Gabrielle, Goddess of. . . .
"But Xena, I don’t WANT to be a god."
"You mean a goddess.’"
"Whatever. I don’t know HOW to be a god, goddess, whatever I am."
"Gabrielle, I can’t think of anyone who would make a BETTER goddess. Think of all the good you can do, all the good that you’ve been wanting to do. Now’s your chance."
"But Xena, I don’t know what kind of powers I have."
"Well, you didn’t do such a terrible job starting the campfire."
"Of course not! If you want a campfire as big around as Argo is long."
"So it started out a bit too large, it’s not so bad now."
"But that’s my point! Not only do I NOT know what other powers I have, but I can’t even control the one I know about!"
"Give it some time. Go slowly. You’ll get the hang of it."
"So what happens in the mean time, my fireballs burn down everything within a thousand paces?"
"I told you, go slowly. Look, try this, point one finger up in the air, and make just a small, thin shaft of fire shoot out of it."
Gabrielle did as she was instructed, her right index finger pointed up at the stars, and they both waited for something to happen. And they waited, and waited.
"Well," Xena said, "do something."
"Like what? What do I do?"
"I don’t know. Give your finger a little jog. Aim at the moon, maybe that will help."
Gabrielle looked up at the gibbous moon and gave her arm a little jerk toward it. Immediately a shaft of pure orange fire as big around as her arm was streaming up toward the moon, higher and higher and higher.
"Xena!" Gabrielle shouted at her friend, "What do I do now? How do I stop it?"
"How should I know? You’re the goddess. Blow it out!"
In desperation, Gabrielle blew on the end of her finger, and wonder of wonders, the flame disappeared.
"How about that?" Xena commented.
"See, Xena, I don’t know how to control it. You’re the one who should have the powers, not me."
"You’re the one that dying sorceress gave the wine to."
"But all I did was give her a drink of water. I didnt know the goblet of wine she offered contained the essence of Ambrosia. I thought I was just comforting a dying old woman."
"Gabrielle, it was that one act of kindness that convinced her. She knew you were the one who deserved it."
"But you’d make a much better goddess than I would, will. You’ve had powers of a god before, you understand them, and know how to use them."
"And you will too, Gabrielle. You just have to look inside you, look in your heart. When they’re needed, your powers will appear and they’ll feel like you’ve had them all your life."
"I dont know, if you say so."
"Changing the subject, I was thinking that you need a temple."
"A WHAT? A temple? What on earth for?"
"Well how are people going to know where to worship you if you don’t have a few temples scattered around?"
"A FEW temples? WORSHIP me? Xena, have you lost your mind? I don’t want any temples. And I certainly don’t want to be worshipped."
"Gabrielle, you’re a goddess now. People worship the gods and goddesses. It’s the way things are done. Now we just have to figure out what kind of goddess you are."
"Xena!" Gabrielle cried out, exasperated, "Will you stop this? I don’t KNOW what kind of goddess I am. I’ve only been one for a day."
"Let me think," Xena said, ignoring Gabrielle. "You’d make a great Goddess of Love, except that’s already taken, anyway, I don’t think Aphrodite would appreciate it if you took her title. Hmmmm. How about the Goddess of Like? You like everybody."
"Oh! That sounds really great, 'Gabrielle, the Goddess of Like'. Come on, Xena, even I think that sounds dumb. That’s like something Joxer would say, may forever his soul find peace."
"Yeah, you’re probably right. Well, what else can we come up with?"
"How about nothing?"
"Gabrielle, Goddess of Nothing. No, that doesn’t do anything for me. If you can’t think of anything better than that, why don’t you let me figure out a name, and you can decide where you want your temples built."
"Xena, how many times do I have to tell you? I DO NOT WANT ANY TEMPLES ! ! !"
"What? Did you say something? How about Gabrielle, Goddess of Scrolls?"
"Now just what does that mean? How can I be a goddess of scrolls?"
"Don’t you remember when Aphrodite enchanted your scrolls and everything you wrote happened? Maybe you can write down good things whenever bad stuff happens."
"Xena, first of all, someone could die while I was getting my scrolls out of the saddlebag. Secondly, I don’t write that fast. And thirdly, I’d end up with an ox cart full of scrolls before the year was out."
"You’re probably right. See? Being a goddess has already made you wiser."
"Never mind, Xena. Just never mind. You can sit up all night long if you want to, and just think up all the dumb names you can. I’m going to bed."
"Right! You need your rest. Don’t worry about a thing. I’ve got everything under control."
"Good night, Xena."
"Gabrielle! Wake up! I’ve got it: Gabrielle, the Goddess of Passion."
"Xena, it’s still dark! How long have I been asleep?"
"I don’t know, not long. But it’s perfect! You’re passionate about everything you do. What do you think?"
Still not completely awake, Gabrielle glared at Xena, irritated that her much-wanted sleep was interrupted. And without thinking, but wishing Xena would shut up, a tenuous blue mist left Gabrielle’s fingers moving toward Xena. And immediately Gabrielle knew what was going to happen - Xena’s mouth was about to be sealed shut!
"NO!" Gabrielle shouted out loud, and the blue mist disappeared.
"What?" Xena exclaimed, drawing her sword, ready for the attack. "What is it?"
"Oh, Xena! You were right! It happened!"
"What? What happened?"
"Now don’t get mad, but I was wishing you’d be quiet so I could get some sleep, and this blue something was coming out of my fingers heading right for you, and I knew your mouth was going to be sealed up. I can’t believe it."
"See? I told you, although I don’t think I much like that part about sealing my mouth shut. But now that you’re awake, what about it? Gabrielle, Goddess of Passion!"
"Please, can’t this wait until morning? I am so tired."
"Okay. I’m getting kind of sleepy myself. We’ll finish this tomorrow. Good night, Goddess of Passion."
"Good NIGHT!"
The next morning, Xena was up with the sun. Trying to think of what other kind of goddess Gabrielle could be.
"Come on! Time to get up. You want to sleep the day away?" she said, rousing Gabrielle with the toe of her boot.
Reluctantly, Gabrielle rolled out from under her blanket, and trotted off to the bushes. When she got back Xena was piling up firewood. "Care to try it again?" she asked.
"I don’t think so," Gabrielle replied.
"This time, take it easy. Try using your little finger, and think SMALL!"
Taking a deep breath, Gabrielle pointed her little finger at the pile of wood and stared at one small spot. A thin shaft of fire, the size of her finger shot out at the wood, igniting it instantly. And then the stream of fire died.
"It worked!" Gabrielle said, smiling. "It actually worked."
Then she did it again, and again. And then she sent small pulses of fire at the already blazing campfire.
"Okay, okay. Enough is enough," Xena said. "You’ll burn up all the wood even before breakfast is cooked."
Fascinated by her newfound toy, Gabrielle continued to play around with the flames. She pointed her finger upward and made the small orbs of fire dance around in circles and figure eights. She then used both little fingers, and discovered she could make the fires turn from orange to red to yellow and back to orange.
"How about the Goddess of Fire?" Xena asked.
Gabrielle just shook her head, let the flames disappear and sat down on a stump to eat breakfast, warmed up rabbit from the night before.
After they broke camp and were heading nowhere in particular, Xena continued to offer name suggestions to Gabrielle, who mostly ignored her.
Several hours later, they heard a loud, muffled noise, and could feel the ground vibrating.
Xena quickly mounted Argo and Gabrielle jumped up behind her. As the crested a hill they saw a herd of cattle stampeding toward a small village. The villagers were running around in confusion, not knowing what to save or where to go to safety.
Gabrielle slid off the horse as Xena rode toward the herd, trying to find some way to change their direction. Xena was able to get in front of them, but they were too excited to follow her lead.
As the cattle got within fifty paces of the first huts, Gabrielle threw out both hands in front of her and a strong yellow curtain traveled its way between the huts and the rampaging cows. At the same time, the curtain plowed up a trench, throwing the dirt into a tall, continuous barrier that blocked the stampeding herd from entering the village.
Most of the cattle turned aside, although the ones in front ran into it. Argo, being closer than the cows, pulled up short, but Xena, not expecting anything, was thrown over Argo’s head, through the top of the dirt, and rolled down into the dry moat.
As the danger passed, the villagers looked to see where the yellow curtain had come from, and they saw it was from Gabrielle. As she walked down the hill to the village, the elders came up to meet her.
"Thank you, thank you! You have saved out village, and many lives. How can we ever thank you?"
"It was nothing, really. We just happened to be in the right place at the right time."
"But what you did, it was something only a goddess could do. But who are you? We don’t recognize you." And the elder motioned to everyone to kneel to her.
"No, no. Don’t DO that! Please, everyone stand up, you don’t have to kneel down to me."
"As you wish, oh Savior of Our Village."
"My name is Gabrielle. And it’s true, I am a goddess, but . . . No, dont kneel again."
"But where is your temple? So we may worship you and give offerings."
"She doesn’t have any temples," Xena said as she walked up to them, dusting herself off and trying to shake the dirt out of her armor.
Someone spoke up, "You’re Xena, I recognize you. It must be really great to have such a wonderful and powerful companion."
"Oh, yeah," Xena answered, still cleaning the dirt away. "I’m a real lucky girl."
"But Goddess Gabrielle," the elder continued, "if you have no temples, then we must build you one, here, on this very spot."
"No, no. I can’t let you do that."
"But we must! It’s true that we are but a poor village, and the temple may not be as grand as you may desire, but it will be built with our love and gratitude. What kind of goddess are you? What is your title?"
"She doesn’t have one," Xena answered again.
"I haven’t been a goddess very long, you see," Gabrielle explained. "So I really don’t know who I am supposed to be."
"Then we shall dedicate the temple to Gabrielle, the Goddess of Goodness and Mercy. If you don’t mind."
"What do you think?" Xena asked Gabrielle. "Sounds pretty good to me."
"Please, you don’t understand. I really DON’T want a temple, plain or grand. It’s just enough for me that I was able to save your village and no one got hurt."
"Would you deny us?" the elder pleaded with her. "We have no other gods to thank. No other gods have ever come to our rescue. If not a temple, then may we build a shrine dedicated to you?"
"Sure, why not," Gabrielle answered, tired of arguing with them. "But only a small one, very small."
"Oh Yes. Thank you. Thank you." And the elders turned to leave, to make plans for the shrine.
"What about that?" Xena asked her, indicating the trench and mountain of dirt.
With a backhand sweep, a pink shimmer left Gabrielle’s hand and moved the opposite way of the yellow curtain, depositing the dirt back into the trench, leaving it as though it had never been moved.
"You know, Xena," Gabrielle said happily. "I think I’m beginning to kind of like this goddess stuff."
Xena smiled at her, and then had another thought. "I’ve noticed that every time you use a power, a different light comes out. So how about, Gabrielle, Goddess of Light, or Goddess of Rainbows?"
Gabrielle took a deep breath of resignation and just shook her head.