Joxer stopped at the castle gates and looked up. The only light he saw came from a high tower window, which glowed an unearthly, dull gray. He had glanced up at that window several times while traveling the road, almost certain that he had seen someone watching him. But he tossed the idea away as stupid. What god of death would watch a mere mortal as he walked toward the castle?
Joxer lifted his fist, intending to knock on the heavy metal gates, but as his hand neared, the gates swung open. He jumped back in surprise but decided that if the gates opened that easily, he must be invited to enter. He slowly walked through, looking in all directions at once, hoping that some legion of the dead wasn't about to appear and drag him to a dungeon, or something worse. But the courtyard was empty. His steps against the stone floor echoed back cold and hollow to his ears, a violation against the absolute silence of this house.
He crossed the courtyard to a set of tall wooden doors, what he supposed was the entrance to the castle. Again, when he raised his hand to knock, the doors swung open, but this time he expected it. He entered with even slower steps, and the moment he cleared the doorway, the doors slamed shut behind him with a terrible finality.
He had come to a long, wide hallway with giant torches lighting both sides of the room, barren of other decoration. At the far end of the hall were two thrones, set side by side, and Joxer somehow knew that Hades would be sitting in one and his wife in the other.
His lute forgotten in one hand, he marched down the hall with more confidence than he felt. The thrones and the two figures seated in them became more distinct the closer Joxer got, but he still felt as though he were almost looking through the god of death and his consort. They were there, but not quite. Then again, Joxer had no experience with meeting a god on his own turf, so maybe it was normal.
He bowed low before the gods, managing to keep his balance. "Greetings, Hades, god of death, and Prosephone, daughter of Demeter. I am Joxer... the Mighty," he said. He hoped that his words weren't to presumptuous.
Hades nodded toward him, but Prosephone looked at her husband in surprise. "You see, my dear," Hades said, "I told you he would be able to see us."
Suddenly, the pair became more solid and Joxer just stared at them in confusion. He didn't know what to do next, so he knelt and waited for Hades to speak again.
"Greetings, Joxer. What brings you to my house?"
"I've come because someone important died recently, by mistake, and the Fates instructed me to bring her back to the world of the living."
Hades' eyebrows shot up in surprise and he smiled slightly. Prosephone seemed content to sit silent at his side. "You refer to Gabrielle. You know very well that she cannot rejoin the living. She is in the Elysian Fields and quite content, I assure you."
Joxer furrowed his brow in determination and stood, not ready to give up that easily. He'd come too far to walk away now. "But you have to let her go. The Fates demand it."
Hades laughed. "The Fates demand nothing of me. But what of you, Joxer? You say you come from the Fates, but there must be another reason, a more personal reason, you are here."
Joxer looked down at his feet, embarrassed to meet the god's eyes. Hades had seen through him as if through a sheet of glass. "I love her," he said quietly.
"That wasn't so hard, was it," Hades said. Joxer look up with hope written unmistakably across his face, and Hades only pitied him the more.
"You mean you'll let her go?" he asked.
"No. Joxer, the rules are firm. The dead cannot rejoin the living, and they wouldn't want to even if they could," Hades said, leaning forward out of his throne. "The land of the living is full of pain and suffering, but those who go to the Elysian Fields no longer feel those things. Gabrielle sits quietly by the river enjoys the peace all around her. It's a world she's dreamed of her whole life -- one without grief or death or evil. She is content and would not appreciate a return to the chaos of the world above."
Hades rotated his hand while speaking and created a window to the Elysian Fields, where Joxer could see Gabby sitting under a tree by a sparkling blue river. She was so beautiful, dressed in a flowing white robes, her hair loose around her shoulders. She turned her head as if looking back through the window at him, but Joxer knew she couldn't see him. His joy at seeing her face turned to sorrow as he saw the suffering deep in her eyes. He knew that although Gabby seemed happy on the outside, her soul was dying on the inside from the loss of Xena and all she had ever loved.
A tear escaped unnoticed and dripped down Joxer's cheek as Hades closed the window. Joxer knew now more than ever that he had to help Gabby escape her prison. He looked around him for something that might help plead his case, and he remembered his lute. A idea formed in his imagination.
"So you see," Hades said, "your Gabrielle is content. Let it be."
Joxer walked closer to the thrones, until he was almost at their base, and he lifted his lute. "I want to play you a song, if I may. I wrote it about Gabrielle before she died."
When Hades nodded, Joxer lifted his instrument and tuned it softly. Then, he began to play. His song had no words because no words could ever describe what he felt for Gabby, but the tune was heartbreaking, and Joxer was sure he'd never played it with more passion as he did now. Memories of Gabby filled his heart and warmed him from within as he let the notes flow over him. He closed his eyes and saw her face in his mind.
As the final notes faded away and echoed throughout the hall, Joxer opened his eyes and was surprised to see tears flowing freely down the face of Prosephone. She turned to Hades and grabbed at his hand.
"Please, Hades. This man is dying without her. I know you have the power to let her go. Break the rules, just this once, and let Gabrielle return with him to the world above. Please, Hades, I know your heart must want to take pity on Joxer."
Hades was silent, watching Joxer throughout his wife's passionate speech. He lowered his eyes for a moment and then spoke softly, hardly above a whisper. "Very well. As a gift to you, my love, I will grant Joxer's request."
Joxer felt overwhelmed with gratitude and excitement all at once. He tried to speak his thanks but found he couldn't say a word. Gabrielle would return with him! He had succeeded in his quest!
"But," Hades continued, "there is more. Gabrielle's spirit will follow you as you leave the underworld, but you cannot look back to see her until you hear her voice in the outer world. Do you understand? Once you turn from these thrones, if you look back once before reaching the outer world, Gabrielle's spirit will return to the underworld, and I will not release her again."
Joxer nodded vigorously. "Yes, I understand."
"Good, then turn and leave my realm. I wish you luck, Joxer, and I hope not to see you again for many years."
Joxer nodded and smiled. He looked toward the great wooden doors and began his march forward.
"And, Joxer," Hades said behind him. Joxer almost turned back to the voice but stopped himself at the last second. After a moment, a small coin appeared before him, and he plucked it from the air. "For Charon."
Hades laughed at his own joke as Joxer left the house of the dead, not to return for a long time.
****
Joxer walked back down the hill toward the River Lythe whistling the tune to his song, "Joxer the Mighty," because that's how he felt at that moment. Only a mighty warrior could have braved Hades' castle and return to the land of the living. Only a mighty warrior could have succeeded as he had. He hoped Gabby was enjoying his tune as much as he was -- after all, she had her own line, right there in the first verse.
As he approached the river, though, he began to feel uneasy. Gabby hadn't made a sound behind him. She hadn't spoken or even stepped heavily enough on the road for Joxer to hear her. He began to wonder if maybe Hades had played a trick on him and Gabby wasn't there at all. He would leave the cave, and there would be no one behind him. He wanted so much to turn around and look, but he resisted the urge and strode forward. He just had to trust Hades, but who knew if the god of death was a god of his word?
Charon was still sitting in his boat by the river, and as Joxer approached, he sat up and smiled triumphantly. "Hey! I knew you would get out of there in one piece."
Joxer pulled the coin from his pocket and handed it to Charon. The ferryman took one look at it before slipping it somewhere beneath his rags and jumping in the boat. "Now that is more like it," he said. "Where to now?"
"Back to the dock where we started," Joxer said. "And make sure we don't leave until she gets in the boat."
Charon looked back over Joxer's shoulder as Joxer climbed into the ferry. "Until who gets in the boat? Maybe you didn't come out of there in one piece after all."
Joxer once again resisted the urge to turn around and look for himself. The feeling of betrayal grew stronger, but he refused to give up his one chance at saving Gabby. Maybe that coin was really a secret message between Hades and Charon, and Charon had been instructed to trick Joxer into looking. It won't work. I will not look back. Gabby is there; I know she is.
As Charon poled into the river, Joxer was sad to see the frogs were gone. Charon was silent as he slowly pulled them across the river, and without the croaking of the frogs, the River Lythe had become as eery as Hades' castle. No sound; no life. Joxer couldn't wait to leave this dreadful place.
Charon docked on the other bank and waited for Joxer to get off before jumping to dry land himself. The strange little man already was moving toward his kettle, singing under his breath.
"Well, bye," Joxer said, waving at Charon's back.
"Bye," Charon said absently, just before taking a sip of soup and sighing contendly. Joxer, deciding to leave Charon with his true love, mounted the stairs and began the last assent.
As he climbed, blue light surrounding him, all he could hear was his own steps and heavy breathing. Gabby still had not made a sound, and now Joxer was only half sure that she was still there. After all, Hades had not allowed him see Gabby in the hall before he turned away. He really had no proof that she was there.
"Um, Gabby?" he said quietly, and then louder when he got no response. "Gabby, are you still back there?"
Silence.
Joxer didn't know how much more he could take of this, so he began climbing faster. The staircase seemed to have doubled in length since his climb down, or maybe even tripled. There seemed no end. He began running, his breath coming in labored gasps.
And then he saw it: a faint light up ahead that could only be sunlight. He shifted his grip on the lute and ran faster toward the light, which grew stronger and began to outshine the blue light that still surrounded him.
He reached the top of the staircase and ran out of the cave, collapsing on the ground outside. As he caught his breath, he noticed a pair of leather boots almost at his nose. Wait. I know those boots. That could only be...
"Xena!" Joxer said as he struggled to his feet. "Is she there, Xena? Behind me, is she there?"
She looked at him with concern and felt at his forehead to check for fever. "Is who there? Really, Joxer, I think the underworld wasn't good for your mental health."
Joxer sobbed and pushed Xena's hand away, stumbling toward the rock. All that work and wondering, and Gabby wasn't there. Xena followed him and put an arm around his shoulders as he looked toward the sky.
"I did everything right, Hades!" he yelled. "I didn't look back, not once! And I gave Charon the coin! Why did you lie to me?"
"Hey! What are you two so upset about?"
They both turned at the familiar voice at the cave's mouth, and Joxer could hardly believe his eyes. There she was, in flowing white robes with her strawberry-blond hair hanging loose around her shoulders. She was like a vision...a goddess.
Joxer stood and stumbled toward her, tripping over a rock and falling at her feet. He didn't care. He just reached out and touched her bare toes to make sure they were real, and she giggled.
"Joxer, what are you doing? That tickles." She reached down and pulled him to his feet. She looked into his eyes, and he thought he would drown in that gaze. "Thank you," she said, and reached up to kiss him lightly on the cheek.
He trembled slightly before regaining his composure. He cleared his throat and tried to look as heroic as possible. "Your welcome. I mean, really, it was nothing."
Gabby smiled. "If it was nothing, I wouldn't be here."
She moved around Joxer and slowly walked toward Xena, who sat stunned on the rock. Her robes blew slightly in the wind, making it look like she was floating across the ground. Joxer watched as Gabby sat down next to Xena and wrapped her arms around Xena's neck. Xena returned the hug and stroked Gabby's hair, still hardly believing the truth.
As Joxer watched, he knew that even though Gabby was back, nothing had really changed. Gabby knew the truth now about Joxer's feelings for her, but unless a miracle occurred, she would never return those feelings. She was fond of him, but she did not love him. She loved Xena, and nothing would ever change that.
Joxer sighed and walked away from the two women and their private reunion. Near the trees, he saw three women watching in silence. He noticed their transparency as he got closer.
"Hail, Joxer..."
"...and congratulations..."
"...on your success."
"I suppose that I was fated to go to the underworld. You knew it was my destiny."
"Of course," the child said.
"Then you know Gabrielle's destiny, too. And Xena's."
"Yes," the old woman answered.
"Then tell me, will Gabrielle ever return my love?"
"Fear not, Joxer..."
"...your love will not always..."
"...remain unrequited."
The Fates smiled and vanished, silently as the wind. Joxer watched as Xena and Gabby sat talking quietly, Gabby gesturing wildly with her hands. He smiled. She was probably already relating the story of her adventure to the underworld, and they would want to hear his side of the story, as well. He rejoined his friends in the clearing, the Fates' words giving him new hope. Maybe someday, he could call Gabby more than a friend. Someday.
The End
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