GABRIELLE
No!
The bard ran as fast as she could before planting the end of her staff into a crack in the floor and launching herself forward.
GABRIELLE
Xena!
Time then seemed to slow for the warrior, as she saw Gabrielle fly in from overhead and collide with Hope, grabbing onto her as mother and daughter were both thrown off balance and fell over the ledge of the fire pit and Xena reached out to catch the bard, only to miss as she fell from view.
XENA
Gabrielle!
Xena quickly moved to lean over the ledge to see the young woman disappear into the flames blow as she called out the warrior woman's name.
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With a loud gasp, Xena's eyes shot open as she awoke from the same repeating nightmare that had been plaguing her nearly every night for months. Exactly how long, she had lost track. After seeing Gabrielle plummet into the fiery abyss along with Hope, time had seemed to lose all meaning for the warrior. As did life itself for a good while, as Xena wandered heartbroken and lost, feeling as though a part of her very soul had been thrown into that bottomless pit right along with the bard.
Just after losing Gabrielle to the pit, in the midst of her mourning, and desperate to reunite with the person she loved more than she could ever fully express, Xena was willing to do just about anything to bring Gabrielle back to the world of the living. Including striking a deal with Ares, who had approached the grieving woman, telling her that he had captured the young woman's soul to use against the raven-haired woman as a bargaining tool, to finally have Xena as his own. The deal being that Xena would have to give Ares her soul and become his wife in a future life if he freed Gabrielle's soul and allowed the two women to live out the rest of this life without his intrusion and manipulation. Not liking the idea of marrying the god in the least, but desperate to hold the bard in her arms once again. Xena agreed to the god's terms. Certain that she could find a way out of the binding agreement later. However, much like the warrior woman had already suspected he would do, Ares had internally misled her into believing that he still had the bard's soul when he had already released her to go wherever it had decided to go and that it was then up to Xena to find her. So after hiding the indestructible contract in the deepest place in the ocean she could find in the hopes that even Ares would never be able to locate it to collect on their agreement, Xena went off in search of Gabrielle in the afterlife.
Soon after, the warrior managed to track down Hades, the god of the underworld, to ask him to bring Gabrielle back to life, where, yet again, she was met with more disappointing news that would keep her and the bard apart. To her dismay, Xena was told that the bard's soul hadn't gone to the Elysian Fields like she had assumed it would due to the goodness that had resided in the young woman. It was then she remembered that since Gabrielle had been an Amazon, her soul must have instead gone to where the Amazon's went after they died.
Continuing her quest to get Gabrielle back, Xena's broken heart then brought her to the amazonian land of the dead to find Gabrielle. But when she encountered the trapped souls of the northern Amazons who in her past evil deeds had been betrayed and killed by the warrior, and because of her actions had been trapped by the evil shamaness, Alti, who had been holding them in a limbo-like state. So despite her desperate yearning to see Gabrielle again, knowing that it was not only the right thing to do, and what she would have wanted, Xena had chosen to forgo her search for the bard in exchange for helping to break the trapped Amazons souls free from their purgatory and allowing them to move on to the Amazon's land of the dead where they could finally be at peace. But in a twisted version of good fortune, while locked in an intense battle against Alti in the spirit realm, in an attempt to break Xena's spirit and kill her body, the shamaness showed the warrior a horrific vision of her own brutal death, where she laid atop a snowy mountain beside Gabrielle as the pair were being crucified.
Her mind returning to the present as she calmed down from her nightmare and gazed up at the night sky, Xena smiled to herself as she spoke to Gabrielle, hoping that her words would in some way reach the bard's heart wherever she might be.
XENA
Wherever you are, Gabrielle, I hope you know how much I love you. Know that no matter how long it takes, wherever I have to go, or what I have to do, I swear I'll find you. One way or another, we'll be together again.
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JOXER
I brought your favorite. Daisies.
Wiping the tears in his eye's, Joxer knelt beside the seemingly bottomless pit where Gabrielle had fallen, with Hope as he spoke to his lost friend.
JOXER
They're in bloom now, so I can bring 'em fresh to you every day.
With a sad smile, the man laid a small bundle of freshly picked flowers on the edge of the pit and screamed in terror as a hand shot up from the abyss and grabbed his wrist. In a panic, Joxer scrambled to pull away but found himself unable to get free as he heard a voice speak from below.
?
I knew it.
His mind in a panic, Joxer's fears that Hope or some horrifically charred being had clawed its way up from the pit's fiery depths were quickly put at ease as he saw Xena pulling herself out of the pit.
XENA
She's alive!
JOXER
Xena? What're you doing…? What do you mean Gabrielle's alive? She can't be.
The raven-haired woman stood as she finished climbing out of the pit.
XENA
But she is. I had a vision. I couldn't be sure until now, which is why I came back here to check, but now I'm certain of it.
JOXER
(Flat tone) A vision.
The man sighed.
JOXER
Look, Xena, I know you miss Gabrielle, I do too. But no one could have survived that fall. There's just no way. And if they did, the lava river would have…
Joxer paused as he shuddered at the gruesome thought, and quickly pushed the horrific images of what Gabrielle's body would likely look like after suffering such a fate that were creeping into his mind away.
XENA
Poteidaia.
Ignoring Joxer's reasonable logic, the woman quickly began gathering the rope she had used to climb in and out of the pit.
XENA
Of course. She must've gone back to her family.
A new destination set, Xena marched off, now more determined to find Gabrielle as ever. Seeing the certainty in the woman's eyes as she left, Joxer felt a small spark of hope that Gabrielle truly was still alive and followed the warrior as she left the temple.
JOXER
Hey, Xena. Wait for me.
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It looked to be a typical day in the village as Xena and Joxer arrived in Poteidaia. The adult villagers were all going about their daily business as the children ran around playing, bringing a smile to Joxer's face as he looked around.
JOXER
You know, I can defiant;y picture Gabrielle growing up around here. Helping her parents with the chores. Playing games with her sister. Making the other kids laugh. Must've been pretty great.
XENA
Let's look around. See if her family or anyone else has seen her.
Moving further into the village, Xena and Joxer walked around for a bit and looked for Gabrielle's family or anyone else who might have known the bard. They hadn't gotten very far when they heard a group of children cheering as they excitedly shouted to hear another story.
JOXER
A story.
Gabrielle being known for her bardic talents, Xena and Joxer looked at each other for a moment, clearly sharing the same thought, before hurrying over to where a group of children had gathered. But after pushing their way through the crowd, both of their hopes were dashed as they saw a puppet show being put on that was telling stories to the children.
JOXER
Ooo, I love this story.
Finding an empty seat in the audience, Joxer excitably sat down amongst the children and joined in with the small crowd on the child-like fun, as Xena rolled her eyes. Turning away with a disappointed sigh, Xena suddenly locked eyes with a figure in the middle of a series of streamers that were blowing in the gentle breeze just a few feet away, and instantly felt her breath catch in her throat as she could hardly believe the sight before her.
XENA
…Gabrielle.
TO BE CONTINUED…