As I materialized back to the fortress, I wasted no time searching for her in the main hall since I was positive that she was in her room, vainly trying to calm down those angrily pulsating neurons of hers, to find a bit of inner energy left in some remote corner of her mind, where I had failed to reach.
I smiled at the awareness that in time-and without even realizing it- I had gradually managed to get to her to the extent where I was actually able to influence her any decision….Despite my limitless arrogance, the thought sent shivers down my spine….Was I right? Had I turned her into my marionette? Was she really at my every beck and call even if she refused to acknowledge it? Had the wheel finally turned? Was I for once the one in control of our relationship?
With a firm shake of my head, I chased that unthinkably bizarre idea away….Only Chronos knew why I hated the possibility ….I desperately wanted it, but at the same time I didn't like it at all…..Call me an old fashion guy, but I guess I'm a faithful adept of the concept according to which she was never supposed to fully surrender to me, after all….There always had to be a distant spot in her mind and soul that no matter what, I just wasn't supposed to conquer…..
The sound of wind howling outside, suddenly woke me up from my reverie.
With what I considered to be quite an impressive lightshow, I made an appearance her room, the beginning of an uncommonly pungent line hanging on the tip of my tongue, eager to challenge her some more, to make her blood boil, to push her to the edge of her patience- which I knew would result in a very entertaining swordplay-…..She needed some workout anyway…
….Can't say I wasn't surprised when my theory was proven wrong. She wasn't there….
"Xena?" I called, pushing aside the thick velvet curtains covering the windows, taking a peek out the balcony, silently hoping to find her standing there, her blue irides scanning the horizon…
"Princess?" I called again, stepping into the hallway, wondering where she might have gone.
" Show me my Chosen!" I ordered to the portal now opened before me, while a very different idea made my every cell tingle with pleasure….Maybe she was having a bath…..Now that, I would have loved to see…
Instead of a naked dark haired beauty though, before me, the image of an ocean of white, scintillating snow appeared….I rolled my eyes at the landscape, irritated beyond measure at the portal's lack of efficiency….
"Gods damn it! I asked you to show me my Chosen not the weather forecast" I screamed like a Lunatic at the strikingly graphic frozen Tartarus unfolding before me…" I should really tell Zeus to update our technology more often! For the love of Hermes, even those pesky mortals have a more advance surveillance system that we do…." I mumbled at the now moving picture before me…..
Closing the portal, I also closed my eyes, trying to refocus my energy in locating Xena through our bond, completely ignoring the fact that she hated that type of intrusion when it came to her privacy….Let's just say I didn't care too much about her opinion that very moment….I needed to find her…..
For a split-second, my reason froze….I couldn't reach her….
"This is impossible" I said aloud, without fully realizing that I had voiced that conclusion. " She is unable to block her energy field from me…Unless….." I finally murmured a few seconds later, while carefully analyzing all possibilities….."unless there is no energy field to block….."
The idea had me petrified….
"Xena?" I yelled from the top of my lungs as once again I materialized myself at the fortress gates, using an energy ball to push them open.
I anxiously looked around, but there were no traces of steps….For a moment , I let out a sigh of relief, but my joy didn't last long. The tips of the fir trees, bending like the green reed towards the ground, suddenly made me realize that the howling wind had probably covered any trace of steps in less than a second…
Needless to say, the blood turned to ice inside my veins along with the snow squeaking under my feet….
"Xena!" the echo of my voice filled the frosty air again, and this time, the discomfort and despair reverberating from it left no room for doubts: her unjustified absence was scaring me to death…
With a hasty move, I reopened he portal.
"Show me Xena!" I ordered again. hoping to notice the slightest clue in the image presented that could lead me to her…..There was nothing new, just heaps, hills and mountains of snow, wherever I looked.
I growled in frustration as I blew the image to smithereens, causing tiny sparkles of energy to melt the snow beneath my feet…..And that's when it hit me….
Bending to the ground, I put my hands in the knee deep snow, allowing waves and waves of electricity to pour from the tips of my fingers, slowly melting that cold white blanket on a one hundred yards radius. …..My eyes darkened with fear when the black fabric of her leather dress, powerfully contrasting with the surroundings, appeared into sight…..
"Princess?!" I called again, rushing by her side. The heart literally jumped out of my chest when I saw the slightly bluish nuance of her skin…..
The second I touched her, I knew it…..It was too little too late…