Title: Eclipse – The Revelation
Author: Strife's LMNT
Chapter: 6
The day of departure came quickly and everything was set. Eve brought along her own troupe of servants to accompany her as did Gabrielle. The Olympians felt they were quite capable of taking care of themselves. Rani came down to the dock to see his wife and new family set off amongst a procession of boats. Smaller boats carried gifts and trading goods to be distributed while others carried scholars and officials wishing to see all of Egypt. The main ship was a grand vessel with purple, linen sails and a set of strong oarsmen to be used when going against the current.
Every night Eve allotted herself time to spend with one sibling. Many times they would spar with weapons on the ship's deck or discuss what was on their mind. She found that each child was different but all possessed the warrior instincts obviously passed on from their parents. Alexus and Amos, for example, would have completely different fighting styles even though they were identical. Alexus was fiery and liked to charge at any chance. Amos, on the other hand, was cool and liked to stay on the defensive.
Eve especially looked forward to her time with Meredith. The two had become close as they were similar in age. Eve was curious to know how Ares and Xena were as parents, for she never really knew how her parents would have dealt with her as a teenager. She was a menace to society at the time, planting her collection of pet spiders in certain palace bedrooms, painting the walls of the palace disgusting colours of brown and grey and even threatening to murder her finishing school teachers. She, unfortunately, did end up murdering most of them and their families on her many conquests of Rome and Greece.
EVE: Do Ares and my mother really love each other?
MEREDITH: You should hear it when Mother comes to visit. We usually leave them alone to find some peace and quiet.
EVE: Thanks for the visual, but I don't mean physically. Does he care about her? Does he take care of her?
MEREDITH: They talk to each other all the time, almost everyday in fact. I think they're best friends.
EVE: What's Ares like as a father?
Even though Ares had been around for most of her life, they had never really had a father/daughter relationship. She saw him more as a guide than anything. Even during the times they shared the same bed.
MEREDITH: He's a normal father. It's surprising really how lenient he can be, then again, having Zeus as a father doesn't help when it comes to discipline. Zeus used to chain Father in the dungeon whenever he misbehaved. Father never uses force discipline us.
EVE: What if you need to talk about something? Does he listen?
MEREDITH: Usually if we're upset about something, he'll do things to make us feel better.
EVE: Like what?
MEREDITH: It's different for all of us. The boys usually get new weapons from Hephaesteus' workshop. I always get new scrolls. Adreanna's a bit different. She usually needs a rough sparring exercise to cheer her up. That's probably why she's mother's favourite. That girl can fight.
EVE: That's true.
Eve looked down at her arms and legs covered in bruises from the previous night's sparring match. Despite being trained at the finest of Roman schools, Eve could've never been ready for Adreanna's wild yet precise fighting style. Eve saw the fire in her sister's eyes, a fire that still burned in her, yet Eve could never seem to be able to control it the way Adreanna did.
EVE: I could've used more people like her in my army.
One night, somewhere near Thebes, Eve felt an immense fear and immediately rushed to her mother's room. It felt as if someone had their hand around her heart and was squeezing it tightly.
EVE: Mother! Mother! Something's wrong with Rani.
XENA: Calm down! Are you sure?
EVE: Yes, Eli's sending me a message right now. I fear Rani has been killed.
XENA: Command the ship to be turned around. We'll be back in Alexandria in a couple of days. There's nothing we can do from here.
EVE: Can't you take me there now? I know it will be suspicious of me to be there when I'm supposed to be here, but I need to know. Mother, please!
XENA: Okay, okay. Yelling and alerting the whole ship won't help. I'll take you to Rani. Take my hand.
Within seconds mother and daughter were in Rani's bedroom. They didn't see Rani there, so Eve ran into the bathing room. There she found servants pulling a bloody, life-less body out of the warm water.
EVE: Nooo!
XENA: Stop! They can't know we're here. I used my powers to make us invisible, but they can still hear us.
Xena grabbed Eve, covering her mouth, and brought her into a nearby corner where they could watch all the activities. Cleopatra came in after the guard had finished his gruesome task. She merely acted concerned while she was truly elated at her elder brother's death.
CLEOPATRA: Rani, Rani, Rani. You poor fool. Your love for that foreigner whore has cost you your life. You could've become one of us, but your faith in Eli has failed you again. It's a shame your powers would have been the greatest of them all. Oh well, I'll be glad to take your place. You there, take his body and prepare it for burial. The public will want to mourn its pharaoh and welcome its new queen; me! Hahaha.
EVE: That little…
XENA: Hey, stop it. There's nothing else we can do here. Let's go back to the ship.
EVE: But my husband was murdered by his own sister! He's lying there dead! We were supposed to spend the rest of our lives together. If only I had gotten here a few minutes before…
Eve broke down sobbing and ran to the body.
XENA: It's going to be all right. We can figure this out later, I promise. But right now we have to leave.
Xena literally had to tear Eve away from her husband's body. She could feel the grief and anger flowing through the young woman's veins. Xena herself had felt that immense grief and guilt when Solan had been murdered. When they were back on the ship, Eve suddenly felt compelled to speak freely.
EVE: Mother how could they do that? Murder their family! Cleopatra just wanted the throne, for god's sake! She didn't care about him; she didn't love him. I did! I loved him!
XENA: I know you loved him. I know how you feel, but you have to start thinking rationally. You can't march into Alexandria and start killing people. Turn the boat around first; we'll come up with a plan on the way back.
ARES: What's going on up here? Eve, why are you crying?
XENA: Rani was murdered by Cleopatra.
ARES: Who?
EVE: His bitch of a sister.
XENA: What did I just say? Think! Cleopatra said something about becoming one of them and having the strongest powers. What could that mean?
EVE: I have no idea. Can we not talk now? According to you, I need some time to think.
XENA: Yeah, Ares, let's go.
Dawn came and Eve was still standing at the railing looking over the land that was to be hers. She had spent the night thinking, mourning, and grieving the death of the man she loved. Thoughts of helplessness, anger and vengeance swirled in her mind. At that moment, Eve's positive attitude had become Livia's dour and determined mood. Her mind was set on killing anyone who had a part with the murder.
At that moment, Xena was having an impromptu meeting in her bedroom. She had assembled her children, Ares, Aphrodite, and Gabrielle and told them the whole story. She emphasized the words Cleopatra had spoken as if they were the key to the whole murder.
XENA: She mentioned a group of people with powers and how Rani could have had the greatest power. There has to be some meaning to that.
ADREANNA: A group of people with powers in Egypt? I've heard of something like that somewhere. Umm. Now I remember. In one of the historical scrolls in the temple library, there was an account of a great battle between the royal family and another opposing family who invaded Egypt. The Egyptian royal family's blood was so pure, it had magical powers. They were able to foresee the future, manipulate nature and conger mythical beasts even as young children. This certain family ruled Egypt with an iron fist making the slaves and peasants pay extravagant taxes. No one was able to defeat the Egyptian family because….
ARES and APHRODITE: They were immortal.
XANDER: Nowadays, who isn't?
Adreanna glared at her brother for his remark and returned to the story.
ADREANNA: That's right. They had their way until another powerful family came along wanting to free the slaves and peasants. The battle lasted for weeks, where innocent lives were lost everyday, without anyone letting up. That is until…
ARES: A member of the opposing family found the source of their power.
XENA: How do you know this story?
APHRODITE: That opposing family from a foreign land. That was us. This all happened awhile back.
XENA: Since when were you guys interested in the Egyptians?
ARES: Zeus was uncomfortable having another group of immortals so close to Greece and Rome. He didn't want them coming into our territory and wrecking all that he had worked for. He sent us to destroy them.
APHRODITE: Anyway, Artemis disguised herself as a pet jaguar and found that the royal family was a bunch of suckers.
EVE: What? Now isn't the time to be making fun of the royal family. I do not find it funny.
They were all so entranced by the story; no one had heard Eve come in.
APHRODITE: No, no. I meant that the source of their power was the blood of their ancestors. You know how they have those mummies, right? It was the only way to drain the blood without seeming suspicious. It was all they ate. So they only thing in their body was the royal blood. Sort of gross really.
XENA: How did you use that against them?
APHRODITE: We simply destroyed the blood bank and watched them starve to death. Their bodies had never consumed anything but blood, and when they were forced to eat real food, they couldn't use it to survive.
GABRIELLE: How does that battle connect with Rani's death?
EVE: I was the first person to wed into the family. Before that, everyone married within the family. I'm guessing Cleopatra wanted to keep the tradition alive.
XANDER: If the current royal family has the same powers as the ones of the past, that means that they would need to have a blood connection to the past. Were there any survivors?
ARES: Not that I remember.
ADREANNA: According to the scroll and the genealogical records there were two survivors. Infant twins, one boy and girl, who were supposedly adopted by officials and later forced to marry in order to continue the family line. They had many children when they re-inherited the throne, Rani could be a descendant of theirs.
EVE: It makes sense. But there have been children of half-blood before. Why would they care about it now, with Rani and I?
XENA: With their knowledge of the Twilight on Olympus, they're afraid you'll bring another mass destruction of the hierarchy. Another Twilight.
ADREANNA: They had a special name for that battle. Their old religion is deeply rooted in the astrological. The royal family was their followers' light; their sun, moon, and stars. The first mass annihilation was the death of the light, the Eclipse.
A/N: Please review, and read part two in the Eclipse series: Eclipse – the Revolution. Coming soon to a fanfiction site near you.
