Chapter Thirty Eight
In an alternate future that could be prevented, Xena, Lockinus, and Gabrielle headed straight towards the temple in the center of town. It was a boring plain and round one, no embellishments or anything extra. That labeled it as a Dahak temple. Okay, so did the multitude of people in red robes walking in and out of the front chanting in an undertone "Dahak is king, Dahak is the best."
"Well, this brings back a lot of warm and fuzzy memories," Gabrielle said wryly. She was trying to be strong—Joxer could tell. She always pushed her lip stiff as she could when she was trying. Xena could tell as well, so neither was fooled. Joxer for an instant wondered why friends even bothered to hide their true feelings when if it was a strong enough friendship a person could easily tell what the friend was thinking.
That was why he had chosen to tell the truth most of the time. Xena would have been able to spot a lie easily but a truth disguised as a lie was harder. Joxer wished Gabrielle had caught up with them faster, though. He would have preferred telling her who he was before coming in front of the temple of Dahak again. Now, she kept looking at him as two things: one, a mystery to be solved and two as an apparition, a myth, a legend. What would her opinion be when she found out who he really was?
"You two, stay here. I'll head inside . . ." Xena said.
Lockinus shook his head. "I think I should be the one to go inside, Xena. I am a half god."
"Stay away!" a voice yelled before anyone could argue further. And a new figure joined them. He wore his haircut long and leather black pants with a purplish open vest over his muscular chest. His size was much smaller than Lockinus, and the last time Joxer had seen him, he was helping Hercules with the Golden Hind in an alternate future that never happened thanks to Hercules going back in time. Joxer sighed. It was hard to be a half god. He could see alternate timelines he was involved with. Like the time that the day was repeating. He still remembered the feeling of that chakram slicing his chest in half.
"Iolaus!" Gabrielle said. "How are you? I heard you and Hercules had abandoned Greece or something."
"Not quite, Gabrielle," Iolaus said. Something was off about his charming grin, Joxer decided. "Old Herc is off in Sumeria fighting some ancient evil. We have our own here."
"Dahak," Xena said grimly. "Well, too bad Hercules can't be here. I might save him some of Dahak's new cult, but I doubt it."
"I hope you're not planning on going inside there," he declared and pointed his finger at the open temple door.
"It was my plan," Xena said.
"Well, there's a curse!"
"There's always a curse!" Gabrielle said.
"This one isn't so fun," Iolaus said. "It turns out that Dahak is not the only god of evil. Did you happen to know that he has two brothers?"
"What?!" Gabrielle demanded and pulled out a tattered and old looking scroll. "No! I read through this whole thing. Yep!" she declared after skimming it for a few seconds. "There's no mention of brothers! Why am I always behind these days?"
"No reason to be upset, my little bard," Iolaus said. "He didn't like talking about them, and even the ones that know Dahak best didn't know. Before the gods came, before even the Titans, when the earth was struggling into formation, the darkness came. It choked the other celestial bodies in the heavens, until it came to where Gaia was. To fight her, the darkness formed into three physical forms, hoping Gaia would follow their lead and they together could destroy her.
"Unfortunately, Gaia was more powerful than they had ever dreamed. She didn't buckle under as the other planets did and she fought them. They were unaware that Gaia was pregnant with Uranus at the time, and there is no force as powerful as a mother protecting her young."
"Can you get to the point?" Xena demanded. "With you and . . . Lockinus I feel as if my life is just one big story."
"Well, cutting to the end . . . Two of them were sent back into the darkness and only Dahak survived, trapped inside fire to survive until of course he could be brought into the world with a warrior's heart."
"So, I guess the sacrifices Hope was using were pointless?" Xena said with an arched eyebrow.
"Yes, Hope . . . Well, um, Dahak's little girl was a bit of a disappointment. She was supposed to use her connection with her mother to kill you, Xena, but she was obsessed with pleasing her mother not her father, so she did other things. All pointless really."
"How do you know so much?" Xena demanded.
"Hey, I get around!" Iolaus stated. "Okay, truth is, Hercules and me had some problems with Dahak in Sumeria. Turned out a sacrifice of a warrior's heart was enacted, and that's where Hercules is now. I didn't want Dahak's brothers to go on ignored, so I thought I'd get some . . . help."
"So, what's the brothers' deal?" Xena asked. "And please no stories!"
"It's simple. Whoever kills the priest will die themselves, and as long as the priest lives the brothers will revive."
Stunned silence met those words. Joxer felt the truth of them. He wished Iolaus was lying, but he wasn't. Though there was something . . . fishy here, it could be only the fact that Iolaus was just unwilling to sacrifice himself, nothing underneath. It wasn't because he was lying.
"So?" Iolaus asked. "Which one? I'd do it, but . . . you know Hercules would break down completely if I died."
"Just go away, Iolaus," Xena said. "We all know who it has to be."
"Yes, me," Lockinus and Gabrielle said at the same time.
"No, me. Don't fight me on this. Remember Prometheus? I was willing to die then and I am willing now. End of discussion."
"That is so not the end of discussion!" Gabrielle retaliated.
"Certainly not," Lockinus said. "The Son of War should be the one to end ultimate evil, not the Warrior Princess."
"And the one who would bring peace and heal, the one who had help in bringing evil into the world in the first place should rectify it herself," Gabrielle argued.
"And you're both being ridiculous, because I won't give you any choice," Xena said.
"You think so?" Lockinus said.
"I'll fight you if I have to," Gabrielle said with a glare.
"You're on your peace way," Xena argued.
"Eli also said I would fail more than once. Call this time a failure."
"Okay, stop," Xena said. "The fairest way would be to draw straws, okay? Why not we go to the tavern and have one last meal together. Then we can draw straws. Deal?"
Both Gabrielle and Joxer nodded. And the trio disappeared around the corner. Iolaus, who hadn't gone far, looked toward the temple. "Soon, my brothers. There will be no more Xena, and one of you will own her body like I own Iolaus'."
Then he laughed, a dark thick sound, inhuman and certainly not being emitted by the body that stood there now. A thin trail of smoke also appeared from his lips as if something deep inside was burning the soul of the man named Iolaus.