Gabrielle awoke in the healer's hut, a dull pain in the front of her head. She was mildly annoyed, and even more mildly amused that after all these years she was still waking up injured in strange cots, though normally it was Xena who had healed her and not the old woman before her now, who Gabrielle thought in her old age rather resembled a raisin.

"What happened?" Gabrielle asked, "My head feels like it was hit with a wagon."

"It looks like," said the old healer, "you fell from a tree. One of the youths found you bleeding from the skull in the woods. You'll be fine, though. A few days' rest is all you need."

Varia came into the hut, that new queenliness about her, with Gabrielle's bag of scrolls in her hand, "I thought you might want these to keep you busy. How are you feeling?"

"Kinda like back when you beat me up." Gabrielle smiled.

Varia turned to the healer, "Would you leave us for a moment?"

The wrinkled woman, whom Gabrielle had just realized she'd forgotten to thank for her healing, nodded and exited swiftly.

"Gabrielle," said Varia, sitting beside the bed, "what happened in the woods today?"

Gabrielle sighed, "I…" she thought back, "Xena was supposed to catch me."

"She's not real, Gabrielle," said Varia, "It's all in your head."

Gabrielle winced at the words, and her gaze dropped to her lap.

"You must live your life, Gabrielle," said Varia, "Don't do these rash things. I have seen so much death here. Live, Gabrielle. And once the time comes you will meet Xena again in Elysium."

"Don't you think I've tried?" Gabrielle muttered.

"Living?"

"Meeting Xena," Gabrielle corrected, "I filled my satchel full of stones and walked into the Nile. I drank poison and I leapt from great cliffs. But I always awaken. I am cursed."

"That doesn't sound like a curse."

"She said it was a gift," said Gabrielle, "She lied, though."

"Xena?"

"No, no. It was Akemi. A girl—a ghost. She gave me this," She peeled her tunic off her shoulder, showing Varia the intricate dragon on her back, which she normally took such care to keep hidden from the eyes of others, "She said it was a gift, to protect me. But it keeps me from her—from Xena. I think that she did it on purpose, so that she may have Xena all to herself."

"I think you are ascribing bad intentions to someone who may have none," Varia said, unsure who Akemi was but deciding the detail was unimportant, "I once did that a lot."

"I feel it in my heart," said Gabrielle, "And Xena is with me. I feel that, too. No one can keep me from Xena. Not Akemi, and not Death."

"She is dead, Gabrielle. Don't lose yourself in fantasy."

There was a very long silence, and then Gabrielle spoke softly. "When I was a girl," she said, "I thought that I could tell the future. I called it the 'gift of prophecy'."

Varia met her gaze with an uncertain nod.

"My sister, Lila, called me crazy. My predictions were never right. I once predicted a flood when we'd had a drought, but I told her that what mattered was that I knew something strange would happen with the rain." She took a deep breath, "No matter how much evidence there was against it, I still always believed I had this made-up ability. I think I even still do, sometimes, in the back of my mind."

"Gabrielle-"

"Xena always liked how optimistic I was, always looking at the brighter side of things and seeing the good in people despite all we'd been through. But that was never it. I wasn't optimistic, I was delusional."

"You've been through so much, and you've lost the person you love most in the world not even a year ago," said Varia, "You will get through it. Stay here a while, we will help you."

Gabrielle nodded slowly, but she disagreed. No, she would never get through it, which was why she needed more than ever to finish her quest.

The old healer returned and Varia nodded to her, "Thank you, Thais."

"Yes, my Queen," said the healer with a small bow.

Varia left and Gabrielle sat still, thinking for a moment. She reached into her bag and pulled out the scroll that she'd found in Egypt, staring at the impossible characters, trying to identify even one word.

"I have never seen such a language in my life," said Thais as she caught a glimpse of the scroll, "I once knew a woman who simply loved to read different tongues, there wasn't one she could not understand."

"Yeah?" said Gabrielle, her interest piqued.

"Oh, yes," said the old woman, becoming lost in a memory, "It is said that Hermes himself fell in love with her and taught her every language Man has ever spoken."

"Where might I find this woman?" Gabrielle pressed, her heart suddenly racing.

"Her name is Euphemia, she is a priestess at a temple in Nicopolis." She arched a clinical eyebrow at Gabrielle, "You cannot go there, not right now. You must rest."

"Uh-huh."


The advice went unheeded, of course, and that night, when the village was asleep besides the women guarding the perimeter, Gabrielle silently left her hut and retrieved Argo II from the stable.

"Queen Gabrielle?" Aridike squinted through the darkness as she guarded the entrance to the city, "Gabrielle, you should be resting."

Gabrielle did notice that the girl had dropped the "Queen" from her title since she'd seen her in the woods. She didn't mind, of course, but she certainly did notice. "Shh, Aridike," said Gabrielle, "I'm alright, really. Don't try to stop me, you know I could subdue you."

Aridike thought for a moment and then, shame in her features, nodded.

"Thank you for all you have done for me, and for your concern, Aridike. Take care."

And Gabrielle rode off into the night, headed for Nicopolis.


It was a long journey, and she was pleased to finally arrive. She found herself feeling incredibly small in light of the temple's vastness.

"It is beautiful," Xena remarked, beside her again.

Gabrielle did not answer, but took a deep breath as she pushed open the heavy doors.


The hall seemed empty, but Gabrielle could hear the unmistakable rhythm of a quill on parchment. She squinted, and at the end of the hall could see a small old woman, eyes closed but writing away as though she were playing an instrument.

"Hello?" said Gabrielle, clearing her throat.

The woman turned towards Gabrielle, but to the bard it seemed like she gazed right through her, "Who are you?"

"My name is Gabrielle of Potadeia," she thought for a moment, and stood straighter, stronger, intimidated for some reason but not wanting to appear so, "companion of Xena, the Warrior Princess, and Queen of the Amazons."

If the woman at all recognized her titles, she did not show it. "That is your name, and your title," said the woman, "but who are you? What is it you do?"

"I am…—" A warrior, she thought, "I am a bard."

"Oh, another? You would not believe how many bards come to me, seeking to change their stories so that they may be told across the world. Oh, how dull their stories all are!"

"I have something more interesting," Gabrielle insisted, taking out her scoll, "I have this scroll, but I cannot read the letters, and I thought—"

"My girl, are you dense?" The woman scoffed. "I am blind! I cannot translate that for you. Hermes taught me every language, and Zeus blinded me so that I would not become too strong. I am sorry to say that I can only translate into other tongues what you can read aloud to me."

"It's okay, Gabrielle," Xena said, "There's always another way."

"There's got to be another way," said Gabrielle, panic rising again in her stomach, "Something you can do, anything."

"Don't get your tunic in a twist," said the old woman, "I do have a potion that will briefly give you the ability that I have, to understand other tongues, but only for a few moments. I do warn you, though, it is known to drive people insane."

Gabrielle did not hesitate, "Give it to me, please," she begged, "I can handle it."

After a moment of quiet contemplation, the woman nodded and went to a shelf full of bottles and pouches. She felt around until she located a bottle full of a brown liquid. She procured a small cup from nearby it and reached for a blank scroll, all of which she passed to Gabrielle.

"Don't drink more than the cup," she passed her quill to Gabrielle, "You may forget what you read. I would write it down."

Forget? Gabrielle scoffed, she wasn't an idiot. But she trusted this woman, and after pouring her cup full of the potion, she gripped the quill in her right hand and brought the liquid to her lips with her left. Bracing herself, she drank.