Fearful Symmetry
"What immortal hand or eye has shaped thy fearful symmetry?"
William Blake
an alternative HTLJ-XWP tale by Rielle aka Caitrin Baer
Disclaimers:
Gabrielle and Iolaus, Hercules and Xena, Iphicles, and Jason, and some other characters as depicted here are the sole property of Pacific Renaissance Pictures and MCA Universal. No infringement of their copyright is intended by this work of fiction. In other words, I am playing in their backyard and I am not making or seeking to make any profit from doing so.
The priestess Ariella, resident of Corinth during the reign of King Iphicles, however is the sole property and invention of this author, and may not be used elsewhere without my express permission.
Lastly, the possibility exists that within the context of this work of fiction, adult sexual relationships will be discussed that are nonconsensual in nature, and consensual, adult sexual relationships will be presented or discussed as existing between members of opposite genders and members of the same gender. Those who would be offended by such matters, or those under the age of 18 are asked not to read further.
Part One:
She looked into the deep, dark pool that this shrine to Artemis was built around in ages past. Nothing showed there now, except for the cool, quiet water. Not even the thin crescent of the Huntress' moon still glimmered on the surface. The moon had set. The sky above was paling towards dawn.
The vision was gone.
Except, Ariella found, the vision remained alive in her memory, echoing like a fading dream. She fervently wished it was only a dream, a nightmare. It had been too clear, too vivid, and much too coherent to fit those convenient explanations. Experience told her that all the wishing in the world would not change what she'd seen. Only those involved could do that, as people rarely understood, and still more rarely acted on.
"Goddess," she whispered. "only those involved in this vision can change what you've shown me, or let happen what you've shown me. I know none of them, and none of them know me. How can I bring this vision to them? How can I convince people I've never met? And why, why are you giving me the task of telling them?"
Sitting back from the pool, Ariella considered . "Something's missing here." Ariella whispered to herself, not wishing to disturb anyone else who might be in the temple precincts. "There's something or someone I didn't see that holds the answer to this vision."
She stood up, away from the pool, knowing her mind was too tired to try again this morning. All she saw in the reflective waters now was her own moon pale face, crowned with auburn hair gathered and bound by intricate small braids, lit by gray-green eyes. Shaking her head, Ariella deliberately turned her mind from visions and dreams. Dwelling on them now would only confuse her later attempts at understanding.
As trained since she first entered temple service, Ariella gave thanks to the Goddess. Then she carefully cleansed the area, removed her tools and the remainders of her ritual work. Lastly she went inside the temple and bathed from top to toe, as she had before beginning the rite. Then, according to her training, she broke her ritual fast and sought a few hours rest. Taking a scroll she hadn't looked at since it came to the temple library, Ariella reclined, started to read, and fell sound asleep.
When she woke, Helios was climbing the sky at his mid morning pitch. Laughing at herself, Ariella decided she'd better take care of the errands she'd planned for earlier in the day, before she did anything else. Walking at a comfortable pace, she met people coming and going from Corinth's central market. The priestess could have sent a novice or a servant from the temple on her errands. She preferred getting out and seeing what was to be seen herself.
Corinth's seaport gave it a justly famous marketplace. Beautiful things, and exotic imports from all across Greece and the known world, were shipped here. Corinth in turn sent the world her uniquely beautiful pottery and other exports. This trade kept the central market a lively, busy place most hours of the day. However, Ariella considered, the people who came and went with the imports and exports were the most interesting sights by far. Amidst the exchange of weavings and pottery, parchment scrolls and other tanner's work, they provided the most interesting exchange of all; rumor, speculation,
and sometimes, actual news.
"Hercules is coming home!" Ariella heard one vendor excitedly tell another.
"Hercules?" asked the second seller of goods, "Are you sure? He's been gone half a year or more."
"Why was Hercules away so long?" a youth, looking at the knives a smith was beating into shape over a bed of glowing coals.
"No one seems to know." his companion answered, examining the swords that hung from the smith's wagon. "Anyway, I haven't heard a word."
"Surely the king will declare festival for his brother's return after such a long absence." A third merchant cried happily.
"A festival?" a handful of girls at the third booth Ariella passed was asking.
"When is the festival?
How soon?"
"Probably as soon as Hercules comes home, silly!" one of them teased another, laughing.
But while she examined a vase in the next vendor's booth, and some handmade sistra in another, and some scrolls of sacred poetry at another; Ariella couldn't shake off a certain restlessness. She stopped and sat and closed her eyes for a moment, and part of the last night's vision swept across her mind. And for some reason, again, she heard the name of Hercules.
Hercules Ariella thought, wonderingly. Seeking inward again, the priestess tried to see more clearly. Lady, what's Hercules to do with what I saw?
As clear an answer as she'd ever known while fully, normally conscious came to Ariella from a source she inexplicably knew was her goddess' voice whispering: "To fulfill the ritual; the son of Zeus has no choice. With my queen alone a dark door was opened. With my queen alone, can it be closed.
"With my queen?" Ariella echoed aloud. "To fulfill the ritual? Goddess, if only I understood . . "
As if in response, a rush of strange images flowed through the priestess' mind. Places and people she'd never seen before, in torment, in joy, in terror and in mourning crowded her inward senses as a festival day did the marketplace in Corinth.
Shaking and breathing hard, Ariella found that her vision had driven her to the wharf, along with the end of market day crowd. A great ship was in the harbor. A strange ship with markings such as she'd never seen before. Well, you're not exactly a world traveler. she smiled at herself. But as soon as Ariella saw the people disembarking from that foreign ship with the huge eye on the front, she knew why she'd allowed the press of the market crowd to carry her here.
A male figure far taller and stronger than any around him was striding down a gangplank. He was followed by two women who the priestess considered must be from foreign lands. One of the women wore a costume of the strangest weavings Ariella had ever seen, lines of color in her brief skirt and shawl making patterns never seen in Corinth or anywhere in Greece. The second woman wore armor as if she'd been born in it, armor that held the same bronze sheen as her limbs and face. It didn't matter that Ariella knew neither one of these women. Like the rest of the excited crowd of Corinthians, she recognized the tall, strong, sad faced man. Like the rest of the crowd she gladly greeted the hero, calling his name: "Hercules!"
Like any other of Artemis' priestesses, Ariella, would normally avoid direct contacts with men, any men, no matter how heroic or famous for helping people they might be. To communicate with any man in the city, she would normally send one of the guards from Artemis' temple, or if the person she sought lived further away, a messenger bird. Such was her training and her inclination. Today, Ariella felt such urgency about her message that she ignored both.
"Hercules!" she called out, using the breathing and projecting skills from her ritual training. "Hercules!" Normally she would employ these to get the attention of a room full of giggling, distracted acolytes. When trying to teach them the difference between herbs that would help a woman deliver a child, and those that might keep her from conceiving, it was very helpful. Today, she needed the attention of only one person, but he was a demigod. That thought in itself stopped Ariella's voice in her throat and her foot in mid-step. But the vision touched her mind's eye again and she went on.
Within a yard or two of the gangplank, with dozens of people still between her and the newcomers, Ariella pushed her way forward. The three travelers were being greeted by people the priestess did not recognize. Hercules had been away for months, and his family was no doubt here to greet him. Normally Ariella wouldn't think of intervening in such a reunion. But today she was feeling more and more urgency and again, she called out.
"Hercules, son of Alcmene, son of Zeus! Artemis sends me with a message for you!"
Taking another step, Ariella saw that her persistence was rewarded, the man she called out to turned in her direction. His eyes remained sad, as if the sorrow they knew would never be gone; but his expression became curious.
Not many in Corinth are going to greet him that formally, are they? she laughed at herself. He probably already thinks some madwoman is standing here yelling nonsense at him. And he hasn't heard the message yet! Goddess, he is coming this way!
Ariella took one more step, and immediately wished she'd stayed put. As in her least favorite nightmare she found nothing but empty air where solid ground was supposed to be. With limbs flailing and skirts flying, she stumbled and fell, flat on her face on the next level of the wharf. Unhurt, except for a wave of embarrassment, the priestess started to pick herself up.
Pushing up with hands and elbows and knees, she saw a dozen different pairs of boot shod feet move towards her and then back. Then she saw a pair of feet shod in many layered, heavily laced boots below woven leather pants and felt a pair of very strong hands supporting her arms.
"Are you all right?" a clear, deep voice asked from high above her head. "Are you sure you should get up?"
"Oh, I'm fine." Ariella replied. "Nothing harmed except my dignity. At least I didn't fall on my bottom, then it would be irreparable. Hercules, I'm Ariella, one of Artemis' priestesses here in Corinth."
"And you have,. . . she has a message for me?" the voice asked.
Ariella stood up, and looked up, and up again, until her eyes met the wide blue eyes of the man she'd seen standing helpless in her vision. There was a depth of pain and grieving in those eyes that went far beyond any tears they would ever shed. There was a sense of loss and anger he seemed to wear like a shield. The priestess wondered how he would react to what she was being driven to tell him now, but only for an instant. The matter was too urgent.
"Artemis sends me to tell you: 'Hercules, son of Zeus: You have no choice in this matter. With my queen alone a dark door was opened. With my queen only, can it be closed.' " Ariella let the Goddess' words flow from her lips and knew a small sense of relief. At least this part of her duty was now done.
"With my queen. . .?" the demigod echoed, keeping one strong hand under each of Ariella's arms as he helped her regain her balance. "I don't think I understand. Which queen is Artemis'? I have no choice in this matter? If its the matter I've been involved in lately, than I'm sorry, but I can't avoid my responsibility. . . too many people are in danger."
"Yes, so my Lady Artemis showed me, son of Zeus." Ariella responded, deciding that formality might be the best tact.
The demigod apparently did not agree. "Your lady Artemis has shown little enough care about someone who always revered her forests and her gifts of life!" Hercules growled. Then he looked slightly ashamed of his outburst. "Priestess, I'm sorry. I just got back from a journey that lasted far, far too long. It was a journey I wish I'd never begun; on which I lost the closest friend I ever had. Perhaps this isn't the best time for us to talk about whatever it is my half sister chose to tell you. Perhaps you could come back and explain this all to me after I've dealt with. . ."
"After you've dealt with the demon who caused all the trouble and grief you speak of, Hercules?" Ariella demanded. "I'm sorry. I don't usually intrude in others lives. In fact, I don't usually interact with people outside the temple precincts. But in this matter, the Lady would not let me rest until I'd delivered her message, and I think she wants you to know the whole vision she gave me. Please understand, this was in ritual and such matters are usually not meant for any but a priest or priestess. If I was not so certain the goddess intends you to know these things, I would be breaking my oaths to tell you. I don't know if I can make it any clearer than that."
"Uh, no, that's very clear. Please, Priestess . . "
"No, there's no need for titles, I only use them to get people's attention. I'm Ariella. Can we go somewhere and talk?"
"Talk about what?" the armor bearing warrior woman asked, stepping up behind Hercules asked. "Hercules, who is this? What are we stopping to talk about?"
"Nebula, this is Ariella, from Artemis' temple. Priestess, this is Nebula, whose ship brought us home and who is also part of this fight." Hercules replied.
"As am I!" the other woman strode across the wharf to join them "Morrigan's the name. Are you some strange kind of Druid, then?" she asked, pulling at the sleeve of Ariella's robe.
"I don't know what a druhad is, so I'd have to say, no, I'm not one." Ariella replied, "I serve the goddess Artemis in her temple here at Corinth. Last night she sent me a vision, and a message. If, as Hercules says, you are part of his fight, then I must tell you, as well. But I don't think we need to tell the half of Corinth that's here either for market day or to greet you, Hercules."
"No," the demigod agreed. "Only a very few people need to know, right now. If you ladies will come with me, I'll introduce you to them."
Ariella hesitated a moment, wondering if her Goddess meant for the whole of her vision to be revealed only to Hercules. In answer, she felt the same urging onwards she'd known since the vision came. Quietly but insistently, it was not a whispered, inward voice now, but a wordless need to continue what that vision began. Since Hercules and his companions now waited for her, the priestess closed ranks with them and nodded. Lady, she thought, if this is what you want, I am your instrument, as always. Let me not guide these brave people falsely, or through my own fears and lackings, but with your discernment.
Hercules led the way back across the wharf, where a graying older man with a strong bearing and a kind smile clasped the demigod's arm and then pulled him into a hug of greeting. His powerful frame and keen eyes suggested to Ariella that this was Jason, who had been captain of the Argonauts as well as ruler of Corinth. Next to him stood a younger man with sharp features and piercing dark eyes. He waited for Hercules' attention and then clasped both his arms and nodded in response to unspoken questions.
"Yes, I'm home for a change, brother. No, she's not here. My beloved queen wanted to stay and help however she might. But finally I begged Jael to go up into the countryside with the children for safety's sake, and she relented. I promise you all the help Corinth can give. But, I'm still having a hard time believing . . . "
"So am I, brother." Hercules replied, telling Ariella who the dark eyed man must be, his brother Iphicles, king of Corinth. "So am I. But there's really no time to indulge in doubts right now. Trouble is on its way here, and may already be stirring up elsewhere in Greece. And when it gets here, it will be wearing my best friend's face."
Ariella saw that everyone in the small group reacted differently to what Hercules said. Jason shook his head sadly, his eyes full of compassion and understanding. Iphicles frowned tautly, and balled his fists as if eager to strike a foe. Morrigan seemed to brighten strangely at the idea of trouble. And Nebula shuddered, drawing a deep breath as if the idea itself pained her.
Only Hercules of those present had been one of the figures in her vision. Neither the past or present king of Corinth, or either of these foreign women were there. Am I still missing part of the picture? she wondered. Goddess, do you have something more to show me that I may help these people fight the evil they face?
Only my queen can close the darkest door came the whispering voice again. Only my queen can cut the link between our world and the other's. Only my queen . . .
"What did you say? Ariella, are you all right?" Hercules asked her, startling the priestess as he caught her arm.
The priestess blinked up at him, and then around at the others, all of whom were glancing her way with expressions ranging from skepticism to open curiosity. This was getting to be a bit more than she was used to or liked. Now she seemed to be asking questions inwardly, only to have the Lady answer them aloud. She knew that was what had happened, because she could hear the echoes of the Goddess' voice, like a fading dream in her mind.
"I'm perfectly fine, really." She heard herself say. "I'm sorry. I don't usually . . leave the party that way. But I think maybe I should be sitting down, about now."
"That's a fine idea." Hercules agreed. But instead of helping her to a seat on the wharf side, he put one strong arm behind her back, another under her legs and carried her to a small carriage. "Lets get moving, people. It seems my half sister, Artemis, in this case, has more information for us. What I don't understand is why she didn't just bring the message herself!"
"Maybe she just guessed you'd be in a really foul mood when you got home." Nebula quipped. "And she didn't want to have to go toe to toe. "
"No, I don't think so." Ariella replied, before she realized the dark woman was joking. "I don't know all Her reasons, of course. But there is more for you all to know, and there is someone else who needs to be here. Only I have no idea whatever who she is."
"If you tell us your vision, priestess." Morrigan interjected "I'm sure one of us will be able to understand what it means. Isn't that the way of visions and such?"
"Well, it is, yes. At least that's my training, and my experience, at Her temple." Ariella answered, surprised and thankful that someone understood.
"But you've not walked very far outside that temple, have you?" Nebula challenged.
"No, there's been no need for me to, not since I was dedicated to her service." the priestess replied. "There's been no need for me to travel any further than I did today, to Corinth's marketplace. Why do you ask?"
"Only because I think living closed up like that can play tricks on your perspective, on your mind. Nothing personal." The dark woman told her. "I just spent a few months cooped up in a castle, but it might as well have been a temple or a prison. Maybe your goddess just wants you to get out and clear your head."
"Maybe She wants to test me, to see if I can tell the difference between Her visions and my own imaginings. Is that what you're saying, queen Nebula?" Ariella answered, looking the dark woman eye to eye.
The dark beauty blinked. "Now, if I were a queen," she replied, looking suddenly regal from top to toe despite her costume, "how would you or your goddess know it, since it has nothing to do with why I'm back in Greece again?"
"But it does. As my goddess showed me, part of the horror that's been unleashed on our world has already struck you closely enough to nearly drive you mad. You proved stronger than that evil, and that's why you're back again to fight it to an ending. But you're not the queen my Goddess' vision showed me. The bond was never formed between you and the demon, but between you and Iolaus. In the same way, the bond was never formed between the queen I was shown and Iolaus, but between her and the demon. I'm very sorry for your loss, Nebula. We all are. Gods willing there will come a time for you to mourn him."
Nebula said nothing more, but her eyes revealed grief and regret as deep as the ocean she traveled. She climbed into the carriage beside Ariella, as did kings Jason and Iphicles. The priestess was sure all three of them were well used to this kind of transportation. To her, it was rare and fascinating. Hercules and Morrigan, she saw, watching them from the carriage window, borrowed two of the escort's horses and rode along side. They kept watch and spoke quietly to each other. A fragile link lay between them, as well, but it was not one that held a life in common, not yet.
Within less time than it would have taken her to walk back to the temple precincts, Ariella found herself the center of attention at King Iphicles private hall. After servants brought what seemed to her a tremendous feast for the returned travelers, all five of her new acquaintances began listening to and questioning the priestess. Never in her life had she known or sought such notice. Having it from five intense people at once made her feel rather like bait on a fisherman's line. Despite the urgency of her vision and her message, the priestess became absolutely tongue tied.
"Ariella," Hercules suggested, "usually the best thing is to start from the beginning and give as much information as you have. We'll take it from there, all right?"
"Of course. With your indulgence, your majesties, Morrigan, Hercules, I will ask you to keep the same secrecy I am bound to, about what I will tell you now. Otherwise, I will be breaking my most sacred oaths."
All gave assent, in murmurs and nodding heads, so she went on. "When the moon is new and again when it is full, it has always been my practice, to go to the sacred pool inside the temple grounds, to see what, if anything, the Lady has to show me there. I was tending a new mother for the past week and so my new moon rite was delayed almost three days this time. That's quite a long time, where a ritual is concerned. I thought, when I went to the pool last night that the delay was the reason I felt such urgency. Now, I don't think so."
Ariella sipped the watered wine she'd been given, studied the faces around her once more and continued:
"I saw a woman and a man facing one another in a small room. She was standing, he was reclining. The woman was wary, the man was either relaxed or weary, I couldn't tell which. The woman was lithe and small in stature with red-gold hair and watchful green eyes. If I had to guess, I'd say she was from Thrace, or Macedon, as my father's kin are. She seemed unutterably sad, her face full of regret. The man was flaxen haired and wiry built, with intelligent blue eyes that never left the woman's face. His face was far harder to read, sometimes it was arrogant, sometime full of longing."
Ariella heard a deep sigh, and realized it came from Hercules. The demigod looked as if she'd touched a raw wound, but he said nothing aloud.
"I couldn't hear what was said between them. I only saw their movements. Any movement the man made towards her, the woman countered, threatening him with a weapon she held firmly in both hands. At first, I could not see what that was. Then I realized, it was a short sword with an undulating blade. Consistently, without showing any real fear, the man moved out of her range. It was almost like . . a dance, a ritual dance. Finally, several things happened so close together that I'm still not sure . . "
"Go on, priestess." Morrigan encouraged her, "We're listening."
"Well, first it seemed the woman decided all at once to attack and she struck the man down with blinding speed, before either of them could say or do anything more. But then, it looked almost as if the man dropped his guard deliberately, and opened himself willingly to her blow, the way I was trained an animal willingly sacrificed to the gods should do. Still, I'm not sure, because then, it seemed the man fell to his knees, as an executioner's victim might do, and the woman reacted to the gesture by giving a fatal stroke. But as the man crumpled towards the floor, she gathered him in her arms, sobbing and keening and tearing her hair with the same blade. Frankly, that part still doesn't make any sense to me. Does it, to any of you?"
Ariella looked at her new companions, all of whom listened carefully, none of them seeming in the least shocked or surprised. Maybe they're just too well mannered to tell me this sounds like the ravings of a mad woman. she considered.
"I wish it didn't make sense." Hercules finally answered, somberly. "But it does. The man, was he wearing an odd kind of robes, like a priest's robes only, none seen around here?"
"Yes, black robes with strangely made sleeves." Ariella agreed.
"And the woman, how was she dressed?" Nebula asked, although she seemed reluctant to know the answer.
"Well, to some extent, like you and Morrigan are, your . . Nebula. I suppose you might say with an eye towards the practical. She wore a short kilt, knee high boots, and a very short bodice, laced with leather thongs. And she wore her hair down onto her shoulders, as you do. I saw a costume something like that in a play once. The young actor was supposed to be enacting an Amazon, I believe. "
"Priestess, earlier you were calling her a queen." King Iphicles mentioned. "That doesn't sound much like the wearing apparel of a queen."
"Your majesty, it was my Lady Artemis who called her a queen, in fact, Her queen. She didn't look like any drawing or vase portrait of a queen I've ever seen." Ariella explained.
Hercules was sitting next to the priestess, with Morrigan on his right. His eyes were thoughtful as he listened to her description. "And her eyes were green." The demigod added, "Is that right?"
"Why, yes they were, bright green and full of sorrow. The demon has cost her greatly, too. But how did you know that, Hercules?" Ariella demanded. "Did you see the vision, too?"
"No, but I've been trying to listen to you and at the same time puzzle out the message Artemis sent. 'My queen' she said and you describe this 'queen' being dressed like an Amazon. I only know one who matches the description you've given us." Hercules sighed, and frowned as he went on. "It may be hard to get a message to her. She's a traveling bard. But she was also, through an odd set of circumstances, once named queen to a tribe of Amazons. Her name is Gabrielle."
"Well, that explains her connection to the goddess." Ariella nodded. "Many of the Amazons, I've heard, worship Artemis. How best can we reach her with the Lady's message?"
"Well, the fact that she travels with a warrior as well known as Xena should make finding this young woman a bit easier." Jason suggested.
"We'll use every means that comes to hand, priestess." King Iphicles assured her. "We'll send riders and messenger birds and recruit some Amazons of our own, if we have to. This matter is too important and too dangerous to neglect any effort."
"And until Gabrielle gets here, we'll make some preparations of our own." Hercules agreed. "Is there anything more you can tell us, Ariella?"
"Not much, I'm afraid." The priestess shook her head, but feeling a new unease as she looked into his wide, blue eyes. There was something more that, as with other lucid dreams and visions sent by the goddess, she couldn't quite get a conscious image of in her mind.
"But there's something I really don't understand here. You're saying they stood and talked to each other." Nebula asked, incredulously. "They just stood and talked? About what?"
"I couldn't hear their words. The . . .man she spoke with seemed very weary, sometimes, other times in the vision he seemed to be mocking her, encouraging her to attack."
"That's part of his repertoire." Hercules agreed, frowning. "And if he thinks no one who cares about Iolaus will be able to attack someone who seems to be, or only looks like him. He's going to find out just how wrong he can be, the next time we meet! By all the gods, he is!"
"Hercules!" Ariella held out her hands in alarm. "Oaths are not taken lightly by any of the gods. Don't you know that by now? The gods are not mocked!"
Once more, unbidden, the previous night's vision returned to Ariella's mind's eye: She still heard no words spoken. She still picked up a sense of some ritual being enacted. But now, in a corner of the room in which she saw the robed man and the amazon clad woman, she saw another male figure, standing with his face turned to the wall, his arms down, his shoulders slumped. This was a very tall, strongly built man, whose form and face and name were known throughout Greece, and all the more so in Corinth, where his brother reigned as king. This was without question, Hercules, and somehow, he was barred from the struggle.
The fair haired, bright eyed man was in some ways like another hero figure of Corinth, Hercules' friend, Iolaus. Iolaus was a warrior and a hunter, as well known through most of Greece as his half godly companion. Their exploits were well known, especially in and around Corinth where they sometimes rested from their adventures. Lady, why would Hercules just stand there if his friend's life was in danger?
The goddess' words echoed 'The son of Zeus has no choice in the matter.' Artemis said, clearly, sternly. 'These two are mine and they must be returned to me. The foreign demon shall not have them indefinitely, though it wills that end; and only my queen can break their bond to it. Only my queen can cut the cord that once held a life in common between our world and the other's. Only that cord binds the man we know to the other's world; because by his own choice, he once fought the demon's spawn.'
Now Ariella, coming out of the vision again, benumbed by what she saw and heard, felt she understood fully at last. Something existed between the Amazon and that evil spirit, as alive as both but in a very different way. When she sensed it, Ariella knew where she had seen such a connection before, and why her help was needed. This was the normally invisible tie between any two who created and delivered a life into the world. It didn't matter how, or to what purpose. It didn't matter who they were or if they had any other connections in common. It didn't matter if love or hatred or lust or power was the motive for their joining.
Working out of Artemis' temple as a midwife, Ariella had seen these more times than she could count. She had seen it between new, first time parents delighting in the birth of a child. She had seen it between older women and their lovers, surprised and bemused to find themselves parents again. The priestess had also seen it existing between a woman attacked and her attacker, thus helping the priestess of Artemis and the woman to identify the wrongdoer. And she was once more chilled to her own core as she realized that this connection was what had to be cut, and soon. If it was not, a very real danger existed: All the pain and grief, all the mourning and horror that had already come through that connection into the world, would be dwarfed by what could come through yet.
"Ariella," she finally heard Hercules saying, as a cup was held to her lips. "Ariella, drink this, you're shivering like a new born foal. Here, drink."
The priestess sipped from the cup, and finding it was unwatered wine, carefully sipped only a little more.
"So, Artemis is telling me for the third time today that I have no choice in this . . matter? I hate it when that happens." Hercules said, with a mirthless grin. "Well, my friends, it seems we have to find Gabrielle."