waste this one opportunity, Strife reached out to squeeze Than's shoulder in a combination 'Thanks and Good-bye',. Silently hoping that this plan would indeed work, Strife jumped up and dashed across the cavern. Just before the portal closed, Strife leaped in after Joxer.

~

As Hades' First Lieutenant and his Second in Command, Thanatos was expected to be in attendance at his Lord's side during all formal occasions, and that included both the 'official' visits to or from Olympus and any emergency meetings that might be called between scheduled ceremonies. As such, he found himself seated in a room with the King and Queen of Olympus, both of whom he'd never gotten on with, as well as a majority of the Gods of Aggression.

He had a good solid working relationship with the dark and beautiful War God and had even on occasion teamed up with his youngest son Demios to scare an assortment of mortals to death, but beyond those two, he was only vaguely familiar with the rest of them. He did, however, find it interesting to note that the two Love Gods, Aphrodite and Cupid were counted as Gods of Aggression. Having never experienced that emotion for himself, he could only guess as to why... but he assumed it was due to the way mortals reacted when the ones they loved were in any sort of danger. Violent was a mild way to describe it...

His mind whirling, he tried not to think to hard about the reason they were here. He knew that as powerful as he was, the Olympians, especially Zeus, Hera and Ares might be able to pick up his thoughts. They were only here so that Hades could explain about Strife sneaking out when Hades granted the mortal, Joxer, a second chance at life. They weren't *supposed* to find out that Hades and Thanatos had set Strife up to be in a position to 'escape' death. Zeus had expressly *forbidden* Strife be granted life, and if he found out that Strife's escape was *not* as accidental as it seemed, then they would *both* be in serious trouble.

~

When his Uncle Hades and his First Lieutenant walked into his father's private reception room, Ares had given them both an amused smirk and a nod of his head in acknowledgment. He noted that no one else made any gesture to welcome the Asphodelians, but instead fidgeted  uncomfortably in their presence. Hades had returned his nod and Thanatos had winked, but everyone remained quiet while they waited on the old goat to "officially" welcome them. That moment came as soon as everyone was seated.

Zeus, with a smile that never seemed to reach his eyes, made a vague gesture around the room. It could have been meant to take in the various Gods gathered there, or all of Olympus.

"Welcome my brother. As you have requested, I have summoned the Gods of Aggression so that you might disclose to us your mind. Eagerly do we hearken onto your words."

At the ritualistic speech, Ares felt himself automatically stiffen up in his normal sprawl across the furniture. With those few simple words, his father had made it clear that this wasn't just a typical bitch and moan session... of which there were a lot. This meeting was concerning a matter of importance. And it concerned the Gods of Aggression. Or more specifically... the House of War and the House of Love.

Raising up one dark eyebrow in an elegant arch, Ares paused to study the Asphodelian visitors. He had close working relationships with both of them. Out of all of the Olympians here, he knew them best... with the possible exception of his father. Hades was inscrutable as always. His face a mask that hid his feelings better than any armor could ever hide the weaknesses of mortal man. Ares could learn nothing from merely observing his uncle.

But Thanatos... that was a different story. None here would be able to tell, since Death Incarnate was often shunned by Olympians, but Ares knew him fairly well. They often fought side by side on the field of battle, he drawing power from the violent conflict itself, while the winged Asphodelian drew power from the actual dying of mortal warriors.

Thanatos was excited. Whatever was happening was a cause for happiness to the Death God. His face didn't give him away... except for his eyes. His eyes shone with some dark and deadly amusement. Ares wondered what it was.

Than Hades began to speak.

"Recently, a mortal soul came before me for judgment. He had suffered endlessly during his lifetime, and yet remained pure of spirit and heart. He was a good man, a gentle and loving man. As is my right as King of Asphodel, I judged him worthy of reincarnation. He was sent through the Portal of Rebirth to ride the Wheel of Life once more."

Ares glanced quickly around the room. He saw both looks of boredom as well as looks of intense surprise. Apparently, not everyone here had been aware that Hades had that... ability. That wasn't hard to understand. The more Gods who were aware of that aspect of Hades' job, the more petitions the King of Asphodel would receive for the return of this mortal or that mortal for whatever reasons. Some trivial... some not so trivial.

Zeus broke the stunned silence that followed this announcement.

"While this is a rare occurrence, I don't see how this is something that needs to be brought to our attention."

Ares agreed with Zeus. Fascinating as the intricacies of his Uncle's Court was, it was no concern of the Gods of Aggression, and a simple message sent by Hermes to inform Zeus himself would have been enough to satisfy protocol. There had to be more.

"True my brother, however, the ceremony did not go as intended. The mortal soul, a man known as Joxer of Corinth, did go through the Portal, but..."

Hades didn't have a chance to finish his sentence. Ares threw himself from his chair in a strange combination of shock and, oddly enough, protective anger.

"What?!"

The War God was vaguely aware of both Aphrodite and Cupid also jumping up in concern, 'Dite's cry of "Joxie" echoing from the vaulted ceiling. He was about to demand to know what had gone wrong with his former worshiper's chance at rebirth when he found himself to be rooted to the floor, all of his muscles locked in place. He snarled in anger and struggled against his magical restraints, but he could not free himself. It was finally his father's words that caused him to find some semblance of calm.

"Now Ares, Aphrodite... I know that you both were very fond of this particular mortal, but it will do no good to go flying off of the handle until we know *all* that happened. Please, both of you, calm down and let's hear what went wrong."

The magical bands around him loosened enough that he could walk back and reclaim his seat, but they didn't dissipate completely. Apparently, Zeus did not trust him not to lose his temper again. Once he was back in his chair, Ares saw his father gesture to the King of Asphodel to continue.

"It's not Joxer that I'm worried about, so I hope that sets all of your minds at ease. The event that is concerning me, however, is worrisome. Joxer made it through the Portal fine. And so did Strife. He managed to leap through it while it was still open."

Once again, pandemonium broke out in Zeus' private meeting room. This time it was *all* of the Gods, minus Ares and Aphrodite, that broke out into surprised shouts and wild gestures. Even though Zeus' magical restraints held Ares to his chair, he was pleased to note that no one was upset that Strife had found a way to gain back his life. Well, no one save Zeus himself. They seemed more worried about the fact that Strife would be mortal, and thus, vulnerable.

Trapped in his chair, the War God felt a large well of pride in Strife's escape. In fact, it was all Ares could do not to burst out in gleeful laughter. During the Mischief God's life, Ares had taken him for granted and had pushed him around without taking any real time to appreciate Strife. Once he was gone, Ares had quickly come to realize just how much his First Lieutenant had done for him and how much he had meant to him. But by then, it was much too late. Now, it seemed he would be given a second chance... to get it right.

Pulling himself from his giddy thoughts of reconciliation with his Favorite, Ares found that the room had gone silent again and that his Uncle was once more speaking. He began to listen, hoping that the Lord of the Dead would know how to find Strife in the mortal world.

"...almost 99% chance that Joxer and Strife will end up being born as twins. I can't tell you if they will be boys, girls or one of each. That's a purely physical thing that is dependent on their mortal parents and has nothing at all to do with the soul... which is the only thing that *I* deal with. However, it's been exactly 15 hours since the ceremony and Strife's escape. It can take anywhere from 1 to 10 hours for a reincarnated soul to find a suitable "mother". So, any mortal woman how has conceived yesterday afternoon, or last night could be carrying Strife in her womb."

Ares thought about it. That narrowed it down a bit. It would be a difficult search considering the size of Greece, but that was okay. It *could* be done.

Then Hera spoke, sending everyone back into a tizzy.

"I don't think you've considered every detail here. Strife wasn't human. Even his essence, his soul if you will, was Olympian. There wasn't a single drop of mortal blood in him. His essence would *not* go to a mortal woman. He would need Olympian blood to be reborn. Joxer however, *was* mortal, without a drop of Olympian blood in *him*. If they are to be twins, they would have to find a compromise."

Everyone turned to stare at her, expressions ranging from shock to fear to amusement. Cupid was the first to say aloud what they were all thinking.

"Demigods. They would have to be half-mortal for Joxer's sake, and half-God for Strife's."

Hera merely nodded. Before the Love God could go on, however, Discord spoke up. Her excitement over the possible return of her son obvious.

"Would Strife remember? Me? Us? I mean... he *was* a God and all."

Ares eyes tracked to Hades and he was almost certain he saw a hint of a smile, but it was gone so quickly that he couldn't be certain. The Dark God of the Dead nodded his head.

"Yes, Eris. He will be able to recall his life as a God over time. The older he gets, the more access he'll have to his former life."

The Goddess of Discord's face twisted into an odd expression that was somehow both sad and relieved. Ares was almost positive that she had been hoping that Strife could be spared the knowledge of some of the pain that he had suffered, but was also glad that *she* would be remembered. It was Aphrodite that brought the meeting back on track.

"So... we're looking for any Goddess's that might have gotten pregnant last night by a mortal lover *or* a mortal woman who might have gotten pregnant by a God?"

Hera nodded and then her smile twisted a bit. It was almost, but not quite a smirk.

"Or a God who slept with a male mortal lover. Well... as long as that God was a son of Zeus."

All conversation in the room stopped once more as everyone stared at Zeus. It was a well known fact that Zeus was capable of being impregnated and carrying a child to full term. It was also a *little* known fact that any male child he fathered had that same self ability. Apollo was one of the few examples. He too had given birth. Apollo's son Aceleptus had been fathered by Hermes, although the Messenger God refused to acknowledge him.

Looking slightly panicked, Zeus was quick to clear any suspicion from himself.

"I *swear* to you all, it could *not* be me. I was with Hera *all* night long."

The Queen of the Gods flushed slightly, but held her head high as she quietly acknowledged this to be fact. Ares wondered if perhaps this whole situation was not as amusing and wonderful as it was a few moments ago when all eyes in the room swung around to stare at him. He unconsciously flinched back, although the restraints his father held on him wouldn't let him move.

"Ares?"

His dark eyes wide, the War God turned to face his blonde sister. Aphrodite had an almost triumphant look on her beautiful face.

"I *know* you have *several* male lovers. Some of whom are even mortal. *You* would probably be Strife and Joxer's first choice. After all, Strife was your First Lieutenant and Second in Command... and Joxer was one of your most loyal worshippers."

Ares felt sweat break out on his forehead.

"Did you happen to visit one of your male mortal lovers last night?"

Unbidden, his mind supplied him with detailed memories of a broad shouldered King with glowing red hair like fire and full sensual lips that cried out his name as hot mortal seed flowed into his body in devotion and love. Normally, these thoughts would be a source of delight and joy, but right now they merely scared the beejesus out of him.

Ares felt his face go pale as he watched his mother hop up out of her chair and walk over to him. He knew then that the others had pulled the memories out of his mind and that he could not deny it.

When Hera, Goddess of Childbirth reached him, she stretched out both of her arms and placed one hand on his forehead and the other hand over his abdomen. Then, closing her eyes, Ares could feel the warm soothing wash of her power as if flowed over him. Moments stretched into an eternity before her gray eyes snapped open. Then she smiled widely at him.

"Congratulations Ares. You are with child... and it's *not* a full God."

Squeals of happiness and loud voices all trying to be heard over the rest erupted around him and the War God just tried valiantly not to faint. Hera's voice whipped out, silencing the others once again.

"Eris! Come here and see if you can sense if it is Strife's energy signature. You would know best what that feels like while he is still in the womb. Just remember, if it *is* Strife, he will not be alone and Joxer's presence might mask his."

Ares watched as his twin sister made her way across the room with a trembling smile and watery eyes. She reached out with her senses and power to him much as Hera had done. It was a long moment while everyone held their breath and Eris delved her consciousness into a spark of life less than 15 hours old. Then she pulled away, shaking and smiling as tears streamed down her cheeks.

"It's Strife... and you're right. He's not alone."

Cheering erupted around Ares and for a moment, he thought that this had to be a dream. A weird wonderful horrible dream that he would be forced to punish Morpheus for. Then he glanced over at his Uncle Hades and saw the smug look on his face and Thanatos winked at him.

It was at that point that the War God, pregnant with the reincarnated souls of Strife God of Mischief and Joxer the Mighty, moaned piteously and fainted.

 

END: Death's Gift

--- scorpiofic@aol.com ---

Notes:

This orphaned work was originally on Pejas WWOMB posted by author Scorpio.
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