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APHRODITE'S GIFT
Aphrodite could feel the heat and steam as soon
as she walked through the doors of the forge. "Whatcha doing?" she asked the man
who was covered with sweat from working in the forge..
"Aphrodite, what are you doing here," he asked. He was amazed that Aphrodite had
actually entered his forge, she always complained about the heat.
"I'm trying to figure out what to give Iolaus for his birthday present, and I'm like
stumped," she responded.
"I thought we were going to give him this dagger and knife, I made."
"You can give it to him, but Hephie a dagger and knife doesn't scream out Aphrodite.
I wanna give Iolaus a gift that will remind him of me," she whined.
Haephestus frowned and rolled his eyes. "Why are we celebrating this mortal' s
birthday anyway? It's not like he's related or anything," Haephestus stated.
"Phestus, you can't mean that. He's like my big brother Herc's best friend--and don't
you remember Iolaus is the one who got us together." Aphrodite pouted and batted her
eyes at Haephestus. She walked up and rubbed her hands over his muscular chest and arms.
"What, are you jealous of Sweetcheeks? You know he's just a friend."
He didn't know how to respond so he pulled Aphrodite close and kissed her. She smiled. In
a burst of sparkles, they disappeared from the forge.
"Iolaus are you sure about this?" Hercules asked his friend.
"Come on Herc, I want you to meet my mom and her husband, and I'm sure that they'd
love to meet you", Iolaus responded to his companion.
"It should just be family. This is the first time in years that you're celebrating
your birthday with your family..." Hercules started.
The smaller man looked up into the demi-god's eyes. "Herc, you made me part of your
family, and now I want you to meet my family, besides my mother has planned a party."
Herc looked a bit contrite. He stated, "if you are sure that you want me to
come..."
Iolaus knew that Hercules still missed Alcmene, and meeting Arathea might be a little
painful to his still grieving friend, but he wanted his friend to be there to celebrate
with him. "Herc, it'll be fun. We gotta get going, it's still a couple of days
journey to the house. You'll love Arathea and Pandeon! You've gotta come."
Herc looked over at his friend. He knew that look on Iolaus' face. There was no way that
he was going to win this fight, so he might as well give in now, besides Hercules wanted
to meet Iolaus' mother. "Well if you're sure it's alright with your mother and
Pandeon..."
"Geez, Herc you make it sound like we're little kids. Of course it's ok, let's get
going, I'd like to get there before my birthday is over.
The two men head out on the road. They are walking and chatting Iolaus asks, "By the
way Herc, what did ya get me for a present." He ducks Herc half-hearted swing and
runs ahead laughing.
Aphrodite was glowing. That was the first time in
months that she'd gotten Haephestus out of his forge for more than an hour. They had had
fun, but she still wasn't any closer to figuring out a gift for Iolaus. "Hmmm what
can I get for him," she thought. Aphrodite's face was scrunched up in frustration.
"I could make some woman fall in love with him, but which woman--nah, it's not a good
idea. I'm like totally outta ideas for Sweetcheeks' gift. Maybe I should ask for
help?" It was like a light bulb going off over her head. She brightened. " I
know, I'll ask Herc for ideas." She disappeared to look for her big brother.
Hercules and Iolaus had been walking for a couple of hours when they were accosted by a
band of bandits. The eight thugs stood blocking the road. "Hey would you mind getting
out of the road," Iolaus yelled.
"Lookee what we have here, a couple of travelers. Maybe they could spare some
dinars," one of the bandits said.The leader of the bandits, Tyrason, looked over
Iolaus and Hercules, sizing them up. He liked the odds--only the smaller man was armed and
they should have no problem defeating a runt easily. "Give us all your money,
and we won't hurt you, "Tyrason demanded.
"Sorry. Do we look like we have any money. Look we don't want to fight, just let us
pass," Iolaus responded.
"Oh so you want to do this the hard way," Tyrason answered. "Get'em
boys."
Hercules and Iolaus exchanged glances that said "oh no not again". Hercules
rolled his eyes. As soon as the thugs started moving towards them, Iolaus went to tackle a
couple of them. Hercules waited until two of the men came up to him. The thugs swung, but
missed as Hercules easily ducked their blows. He grabbed the men and knocked their heads
together.
Iolaus had tackled two of the thugs, and now drew his sword on the advancing men. Tyrason
sent three of his men against Hercules while he took on the runt. Iolaus and Tyrason
circled each other thrusting and parrying with theirswords while Hercules fought the other
thugs. Iolaus had the upper hand when one of the thugs who had been beaten earlier snuck
behind him and grabbed him.. Tyrason moved in for the kill, but Iolaus kicked his sword
out of his hand. Iolaus rammed his legs into Tyrason's chest knocking him into a couple of
other bandits. Herc was having no problems with the others, he was swinging one of the
bandits over his head using him to knock the other thugs down. Iolaus kicked at the man
who held him from behind.
When he finally connected with a kick, he was roughly thrown onto the ground. Just as the
man was about to attack, he was bowled over when Herc threw another bandit at him. Tyrason
decided that they had chosen the wrong victims and lead the retreat.
Aphrodite had arrived during the fight and was debating if she should show herself when
the bandits started to retreat.
"Iolaus are you alright," Hercules asked his friend.
"Yeah, just a couple of new bumps and bruises nothing serious. I just wish that for
once when we tell bandits that we don't want to fight that
they'd listen.," Iolaus fumed. "Darn, another tear in my vest too."
Hercules studied his friend. "Are you sure you're ok? I thought that you loved a good
fight..."
Iolaus responded," Yes! I like a good fight, but this is getting ridiculous.
Everytime we travel it's the same thing--we run into bandits and we fight them. One day,
I'd like it to be different.
Aphrodite smiled to herself. There was no need to ask Hercules what to get Iolaus for his
birthday now, she knew what her gift was going to be. "Well now I know what I'm going
to give Iolaus, I can head back to Olympus," she thought. "Maybe I can talk
Hephie into leaving his forge again..." With a smile on her face she was gone.
Aphrodite lay lounging on her bed. "Hmmm, when should I give Sweetcheeks his
gift," she thought.
"Aphrodite, what're ya thinking about," a voice disturbed the silence.
"Oh, I was just thinking," Aphrodite smiled. "Do you want to know about
what?"
"Of course. Are you thinking about that mortal again?"
"No...I was thinking about what we could do...Come here and I'll whisper in your ear,
" Aphrodite flirted.
Haephestus slowly limped across the room to the large canopied bed which was covered in
pink. "What were you going to tell me?"
Aphrodite reached up and pulled Haephestus down onto the bed with her. "I thought
that we could..." she whispered in his ear.
Haephestus smiled and kissed Aphrodite. "Yeah we could try that."
Hercules and Iolaus got ready to camp for the
night. The day had been pretty uneventful--they had saved some travelers from some
bandits, but nothing out of the ordinary. Iolaus went off to hunt for dinner while
Hercules gathered some wood and got things together. Iolaus caught a couple of rabbits,
and Herc fixed them for dinner. "So Iolaus, when will we get to Arathea and
Pandeon's," Herc asked.
"We should be there by lunchtime, if things go well," Iolaus replied.
"You turn another year older tomorrow, should I get you a cane you old man," the
demi-god joked.
"I can still beat you..." Iolaus let the threat trail off. "Besides I'm
like fine wine--I age well, unlike some people I know..."
They continued to banter playfully until it was time for bed. The two heroes went to
sleep--they had a lot of traveling to do the next day in order to make it in time for
Iolaus' birthday party
Iolaus was awake at first light. He got up and
started moving around the camp, hoping to waken Herc so that they could get on the road.
Finally Hercules opened his eyes. He looked up at Iolaus and said,"What? Is something
wrong?"
"Herc, why do you ask that?" Iolaus grinned as he looked at his friend laying on
the ground half-asleep.
Hercules grumbled"...thought you were supposed to sleep more when you got
older."
Finally Hercules got up, and the two heroes started down the road. They walked down the
road for several hours without any problems.
Iolaus sighed and shook his head.
"Are you ok? What's wrong?" Hercules queried his friend.
"Look ahead on the road, there's six scruffy looking guys up there blocking the
way..." Iolaus stated.
The heroes shared a look of resignation and prepared for the battle ahead while they
continued down the road. As they got closer to the men, it became more and more obvious
that the men were bandits looking for a victim.
Iolaus decided to yell out and try to distract the bandits. "Hey, would you guys mind
moving out of the way, my friend and I are kinda in a hurry." Iolaus prepared to
launch himself at the nearest man. He looked over at
Hercules and noticed his friend also getting ready for a fight.
The nearest man spoke,"Fine. Men get out of the way and let these men pass."
Hercules and Iolaus looked at each other in surprise. "Thanks," Hercules
stammered. Iolaus and Herc cautiously made their way past the men in case it was a trap.
They continued around a corner and then stopped.
"Well, that was strange," Iolaus stated.
"Maybe we misjudged those men, maybe they were just farmers or something..."
Hercules trailed off.
"Yeah, maybe, well let's get going, we're almost to Arathea's house," Iolaus
responded. "I don't want to be late, come on Herc, they are waiting for us..."
The heroes walked up to a house,but before Iolaus
could knock on the door--it was opened and he found himself enveloped in a hug. Hercules
looked on the scene with amusement.
"Iolaus, you' re here!!!!" Arathea said as she slowly released him from the hug.
"Hello mother! I told you I'd be here," Iolaus replied. "That guy standing
over there, is my friend, Hercules."
"Hello Hercules, welcome to our home. I'm glad that you could come and celebrate
Iolaus' birthday with us," Arathea stated. She gave Hercules a hug.
Pandeon heard the commotion at the door and got up to investigate. "Hello Iolaus, and
you must be Hercules," Pandeon said. He shook the hands of both men. "I'm glad
that you could make it. We'd heard that there were some bandits in the area, and we
weren't sure if you'd be able to get here."
"Nothing could keep me away," Iolaus stated.
Arathea grabbed the heroes arms. "Come inside, I've got lunch ready."
Iolaus looked down at himself. "Maybe Herc and I should wash up first, it's been a
long trip."
After they washed up, Iolaus and Herc joined Arathea and Pandeon for lunch. While they
were eating, Arathea asked," So how did you two meet?"
Iolaus' mouth was full so Hercules started the story: "Well it happened a long time
ago, Iolaus was trying to steal some jewelry when we met..."
Iolaus swallowed the food he was eating. "Herc, that's not the way it happened... I
was in the town square when some guy knocked me into the jewelry booth. I looked up and
saw this skinny kid trying to take on six thugs by himself. Being the nice guy that I am,
I selflessly entered the battle and helped him defeat them."
Hercules snorted. "Iolaus, who got the worst of that battle? I took you home with me,
and you barely made it there. Mother had to bandage you up. It was the first of many
times..."
Iolaus interrupted Hercules, "Yeah, the first of the many times I had to keep you out
of trouble. Even at the Academy, I had to pull you out of jams..."
Hercules looked over at his friend. He was a bit confused by Iolaus' actions.
"So both of you attended the Academy," Arathea asked. "Iolaus where did you
spend your breaks from the Academy?" She was curious about her son's past. She wished
that she hadn't missed so much of her son's life. She hoped that he had found someone to
take care of him when he was sick or injured. Arathea was glad that he had a friend like
Hercules. It was obvious that the two were close--like brothers.
"Iolaus always came home with me. Mother loved..." Hercules started.
"Well someone had to keep you in line," Iolaus finished.
Hercules didn't understand why Iolaus kept interrupting him whenever he mentioned Alcmene.
"Maybe Iolaus thinks that I'm still grieving Mother," Hercules thought. All of a
sudden it hit him, Iolaus didn't want his mother to get jealous over his relationship with
Alcmene.
Pandeon watched the scene unfolding in the kitchen. He understood what Iolaus was doing,
and he approved. It was nice to see Iolaus trying to spare his mother's feelings.
Lunch was disturbed by a commotion outside. Everyone ran outside to see what had happened.
They saw a beaten young man laying on the ground. Hercules got to him first.
"What happened?" the demi-god asked.
"B-b-bandits. They're des-stroying up the town," the young man gasped.
Hercules got up. "I'm going into the town. Don't worry," he told the young
man,"I'll take care of it." Hercules headed towards the town.
"Where did he go? I hope he knows what he's getting into," the young man said.
Iolaus responded,"Don't worry. That was Hercules- he'll take care of it." He
looked at Arathea and Pandeon. "Take care of him, I'm going to help Hercules. Don't
worry, we'll be back in time for the party." Iolaus took off down the road after
Hercules
The town was in shambles, many of the buildings
were on fire. Hercules was disgusted by the damage he saw. He headed towards the bandits.
"Why don't you guys leave this town NOW," he yelled.
All the bandits turned to look at him. "And who is gonna make us leave--you? Don't
make me laugh," the leader sneered. "Get'em!" The bandits started to attack
Hercules. He tossed the first thug over his shoulder and prepared for the onslaught.
Iolaus raced into town. He saw the bandits attacking Hercules and decided to join the fight. Iolaus ran towards the closest bandit preparing to attack. He went to punch the bandit. As his fist went towards the thug, the thug flew backwards as if being pulled away. Iolaus shrugged and went after another bandit. As the bandit went to attack Iolaus, he was propelled backward away from Iolaus. Iolaus was amazed.
What was going on? Hercules was making short work
of the bandits surrounding him, but he was still outnumbered 8 to one. Iolaus decided to
charge into the group surrounding Hercules. As he ran into the fray, bandits started
flying right and left away from Iolaus. Hercules did a double take as he watched his
friend try to join the battle. None of the bandits was landing a blow on Iolaus. It was
like a shield was protecting the Golden Warrior. Iolaus started to enjoy himself and this
strange phenomenon. He started to run back and forth through the lines of bandits. Bodies
flew everywhere away from him. Herc grinned as he finished off the thugs that remained
standing. The bandits staggered to their feet and ran out of the town.
Hercules looked at Iolaus. "What's going on?" he asked.
"Beats me," Iolaus answered.
They heard a distinctive giggle.
"Aphrodite, show yourself, we know your here," Hercules shouted.
Aphrodite appeared in a shower of sparkling stars. "Hey big bro, Happy Birthday
Sweetcheeks!! What's up?" Aphrodite stated.
"Aphrodite, do you know anything about what's going on with Iolaus?" Hercules
queried his sister.
The Goddess of Love pouted and batted her eyes at her brother. "Now why would I know
anything, as if?"
Hercules looked at her,"Aphrodite what did you do?"
She sighed.
"Don't act innocent, remember I know you!"
Aphrodite sighed dramatically. "Ok, ok... I was trying to figure out what to give
Curly for a birthday gift, and well since I wasn't having any good ideas of my own, I
decided to ask you for ideas. When I got there Ioverheard Iolaus wishing for a day where
bandits wouldn't attack him and that there wouldn't be any fights, so duh, since I'm a
Goddess—I decided to make his birthday a kinda perfect day for him."
Iolaus walked over to Aphrodite. "Wow you did that for me, thanks," he stated.
He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek.
"So how long is this going to last," Hercules asked.
"It's just for today, so you better enjoy it while you can Sweetcheeks,"
Aphrodite responded. She walked over to Iolaus and gave him a hug. "Happy Birthday,
Curly! Here's a gift from Haephestus."
Iolaus opened the box. "Wow, a knife and a dagger. Thank Haephestus for me. Thank you
again for the 'gift'."
Aphrodite kissed Iolaus and whispered in his ear, "Actually I should thank
you...Hephie has been quite attentive since I've been searching for a gift for you.
Jealousy is quite an aphrodisiac..." The two blondes giggled.
A low roll of thunder sounded in the distance. "Well, it's been fun, but I gotta go,
Hephie is getting impatient. Tootles." With that she disappeared in a shower of pink
stars.
Herc looked at Iolaus. "What was that about?"
"Oh nothing, we were just talking about ...Come on Herc let's head back to the house.
I don't want to miss the party," Iolaus said.
Herc went to playfully hit Iolaus when he was knocked back several feet by the invisible
force protecting his friend.
Iolaus laughed and ran ahead. "Come on we have a party to attend."
Arathea had invited all of Iolaus' friends that she could find to his birthday party.
Iolaus was stunned when he saw how many people were there.
"Mom, you didn't have to do this..." Iolaus started.
"Do you mind that I invited all these people," she asked.
"That's fine, I just thought that it would only be family," Iolaus stammered.
"How did you find all these people?"
His mother replied, "It really wasn't that hard. Are you sure it's ok that I invited
all these people?"
"Mom, it's great. I just can't believe that you went to all this trouble for me,
"Iolaus responded.
All of the Iolausian Amazons were there including Wildkat(hey, it's my story), Bwell,
Chrysim, BonaDea, Nanea, Robinsnest, Owlharp, CJ, Alayna, Ceallach, Helle2, Hebea,
Castale, Dragona, Ayelet, Jane, Lnora, Shawnee, Locita, etc...(Sorry to all those who I
missed). Xena, Gabrielle, Salmoneous, Jason, and even Joxer was there. Even a Barbarian
Librarian may have been spotted. BonaDea made sure that everyone had enough to drink,
especially Iolaus. Iolaus enjoyed himself --he loved being the center of attention. The
bards got together and shared their tales.
Iolaus saw a movement at the edge of the party and went to investigate. He saw a shadowy
figure and sneaked up behind it. "Gotcha," he yelled as he placed a hand on the
figure's shoulder.
Autolycus turned around. "What the... oh it's you!" he exclaimed.
"Whatcha got there, Autolycus?" Iolaus asked the thief.
"Um nothing, what do you mean?" Autolycus said.
Iolaus pointed at Autolycus. "What's that inside your sleeve?"
Autolycus replied,"Oh this, this is your birthday gift." He hands Iolaus the
knife and dagger that had been hidden up his sleeve. He prepared to leave.
"Not so fast, you were trying to steal these, weren't you?"
"Iolaus, you wound me. I can't believe that you think that I'd try to steal anything
during your birthday celebration. I was just trying to give you a gift," Autolycus
stated.
"Nice try Autolycus, but that knife and dagger were a gift from Haephestus,"
Iolaus answered.
Autolycus turned away. "Well I'd better go..."
"Hey Autolycus, wait, you wanna join the party?"
"Are you sure you want me there," Autolycus queried.
"Yeah, it'll let me keep an eye on you," Iolaus responded.
They rejoined the party. Everyone had tons of fun, especially Iolaus who was surrounded by
his Amazon friends.
----The End---