Xena read the next entry on the scroll, while eating the first solid food her body had been able to tolerate to date. She had followed Gabrielle's battle to save her village with great interest and hoped that Gabrielle had been happy there for a while, for it seemed to her that she at least according to the scroll still bore a great deal of emotions about her death. That she had struck such an unfair blow to her girlfriend on Mount Fujisan made her feel a little worse emotionally for each scroll she read and unfortunately while it passed the time as she recovered, it also increased her need to be with her friend with each single written sentence. Hungrily she devoured the next bit that was so good at invoking those pictures of her beloved friend in her mind.
I have stopped counting the days since Xena's death. I will never forget her, but I have to let her go unless I want to sink into a darkness she would never have forgiven me that I enter.
Pavlos, the militia and I finally managed to rout the last remaining soldiers of Rafe's army a few days ago. We've been going at it carefully not caring to lose another man or get anymore wounded. It has taken us two weeks. Yesterday the village held a massive harvest festival and there is again great joy in the village of Poteidaia. With some hard work and diplomacy as well as some unexpected monetary donations from Nikodemos some of the rift between the townspeople and farmers has been mended and I think I have instilled some politeness into their discussions in the near future with a few well placed comments. Another thing the people in the town hero worship me for. I keep on telling them that they should look to other people for heroes because I am not one. I have done terribly wrong things even to the one person I loved most in the world. I have done many things I regret and I have told them that but they just go right ahead and ignore me. I often wonder if this is somewhat like Xena felt about me in the beginning. In some ways I have come close to full circle. I am like her, still I do not have a dark past that will drag me around the world for the next six years nor do I have or need a sidekick riding at my side telling me right from wrong. I think I will live without that even if Virgil is more than willing to fill in as that at least and so much if I haven't read his signals wrong. Gods to do that would be weird sort of like sleeping with my brother's son or something.
I have also managed to mend fences with Lila, something that leaves me very happy. I have had many long evening and night conversations with my sister and think that she now knows most of my adventures with Xena by heart even the ones that I didn't bother to write down. I think she understands why I am who I am now. I am no longer an enigma to her. Today as I prepare to leave she managed to coax the one story I hadn't told to her yet. I told her the story of Japan, of the battle of Higuchi, of Xena's fight with Yodoshi, of Xena's betrayal of my trust, of the origins of my dragon and about knowing all of Xena's warrior arts. I have been training a few flips and jumps. Soon I think I'll be able to do some of the things Xena did even if I have nothing near her superhuman strength or is able to reach the distances she could pass over in one jump. I don't think she withheld any knowledge about this. It was more likely the blessings of either Ares or the teachings of Lao Ma that allowed her to do those things. Sometimes I am a little sorry I wasn't able to study Lao Ma's teachings for a longer time. I think I would have liked to learn her philosophy and add some of it to my own. Maybe I will one day. At least my wanderlust is flaring again, so maybe soon Greece won't be enough for me again. Maybe a small side trip to some far away land is in order or at least it will be in a few months.
Yesterday I also had my second talk with Ares. He just showed up, while I was bathing making rather pointed offers about washing my more private parts. He always was bastard. When he had zapped himself dry again, he complimented me on getting rid of Gascar's army for him and asked if I really wasn't interested in conquering the world for him with my amazons. I patted him on the hand and asked him not to ask me again, because there really was no reason for it. He laughed at that. I think we both knew my answer to that. I guess he really is a one trick pony like Xena always said he was. We talked a bit about the romans and he even shared a few incredibly funny stories about Aphrodite and pigs that she has already made me swear never to repeat. He left telling me that if I wanted to keep on playing Xena's successor I should go looking for trouble and that there would probably be some down around Athens or even Sparta. That suited me fine, because I wanted to see a few plays and read some contemporary literature anyway.
I managed to stay home for three weeks. That is probably a new record, but now I have to go. I am getting restless and the wilderness is calling to me. Also the old men and women around here have already begun asking Lila if I was interested in marriages. There have been more than a few offers of companionship, which I have fended off with the trusty old amazon chastity vow. It just hasn't felt right for that yet.
A few weeks later Xena rolled the last of the regular scrolls back together. She had already read through Gabrielle's few months of adventure in Greece several times now. The accounts were written as journals telling of how Gabrielle fought off raiders and other warlords as she traveled to Athens, where she had to rescue Aphrodite from her own spells once again, after solving a murder mystery on her own in the confines of the Athens academy of bards. Gabrielle had even managed to foil a ploy of the roman governor to line his own pocket with an astounding amount of Greek money by sheer political manipulation, guile and wit. Xena rose and walked around the room, while staring at the last lines of writing scribbled in what looked like haste on the very last scroll.
Ephiny has appeared to me again. The amazons' future hangs in the balance according to her. It's funny that I keep seeing the ghosts of the people dear to me. Well now Ghost and I are heading north towards the nations.
Xena put the scroll down and reached for the enormous piece of skin onto which Gabrielle had painted the next account. Xena spread it out on the floor and read it again, while she flexed her muscles slowly forcing her amazing strength to rebuild. Soon she would set out to find her friend or die trying.
Teaser:Remember to watch out for the next part of the series called: "Exodus". Xena follows in the footsteps of Gabrielle seeking the truth of what happened to her friend and to the amazon nation.
