Chapter 3
They were by now entering the town.
As soon as they set foot on the place however, they were all more and more overcome by the feeling that it had been a very bad idea to come here. The streets were still covered by the grey mist that surrounded the entire area, and there was nobody to be seen anywhere.
The sun didn´t really seem to shine, despite that it should have been bright day. The air was cold, cooler than at every other part of the country at this time of the year. This alone could have simply been attributed to a sudden change in weather.
Yet there was more than that. Somehow the entire town seemed to be radiating an aura of pure menace.
xxx
For Callisto at least, this was clearly to read. Over the years she had practically developed a sixth sense for danger and threats, partly because her senses were not longer that of a normal human and partly just out of experience. This was something, one of many things actually, that she had in common with Xena.
This place here however was practically screaming it out.
Her young partner also seemed to have noticed that something was definitely not right about the town.
"Callisto, I have a strange feeling here," she said.
"Well, I have to say you are complete right my friend, something is clearly not right about this place. Have you taken a look backwards to the path where we came from?" she asked.
The young woman turned her head back.
"I see nothing. The fog is too thick," she said.
"Exactly," Callisto answered, "but right in front of us I can see nearly everything. Why is that?"
"Maybe the bank is just located behind us," her partner offered weakly. She knew as well that it obviously couldn't have been that easy.
"It is not only that. Look around, the fog is concealing the entire landscape outside the townsborder, while everything inside is clearly to see. The fog is surrounding the town."
Then they finally saw someone, a small figure standing in the gab between two buildings. It was a little girl.
"Hey you," Callisto´s partner called out.
The child drew immediately back as she heard her. It looked as if she was trying to hide.
"You don´t have to be afraid. We won´t hurt you, I promise," she said to her.
At her reassuring words, the child slowly came closer. They could make out her features better. It was really a little girl, maybe nine or ten years old. She was dirty, her clothes were old and ripped and her blonde hair stained and greasy.
"Are you okay? Where are your parents?" she asked the girl.
"I don´t know. They were here and now they are not."
"That means you are alone?"
"Yes, I am all alone," the child said.
"Callisto we can't just leave her here. We have to do something to help her."
"Wait a moment. Child tell me, do you know anything about the cult that is ruling this place?"
"The cult? Yes these people, the robed men with the masks. They are everywhere, they see everything. They can also see you."
"Really?" Callisto replied sarcastically. "Tell me, has anybody else come here before us?"
"No, nobody comes, nobody leaves. They all die. You will die too," the child told them matter of factly.
They were both looking at the girl with conflicting emotions.
"We have to take her with us," her partner said.
Callisto shook her head.
"I know why you want to do this, really. But there is something not right about her. Believe me, she is somehow part of all this here."
As they turned back around, the child was suddenly gone.
"What, where is she?" the young woman asked while feverishly looking around, but couldn´t find the child, anywhere. "How could she have vanished so quickly?"
"This doesn't really surprise me. She is one of them. We couldn´t have trusted her, anyway " Callisto stated.
"Maybe you are right. She was...well...strange," she replied.
Good girl, the immortal thought. As always she showed complete trust in her and was completely loyal. That was actually no great surprise, given who she was. In many ways she was the perfect sidekick, just like Xena once had.
Callisto you manipulative bitch, she then thought to herself. Just admit it to yourself, that was the main reason why you even allowed her to tag along after you found out who she was.
In some twisted way it was another attempt to mock her old enemy. At least it had been like that in the beginning.
xxxxxxx
At the same time, the group around Xena and Ares was entering the town as well. They also knew nearly instantly that something was fundamentally wrong there.
"So, what do we do now?" Discord asked as they kept staring starring at the empty streets.
"We find the book," Ares responded.
"And how do we do that?"
"First we should find anybody of the people who live here. They should be able to tell us something," Xena pointed out.
"Good idea, do you see anyone?" Ares said with light sarcasm, pointing at the deserted street.
"We will have to look," she responded.
After a few more minutes of walking through the seemingly empty town, they finally found something or rather someone.
It was a child, a little girl who was cowering in the small place between two of the houses.
"Hello, you" Gabrielle adressed her, "Please come out. You don´t have to be afraid of us. We are friends."
At her words the child came out. They all saw the state she was in. Her appearance was dirty, ragged and she looked as if she had been out here for a long time.
"Tell me, are you alone here? Where are your parents?" Gabrielle wanted to know.
"Yes, I am all alone," the child responded.
Xena walked forward, to ask a few questions by herself.
"Wait, there is something wrong about her," Discord said.
"I know," she replied casually. "Can you tell me something about the people who live here?" she addressed the little girl. "Where are they?"
"People? The cult? Yes, the robed men with the masks. They are everywhere, they see everything. They also see you," the child answered.
"Well, just what we had wanted to hear," Ares commented.
"Okay, can you tell us where we can find them?" Xena asked.
The girl pointed in one direction with her arm.
"Good, that is at least something," Gabrielle stated.
"Nobody comes, nobody leaves. They all die. You will die too," the girl said now and giggled.
"Why you little..." Discord growled. She had gotten angry now.
"Don´t," Gabrielle protested, trying to calm her down. She was shaking her head. "It is only a child."
"She is right here," Ares admitted, "attacking this girl is pointless. We should better try to get more information out of her."
But as soon as they turned back around to the source of their discussion, they saw that she was gone.
"What the..." the War God hissed.
"She has suddenly disappeared, from one moment to the other," Gabrielle said.
"I told you something was wrong about her. She was probably not human," Discord replied.
"At least she gave us a direction," Xena reminded them.
"What, you actually want to trust her or maybe `it´ on this?" Ares questioned.
"It is still better than nothing. And you wanted to find the cult. If this `girl´ is really connected to the curse that is hanging over this town, she may be our best chance."
"Great, let us trust the direction that the cursed super-natural creature gave to us. I mean, what could go wrong, right ?" Discord remarked.
"To be honest, everything could," Xena responded. "But the same could happen if we just stay here. This entire place is the problem. We are in danger here or there. But I for my part want to get out of this town again in my lifetime and this is the only hint that we have."
Then they went together in the direction they had been told.
xxxxxxx
After another short period of walking, they were now standing in front of a building that had clearly been an Inn once, just in the direction the `child´ had shown them. Like the rest of the town, it looked rundown and bedraggled. The door however was standing open.
"An open Inn in a ghost town," Ares suggested. "Let us go inside?"
"Of course," Xena responded, "that is the reason we are here, right?"
As they stepped inside, they sat still but saw nobody at first. The interior of the building, they realized, was not much better than the outside.
"Hello," Gabrielle called out, "is anybody here?"
"Yes," they heard a voice after a few seconds, "yes I am here."
A few moments later a person, a man, was coming out of a room at the end of one of the darkened corridors of the house.
At first they thought it was an old man, by the way that he moved. He was going very slowly and he was visibly limping.
But as he came closer they saw that he was no more than middle aged, maybe 40 years. The reason for his strange way to walk was something else. There were obvious deformities on his left leg and his lower body. He was crippled.
But that was not everything, by far not. Gabrielle and even Xena could barely hide their shock when he turned his head to them. While the right side of his face was looking normal, human, the other was a hideous mixture of bulges and lumps of flesh and, the most bizarre thing, there actually seemed to be small spikes growing out of the side of his head.
And there was something else. At a closer look, they could make out a couple of slits at the side of his throat that looked nearly like fish-gills.
What in the world had happened to him, was happening to him?
But despite his insane condition, the man acted as if everything was completely normal.
"Welcome," he said. His voice showed no traceable emotion. "What can I do for you?"
"We want to stay in this town for some time," Xena answered. "We need a room for now."
"I understand," the man replied.
"By the way, we have not seen any of the other citizens. Do you know where they are?"
"Yes," he simply stated. It was all he said about it. Then he stayed silent.
"Yes? and can you tell us where they are?" Gabrielle asked him.
"At home," the man stated.
"And when can we see them?" Xena wanted to know.
"At night."
"You mean they stay in their houses the entire day and come only out at night?" Gabrielle questioned.
"Yes," the man once again answered.
"So much for this question," Xena remarked. "Can you tell us where our rooms are now?" she asked the man.
He then pointed into one of the corridors.
Their entire group turned around, moving into the direction he had gestured to.
"Well, to say that this guy is strange would be an understatement," Ares commented.
"At least we know something now," Xena responded. "If we want to the cult or the book, we better wait for the night."
"Would it not be easier to get the book now, as long as everyone is locked in their houses?" Discord asked.
"Only that we have no idea where it is. Do you want to break open every single house in the town to find it?" Xena countered.
"No."
"Or do you have a better idea? You have some of your powers left. Can you maybe locate the book?"
"If I could, I would have already told you. I am able to locate super-natural disturbances, like every god," she said with a side-glance to Ares, "but somehow this entire town seems to be full of them. It would be impossible to find out which one is the book."
"So we will have to wait for the night, when the cult comes out of their hiding places and hopefully they will have the book with them," Xena stated.
In this moment they heard how the front door was being opened once again.
"I thought nobody is coming here at day," Gabrielle wondered, "so who...?"
"Exactly," Xena replied. She made a gesture for Gabrielle and the others to come with her as she turned back to the entrance.
As they had returned a few moments later, they saw how someone stepped through the now open door.
Whoever this was, they knew, was most likely an enemy, maybe a member of the cult who had watched their arrival. So Xena, Gabrielle and Ares had already drawn their weapons, but as they realized the identity of the person who had just entered the house it was a shock, even fore them.
This woman was gone for decades, at least in their world.
Their only consolation was the equal look of complete surprise on the newcomers face. It was at least clear that she had not planned this.
"Callisto," Xena exclaimed.
The blonde warrior needed a few moments to catch herself. But then she put a smile on her face and responded confidently.
"Well, I have been told that this town was cursed, but meeting you here Xena. I had no idea that it was this bad."
"Shut up," Gabrielle growled at her. "I don´t have any idea how you returned, we thought we had gotten rid of you for good the last time and now you are suddenly here. How did that happen? How can you even exist when Eve still lives?"
"I have not the slightest idea what you are talking about?" Callisto replied. "I could ask you the same question. Who is Eve? How can Xena be back alive? I thought she was dead for good now.
I don´t even know if you are the real Xena and Gabrielle or some sort of visitation, but I have other things to do than worrying about you."
In this moment however another surprise came for the group in form of the young woman who was travelling with Callisto and had now entered the room right behind her.
"What are you doing here?" Gabrielle asked loud.
xxxxxxx
At the same time, at the outskirts of the town´s area, Xena and Gabrielle had once again just arrived at the border and were standing right in front of the super-natural barrier.
What they didn´t know was that they were in fact the second Xena and Gabrielle who were crossing this place.
"Do you think this is a good idea?" the Bard asked her.
"No, but according to Ares and Aphrodite the source of the problem that is threatening Greece is in there."
"And we trust Ares and Aphrodite, why?"
"Because it is obvious that they were just as worried as we are."
"Okay, that is all I wanted to hear," Gabrielle said before both of them crossed the border.
xxxxxxx
Only a short time later, but at another plane of existence, another Xena came travelling the same path. This one was riding alone.