Chapter 13: Epilogue

It was over a year ago now, by the timeline of their world, that they had returned, Perdicas, Delilah, Callisto, Sarah, Xena and Gabrielle.

By now they had met up with the Aphrodite of this reality and together with her, they had finally started a rebellion.

It was not the first one that had been attempted during the last two dark years. Others had begun in different parts of the land at different times, but they had all been brutally suppressed.

This one however had a few things that these other movements had lacked. First, they had Callisto and their own version of Xena, who could match the strategic skill of the Rulers on the battlefield and they also had super-natural help in the person of Delilah and Aphrodite. This made their rebellion spread like wildfire instead of being stomped out like the others.

There was however, as they soon realized, also another factor involved.

A few months after their return an event took place, and, as horrible as it was, it still managed to influence the evolution of the war to a great deal in their favor.

Despite that nobody was happy about it, nobody celebrated, what happened was just too devastating.

The city-state of Mycenae was completely destroyed by a mysterious disaster. It nearly seemed as if it had been hit by an amazingly powerful storm and an earthquake at the same time. After only one day nothing was left of the town with the exception of a few traces of rubble and ruins.

Mycenae had been one of the centers of power of the Empire and one of the strongest garrisons. All that was now suddenly gone. But along with that, tens of thousands of citizens had been killed.

One of the many strange aspects of this event was that this disaster only seemed to be located at one single place, the direct area of the town.

They all realized that this hadn't been a coincidence, it couldn't have been. It must have been the work of a god.

Aphrodite denied having anything to do with this. She was in fact offended and hurt that they even considered the possibility of her as the culprit. But they knew that even the Goddess of Love could go to extreme measures if she was pushed hard enough and this situation certainly counted as such. Fortunately for them, it became clear quite quickly that none of the gods they knew was responsible. So it had to be an outsider.

Some of them considered Dahak, but it was confirmed by every god or other higher being they asked that he was not active in this world at the time. Or maybe it could be a mortal who had somehow gained super-natural power, it wouldn't have been the first time.

They also had however another suspicion in the back of their minds, especially after a very similar event happened again several times in the following months, some of them directed against the standholds of their enemies, while others were actually hitting their own forces. Whatever was behind these tragic incidents, it was weakening both sides. But not so that one of them would get the upper hand, no quite the opposite, it was keeping it going and fueling the war even more.

It was a suspicion that became a terrible certainty after they had heard something unnaturally awkward about two villages at the eastern borders. The people there were changing, if the reports were to be believed, slowly turning into monsters. It was the same as in the cursed town.

At least at this point, the truth was clear to all of them. So they had not left her behind in the mist as they had hoped. She had followed them, Chaos, she was here, in their world.

Their rebellion was going well now, very well actually. They were driving Ares and Xena´s forces back more and more, freeing entire cities from their clutches. Soon, if things continued like this, they would be ready for a strike against the capital in Athens.

But they knew now -even when they won- that they would still have to deal with an enemy who was even far more dangerous than Ares and the Queens.

xxx

It was the final battle. The forces that the alliance of Aphrodite, Perdicas, Callisto and Xena´s other self had gathered, were now at the gates of Athens.

At this point, Ares, together with his Queens- the self proclaimed rulers of Greece- had already seriously considered to give Xena and Gabrielle ambrosia to eat.

Aphrodite however had found out about his idea and threatened that she would do the same to her own allies.

The idea of all of them fighting this war as gods and in the process quite possible destroying their entire realm, was too much even for him and he wisely decided to let it be.

If he was truly honest, he already had what he wanted: endless war, conquest and conflict, it was everywhere. But their entire realm under a single Empire, one stable government like their current rule promised? This was actually the last thing that he wanted, at least for a longer time, even if he was the one ruling it.

Under a single rule there would no longer be place for war after all. Sure, one Empire at a time, followed by another or a few next to each other, that was a brilliant idea. A war to rise them up, another to bring them down, an endless circle, that was the way things were meant to be, at least for him.

But the entire Olympian territory under a single permanent rulership, that was an affront to everything he stood for. He tolerated it only for a single reason, playing even the role of the `King´, he and Xena were ruling it together.

This Empire however was currently about to fall and he knew it. The endless circle was rapidly reaching its next phase, it was as simple as that. If he had still been the same old Ares, he would have long left and moved on, starting anew somewhere else.

The only reason he was even still here, why he had not gone back to the Olympus or even sided with the rebels, was quite simple, Xena. She was the only thing that was still keeping him there.

The Empire, that had mostly been Eve´s and her idea. But it was an idea that had sounded good at the time. After the Twilight, his powers had been waning and a war of conquest was promising new strength and greater influence. Not to mention that he could finally have Xena, back at his side, with Eve, Hope and even Gabrielle on top of that. Of course he had agreed.

Now Eve was dead and Xena was fighting harder than ever before, nearly like he had always wanted her to. But she was not the only one. The other side fought just as hard, just as determined and just as skillful.

Yes, he knew who was leading their troops- another version of her. It had been more than a surprise to them as they saw that half of the rebel-leaders consisted of other versions of themselves, not to mention Callisto and Gabrielle´s niece. Without a doubt, they had met Perdicas and Delilah in the town that had drifted between the worlds and they had brought them all here.

Xena against Xena, in some sense it was the ultimate battle for him.

But hanging above all that, was also something else. He knew about the other threat, Chaos, an ancient deity that had seemingly returned and was now wrecking havoc on their world. The days of their `Empire´ here were over, one way or another, well it was nice as long it lasted. He had long accepted this.

Xena on the other hand, had not, she couldn´t.

Yes, she was fighting nearly in the way he had always wanted her to, nearly, but not completely. There was something off about her, he had noticed that a long time ago.

She had changed since the loss of Eve and the string of devastating defeats they had suffered shortly afterwards. It seemed that she was now only focused on revenge and to crush the rebellion and nothing else, not longer on strategy and planning or even the joy of fighting battles for the sake of it.

The goddess Chaos and the destruction she was causing was something she actually seemed to completely ignore.

Her tactics had gradually become more and more erratic and irrational. During the last months, while they had been forced further and further back, she had ordered to massacre entire towns and villages, often only on the sheer suspicion that they had been planning planned to revolt. In one case, Hope had on her suggestion caused an earthquake with her powers and buried an entire settlement under rocks.

Sadly, these brutal methods had not ensured the cooperation of the other regions of the land, quite the opposite, it was only fueling up the rebellion even more. But she didn´t seem to care. Her answer was simply to `kill everybody who was standing against them´. His precious Warrior Princess had turned into a berserker. She was insane. Xena, his Xena, even he admitted this, had slowly lost it.

But still, he would stay with her until the end. He might not have many redeeming qualities or as many would say, barely any worth mentioning, but his loyalty to Xena was something he held to.

Despite that, he admitted he knew where her way would lead to.

Now they were locked into a giant battle, one that was probably the last of this war.

xxx

Two giant armies were clashing into each other. The leaders of both sides were right in the front lines. Ironically, this meant in this case there was on one side Xena and on the other, her other self.

At first, the situation proved to be more than just strange to these poor people. Getting to accept the fact that one of the leaders of the new rebellion was at the same time a nearly identical copy of one of its worst enemies' was more than strange.

At first, many of the recruits of their growing movement had not known if to be confused or horrified as they met her. The story Aphrodite, Perdicas and the other founders told them- about where this double and the others came from- was, mildly spoken, bizarre.

But they soon came to the conclusion that her character was quite different from the Xena they were used to, yet every bit as skilled and powerful as the one they were fighting against. In a sense, she was exactly what they needed.

In this moment the two Xenas had met each other and were starting to exchange heavy blows.

But they were not the only ones. Callisto was trying to coordinate the right flank of their army, while she, Gabrielle and Sarah were at the same time facing together an entire group of warriors.

The Destroyer Delilah, who was by now one of the leaders of the rebels, was standing in front of her mother Hope. She, just like the allied fighters close to her, however quickly realized that the Queen was not actually fighting. All what Hope actually did was just stand there, patiently watching the battle unfold.

"I see you have made your decision daughter," she stated. "I have to admit, I can not hold it against you that you have made that choice."

"You are not angry that I have betrayed you?" Delilah asked perplexed.

Hope just shrugged.

"Me? I never cared much about the Empire," she stated. "That was mostly Xena´s and Eve´s idea. I only went along with it. I had nothing else to do and it gave me the chance to spend some time with mother. And mother, you know her, wherever Xena is, she is never far away," she said, looking at her gleefully.

"All that because you had nothing better to do?" Delilah asked, gesturing to the battlefield around them. "You have destroyed entire towns...You have `created´ me and my brother just for the sake of..."

Hope only grinned.

"I have always told Xena, Eve and the others to treat you better. Now they have paid for their foolishness dearly." She turned around then and was looking to another part of the battle.

"We will meet again daughter," Hope stated. "Right now however, I have another matter to attend to."

xxx

A few dozen meters from them, the two Xenas were still locked in their fight.

"You are good," Queen Xena admitted, "no wonder that you have caused so much trouble for us."

"Trouble? It seems to me you are as good as finished," the other Xena replied. Her answer caused only another angry assault from her double.

"You are letting your emotions get to you," she told her. "Have we not learned a long time ago that this is a weakness? "

At this, her opponent snarled like a wild animal.

"Or maybe I shouldn´t have expected so much from a murdering psychopath like you," she said. "I have to admit, everything about you reminds me of your daughter."

"Eve died fighting against you," Queen Xena yelled. "I won´t rest until I have avenged her."

"Eve had been murdering innocent people her entire life," she responded, "until she finally had the bad luck to run into someone who was faster than her, just like you today. You don´t have to look any further, it was me who killed your murderous brat."

With a terrible scream, Queen Xena attacked once again. She had lost all her senses now- exactly what her counterpart had anticipated. She blocked her strike and was finally able to get behind her defenses and struck her sword right into her body.

Xena, self proclaimed Queen of this land, needed a few moments to fully realize what had happened. The following second, she fell down.

xxx

"Mother, it is time for us to go," Hope called out.

"What?" she turned around.

Queen Gabrielle had just gotten involved in a fight with Callisto. This version of Gabrielle was good, very good. But the immortal was still slowly getting the upper hand.

Then however, Hope interfered and sent Callisto backwards into greater distance with a telekinetic push.

"We are in the middle of a battle," Gabrielle said.

"A battle we are loosing," Hope pointed out. "Xena should have seen this and called a retreat instead of forcing the army to stay here and bleed themselves out. But it seems to me that lately she has lost her senses more and more. Not that I give a damn about it….This is no longer the place for us mother."

"Hope what are...?"

"Be silent mother. It is time for us to leave now. Xena can stay and dig her own grave for all I care."

"What are you saying? I won´t leave Xena behind."

"Such loyalty. Sadly Xena seemed far more interested in her dead daughter then in anything that you do lately.

Queen Gabrielle flinched. She knew all too well that Hope had a point here. In those last months Xena had more or less left her standing at the side-lines while she had been organizing the war.

"I am sure father will be happy to see you again," she told her. "After all, we are all on the same side now."

"What?" Gabrielle replied, "I am not on his..."

Hope only smiled at her warmly.

"Really mother? How about you think a few moments about all you have done these last few years and then say that again."

Realization dawned on Gabrielle´s face.

"Oh mother, I win..." Hope said to her.

At that precise moment, Gabrielle saw how her old friend Xena getting struck by the sword of her double and fell.

"No!" she shouted.

"Too late mother," Hope stated. "Let us go now."

"You won´t just leave here," Callisto called out. She made a large jump forward and with a swing of her sword, she cut off Gabrielle´s arm.

The former Bard let out a horrible scream and sank to her knees, while blood splattered all over the ground around her.

"That was a mistake `Auntie´ Callisto," Hope told her angrily.

"I don´t think so Hope," she replied. "You and your bitch of a mother have caused enough damage."

"I guess then we will just leave. But I won´t forget this." With these words she used her powers to build up a portal right next to them and the next moment she and Gabrielle were gone.

The battle was over. One of the remaining Queens was dead, the two others had fled. They had won.

xxx

Ares retreated as well after he had seen Xena fall. During the battle, he and Aphrodite had their own confrontation, that however ended in a standstill.

Now he had no longer a reason to stay here.

xxx

In this moment, they all heard a laughing voice haling through the air around then and suddenly a woman appeared right in front of their troops.

"Chaos, I see you are back," Callisto greeted her.

"You have followed us," Xena stated.

"Of course I did. What did you expect?" she answered. "That such a simple trick would be enough to stop me?"

The men were all starring at her, some of them confused. Most of the officers however had been informed about her presence, so they were on guard.

"I have to admit, your little war hasn't ceased to fascinate me. I even held back a few of my own ideas to see how it would turn out."

"You have destroyed Mycenae," Perdicas accused her.

"Yes."

"...and a village in the region of Sparta, one fortress and two military camps," he continued.

"Yes," she answered, as if this all was the most ordinary thing in the world.

"And you have begun to `change´ the people of two villages at the eastern borders," Callisto pointed out.

"Why don´t we stop talking about me?" Chaos said to them. "What are your plans now?"

"To bring back peace and freedom to this land," Perdicas replied.

She scoffed at this.

"You do realize how easily I could destroy this `peace and freedom´ of yours, right? How many towns do you think I need to flatten until everything that you have built up falls apart? Do you wanna bet?"

"Enough," Gabrielle, their Gabrielle of all people burst out "Why are you doing this? What do you want?"

For a few moments, Chaos stayed silent.

"What I want? Do you still not know this?"

"Nothing," Gabrielle said.

"And everything, yes," she replied. "Chaos and entropy are a purpose on their own. Everything in the universe is falling to dust sooner or later. Why not let it happen in the most interesting way?"

"No, they might be a purpose on their own, but they are not the purpose of our existence in this world. That is everything that happens in between, everything we do and that we can do. Our life is not senseless, no matter what you think."

Chaos looked at her intensely for a few more seconds.

"Do you all think that way?" she asked.

"Yes," Sarah, Perdicas and Callisto answered nearly at the same time.

"I know better what you are talking about than anybody else," Xena told her. "My entire world turned into a living hell because of my bad judgment. But I also know that this is not all there is. And I also know now that nothing is ever truly lost. You got it wrong."

The smile on Chaos' face however only deepened.

"You are truly interesting...truly fascinating humans."

She was looked down for a few moments. "Okay," she finally said, "How about this, I make you an offer. I will leave you alone, for now. But I will come back, in...let us say...well...in three of your years. Does that sound right to you?

I have time and patience after all. I had waited in the mist for tens of millennia before I got to this world. What are then a few years more now?

I will leave you this time to prepare. Consider this my gift to your for your strength and your convictions. You may actually be able to find a way to fight me effectively. Wouldn´t this make it all even more interesting?"

"What are three years against someone like you?" Xena asked.

"Oh, don´t sell yourself short. I know about you, you, Callisto and the others. You have prepared for the most dangerous enemies in far shorter time than that. Now, with the chance I have given you, I am sure all of you together will at least find a way to challenge me. I am just curious how you will do it. To be honest," she admitted, "I am looking out for it.

You know perfectly well, there is no true certainty in this universe, not for you and not even for me. That is the great thing about it, the suspense. I know however that in three years you will be able to give me a far better fight. So I will give it to you. The fate of everything around you depends on it. I suggest you hurry up to get ready, because the time for this world, it is running, tick tock," she said while making a gesture with her hand.

With this words she vanished.

"What just happened?" Delilah asked.

"As it seems, Gabrielle and Xena had managed to get to her," Callisto stated. "It seems we are `interesting´."

"She has given us some more time, the chance to prepare," Xena said. "Since this is all not much more than a game to her, she is all too willing to let us and that is what we will do. Aphrodite, you should try and contact the other Pantheons. Chaos is a threat to them as well."

The goddess just nodded with her head.

"You have heard it," Xena reminded them, "she will return. For now we have won. We have peace, but only for now.

Don´t forget one thing, the first gods had banished her once before. So there has to be a way to do it and we will find this way, I promise that."