Chapter 15

Young Hercules Era

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But Xena just kneeled down beside Eve and softly moved her hand over her face.

"Gabrielle, Hope," she said, "go back. Keep this from ever happening."

In this moment, it all came to an end. The death of both Callisto and Eve seemed to have been too much for the already strained flow of time. And it was like space itself was breaking apart.

A black hole - a rift in space, in reality itself - similar to the one they had already seen in their own future but worse, much worse, was opening in the air before them. In opposite to the one in the future this one did not stop growing. But it was violently drawing in and swallowing everything around it as it was growing larger and larger.

The walls of the temple before them were breaking under the pressure this rift caused and crumbling, revealing the view of the now darkened sky.

Eve´s dead body was ripped away from Xena and disappeared into the black hole, just like Callisto´s body one moment earlier. Xena herself was barely able to hold herself at Aphrodite´s altar, from being sucked in as well.

The same went for the two now practically powerless goddesses themselves as well. What just happened had, as it seemed robbed them of the last of their already waning powers.

"Xena," Gabrielle shouted horrified.

Michael made a gesture with his hand and a barrier appeared in the air that protected them from the time-rift reaching them or being sucked into it. A moment later Sin did the same thing, backing him up.

"Go," Xena called back to Gabrielle. "You know what you have to do."

Outside - as they could see through the broken walls - the sun was no longer to see and a storm had suddenly come up. But not a normal one. It was a storm caused by both the rift in space that had just opened and the supernatural energies being violently released into the atmosphere. All that caused by the natural order of time and space breaking down.

And the rift that was centered around the temple was already widening. Earthquakes were following. The entire world was literally breaking apart. A world those fabric of existence had been weakened by too many manipulations in time.

Eve´s death by Callisto´s hands, who both carry the same soul, at a point of time where both of them had not even been born, had only been the final drop that caused it to burst.

Michael´s and Sin´s powers (or rather the God´s of Light´s and Dahak´s powers that they were channeling) were all that was protecting them all from the effects. Which was kind of ironic, since in a sense it were the powers of the Light and Dahak - the ancient powers of Creation and Destruction that formed entire universes, that were causing the rift in the first place.

xxxx

One week ago, Xena, Eve and Callisto had run into the young Hercules and the past version of Hope per accident and fought Hope. Which led to Hercules `killing´ her during the fight. Which led to Hope´s essence leaving her body, but not returning to the future.

But this was never meant to happen. Hope had once travelled to the past in an attempt to either draw the young Hercules to her side or kill him. During that she had involuntary formed a bond with him and after her attempts failed, returned to her own future. Where she years later changed sides and joined Xena, Hercules and the others.

But through Xena´s, Eve´s and Callisto´s accidental interruption this didn´t play out this way and they accidentally prevented their own future.

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This entire point in time, this world, had become an anomaly, a failure - a timeline too incoherent and contradictory to exist - and was now being removed from existence to prevent further damage to the multiverse. All what was causing the failure, or at least all what happened during the last week, was being erased.

Only this temple here and the people inside were being preserved for the moment, because Gabrielle and Hope were meant to correct the mistake.

The rest of this doomed world however...

Gabrielle and Hope took one last look at Xena, Aphrodite and Athena.

"Let us go," Michael said.

He and Sin touched Gabrielle and Hope by the shoulders and all four of them disappeared.

xxxxxxx

One week `earlier´ - just before Xena, Eve and Callisto met the young Hercules

They reappeared somewhere inside a forest, from their point of view just one moment later.

It was the same forest and the same time when Xena, Eve and Callisto had met Hercules and `Veila´ several days earlier.

"You are where and especially when you need to be," Sin told them.

"Yes, as promised we are one week earlier," Michael added. "Xena, Eve and Callisto are very close by. And so are your younger self Hope... and Hercules."

Yes, indeed Hope could sense her own and Hercules presence and also Callisto´s. They were clearly at the right place.

Hope could not say that the area seemed familiar to her. But to her it was just some random landscape that she and Hercules had wandered through centuries ago.

"They are in that direction," she said. She pointed into the landscape. Gabrielle saw absolutely nothing. But she trusted Hope´s supernatural senses.

"Myself and Hercules over there. And Callisto, Xena and Eve in that direction, closer to us than to them." Hope moved her hand a bit to the left. "But they are moving in the direction of the other two. Like they said, they are thinking that my past self is me."

"And we have to reach them first," Gabrielle stated. "When we prevent them and your younger self from meeting each other, we can prevent our future from being changed."

"And then we can return and finish to repair the damage Cupid had caused there," Hope finished.

"Exactly," Gabrielle replied.

"We have helped you as much as possible," Michael stated. "Go now."

"Thank you," Gabrielle said quickly, as she was already starting to move.

She and Hope were running in the direction where Hope said Callisto and the others were.

xxx

The same Callisto, along with Xena and Eve who she was leading along, was in the same moment heading for Hope´s presence that she was sensing close by.

Until suddenly... something was wrong, it felt like Hope was suddenly at two places at once.

"Is something not right Callisto?" Xena asked as she saw Callisto´s confused look.

"You can say that?" she replied. "It is suddenly as if there are two Hopes. But that would be crazy, right?"

Xena and Eve were confused by her statement as well. They stopped walking.

"What do you mean, two?" Eve asked her.

"Just what is sounds like. I sense her in two places at once."

"That?" Xena said. "Could that mean... ?" Another time traveller? it came to her mind.

A second later their questions were answered.

"Xena," they heard someone calling out a moment later. "Stop."

They saw Gabrielle and Hope running through them through the forest.

"Callisto - try to hide your presence, now," Hope called out to her. "My other self must not sense you."

Callisto was still a bit surprised but just shrugged with her shoulders and didn´t use any of her powers at all.

"Xena." Gabrielle threw her arms around her and draw her into an embrace. "Xena, Eve, you are alright."

"Gabrielle - you are back, you have found us," Xena said.

"No, we were brought here to prevent what is about to happen. You need to turn back," Gabrielle replied.

"Xena - the Hope Callisto is sensing close by is not me, but my past self, who came to this time to... to get to Hercules as he was young. I have told you about this a long time ago," Hope reminded her. "If you and her see each other it will change our own past and we will not longer be able to return to our time.

Or to repair the damage that already happened."

"I see," Xena said understanding.

"We need to get away from here as quickly as possible," Gabrielle told them.

As she said, they turned around and walked in the opposite direction, away from the younger Hope and Hercules.

After a few minutes...

"Okay," Hope said. "The flow of time is feeling clearer again."

"Can you bring us back to our time?" Xena wanted to know.

"I think it should work," she responded.

But just transporting herself and her mother through time was one thing, all of them was more difficult.

"Callisto - will you help me?"

"Will you kill me when we are back? For real this time," Callisto asked Xena.

"Of course, don´t worry about that," Xena told her in a smoothing voice.

"Okay," Callisto said. She and Hope combined their powers.

And Hope used them to open a portal that would hopefully finally bring them back to their own time.

xxx

Meanwhile, a bit under a kilometer away, the younger version of Hope continued her way with the young Hercules.

For a moment she was sure that she had felt Callisto´s presence close by. But that were only possible if she had travelled to this time as well. And then it became even more confusing, as Hope also sensed... herself.

But then they were both gone. Could it really be that another version of her and Callisto from somewhere else in the future had travelled to this time as well for their own reasons? she speculated. Or had it been per accident?

It didn´t really matter in the end. Since it seemed this other version of her had called Callisto back and they disappeared together. Probably because she had noticed that one Hope was already here and realized that their presence here could be disturbing the plans she had.

Smart of herself, she thought.

"Is everything alright Veila?" Hercules asked her.

"No - it is, I was just thinking about something for a moment," she replied smiling at him.

Yes, she would get closer to him. And in the end she and Hercules would be at the same side.

Or he would die. It would not turn out any other way.

They continued their way and things played out like they were meant to.

The story is coming close to the end. There will be either one or two more chapters.

Another story will possibly follow later. But maybe not in the same continuity.