A/N: Takes place on Mt. Helicon, before Terpsichore comes to Earth as Kira in the movie Xanadu.

Xanadu Awaits

"Terpsichore, what am I doing wrong?"

The young goddess was distraught as she sought comfort from the Muse she looked up to the most and had come to think of as her big sister. Mathitís was younger than all the Muses, but she had always hoped to one day join the nine and inspire artists throughout the world. Indeed, she had pestered Mnemosyne until at last she had been given a chance.

Terpsichore stopped her stretching exercises. "My little one, why are you so upset? Have you been unable to inspire anyone? There are so many people in the world; surely you've come across at least one that could be a great artist? Even as young as you are, I'm sure you can quicken the pulse of someone's creativity."

"Inspiration isn't the problem" Mathitis blushed as she smiled. "I seem to have the desired effect on those I choose. I can understand what pleasure you and your sisters receive from sending someone off to create magnificence." Her smile faded as her face darkened. "There's something else wrong. I think I'm picking the wrong mortals."

"If you inspire them, how can they be wrong?"

"The trouble is they're mortal. Terribly so."

Terpsichore scowled. "Of course they are; they're human. Not even a century and they are dust."

"If only that were true! I don't understand it, but most of the people I pick end their careers shortly afterward. Not decades, but years or sometimes even days. Those that do live fail and live in misery for the rest of their lives." Mathitis almost cried at the thought.

"Here, tell me of them." She patted the bench beside her.

Mathitis sat and began. "My first assignment I thought to try and inspire in mathematics. I found a gentleman named Pierre de Fermat and inspired him to come up with a mathematical theorem, something about exponents. But the trouble was I didn't inspire him to write it down, and his proof has been lost for all time."

"That's the trouble with knowledge; it is so easily lost unless it is passed on to others. What about the next person?"

Mathitis went on. "My next assignment was a young painter; I've always admired how they can almost capture feeling and life itself on a canvas. He said he just had to paint the most beautiful woman he had ever met."

"Good start, a painter needs inspiration to create. What happened?"

"A week later Jean went blind from some disease the mortals have. He never was able to paint what he wanted."

"That's unfortunate, but many are afflicted with various illnesses. It's part of being human too" Terpsichore said as she tried to be comforting. "You wouldn't have known that when you met him. Who next?"

"I tried something else. Those statues on Olympus are magnificent, so I thought I would find someone who had tried and failed to sculpt. I met a man who was so excited he immediately went to a quarry to arrange for 'a slab of granite as perfect as you' to be delivered to his studio. A rope broke loose and he was crushed to death."

"That is bad luck" Terpsichore admitted. "A tragedy for certain. You did try again?"

"I did, but not right away; that one affected me, being so close to my first failure."

"The failure was not yours, little one; perhaps the Fates were involved."

"Perhaps. I really began to wonder after my next assignment. I wanted to keep my mind off of my other attempts, so I chose to help an architect. I thought maybe a great school or cathedral would rise from his vision; he even showed me drawings he had made from dreams I inspired. It was beautiful!"

"I remember when the Acropolis was built" Terpischore said with a distant look in her eyes. "That beauty might still be standing today if not for the petty bickering of men. But what of your architect's creation?"

"There was no creation. A wall fell on him and turned him into an invalid; without his guidance the project never resumed."

"Mathitis, I can understand your anguish. I think you have had more failures than all the sisters combined. Maybe it's the color of your hair!"

"No!" she said, even though she realized her bright red locks made her stand out from those she tried to emulate. "It can't be; I won't change the natural color I have been blessed with. It has to be something else. How do you pick your assignments?"

Terpischore stood and started to pace a bit as she thought. "I've never really given it much thought. Every so often I travel to a public place and just wonder around. At some point I get a feeling that a person has this…ability…locked inside them and I introduce myself and the rest just takes care of itself. The trick is never to get emotionally attached to the person; remember, you're doing it for the art and for the rest of humanity to follow."

"I felt that way on my next attempt. I found someone to design a magnificent boat, a ship to sail the oceans; I could tell his heart yearned to see sights around the world."

"Did he succeed? Or should I ask?"

"His ship sank. Something he called the Titanic."

"The next?"

"A designer of something called an automobile, sort of like a chariot without horses."

"I've been in one of those" Terpischore remembered. "I think it was called a 'Jeap' or something. There's no way his creation could have sunk."

"No, but I think the name was cursed. He named it the Edsel and it ruined his career. After that I gave up and returned here; I don't think I'm cut out to be a Muse."

"Just give it some time, you'll succeed when you find the right person. Just remember to not get too friendly or you might develop…inconvenient emotions. But you know, all this talk has got me wanting to inspire someone new."

"Just like that?" Mathitis asked. "Down you go and inspire away?"

"Well, honestly I have to admit I have someone picked out this time. Some artist named Sonny Malone wants to do something with his life, and I think I can get him to do something involving dancing. I do love to dance" she said as she spun on the ball of her foot. "It should be fun. They even dance on wheels now! The rest of my sisters are going too, so there's no telling who they'll inspire."

"Tell me how it goes when you get back" Mathitis sighed. "I think I'll wait a few years before trying again; or is it centuries? I just can't seem to get this time thing straight."

"Wish me luck!" Terpischore said and she was gone.

The End

A/N: This one is a setup for the movie, taking place in the mythology arena first. Maybe it's a little guilty pleasure, but being fond of Olivia, Gene and E.L.O. and this movie's soundtrack I can still watch and enjoy it. The visuals were nice too, even if some of the lines were delivered a bit woodenly; l won't bring up roller skates if you don't.

In my mind Mathitis got to take the place of Terpischore while she was down on Earth to spend time with Sonny, although I can't remember if it was for a decade or a century either.

As a final note, I know that the proof of Fermat's Last Theorem has been published finally, but it wasn't at the time of this movie.