Title: Raising Mischief - Discord's Freedom
Fandom: Hercules The Legendary Journeys/Xena Warrior Princess
Characters: Strife
Prompt: #005 Outsides
Word Count: 602
Rating: PG13
Summary: Discord faces the world and finds a place.
Author's Notes: 14th in the series.
Big Damn Table

Discord had felt the wards go down around her nearly a week before. Nearly three months to the day after being visited by more gods then had spoken to her in a century. All because of that waste of air Strife. She should have left him with his father and never bothered with the brat. Instead punishments had been rained down on her by most of the pantheon. The most disturbing of all had been Hestia.

She had simply laid out a vast array of food and flashed out. Eris almost laughed, leave it to the goddess of the hearth to try and feed her when most others were trying to find new and interesting ways to torment her.

It hadn't been until she tasted her food that she realized what Hestia had done. Everything, tasted the same. And it all tasted like the cold mush she would zap up for the brat. Even if she was eating meat that was piping hot it tasted like the cold mush and she was not pleased with this in the least.

Moving out of the cave she looked at her clothing. Her leather was gone, replaced by a simple peasant gown that Demeter had materialized. She had in collaboration with Athena stripped her of her abilities. She was for all intensive purposes a peasant woman and would have very little skill with a sword or blade.

Eris walked for days wondering what she was suppose to do with herself now. Finally coming upon a village she had no idea where in Greece she was and walked into the nearest tavern. Sitting down at a table she ordered food and drink realizing just how long it had been since she had eaten.

A bowl of soup and ale would be placed before her and she ate ravenously despite the fact that it all tasted like cold mush. Even the ale tasted like the much. She stood ready to leave and the serving maid stopped her.

"That is two dinars."

"Why would I pay for something that tasted like cold mush?"

"You ate it mighty well for something that has no taste. You will pay," the wench said yanking on Eris' arm. Pulling her towards the back room Eris for the first time felt what is was to be weak and did not like it one bit.

"This one's trying to get out of paying the tab."

"Did you check her for coin?" The cook and owner of the tavern asked.

Mel patted down Eris and frowned. "Not a coin on her, and look at that skin and her hands. She's never done an honest days work."

"Well that's going to change. You have two choices, you can work it off or you can sped your time in the town jail. I'm sure someone will come looking for you."

Eris frowned knowing that if anyone came it would be to laugh at them and she would be able to find her way out of the tavern soon enough. "What do I have to do?"

"Start with those dishes, the cook said as he turned back to the pot wondering why the gods wanted this. But who would fight with the goddess of love and the hearth even without the recipe Hestia provided to make his tavern famous throughout all Greece he was not one to defy the gods.

As Eris began to wash dishes for the first time in her immortal life she snarled as she broke a nail and had to touch the food bits of some mortal and cursed Strife's name with each breath.

Big Damn Table