Happy to see his friend, Joxer stood and approached the young woman.
JOXER
Hi, Gabby! Boy, am I glad to see you! We've got big trouble!
He then paused in his warning for a moment as he noticed the abnormal absence of the blonde's ever-present companion to question her whereabouts. Unaware that the person before him wasn't actually Gabrielle, but her evil daughter and doppelganger, Hope.
JOXER
Hey, where's Xena?
The half demon woman didn't answer right away as she instead appeared to study Joxer for a few seconds, before replying with her own question.
HOPE
We're close, aren't we?
JOXER
Um, yeah, I'd say we're pretty good friends.
Though slightly confused by the odd question, Joxer tried to steer the conversation back to the more pressing matters at hand.
JOXER
But listen, Dahak's guys are running all over the place and…
HOPE
How long have we known one another?
Now more confused by the odd line of questioning when he was trying to tell her about the people in danger, Joxer quickly answered just to move things along.
JOXER
I don't know, a couple years now, I think.
He tried to quickly get back to filling in the blonde on what information he had, but was again cut off with another odd and unrelated query.
HOPE
Since we've known each other for quite some time, it stands reasonable to assume you would know me pretty well, wouldn't it?
JOXER
Um, yeah, I guess so.
HOPE
Better than anyone?
Hope began casually walking around Joxer in a small circle as she continued to look him over and question him.
HOPE
Well, aside from Xena, of course.
JOXER
Sure. I'd like to think that we're pretty close.
HOPE
And what would you say is our exact relationship?
JOXER
(Slightly nervous tone) Oh well, I mean we're friends, but, I, uh…
The man began to stumble his words as he tried to hide the blush from his face, having had feelings for the bard for quite some time now, but never speaking them due to knowing that the young woman's heart already belonged to someone else. And because of that, he didn't want to risk making things awkward between any of them by confessing his true feelings to the woman he assumed was Gabrielle. But then at the same time, he also didn't want to lie, which put him in a very uncomfortable predicament.
JOXER
That's actually a really big question. And well I guess I would say… I mean what I feel… Or rather, when I think of you I…
Seeing where the fumbling man was going, Hope finished Joxer's thought for him.
HOPE
Would you call it love?
JOXER
Oh wow, love is a big word.
He let out a nervous laugh as he continued.
JOXER
But I mean, what is love but um, well I, uh, I, I need to go.
Not able to think straight as a result of the unexpected questions, Joxer hurried off to clear his head and regain control of his spiraling emotions. But stopped as he heard the woman who looked like Gabrielle call to him.
HOPE
Before you go. What would you make of my feelings towards Xena?
JOXER
Well, that's easy, you love her more than anyone in the whole world.
Hope became thoughtful for a moment.
HOPE
(Thinking to herself) More than anyone, huh? Interesting.
And has Xena told you anything about the hind's-blood dagger?
JOXER
What's that?
HOPE
Never mind.
Without another word, the evil blonde turned and left a very confused Joxer standing in the middle of the field as she walked away with a deep look of hatred in her eyes.
HOPE
(Thinking to herself angrily) So people love her just fine despite the fact that there's clearly so little love in her that she would kill her own daughter.
WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW
Meanwhile, not far away, Xena, Gabrielle and Callisto found themselves in yet another village under attack by Dahak's followers, causing the warrior and bard to immediately leap into action to defend the frightened people scrambling for their lives.
GABRIELLE
I'll gather the people up and make sure they make it into the woods.
XENA
All right. But don't be gone long. We have to deal with this as fast as we can if we have any chance of catching up with Hope.
GABRIELLE
I know.
With that, the bard raced off to lead as many villagers out of harm's way as she could, as Xena drew her blade and began fighting off Dahawk's followers.
As the dark-haired woman's steel clashed with one of the village's attackers, she let out a fierce yell and shoved his blade aside before quickly bringing her weapon back across his chest, slicing him open and letting him fall to the ground as she moved to the next enemy that her eyes landed on. Leaping through the air, Xena slashed downward as she landed right in front of the enemy, and a river of crimson began to spill onto the ground as he dropped to her feet as the warrior continued to fight.
Amidst the chaos, Callisto cackled as she sent a ball of fire straight into one of the cultist's chest, sending him to his back while lighting him ablaze. Enjoying herself far too much, the blonde threw another fireball that struck a second Dehawk follower, before throwing yet another. Then, seeing one of the cultists trying to run, the sadistic woman smiled as she disappeared and rematerialized right in his path. Seeing her suddenly appear before him, the man quickly turned to run the other way, only to be hit from behind by a plume of flames as Callisto, hearing his anguished screams, laughed maniacally. No longer caring who or what she hit, the woman began to unleash her fire every which way she pleased, sending the terrified villagers into even further panic as the village began to burn around them.
Though not liking that Callisto had begun to run amok, Xena had half expected her to do so. Which was why she had sent Gabrielle to escort the people of the village to safety. And once she had seen the last of them get clear from any danger, the warrior spotted the blonde and hurried over to her.
XENA
Gabrielle. Quick, now's your chance to go for the dagger while Callisto's busy.
Suddenly, before Xena could get a reply, the sound of footsteps coming up behind her caught the warrior's attention, and keeping her sword ready, she quickly spun around, ready to continue to fight. But lowered her weapon when she saw there was no threat.
JOXER
Gabrielle?
Though confused to see the bard there, Joxer's attention very quickly shifted when he spotted Callisto and moved to draw his sword to defend himself against the woman. However, in his haste, the man stumbled back where he tripped over a fallen cultist, falling backwards and hitting his head, knocking himself out in the process.
Sighing to herself, Xena quickly made sure Joxer was okay, and after seeing that he would be fine, turned her attention to the other two women as she began to move.
XENA
We should leave him here and keep going. He'll be better off taking a nap.
WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW
Not long after, the pair of women continued making their way to retrieve the hind's-blood dagger.
XENA
Listen, I want you to go to the ruins at the foot of Mount Areopagus. The dagger's in a crypt there. But you have to be careful because I'm certain that Ares is stalking around for the dagger too.
The warrior stopped to turn to the other woman.
XENA
This is important, Gabrielle. We'll be lucky if we get one last shot at Hope. I'm counting on you.
The younger woman nodded.
GABRIELLE
Hope's evil. She deserves to die.
XENA
Maybe even to suffer a little.
GABRIELLE
I wouldn't say that. Remember, regardless of whatever else she might be, she is still my child.
She looked up at the enormous rock formation that the two now stood in front of.
GABRIELLE
But even so, how am I supposed to find the dagger anyway? There must be a thousand crypts here.
XENA
It's carved in the shape of… there.
The warrior pointed up at a rock, and the blonde's eyes followed. But after a moment of scanning the cliffside, the young woman realized that she had no idea what Xena had been pointing at.
GABRIELLE
What exactly am I supposed to be looking for?
She was about to turn back toward the warrior when she felt the sharp point of a dagger being pressed against her back and heard a coldness in Xena's voice as she spoke into her ear.
XENA
(Cold tone) Don't turn around, Gabrielle. Don't you make a single move.
TO BE CONTINUED…