Lissia's Xena/Ares Fan Fiction
I really hate
boats and the recent trauma I went through with Hope hasn’t changed that in the
least bit. Hope, oh there’s a name I
will miss saying. May you have a
wonderful life my daughter. I look over
at Xena, she’s deep in thought, I can tell by the serious inward look she has
plastered all over her face. Greece is
close now, I can see land and it makes my heart swell. Just think, soon I’ll be off this Gods
forsaken boat with it’s infernal rocking and bobbing. Just thinking about it makes me sick. Speaking of sick, I hang my head over the
edge of the ship and puke. When I
straighten up, my whole body racking from puking, there are footsteps behind
me. “Hello there little lady. Looks like you and this here vessel don’t get
along very well. I know something that
will take your mind off of matters,” a large, smelly man says from behind me. He reaches out and pinches my butt causing me
to jump, “I don’t think so. You’re not my
type.” He advances on me, wrapping his
large, fatty arms around my shoulders, pulling me into his fat stomach, “Now,
now, little thing, I’m every woman’s type!
Just give me a go and you’ll see, pretty thing.” Oh, I am not in the mood for this. I grab his arm and use all of my strength to
throw the man over the edge. Shore isn’t
far, he can make it, who knows, maybe he’ll lose a little weight. There’s a flash behind me and I groan,
knowing who’s going to be there before I even turn around. “Temperamental, aren’t we, Gabrielle?” Ares asks sarcastically. I feel the boat hit the dock and I know I’ll
be walking onto dry land soon, “Go away, I’m really not in the mood. Anyway, sense when do you talk to me? Xena’s over there,” I say, pointing to the far
end of the boat. He rolls his eyes at
me, “I know where Xena is, funny thing is, she has yet to notice me. No, I noticed that you were upset, wanted to
offer my help. Do you need someone to
kill or was throwing that man over the edge enough to satisfy your lust for
blood?” I snap at him, “Leave me alone
you heartless bastard,” and he laughs at me.
He laughs harder when I attack him with my staff. He disappears, still laughing and I fall to
the deck with a loud thud. I really hate
Gods, all they do is cause problems.
I’m on land now and it feels so good! Xena’s barely said a word to me, I think she’s mad about Hope still. If anyone should be mad, it’s me, but oh well, that doesn’t matter. “Xena, is everything alright?” I ask. She jumps a little and looks down at me, “Want to hear something funny?” I nod and she continues, “If I had listened to Ares and destroyed the temple when he asked me to, you would still have your blood innocence and Hope would never have been born.” She laughs bitterly, I honestly, don’t find anything funny about that, but I laugh a little, only to humor her. “Where are we going?” I ask. She shakes her head, “Wherever the road takes us.” That’s a funny answer coming from her. Usually she has everything all mapped out perfectly or at least a destination. I think she’s shaken up over all of this. She finally realizes that she won’t always be there to protect me. I want to go home, I feel like I should be there. But, when my family finds out what I did, they won’t want me there. It’s best not to get them involved. Especially sense Xena and I aren’t getting along as well as we usually do.
Xena is leading Argo and I’m walking behind her a ways. She seems annoyed, as if someone’s following us. She glances back at me and motions for me to hurry up. I jog until I reach her side, then slow myself down to an easy pace, “What’s wrong?” She glances at me, “Ares, he’s been following us sense we hit land. He probably wants to gloat.” I wonder if I should tell her about the conversation I had with him on the boat, but I decide against it. There’s no need to get started on that. There’s a flash and the next thing I know, he’s walking beside us, “So, you finally called me out. I was wondering how long it would take you.” Xena scowls at him, then tosses her Chakram behind us. “Ow! Xena, that wasn’t nice,” a voice says from far behind us. Xena stops, causing Argo to walk on the back of her heal. She gives the horse an annoyed look as she catches the Chakram, then turns to Ares, “What’s going on?” He shrugs and begins to disappear. She shoves me back and grabs his arm, irritation playing in every move she makes. He laughs, “You should have destroyed Dahok when I asked you to, now you’re going to have all of Olympus coming down on your head, starting with Lissia. Just to give you a fair warning, she is not happy with you.” She releases his arm and he disappears. Xena ties Argo to a tree and sits herself down on a log. I sit next to her, “Who’s Lissia?” A new voice answers my question, it’s feminine and young, yet oddly strong and commanding, “The Goddess of War, Ares’ younger cousin, and a dear friend of Xena’s. Although you can’t tell that anymore.” The girl is beautiful with long blonde hair, pale skin, high cheek bones, and bright blue eyes that remind me of Xena’s. She wears no armor, just a simple black, silk gown that flows off of her shoulders, yet is strangely form fitting. I look the girl over, then turn to Xena, “She can not be for real.” Xena’s face is starch white and it causes me to worry. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her look like this before, “Xena, what’s wrong? Are you alright? Xena, talk to me. Gods, you look like you’ve seen a ghost!” Her eyes finally land on me and she puts a hand on my shoulder and squeezes it gently, “I’m fine, Gabrielle. Why don’t you go for a walk?” I shake my head, I’m not about to leave when there’s a new God on the scene. “That’s Goddess, Gabrielle, new Goddess, not God,” Lissia interrupts my thoughts. I stare at her, I hate Gods.
The girl, Lissia, is walking next to Xena, both of them are ahead of me, Xena leading Argo. They’re talking quietly and occasionally I hear bits of laughter. I try to interrupt them on several occasions, but they both ignore me. I honestly think the Goddess knows that I’m trying to have my say in this conversation. I think she’s excluding me on purpose. Well, see if I ever leave an offering at one of her temples. There’s a flash next to me and it’s Ares again. “What do you want now?” He shakes his head, clearly not here for a fight, “Just came to check on Lis. It looks like her and Xena are getting along well.” “Yes they are,” I snap at him. He raises an eyebrow and I know he’s picked up on my jealousy, “My, my Gabrielle. I never thought I’d see the day that you got jealous over a God.” “Goddess,” a voice shouts back at us. I look at Lissia, but all I can see is her long blonde hair flowing down her back. I sneer at her back, hoping that she can somehow see me. Ares is laughing at me, then he jogs to walk ahead of me. He stops next to Lissia and puts an arm around the girl’s shoulders. She shrugs him off, then playfully pushes him. I watch him push her back a little and then lightening bolts are going back and forth between the two. Xena has stopped walking and is laughing at the playing Gods. I can’t help but giggle. The Gods of War are playing catch with lightening bolts, what a sight! Hearing laughter they both turn to Xena, ignoring me and the next thing I know, Xena is trapped between them as they toss lightening bolts around her. I tap Lissia on the shoulder, this has gone far enough, “Xena and I have better things to do than play with Gods. Excuse us as we leave.” I grab Argo’s reigns, causing the horse to throw her head in the air. Xena rushes over to me, “Gabrielle, you need to relax a little. They aren’t hurting anything.” Of course, she takes their side in this. Nevermind that I had to get rid of my daughter for her. Lissia jumps in with, “Oh Xena! Gabrielle has a secret!” Damn! That little harpy was reading my mind again. I grab her arm and jerk her away from Xena, “Shut-up.” She looks me up and down and starts to grab a dagger from her boot. Ares is standing beside me now, pushing Lissia’s hand back into her boot, forcing her to return the dagger there. She huffs then stares at me coldly, “You aren’t worth my time.” Anger seers through my mind and I lash at her with my staff which causes both her and Ares to laugh. Xena grabs my arm and pulls me away, “What’s wrong with you today?” Lissia innocently starts to talk again, “She’s upset because she lost her baby.” Tears fill my eyes and I rush away from the three, heading deep into the forest.
A little while later Xena is sitting next to me, letting her feet dangle with mine into the stream, “I’m sorry,” she says. I make no reply, she’s only saying that to make me feel better. I’m surprised when she continues, “I forgot that Hope was your daughter and that you loved her very much. I should have been a bit more thoughtful.” I nod weakly, incredibly tired after everything I’ve been through. “Are they still here?” I ask. I know they are, after all, why would they leave? She nods, “Would you like them to leave? I know you don’t like Ares and honestly I don’t either. He says you’re jealous of Lissia. And look, Gabrielle, if you are, there’s no reason to be. We were talking about how to stop Dahok. I mean, yes we did talk about the past a little. Mostly she was telling me what she’s been doing the past few years. She tried to convince me that Ares is in love with me. What a joke, huh?” I can’t help, but laugh and that lightens the mood a lot. She playfully shoves me, “Come on, let’s go. I set up camp not far from here. I have some rabbits, think you could cook them up for us or should I cook?” I laugh, Xena’s cooking could kill a Cyclops, no it could kill a God. My brow furrows and she looks over at me, “What’s wrong?” I answer her with a question of my own, “Do you think Ares is capable of love?” Shock registers in her features, maybe that wasn’t a good question to ask. She answers me with sadness in her voice, “Yes, he’s capable of loving. He loves War and he loves Lissia.” I nod, “Maybe he does love you, then.” She shakes her head, “Gabrielle, you nothing but a hopeless romantic.” I laugh, she’s right, I am a hopeless romantic. Maybe not even a romantic, maybe I’m just hopeless.
The two Gods are sitting by the fire, eating my cooking. Why are they eating anyway? “We like to eat, Gabrielle,” Lissia answers my unasked question. I give her an irritated look. I can’t stand it when she does that. And judging by the smug look on her face, she knows that it drives me crazy. Always the one for tactics, Ares starts a new conversation, “So, we go back to Britannia and destroy the cult of Dahok, right?” Xena shakes her head, “I go, alone.” We all stare at her and start to object at the same time, then look each other over and don’t say a word. Lissia’s the first to break the silence, “I’m going Xena and that’s final.” Ares adds his vote of going as well. Xena stares at me, begging me with her eyes not to argue against her. Well, sorry Xena, but you’re not leaving me behind, I’ve already given up too much to be left out now. “Where you go, I go. I’m not letting you do this alone. Dahok tried to ruin my life and only time will tell us if he succeeded. Xena, I want to help you destroy him. We can’t let what happened to me, happen to someone else.” By the Gods, I hope we don’t find Hope. I could never face her and being half God, she will mature faster and might actually have a few of my features. And if Xena noticed her, I would have to watch as my best friend killed my daughter. As these thoughts run through my mind, I feel an arm wrap around me and I look over to see Lissia sitting next to me. “You’re secret is safe with me,” she whispers. I sigh and with that exhale, all my worries disappear. I nod, “Thank you.” She takes me to the edge of camp and a small pool forms in her hands. “Look,” she orders. I look in the pool and I see a little girl with blonde hair and green eyes toddling around a house. A wooden sheep is resting nearby. A woman walks over and scoops Hope up, “Hello there Fayla, are we being a good girl while Daddy is out chopping wood? Come on now, let’s get cleaned up so we can go to bed, precious one.” Tears flow down my cheeks and I cry into Lissia’s shoulder, “Thank you, Lissia, thank you so much.” She nods and hugs me tightly, “It’s going to be okay.” Maybe this Goddess isn’t as bad as the rest of them. Maybe I can actually like her.
It’s morning and Xena and I are walking back to the port. The Gods are both gone, they left after we fell asleep last night. There’s a flash next to me and I expect it to be Lissia or Ares, but it isn’t, it’s Aphrodite instead. “Hi little one,” she says to me, then turns to Xena, “We’re counting on you, Xena. Is there anything you need?” Xena shakes her head, “We’ve got everything we need. And what we don’t have, Ares and Lissia do. I tried to get rid of them, but they won’t stay out of this. Can you talk some sense into them?” Aphrodite laughs loudly, “Me? Talk some sense into those two? Xena, that’s what you were always for! Lissia won’t be left out of another big fight, especially sense you’re involved. And Ares won’t let his Chosen go up against another God without him there to protect her.” Chosen? “Lissia is Ares’ Chosen?” I ask. Aphrodite laughs again, this time it’s sharper and filled with more giggles, “No silly, Xena is.” I look up at Xena, shocked and she turns away from me with a deep blush covering her face. I look down at the ground as I begin to blush as well. What does being a God’s Chosen mean exactly? I’ll have to ask her about it...Later. Xena has gotten over her embarrassment and looks at Aphrodite, “What does Lissia think she’s going to be able to do? She doesn’t kill and that’s what we’re going to be doing.” I but in, “I don’t kill, but I’m going.” She huffs at me, “You and Lissia should stay here in Greece, where it’s safe.” Sensing the tension, Aphrodite disappears, “Later.” I look Xena in the eye, which is awkward because of my height, “I’m going Xena, don’t try to stop me.” Wow, that was good. She gives up and begins to walk again. After a few paces she stops and mounts Argo, offering me a hand up. Oh, I hate riding the horse. It wouldn’t be so bad, except Argo doesn’t really like me and she makes sure to be extra jerky when I’m on her.
Xena stables Argo at a real nice facility. We walk around town and collect some provisions, neither of us wanting to rely on the ship’s captain for food. She buys passage for two, which means two cabins. I guess she doesn’t expect the Gods to show up until we get to Britannia. Well, if that was it, she was wrong. I walk into my room and there’s Lissia sitting on the bed, “Hey Gabrielle, looks like we’re sharing. Don’t worry, I don’t take up much room.” I nod, not too upset by her arrival, maybe she can help me with my sea sickness. She starts to turn a little green and pushes past me to run onto deck. I guess I’ll be using Xena’s pressure point to save myself from puking every other minute. If Lissia is staying with me, does that mean Ares is staying with Xena?
I rush into Xena’s room and find her sword to sword with Ares. I guess he thinks he’s staying with her and she doesn’t agree or maybe they’re just playing. I mean, they are smiling. “Uh, I don’t think Lissia and the ship are getting along,” I say oddly. They both lower their swords and look at me. Xena says, “Show her the pressure points and try to help her a bit. She’s never been on a ship before. You don’t mind this little arrangement, do you? It was a bit of a surprise.” I understand that perfectly, “I’m fine with it. I just hope you two can behave yourselves.” Ares smiles wickedly and I realize that he took that sexually, which is not what I meant. I only meant that I don’t want holes in the ship and I don’t want to be kept up all night by the sound of them fighting. Maybe these aren’t the best arrangements. Xena interrupts my thoughts, “Don’t get any ideas, Ares.” He laughs, “Too late for that.” I walk out of the room as they begin to clash swords again. I walk onto deck and see that the sky is darkening and there are flashes of lightening in the distance. Clouds are rolling over us and I can smell the rain in the air. Lissia is hanging over the railing. I run over to her, only losing my balance once. I grab her wrist and press down, then grab her other hand and replace my fingers with hers, “Pressure points, they should help,” I explain. “Storms coming, we need to get below deck,” I add. Her face goes green again, but she doesn’t puke. She follows me back to our room and we lie on the bed.
The storm is raging above us and cold air is being swept down the stairs into the passenger rooms. Lissia doesn’t seem to be effected by that and her sea sickness has subsided thanks to Xena’s pressure points. Mine isn’t too bad although I don’t think I’ll be eating anything tonight. Suddenly a bright smile crosses the Goddess’ face and she turns to me, “I think Xena and Ares made up finally.” My face falls and I rush out of the room. As I reach for the door handle of Xena’s room, Lissia grabs my arm and shakes her head, “I wouldn’t.” Oh no, they’re...Oh I can’t even bring myself to think about it. A little shaken up, I return to my room and sit on the bed. Lissia sits next to me, smiling, “Things are as they should be now. All we have to do is defeat Dahok’s cult and wait for the baby to come.” Did she just say baby? What baby? Does she mean...Them? Baby? She must have noticed the confused look on my face, “Don’t worry, I don’t mean that she’s pregnant, but she will be eventually. Then they’ll have a child and Oh, won’t it be grand?” She can not be serious. Oh well, it doesn’t matter, Xena’s going to notice just what she’s doing and she’ll put an end to it and that will be the end of them. I hope. Oh, I’m going to be sick...Again.
The boat docks in Britannia, oddly enough Caesar’s men don’t cause any problems this time. Last night, Lissia cut my hair and dyed it red, hopefully the people of this town won’t recognize me from when I was pregnant. Xena and Ares both seem very happy and secluded. Although they share a secret smile every once in awhile. “We all know about it,” I say, finally irritated by the two love birds. Love birds? Oh Gods, I hope not. Xena stares at me, “It?” She asks innocently. Ares is smiling, he knows what I’m talking about. I watch as he pinches her butt and she lets her hand hit him in the chest. “Yes, Xena. Lissia and I know what happened last night. Now, just tell me one thing, are you two serious?” Her face falls, then a coolness washes over her, “Yes,” he says, confidently. Lissia squeals with delight. I think I’m going to be sick. I nod, “Okay.” It was all I could say, I just can’t seem to find any other words. Ares clears his throat, “We have a cult to destroy. Let’s go,” he says, extending a hand to both me and Xena. I look at it and move away a little. Lissia pushes me towards him, then runs over and wraps herself around his neck. I take one of his hands and Xena takes the other. What is going on? And if he’s going to transport us to Dahoks temple ruins, then why didn’t he just transport us to Britannia? The world begins to fade and I feel my feet leave the ground. I close my eyes tightly as lights begin to spin around me.
I open my eyes as my feet hit solid ground, “Oh thank the Gods,” I breath. Ares and Lissia laugh and once Xena has regained her footing, she starts laughing with them. Why do I feel like such an outsider among these three? I look around and dread fills my heart. The ruined temple is here and people have flocked to it, leaving offerings and slaughtering children. My breath catches in my throat as my eyes land on Hope. A man has a dagger at her throat and the woman I saw her with before is holding her hand, whispering words of comfort into my daughter’s ear. “No,” I shout. Before I can do anything, the dagger goes through her throat, spilling her life blood on the ground. “Hope!” I shout. Lissia is holding me back and I fight against her. “Gabrielle, there’s nothing you can do about it. She’s dead, Gabrielle, dead.” Xena is staring at me, betrayal in her eyes, “Hope?” I nod weakly and fall to the ground. “We’ll talk about this later,” she says, rushing into the flock of people, killing all in her way. I watch her slaughter the people, then stare at the ground, already defeated. Men run at me and Lissia fends them off. I look around and see Xena and Ares fighting back to back in the center of the ruins. Lissia is knocking people out and I stare in wonder at her. She doesn’t kill any of them, I wonder why not? She is the Goddess of War and people die all the time in war. What would it matter if it were at her actual hand or not. A man hits me from behind and I recognize him as the one that killed Hope. “Bastard!” I shout and leap at him, striking him with my staff. Once he’s down, I pick up a fallen sword and plunge it into his body several times. As I go down for about the fifth time a hand grabs me from behind. I turn and Ares is there, actual concern in his face, “That’s enough. The fights out there, not with that dead man,” he says pointing at the crumpled temple. A hatred has filled my heart, I jerk away from him and sword in hand, leaving my staff in a puddle of blood, I rush into the battle, running the sword through all who get in my way.
As the sun sets, the four of us collapse. Blood covers our bodies and I fight the urge to puke. Looking at the bloody sword in my hand, I rush to a bush and heave in it. Nothing comes up, but it causes an incredible pain in my chest. Lissia comes up behind me and wraps an arm around me, helping me limp back to the others, “I’m sorry about Hope,” she says quietly. A rage fills Xena’s eyes when she hears the name of my daughter and she turns on Lissia first, “That demon was supposed to be dead already. Do not be sorry about her death. She had to die.” Then she turns to me, “And you! You lied to me, I trusted you and you lied to me. Why?” I look away from her, unable to meet her cold gaze, “She’s my daughter. I couldn’t kill her, Xena. You’re a mother, you know this. I had to save her.” Both Lissia and Ares look away from us. Xena’s face softens and she puts an arm around me, “It’s alright. Everything is as it should be now.” It hurts so much to think of my daughter in the past tense, but that is the only way to think of her, “My daughter is dead.” I break into tears and feel them loosen the blood that has crusted around my face. Ares waves a hand and we are clean. Lissia does likewise and a feast appears in front of us. She urges me out of Xena’s arms, “Eat, you need your strength.” I know she’s right, I do need my strength if I’m to survive. But I don’t want to survive. I want to die. When I look at my hands, I can still see the blood there even though Ares got rid of it. I know what I did. I look at the now clean sword, then over the broken bodies that litter the ground. I can’t go on. I stand up and walk over to my daughter’s bloodless body. Taking the dagger that killed her, I hold it at my own throat. I hear Xena shout and I know that I only have a split second before Ares and Lissia appear. I press hard on the knife with my suddenly steady hand and I feel it rip through my throat. I let it drop as my strength leaves my body. I collapse next to Hope and pull her into my arms. Xena is over me and she’s saying something, but I can’t hear her. “I’m sorry,” I try to mouth. And then my world goes black.
-End
I’m on land now and it feels so good! Xena’s barely said a word to me, I think she’s mad about Hope still. If anyone should be mad, it’s me, but oh well, that doesn’t matter. “Xena, is everything alright?” I ask. She jumps a little and looks down at me, “Want to hear something funny?” I nod and she continues, “If I had listened to Ares and destroyed the temple when he asked me to, you would still have your blood innocence and Hope would never have been born.” She laughs bitterly, I honestly, don’t find anything funny about that, but I laugh a little, only to humor her. “Where are we going?” I ask. She shakes her head, “Wherever the road takes us.” That’s a funny answer coming from her. Usually she has everything all mapped out perfectly or at least a destination. I think she’s shaken up over all of this. She finally realizes that she won’t always be there to protect me. I want to go home, I feel like I should be there. But, when my family finds out what I did, they won’t want me there. It’s best not to get them involved. Especially sense Xena and I aren’t getting along as well as we usually do.
Xena is leading Argo and I’m walking behind her a ways. She seems annoyed, as if someone’s following us. She glances back at me and motions for me to hurry up. I jog until I reach her side, then slow myself down to an easy pace, “What’s wrong?” She glances at me, “Ares, he’s been following us sense we hit land. He probably wants to gloat.” I wonder if I should tell her about the conversation I had with him on the boat, but I decide against it. There’s no need to get started on that. There’s a flash and the next thing I know, he’s walking beside us, “So, you finally called me out. I was wondering how long it would take you.” Xena scowls at him, then tosses her Chakram behind us. “Ow! Xena, that wasn’t nice,” a voice says from far behind us. Xena stops, causing Argo to walk on the back of her heal. She gives the horse an annoyed look as she catches the Chakram, then turns to Ares, “What’s going on?” He shrugs and begins to disappear. She shoves me back and grabs his arm, irritation playing in every move she makes. He laughs, “You should have destroyed Dahok when I asked you to, now you’re going to have all of Olympus coming down on your head, starting with Lissia. Just to give you a fair warning, she is not happy with you.” She releases his arm and he disappears. Xena ties Argo to a tree and sits herself down on a log. I sit next to her, “Who’s Lissia?” A new voice answers my question, it’s feminine and young, yet oddly strong and commanding, “The Goddess of War, Ares’ younger cousin, and a dear friend of Xena’s. Although you can’t tell that anymore.” The girl is beautiful with long blonde hair, pale skin, high cheek bones, and bright blue eyes that remind me of Xena’s. She wears no armor, just a simple black, silk gown that flows off of her shoulders, yet is strangely form fitting. I look the girl over, then turn to Xena, “She can not be for real.” Xena’s face is starch white and it causes me to worry. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her look like this before, “Xena, what’s wrong? Are you alright? Xena, talk to me. Gods, you look like you’ve seen a ghost!” Her eyes finally land on me and she puts a hand on my shoulder and squeezes it gently, “I’m fine, Gabrielle. Why don’t you go for a walk?” I shake my head, I’m not about to leave when there’s a new God on the scene. “That’s Goddess, Gabrielle, new Goddess, not God,” Lissia interrupts my thoughts. I stare at her, I hate Gods.
The girl, Lissia, is walking next to Xena, both of them are ahead of me, Xena leading Argo. They’re talking quietly and occasionally I hear bits of laughter. I try to interrupt them on several occasions, but they both ignore me. I honestly think the Goddess knows that I’m trying to have my say in this conversation. I think she’s excluding me on purpose. Well, see if I ever leave an offering at one of her temples. There’s a flash next to me and it’s Ares again. “What do you want now?” He shakes his head, clearly not here for a fight, “Just came to check on Lis. It looks like her and Xena are getting along well.” “Yes they are,” I snap at him. He raises an eyebrow and I know he’s picked up on my jealousy, “My, my Gabrielle. I never thought I’d see the day that you got jealous over a God.” “Goddess,” a voice shouts back at us. I look at Lissia, but all I can see is her long blonde hair flowing down her back. I sneer at her back, hoping that she can somehow see me. Ares is laughing at me, then he jogs to walk ahead of me. He stops next to Lissia and puts an arm around the girl’s shoulders. She shrugs him off, then playfully pushes him. I watch him push her back a little and then lightening bolts are going back and forth between the two. Xena has stopped walking and is laughing at the playing Gods. I can’t help but giggle. The Gods of War are playing catch with lightening bolts, what a sight! Hearing laughter they both turn to Xena, ignoring me and the next thing I know, Xena is trapped between them as they toss lightening bolts around her. I tap Lissia on the shoulder, this has gone far enough, “Xena and I have better things to do than play with Gods. Excuse us as we leave.” I grab Argo’s reigns, causing the horse to throw her head in the air. Xena rushes over to me, “Gabrielle, you need to relax a little. They aren’t hurting anything.” Of course, she takes their side in this. Nevermind that I had to get rid of my daughter for her. Lissia jumps in with, “Oh Xena! Gabrielle has a secret!” Damn! That little harpy was reading my mind again. I grab her arm and jerk her away from Xena, “Shut-up.” She looks me up and down and starts to grab a dagger from her boot. Ares is standing beside me now, pushing Lissia’s hand back into her boot, forcing her to return the dagger there. She huffs then stares at me coldly, “You aren’t worth my time.” Anger seers through my mind and I lash at her with my staff which causes both her and Ares to laugh. Xena grabs my arm and pulls me away, “What’s wrong with you today?” Lissia innocently starts to talk again, “She’s upset because she lost her baby.” Tears fill my eyes and I rush away from the three, heading deep into the forest.
A little while later Xena is sitting next to me, letting her feet dangle with mine into the stream, “I’m sorry,” she says. I make no reply, she’s only saying that to make me feel better. I’m surprised when she continues, “I forgot that Hope was your daughter and that you loved her very much. I should have been a bit more thoughtful.” I nod weakly, incredibly tired after everything I’ve been through. “Are they still here?” I ask. I know they are, after all, why would they leave? She nods, “Would you like them to leave? I know you don’t like Ares and honestly I don’t either. He says you’re jealous of Lissia. And look, Gabrielle, if you are, there’s no reason to be. We were talking about how to stop Dahok. I mean, yes we did talk about the past a little. Mostly she was telling me what she’s been doing the past few years. She tried to convince me that Ares is in love with me. What a joke, huh?” I can’t help, but laugh and that lightens the mood a lot. She playfully shoves me, “Come on, let’s go. I set up camp not far from here. I have some rabbits, think you could cook them up for us or should I cook?” I laugh, Xena’s cooking could kill a Cyclops, no it could kill a God. My brow furrows and she looks over at me, “What’s wrong?” I answer her with a question of my own, “Do you think Ares is capable of love?” Shock registers in her features, maybe that wasn’t a good question to ask. She answers me with sadness in her voice, “Yes, he’s capable of loving. He loves War and he loves Lissia.” I nod, “Maybe he does love you, then.” She shakes her head, “Gabrielle, you nothing but a hopeless romantic.” I laugh, she’s right, I am a hopeless romantic. Maybe not even a romantic, maybe I’m just hopeless.
The two Gods are sitting by the fire, eating my cooking. Why are they eating anyway? “We like to eat, Gabrielle,” Lissia answers my unasked question. I give her an irritated look. I can’t stand it when she does that. And judging by the smug look on her face, she knows that it drives me crazy. Always the one for tactics, Ares starts a new conversation, “So, we go back to Britannia and destroy the cult of Dahok, right?” Xena shakes her head, “I go, alone.” We all stare at her and start to object at the same time, then look each other over and don’t say a word. Lissia’s the first to break the silence, “I’m going Xena and that’s final.” Ares adds his vote of going as well. Xena stares at me, begging me with her eyes not to argue against her. Well, sorry Xena, but you’re not leaving me behind, I’ve already given up too much to be left out now. “Where you go, I go. I’m not letting you do this alone. Dahok tried to ruin my life and only time will tell us if he succeeded. Xena, I want to help you destroy him. We can’t let what happened to me, happen to someone else.” By the Gods, I hope we don’t find Hope. I could never face her and being half God, she will mature faster and might actually have a few of my features. And if Xena noticed her, I would have to watch as my best friend killed my daughter. As these thoughts run through my mind, I feel an arm wrap around me and I look over to see Lissia sitting next to me. “You’re secret is safe with me,” she whispers. I sigh and with that exhale, all my worries disappear. I nod, “Thank you.” She takes me to the edge of camp and a small pool forms in her hands. “Look,” she orders. I look in the pool and I see a little girl with blonde hair and green eyes toddling around a house. A wooden sheep is resting nearby. A woman walks over and scoops Hope up, “Hello there Fayla, are we being a good girl while Daddy is out chopping wood? Come on now, let’s get cleaned up so we can go to bed, precious one.” Tears flow down my cheeks and I cry into Lissia’s shoulder, “Thank you, Lissia, thank you so much.” She nods and hugs me tightly, “It’s going to be okay.” Maybe this Goddess isn’t as bad as the rest of them. Maybe I can actually like her.
It’s morning and Xena and I are walking back to the port. The Gods are both gone, they left after we fell asleep last night. There’s a flash next to me and I expect it to be Lissia or Ares, but it isn’t, it’s Aphrodite instead. “Hi little one,” she says to me, then turns to Xena, “We’re counting on you, Xena. Is there anything you need?” Xena shakes her head, “We’ve got everything we need. And what we don’t have, Ares and Lissia do. I tried to get rid of them, but they won’t stay out of this. Can you talk some sense into them?” Aphrodite laughs loudly, “Me? Talk some sense into those two? Xena, that’s what you were always for! Lissia won’t be left out of another big fight, especially sense you’re involved. And Ares won’t let his Chosen go up against another God without him there to protect her.” Chosen? “Lissia is Ares’ Chosen?” I ask. Aphrodite laughs again, this time it’s sharper and filled with more giggles, “No silly, Xena is.” I look up at Xena, shocked and she turns away from me with a deep blush covering her face. I look down at the ground as I begin to blush as well. What does being a God’s Chosen mean exactly? I’ll have to ask her about it...Later. Xena has gotten over her embarrassment and looks at Aphrodite, “What does Lissia think she’s going to be able to do? She doesn’t kill and that’s what we’re going to be doing.” I but in, “I don’t kill, but I’m going.” She huffs at me, “You and Lissia should stay here in Greece, where it’s safe.” Sensing the tension, Aphrodite disappears, “Later.” I look Xena in the eye, which is awkward because of my height, “I’m going Xena, don’t try to stop me.” Wow, that was good. She gives up and begins to walk again. After a few paces she stops and mounts Argo, offering me a hand up. Oh, I hate riding the horse. It wouldn’t be so bad, except Argo doesn’t really like me and she makes sure to be extra jerky when I’m on her.
Xena stables Argo at a real nice facility. We walk around town and collect some provisions, neither of us wanting to rely on the ship’s captain for food. She buys passage for two, which means two cabins. I guess she doesn’t expect the Gods to show up until we get to Britannia. Well, if that was it, she was wrong. I walk into my room and there’s Lissia sitting on the bed, “Hey Gabrielle, looks like we’re sharing. Don’t worry, I don’t take up much room.” I nod, not too upset by her arrival, maybe she can help me with my sea sickness. She starts to turn a little green and pushes past me to run onto deck. I guess I’ll be using Xena’s pressure point to save myself from puking every other minute. If Lissia is staying with me, does that mean Ares is staying with Xena?
I rush into Xena’s room and find her sword to sword with Ares. I guess he thinks he’s staying with her and she doesn’t agree or maybe they’re just playing. I mean, they are smiling. “Uh, I don’t think Lissia and the ship are getting along,” I say oddly. They both lower their swords and look at me. Xena says, “Show her the pressure points and try to help her a bit. She’s never been on a ship before. You don’t mind this little arrangement, do you? It was a bit of a surprise.” I understand that perfectly, “I’m fine with it. I just hope you two can behave yourselves.” Ares smiles wickedly and I realize that he took that sexually, which is not what I meant. I only meant that I don’t want holes in the ship and I don’t want to be kept up all night by the sound of them fighting. Maybe these aren’t the best arrangements. Xena interrupts my thoughts, “Don’t get any ideas, Ares.” He laughs, “Too late for that.” I walk out of the room as they begin to clash swords again. I walk onto deck and see that the sky is darkening and there are flashes of lightening in the distance. Clouds are rolling over us and I can smell the rain in the air. Lissia is hanging over the railing. I run over to her, only losing my balance once. I grab her wrist and press down, then grab her other hand and replace my fingers with hers, “Pressure points, they should help,” I explain. “Storms coming, we need to get below deck,” I add. Her face goes green again, but she doesn’t puke. She follows me back to our room and we lie on the bed.
The storm is raging above us and cold air is being swept down the stairs into the passenger rooms. Lissia doesn’t seem to be effected by that and her sea sickness has subsided thanks to Xena’s pressure points. Mine isn’t too bad although I don’t think I’ll be eating anything tonight. Suddenly a bright smile crosses the Goddess’ face and she turns to me, “I think Xena and Ares made up finally.” My face falls and I rush out of the room. As I reach for the door handle of Xena’s room, Lissia grabs my arm and shakes her head, “I wouldn’t.” Oh no, they’re...Oh I can’t even bring myself to think about it. A little shaken up, I return to my room and sit on the bed. Lissia sits next to me, smiling, “Things are as they should be now. All we have to do is defeat Dahok’s cult and wait for the baby to come.” Did she just say baby? What baby? Does she mean...Them? Baby? She must have noticed the confused look on my face, “Don’t worry, I don’t mean that she’s pregnant, but she will be eventually. Then they’ll have a child and Oh, won’t it be grand?” She can not be serious. Oh well, it doesn’t matter, Xena’s going to notice just what she’s doing and she’ll put an end to it and that will be the end of them. I hope. Oh, I’m going to be sick...Again.
The boat docks in Britannia, oddly enough Caesar’s men don’t cause any problems this time. Last night, Lissia cut my hair and dyed it red, hopefully the people of this town won’t recognize me from when I was pregnant. Xena and Ares both seem very happy and secluded. Although they share a secret smile every once in awhile. “We all know about it,” I say, finally irritated by the two love birds. Love birds? Oh Gods, I hope not. Xena stares at me, “It?” She asks innocently. Ares is smiling, he knows what I’m talking about. I watch as he pinches her butt and she lets her hand hit him in the chest. “Yes, Xena. Lissia and I know what happened last night. Now, just tell me one thing, are you two serious?” Her face falls, then a coolness washes over her, “Yes,” he says, confidently. Lissia squeals with delight. I think I’m going to be sick. I nod, “Okay.” It was all I could say, I just can’t seem to find any other words. Ares clears his throat, “We have a cult to destroy. Let’s go,” he says, extending a hand to both me and Xena. I look at it and move away a little. Lissia pushes me towards him, then runs over and wraps herself around his neck. I take one of his hands and Xena takes the other. What is going on? And if he’s going to transport us to Dahoks temple ruins, then why didn’t he just transport us to Britannia? The world begins to fade and I feel my feet leave the ground. I close my eyes tightly as lights begin to spin around me.
I open my eyes as my feet hit solid ground, “Oh thank the Gods,” I breath. Ares and Lissia laugh and once Xena has regained her footing, she starts laughing with them. Why do I feel like such an outsider among these three? I look around and dread fills my heart. The ruined temple is here and people have flocked to it, leaving offerings and slaughtering children. My breath catches in my throat as my eyes land on Hope. A man has a dagger at her throat and the woman I saw her with before is holding her hand, whispering words of comfort into my daughter’s ear. “No,” I shout. Before I can do anything, the dagger goes through her throat, spilling her life blood on the ground. “Hope!” I shout. Lissia is holding me back and I fight against her. “Gabrielle, there’s nothing you can do about it. She’s dead, Gabrielle, dead.” Xena is staring at me, betrayal in her eyes, “Hope?” I nod weakly and fall to the ground. “We’ll talk about this later,” she says, rushing into the flock of people, killing all in her way. I watch her slaughter the people, then stare at the ground, already defeated. Men run at me and Lissia fends them off. I look around and see Xena and Ares fighting back to back in the center of the ruins. Lissia is knocking people out and I stare in wonder at her. She doesn’t kill any of them, I wonder why not? She is the Goddess of War and people die all the time in war. What would it matter if it were at her actual hand or not. A man hits me from behind and I recognize him as the one that killed Hope. “Bastard!” I shout and leap at him, striking him with my staff. Once he’s down, I pick up a fallen sword and plunge it into his body several times. As I go down for about the fifth time a hand grabs me from behind. I turn and Ares is there, actual concern in his face, “That’s enough. The fights out there, not with that dead man,” he says pointing at the crumpled temple. A hatred has filled my heart, I jerk away from him and sword in hand, leaving my staff in a puddle of blood, I rush into the battle, running the sword through all who get in my way.
As the sun sets, the four of us collapse. Blood covers our bodies and I fight the urge to puke. Looking at the bloody sword in my hand, I rush to a bush and heave in it. Nothing comes up, but it causes an incredible pain in my chest. Lissia comes up behind me and wraps an arm around me, helping me limp back to the others, “I’m sorry about Hope,” she says quietly. A rage fills Xena’s eyes when she hears the name of my daughter and she turns on Lissia first, “That demon was supposed to be dead already. Do not be sorry about her death. She had to die.” Then she turns to me, “And you! You lied to me, I trusted you and you lied to me. Why?” I look away from her, unable to meet her cold gaze, “She’s my daughter. I couldn’t kill her, Xena. You’re a mother, you know this. I had to save her.” Both Lissia and Ares look away from us. Xena’s face softens and she puts an arm around me, “It’s alright. Everything is as it should be now.” It hurts so much to think of my daughter in the past tense, but that is the only way to think of her, “My daughter is dead.” I break into tears and feel them loosen the blood that has crusted around my face. Ares waves a hand and we are clean. Lissia does likewise and a feast appears in front of us. She urges me out of Xena’s arms, “Eat, you need your strength.” I know she’s right, I do need my strength if I’m to survive. But I don’t want to survive. I want to die. When I look at my hands, I can still see the blood there even though Ares got rid of it. I know what I did. I look at the now clean sword, then over the broken bodies that litter the ground. I can’t go on. I stand up and walk over to my daughter’s bloodless body. Taking the dagger that killed her, I hold it at my own throat. I hear Xena shout and I know that I only have a split second before Ares and Lissia appear. I press hard on the knife with my suddenly steady hand and I feel it rip through my throat. I let it drop as my strength leaves my body. I collapse next to Hope and pull her into my arms. Xena is over me and she’s saying something, but I can’t hear her. “I’m sorry,” I try to mouth. And then my world goes black.
-End