Destiny

                                                          Chapter 5

                                                       By: areswarrior

 

 

Arianna and Xena had traveled several days when they came upon an army that was herding women from a neighboring village to be sold. Arianna stopped short when she heard one of the woman shout out to another calling her Gabrielle. Arianna thought, : This must be when Xena saved Gabrielle from Draco. I can’t let her see me.” When Xena moved into attack Arianna took a position  behind a tree and watched the scene unfold before her. She felt like a heel hiding like that but she couldn’t risk the bard seeing her. Any contact with the bard would have serious ramifications on history. She quickly took out a parchment and wrote a note for Xena then turned and left. When the battle was over Xena looked around for Arianna, instead of finding her friend, she found the scroll. Xena unraveled it and read.

“ Xena,

A serious matter had come to my attention and I must leave immediately. I will explain everything when we meet again, I promise you.

 

Arianna.”

 

Xena put the scroll away, very puzzled at her friends sudden change. She decided that Arianna would tell her when the time was right. So Xena set out to return the women to Potedia. So the adventures of Xena and her bard began. Meanwhile Arianna sought deparately for Hercules. She knew that he was one of the only ones who could help her. Especailly with Xena.  She didn’t have to search long. She Hercules and Iolaus traveling to Athens to take care of some monster there. Arianna ran up to meet them. “ Hercules!!”

“ Xena, what a nice surprise.”
Arianna just smiled, “ Nice surprise yes but I’m not Xena.”
 “Oh, sorry it’s the looks.”
 “ It’s ok Hercules, I’m just glad I found you.”
 “ Why, what’s wrong? Is it Xena?”

“No, Xena is fine. But I do need to talk to you privately. It is a matter of extreme importance.”
 “Sure.” Hercules went to talk to Iolaus. Iolaus looked at Hercules and then at Arianna. Then he said he would meet up with Hercules in Athens. They claps wrist and Iolaus was on his way.

“Now whats going on?” asked Hercules as he and Arianna found a place to sit and rest. Arianna took a deep breath and began her story. She told him everything from who she was to why she was sent here. “ I need your help Hercules. I must get back and put Ares back where he belongs before he can cause any serious damage. Who know what he has done already.” Hercules sat in silence, he couldn’t believe what he had just heard. This woman who claimed she was a realitive of Xena and was sent her by Ares in order to keep her from fulfilling her destiny. Arianna got nervous “Please Hercules you know how dangerous he is.”

“Ok what do we have to do?”

Arianna lunged at Hercules, hugging him so tight that he was nearly knocked over. “ Thank you. Oh sorry.”

“It’s ok” he said as he rubbed his neck, “Now about what we need to do.”

“Well I need two things. One I need the Kronos stone, second I need you to pay a visit to your brother Hephesties. We will need some chains to bind. Oh one more thing I am going to need to deliver a message to Xena and have her meet us at the foot of Mount Etna. She needs to be a part of this too.” Hercules stood up and walked around a bit then answered, “Well the chains won’t be hard to get, the message to Xena will be the easy part, but the Kronos stone, that one will need a little work.”

Arianna stood up, walked up to him, “Well let’s get going,” Arianna sat back down and wrote a message for Xena. When she was finished she handed it to Hercules, “Do you think you can get Hermes to deliver this?”

“Sure why not. Hermes.”

“You called brother.”

“I need you to deliver this message to Xena immediately it is very important that only she gets it.”

“No problem” with that Hermes disappeared.

 

Hermes found Xena sitting by a campfire sharpening her sword. She looked up as if she knew she was being watched. She looked over to Gabrielle, who was still sleeping, and then she got up and walked into the woods. “Ok I know someone is there show yourself.”

Hermes appeared before Xena and handed her the scroll then disappeared again. Xena opened the scroll, it read:

“Xena,

 

The time for explanations is now. I am in great need of your help. Please come alone. Only you can help me. I am on route to Athens with Hercules. I will explain everything there. This is the matter of great importance I told you about earlier. Please hurry.

 

Arianna”

 

Xena knew that Arianna would never ask her for help unless it was important, so the next morning she gathered up her things and told Gabrielle to go back home for a while. She would come for her when she was finished. Gabrielle started to argue that maybe she could be of some help, but when Xena gave her that look Gabrielle stopped. After leaving Gabrielle with her family Xena started out for Athens. Pushing Argo as hard as she would go. Xena caught up with Hercules three days later. “Hercules,” she said as she clasped wrists with him.

“Hello Xena it is good to see you again.”

“Where is Arianna, is she hurt?”

“No, she is waiting in a room at the inn. She asked that I bring you to her.”

“Hercules what is going on, she said it was of great importance.”
”She will explain everything to you herself, though you may find it hard to believe. I have heard it twice and I still don’t believe it.”
Xena looked very confused when Hercules grabbed her arm and lead her to the room where Arianna was waiting. “Xena, thank the gods you came.” Cried Arianna as she pulled her friend into a hug. Now Xena was looking more confused then ever. Arianna could see her friend confusion and asked Hercules to leave them alone for a minute. After Hercules left she lead Xena to the bed, asked her to sit and began the whole story.

“You see Xena,” she sighed, this was going to be hard then she thought. “When I first came to you, did you feel some connection between us?”

“Yes, I did a little why? What does that have to do with anything?”

“You will find out, just promise me you won’t say anything until I am finished, promise?” Xena nodded and waited for Arianna to continue.

“I have always considered you family, since the moment I arrived here, but that is because you are. When you asked me how I got here and I told you a god sent me here, I was reluctant to tell you which one. Well that god was Ares, he sent me here to prevent me from fulfilling my destiny. He had hoped that with you being in you bloodlust stage, that you would kill me, but it backfired. He even got Darphis to try to convince you that I was a threat to you. Well that part was true, I was a threat but not to you, to him.” Arianna looked at Xena and then continued. “I guess I had better start from the beginning. You see I was sent here from the future, your future. I come from a time about three thousand years from now, give or take a millennium. In my time I am a Professor at a local school. I teach archeology, which is the study of ancient cultures, mostly I had taught Greek and Roman cultures. Sometime in the future your descendant, my grandmother Mel Pappas and her friend Janis Covington, who is a descendant of Gabrielle, stumbled upon Ares tomb while looking for the Xena scrolls, the chronicles that Gabrielle kept of your adventures Xena. Anyways you had placed him there and arranged to have the eye of Hephesties hold him there. From legend only your essence could release him. Fortunately your spirit was able to get into my grandmother, you and Ares fought and with you in her, Ares was prevented from getting out. Your spirit left my grandmother after it was done and Janis blew up the temple to make sure Ares didn’t get out.”

 

“That however didn’t last long. He managed to get out. He revealed himself to me in my home just as I was going to read one of Gabby’s scrolls, he told me that I was the last of your desendants and he was going to make sure I didn’t put him back. So he sent me here. I need your help to put him back Xena.” Arianna sighed heavily as she finished her story, waiting for Xena’s response. Xena meanwhile had sat thru Arianna story stunned. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Then the questions came. Arianna had been expecting this and tried to answer the best she could.

“Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”

“I had to wait for the right moment”
 “Then why did you duck out as I was fighting Draco”

“Xena, I am truly sorry for that, I couldn’t risk being seen by Gabrielle. Please forgive me, I felt like a heel doing it.”

“Why did you want her to see you?”

“Because she kept track of everything you did in her scrolls. If I were placed in there for any reason it would drastically change history. I am taking a risk by telling you and Hercules, but I have no other choice. I need both of you to get me back and deal with Ares.”

“Exactly what can he do in your time?”

“A lot. Xena the weapons of this time are bad. The weapons of my time are even worse. Our weapons are more advanced, more accurate, and a lot more deadly then anything you have ever faced. There are weapons that can wipe out a entire continent in a blink of an eye Ares is dangerous now, if he got his hands on our weapons he would be unstoppable. I don’t even know what kind of damage he has done already. When I was first brought here I knew he would need time. But with the amount of time that I have been her already he probably has the support his needs.”
 “Getting support has never been a problem for Ares, Arianna”

“Maybe not here, but in my time things are a bit different. Mankind has stopped believing in Gods along time ago. It will take a bit of convincing. But Ares has a few things to work with; the people of my time are corrupt, power-hungry, and self-destructive. The leaders of the land have all this weapons and power underneath their fingertips but noone wants to be the first to push the buttons. Ares will try to use this to his advantage.”

Xena stood up and pulled Arianna into a deep embrace. “I’m glad to see my family has flourished so far down the line. Of course I’ll help you. Let’s get Hercules and get you home.”

They went down to the dining room a found Hercules, and then Arianna laid out the details of her plan. Hercules stood up and smiled “Well looks like my brother picked the wrong family to mess with, we will get started at first light.”

Xena and Arianna had to agree. They all had a very long confusing day. So they all settled in for the night. Just before Arianna fell asleep she smiled as she saw herself kicking Ares’ butt to Tarturas “Who say revenge isn’t sweet, Ares get ready your going down.”

 

To be continued…