Part 21:
Joxer sat down on a large rock next to the village gate and watched as Autolycus stiffly walked back and forth in the path. "Why don't you sit down?" he suggested through a loud yawn. "You'll wear a hole straight through to the Elysian Fields at the rate you're going!"
Autolycus stopped in the middle of the path and glared at Joxer. "I'll stay on my feet, if you don't mind!" he snapped. He managed to suppress a gasp as a sharp pain suddenly darted up his right side. "Besides," he mused as he began walking again, "I could use the exercise."
Joxer's eyebrows rose. "Okay. Whatever you say," he mumbled as he put his elbows on his knees and propped his head up with his hands. He sighed as he gazed down at his dirt-covered boots and blinked hard in an effort to keep himself awake.
Autolycus rolled his eyes in irritation and continued walking up and down the path at a snail's pace. The stiffness in his legs began to go away and he swung his arms back and forth to get the circulation going in them again. Behind him, a very bored Joxer began humming as he idly drew circles in the sand with his foot.
Several minutes passed by, and Autolycus became more and more aggravated at Joxer's aimless humming. Plus, adding insult to injury, his temples started pounding in a staccato rhythm to the tune. Finally, he whirled around and snarled, "Will you quit making that racket, you moron? Gods! Don't you ever keep that big yap of yours shut?"
Joxer's head shot up at the sharp rebuke. His mobile features immediately slid into a hurt expression as his dark eyes widened in stunned surprise and his jaw opened slightly.
"Oh, don't give me that wounded puppy-dog look that you always make when your itty-bitty widdle feelings get hurt, you doofus-brain! You make me sick to my stomach when you do that!" Autolycus sneered, his hands drawing into fists as he glared down at his astonished friend.
The hurt expression disappeared from Joxer's face as he slowly rose to his feet. His nostrils flared briefly as he squeezed his eyes shut and put a hand to the right side of his throbbing forehead. His eyebrows drew together in a frown as the throbbing increased to an almost unbearable level and two scarlet blotches appeared on his cheeks while the rest of his face remained pale.
Autolycus felt his irritation fading away and he smiled disarmingly. "Hey, I didn't mean it, you big goof. No hard feelings, huh?" he asked.
Joxer's eyes opened as he lifted his head back up, eventually focusing on his friend and his features sliding into something completely foreign - for him, at any rate.
Autolycus' smile faltered at the expression on his longtime friend's face. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hold on a sec, buddy! I..."
"Don't call me 'buddy'!" Joxer quietly interrupted as he began walking towards the taller man, his fists clenching together. "Do you know how many years I've let you get away with calling me moron, dummy, idiot and pea-brain - and that's just what you've had the balls to say to my face?"
Autolycus swallowed hard, putting his hands up in front of him as Joxer continued his slow approach. "It was never meant seriously, honestly! You know that!" he exclaimed, laughing a little. "No need to get so bent out of shape!" He licked his suddenly dry lips as he stared at Joxer in disbelief. He had never seen such a furious expression on his normally good-natured friend's face before.
"How would I know that? Aren't I too stupid to understand?" Joxer asked in a deadly soft voice just before he launched himself at the taller man with a loud cry, tackling him to the ground. The two rolled around in the dusty path, Autolycus trying to push Joxer off him.
"Hey! Cool it, already! What's the matter with you?" Autolycus shouted as he got the upper hand briefly before he found himself looking up into his friend's outraged face. Joxer was much stronger than he expected him to be...
Joxer wordlessly snarled, his hands reaching for Autolycus' throat in an attempt to throttle him.
Autolycus barely managed to push him off just in time and he scrambled to his feet, panting from the exertion as he watched Joxer get up. He put his fists up then, adopting a fighting stance as Joxer lurched towards him. "I hate to do this to you, but you're way out of control," he muttered.
Autolycus reached back to throw a punch, only to find the tip of Joxer's sword touching his throat right at his Adam's apple. He swallowed hard, feeling the metal touching his flesh, not quite pricking the skin, but very close to doing so. His eyes lifted up slightly to gaze into the one thing that he never thought he'd see on Joxer's face.
Complete and utter hatred.
Adora stopped in the middle of the town square, her face turning deathly pale as she nervelessly dropped the pristine white cloths she held in her hands onto the ground. Her breath sucked inward with a loud hiss and she squeezed her eyes shut as the blood thudded dully in her ears.
Eve happened to look up from her work at that moment and she ran over to her. "Dorie?" she asked. "Are you okay? You look like you're going to be sick!"
Gabrielle, overhearing Eve, looked up and ran over to the two teenagers. She reached out and gently clasped her daughter's shoulders. "Dorie? Are you all right?"
Adora's pain-filled eyes slowly focused on her mother and Gabrielle's own eyes widened in sudden realization. "Joxer..." she gasped, the color draining from her face. She immediately turned around and took off in a sprint towards the direction of the village gate.
"Gabrielle, where are you going?" Xena shouted as she straightened up.
"Joxer's in some kind of trouble!" Gabrielle yelled back, still running.
"I'm coming with you!" Xena exclaimed. "Eve, stay with Dorie and make sure she's okay!" she yelled over her shoulder as she caught up with Gabrielle and ran past her.
Gabrielle grimaced as she picked up the pace.
Jace ran over to the two girls, frowning, Pierre at his heels. He heard a faraway roaring in his ears and his temples began throbbing dully. "Evie... Dorie... Let's go sit down," he quietly suggested, putting a hand on each girl's shoulder. For some strange reason, he felt like he was going to be violently sick but he resolutely shook the feeling off.
Adora's eyes slowly regained their focus and she shook her head. "Papa..." she whispered.
Jace, Pierre, and Eve exchanged worried glances. "Your mom and Xena are gonna help your father, okay? Will you let them do that?" Jace asked.
Adora nodded once and the four of them walked over to a nearby bench. Her knees buckled as she turned around and sat down on it with a hard thump.
Wordlessly, Jace sat down, pulled his niece into his arms and held her as she breathed heavily. Eve and Pierre looked on, not knowing what to do.
"Listen to me, Joxer! You don't want to do this!" Autolycus exclaimed, keeping his eyes on the metal blade. Fleetingly, he thought that he could knock the sword away from Joxer's hand but quickly changed his mind when the blade pressed harder against his throat.
"Don't tell me what I want or don't want to do!" Joxer growled menacingly.
"Okay! Okay!" Autolycus readily agreed. "Just calm down!"
Joxer blinked, his eyes momentarily losing focus. His headache was almost unbearable now and he uttered a low, hoarse cry as his grip on the hilt loosened slightly, forcing him to tilt the weapon away from Autolycus' throat.
Autolycus knocked the sword away from Joxer's hand with a fast chop to the wrist, and then he whirled around and kicked the younger man hard in the rear.
Joxer fell down on all fours with a loud yell, blinking hard for a few seconds. "Get... Out... Of... My... Head...!" he gasped as he slowly rose upright.
Autolycus stared at Joxer as he lurched back and forth in the path like a drunken sailor, his hands clamped over his head.
"GET... OUT... OF... MY... HEAD!" Joxer screamed, falling to his knees as his face twisted up in sheer agony. He howled wordlessly then, the unearthly sound making Autolycus shiver involuntarily before his eyes rolled up and he passed out just as Gabrielle and Xena arrived.
"JOXER! NO!" Gabrielle yelled as she ran over to her husband and fell to her knees beside him.
"What happened?" Xena asked, her sharp eyes immediately spotting the signs of the scuffle between the two men and Joxer's sword lying in the path.
"I dunno," Autolycus mumbled, shaking his head as he watched Gabrielle trying to rouse Joxer. "We were waiting out here for folks to show up at the gate... He started humming... I got really annoyed with the racket he was making and I told him to knock it off..." He paused for a moment, shaking his head. "Then he just went completely off his rocker..." He shuddered. "The look in his eyes... I hope I never see anything like that in them again."
Xena frowned fiercely as she knelt down next to Gabrielle, who looked up at her with panicked eyes. "He's coming to, Gabrielle," she murmured.
Gabrielle nodded, anxiously watching as Joxer's eyes fluttered open and eventually focused on her.
"G-G-G-Gabby?" he whispered weakly. He tried to sit up, but the two women made him stay down.
"Easy, Joxer," Xena murmured, quickly checking him over for any signs of injury. Satisfied that he hadn't hurt himself, she and Gabrielle then helped him up into a sitting position.
"What happened?" Gabrielle asked softly, reaching out to caress his cheek.
Joxer shook his head once, wincing a little from the residual headache. "I was sitting on that rock -" he vaguely indicated the boulder. "-and I started humming 'cuz I got bored. Autolycus yelled at me to knock it off..." he paused, his eyebrows drawing together in a frown. "Then I'm not really sure what happened next..." he mumbled.
"You went crackers, you big doo..." Autolycus interrupted. He was going to say more when the two women turned around and glared at him. "Never mind," he muttered uncomfortably.
"Take your time, Joxer," Xena murmured as she turned around to face him.
Joxer shook his head, still frowning. "I remember getting real angry and my head... It... It felt like someone was inside it and pounding on my brain with their fists... Squeezing it together... It hurt so bad..." He passed a shaking hand over his eyes.
Xena and Gabrielle exchanged alarmed glances. "One of the Gods?"
Xena nodded grimly. "Yeah."
"But which one - and why?" Gabrielle asked.
Xena's eyes darted back and forth as she rose to her feet. "I don't know, Gabrielle," she admitted. "But I'd bet my chakram that it was the same one that made Tolly and those men he gathered together go on that murdering spree." She exhaled loudly and gazed at Autolycus. "I'm going to take a quick look around the area, see if I can find anything. Give Gabrielle a hand with taking Joxer back to their place. I'll stay here for now to see if anybody else happens to show up."
Autolycus nodded and watched Xena move away before turning towards Gabrielle, who was helping a none-too-steady Joxer to his feet. He looked down at the ground, picked up Joxer's abandoned sword and walked over to the couple. Wordlessly, he slid it back into the scabbard hanging at Joxer's hip.
Joxer looked down at the sword and then looked up at Autolycus, horrified. "I tried to..."
Autolycus winked at him. "It's a good thing that you're such a big klutz," he said, grinning as he put his arm over Joxer's shoulders and the three began walking back towards the village square.
Joxer shook his head. "It's not funny!" he exclaimed softly, unsuccessfully trying to shake the thief's arm off.
The smile slid from Autolycus' lips. "You're right. It's not funny. Someone tried messing around with your noggin and you coulda lopped mine off. Either way, it was a bad deal for the two of us - 'specially for me!"
Joxer sighed, his lips twisting up in an unhappy pout. "I didn't..."
"I know you didn't, you big dumbbell," Autolycus said with gruff affection, his eyes meeting Joxer's for a moment. "But whoever pulled that bad mojo on you… Well, let's just say that the payback's gonna be a bitch - especially if it's Xena who doles it out," he added in with a chuckle.
"I wouldn't be so sure of Xena being the one who doles it out," Gabrielle growled. She looked up at Joxer then, her face softening. "You look like you've been run over by a chariot a few times, Pookie," she observed as she squeezed his waist gently.
"Thanks - I think," Joxer replied, his lips sliding up into a lopsided smile.
Gabrielle returned the smile, giving his waist another squeeze as she leaned her head against his chest. "I'm just glad that you're both all right." She lifted up a finger, signaling for her husband to keep silent when his mouth opened up. "She's okay, Joxer - more shook up than anything else. Let's go home so you can get some rest."
Joxer nodded once and the three continued their slow walk back home.
Aer stalked away from the village gate, her mind whirling in disbelief over what had just happened. A mere mortal actually had managed to overthrow her mind control... "How could he?" she sputtered, shaking her head. "He's nothing but a simple-minded mortal!"
"The vessel is not just a simple-minded mortal, Aer - and if you directly attack him and the girl in such a manner again, I assure you that I will make good with my promise," Teutales said as he appeared before the stunned War Goddess.
"Then why don't you just simply destroy him and the brat and be done with it?" Aer demanded, her eyes briefly flashing a yellow-green.
Black eyes sparked white-hot in response. "I will deal with the vessel and the girl on my own terms - and when I feel the time is right. Now stay out of my way and do the job that you were supposed to do!" He disappeared in a blue-white flash, leaving behind a fuming Aer standing in the middle of the field.
Xena shook her head angrily as she finished her quick search of the area. She didn't expect to find anything but it gave her something to occupy herself while waiting for anyone to show up. "Damn!" she cursed under her breath.
She pulled her hair away from her face and sighed as she walked over to the boulder where Joxer was sitting earlier and leaned up against it wearily, crossing her arms over her chest. She looked up at the sky and saw that the sun was beginning to set behind the hills. She then turned her attention towards the road and she could see two wagons approaching in the distance. She pushed herself away from the boulder and stood at full attention, keeping her sword sheathed behind her back, but ready to spring into action at a moment's notice.
As the two wagons drew closer, Xena relaxed slightly when she saw that it was Gabrielle's family. That feeling quickly disappeared when she saw that Lecter's left arm was bandaged and Herodotus sported a large bruise on his right cheek and had a cut above the eyebrow. She also noted with mild amusement that Hecuba and Lila were both armed with frying pans. She ran over to the wagons as they drew to a halt. "What happened?"
Herodotus glared down at her and replied in a soft, strained voice, "We were attacked on the road - no thanks to you!"
"Stop blaming her for everything, Herodotus!" Hecuba shouted. "It wasn't her fault that we were attacked by those crazy people! We were aware that something like this could happen and we accepted it!" She turned around to face Xena and continued in a calmer voice, "Are Gabrielle, Joxer and Adora all right?"
Xena nodded. "They'll be very glad to see you."
"Good," Hecuba replied. She then turned to her visibly astonished husband and said, "Let's go. I want to see them."
Herodotus continued staring at his wife for a moment before he turned away from her and made a clicking noise.
Xena stepped aside to allow the wagons to pass by and nodded as Lila acknowledged her with a wave and gave the children what she hoped was a reassuring smile before turning her attention back to the road.
As the last rays of the sun faded away and the sky settled into early twilight, Xena heard footsteps behind her. She turned around, her hand involuntarily hovering over her chakram, but she quickly dropped it to the side when she saw that it was Gabrielle, who carried a lit torch in one hand and a small package in the other. She silently watched as her friend lit the two torches placed in stands at either side of the village gate.
"Thought you might like a little light and some company," Gabrielle murmured as she placed the torch she carried into another stand.
Xena's lips twitched up into a brief smile. "Wouldn't hurt," she admitted as Gabrielle joined her.
"A little something for you to eat too," Gabrielle said, giving Xena the small wrapped package. "You've had nothing since breakfast this morning."
Xena's stomach growled at the scent of warm, freshly baked flatbread, olives and cheese rising up from the paper and she gratefully tore into the package. "Thanks," she mumbled before hungrily biting into the flatbread. She had nearly demolished the impromptu meal before she finally turned to Gabrielle, swallowed and asked, "How's Joxer doing?"
Gabrielle's features drew into a concerned frown as Xena took a drink of water from her water-skin. "He's okay, but exhausted. He kept trying to apologize over what happened until Autolycus threatened to sew his mouth shut." She pushed a lock of hair away from her eyes. "I made him go to bed after we had something to eat and he's sleeping like a log. Dorie, Jace, Pierre and Eve are back at the house working..." she ended with a small sigh.
Xena nodded, gazing at her longtime friend carefully. "Gabrielle, are you all right?" she queried as she put her hand on Gabrielle's shoulder after placing the parchment and water-skin on the rock.
Gabrielle nodded once before she turned away to stare down the road, but not before Xena saw the worry and exhaustion in her friend's too-bright eyes. "Yeah, I'm okay."
"But..."
Gabrielle continued staring ahead into the distance. "I don't know how much more Joxer can take, Xena. I can't watch this happening again..." Her head tilted up towards the sky and it was quite some time before she spoke again. "I keep thinking of what happened to..."
"Perdicas?"
Gabrielle exhaled harshly, passing a hand over her eyes. "Yeah," she whispered. "It's just that I've finally got it right and the thought of losing..."
Xena nodded as she reached out and fiercely embraced her friend. "Joxer's going to be okay, Gabrielle. We'll all be okay." I hope, she added in silently.
"Thanks," Gabrielle replied, rewarding Xena with a tiny smile when they broke the hug before turning back to look down the road. Her eyebrows immediately drew together. "What on earth is that?" she muttered, pointing at a rather bright light headed straight towards them.
The hair on the back of Xena's neck began prickling as she turned towards the direction that Gabrielle was pointing in. "Ares..." she hissed.
"I don't think that using pink lighting and walking to get where he wants to go is exactly his style," Gabrielle observed with a chuckle as the light drew closer.
Xena's eyebrow rose at the sight of Hercules, Iolaus, White Dove, Aphrodite and a darkly scowling Ares approaching on foot. "I've got a very entertaining story to tell you later," she murmured in an aside to Gabrielle, who choked back laughter. "Hello!" she exclaimed.
"Yo, Warrior Babe!" the Love Goddess' cheerful voice replied. "Hey, Blondie! How's it shakin'?" she added in with a giggle.
Gabrielle raised her hand up to shade her eyes, rolling them at the same time. "Uh... Could you turn that down?" she asked as the small group came to a halt.
"Huh?" Aphrodite blinked. "OH!" she exclaimed, realizing what Gabrielle meant. She lowered her hand and the warm pink glow surrounding them faded away. Her head shot up suddenly, her brow furrowing slightly. "There are some majorly nasty vibes hanging around here! Way not cool! If I didn't know better, I'd swear it was Discord!"
Ares nodded curtly, his eyes darting back and forth as he scanned the area. His eyes met Xena's and softened for a split second before they grew hard and angry again. Without a word and a ferocious scowl, he disappeared in a flash of blue-white light and accompanying thunderclap.
Xena sighed as she approached her friends. "It's good to see all of you," she greeted the group huskily. "Did you run into any trouble?"
Hercules nodded. "A few hours ago, we were ambushed by some villagers, but we managed to deal with it." His eyes met Aphrodite's. "We just had to watch out for the occasional zap from her."
"Hey, it worked, didn't it?" the Love Goddess replied, her lips turning up in a pout as she crossed her arms over her chest.
"Uh, yeah... With some rather, um-" Iolaus cleared his throat loudly. " -interesting results."
Xena, Gabrielle, and White Dove exchanged amused glances at his words while Aphrodite sputtered.
"I'll just bet," Xena said with a wry grin before her expression became serious. "We need to talk strategy," she added in as she took one of the torches off the stands, Gabrielle and Iolaus following suit.
The small group then walked through the gates and Hercules was about to close them when Aphrodite snapped her fingers. A moment later, the gates were closed and barred shut for the night.
"Later! Got other things to work on while you peeps talk shop," Aphrodite observed. "Like finding that grody skank that's been spreading bad karma 'round the place," she muttered under her breath. She snapped her fingers and disappeared in a rain of golden sparkles, leaving behind the sweet scent of roses.
The group looked at each other before Xena shrugged her shoulders and set off in the direction of Gabrielle and Joxer's home. The others followed silently behind her.
