Chocolate414 Here- Here's another chapter to my story entitled Path of Forgiveness. This chapter is a little bit longer than my last two. I hope that you guys like it. Xena and Gabrielle are in this chapter. Tell me what you guys think.

Chapter 3

Climbing a tall tree in the forest, Callisto stood on a large branch so that she could over look the animals. She was in need of some new clothing, seeing as her warrior attire was close to running its full course. At first she thought of getting more battle armor but quickly pushed that thought aside. For the time being, she didn't want anyone to know who she was. Remembering one of the many stories that her mother told her as a child, she instantly thought of the amazons. The warrior women made there clothing from the skin of animals. While the blonde was pretty sure that this new attire would make her look more rugged and animalistic, she couldn't seem to care.

Spotting a deer, thirty paces north of her tree, the blonde remained perfectly still. All she had to do was bide her time. The deer ate a bit of grass and then looked around, as if it could sense that someone was watching it. Seeing and hearing nothing, it continued to eat.

Surveying for more grass, the creature continued to move toward Callisto's tree. It was now twenty paces north.

With each step the blonde counted down in her mind.

" sixteen paces... fifteen paces... fourteen paces... thirteen paces... twelve paces... eleven paces... ten paces... nine paces... eight paces... seven paces... six paces... five paces... four paces... three paces... two paces... one."

The deer now stood directly under Callisto's branch. Quietly pulling her knife, the immortal stood for a moment. Allowing her prey a few moments to check its surroundings. Seeing the coast was clear, the animal let its guard down.

Callisto smiled. The animal thought that it was safe.

With lightning speed, Callisto pounced unto the animal's back. The deer crashed to the ground, trying to get up but finding a heavy weight on its back. Callisto had the animal pinned to the ground and without hesitation stabbed the animal in the neck. The knife cut through the lung and the animals jugular causing for it to bleed out heavily. Within seconds the deer was dead.

Wiping the blood off of her knife and unto the deer hide, Callisto surveyed her surroundings. She'd been in that tree for almost an hour trying to find the perfect prey. Smiling at her catch, she pulled out another knife and began to skin the deer.

Noticing the amount of blood that would be involved, she thought better and picked up the deer and brought it to the lake. She didn't want to walk back into the village with deer blood all over her.

Although tomorrow, she would have human blood all over her instead.

After a few steps toward the lake, Callisto stopped. A strange feeling had come over her. She turned around and looked at her surroundings. Closing her eyes, she focused on her hearing.

There wasn't another person close to her in this forest for another mile.

Still, she couldn't shake the feeling that someone was watching her. Turning around, she walked toward a large bush filled with berries. The feeling continued to grow stronger as she walked toward it. Looking behind the bush, Callisto found nothing. Turning back around, the blonde shook the feeling and continued toward the lake.

As Callisto walked out of the forest, two beings materialized by that same bush.

"Wow I wouldn't believe it if I hadn't seen it myself. She's just like you Artemis. I mean just look at her. The way she moves. The way she caught that deer. All I can say is... wow. Aside from the blonde hair and the skinny frame, I'd say she was your twin." Aphrodite couldn't contain herself. After watching her niece for only an hour, she had no doubt that she belonged to Artemis.

By the Gods, the girl was just like her sister. She turned in Artemis' direction and saw tears begin to fall from her sister's eyes.

The brunette wiped them away with her hand as she continued to look in the direction that Callisto had walked toward.

That was her baby girl. She hadn't seen her this close since she was born. Arleia didn't know that she'd visited their baby every night in her crib, during her first year of life.

She thought back to Callisto as a baby with her golden blonde hair, her chubby cheeks, and her perfect brown eyes. She used to smile at her every night.

This is what she had missed. Because of her stupidity. Because of her pride and anger. Look at what she caused.

"What have I done?" Artemis shook her head and looked at her sister who was beginning to get worried. Smiling weakly she stepped toward the goddess of love and began to speak.

"She's beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. She has my eyes and my height. She has Arleia's hair and her frame. She also had dad's nose." Artemis chuckled at the thought. Callisto had Zeus' nose. Her father would be furious with her but she knew after he finally took a look at his grand daughter he would probably smile.

If not only for a second before he realized, she was the one the fates for told would destroy greece.

"Does she know that you are her mother?" Aphrodite suspected that Callisto had no idea. After her sister shook her head "no" she got the answer she expected. "I can tell by just looking at her that she has a few demigod abilities. I don't think she has Hercules' strength but her hearing, speed, and senses. Those are not human." Artemis nodded.

"She may have a few god-like powers, I don't know yet. Most demigod's maintain and begin the usage of there powers by there teens. So far, Callisto only has minor things. However, with her immortality, she can gain powers in other areas. We'll have to wait and see." Artemis began to worry. If Callisto gained more powers, she could further her destruction.

"Don't worry Arty. We'll figure something out." Aphrodite smiled and then put on a serious face. "She's your daughter, that means she can't be totally evil. If there's good in her we'll find it." Artemis nodded and walked toward the tree Callisto stood in.

"Did you see how she was able to sense us? We both had our Godly shields on and she was still able to sense us. Thats something that only God's are able to do Aphrodite." Artemis turned around and put her fingers through her hair.

"I don't think it was just the fact that two God's were by that bush Artemis. I think a lot of that had to do with her mamma being so close to her." Aphrodite smiled at the faint blush and pride that showed on Artemis' face. "Come on, it's time to tell Zeus what's going on. He's been patient enough.

Callisto stood by a small camp fire watching the deer meat roast. Adding a couple herbs and spices to the meet she pulled out a few pieces of bread and began to throw it into the lake. She'd spotted a few ducks near by.

Looking toward the sun, Callisto saw it begin to settle. She had about an hour before she had to meet the black smith. Depending on how good the sword came out, Callisto would judge whether or not the black smith was good enough for her army. She could tell that the other woman had seen her fair share of battles. She'd noticed a faint scare under the brunette's chin and another one on her arm.

No doubt from battle.

The way the other woman sized her up was another clue. Only warriors sized people up that way. Focusing on other things aside from the black smith's warrior scars, Callisto recognized how beautiful the other woman was. Her long dark hair, blue eyes, and tall height made her a sight to behold. Callisto was pretty sure, she was strikingly beautiful in her battle armor.

Shaking her head Callisto began to focus on her reason for being in Potaidaea. She needed to find out if there were any guards standing within the village, did the village contain any suitable men she could put in her army, and what would be the best way to take over the village without taking casualties on her side. Sitting there thinking, the immortal came up with the best plan.

The village contained no guards and the men were mainly farmers but with good training they could become pretty good soldiers. The village contained a major supply of livestock and grain, so she could take the supplies and feed her army with them. The best way to go about this would be to attack at night. No one would suspect a thing and she would only have to use fifty of her men.

Afterward's she would burn the village to the ground. Like a smart leader, Callisto had left the other villages she'd attacked standing.

But this one was personal. Xena and her little bard would surely hear about this and they would come running. By the time they'd get here, the entire village would be destroyed and Callisto's major plan against Xena would begin.

Callisto had one more thing left to do and that was locating Gabrielle's family.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN, SHE IS YOUR DAUGHTER?" The king of the gods was furious. His youngest daughter had made him so. Looking around his thrown, he could tell that he'd frightened some of the other minor gods. His daughter looked absolutely terrified.

"Daddy, just let Artemis explain." Aphrodite stayed with Artemis for emotional support. She knew how bad Zeus' temper could get. Zeus sat on his thrown and nodded for Artemis to continue.

He was to angry to speak. Taking a deep breath, Artemis began her tale.

"Forty seasons ago, my amazons were engaging in a war with the centaurs. There was blood on both sides and my amazons had lost a fifth of there population because of the battles." Artemis looked at Aphrodite and the blonde goddess grabbed her hand and nodded for her to continue.

"The war was over land. The centaurs and my amazons believed that the land within the northern area of greece belonged to them. One of my chief amazons had gone in to one of the final battles and was severely injured. She knew that she was dying. She was brought back to her village and three days later she died. Before she died she'd prayed for me to keep her daughter safe. When she crossed into the amazon land of the dead I'd spoke to her and told her that I heard her prayers. I said that I would keep her daughter safe." Artemis once again had tears falling from her eyes.

"Her daughter's name was Arleia." Aphrodite gasped at the realization of what occurred. Zeus had yet to catch on.

"The following summer, a group of bandits attacked that same village. My amazons stood there ground and beat them in battle but a few of those bandits got away. One had kidnapped Arleia and brought her with him. I watched over the girl and I didn't allow for anything to happen to her. One fatal night, the same man who kidnapped Arleia attempted to rape her and thats when I stepped in." Artemis saw the grunt of disapproval from her father but didn't care.

She never regretted killing that disgusting pig of a man. Even now she smiled sometimes when she thought of his dead body being thrown into the river.

"I took the girl and brought her to a near by village named Cirra and the town's people took care of her. I continued to watch over her and as the years passed, she grew into the most beautiful woman that I'd ever seen. She was perfect father. She was five summers when I left her in Cirra and the next time I saw her, she was twenty four summers." Feeling a blush creep through her, Artemis tried to focus on something other then her father's knowing gaze.

"I fell in love with her. I appeared to her as another mortal woman, at first but, she could always feel that there was something different about me. Then I told her the truth and at first she was frightened but then she grew accustomed to who I was. The night of her twenty fifth birth day I told her I loved her and when she said it back, I've never felt such joy. We made love and I planned from that day forward to make her my wife." Zeus' anger had subsided and now he just wanted to know the rest of the story.

"Continue Artemis" ,Zeus said.

"I'd continued to see her but a couple of months later she began to ignore me and one day I'd had enough. So I appeared in her room and demanded for her to tell me why she stopped talking to me. I didn't have to wait for her answer because I saw it. She was pregnant. She said it was mine and that she'd never been with anyone else. In the deepest parts of my heart I knew she wasn't lying to me but, I just couldn't believe it. I didn't believe that two women could create a child. Regardless if one of them was a God or not. I called her a harlot and told her she was no longer in my favor. I said that the child was a bastard and left." Artemis looked up and saw the strong look of disapproval in her father's eyes. He looked so angry with her but what made Artemis begin to sob was the disappointment in his eyes. He shook his head and picked up his daughter, sitting her in one of the chairs next two his throne. He needed to know what else happened. Artemis saw his look and continued speaking.

"I never spoke to her after that but I continued to watch over her until the day she died. When our daughter was born, she begged me to see her but I stayed away. It wasn't until curiosity got the best of me that I saw the baby while she was sleeping. She was perfect father. Her blonde hair, her length, those dimples, and when she opened her eyes and I saw my own looking back at me, I knew. She was mine." Zeus chuckled at the description.

"Eleven seasons later, Cirra was attacked. The warlord Xena was coming for supplies but a fire broke out and almost everyone in that village died. Arleia was raped and beaten before she died and her other daughter was burned alive. My daughter, Callisto barely made it out alive. She'd passed out in a burning house and some villagers grabbed her before the house caved in. They brought her to another village and left her there but I could feel that within her the damage was done. I never looked for her again because my heart couldn't take it. I should have because maybe I could have stopped this. Her hatred, because of that day in Cirra, has made her a ruthless killer. Hades has hundreds of people in the underworld because of her." The look of shock on Zeus' face said it all.

His grand daughter was Callisto. He had no idea. He'd heard of her through a few mindless ramblings between Ares and Athena but, that was all. He thought she was disposed of by Xena. Apparently she hadn't. He'd seen her once, on one of his many rendezvous with mortal women and never stopped to look at her. He looked at both of his daughters and saw how Artemis was falling apart.

"We'll fix this Artemis. She's your daughter and my grand daughter and I will not allow for the fates vision of the future to come true. They warned us for a reason. They came to you first for a reason." Artemis nodded.

Aphrodite watched as all the minor Gods began to gossip. It was only a matter of time before Hera found out and she was sure that the Queen of the Gods would not be happy.

Xena and Gabrielle were on there way to Amphipolis.

Xena had just been brought back to life from the ambrosia and her body was not at it's normal strength. Riding her horse, she spotted Gabrielle walking next to her humming a song. She owed her life to the bard. She'd went against her own amazons just to bring her back to life. The only thing that she regretted was the amazons who were injured bringing her back. Velaska, the amazon princess, was the only one that died. Her heart ached for the loss of having to kill the strong willed amazon.

Just another one of her regrets.

Xena continued to ride until she felt someone was watching her. Gabrielle turned around and gave her a look letting her know she sensed it to.

"Three on your left and four on my right." Xena murmured. Gabrielle nodded positioning her staff. Xena grabbed her chakram.

"Aaaaaaaahhhhhhhh" Seven men came toward them screaming from behind the trees.

Gabrielle went toward the three on her right. She hit the first one on the head with her staff. Laying him out cold. The other two began circling her, readying their attack. As they both came toward her with their swords, she ducked and rolled. Not able to stop there momentum. The two thugs ran into one another. Already dizzy, they both ran toward Gabrielle. The short blonde hit them both in the stomach with her staff, then kicked one in the teeth and the other in the groin. The last one was his hit in the head with her staff.

Both men fell to the ground.

Xena took her chakram and threw it toward a tree were it bounced it went toward three of the four men, killing them instantly. The fourth saw his three dead friends and saw the others laying motionless on the ground. He turned around and tried to run but he couldn't run fast enough.

Argo was fast on his heels. Xena flipped and kicked the last thug onto his back. After shoving him by his collar, she gave him the pinch.

"Why did you attack us?" Xena was not in a good mood. They'd barely left the amazon lands two days ago and already they were being attacked by thugs.

"We came from a village in southern greece. The village and others surrounding it have been overtaken by another war lord. That was our turf but we left for more fruitful grounds." The man's nose was beginning to bleed.

"What's the name of the war lord and how big of an army does he have?" Xena began to feel anxious She'd been dead for three days and come to find out there was a war lord raiding villages, right under her nose.

"I don't know her name. When we saw her army, it was close to three hundred men. I'm sure it's close to four hundred now." Shock covered Xena's face. "Please I can't breathe and it hurts. Please" Xena shook her head.

"Where was this war lord's army heading next and describe her to me."

"Last time we spotted the army, it was heading east toward Potaideia." Gabrielle gasped and a look of worry took over her face. Xena pushed the man to continue. "The woman is blonde, skinny, and she has brown eyes." Xena took the pinch off the thug and the man passed out. She turned around and looked at Gabrielle who seemed scared.

"Xena, my...my...my sister, my parents, my friends. They'll be demolished. And the way he described there leader, you don't think..." Gabrielle didn't continue. She saw the look in Xena's eyes. There was only one woman other than Xena herself who could command an army that big.

"Callisto", Xena said the name with spite and a hint of regret.

Last time she spoke to Hercules, he said that the crazy immortal was trapped in the golden apple's tomb. Apparently he was wrong. "Come on Gabrielle, Potaideia is a two days ride from here. We'll be cutting it close but we may make it if we ride through the night." Xena pulled Gabrielle on argo and they rode away as fast as they could.

Stepping through the black smith's door, Callisto spotted her sword laying in a bucket of water. Grabbing it, she pulled it out of the water and began inspecting. The weight of the sword had grown but the feel was incredible. The sharpness of it was perfect and the grip on the handle more than appeased her. For the amount of time the black smith had been given, she did spectacular.

Callisto was impressed.

"Very nice", she said

"I see you like the sword. It took me the rest of my day, but I think you'll find that it's to your satisfaction." Alexandra was wearing a white shift. Apparently, she'd just bathed. Her hand had a towel in it and her hair was still wet. Callisto licked her lips, while looking at the other woman's form.

It didn't go unnoticed.

"It is to my satisfaction.", Callisto dropped ten dinars and walked toward the door.

"My fee was three dinars." , Alexandra yelled.

"It's worth ten." Callisto turned around and stated. Her body hadn't felt this strange in a long time. Alexandra walked toward her and gave her body a look over. Without warning she kissed the blonde.

"How much was that worth?" she whispered back and then kissed the blonde again. Stepping back, she dropped her towel and moved the shoulder blades of her shift, letting her clothing fall to the ground. Callisto looked her over and with a growl, kissed her hungrily.

Alexandra had her answer.

So, what do you guys think? Next chapter, Potaideia is attacked. Will Xena and Gabrielle get there in time? How will the rest of the Gods take the news of Callisto being Artemis' daughter? Last but not least, what do you guys think of Alexandra?

Don't forget to post a review... Thanxx