Five months later:
"Tag! You're it!" A high-pitched giggle pierced the air as a hand reached down and touched a granite-colored shoulder.
"Not again! MISS... Adora! Help!" Behlem wailed as he began running after a laughing Andy, Lennox, Aimee and Sarah as fast as his little legs could carry him across the meadow.
"Sorry Behlem, but I can't help you this time! You've got to get out of this one yourself," Adora replied, laughing merrily while she watched the small gargoyle run after her cousins. She turned around when she felt someone tap her shoulder and her smile widened with pleasure when she saw it was Ioannes. "Hey..."
Ioannes pointed to where several people were gathering around to dance. "Wanna?" he asked curiously, offering his hand out to her.
Adora blushed and smiled shyly. "I'd like that," she admitted, taking his hand in hers. The two then walked over to where the others were gathered and they began dancing as the music started playing. From the corner of her eye, she saw Eve laughing at something Stephanos was saying and she smiled. Eve saw her smiling and she returned it before getting lost in the crowd. She then saw Gaston and Jezda dancing and her smile widened before she found herself getting giddily whirled around.
Joxer, Gabrielle and Xena relaxed as they sat on a long bench that was a short distance away from the dancing wedding guests. Joxer smiled when he spotted Jett fussing over a visibly pregnant Melody, who answered her anxious husband's questions patiently as they sat down at one of the tables.
A swatch of brightly colored clothing briefly caught Joxer's attention and he turned to see that Jace and Pierre were among the dancers. With another brief turn of his head, he saw Cyrene and Brigandu, who was slowly adjusting to mortal life and had refused all offers of being returned to her godhood from the Olympian gods for her efforts in attempting to stop the war between them and the gods from Gaul, laughing merrily while they watched Behlem still vainly trying to catch the children. He then looked down at his still-full wine cup and stared at the deep-red liquid.
"Something bothering you, Joxer?" Gabrielle asked, interrupting her husband's silent reverie.
Joxer looked up then, smiling at his wife and best friend, who were both looking at him curiously. "No, I'm fine," he reassured them both. "Just thinking about stuff..."
"Like what?" Xena asked, a smirk gracing her lovely features. "It's not like you to be so - contemplative. That's Gabrielle's job," she added in teasingly and laughed when Gabrielle gave her a gentle whap on the arm.
"Nothing important... Just that some things never change..."
"Like the Gods causing trouble?" Gabrielle asked with a knowing grin.
"That's a given, Gabrielle," Xena chuckled before taking a sip from her wine cup. "It's been kind of nice that they've all been more or less not causing too much mischief these past few months, though..."
Joxer shook his head, frowning slightly. "Nah, that's not it..." His lips pursed up as he struggled with his thoughts for a few moments before turning his head to gaze at the two of them. "Like being with family and having great friends to share good and bad times with. That's all."
"Sometimes, Joxer, you still amaze me - even though I've known you for so long," Gabrielle said and she leaned over to kiss him briefly. Afterwards, she took her wine cup in her hand and raised it up, smiling. "A toast then: to family and friendship..."
"To family - and friendship," Xena and Joxer chorused, returning Gabrielle's smile. The three of them toasted then, cups clinking together before they each took a long drink of wine.
"So... What do you think happened to the rest of the Gods from Gaul?" Gabrielle asked, idly putting her arm over Joxer's shoulders as she watched the dancing. They all waved when they spotted Gaston and Jezda dancing happily and Jezda had just enough time to return it before Gaston twirled her around and began leading her in a different direction.
"I don't know Gabrielle, but wherever they are, let's hope they don't return for a long, long time," Xena said.
"That's for sure!" Gabrielle agreed fervently and the three friends toasted once more before leaning back in their seats and laughing as Behlem ran by them, still yelling for help as he tried to catch the children.
"Don't blame me for this! It was Teutales' plan - and you were stupid enough to agree that it was the best one!"
"Abnoba, you didn't exactly come up with a good alternative, did you?"
"It's not like yours was any better, Kai! Besides, may I add, everybody else was willing to go along with his ideas! I warned all of you that we never should've allowed Aer down there in the first place to try and turn the vessel to our side! She was too reckless and undisciplined to handle the task..."
"Enough of this bickering, you two!" Taranis interrupted. "Instead of using your mouths and wasting your energy, why not try using your brains and help us find a way out of here!"
His words were drowned out as another outbreak of arguing started up among the stranded Gods and Goddesses, each of them blaming each other for their misfortune, only to stop when they heard a low growling noise a short distance away from them. "All this time, stuck in this - limbo... You've got all of your powers, yet you can't even open up a simple vortex to get us out of here... VERY DISAPPOINTED!"
"Shut up, Hercules!" Kai sneered. "All brawn and no brains, you pathetic half-breed..." He shouted in surprise when he was suddenly grabbed by his tunic collar and lifted up so that his feet dangled several inches in the air. He stared down into a face that looked just like the Hercules that he had fought against during their clash with the Olympians, but with three crucial differences: this one had a beard, wore a metal-studded black leather vest, pants, and boots - and the brilliant blue eyes staring up at him were completely and utterly mad.
"I warned you... Never, ever call me that..." The blue eyes glittered maniacally as Kai found himself being thrown backwards, where he hit the barrier that held them all there. "I'M THE SOVEREIGN!" Hercules yelled, following that up by tossing a huge boulder at the God's direction.
Kai easily disintegrated the boulder by firing a bolt at it. As the pieces rained over everyone's heads, he rose to his feet, mockingly yelling, "Sovereign of what? Your deluded mind?"
"YAAAAAHHHH!" The Sovereign bellowed as he ran towards Kai to attack him, only to get slammed against the barrier when Kai shot a sizzling hot fireball directly into his chest. He made a quick recovery and instead of going after the Forge God, he went after Abnoba, who was not expecting him to attack, instead. Fireballs and insults flew through the air as the remaining Gods and Goddesses began attacking each other.
Taranis stood in the middle of it all, yelling, "STOP IT, YOU FOOLS! WE HAVE TO GET OUT OF HERE!" A bolt hit him directly in the chest right after he said that and he finally lost his rather tenuous control of his temper and he joined in the fray.
The fighting between them continued for a long, long time, but nobody seemed to notice or care.
FIN
