Chapter Three
Gabrielle settled back into her old bed, pulling the worn old covers up and wrapping them around herself comfortingly. Thank the gods, Aristippus had found nothing seriously wrong with her and had just prescribed prolonged bed rest to give her injuries time to heal. It felt good to be home. She was very happy and relieved to have her mother to confide in again. She did not realize how much she had missed that. She reached over and picked up a small wooden sheep from the table beside her bed. It had been her favorite toy as a young girl. Holding it close to her body, she closed her eyes and fell into a deep and much needed sleep.
Joxer walked over to the table where Xena and Callisto still sat engaged in their conversation. Both women gazed up at him with expressions that explicitly said he was not wanted here. Completely ignoring the fact that he was extremely unwelcome, Joxer sat down on the bench beside Xena. Callisto eyed him coldly.
"Hi ya, Xena." He decided to completely ignore the fact that Callisto also was present.
"What's the little clown doing here? Are you going to entertain us with a demonstration of your mighty warrior prowess?" Callisto laughed contemptibly mocking poor Joxer.
"He was just leaving, weren't you Joxer?"
"No I wasn't." That Joxer could be stubborn at times. Callisto and Xena sat with arms folded across their chests staring silently at him.
"What? Oh, all right already, I'll leave. Did you get us rooms, Xena?"
"Yes I did, go ask the innkeeper over there and he will tell you which one is yours." Xena's patience was wearing thin.
"Okie dokie, I'll be waiting for ya." Joxer rose from the table flashing a flirtatious smile and arching his eyebrows alluringly.
As he exited the room, Callisto couldn't resist being sarcastic.
"Oh darling, you two make such an adorable couple."
"Shut up, Callisto!" Xena was in no mood for humor.
Suddenly Callisto felt something furry brush against her legs. She jumped quickly to her feet. Xena also sprang to a defensive stance, chakram in hand.
"AAYIIIIIII!!"
Callisto raised her sword, ready to chop whatever it was in two. Lowering the sharp edge toward the floor, she halted in mid air.
"What the...." Her voice trailed off. She bent down and reached under the table and picked up what had touched her. "It's only a cat."
She held the onyx colored cat in her arms. He began purring softly as she stroked his head and back. Callisto smiled contentedly. Xena could not believe her eyes. Was this actually Callisto showing tenderness toward a living creature?
"Look at it's eyes." said a surprised Callisto. "They're so blue, and the pupils are round. I've never seen anything like this. They almost look.......human."
Xena cautiously approached Callisto and peeked at the animal."Yes, they do look human."
The cat turned his head toward her and peered at her strangely. "It looks so.......sad." Xena wondered what was going on, first Callisto's uncharacteristic behavior and now a cat with human eyes. Was this also the work of the gods?
The two young boys left the house of their teacher and began the short walk back home. Laughing and pushing each other playfully they stopped here and there, sometimes chasing each other, sometimes tossing an apple back and forth in a game of catch. One of the boys began moving swiftly backward in an effort to field the piece of fruit. His body suddenly encountered something behind him and he turned around to see what he had collided with. Looking down on the ground he saw a beautiful young girl with long blonde hair and emerald green eyes. He extended his hand to her and pulled her to her feet. She looked at him. It was as if she was looking right into his soul.
"Thank you ."
The lad tried to answer but found that his tongue just would not work. He was entranced. His feet felt like they were buried in quicksand, unable to move.
"Hey! What's going on?" cried his friend scooting up to the pair. "Whoa!" he exclaimed in surprise. For he too became frozen in place, not able to take another step, and not wanting to.
"Well done!" Ares emerged from the shadows and approached Lileas, clapping his hands and smirking. "My first two soldiers. You, my young friends, are going to be part of the most feared army the world has ever known!" Ares laughed maniacally as he and the two boys disappeared without a trace.
The little cat fidgeted in Callisto's arms. Having had enough of her scratching, he was now ready to take his leave. As he squirmed, trying to escape, his sharp claws dug into her arms.
"Eeeek! You wretched little creature!" Callisto opened her arms and the feline dropped to the floor and swiftly trotted away.
"So much for the *loving* Callisto." Xena thought as she turned away, suppressing the giggle that had started to escape.
Diomedes wove his way through the marketplace, under tables and around the legs of crowded shoppers. Rounding the corner, he found himself in the blind alley where his bad luck had all started. Standing in a doorway, he saw Lileas who was holding her arms out towards him. As he approached the young beauty, she lovingly picked him up and hugged his tiny catlike form close to her small waif like body.
"Hello, my pet. I missed you! What do you have to tell me?"
She touched him lightly on his muscular shoulder and suddenly the black cat metamorphasized into human form once again.
"The blonde and dark haired warrior women are planning to stop you." Diomedes stated the facts mechanically.
"The blonde, her name is Callisto, claims she is immune to your power."
"I already know about the tall, dark haired one. Her name is Xena. Uncle Ares told me all about her. So, she's joined forces with my surrogate mother as well. Hmmmm. That is very interesting considering they are mortal enemies. They think that together they can defeat me? Well, we shall see."
Once again she touched Diomedes and the unfortunate fellow shrank back down into a feline state.
Xena and Callisto exited the tavern and walked towards the market. Just as they were about to take leave of each other, a largely built dark haired man materialized in front of them, blocking their path. He got in between the two women and extended his muscular arms around them, placing one hand on Callisto's shoulder and the other on Xena's.
"Well, well, well, if it isn't my two favorite ladies strolling through the market together. Doing some shopping, are we, some new clothes perhaps? Or is it just *girls day out*?"
Xena pushed herself away from him. "What do you want, Ares?"
"Aw, Xena, can't a guy just drop by to say a friendly hello?"
"Why Ares, how are you? It's been a while." Callisto decided to play along with the game.
Xena was in no mood for frivolity. "Cut the act, Ares! We all know why you're here. You've been spying on us!"
"Who, me? Xena, I am surprised at you. Do you really think that the God of War would stoop so low as to *spy* on you? No, no, no, no, I'd send Strife to do that."Ares looked petulant.
"You've already stooped to your lowest, Ares! You did it when you stole Gabrielle's baby and turned her into an evil goddess!" Xena was beginning to lose her temper."And you did it for what? So you could have one more lacky to do your dirty work for you, so the other gods woudn't see how underhanded you've been? Oh yes, very clever, Ares! Get a child to take the blame for being the catalyst of corruption, then you simply take over and do your *God of War* thing!"
Throughout all of the banter between Ares and Xena, Callisto had remained silent. She was amazed at herself for being capable of remaining patient and not losing control. What was happening to her? No time to ponder the question now, the situation between Xena and Ares was escalating and she must stop it.
"Xena, isn't Gabrielle waiting for you?" Callisto came around and placed her body between the God of War and the Warrior Princess.
"Get out of my way, Callisto!"
Xena shoved Callisto to the side and began to advance towards Ares in an extremely menacing manner. Callisto started to feel the old hatred begin to well up inside of her. Knowing that she must remain clear headed, she was able to suppress her violent feelings, and jumped back up onto her feet.
"Temper, temper, my pretty." She smiled sweetly, as she firmly but gently gripped Xena's arm and"turned her around. "Take a deep breath now, sweet, and count to ten."
Xena faced her with a wild look of uncontrollable rage while Ares stood thoughtfully stroking his beard. Slowly the Warrior Princess began to comprehend the logic in what Callisto was trying to do. Her breathing returned to normal and her adrenalin level lowered.
"You're right, Callisto, I understand now."
"Ugh! All this gal pal stuff is making me nauseous!" And just as abruptly as he appeared, the God of War vanished.
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Joxer sat in the tavern staring into his drink. Why didn't anybody ever want his help, he wondered? Everybody always laughed at him. Joxer the mighty! Bah! Joxer the idiot was more like it. Lost in his self-pitying thoughts, a movement suddenly caught the edges of his peripheral vision. He looked out the open tavern door and saw a young girl standing there talking with a boy of about the same age. There was something strangely familiar about her appearance. That face, that angelic face, where had he seen it before? He got up and slowly walked outside. He approached the child from the side to get a better look. As he came closer, he knew immediately why she seemed so familiar to him! He turned and began to make his way swiftly through the market.
In the meantime, another had been silently watching the beautiful girl place the young boy under her spell. Spying on her from behind the door of the stable, Callisto marvelled at the goddess' powerful magic. Her heart skipped a beat as the child turned around and looked in her direction. But the girl did not see her. As Callisto took in Lileas' delicate beauty, her heart ached for the tiny baby that she had grown to love so much. In Lileas she saw herself, a young girl forced to be corrupted by evil. Her thoughts of love turned to images of hatred as she remembered Xena and her part in the slaughter of her family. For a moment she reconsidered their alliance. But then Ares appeared and her already cold heart turned completely to stone as she watched him take the young boy by the hand and disappear leaving Lileas behind. And in that moment she knew that no matter how much she hated Xena, it would have to wait. She must somehow undo what Ares had done and take Lileas back.