Chapter 3:

            The steel edge of the katana cut through the air with a whistle. Akemi's bared throat approached quickly. Guiding the blade, the Conqueror awoke from years of slumber and had once again taken control of Xena's body. Even further back, the red demon servant of Mikaboshi gloated as he was about to add another minion to the ranks of his master.

Then, unseen by the eyes of all the room's occupants except the raging Xena, Akemi's image changed to the youthful visage of her partner. Gabrielle's teary face looked up at her and her eyes seemed to ask why she was angry. Why did she have the right to be angry? Why did she have to kill in the throes of that anger? A chill exploded throughout her body and she slowed her attack enough to hear Gabrielle's voice in her mind. "Flee now. They have given you power now. That power is yours to use as you please. If you run now, they can't control you like before," her voice said. Reason returned to her mind and for the first time in a long while, Xena saw beyond the fog of pain and suffering that had been pulled over her eyes.

The katana stopped to rest against Akemi's throat. The still seemingly angry Xena looked down at her, deadly intent etched on her face and evident in her eyes. Then just as suddenly as she had attacked Akemi, Xena whirled around and beheaded the red skinned demon stand behind her. The illusion of Akemi disappeared like smoke but Xena didn't notice as she ran from the room and its dead occupant.

She rushed quickly down the huge echoing hall. Her eyes constantly looked for a way out, while her mind hunted for an explanation to the continuing visions she had of her bard, when Gabrielle was probably far away in another world. The grey stone hallways echoed with her steps. Suddenly, as she rounded a corner she found herself facing a door and two blurry shadow creatures guarding it. Without hesitation she charged them, yelling her battle cry.

Xena landed between the two creatures and easily sidestepped their clumsy charge. She parried the sword coming from her right with the katana, while hammering her boot into the chest of the creature on the left, sending it to the floor several feet back. No matter how incorporeal they looked, she seemed able to hit them well enough. Xena's sword was locked with the creature's sword and for a while they struggled, pressing their weapons hard against each other. But Xena had moved her left foot back and suddenly she stepped aside, while moving her sword away. The creature stumbled forward. Xena swung her katana high and brought it down on the neck of the shadow decapitating it in one sweeping motion.

The other creature charged her from behind. But the always prepared warrior princess simply flipped over her assailant and landed with her blade resting against the throat of the blurry creature. After a slight pause she pressed the blade against its throat until it backed out on the other side.

While the two guard creatures were evaporating like smoke in the background, Xena pulled open the huge door and found herself looking at a staircase that lead up towards a path of gloomy sky much like an overcast night. She carefully walked up.

She was standing on the battlements of a huge castle set in the middle of a nightmarish and desolate landscape, akin to areas she had seen near volcanoes or after earthquakes. It looked devoid of life and hospitality. More importantly, it gave no hints to a way for her to return to Japan and eventually to the side of her bard.

"Don't give up hope. Trust your instincts… Come to me," Xena turned her head to find the transparent image of her partner floating not far to her left.

"Who are you? You're not the real Gabrielle," she asked.

"There is no fooling your bond, when your mind is free to think for itself, but I knew that already," Gabrielle's image blurred. It shifted into the image of an eight armed beauty that Xena didn't recognize. "I am Benten, the Goddess of love and wisdom in the lands of the rising sun. I am responsible for the visions you've been having, although most of the time I've just been awakening old memories," she explained.

"Why?" Xena wondered aloud.

"I am the goddess of love. I felt the bond you share with your bard like a bright light passing through my lands. I cried when I felt your choice diminished it and I wanted to save the vestiges of it from Mikaboshi. Listen, we do not have a lot of time. My power here is very limited and I can do little more than speak to you through the bond of love that you share with your bard," Benten said and looked around as if nervous.

"I need a way to out of here," Xena pointed out.

"Yes, however I fear that without the direct intervention of another god and one of those isn't forthcoming, you will have to fight your way to the gates out of the underworld on your own. Mikaboshi will send a lot of warriors after you and this realm is very dangerous even without pursuers," Benten explained.

"Just point me in the right direction," Xena said and looked down towards the ground. It was going to be a hard landing.

"That way," Benten said with a hint of a smile on her full lips and pointed towards the horizon. "I'll be looking in on you from time to time," she said, while Xena climbed onto the edge and prepared for the long fall.

"Good luck," Benten whispered as the black haired beauty disappeared into the bleak landscape below. She returned her consciousness to her body and leaned back in her beautiful oceanic home. Satisfied that the worst danger to the soul of Xena was banished, she turned her mind and hand to her duties as goddess.

Xena ran relentlessly across the hard-packed ground towards a set of hills that would give her some cover for a few hours of rest. Her clothes were mere rags and the only object in her possession was the battered but still razor sharp katana. For months now, she had traversed these lands. Never eating but feeling no hunger either. Never sleeping as she needed only rest once in a while. Her spiritual body behaved differently than her human one that was for sure. Existence in these bleak lands was still a constant though. Mikaboshi had hunters out looking for her and skirmishes with them had become a daily ritual. And that wasn't the only danger. Soul eating monsters and worse roamed the land like animals had roamed her home valley. They were vicious creatures and fighting them had cost her more effort than any of Mikaboshi's soldiers. Xena sat in the small ravine between the hills and took a breather. On and on she had traveled across this land seeking the way out that the goddess had promised her. She was slowly losing hope just as she had lost all sense of time.

"You have come far," Benten's voice whispered as her eight armed image shimmered into view sitting at her right side.

"Yeah, but don't tell me. I still have far to go, right," Xena sighed heavily.

"Well, actually I wanted to tell you that you're not far from the way out of these lands. The gates to the world of mortals are that way, just beyond that small mountain. You could reach them in a short span of time," Benten pointed at a small mountain that Xena had used as a landmark for days.

Xena rose from the ground and was just about to go on the last leg of her long journey, when the goddess said: "Don't be in too much of a hurry. The gates are too heavily guarded for you to break through from this side. The guardians of that path will not feel the sting of the blade you carry. They are nearly gods themselves and therefore can only be wounded by special weapons."

Xena dropped back to her seat and gave the goddess that had been her only contact with the real world throughout all her struggles in this hell a despairing look. "Then how am I going to get out of here?" Xena asked.

"I have planned for that eventuality. A few days ago, I arranged for a demon to fall in love with the sister of a very powerful samurai, who owns a weapon that could slay the guardians of the gates. The demon has kidnapped the girl and is crossing the gate as we speak, with her brother and his loyal warriors hot on his heels. If you defeated the demon and took the girl from it, I am sure the samurai won't object to your kami joining them on the trip back through the gate," Benten explained while smiling at the thought of her complex long term plan coming to fruition. She had promised Hachiman that his samurai would have the motivation to go into Mikaboshi's realm and that his warriors would free Xena along the way. This way there was little risk of anything going wrong as long as Xena could take the poor girl away from the demon.

"I better go then," Xena said and rose again.

"When you're back on the other side a friend and I will be awaiting you," Benten said and her almost solid image disappeared in a shower of sparks.

Xena leaned against the boulder and looked down at the gully where a huge bronze gate set into the mountain wall dominated the landscape. One of the two doors was open and a seemingly miniscule shape of a black and hairy demon with a girl over his shoulder was passing through it. One of the many tireless armored creatures that guarded the gate quickly closed it, while Xena slipped down the cliff to find a spot out of their sight where she could deal with the demon.

Xena hid behind a boulder around the corner and waited.

"I beg you! Let me go," the voice of a young girl pleaded.

"No, you will be my bride. Mikaboshi will bless our union," the demon said, his voice ringing with stubbornness as they approached.

Xena heard the subtle grating of the sand as the creature had almost lumbered past her hideout. Quickly she jumped up and sideways into the air. She saw her target below. It had the girl slung limply across its right shoulder. Xena readied her battered weapon in her left hand as she came down towards it.

"Huh," the creature grunted and looked up.

The still sharp weapon slit down through the creature's left shoulder and continued far into its chest. The creature screamed in pain and tossed its precious cargo aside as it struggled to turn to face its attacker.

Xena tore her weapon from the creature and kicked it to the ground. It began melting into slime, something that no longer fazed her after having seen similar effects many times recently. Instead, she turned towards the girl that was frantically scrambling away from her. "Please don't be afraid. I am here to bring you home," Xena said and held out a hand that was accepted after a long pause.

In the background, Xena heard war cries and the clash of weapons. It seemed her ticket out of this hellish place had arrived. "Come, I think your brother has arrived," she said and together the pair ran towards the stones that still hid the gate from view.

Xena looked over the edge and saw several samurai on horses struggling with the obviously powerful guardians. "I think we'd better make a run for it before someone gets hurt," she explained. "Whenever you're ready," she suggested and waited until the girl had run out of sight before following her over the stones and towards the battle.

The chaos of battle, that so nourished her dark half, was all around her. Xena slashed the dangerous creatures as she passed them by. Her attacks had no effect, but they did stop the creatures from slaying more of the brave samurai that were only here because a god deemed her soul one to be saved at the expense of their lives. Xena shook off the dark thoughts and tried to keep up with the young girl as she practically flung herself into the arms of the band's leader. "We have what we came for, quickly head back through the gates," he commanded. No one paid much notice that she followed along as the guardians worked hard to kill the invaders. Xena ran through the dark tunnel and so didn't know that with each step she grew more ethereal until she disappeared from any mortal's sight just as she passed out into a beautiful forested valley surrounded on all sides by tall grey mountains.

"I am pleased to see you," Benten's voice rang out from nearby. Xena walked down to find the beautiful goddess seated on the back of a dragon floating in a roaring river like it was a still basin.

"As am I," a new deeper voice joined them from her left. A samurai lord dressed in full armor and seated atop one of the most impressive warhorses she had ever seen rode slowly into the clearing.

"May I present Hachiman, god of war and all the people of this island," Benten said and indicated the samurai.

"The god of war yet you're interested in the people. That's a welcome change," Xena said. "So what happens now?" She asked and looked around at the two gods.

"You return to life," Hachiman said.

"But… I can't. The souls of all those people will be lost," Xena gasped in shock.

"No, they won't. That is where you were wrong. Their vengeance over you had no effect positive or negative over their judgment in the courts of Emma-O. Their souls' existence surely had nothing to do with you being dead or alive," Benten explained.

"I was the one who guided Kenji's steps to you and your friend. It was me who made sure that the ghost killer revealed the way for you to return to life if your quest and the one of your friend were successful. I believed you would take the way out that I had given you, but the conversations you had with Akemi a young child unlearned in all the wisdom of the world lead you astray and so you're here. It is my doing that you're dead and so I have arranged that you can return to life and live it out at the side of your friend. If she is still alive," Hachiman said.

"What happens now?" Xena asked and looked from Hachiman to Benten.

"I will take you to where your ashes rest and then our power will return your body to life and bind your kami to it. From there you're on your own again," Benten said.

"I am not alone. Gabrielle never gave up on me. I will not give up until we're together again," Xena swore.

"I know," Benten said and smiled at the endearing woman before she motioned for her to join her atop her mount.

Rain was battering the valley. Eve hurried through it, trying to stay at least a little dry. She was carrying a bouquet of flowers that she intended to lay on her mother's sarcophagus. The old one had probably wilted by now and she wanted her mother's grave to look good. She didn't really know why.

Eve walked into the dry chamber where her entire family now rested. The coffin for Gabrielle's body was there, but it held nothing. Everyone thought that she had died either with the Amazons or in some far off land living the life of a hero without Xena the Warrior Princess to protect her. Eve wasn't so sure, but she had taken precautions so to fulfill the promise of their family to treat the little blonde as such in spirit at least. Sighing, she walked over to the other sarcophagus that held little more than a small pot of ashes inside. Sometimes she wondered if she should have their sarcophagi remade into a one and show how they lived and in a way died: Together forever.

In hindsight Eve fully realized that the one thing her mother had that was just as strong as her love for her was the love for Gabrielle. In more ways than one, Eve understood it. She herself had felt the nearly irresistible charm and pull of Gabrielle's personality. Here was a woman capable and fulfilled by living and sacrificing for the good of others. She was in all ways except pacifism the epitome of how an Elijian should be. And she had foresworn her own chance at a family to raise her. All the stories of the past said so and thus in a way, she had lost more than one mother by now. At least on nights like these it felt like that. After laying down the flowers Eve grabbed the old ones and walked back to the entrance to cast a glance at the rainy weather that still continued.

"I miss you a lot. Strange isn't it, you were my mother for such a short time yet I can think of nothing I want more than to have you here or even out there roaming this world. I could even have settled for having Gabrielle around to guide me. It is so hard sometimes. The past weighs on me like it did on you. It would have been better if one or both of you were around to tell me what I was doing wrong… Still, the hospice is doing well and I think the movement is growing even without a bedraggled former roman warlord going around to preach its merits. You would have been so proud of what I have built out of grandmother's inn," Eve mused like she did so often when visiting this room.

A massive crash almost like an explosion rang through the room and strange sounds came from inside. Eve whirled around and ran over to her mother's sarcophagus. She stared in shock for a moment as she heard an eerily familiar voice scream from inside. She grabbed the heavy stone lid and shoved it off the stone box. With a resounding crash, the stone plate flew onto the floor and the flickering light of the torches revealed the naked, pale and desiccated body of a woman that should've been only dust. Eve cast a glance towards the other empty coffin and then the door just to check if miracles happened twice. She quickly tore off most of her clothes and wrapped it around her mother's body for protection against the weather. "I don't believe it. Thank you Eli," Eve muttered as she easily slipped the long but light load into her arms and set off towards her hospice.

The images of memory began to blur and Xena thought she heard foreign voices speaking the same language of her friend Lao Ma. "She is coming to," a voice said. "Tell general Wu," it continued.

In a place no more than a few days travel from the camp of the Imperial army, a group of men looked on as their shamaness cast herself into the throes of a ritual. She was invoking the spirits to guide them in war and make the path of the future clear again. Jenn cried out in ecstasy as she slit the throat of a horse and allowed its blood to spray all over her, while the tied animal shuddered and whinnied in pain.

Voices rang through her mind. Voices from the past of her people talked to her. They showed her the future, the mind of her enemy and the way of their war. Voices grew in volume and order gave way to chaos. Jenn began to shake as the ecstasy overcame her and unconsciousness was thankfully soon approaching. Then mighty voice screamed, "Beware, the maker of your bane has awakened! The claws, fangs and soul of the Tiger are rushing to join with its dragon to bring forth the end of your dominion!"

And with a scream of pain, Jenn collapsed inside her wooden fortress just at the mouth of the valley that was home to the dragon.