Weighing of the Heart
Chapter 1
By Jinxie
End of Season 6: Post Episode 134:
"Gabrielle, that feather is of utmost importance to all Egyptians and gods alike. If you were willing to get it back for me, I'd make it worth your while. Anything you wish for could be yours." He stepped closer to her and whispered "Anything."
"No one can give me what I want." She scoffed as she turned back to the entrance and continued walking to the door.
"I can give you Xena." His voice was confident, but he didn't sound like a sales man. He sounded honest.
She stopped dead in her tracks. Without turning around she replied, "At what cost? I don't like to be indebted to the gods."
"No debt. It would be payment for you returning the feather to me." He walked closer to her as she turned to face him once again.
"I'm not in the mood for games, Anubis." I just wish I could have had more time with her. Gods I miss her. No gods would help Xena and I without wanting more from us. She turns on her heels and storms out of the temple, her mind made up. She will have to live her life without Xena.
xxxx
"Gabrielle, I swear to you, I am telling the truth. You could have a chance at getting Xena back. It won't be easy, but I can give you the opportunity." The god followed after her.
She stopped once again, indecision terrorizing her mind. She knew not to trust gods, but something was telling her she could trust this one. "What benefit is it to you to bring Xena back?"
"No benefit to me. Just repayment for a debt I would owe to you. However, Thoth will know plenty of benefits from Xena's return. Perhaps if we talk with him you will have answers to your questions." His eyebrows rose as he waited for her decision.
I guess it couldn't hurt to hear them out. But should I even get my hopes up? Normally alarms would be going off like crazy about this, but something tells me to trust him. She nodded her head giving her consent. "Take me to Thoth."
xxxx
Anubis transported Gabrielle to another temple, one dedicated to the god Thoth. Inside the temple, the décor was breath taking. Gold lined the walls with inscriptions and pictures carved into it. One particular etching showed what appeared to be the beginning of the universe, stars and galaxies spread from one wall to another.
"Thoth, please grace us with your presence." Anubis requested in a loud booming voice.
Gabrielle expected a big light show, just like when Anubis had appeared to her earlier. However she was surprised to see an ordinary looking man, with dark brown eyes and very tanned skin, walking through a doorway from the back of the temple. He was dressed in the attire of a wealthy Egyptian, but nothing that spoke of his godliness. "Anubis, to what do I owe this visit?" He looked down at Gabrielle and smiled gently. "I see you have brought a guest."
"This is Gabrielle of Greece."
Thoth bent slightly, then reached out to take Gabrielle's hand. He kissed the back of her knuckles softly; very unlike any god she'd ever met. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Gabrielle. I've heard much about you over the last several years."
Anubis interrupted the moment, not allowing Gabrielle to respond. This did not bother her, as she was speechless anyway. "Thoth, as you know, your wife's feather was stolen from Duat. I've enlisted Gabrielle's help to get it back. She is unsure whether she can trust my repayment of the debt I would owe her for doing this deed."
"I see. And what is it that you have offered her? Obviously you would need my help, otherwise you would not be here." He raised his eyebrow at his fellow god, then winked at Gabrielle.
"He offered me the chance to get Xena back." Gabrielle finally spoke up, wanting to make sure that neither god confused what the goal was in this agreement.
"Xena is in the underworld of Japa, is she not?" He directed this question to Anubis, who nodded the affirmative. "I see. Anubis, would you please excuse Gabrielle and I? I have many things to discuss with her."
"As you wish." Anubis vanished from sight in a bright light that hurt Gabrielle's eyes.
"Sheesh, I like your entrance better, Thoth. It doesn't hurt my eyes so badly." She smiled at him, trying to get on his good side for reasons she couldn't fathom at the moment. There was a nagging voice in her head telling her to give creed to this god.
He chuckled at her then offered her a chair to sit. "Gabrielle, we have much to discuss. Have you seen the current state of Egypt? The fighting, the poverty…"
"I have and am saddened to see it in such a state of disrepair. The last time I was here, it was nothing like this." She looked up into his eyes and saw a sadness there that mimicked her own.
"Yes, I too am saddened. I have to tell you something that may come as a shock to you. I have always felt that Xena was not judged righteously as she should have been. It was not her time to die, but she did anyway."
Gabrielle was indeed a little shocked. "What do you mean not her time to die?" She did her best to keep calm and centered, but her emotions were already running amok.
"She should not have ended up in the underworld of Japa. Something went terribly wrong and due to that there is some chaos. Xena was one of the ways that good was balanced with evil. Having her back from the dead would help balance those scales once again. Egypt is in the most disorder though. The government has shut down all defenses for the people, all help to the impoverished. They are currently on their own while the Egyptian monarchy gets wealthy on the taxes."
"So why don't you step in and do something?" She asked, anger towards gods in general was beginning to boil inside of her.
"The gods of Egypt are different than your Greek Olympians. We do not meddle in the lives of mortals, at least not directly. Even if it's for good, we feel that if we step in sometimes and not others, it's even more unfair. Therefore, I wish to help the people through an indirect way." He sighed as he prepared to tell her his proposal.
"What's your plan?" Gabrielle asked, wanting to get to the heart of how this would include her and Xena.
"If you help Anubis get the feather, I will bring Xena to our underworld so she can be judged."
"How would you get her from where she is now? And why? I'm not just going to help you unless this all makes sense to me somehow. I'm not willing to risk my life if I truly do not get the chance at getting Xena back." She was getting frustrated at the thought of them tricking her. She started to lose her hope that they were honest gods, but she wanted to at least hear them out.
"I'm glad you want to be thorough, Gabrielle. I appreciate that greatly. Right now, we are the strongest gods in the spiritual realm. We became such when the Olympians fell all those years ago. In the underworld of Japa, there is really no strong god to contend with. Since she passed from this realm, there has been a bidding war between the gods to secure her. As you can imagine, Ares has been the most boisterous. He is about to turn it into an actual physical war between the gods. I haven't stepped in yet, because I knew that without you, there would be no point in securing Xena. She would not help Egypt without you. Not only that, but she is unbalanced without you. Which is why we are very happy you have come."
She smiled at him, but wanted him to continue, so she did not respond.
He continued, "I will win her soul, because I am the strongest of all the current gods. No one stands a chance against me. She will come to our underworld and go through our judgment."
The bard could feel a tinge of excitement and hope building in the deepest part of her core.
"Don't get to excited though, I cannot guarantee that she will pass our tests. All I can do is give her the opportunity. If she passes our tests and her heart is lighter than Ma'at's feather, then she will be able to come back to the over world."
"Which is why you need me to help Anubis. The feather is the key to any of this working out." She understood now. Somehow it made sense to her how it all tied together. "Let me get this straight. I get the feather back to Anubis. Xena comes to Duat. Xena is judged by your criteria. If she passes your tests, she can come back to this world. Is that correct?"
"It is."
I should probably sleep on this, shouldn't I? Oh Xena, what would you have me do? I'm so lost without you. Even if they are tricking me, at least I would be able to help them by getting that feather back. If they don't follow through on the other promises, then at least there was that. I wouldn't be in their debt…they would be in mine. Even though I probably would get nothing for my work. It's for the greater good, right?
"You've got a deal."
