Who Will Save Our Souls?

CHAPTER 2

"Damn it! I should have known it would have to happen now. Always at the worst time."

"You okay, Jox?" Autolycus raised his head from his makeshift pillow at the sound of his friend's grumbling. He saw Joxer rise from his bedroll, grab his pack, and head out behind the bushes.

"I'm fine, Auto. Nothing for you to worry about."

Autolycus tried to go back to sleep, but Joxer's continuing grumbling kept him up. He resigned himself to the morning and began packing up his belongings. As he passed Joxer's bedroll, he noticed a few drops of fresh blood on the material. Joxer must have tripped and cut himself. Sometimes he wondered how that man had lived this long without getting himself killed.

Finally, Joxer came back from the bushes to pack the rest of his belongings. After a small breakfast of jerky and leftover fish, the men started out on the road to Pyrus where they were to meet their friends.

It was high noon when they arrived in Pyrus, and they headed to the nearest tavern where they found their friends sharing a pitcher of ale. The foursome greeted the two men and passed them each a mug. Joxer downed his a little too quickly in Autolycus' opinion.

"Joxer," Xena said, "don't tell me you hurt yourself again?"

Joxer blushed. Xena saw the confused expression on Autolycus' face and continued. "Whenever he hurts himself, he likes to drink a little quickly so the ale will dull the pain."

"Well, I know as a fact he hurt himself. I heard him grumbling all morning."

"Oh, give it a break, Auto."

"See how touchy he is?"

Joxer rolled his eyes. "So, what were you guys talking about when we got here?"

Hercules looked at the others, then at Joxer. "Something happened last night, and both Xena and I felt it. We think one of the Gods is dead."

Joxer and Autolycus traded glances. Autolycus cleared his throat. "I hate to be the bearer of bad news, Herc, but it was Zeus." He was now surrounded by shocked faces. "I felt it too. So did Joxer. Hermes came down and told me."

The foursome were still in shock, but Iolaus was able to break out of it first. "Wait a minute, how could Joxer feel the death of a God?"

The question seemed to snap the others out of their shock.

"Well, it seems Joxer's got some Olympian blood in him."

Gabrielle began laughing. "Yeah, right." Her laughter died when she realized how serious Autolycus looked. "You've gotta be joking, right? Joxer, you're as mortal as the rest of us."

Joxer just raised his shoulders. "That's what I thought, but Hermes seems to think differently."

"Do you have any idea how?"

"No. As far as I've known, my parents were my parents." Joxer hazarded a look over at the unusually quiet Hercules. "Hercules, I'm so sorry. Your Dad..."

"Zeus wasn't my Dad, he was my father. There's a big difference."

"That's right." The group looked up at the bright flash of red light. "The difference was that while I gave him everything, he treated me like the lowest species on earth, and when you did nothing for him, he just ran back for more."

Hercules and Xena jumped to their feet, ready for trouble.

"What do you want, Ares?" Hercules looked suspiciously at his brother.

"I've come to speak to Iolaus."

"Why?"

"Because he can help me figure out who killed our father."

Hercules' eyes grew wide in surprise. "Are you saying you don't know what killed Zeus?"

"No, we have no idea. He just dropped dead in the middle of a meeting last night." The others, for once, remained silent. "Iolaus, I wanted to ask you once again about your time in that other universe."

"Okay..." Iolaus began uncertainly. "It was really weird. Everyone was the opposite of what they are here."

"I remember that. I want to ask you about Gravis. You said he'd been killed in the other world, right?"

"Yeah. Wait a minute. Do you think that the Zeus in the other universe was killed?"

"It's the only explanation I can think of."

Hercules was about to open his mouth to comment when a small army burst through the tavernrs. rs. The rest of the group got to their feet and fought the soldiers as they came to them. Xena and Hercules were each taking on five, while Iolaus and Gabrielle each took two. Joxer had his sword out and was barely keeping one soldier at bay, and Autolycus had retreated to the kitchen to fight another day. Ares just stood off to the side, watching the action.

Soon, the only soldier that hadn't been dispatched yet was the one fighting Joxer. Ares watched as Joxer swung when he should have parried, leaving his side open to attack. The soldier's sword made its way to the vulnerable spot when it was blasted by a fireball. The stunned soldier turned around and saw Ares looking at him with one eyebrow raised. The War God formed another fireball and within moments, the soldier was nothing but a pile of ashes.

Joxer looked with awe upon the grey dust that moments before was almost his undoing. He looked up at Ares and smiled. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it. And I mean that." Ares walked over to one of the dead bodies littering the floor and searched it. He found a medallion around the man's neck that had a strange resemblance to his own symbol.

"Hey, that looks familiar."

Ares turned to see Iolaus looking over his shoulder. "Oh? And where have you seen it before?"

"If I'm right, and part of me hopes I'm wrong, that's the symbol of Cupid."

"What are you talking about? Cupid's all hearts and bows and arrows."

"No, not that Cupid. The other one. Cupid, God of War."

Ares curled his hand into a fist, crumbling the medallion to dust. With a thought, all the bodies were nothing but dust, just like the one that had attacked Joxer. "This is war."

The group was distracted by yet another bright flash of light. "Ares, what in Tartarus is going on in here? I just received a group of soldiers that the Fates don't even know anything about."

"We've got bigger problems than we thought, Uncle," Ares said, turning to the newly arrived God of the Underworld. "It's gone beyond our Pantheon, beyond our universe even."

"So you have an idea what happened to Zeus?"

"I think the Zeus in the other universe was killed, and it appears the other God of War is planning on making a move into our world."

"Ares," Joxer said, feeling unusually brave, "do you think he might have had help from someone over on our side?"

"I don't know, Joxer, but it's something to consider."

Joxer simply nodded, then he noticed the newest God looking at him rather strangely. Ares turned to see what had caught the warrior wannabe's attention. If he didn't know better, he'd have thought this was the first time his Uncle had seen the man. Maybe it was.

"Joxer, I don't think you've met my Uncle Hades."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Sir."

Hades stepped forward and extended a hand to the man. "No, Joxer, the pleasure is all mine."

"Hey you guys, what happened in here?" Autolycus finally returned from his visit to the kitchen.

"Just a little fighting, a little bloodshed, nothing major." Ares smirked at the Thief.

"Is that all. Oh, hi Hades."

"o, Ao, Autolycus. Now, Ares." Hades turned to his nephew. "It looks like we have a working theory here. Why don't we put it into action?"

"All right, Uncle. I will find a way to the other universe, and you can work here to find out if there's anyone on the inside."

"Don't forget us." Hercules stepped up to his brother. "Ares, I know we've had our differences, but for once it looks like we're on the same side."

"You may be right," Ares agreed, "but I just don't think I can work with you."

"But you can work with us, can't you," Xena said from behind Hercules.

Ares looked around at the sea of eager faces, all wanting to help. He'd hoped to be able to work without help, particularly the help of these very people, but circumstances had changed. "All right. Xena and Gabrielle can work with me, while the others can help Hades."

Everyone nodded, then looked over at Joxer as he giggled.

"And what's so funny?"

"Oh, nothing."

"What is it child?" Hades said encouraging him.

"Nothing really. I just heard... I mean *thought* of a funny joke, thatll."ll."

"Ares," Hades said and motioned to Joxer, "why don't you take this one with you. He may be of some assistance."

Ares looked over at his Uncle, then at Joxer. Finally, he shrugged. "Sure, why not. The more the merrier." His sarcasm was not lost on the others. "I'll have to go back to Olympus and get something from Zeus' temple. I'll be right back."

Ares disappeared in his usual flash of red light and reappeared in the main throne room of Zeus' temple. There, as expected, was Athena.

"To what do I owe this honour, brother?"

"I just need to run a little errand," he snarled before walking through a door and into the private rooms of the late King of the Gods. As he passed various doorways, he was consious of Athena following close behind.

Finally, he came to the room he'd been seeking and traced a hand along the far wall until he caught the edge of a hn pan panel, revealing a hidden cabinet. He slowly reached within and lifted out the object it housed.

"Is that what I think it is?" Athena asked in surprise.

"It depends," Ares replied facetiously. "If you're thinking it's one of Dite's sex toys, then I hate to disappoint you, but no."

Athena rolled her eyes and ignored him. "How did you know Zeus had a piece of Cronus stone?"

"Let's just say I know these things," he said, pocketing the stone and turning away from the cabinet and Athena.

"How is it going to help you, Ares?" she called out to him. "Or have you forgotten that you're supposed to be finding our father's murderer."

"The murderer's in a parallel universe, and this stone will help me get there," Ares boasted. "All I need is the help of another God to supply enough power to activate even this tiny fragment, and the portal between worlds will be open."

"Well, well," she said, lifting an eyebrow. "Who'd have thought there was a brain under all that hair. If you like, I can help you to open the portal."

Ares nodded. "Then let's get going. The sooner we open this thing, the sooner this will all be over with."

In a flash, they both had disappeared from the throne room, only to reappear in the tavern.

"All right," Ares called out to the group. "Xena, Gabrielle, and Joxer, you're with me. Hercules, Iolaus, Autolycus, you're with Hades."

Ares walked out the tavern door with Athena and the three others in tow. Once they were clear, he turned to his sister. "Now."

Ares and Athena clasped hands, holding the fragment of Cronus stone between their palms as they generated a large amount of power. The wind started picking up, and suddenly, a great vortex appeared before them. Ares looked at his companions and nodded, releasing Athena's hand and secreting the stone in his vest before jumping into the passage. Joxer was the first to follow, then Gabrielle with Xena taking the rear.

As the last of them had passed through the passageway, Athena rose her hands and released a stream of power into the vortex, collapsing the end that opened onto her world..

"It's a good thing you weren't anxious to be King, brother. It's even better that I am."

~*~*~*~

Inside the tavern, Hades was giving some final instructions to Hercules, Iolaus, and Autolycus. "Now, you three will follow the tracks of this army and find out where they appeared and if anyone from this universe helped them."

"But Hades, I'm a thief, not a tracker. Now, if you needed to acquire any specific objects..."

"Forget it. You're sticking with them. I know I can trust the three of you, which is more than I can say for anyone else. That HermHermes would kill me if anything happened to you."

"Are you sure we're the only ones you can trust?" Hercules said. "Any help will be more than welcome."

"Well, there are two others..."

"Which two, Hades?"

He turned at the voice behind him. "Athena. Did they cross over all right?"

"Yes. There were no problems. Now, my question," she said with a grin that made Hades suspicious.

"Oh, no one really. Now boys, I'll head back to the Underworld. Keep me informed." With a flash, he disappeared.

Athena looked at the men and smiled. "Good luck." As she flashed away, the rest of her words were muffled. "You'll need it."

~*~*~*~

Hades reappeared in his bedchamber and sat on the edge of the bed. Persephone was sleeping and he didn't want to wake her up, but he needed to speak to her. He shook her gently.

"My love."

"Mmmmm, Hades. I was just dreaming about you."

"Good dreams, I hope."

"Are there any other kind?" She sat up and placed a kiss on her husband's lips. "What happened? There's something in your eyes..."

"I met one."

"One?" She sat for a few moments until the meaning of his words truly hit her. She reached out, gripping his arms. "You mean, one of our babies? Which one? How is he? What's he like? Oh Hades!"

"It was the baby, Joxer. He's fine. He's made himself a fine group of friends." He paused as he shared his joy with the beautiful Goddess before him. "He heard something while I was there, I could tell. I don't think he knows quite what the voices mean. He probably thinks that they're part of his own mind. I thought he could be a big help to Ares."

"Help to Ares. Doing what?" Persephone's eyes hardened.

"Well, Ares is going to the parallel universe, the one Iolaus told us about on his last visit. He's going to see if their Zeus was killed. That would explain everything."

"So you're telling me you sent our baby off with the God of War to a parallel universe to investigate another pantheon where ifis sis somehow injured we can do nothing about it. ARE YOU CRAZY!!!"

"But dear, I made Ares promise to watch over him."

"And you actually believed him? This is our baby we're talking about. I'm telling you Hades, I lost them once; I'm not going to lose them again. If he doesn't come back..."

Hades wrapped his arms around his wife. "He'll come back. They'll all come back. His friends, Xena and Gabrielle, have gone over as well. Furthermore, my nephew and I may have had our differences in the past, but he will not let me down. You'll just have to trust me."

"I do trust you, my love. It's Ares I don't trust. Not with my baby. My Joxer."

~*~*~*~

The passage between universes began twisting and turning. Athena's actions had not destroyed it, but had severely damaged its aim. Four figures were thrown far from their destination of Pyrus.

A black leather clad figure rolled upon impact and landed on his feet, sword at ready. Another man, this one wearing white leather, was still on the ground, moaning.

"Ohhh, my butt hurts. And I'm sooo dirty."

"Ares," the first figure said derisively. "I should have known you were behind this. How many times have I told you I'm not coming back to you."

"But snugglebuns..."

"Don't snugglebuns me. Now take me back." The figure in black was distracted by another moaning. He turned. "What the... You!"

"No! Not again! Get up you idiot! Help me!" The black-haired woman began shaking the cloaked figure at her side.

The leather clad man held his sword at the cloaked figure's neck. "You reach for that axe and I won't hesitate to kill you."

The figure removed its hood, revealing a mane of blonde hair. "Well, that's something we have in common," she said in a raspy voice.

"What are the two of you doing here?" the man said. "How'd you get out of the dungeons?"

"We d-didn't." The black-haired woman rose to her knees and begged the leather clad figure. "Please Joxer, don't send me back there. You know there's so much I can do for you. There was a reason the Sovereign kept me around." She ran a hand up his leg before he kicked it off.

"Shut up, wench. Do you really think I'd want that monster's leftovers?"

"You tell her, snugglebuns."

"Ares, I thought I told you to cut it out. Why don't you make yourself useful and tie them up."

"Hey babe, you know I'd love to, but I'm a lover, not a fighter. And you're sooo much better at tying people up."

The rebel tried to cover the blush that slowly rose up his neck as he placed his sword in its scabbard. When he had arrived, he had taken a quick glance around him to make certain there was no danger, but now he made a more thorough examination of his surroundings. He recognized the town of Miramus. Should Xena and the Executioner get out of hand, he could always bring them to the jail.

As he searched for something to use to tie the women, a couple of off-duty guards from the jail passed by.

"Trius, you see that?" one guard whispered to the other.

"What in Tartarus... I just delivered his meal an hour ago!" the other guard replied. "He must have escaped. Parsis, Run back to the jail and alert the guards."

"What are you going to do?"

"I'm gonna follow him, find out where he goes."

"You're not gonna try to catch him?"

"What do you think I am, crazy? I may be good, but I'm not good enough to take on Jett the Assassin single-handed. Now go."

Parsis ran back towards the jail and alerted the guards that Jett had escaped. The guards on the third floor were confused.

"What do you mean, he's escaped? He's right there with his brother."

"Both his brothers look like him. That's probably them, covering for him."

"What are we gonna do?"

"Well, we can't hold an innocent man. We'll have to let them go, then go chase after Jett."

"But if the three of them are out there, it'll be harder to find him."

"All right. You stay here and watch them both and I'll go help the search. They can go after we've found Jett."

The first guard left as the second walked over to the cell that was supposed to be holding Jett. He looked at the assassin's brother and shivered. It was bad enough that his wife loved that pink dress of hers, but on this man, the colour was absolutely hideous.

"We know what you're doing, so you can stop the act," the guard told them.

The man in pink and the bouffant hairdo looked at the guard strangely, then spoke in a strange accent. "What do you mean. I'm just speaking to my brother."

"I know. I don't know how you did it, but we won't let you get away with it."

Jett got up from his spot on the cot and approached the bars. "Did what?"

"Don't act like you're an idiot, though from what I've heard of you, it may not be far off." Jett looked furious. "We're going to catch Jett no matter what you try."

Jett stepped away from the bars and looked to his brother. They both mouthed ‘Joxer' at the same time. Jett looked pensive for a moment, then stepped back to the bars and spoke in his best impression of the youngest triplet.

"Okay, you got us. You must have family too. Wouldn't you do anything for them?"

The guard nodded. "Yeah, I would. But we're still gonna have to lock him up once we find him."

"We understand. What's gonna happen to us?"

"I don't know. We'll have to wait and see."

"Well, since we're not really supposed to be here, do you think you can let us out?"

"All right, but you'll have to stay here with me until your brother's found."

The guard took out a key and opened the cell. He realized his mistake when Jett reached out and grabbed his neck.

"Jett, don't kill him."

Jett looked back at his brother, then moped. "Oh, all right. But we can't let him follow us." He knocked the guard on the back of the head and the man fell to the floor, unconscious. "Come on. We've got to see what that idiot brother of ours has done now."

The two men crept through the halls of the jail, which were strangely empty. They deduced that all of the guards were out trying to find Joxer, who they thought was Jett. They finally made their way outside and ducked behind building after building, trying to avoid any and all guards that passed their way. They eventually spotted a number of guards speaking to two women.

"Who are they?" Jace asked. "They are certainly dressed strangely, and they could use a complete makeover, maybe two."

"That's Xena and Gabrielle, Joxer's friends."

"Ugh, they could sure use a bath."

"Something's different though, but I'll worry about it later. We've got to find our brother."

The guards never noticed them disappearing from the area. They were too busy flirting with Xena

"Ooh, you have such big muscles."

"Well, thank you. But, shouldn't we be out trying to find Jett?"

"Jett? Aw, don't tell me you swing that way."

"Huh? What are you talking about? Jett the Assassin's escaped."

"Jett? Assassin?" Xena looked at the blonde next to her and both women were completely incapacitated with laughter.

Joxer peeked at the scene around the corner of one building and thanked the Gods the two women were distracting the guards. had had no idea why the guards were after him, only that it wasn't a good idea to get caught.

"Damn it, Ares, where did you go?"

"I'm right here, babe."

"Isn't there anything you can do about this?"

"Aw, love, you know I'm a lover..."

"...not a fighter, I know. Fuck. Let's head off inte foe forest. It'll be harder to find us there."

Ares followed his favourite mortal as he escaped into the forest. As they ran, he noticed another pair of mortals coming from another direction. "Hey, isn't that your brothers?" Ares made himself invisible.

Joxer turned aaw Jaw Jett and Jace running his way. "Guys! Over here!" He paused long enough for the men to catch up. "Do you have any idea why those guards are after us?"

"What are you talking about?" Jett exclaimed. "They think you're me!"

"Jace, Jace, Jace. You know I hate having to say this over and over again, but you're not the great warrior you think you are. At least you got rid of the armour, though."

Jett and Jace exchanged a look, then turned back to Joxer, speaking in unison. "Who are you, and what have you done with our brother?"

They were distracted by the flash of light that signaled Ares' reappearance. "You'd better get moving again, Jox. They're on their way."

Jace and Jett stared at the God of Love. Jace began fanning his face. "Ares?" Then, he fainted.

"I guess I was too much for him," Ares said with a smug grin. "Aw, doesn't he look cute when he's unconscious? You know, next to you Jox, Jett's always been one of my favs."

"Alright! Enough of this. Let's just get out of here before those guards catch all of us."

Ares bent down tok upk up Jace, then began running with the other two.

"Jace, what are you and Jett doing here anyway?"

"What are you talking about. I'm Jett, girly-boy there's Jace, and you're our idiot brother Joxer."

Joxer looked thoughtful as he ran. An idea that popped into his mind worried him. "Jett, I don't suppose you can tell me why Je-Jace was so shocked to see Ares, now could you?"

"You mean you don't think seeing the God of War dressed like, well, like Jace, is strange?"

"Ares?"

"What is it babe?"

"I don't think we're in our universe anymore."

The group slowed down, not seeing or hearing any guards in the immediate vicinity.

"That porthole. It must have been the same one the Jester went through."

"Yeah, I remember blondie. He was sooo cute." Joxer's eyebrows rose in surprise. "Oh, but not as fine as you. Nobody compares to my snugglebuns."

Joxer held up a hand. "Enough. Okay, if we're here, then that means Ares and the other Joxer..."

"Don't forget Xena and the Executioner."

"Yeah, them too. They're all in our world. Now, how do we get back?"

"I guess we'll have to go to this universe's Gods for help."

"Maybe Dad can help us. He should be our Dad here, right? My brothers are the same, although very confused."

"It's worth a try."

"All right. We're heading to the nearest village, and from there we look for a temple to Hades."

"Why Hades?" Jett thought he understood what was going on. There was another universe with another Jett, another Jace, another Joxer, and quite another Ares. "Dad's back on level one at Miramus."

Joxer began laughing. "The Sun God locked up in a jail? I don't think so." His laughter died away at the angry look on Jett's face. "You mean, you aren't Gods like us?"

Ares looked at Jace and Jett, then back at Joxer. "They're Gods all right; they just don't know it, and their powers are blocked like yours."

"Well, I guess they know now."

For the first time in his life, Jett was in shock. He and his brothers were demi-Gods? Their father was Hades? What was going on here?

"Jox, babe, I don't think we'll be getting much further today. That one's not too good at taking big news and this one's still unconscious. Unless you can carry him, we won't get anywhere. Unless, of course, we leave them here..."

"No. They may not be the Jett and Jace I know, but they're still my brothers. We'll camp here for the night and head out in the morning."

"Oh, Jox. You, me, the trees, sleeping under the stars — doesn't it bring back memories?" Ares lay Jace gently on the ground, then materialized a blanket for him and bedrolls for the rest.

"Forget it Ares." Ares turned away, pouting. "And Ares?"

"Yeah?"

"Will you materialize a bedroll for me too? Or will I have to sleep on the ground tonight?"

Ares reluctantly materialized another bedroll. The sun had almost finished setting and it had grown very dark. They didn't dare start a fire, so they simply lay down and fell asleep under the stars and the moonlight.

Just as he started falling asleep, Joxer felt a presence at his side. "Ares, I said no."

"Come on, Jox. Just one kiss."

"Go to sleep, Ares."

"All right. Good night, Jox."

"G'Night Arry."

The God of Love lay down feeling triumphant. He'd called him Arry again. It wasn't a declaration of love, but it was a start.

TBC...