By Mike Ciani
"Where did she go?", hissed Alti.
"I think Callisto went off into the forest alone.", replied Olya.
"Why did she go out there? I told her to stay within the confines of my village. I don't need anyone picking up any tracks that lead here. If Ephiny or any of the other Amazons find out where you're all hiding then we would be looking at an all-out war, and right now we aren't prepared for it."
"But mistress, while we may be few in numbers, we can defeat an Amazon raiding party with our knowledge of the area as well as Callisto being on our side as well."
"Olya, let me tell you this again. Callisto is an unknown factor in all this. I do not trust her and would advise you of the same. I have seen into her mind and her past. She has had terrible pain that has caused her madness. Pain from the loss of her family that drove her with a rage to want to destroy Xena. She failed though because of instead of allowing her judgment to dictate her actions, she let her pain and rage control her. Do not even think about following her patterns. I know of your hatred towards Xena. That is what all three of us have in common. But with my guidance, this time the Warrior Princess will fall, and I will take her spirit and powers from her."
Olya looked away in silence as a commotion was heard outside the main hut. Olya and Alti went outside to find out what the disturbance was. They saw Callisto approaching with a man in clownish looking armor.
Olya said, "What in Tartarus is that goofy looking thing, Callisto is bringing in the village?"
Alti then yelled out to Callisto, "What is this? Who is that man? And where were you?"
Callisto looked upwards for a moment and then at Alti, "I found him in the woods caught in one of the snares. His name is Joxer and he's a friend, if you want to call him that, of Xena and Gabrielle."
Olya chimed in, "Yes, I remember him...He was trying to protect the queen when Xena came back to the village and attacked it." Then with a frown she added, "When Xena killed my mother."
Alti responded with, "A friend of Xena's hmmm. He will make a nice hostage. Tie him up and put him in my hut for the time being and I will deal with him later. I could use him when I take on Xena. Hahahaha."
"And oh yes, Alti.", Callisto stated with a pointed finger, "Don't concern yourself with my whereabouts anymore. I come and go as I please. You understand that!"
With that Alti followed a guard and Joxer into the main hut. Callisto being a bit tired from having to bring Joxer back, went to her own hut for a little rest. Callisto laid on her bedroll when she heard footsteps outside her hut.
"What do you want?", Callisto plainly stated.
"I wanted to talk to you for a while. Ask you a few questions. That's all.", Olya responded.
"All right, first things first. I do NOT like chit-chat and I like questions even less. But we could make a game out of it you know. I like to call it Truth-Or-Dare.", Callisto grinned.
"Yeah, but I've played that game before. I don't like having to take crazy dares. I am here because I want to know about you and Xena."
"Hmmph, what's to know? I fought her several times and she killed me several times. Oh, I made her life a living nightmare at times, but the revenge I wanted to get on her all that time...it didn't satisfy me the way I thought it would. I helped Gabby's daughter kill Xena's son. It only gave me a fleeting moment of happiness. It was then I realized that my whole adult life was a waste. I thought making Xena feel the same pain I felt, would make me feel better, but I was only kidding myself. It just made me feel empty.", Callisto shook her head as if in a trance.
"Wait a minute. You are responsible for Solan's death. That means you're also responsible for my mother's death.", Olya gasped incredulously.
"What ever are you talking about? Xena killed your mother, I didn't."
"Yes, but you created Xena's rage when you helped kill her son. Xena then came to the village and that's when my mother was killed by the witch. How could you, you...", Olya screamed. She then ran up towards Callisto and started to hit her.
Callisto's rage welled up again and she struck with a backhand to Olya's face. "ENOUGH!". Olya fell to the ground and started crying. It was then when Callisto saw a piece of herself in this little girl again. She saw the same anger, the same rage, and the same confusion that she had when she was the same age as Olya. Callisto mumbled confusedly, "I'm..I'm sorry I did that...Please leave now, would you..."
After Olya got up and quickly ran out of the hut, Callisto got up and went outside herself. Staring up into the pitch blackness of the night sky, she became lost in thought.
"Why did I strike out at her for like that?", Callisto wondered. "She's only some foolish little girl who has had a tough life like I did." Part of Callisto screamed in her mind, "So what life is tough. Too bad for the girl, she'll have to live her own life and make her own mistakes just like I had to."
Another part of her though, a part that Callisto thought was long-buried screamed, "Yes, but do you really want to see someone have the same life and be cursed to make the same mistakes that you did. Instead of flaming her raging passions you should bestow your wisdom and knowledge upon her. You know that she doesn't belong with an evil serpent like Alti. Madness and rage is what Alti is counting on. You can't let that win out."
With that Callisto retuned to her hut, shut the door and laid down on her bedroll. A final thought entered her mind before she drifted off into the realm of Morpheus, "You owe the world, and this girl as much."