Ares 3000" Disclaimer: The character of Ares as portrayed on Xena Warrior Princess in not my property but that of StudiosUSA/Renaissance Pictures. I am merely borrowing him for this work of fanfiction. No copyright infringment is implied or intended. Rating: R Characters: Ares, misc Author: Lady Leonie Story: Set in the year 3000. The new millenium brings the re-emergance of the gods of Olympus. Greece 12 a.d Great bolts of lightning illuminated the purple skies and the looming clouds brought forth a torrent of rain. Streams began to over flow and the people of the village gathered their meager belongings to head for higher ground. The villagers had this process down to a strict routine in the last few years. The War God was bored again and taking it out on the peaceful villeins. Since the death of the warrior princess Xena and her friend Gabrielle, Ares wrath had known no bounds. Ares sat back on his throne with his hands pressed firmly on each side of his head. Stirring up the elements was not having the calming effect it used to. He groaned at the throbbing pain his head. Gods were not supposed to feel pain,but this incessant headache was not his imagination. Things were changing again and there was nothing he could do about it. The child of the one god had been born and what few followers he had following the "Twilight" were quickly converting to the new order. The Olympian god's were now obsolete. All his old adversaries and friends were gone. There was nothing for him to do, but sit around and think about the past. All his victorys,failures and passions. Mostly he thought about his regrets. Ares cursed himself for all the time he wasted in his pursuit of Xena, when his real soul mate was right in front of him..Gabrielle. She was his polar opposite, but that was what made it so right. He hadn't realized until she was gone how much he missed their arguments on right versus might. They way her eye's spit emerald fire as she stood toe to toe with him, completely un-afraid. The selfless way she would always reach out a hand to help people, even him,when it was needed. Caught up in his musings, Ares did not feel the beginnings of the quake. The walls of Olympus were tumbling all around him. Great artifacts from times beginning, broke into heaps on the marbled floors. Ares grabbed the walls looking for support, but could find none. The very earth under his feet was disinegrating and sucking the great halls into its depths. The United Continental Republic 3000 a.d The digging machine grinded to a halt, spewing the remains of volcanic ash all over the crew. The men surrounding the apparatus stepped back as a tall figure made its way through the throng. They stood waiting for the wave of curses they knew would come when the curator pulled off her protective mask. "What the hell is the matter this time! I've told you idiots a thousand fucking times to pull back the bit as soon as the scanners go off. Now we have wasted another bit and the money is coming out of your .....oh forget it! Get that sonofabitch back up and see what we hit!" The men rushed to do the curators bidding, none could afford to lose their jobs with times as they were. The curator walked over to her hub, sat down and looked at the computer screen. Whatever they had hit, was enormous. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a cigarette. The neon glow from the flurescent lighter cast a blue light over her lovely features. She relaxed with her elbows resting on the edge of the desk and examined the structure projected on the screen. Pushing the tendrils of blonde hair back behind her ears, she exhaled a stream of gray smoke and gasped. According to the sonar readings the mass was hollow after about 6 feet. She touched the screen to enhance the image and was surprised to see, what looked like a tomb of some sort. "My god! I think we have found it!!" Rushing back outside,she began shouting orders for the men to haul out the excavation equipment. Three days later, they were ready to break through. The curator's heart beat staccato with excitement. "This has to be it." she thought. The men looked to her for the go ahead to bust through the marble slab. Her brief nod started a chain reaction. The engines roared to life once more and began cutting the last layer away. Just as the drill made its final thrust a great burst of energy came shooting out of the hole. The clouds above them began to darken and gather, crackling with dark veins of lightning. Thunder cracked and the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. The already frightened men, went running for cover when great bolts of electricity came flying from the hole. Standing frozen, she watched at a form emerge from the ground. It was surrounded by blue sparks and moved slowly toward her. The cigarette in her hand fell unseen from her hand as the aura dissappeared revealing a magnificent looking man. But, this was no ordinary man! If all her years of research were correct, this was one of the Olympian gods. Ares looked around at his barren surroundings. Instinct told him that this was not his time. He saw a movement behind him and watched as a man ducked down behind a pile of rubble. "Cowards!" "Yes, they are!" The source of the voice was walking out from some sort of hut, but one made of a material unknown to him. "Who are you, to address the god of war?" "Holy shit! It is you! My research was correct." "I don't know who your "research" is and I don't really care. I asked who "YOU" are?" "My name is Dr.Gabrielle Madison, curator of the New St.Louis museum." "That is a awfully long name. I will just call you Gabrielle. I happen to like that name." "Yes, I know. Gabrielle, the battling bard of Potedia, sidekick and friend to the greatest female warrior of all time, Xena. As you can see, I have done my work." Ares stepped forward and took a closer look at the woman in front of him. A odd light entered his eyes when they met hers for the first time. They were the same color green, as his Gabrielle. In fact the two woman could almost be twins. "How do you know about Gabrielle and why do you look so much like her?" "I do..really. I was always told I did, WOW!" "Of course, you are much taller then her." "Oh. well anyway as to how I know what I know. I am a curator and researcher for a museum that deals in ancient roman artifacts and myths. The study of the Greek gods has always been my obsession. According to my grandfather, who was a historian,my family can trace its leniage back to ancient rome. My great, great, etc etc grandmother, was Lila of Potedia. Gabrielle was her sister, so that makes her my aunt...well great to the hundredth power aunt anyway. I can't believe I'm rambling on like this to Ares, the god of war. Oh MY!" Ares watched as the young woman fainted and fell into a heap at his feet. He carried the oddly dressed woman into the strange hut. Ares nearly dropped her when he saw all the odd machines flashing lights and making weird noises. He thought surely there were spirits at work here and looked around weerily for a place to lay her down. "Where in Tarturus is the bed?" Picking up the word "bed" the auto controls went into action and once again Ares was startled as a bed of sorts came sliding from inside the wall. "This is not spirits, it's sorcery. This Gabrielle must be some sort of enchantress." "I am no "enchantress" I can assure you. The bed came out by your command. Its all voice activated." Seeing the bemused look on the war god's face, she decided to try to explain. "Maybe you should sit down and let me try to explain." Ares looked for a place to sit and once again found none. Deciding to try out this "voice command" thing, he said "chair". Just like the bed, a chair came sliding out from the wall. He chose to sit on the floor instead. Gabrielle hid a ghost of a grin and sat down with her legs crossed on the floor beside him. "First off, do you have any idea what year this is?" "Year?" ""Yeah, year. You know what date in time we are in. Oh never mind. It is now Febuary 25 in the year 3000." She stopped to see his reaction to this and almost felt sorry for him, because of the sheer look of shock on his face. "Where we are sitting used to be at the base of your Mt. Olympus. It is now part of the United Continental Republic which was created after the cataclysmic earthquake of 2034. A quake 10 times more powerful than the one that buried you almost 3000 years ago." Ares listened in shocked confusion at everything, Gabrielle was telling him. If he understood what she was saying, then all he knew was gone forever. "Shall I continue?" Ares could only manage a brief nod. "After the great restructuring, humanity was pushed back into the dark ages of your time. All the advances that were made in machinery,technology etc were lost and we had to start from scratch. Many of the old tombs and references to the past were lost. The worlds history destroyed in a matter of minutes. My grandfather managed to uncover a old library of referance books and he passed them on to me. I used what information I could scavenge from archives and my own explorations to find this place...to find you." "Why me?" "Because, one of the things I uncovered was a ancient scroll. That scroll was written by Gabrielle of Potedia. It told of how the god of war gave up his god hood to save her and the daughter of Xena from the other Olympians. It also spoke of your restoration of power and most importantly it spoke of the love she had for you. While I was reading it, I got a odd sense of deja vu. I could almost see these events as they happened around her. It was very frightening of course, but it also strengthened my resolve to find out all I could about you and the other Greek gods." "She actually said that she loved me?" "Yes, she did. Did she never tell you?" "No." "Well she did." "This is all very strange. Have you any idea where the other's are? Aphrodite,Cupid and my wayward cousin Apollo." "They weren't on Olympus with you?" "NO!" "Hmmm. I just assumed that you were all together when Olympus fell. If you are right, then is it possible that they are alive somewhere also?" "We are immortal, you know. Of course it's possible they are alive, but where?" "I don't know, but I do have an idea." Gabrielle flashed Ares a smile that nearly stopped his heart. She really did look just like "his" Gabrielle. to be cont......