The Other End of the Sword
By Katie Grist
Palis looked up as someone entered the tavern where he was slowly, but surely, getting drunk. Generally, only his fellow drunks came to this hole, but force of habit propelled his gaze towards the doorway.
And there stood a vision of beauty. Dressed in leather armour, with a sword at her side, the woman's blonde hair framed her face, curling about like tendrils of fire.
She surveyed the room, and caught Palis' eye. Making her decision, she sauntered over to his table.
"Is anyone sitting here?"
"Does it matter?" Palis grinned his most woman-killing smile.
"I guess not." She smiled, sitting down.
"So... Can I buy you a drink?" He asked.
"Oh, I never accept drinks from strange men." She spoke like an innocent young Hestian virgin, but Palis saw a teasing gleam in her eye.
"Then I'd better introduce myself." Palis grinned. "I am Palis of Thrace, and I am Very pleased to make your acquaintance."
"Hello Palis," She smiled again. "My name is Callisto."
Callisto smiled to herself. The drunk, Palis, would work out better than she'd hoped. Her last side-kick, Hope, had been a bit of a Disappointment, but this time Callisto knew better. Mortals were much easier to boss around.
"So, Callisto, what exactly are we going to do?" Palis asked as they walked through the forest.
"There is a warrior... She wronged me many years ago, and I swore that I would have retribution. And I need you to help me get it."
That evening, they made camp in a small clearing and while Palis went to find something for them to eat (She didn't want to tell him that she didn't eat anyway) Callisto built up a fire.
"I'm back." Palis announced, entering the clearing. Callisto didn't bother telling him that she'd heard him coming. "I hope you like fish, it's all I could find." He apologised.
"That's fine." Callisto smiled, keeping up her 'sweet and innocent' act (at least, that's what she told herself...).
Palis started cooking the fish, and they sat in silence. Finally, Callisto spoke.
"So, Palis of Thrace, tell me about yourself." She said, for the sake of conversation.
"There's not all that much to tell." Palis replied. "I was born in Thrace and I lived there for most of my life. I had a pretty normal up-bringing, and when I was an adult, I became a soldier. But then I got kicked out of the army for going AWOL and so I crawled into the nearest bottle of Ale, and I haven't come up for air since. But what about you, Callisto? What did this warrior woman do to you?"
She was quiet for a moment, as if collecting her thoughts, but then Callisto started speaking -- her voice distant, and her eyes fixed on the fire.
"When I was young, I lived in ______. I had a normal-- no, a great childhood, my family was doing well, selling crops and the like, and my parents were both good people.
"But one day, She came, and my whole world fell apart."
"She?" Palis asked.
Callisto continued as if she hadn't been interrupted. "Xena, the Warrior Princess." She almost spat the name. "She burned my village to the ground, set loose all the livestock, destroyed all the crops, and killed every person in the village -- except me.
"I must have caught her eye -- The young girl, crying over the body of her mother. So She got off her horse and bent down to me and spoke. 'What's your name, little one?' She asked, as if she'd just met me in the street, not the bloody gutter. 'Callisto' I replied, scared to death. 'Well, Callisto,' She sneered. 'I have something to tell you, a secret.'
"Then she bent down closer, put her mouth next to me ear and hissed; 'Your family is dead and your village destroyed, and it's all your fault.'
"Now, to a rational adult, that's not much -- you'd know she was lying. But to a seven year old who has just seen her family murdered and is sitting in a pool of her mother's blood... I really believed her.
"Xena ruined my life... And now she is going to pay."
"By the Gods..." Palis gasped. "Callisto..."
He moved to her side and for the first time since the attack on her village, someone offered Callisto kindness and compassion -- He hugged her.
After Xena's attack, she'd been seen as a jinx -- after all, why would Xena spare one child out of an entire village? But now, Callisto felt accepted, and in another first, Callisto cried. She let out all the hurt and the guilt and the pain because there was finally someone who didn't blame her, someone who cared. And it scared Callisto -- more, even, than Xena had that fateful day -- because... She cared too.
"I swear, Callisto, I'll help you hunt down this Xena and make her pay for what she did to you." Palis said as they travelled down the road the next morning.
"You would do that?" Callisto said, incredulously. "For me?"
"Of course!" He exclaimed. "Y'know, I've never said this to a girl before, but I think I'm falling in love with you, Callisto."
"I think," Callisto replied with wonder in her voice "That I love you too, Palis."
Later that week they managed to locate Xena's camp, and now they hid in the bushes nearby, waiting for a chance to attack. Then, when they saw that the Warrior, and her friend Gabrielle, were asleep, they approached the clearing.
But somehow, Xena was ready. She and Gabrielle attacked *them*.
Xena and Callisto fought each other, while Gabrielle and Palis duked it out. However, Gabrielle was stronger than her opponent, and she soon knocked Palis unconscious.
"Give it up, Callisto." Xena said as they battled. "This whole revenge thing is getting tired."
"Never!" Callisto grunted, as she disarmed Xena. "You will pay."
As the two warriors (or rather, warrior and the goddess) kept fighting, Gabrielle crept to where Xena's sword had fallen. She raised it high and with an angry cry, launched herself and Callisto.
The Goddess braced herself for the blow that she knew was coming, it was something she could handle. But instead, she heard the unmistakable sound of a sword embedding itself into human flesh.
"No!" Callisto gasped, turning in time to see Palis fall, Xena's sword having gone clean through his torso.
"Palis!" She cried, falling to his side. "Why in Hades did you do that??"
"Had to... save you..." Palis gasped, blood trickling from his mouth. "Callisto... I love you..."
"NO!!" Callisto screamed as the life left Palis' body. "PALIS!!"
Callisto's body shook with silent sobs, but when she rose and turned to Xena, her face was dry.
"You know, I didn't really want to kill you anymore... He was the one that wanted revenge, but now..." Callisto turned to Gabrielle. "So, now I know how you feel." She said with a bitter laugh in her voice.
And in a burst of flame and a wisp of smoke, she was gone.
The End.