Part
20
Artemis lends
the woman strength as best as she can, considering that Xena is pushing the
goddess away.
But she can
feel the warrior's pain. It rattles about Xena's soul and collides with
Artemis, with the spirit of Zeus, with the entire world.
And Xena holds
on, though it seems impossible. Zeus is but a formless mist, a black entity...
twisting and turning, trying to break free. The warrior princess laughs and it
is scarily hollow.
"Who's
winning now?" Xena questions the former father of all gods and goddesses.
She cannot
hold me forever, Artemis! Tell her it is no use! Zeus shouts in the mind
of his daughter.
Artemis looks
for options and finds that there is very little to hold onto now.
Xena,
listen to me... we have to find another way, we have to...
But Xena's
mind is like a wall. Artemis cannot break in or find the way around.
Xena,
you cannot stop Zeus like this! Artemis shouts. Xena laughs again, her fingers going
deeper into the shadows of Zeus.
"I'll
keep you here for all of time, Zeus." Xena whispers. "I'll keep you
here until I find a way to rid the world of you."
And you will
fail, Xena. Just like you failed your friend there, just like you failed the
Amazons and my Artemis... I will succeed and you will be ashes upon the ground.
*
Ares stands
back, suddenly reticent. Aphrodite seems to glare at this oblong stone.
Nothing that
pretty should be so wrong, she thinks as her fingers slide softly over the surface of...
"It's his
soul." Ares says quietly.
"Yes."
Aphrodite shivers a bit. This moment leaves them both on edge and nervous, for
so many reasons.
"What
will happen?" The goddess of love questions aloud. Ares steps closer,
wrapping his palm about the blue-white stone.
"I...
don't know..." The god of war replies.
And Aphrodite
stands beside Ares.
They raise up
the stone and the god of war quirks his eyes upward.
"Father!"
He shouts. Aphrodite shoots him an annoyed look.
"Why are
you calling him?" She hisses.
"So he
can see it happen." Ares answers back coldly.
*
Zeus wants to
be the victor.
But he has
wanting nothing more than that it seems, forever spent in the search of...
forever. Immortality in the hearts and minds of the living, his palace in the
clouds and his family about him. That is what was meant to be.
But with the
shout of his son and the frozen feeling in his senses, Zeus knows that the
chance is slipping away.
Again.
No! Nooooo! Zeus rages, almost
blowing Xena back and forcing Artemis to lessen what control she has over the
formerly living warrior princess.
Artemis
watches in horror as not only her father, but Xena as well, vanish into thin
air.
And the
protector of the Amazons, the goddess of the hunt, is left with a burning city
and her fallen Chosen upon a crumbling rooftop.
She lowers
herself for the first time to Gabrielle's still body. I am so sorry,
Gabrielle. You've suffered so much and now... now, I fail you again.
Artemis wants
to reach out. She wants to cradle this girl and bring her back to life. But it
is not meant to be.
As with other
times, Artemis is powerless to stop the loss of her sisters’ lives.
I do not know
where Xena or Zeus has gone. I cannot feel either of them.
She looks back
upon Gabrielle's face.
But there is
one thing I can do. I can send your soul to peace, my chosen sister. I can
fulfill this wish. And, if it is within any realm of possibility, I will bring
Xena to you as well.
Artemis
shimmers like a star in the darkness, spreading outward and creating a hazy
white glow about Gabrielle's body. The goddess reaches out, pulling upward and
speaking loudly.
Gabrielle.
Come with me. It is time to go home.
*
It's like
after a long nap. You wake up groggy and slightly confused. But then... then
the fogginess falls away and you see the sunlight. You know you are awake and
alive. And the day is new.
It
is warm. It is good.
That is what
Gabrielle notices first. And then she is moving, faster than running or being
upon a horse. She is moving at the speed of wind. She can see all things and,
yet, they are barely there long enough before she is past them.
Trees and
mountains and sky and plants and the ocean... Gabrielle is seeing everything in
a rush.
I am dead.
She knows this
even as she thinks it.
And she
remembers being trapped in her own body. She recalls Zeus and fighting and...
Xena.
Gabrielle
stops the motions of her body and everything slows down. Everything halts and
she is neither above the ground, nor below it.
Where is Xena?
I need to wait for her... She asked me to wait for her...
If I can bring
her to you, I will. That is a promise I will keep for eternity. A voice responds from
seemingly nowhere. Gabrielle closes her eyes and opens her mouth, not sure if
any sound will come out or not.
But it does.
Crystal clear and echoing over this vast wintry landscape that she has paused
within, Gabrielle hears her own voice.
"Eternity
is too long of a wait. Xena and I... we've waited too long already."
I must find
her first and I must destroy Zeus.
"Then let
me help."
You are in the
Amazon land of the dead. Your soul is here to rest and find peace.
"Peace is
not possible for me here, not until Xena is with me."
Silence
follows and Gabrielle watches the sun cast beautiful rays upon ice and within
clouds. The Amazon land of the dead is gorgeous. Kind of surprising.
Just missing one thing...
The phantom
voice is now close as it speaks.
You are as
stubborn as the warrior.
And Gabrielle,
for the first time in a very long time, laughs. It cascades from her lips and
into the atmosphere.
"Yes I
am."
I would have
to bring you back as I did for her. And it would not be for long. I promised
her that your soul would be brought here and I intend to keep that promise.
Gabrielle nods
her head and feels her own lips form a smile.
"I made a
promise, too." Gabrielle says softly, the memory of a spoken vow and lips
against her own racing through her mind. I said always and I meant it.
This time, Xena... this time, we are going to get it right.
Let's find her
and then I can bring you both back here. Artemis says, standing in front of the battling bard
and former queen of the Amazons, enclosing Gabrielle in that now-familiar dusky
glow of a goddess.
"Xena,
I'm on my way..." Gabrielle whispers as the landscape swiftly fades to
black again.
*