Thank you all for reading this cute short story. I hope you all enjoyed it! Here's the last chapter ;)
Medusa's riddle was borrowed from the lovely Gollum in Lord of The Rings.
Chapter 9
Xena stirred in her sleep and then jolted awake, frantically scraping her arms and legs. She was grateful that her arms were no longer furry legs that belonged to a canine. Her eyes glanced over at Joxer who was lying in the grass in a fetal position. Whether he was a human or not seemed not to matter. He definitely looked like a ferret, she thought.
She turns, ruffling her hair, and caught her bard sleeping with Argo's head next to hers. She hated to disturb the two although she couldn't wait to have a very interesting conversation with Gabrielle. The warrior stretched her arm outward and playfully slapped the bard's thigh.
Gabrielle yelped and sprung up, grass in hair and bodice. Breathing heavily, she eyed Xena and grumbled. It took a moment for her to realize that her dear friend had been turned back to normal.
"Xena!" she leapt forward and hugged the warrior. They fell back against the grass and Gabrielle peered down at her with a big juicy smile. She kissed her forehead several times to which Xena rebelled and revolted against the kisses smothering her.
"Stop it!" the warrior refutes. "Get off!"
The bard rolled off and picked the grass out of her bodice. "You're actually here! I was so worried that you wouldn't turn back to your normal self! You're really here!"
She wrapped her arms around Xena again and squealed.
Xena sighed. "Alright, Gabrielle, alright. You can stop now." She paddled the bard's hand. "Okay!"
"Sorry." She pulls away with a beaming face. "I'm just happy that you're back."
"Mhm. Me too."
Her eyes linger to Argo who was still sleeping. Her lips curl into a smirk. "Now I understand why you were so jealous of…what was her name? Oh right, Ambrosia," she cackles.
The embarrassment of being jealous of a horse was enough to ruin Gabrielle's mood. She crosses her arms, imitating that of a frustrated and disgruntled child. It wasn't that she was jealous of a horse, she was just jealous of Xena's relationship –no she was definitely jealous of a horse.
"Argo and I…we…I…" she paused at the warrior's complacent grin. "Let's just say we have a better understanding of each other."
"Uh huh," remarked Xena. "Are you going to tell me what happened in Tartarus?"
The bard laughs awkwardly. "I'd rather not go into that." She picked the remaining grass out of her hair. "But you know what was strange? Ares helped us. I didn't expect him to do that."
"He probably wants something from you just to get under my skin. Am I right?"
Gabrielle shrugs a shoulder. "He says that I owe him. Do you think he'll forget about that?"
"Gabrielle. He's Ares. When has he ever forgotten anything that has to do with me?" she stares incredulously. "He never does anything out of the kindness of his heart."
She adjusts her armor and caressed Argo's mane and forehead. With the simple touch the horse awoke and nudged her companion's arm and chest. Xena was all smiles and kissed the top of Argo's head. All this time she thought Argo was missing or had run off but she was here the entire time right under her nose.
"Was Gabrielle mean to you? You can tell me the truth," she whispered.
The blonde gasps. "Excuse me!"
"Kidding! I was kidding!" Xena chides with a snort. She leans close to Argo's ear. "See? She has a short temper. I trust you were nice to her."
Gabrielle rolled her eyes while listening to the conversation. It looked like it didn't matter if Argo was a woman or a horse. Xena was always more susceptible to believe an animal before anyone else. She fidgeted quietly and looked over at Argo nuzzling her snout in Xena's hair.
The warrior smiled over at her friend. "Gabrielle, you're always there for me when I need you the most. Nobody is going to come in between us and change that." She grasps hands with her. "Not Ares, not Argo."
A sigh escaped Gabrielle's lips. "She told me she really cares about you."
"And I really care about you." Xena squeezed the bard's hand.
They shared a warm smile.
Joxer yawned and sat up, rubbing his eyes. He whipped his body around and giddily stumbled over to the two women in his life. He embraced them into a tight bear hug and they groaned.
"Xena! You're back! No longer a dog, huh?!"
"Joxer!" Gabrielle snarled and punched him in the chest and he fell backward.
"What's the matter, Gabby? Aren't you happy things are back to normal?" he says and adjusted his helmet clumsily.
She grimaced and stood up with the help of Xena's lending hand. "Yes Joxer…I'm very pleased that you aren't a rodent anymore." On that note she heard Xena snicker.
Xena stood and fixed the saddle atop of Argo. "We need to get to that cave where Circe had all those caged men. If I'm turned back then those men are probably no longer furry beasts."
Joxer skipped ahead and blocked their paths. He put up his hands and Gabrielle was ready to whack him with her staff at any second.
"Wait, wait! Isn't that where the witch lady is?" he breathes heavily, nearly keeling over in fear.
Xena rests a hand on her hip and arched an eyebrow. "She's gone. Can we get a move on?" she brushed by him.
He ran and grabbed her shoulder to which she glared in his direction. "Heh," he cringed and stepped away. "How do you know she's gone? Did you see her? Xena, she's a bad, and I mean really bad, lady." He scoffs.
"Ares took her away. You won't be seeing her for a long, long time." Xena slapped his cheek several times and walked ahead, holding Argo's reins.
"Ares!" he yelps. "Xena! Are you actually going to trust him? Xena? What about you, Gabby?"
The bard whacked the annoying wannabe warrior's shin with her staff. He hissed and hopped around, holding onto his injured leg.
Gabrielle chuckled. "You coming, Joxer?" she called out from up ahead.
Once all of the men were retrieved from the cave, they brought them back to the village. All of the women and children who had missed their fathers, brothers and uncles had been reunited. Gabrielle assisted the men to make sure they were guided safely back to their families.
The magistrate, Clyde, smiled at Xena and gawked at all of the men gathered around the center of the village square.
"You found them in a cave, you said?" he asks.
"It's a long story. Have you ever heard of a sorceress named Circe?" she stares at the confused man. "I didn't think so."
He rubbed his chin in question. "I still don't understand why all the men wandered off in the middle of the night. A sorceress," he snorts at the idea. "I'll have you know none of these fine men would ever participate in cult-like activity, Xena."
She raises her eyebrows and tries her best not to give a dramatic eye roll at the comment. There were many things these common villagers didn't know outside of their little bubble. She hated to be the one to burst that said bubble.
"I can assure you that they weren't willing participants," she calmly explained.
That did nothing but confuse the magistrate even more. He sighs deeply. "Anyhow, I thank you for all your help, Xena. Allow me to gift you payment for your good deeds."
She held up a hand. "That won't be necessary. I wasn't the only one helping and I didn't do all of the work."
"Oh," he falters, "your friends will be rewarded as well," he emits a warm smile.
Xena cringed at the man trying to give her money. She refused with a simple thank you. "I don't want your money or your praise. Bringing these men home is enough for me. I just hope you don't have any more sorceresses visit your village," she pokes fun at the disgruntled magistrate.
Clyde wags his head and saunters away, muttering to himself. "Sorceresses…" he grunts.
Gabrielle made her way over and noted the magistrate descending into his home. She didn't bother to ask why Xena had such a snarky grin on her face. She leaned up against the warrior with the staff nestled against her chest.
She looked behind her at Argo and briefly smiled at the blonde horse.
"I don't know about you but I'm ready to leave this place."
Xena nods. "I'm with you on that one." She eyes Joxer trying to chat with a few of the men. "What are we going to do about him?"
The bard shakes her head shamefully. "We could…leave him here? Maybe he'll be the village idiot! Look, he's already telling tales about Circe and her beasts. They don't believe him either!"
"Gabrielle, that's not very nice. I didn't know you had such a mean streak in you. First, you get jealous of Argo and then say horrible things about her and now you're taunting Joxer?"
"Hey! You're not always nice to him either! And what's the big idea? I was stuck in Tartarus with your horse; you have no idea what we talked about."
Xena taps a finger on her cheek. "Let me take a wild guess. Me?"
"And among other…things," the blonde professes. "But mostly you," she groans. "Don't start developing an ego now, Xena." She punched the warrior's arm.
"I'm not the one who was jealous of a horse but hey, whatever." She grabs Argo's reins and waltzed away.
"I wasn't that jealous!"
In the bowels of Tartarus, Circe and Medusa were hung by their ankles, upside down. Circe sighed heavily as she watched the fire looming underneath them. She grew bored of remaining here in this damned place especially with the gorgon who was recently, quite a chatterbox.
"So nice to have you here with me again," says Medusa.
"I'd rather be dead."
The gorgon cackled. "Not in this century, sweetie."
The witch crossed her arms and refused to look at the serpent beside her. "How long do you think Hades is going to leave us here?" she wonders aloud.
"Couple hundred years, give or take."
Circe releases a low growl. "Great. Is there any way I can be alone during this infernal punishment?"
Medusa playfully nabs the sorceress' arm. "You don't like spending time with me, Circe? We are the best of friends after all. I wouldn't want to spend an eternity in these chains with anyone else but you." she chuckles. "This is your fault."
"It is not!"
"Oh, I believe it is."
Circe rolls her eyes. "Where are those nematodes? Shouldn't they be picking at your rotting flesh by now?"
"No need for the attitude."
"Shut up."