DISCLAIMER AND AUTHOR'S NOTE: All Xena stuff is the legal property of MCA/Universal and Renaissance Pictures. No copyright infringement was intended in the writing of this fiction. All other characters that appear belong to me. This story cannot be sold or used for profit in any way. Copies may be made for private use only and must include this copyright notice and disclaimer. I wanted this story to be a part of a larger story, but I later decided that it should stand alone.

Rage, Fear, Love
By Kristjan Brezovnik

Fear and rage mixed in Callisto's heart. She was afraid for her daughter, afraid she might lose her, and she swore that those bastards who dared to kidnap her would pay. Had she been alone, she would have gone straight into the temple and slaughtered everybody within, but she wasn't and she had to wait for her husband so they would slaughter everybody in the temple together. She grinned and checked where her husband was. She noticed that he was already looking at her, waiting for her signal. She knew he was feeling the same way she did. She looked back at the priests and screamed her war cry.

The priests and other followers of Dahak were preparing for the sacrifice, convinced that they were safe. When a blood-curling war cry disturbed their chanting, everybody froze for a moment, confused, and then suddenly Tartarus broke lose when two figures appeared out of nowhere and started to kill them.

Callisto and Alexander walked and jumped among the followers of Dahak, killing them one by one, and Arleia stared at her parents, shocked. She had always known them as loving, protective, no-nonsense parents and seeing them in their warrior outfits killing Dahak's followers was something completely new to her. She saw that her father's expression was calm, his face like a stone mask as he killed, but the look in her mother's eyes scared her, she looked like a demon and she seemed to relish the blood bath.

The fight was short and finally only one of the priests remained. He approached Arleia and put a dagger on her neck.

"Go or I will kill her!" he demanded.

Callisto and Alexander looked at him and approached him.

"Stay back!" the priest warned him.

Callisto glared at him.

"You pathetic piece of dog shit, you dare threaten me?"

"I am a priest of Dahak, the…"

"And I am Callisto, you pathetic excuse for a man, and I will not allow any god to mess with my family," Callisto said and threw her dagger.

The priest screamed when the dagger penetrated his wrist, making him drop the dagger. Callisto was immediately on him and she knocked him out. Then she looked at her daughter and gave her a warm smile full of love.

"Don't worry, sweety, Mama's here," she said and caressed her.

Arleia tried to back off, still shocked from the recent events, and the smile on Callisto's face faded. She realized that her daughter was afraid of her and it made her feel uncomfortable and ashamed. She turned to her husband.

"Take her out," she told him.

Alexander nodded and cut Arleia's ties. He offered her his hand, but Arleia didn't accept it and she avoided him. Alexander looked at Callisto and then followed Arleia out.

Callisto waited until they were gone and then picked up the priest and threw him on the sacrificial table. She slapped him a couple of times and waited until he came around.

"Hello," she said, grinning evilly, "remember me?"

The priest nodded, scared.

"Tell Hades I said hi," Callisto said and started to cut him up.

Outside, Arleia heard the screams and she looked at the temple. Then she looked at her father, but he seemed to be avoiding her and was cleaning his weapons with grass as they walked to the car. She did not understand what was going on. She took a closer look at his outfit and weapons and they seemed old.

Finally Callisto came. Arleia looked at her and she noticed that Callisto was avoiding looking at her. Callisto went to the car, sat in and then Alexander drove away.

When they got home, Arleia went straight to her room and her parents didn't disturb her. Alexander and Callisto changed their clothes and cleaned up their weapons. They were both quiet and Alexander knew that Callisto was afraid. He was afraid himself, but not as much as Callisto. He left her alone and considered what he should do to calm his wife and his daughter.

In the evening, when Callisto didn't come to the bedroom, Alexander looked for her. He found her sitting in front of the fireplace, staring into the fire. He also heard crying and it surprised him, Callisto never cried. He hesitated for a moment and then went to her. He sat beside her and hugged her. He felt Callisto stiffen and he felt that for a moment she wanted to break the hug, but she finally leaned on him.

Alexander quietly held her until the tears dried out and she fell asleep. He then gently picked her up and carried her to the bed. Callisto hung on to him like a child hangs on to his mother and Alexander had to smile, she looked so innocent and child-like.

Callisto spend the next morning in her study and so did Alexander. He had heard Arleia go out of her room in the morning, but he didn't go after her. He wasn't much of a talker and when he said something, he wanted it to be the right thing. When he checked up on Callisto, he saw that she was avoiding his eyes, she never did that. He went to her, kissed her on the forehead and then left.

Arleia had been in her room all morning, thinking about the side of her parents she had never suspected existed, much less seen. And the scream in the middle of the night scared her. She didn't know what had happened. She had wanted to run to her parents, to see if they were all right, but she was still to scared from the experience of the previous day and she locked the door instead. When no one had come to her room and when she had heard her parents walk around the house in the morning, she knew that there was no danger. She waited until she knew they would be working and then went out of her room to wash herself and eat the breakfast. Then she returned to her room, but she didn't lock the door.

She was deep in her thoughts, still contemplating the events of the previous day, when someone knocked on her door. She stiffed and didn't answer. The knock was repeated and when she still didn't answer, the door opened and her father walked in. In spite of his gentle look, Arleia noticed that he was concerned.

Alexander smiled softly as he approached his daughter's bed. He sat next to her and caressed her.

"I think it's time you find out the truth about us," he said and took a deep breath. "I was born about 2500 years ago in Troy, before it was attacked by the Greeks. I was one of the few who managed to escape when the Greeks entered. I was fighting ever since I learned to stand and so I became a warlord. I conquered my own little kingdom and I ruled there. But I was lonely and so I left. I wandered around until I met Callisto." He paused. "She was born at about the same time as I. When she was about ten, a warlord named Xena burned down Cirra, her home village, and Callisto swore revenge. She learned how to fight and became a warlord herself. She killed people just to get back at Xena, who had reformed by the time Callisto felt she was capable of taking on Xena. Xena first defeated her and sent her to jail. Callisto escaped and went after Xena again, but this time she died and went to Tartarus. She escaped and became immortal. She saved a little peace of the apple from the Tree of Life, so that she would give it to Xena and they would fight for all eternity. But when she met me, she slowly forgot about Xena and she gave me the apple piece and so I also became immortal." Alexander paused again. "We wandered around for two and a half millennia and Callisto wanted to have a family again, a real family. Since immortals can't have children, we asked Zeus to take our immortality away and he did. Nine months later, we had you." He smiled. "She named you after her mother, you know."

Arleia stared at her father, confused. His story certainly explained most of the things, but it was so incredible that she just couldn't believe it. Immortals and Greek gods? Come on.

"I have never seen your mother cry," Alexander continued, "but yesterday, she did. And she had the nightmare again."

Callisto stared at her father.

"Did she scream?" she asked.

"Yes."

"What did she dream about?"

"About losing her family. She hadn't had that dream in over two millennia, but yesterday, she did. She's afraid of losing you, Arleia."

"Losing me?" Arleia asked, confused.

"You were afraid of us when you saw us kill those priests and Callisto fears that it might have frightened you so much that you would run away." He paused. "Your mother loves you, Arleia, and she would die a thousand painful deaths to protect you and so would I."

Arleia stared at her father for a few moments.

"I know," she finally said, remembering Callisto's warm smile after she had killed the priests. "I'll talk to her," she added after a pause.

Alexander smiled and caressed her. This time Arleia didn't try to avoid him.

"Oh, Daddy," she said instead and hugged him.

Alexander hugged her back.

"You're safe now, Arleia."

After Alexander had left, Arleia remained in her room for a while, thinking about what her father had told her. She knew that he would never lie to her and she took his story to be the truth. She finally decided to go to her mother.

Callisto was immersed in work, trying to get the fears out of her mind. When Arleia entered, Callisto looked at her and Arleia could see fear in her eyes. She was surprised because fear was not something she normally associated with her mother. Still, she could see that Callisto was afraid and she remembered what her father had told her. This was another side of her mother she had never suspected existed, much less seen. Her mother seemed so innocent, so vulnerable, and Arleia felt the need to console her. She hesitated for a moment, remembering the demonic look in her mother's eyes when she killed the priests, but when she remembered the loving look afterwards and the loving words, she knew that she was safe, that her mother would protect her and help her and not let any harm come to her. Right now, however, it was her mother who needed help and consolation and Arleia went to her.

Callisto stared at her, hoping, and when Arleia got closer, she didn't move, afraid she might do or say something wrong.

When Arleia got to her mother, she stared at her for a few moments and then hugged her.

"I love you, Mama," she said.

Callisto didn't move for a few moments and Arleia could feel that her body was slightly trembling. Finally, Callisto hugged Arleia back.

"I love you too, sweetie," she said and Arleia could hear that her voice was trembling.

Callisto held her daughter for a while, not wanting to ever let go, but she finally did.

When her mother finally let go of her, Arleia saw that she had been crying. She was confused for a moment, but then she wiped her tears and Callisto smiled. Arleia smiled back, glad that she could help her mother.

"Daddy told me about you two being immortals and all," Arleia said after a while. "I don't mind, Mama, I love you anyway," she added when she saw that her mother's smile had faded. "I won't leave you, Mama, ever."

A small smile appeared on Callisto's face and Arleia hugged her again.

"I love you, Mama."

The End