The Temple of Shangri-La or Resurrection of Xena
The disguise of serenity harbors sinister, darker auras that lie deep beneath where mysteries dwell. The gray lake water appears placid, but underneath the still facade shadows lurk. And it all is shrouded in mist.
Xena stands upon the sand, looking out at the lake, her raven hair fluttering in the wind. She is naked. Her trademark leather outfit is nowhere to be seen and neither are her sword and chakram. Her face is devoid of emotion, eyes blank with a faraway stare, and strength of a warrior somehow evident in the shape of her cheekbones.
Then, a whisper carried by the breeze reaches her - a whisper of her name.
Xena...
She blinks. The air is still once more, but for a moment, and then it comes again.
Xena...
Her gaze is still upon the lake, but she's listening, almost reaching out to it with her mind.
Xena...
She knows that voice and the realization seems to break her trance completely. Her eyes glance down for an instant and she wraps her arms around her chest.
'Ares?' she murmurs and then turns around, expecting to see him standing behind her, but there's no one. The sandy shore is empty. An instant of disappointment is replaced with anger but even that is brief.
'Even in death you haunt me, Ares?" she asks the empty air, as though mocking the once-God of war.
'You're not dead, Xena.' His voice is a bit louder now, existing somehow all around her. 'Your sacrifice has redeemed your soul and you're, shall we say, in a sort of a limbo while your body is being healed.'
'You're making no sense, Ares.' she says, wondering if her own mind is playing tricks on her.
'Xena...' Ares' voice is closer to a whisper again, but it seems to be changing shifting in timbre to that of a woman. 'I love you Xena...' The voice carries to her, brings her a sense of peace, brings her light. Her eyes well up.
'Gabrielle,' she murmurs. The light intensifies, fades out her surroundings, overwhelms her. She feels the need to breathe, to inhale, and she fights to get to the surface of the light, to get to the air she so desperately needs. She triumphs over the light and gasps as the priceless air enters her body.
Her eyes fly open.
Everything's different. She feels different. No longer naked, but wearing an embroidered robe, she is lying upon an altar inside a vast cavernous chamber adorned with tapestries on the walls and lit by a great number of candles. It appears to be a temple of some sort and, though she's never been here before, Xena senses a strange familiarity to it. The Temple of Shangri-La, this must be it, a place up until now she didn't believe existed. Eli had seen it in a dream once and from his words it is a sacred but hidden place of healing, known by many names, yet revealed only when it is meant to be.
Gabrielle is there, kneeling beside her, tears of joy running down her face.
'Welcome back, Xena!' she says. The aura of the temple feels like that of a warm fire on a cold night, so inviting and peaceful. Xena raises herself into a sitting position, feeling rejuvenated.
'It's good to be back!' She smiles and eases herself off the altar.
They embrace.