PART 3

Gabrielle was deep in thought for Caria, while sipping red rose sherbet made from rose petals collected from rose gardens. One way or another, this war should not have been allowed.

"What is war anyway?" she thought to himself. "The ability of a few spoiled boys to prove their power was nothing more than falling into the blood of many innocent people." There was no other act in the world as absurd, unnecessary and sad as war.

While Gabrielle was lost in these thoughts, Solan spoke:

"What do you think about this, Gabrielle?"

Gabrielle was startled by his question.

"Huh? Me? We must make this visit as soon as possible. In fact, it should be such a peaceful visit that we should bring gifts of our own products with us."

"This is ridiculous. We are not helpless. Should we make them feel sorry for themselves? We also have a strong army. We will destroy them if necessary. I can take over them if you want."

These words belonged to Americe.

"No!" said Gabrielle. "I know how to fight. Don't worry, I learned how to manage the army from a very talented person. If only she were here..."

Solan patted Gabrielle's back affectionately. Only he could know how longing she still was. His eyes wandered for a moment, as if he was moving from where he was to a different dimension.

His memories never left him alone.

15 YEARS AGO

It was always spring in the green Elisian Fields, where the scents of jasmine, narcissus and roses spread around. The weather would be neither cold nor hot. The sounds of waterfalls and rivers are accompanied by the cheerful chirping of birds. The trees of the sweetest fruits would sing with the wind, with lots of fruit on them. So much so that no fruit is missing from the trees. No matter how much you ate, you would always encounter new ones. Since there were only good people in Elisian Fields, it was impossible to be subjected to fighting and rudeness. Everyone is accompanied by the deceased relative they want to be with the most in the world. They would sip their wine and chat happily. No one had to try to survive. There was no pain. There was no disease.

But there was sadness for Solan. Yes, everyone was with their deceased relative, but he was alone. His mother did not come to him. Maybe she died somewhere else and went to heaven there. Maybe she went to Tartarus because of her sins. Solan didn't know this. What he longed for most was to hug and sleep with his mother. While many children have the luxury of being able to do this, Solan never did. Even though he was in Elisian Fields, what he still missed was his mother. He had spent so little time with her. They had very few memories together. Even being rewarded with this place could not replace a mother. He would pray to himself.

"My beautiful mother. We didn't get to spend any time with you. This hurts my heart like a wound. If you are somewhere and hear me, please come to me. There is a little child here who has been longing for you for years. I'm all alone without you. I am lonely. I am so lacking. Mom. Please come and find me and complete what I am missing."

Solan would pray these prayers in tears almost every day. Maybe one day their prayers would be answered. Maybe he could hug his beloved mother again, satisfy his longing, and be happy.

While Solan was thinking about this and daydreaming in the shadow of a willow tree with rivers flowing in front of him, a voice woke him up from his daydreams. He suddenly got startled and looked in the direction where the voice came from. Scary-looking demons were in the Elisian Fields.

How could this happen? They were strictly prohibited from entering here. Everyone was surprised. But a group of demons were here. He was mockingly frightening and disturbing the people around him. They even caused little children by the lake to run away screaming. People were shouting the name of Cronus, the ruler of the Elisian Fielss, asking for help. Strangely, a hole opened from Tartarus to Elisian Fields, and from there the creatures of hell were leaking into heaven.

"This cannot happen, it is not possible. Someone must have broken the rules. Otherwise, this passage has not been opened for thousands of years." said a wise-looking man.

"We must gather urgently." said someone else.

Many Elisian residents decided to meet at the meeting place near the poppy field to review the adult rules.

"Please let me come too," said Solan.

"No, no, you are too young and inexperienced."

"Yes, I am, but while you were here chatting and having fun, I memorized all the rules of the Elisian Fields to forget my loneliness. I swear that I know better than you what is forbidden and what is right."

"Or…."

"Please give me a chance, believe me, you will not regret it."

"Okay, young man. Sometimes there may be things to learn from young people." He said while patting her back.

They immediately organized the meeting at the place they mentioned. The rules have been read.

"Which of these could have been broken?" said someone.

Solan raised his hand with excitement.

"According to the rules, before drinking water from the Okeanos River, if there are animals around us, we must first give them water."

"Yes, that's true," everyone said.

"But the new knight hasn't done that at all since he arrived. This caught my attention."

"Really? Hmm… This is bad. But even if quitting this habit closes the hole, it doesn't send back those who came?

"I thought about that too," Solan said, "Those who eat from the hibiscus tree can never enter here again, right?"

"Yes?" everyone said in unison.

"Then we will offer plates of hibiscus fruit to these demons. We will be friendly and they will eat our treats. We will get rid of them too."

Everyone looks at each other. I wonder if it is right to implement this little child's idea? But unfortunately no one has a better idea. So they unanimously agreed that it was worth a try.

Before the plan was put into action, the residents of Elisian Fields were secretly informed not to eat the hibiscus fruit and to be friendly. They put the plan into action together. Surprisingly, the plan worked. The demons ate the hibiscus fruits, fell into a deep sleep, and went back to where they came from before waking up. With this genius idea of Solan, the Elisian Fields returned to their former safe state. Learning of his success, the great Cronus rewarded him by granting him his wish.

"All I want is to go back to where I live. I will be there with my mother again!" said Solan excitedly.

"This is not a wish we have ever fulfilled. But thanks to you, the Elisian field is at peace again. We have you to thank for this. So if that's what you want, then I'm okay with it!" said Cronos in his great voice.

"Yes it is!" said Solan excitedly. He had waited for this for so long. But he never expected it to happen. I guess we should believe in miracles, he thought to himself.

"Well, then, it's time to send you off to your new life, my young friend. Go and find your mother..."

Then he paused.

"However, you can share this secret with only 3 people in the world. If you tell one 4th person that you have returned from Elisian Fields, you will come back. Do you understand? This is really important."

"Yes sir, I understand."

Suddenly, a bright light covered the area and young Solan found himself being drawn into this beam of light. It was like traveling to another dimension. Actually, it really was. While the few memories he had with his mother flashed before his eyes, he was full of excitement to finally be reunited with his mother.

But unfortunately, he couldn't find his mother despite searching everywhere, and after a while, the news he heard that her mother had been killed in Japa devastated Solan. He began to live his life almost in a delusional state.

Until he meets Gabrielle, who has devoted the rest of her life to working for the good of people, in a workhouse.

When Gabrielle saw him, she couldn't believe her eyes at first and looked at young Solan's eyes in surprise for a while. Together they accepted the fact that his mother was no longer alive and tried to overcome it by working shoulder to shoulder. Gabrielle and Solan, along with their other old friends, accepted the Greater Good philosophy and acted accordingly, creating a group of good and generous people around them. This group gradually grew and they called themselves Carians. Because they lived in the southwestern end of the city of Caria. This was a very beautiful place by the sea. Now Solan and Gabrielle had become companions of purpose, loyal friends, mother and son. Famous for his wisdom, Solan became known as the "Enlightened One." Gabrielle and Eve knew his secret. Solan didn't even tell it to his wife Irene. They had a happy family with their little daughter Luna. He was doing his best to provide them with the love that he did not have.

He shook himself as if waking up from a dream and came to his senses. Gabrielle was right. Trying to cope with the pain they experienced matured them both. But Americe never gave up on her character. Although she was always combative and vindictive, she had a good heart, but she had to be restrained. Gabrielle and Solan were doing this very well. Americe was just starting to speak with a sentence of objection when Xenia hurriedly entered the door. It was exciting.

"Mom !" she said breathlessly.

"Yes?"

"Mom, we need to talk about something important, can you come out?"

"Honey, the people here are our family, can you tell us? What are you going to talk about? We are currently in the decision-making phase on a very important issue, you know that."

"Can you come out please?" Xenia insisted.

Gabrielle couldn't understand her insistence, but she still didn't offend her. When they got out the door, Xenia was still very flustered.

"Mom, I have to tell you something, sit down if you want."

"Xenia, you're scaring me."

"Sit down, please. "

Gabrielle sat on a log. Thousands of scenarios were running through his mind about what her daughter would say. Did someone hurt her? Had she been abused or had a crush on someone but was it a bad person? With a face full of anxiety, she was waiting for the words to come out of his daughter's mouth.

"MOM, SHE IS ALIVE!"

"What? who?

"Mother, Xena. She is alive and here!"

Gabrielle stood up from her seat in a huff.

"Xenia, don't do this to me."

"Mom, I'm telling the truth."

"No, please don't play with my emotions. Xena's dead, we both know that. Please don't distract me with such nonsense. I stopped hoping years ago. I'm trying to heal my wounds. Don't open an old wound again. "

"No, but mom, listen to me."

"ENOUGH! I've listened to you enough, I have work to do."

Gabrielle went back inside without listening to Xenia. Xenia just stood there. His mother didn't believe her.

She wondered if hse too was caught up in a dream. She wanted Xena to come back and for her mother to be reunited with her so much that she exaggerated some similarities?

She and her mother didn't talk much that day. Her mother was very busy anyway. But Xenia always thought about that cloaked woman, both at dinner and at night. Was this a fiction that he exaggerated in her imagination? Or was she really Xena? How could she be sure of that? What could he do to make sure?

Also, in her current form, she looked more like a poor crazy old woman than a warrior princess. If she was Xena, how did she get like this? And how could she get back to her old self?

With these thoughts, Xenia tossed and turned in her bed until very late. In the morning, she woke up very refreshed with the same thoughts. She prepared beautiful fruits, a bowl of soup and bread for the cloaked woman to eat. The woman must have been bored there. It would have been nice to bring her something to keep her occupied, such as a hunting knife. She secretly added the knife to her bag. She left the house without being seen by her mother.

The weather was beautiful again. The light leaking through the trees dazzled her eyes. She slowed her horse as she approached the cave. The woman was not in the cave. Xenia looked around for a while with her horse, looking for her. Then she remembered the lakeside where she had bathed. And se wasn't wrong. The woman was there. She was leaning over the sea and listening to the sound of the water. She took off his cloak, rolled up her trousers to her knees, and entered the water with her bare feet. She wasn't moving at all. She was just listening to the water. Then suddenly she dipped her hands into the water, caught a huge fish and threw it to the shore. Who else could do this? That's what it said on the parchments. Xena listens to the voices in the background. Xena can catch fish with her hands. Xenia suddenly called out like a reflex.

"Hey Xena!"

The woman suddenly turned and looked at her.

"You are Xena. I'm sure now."

The woman continued to stare at her silently. She either had nothing to say or couldn't say it. I wonder why she couldn't speak?

Xenia dismounted her horse and walked towards her. She slowly turned around as if to examine it.

"Xena, what happened to you? Why did you turn from a warrior princess into a pathetic crazy woman?"

The woman continued to look at her without speaking.

"How did you survive?"

The woman was about to split the belly of the fish she had picked up from the ground with a stone.

"Wait, I brought you a hunting knife. XENA…."

Their eyes met again, but the woman did not say anything again. Xenia handed her the hunting knife. Xenia watched her clean the fish and then start a fire by hitting the stones together. Their survival skills were so strong that it was impossible not to admire them. They sat on a rock while they put the fish on a branch and cooked it over the fire. Xenia also took out the other food she had brought from home. They were both hungry. She handed the bread to the woman. Xenia took the bread, broke it in half and handed half to Xenia. Then she divided the fish into two. They ate in silence for a while. The woman hid her hunting knife in the belt of her trousers. She seemed accustomed to using such knives. She even heard from hers mother that Xena had used more complicated ones.

"My mother said you caught fish with your hands."

"…"

"If you ask what else she said, I know that she led armies and accomplished very difficult things.

"…."

"Actually, you experienced some fun things too. For example, the routine jokes you play on each other."

"…."

"Gabrielle even cut up a fish with your chakram once. Your chakram smelled like fish all day."

Xenia started laughing to herself. She was trying to soften the environment and create warmth. But the woman was still unresponsive.

"I know I talk too much. But don't you remember these?

The woman remained silent again. They returned to the cave together without speaking. It was about to get dark. It would be better if Gabrielle returned home without worrying about her. They had spent the whole day together. Throughout the day, Xenia had been talking to herself, telling the woman about what was written on the parchments. The woman was looking after her as she walked towards her horse to leave.

Xenia's thoughts did not stop; even at that moment, she was creating scenarios to find answers to the questions in her mind. How did the warrior princess become like this? Did she remember Gabriel? Did she still love her?

Then she suddenly turned and asked?

"Did you miss Gabrielle too?" The woman stood there for a moment with a strange facial expression. There was a deep meaning and sadness in her blue eyes. She looked at Xenia for a long time.

"You understand what I say, but you don't speak. Let's go to her."

The woman shook her head violently.

"But why? What happened to you. Please tell me, I'll go crazy."

The woman suddenly curled her lips like a baby. Her eyes filled with tears. Suddenly she started crying loudly. From time to time she was moaning as if she were lamenting. Xenia was astonished to see this huge woman suddenly crying with pursed lips, like a child whose toy had been taken away from her. She was very young and inexperienced. Such a sight frightened her. She didn't dare approach her and hug her or comfort her. She didn't even try. Frankly, she was scared. She had never witnessed such a loud cry. It was as if the woman was experiencing an ejaculation moment.

Xenia took her by the arm and timidly led her to the haystack.

The woman continued to cry. She looked devastated. Xenia waited for a long time for her to stop crying silently. Eventually the tears turned into little sobs. When she was tired from crying and fell asleep on the hay, Xenia jumped on her horse and set off in order not to make her mother worry. It was really dark.

"My mother will worry about me, I should return home. But I am here for a good mission, to reunite the couple who have been waiting for years to reunite. I am here to bring a happy ending to a love story that ended wrong. This is a sacred duty..."