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 to write this story before I got to see the Hercules - The Legendary Journeys episode Armageddon Now 2, but seeing the episode helped.

Twist of Fate
By Kristjan Brezovnik

Xena stared at the small village ahead. They had paid her so she would leave them alone, but that never stopped her. She was just on her way to another village and this one, Cirra, was along the way.

"Attack!" she ordered and spurred Argo.

Her army followed her and she could soon see the panicked villagers scurry to the relative safety of their homes. Not many put up a defense and she quickly disposed of those who got in her way. She didn't care about the loot, the village was simply along the way. She barely avoided a young blond girl who was staring at her with her big brown eyes and then rode out of the village and let her men finish.

She stopped outside and watched her men at work. She didn't care about the villagers, but when the fire broke out, she felt a strange emotion. She knew that if she did nothing, many villagers would die, including women and children. She quickly rode back and ordered retreat. Her men were surprised and confused, but they followed her orders and retreated.

The young blond girl stared at the soldiers, scared. She wanted to run home to her mother, but she couldn't get in because the house was on fire. She heard screams coming from inside the house and she saw two figures trying to get out. It was her mother and her sister.

"Mama!!" the girl screamed, terrified, and wanted to help her, but she couldn't.

She heard the screams and she started to cry.

When the soldiers were all out, Xena stopped. She was furious.

"Venditius!" she turned to her second-in-command.

"Yes, Xena?" Venditius asked as he stopped next to her.

"What happened back there?"

"I don't know, Xena."

"You don't know?! You were there and you don't know?!"

"No, Xena," Venditius said, grinning.

Xena grabbed her dagger and slit his throat before Venditius could even flinch.

"Next time someone doesn't know what is going on, I won't be so merciful," Xena said menacingly and turned to her third-in-command. "Looks like you've just been promoted, Darphus."

"Yes, Xena."

"Move on!"

The young girl was on her knees with her eyes closed, covering her ears. She had tried to ignore the screams so hard that she didn't even notice when they finally stopped. Finally a villager walked up to her and gently shook her.

"Callisto."

The girl didn't move.

"Callisto," the man repeated.

"Daddy?" Callisto asked full of hope and looked at the man.

"Callisto…"

Callisto saw that the man wasn't her father and she backed off, scared.

"Callisto, wait."

Callisto looked at what used to be her home and froze. She stared at the smoking remains and she cringed as the memories came back, the demon, the fire, the screams. The demon. Xena.

"Callisto?" the villager interrupted her reverie after a few moments.

Callisto jerked and looked at him, her tears all dried up. She stared at him for a few moments. Then she got up and ran away.

"Callisto!!"

The End