Erin closed her eyes, held her breath and tried not to flinch. She was pretty sure that one of the Amazons o fold would not be visibly trembling at the thought of a little cut, but she couldn't seem to stop her outstretched arm from shaking.
'It'll be easier if you don't close your eyes,' Xena said. 'Then you'll know when it's coming.'
Erin wasn't completely sure she agreed with that, but she thought it best not to argue and opened her eyes. The warrior princess was standing in front of her, a knife positioned above the bare skin of her open hand.
'Ready?' Xena asked.
'No.' Erin shook her head and pulled her hand away. Then she took a deep breath and stretched it out again.
'I'll be quick,' Xena said. Then she wrapped the fingers of her left hand around Erin's wrist, holding Erin's hand in place. Quick as lightning, she brought the knife down, scraping across Erin's palm. The cut was deep and true. Droplets of ruby red blood began to pool in the wound and, as Erin turned her hand sideways, to drip into the bowl being held by Aphrodite.
'Is that enough?' Xena asked Aphrodite, all business.
'it should be.'
'You alright?' Xena was looking at Erin with some concern. The girl had gone slightly pale.
Erin swallowed and nodded as Xena started to wrap a bandage around her injured hand.
Aphrodaite had retrieved another item from the shadows of the warehouse. It seemed to be a short throwing knife. At the sight of it, Abibe flinched and turned away.
''I thought you had enough blood'
'We do,' Aphrodite said. 'This is for cutting the time portal.'
Now it was Xena who'd gone pale. She was staring at the new knife, the strangest expression on her face.
'Xena?' Erin asked.
'It's hers.' Aphrodite said, gesturing at the knife, 'Gabrielle's.'
'I thought she fought with a staff.'
'Only at first. Later on she used sais. That's one of her sias.'
Xena seemed to have regained her composure. 'It's time,' she said.
'In every possible sense of the word,' Aphrodite replied with a hint of sarcasm in her voice.
Aphrodite's face became serious then and she handed the sai to Xena.
'Dip it in the blood,' she said.
'Don't you have to do it?'
'Oh no. This is ajob for the hlast hero.. besides, we need the power of love to open the portal and gabrielle's soulmate wielding Gabrielle's sai seems like a pretty powerful combination to me.'
Xena didn't say anything, but hse seemed hesitant as she took the sai from Aphrodite, like she didn't want to touch it.
'So strange to think that she held this,' she murmured. Then, with a hand which was no longer steady, she dipped the sai in the bowl of bllod, turning it over and over so that the blade was covered with it.
'The blood of the last Amazon on a blade held by the last hero,' whispered Aphrodite. 'Time for the last goddess to play her part,' Xena said with a sad little smile. She turned to face Aphrodite then. 'I am truly sorry you have to do this. I never sihe d you harm. You were always the best of your kind.'
'And you of yours,' Aphrodite said. 'it was an honour to be your patron.'
'if there was any way…'
'Xena don't. It's all for the greater good, remember? That's what you were all about. Besides, there's no need to be sad. When you change the world back to the way it should be, I'll come right back along with it. This isn't goodbye. I'm just going away for a while, but I'll be back soon, just as I was.'
Xena pulled Aphrodite into an awkward hug. The goddess hesitated for a moment and then seemed to fall into Xena's arms.
'You've gone all soft on me,' Aphrodite whispered.
'never tell anyone I did that,' was Xena's grunted reply.
The two of them pulled apart and Aphrodite took a deep breath. 'Make a door,' she said. 'Just use the sai to cut one. And while you're doing it, think of her and think of the time you want to return to. It should be sometime before japa, but not too long beforel. You don't want to change history too much. And oick a happy time. It's easier to connectot those.
'All our times were happy.'
'This isn't the time to be sentimental. Pick something that stands out for you. A vivid memory. Describe it to me and then make the door.'
'Ok,' Xena paused for a moment to think. . 'It's after the incident with Genia. When Genia and you left, Gabrielle and I had dinner on a clifftop and I put on the flying helmet. We flew over the Aegean for hours. Then, when it got dark, we landed back on that clifftop. That's where we'll go back to.'
'How long before Japa was that?'
'it was days, just days. We took the helmet straight back to Hermes, spent some time with the Amazons, and then Akemi's messenger came to find us.'
'Then that's perfect.'
Xena raised her arm and sliced the sai into thin air, tracing out the shape of a doorway. The knife seemed to cut through space and there was a shimmer, but nothing else.
'it's not working,' She turned to Aphrodite in frustration.
Aphrodite placed her hand over Xena's on the hilt of the sai. 'It will now,' she said.
Together, Xena and Aphrodite traced the shape of the doorway again. This time, there was a great ripping sound and a piece of the sky seemed to fall waay, leaving a rectangular hole the size and shape of a person. Through it, Erin could see stars and hear the sound of distant waves crashing onto a beach.
Xena wasn't looking at the doorway. She had turned to Aphrodite who had crumpled to the ground and was lying, silent and still. 'I promise we'll make this right,' Xena said to her. Then she reached out and took Erin by the hand. 'Time to find your destiny,' she said.
And together they stepped through the doorway.
