Author's Notes: We begin a new story with a chapter that will hopefully grab your attention; this is the final installment of the Xena story arc and will hopefully help explain things a little more concerning what our intrepid Hero, Alain Desrochers, has in store for his future. Though I can't be certain because I didn't re-read everything before breaking it up into chapter mode.
For those of you who followed both Of Gods and Women stories this should be pretty new, for starters the first person perspective has been relegated to only scenes involving our hero. Those scenes might confuse you at first; so I'll say right off the bat, Alumni and Alain are now two different characters and the scenes written from Alain's perspective are internal scenes of the mind. (I know; I know, that might spoil stuff for some people, but I just didn't want to spring that on you guys with no warning/explanation.)
Once again since this is the start of a new story we shall find ourselves introducing a new dismlaimer; the characters of the Xenaverse do not belong to me, I am merely borrowing them for a non-profit type situation. The characters of Alumni, Alain Desrochers and others you will meet within the mind of the man belong exclusively to me and therefore are subject to My Creations Laws under the act... Ok bad idea; I'm not good with that kind of humor, so anyway I believe that covers all the bases, behold Chapter One and enojoy. (I hope.)
Prologue
The monster laughed cruelly as villagers screamed; charred corpses littered the ground, and yet I couldn't do a thing to stop this monster. He chuckled darkly; and more people died, I watched helplessly as death took hold of innocents using my face. Until a mother clutching her child; no more then at least five weeks old stood before him, I felt something then.
"NO!" I cried; the monster stopped as I fought for dominance, his face contorting with some kind of pain. We fought internally until I was struck down, but by then the mother had fled; the monster ranted with fiery words, but I felt accomplished. Surrounded as I was by the memories of my past I was safe; though a part of me wanted release from this safety to stop the monster using my face, alas I did not yet have the power and so I waited…
"I approve." A voice remarked; Alumni glared at Ares choosing to ignore the baiting from the war god. "Still; you aren't doing a very good job keeping him down, I could… Help in that department." He added thoughtfully.
"I need no help from you." Alumni hissed; then swiftly he vanished, Ares sighed.
"It was worth a try." He muttered as his sister appeared.
"We have got to force him out; have him renounce his Godhood." Athena stated openly revealing her fear at the ruthless capabilities of this creature claiming to be the God of Chaos.
"I'm open to suggestions." He returned angrily; Athena sighed, she was very open to any sort of assistance as well.
The vortex opened swiftly and two entities emerged; the first was lean and muscular bearing a strong resemblance to the creatures that Ares had summoned for Damocles. However; he was lighter in tone and his teeth weren't rotting away, he wore simple clothing; a fur lined open top with matching leather pants and sturdy care-worn footwear, a strange tanned hide being the material used in their construction. Each of his fingers curled and ended with a claw five inches long; his hair was a rich ebony, nothing as scraggily as those of his semi-kindred, and his eyes were an emerald hue.
The second was shorter; possessive of less physical mass, though none the less imposing. Wearing a fur lined bustier over voluptuous mounds of rich ebony flesh; and a dark midnight blue battle skirt; she contrasted strongly with her consort, her mate. Her own fingers were lithe and smooth; reminiscent of the fictional Elvin creatures of Tolkien's works, and her own eyes were a deep violet in nature. A rich flowing head of Cyan colored hair whipped about in the low wind as the vortex closed behind them; the male turned his snout twitching.
"I scent our quarry." He informed in his deep baritone.
"Then let us reclaim the lost one for the mistress my love." She returned; together their bodies faded until only a wispy outline remained, and then they swiftly began to traverse the lands.
This is the story of a time long ago… When a world in turmoil; cried out for a hero… And mankind was plagued by suffering…
They were the heroes; a mighty princess forged in the heat of battle, and the only man bold enough to challenge the power of the Gods…
Hercules; The Legendary Journeys
Xena; Warrior Princess…
God of Chaos
I watched the little boy as he remained by himself on the playground; he sat silently watching the other children play, though I knew he desperately wanted to join in.
"Why do you continue to cower here?" A voice demanded as a shadow fell over me. "Hiding in these pitiful memories instead of reclaiming your body; it's pathetic." He growled in that oh so high pitched whine of his; I glanced briefly up at the figure who should not be here, not in the open like this.
"I do not cower." I returned turning back to the children at play. "I am… Waiting; biding my time, for the right moment… To strike." I stated with narrowed eyes.
"And until that time he decimates countless souls; he is worse then what we stand for." He countered angrily as two others joined him; I whirled upon the giant creature composed from memories.
"Do not presume to question me; I am no longer this boy." I snapped indicating the child with the broken hilt of my sword; had it been such a short time ago, this should not have become.
"True." The creature on the left admitted with a small smirk.
"But you still have a long way to go; before you can escape this prison." The monotonous toned creature on the right added; the central figure sneered and the images around me began to blur.
"A… A prison?" I repeated in confusion; the three merely nodded before they too vanished. I cursed under my breath; who needed them anyways, and what did they know? "Prison my sign function." I scoffed unaware that I was even now traveling upon a predetermined path.
Xena stood amongst the desolation a frown touching her features; she couldn't believe that sweet caring man could be capable of this. Gabrielle led Widowmaker and Argo behind her tears glistening on her cheeks; she'd really come to care for the man.
"Hey; we'll get him back." Xena stated trying to cheer her friend up; Gabrielle shook her head.
"But how can we… I; forgive him for this?" Gabrielle wondered; Joxer tromped up beside his friend a determined look on his face.
"Hey; Xena was bad once, and yeah, sure I didn't know that guy so well… But you've got to let it go; I mean, this isn't him." He stated in an attempt to put a positive spin on things; Xena smiled at the usually bumbling man in a show of gratitude, Gabrielle frowned; her head tilted to one side.
"The Ambrosia messed with his mind Gabrielle." She pointed out. "There's always hope for redemption."
"Yeah; I suppose." Gabrielle muttered; not sounding very convinced. "I just wish it had never happened." She added softly formerly unshed tears now rushing out once again; Xena shook her head in sorrow.
"So do I." Xena muttered; and she was not alone in this sentiment, many others observing these events from afar had hoped for a better outcome.
Alumni sat examining the sword of Damocles; he'd taken it as a memento, and yet right this minute he was feeling… Trapped.
"Dinar for your thoughts." A familiar voice requested; he glared at Ares, didn't he have better things to do then pester newly born Gods?
"You don't know when to quit." He snapped; Ares smiled a little.
"Of course not; there's no fun in it." He returned that ever present smirk resting on his lips.
"Bored now." Alumni stated in a flighty sounding voice; as though perhaps quoting someone, and then he vanished yet again.
"Damn." Ares cursed.
"He does seem more unhinged then usual." Athena observed appearing beside her brother; Ares ground his teeth together.
"Must you constantly need to watch?" He demanded; Athena seemed taken aback.
"Hey I'm only trying to help; the others are about ready to banish you if you can't fix this." She shot back; Ares sighed and lowered his head.
"I'm sorry; I'm not used to this… Failure on so many levels." He admitted allowing a rare moment of weakness to show through; Athena nodded and sympathetically squeezed his shoulder.
"I know; none of us are." She whispered glancing briefly to the heavens.
The child now sat before a science fair project; he was in tears because nobody stopped to take a look at it and after all his hard work too. I sighed; what was so significant about this stupid memory, I'd locked it away years ago.
"Still haven't figured it out yet." A gentle voice rebuked as someone new stood beside me; terrific, more childhood memories.
"Should I have?" I wondered forcing myself to ignore the screams and cries faintly wafting through the air; the monster hunted again.
"We are all capable of two things… Both Good and Evil." The elderly woman returned with sage like wisdom; she had been a cherished part of my childhood, as any grandchild would claim of their lost family members.
"But once you start down the dark path; forever will it dominate your destiny." Another spoke up in a strange sounding voice; I glanced down at the elderly green creature.
"I didn't know of you yet." I stated eyeing the alien in confusion, which was true; I had not been introduced to this particular entity until my teen years.
"Knowledge not important." A crotchety old Chinese man stated joining the duo. "We are all a part of you in some way." He added; I wondered at that, it seemed impossible that fictional characters could be part of me. "Pay attention." He exclaimed whacking me across the forehead with two fingers; I had always thought that humorous, until it actually happened to me.
"All of us shaped you into the man you are today." The woman stated. "Some of us more so then others." She added glancing pointedly at the Chinese man; who deferred to her wisdom, the old woman I knew as being from reality, she had been my Grandmother once.
"The lesson is important; we can only teach you so much." The Chinese man added; I shook my head in frustration waving my blades' hilt about in tandem with my emotional outburst.
"What lesson? What's the point?" I bellowed; the alien's ears seemed to droop as the images began to fade yet again.
"Aiyah!" The Chinese man cried. "You do not pay attention." He exclaimed emphasizing the last word and drawing it out; boy was he loud.
"That; is why you fail." The alien added shadows seeming to fall across his face expanding upon his sorrowful expression; as if I'd lost my life to the darkness they'd been yammering about, then he too vanished completely.
"Stubborn… Just like your mother; I've done all I can." The elder woman sighed. "The rest is up to you now." And then she vanished; the cries of the damned seemingly silenced, the monster was growing stronger. If this truly was a prison I had to get out and fast; or else I wouldn't be able to live with myself.
To Be Continued: This is only the beginning, which is why I hope I can be forgiven for making it a little shorter; I just didn't want to spoil everything at first. A lot of people might not reckognize some of the characters created from memory due to their limited descriptions, but that was my whole point.
I spent a lot of time trying to figure out how I could renounce Alumni's Godhood and still keep his decent personality, but there was just no way to do it without sacrificing something for the story. Until I hit upon a brilliant idea; that will most likely not be revealed until around Chapter 3, possibly 4. (It depends on where I cut off at the end of the next Chapter I suppose.) This one will most likely be a lot shorter then the preivious two, since I'm taking some advice and doing my best to make the Chapters longer.
If anyone is really interested in knowing who the first three characters were; because I believe I did a fairly decent introduction for the other two fictional characters that it should be plainly obvious, then perhaps I'll reveal that in the Author's Notes section of the next chapter. A few hints were given in the Chapter itself; whiney voice, monotonous voice and something else that Alain said after they'd left, but it still might not be too obvious. Heck the third character didn't even say more then one line, which is a bit odd I suppose, but I only put him in there because I liked the thought of three characters involved. (Ok; I think I've gone on long enough.)
Oh yes; and before I forget, the two entities that emerge from the vortex will be featured more prominately, though I do belive I only actually named one of them. But I'll say stuff about them when they take a more active role; suffice it to say they are totally my creation, even if they are meant to reflect another's brilliant work.