DISCLAIMER: I don’t own any characters, which appeared on Xena: Warrior Princess, I was just having a little fun!
Now here’s the story itself…
By Jane
“I wanna protect your unborn child from the other gods….”
“Oh, why would you wanna do that?!?”
“…you know I’ve always had a thing for you…”
“For me and my friend” her sharp voice cut deep into his memory. “Look you talking to me is not helping the trust matter in here”
He knew that he was wasting his time and she would never believe him, but he just had to try. “They say it will destroy all the gods. Now if I’m going to be mortal…” he felt an awful knot in his stomach, “…I could live out my life with…you…” At that point he expected a slap or something. But what he got was much worse- she didn’t even consider it as an answer and continued to ignore everything between them. “Look I have feelings for you, alright? … I care about you damn it… I see your face everywhere…” he shed his last hopes in vain.
“No, you stop it,” she shouted, “you’re so desperate that you’re trying to convince me that you love me?” That disgusted face really cut deep. He felt as if he’d been stabbed through the heart, only death didn’t come to relieve the pain. He cursed his immortality, as she walked away. His chest sank deeper than ever before as the true words came out. “I love you, Xena…” That dark, unfulfilled feeling followed him as he walked deeper into the darkness…
Jim Gaston awoke with a jerk, gasping for breath, in his large, one-room apartment. He slowly made his way to the balcony, trying to clear his head. Why was he tortured by these dreams, night after night? His chocolate-brown eyes lifted up to the night sky. Jim stared at the stars; they stared back at him. It was always the same old story, nothing ever changed in this boring world. But deep inside he felt like something big is going to happen… real soon.
Knowing right away he wouldn’t be able to sleep, not that he wanted to go back to those dreams, Jim walked over to his desk and switched on his computer. From the look of him most people would say he was some kind of a wrestling champion, not a history researcher. Ancient Greece, in particular was one of his favourites. History was more of an obsession than a job, really, but the archeologists paid good for the quick access to the information. His head was stuck somewhere in the past, searching for something… or may be someone. The irony was that he never found it. There were absolutely no records of this woman named Xena, like somebody erased her history to never be touched again.
Then again, if she was something big, it meant two things: One that if there were records, she’d end up in a Corn Flakes commercial, like Hercules did last month. Jim chuckled at the memory. And secondly, that not everything was lost. Sooner or later some little scrap of a letter or note would be found, he just had to wait.
He jumped up when the phone rang. His deep thoughts slipped out of his mind, as he answered the phone, “Yeah?”
“Hey, Jimmy, is that you? Listen we found some big stuff here. Once we test it for fakes, we can get ready to taste the cash…” the excited voice spoke.
“Hello, Louie. Is that the only reason you got into that archeologist profession?!” They both chuckled.
“And that’s Dr. Minton… I’ve got a degree remember?”
“Great, so what do you want me to do? Just share the joy?” Jim asked mockingly.
“Oops… is it night over there? It is night, isn’t it? Sorry, I forgot again. But you will be happy to know that I’ve arranged for you to come down here…” Dr. Minton explained.
“Wait…why would I want to do that? You can tell me what you found now and give me a break…” Jim said lazily.
“That’s the point- I can’t…orders from the head, to avoid any leaks of information…” Dr. Minton said hurriedly.
“For the last time Louie, there’s no government conspiracy. And NO my auntie is not coming with me… she taking another one of her beauty therapies…”
“Oh, it’s not about that… though I admit I had a crush on the Blondie-curls,” he paused trying to think of something to change the subject, “Oh and which reminds me you know anything about some ancient god named Arsino… no, it was Ars… Arreo…no, that’s not it…”
“Ares?” Jim asked while trying to figure out why this had such affect on him.
“That’s right, man, you’re a genius…” There was a brief silence and he wondered if Jim was still there, “Hey man, are you okay?”
“Uh, yeah. I’m coming down there first thing tomorrow.”
“I knew you’d make it… But there’s also this chick you need to pick up…”
“What?” Jim knew they were trying to set him up in another hopeless relationship.
“Well, you don’t have to, I suppose, but it’s your loss, man. Miss Robertson is traveling from Los Angeles, over here tomorrow, exactly your way. She’s helping us translate the writings…”
Jim cut him off, “Fine, but don’t expect anything, alright?” That was the only way to make that so-called “Dr” shut up.
“We’ll see,” he chuckled and hung up the phone.
The small room was over decorated with colourful collections. Woven fabrics hang from the walls and rows of beads at the door. A small, young woman, with lively green eyes, sat behind a large table. She wore big clothes, probably to get that Shamaness look, and a scarf over the head. When you came to think about it, looked quite funny, because her features weren’t eastern.
Kate Robertson wondered if she should knock, but couldn’t find a spot on the wall, that wasn’t taken.
“Come in,” the small woman ordered in a funny accent, “I can sense you…”
Kate made her way to the seat opposite the fortuneteller, pulling her jet-black hair away from her face nervously. Something about this petite woman made her uncomfortable. “ Um, hello. My name is Kate Robertson… um hello” the little woman reluctantly took the hand offered her.
“I am the fortuneteller with the most powerful abilities,” she paused, looking into Kate’s crystal eyes, “but you can call me Rose.”
“Okay, Rose, well I’m here because…”
Rose cut her off, “I know why you’re here- something’s bothering you… would it be that big trip you’re making tomorrow?”
‘This fortuneteller is something else’ Kate thought, but let it slip her mind. “Yes, I am making a trip tomorrow, but I don’t know anything about that to get worried. It’s my dreams that bother me…”
“What do you dream of?” Rose asked rather personally.
“Me- talking to a man…”
“Is he attractive?” the small woman enquired.
“What? What does that matter? The thing that bothers me most is that I dream of it every night… it feels so real…”
“Do you know the man?”
“No,” Kate answered flatly. “That’s why I came to you.”
“I cannot tell you his identity, but only that you will meet him,” Rose paused, trying to make up what else to say. “May be in years, maybe tomorrow- that is uncertain.”
‘Some most powerful fortuneteller!’ Kate thought, amused. She had seen plenty of them, and recognized the frauds right away. “Hey, don’t get my hopes up, I’m only here ‘cause I need to share. And a psychiatrist is too expensive. Besides, a friend talked me into this,” she lied convincingly. Kate smiled at the little woman opposite her, who smiled back. ‘Well I have to admit she’s got talent’ Kate thought, before walking out of the small building.
Yeah, she’d have to do more packing. And then it struck her that she had to meet a guy called Jim Gaston next morning, at the airport. Right now, though Kate just needed to get some sleep.
The airport was as noisy as usual and crowded too. People rushed around, trying to be on time. Jim forced his eyes to stay open after a whole night of doing research on the god of war. He couldn’t exactly say what it is, but there was something familiar about that name. He stood there holding a sign that said “ROBERTSON”. And although Jim felt like he was in some corny commercial, it was the only way to track her down in this crowd.
Suddenly, a raven-haired beauty caught his attention. She was struggling with a large suitcase, trying to get it to move. This woman had all the curves in the right places and an elegant black suit enveloped her. The skirt was about knee-length and her movements were flawless.
Oh, how Jim wished he could just talk to her or help her with that luggage. All of a sudden, those icy eyes were directed right at his. When she started to come over, he put down the sign he was holding, hoping against hope that she’s this Robertson.
Kate saw a tall, dark haired, not to mention interesting man holding a sign with her name. Unlike her he wore a simple black t-shirt that stuck tightly, around his muscled form. Kate had to admit she was glad it wasn’t one of those old, boring historians she expected to see. She came over and introduced herself, noticing his own relief that he was stuck with someone like her! They talked endlessly, during the flight, exchanging all kinds of information. First, they talked about work and friends, but then came the inevitable conversation about relationships.
“So, um, speaking of luck,” Jim said cautiously, trying to phrase it right, “How lucky are you in um… relationships?”
Kate suddenly felt the need to blush, but managed to keep a straight face. Her love life wasn’t exactly what you would call a perfect one. Endless amounts of men wanting her for her looks and not really appreciating her as a talented person she was. Now, she developed a defence code that wouldn’t let anyone near her. Though, Jim seemed interested in her knowledge and her abilities as much as he was in her looks.
Jim turned away thinking he just screwed up with the best woman he ever met. Then quietly, but firmly, she said, “I’m not dating anyone, if that’s what you mean.”
Jim couldn’t believe his luck, then quickly guessed the reason and decided to approach her more cautiously. “Same here,” he said, trying to brighten the mood, “I don’t have any luck… even my friends are trying to set me up.” They both laughed.
Then she asked suspiciously, “Are you sure we, being together on a plane is a coincidence?”
“Anything is possible, Kate.” Just at that moment he smiled his favourite evil grin. She thought it looked familiar, or rather he looked familiar, but she never met him until today.
“Do you believe in re-incarnation?” Kate asked rather confused by her feelings.
“What seriously?” he smiled at her, finding it hard to escape her crystal gaze. Then he thought about the restless dreams he’s been having, it seems, for an eternity. “May be,” he said, as much to himself as to her, “I sure had strange experiences…” Then he snapped back to reality.
“Don’t we all,” she agreed. “Are you going to think I’m crazy, if I tell you that I really don’t feel I belong here…?”
“Truth is, I feel the same way,” he paused, “I understand, but don’t ever tell something like that to a psychiatrist, okay? Or he’ll stamp ‘crazy’ on your forehead then that will be the understatement.”
Kate chuckled. She really loved his sense of humour and that he had just the right amount of it!
They arrived in Athens at 7am. It felt strange traveling east, because it made you feel like you haven’t lost time at all. This time Jim helped her with that awful suitcase. He only had a light bag, because he was always the one for traveling light. Soon, a man greeted them in his forties, and looked them both up and down, trying to determine something.
“Hey, Jimmy, how was the flight?” he asked, winking at him, while Kate looked away.
“Never give up playing matchmaker do you, Louie?” Jim hissed.
“Um, hello, I’m Kate Robertson,” she said, extending her hand.
The man took it in a warm shake. “I’m Dr. Minton. Nice to meet you,” he responded. “Well come on get your things and lets get out of this crowded place.”
“He almost hates airports as much as I do,” Jim explained, to Kate.
It was an awfully long drive and a hot day too. The temperatures scorched an impressive 39 degrees. Kate had a small radio talking in her hand, while Jim found it relaxing with a Walkman. Anything to keep their minds off the heat.
“Hey if you think that that’s hot, I’ve got to tell you it’s gonna get worse,” Dr. Minton pointed out. “This is as good as it gets here, during the summer.”
They arrived at the site a bit exhausted, but when they saw it they really had to say, “wow!” The ruins were huge in perimeter and still more was being dug up. In the overall picture the workers looked more like ants, rushing around, each doing his or her part. “You’ve got quite a team here, Louie,” Jim commented.
“Yes, I’ve had a hard time putting it together, though,” he admitted.
A businessman cut off Dr. Minton, “Are you Lewis Minton?” When the archeologist nodded, he continued, “We would need you to sign a few legal documents.”
“All right. I’ll be right there. Jimmy, Ms. Robertson, I’ll join you later. Meanwhile, I’ll get a guide to show you around.” Dr. Minton looked around until he spotted his victim, “Hey, Chris, get over here!” When the young man came around he gave him the instructions and left.
The guy wore a white t-shirt and a pair of jeans. He looked really skinny and had a bronze tan, which showed that he’d spend a lot of time here. “Hi, I’m Christopher,” he introduced himself, as they slowly walked over to the tents. “Old ‘Mint’ makes me do all the boring stuff,” he explained, as he showed them to their tents.
“Old he may be, but he still talks like a teenager,” Jim admitted, as the other two joined him in a warm chuckle.
“You can leave your stuff here,” he pointed inside one of the tents, as they obeyed.
“Oh, great- our tents are next to each other,” Kate noticed. She didn’t want ‘anything’ to happen until she knew Jim better and being just two feet away, with no real walls, wasn’t exactly what she hoped for.
Jim wasn’t stupid, he sensed it right away, but decided to point out the obvious, “Oh, look we’re gonna be neighbours!” She faked a smile as they walked towards the digging. “So, what exactly is this you’re digging up?” Jim asked his ‘guide’.
“Well, they believe these are the remains of a temple dedicated to the Greek god of war…”
“…Ares.” Jim finished his sentence. The other two stared at him for a moment, before starting walking again.
“Yes,” Chris paused. “It’s actually the under ground section to be exact. We believe that the temple itself was originally over there,” he pointed to a small hill in the west, “and series of tunnels led this way, to the ‘secret chamber’.”
“Why would the god of war need a secret chamber?” Jim asked his friends.
“Because the priests probably wanted it, doh,” Kate suggested, “And why are you saying the god of war? There were no gods, we know that now.”
“Well, I wouldn’t give up hope…” Jim told them, as they burst out laughing, taking it as another one of his jokes. He decided to keep quiet, or they might want to take him to that dreaded appointment with the psychiatrist!
When Chris calmed down, he continued the story, “We are working pretty slow, in fear that the whole thing collapses. More than two millennia under ground, with the acid rain and all that, it’s not very stable.” The two visitors just listened and took in all the information, which was given to them. “I think it’s safe to say that we are going to be making more discoveries, but for now all we’ve found were a few scrolls.”
“Oh good, so Dr. Minton didn’t call me all the way here for nothing, after all.” Kate commented. Unlike most people, she liked work when it was hard or dangerous. To tell the truth, she’d much rather be at the site itself, digging or killing rats. Yeah, that would be her first choice. But to work like that the pay was lower and she wouldn’t allow herself all the little comforts of life.
“Let me show you our finds,” Chris offered, as they entered another tent, “Minton wanted you to take a look at them, Miss Robertson.”
Kate stepped closer to the yellow-stained papers, beneath the glass barrier. “It’s not any kind of language I know, but it resembles Greek, a bit…”
“So, you can’t translate it?” the young man asked her.
“Well, not now,” Kate answered dully. Seriously, some people were so slow. ‘Why would they’ve called me down here if it was a known language?’ she asked herself, frustrated. But she kept her temper at bay, as she answered, “To figure out what all those symbols mean, we need to get a starting point. You can look for a name, or something that we could guess and then we’ll work on from there,” she explained.
Three pairs of eyes scanned the old documents, for a few minutes. “What’s this?” Kate asked her companions, pointing to some sort of symbol at the top of a scrap of paper.
There was a brief silence, while they examined it, then Jim spoke, “I think that is the sign of Ares.” At least the research that kept him up all night, finally paid off.
“The god…?” she started, but gave up when he nodded. “This must’ve been directed to his priests,” she suggested.
“I think it was directed from the god of war,” Jim hoped they wouldn’t burst out laughing like last time. Instead they just stared at him. “I’m just saying it ‘cause see at the bottom line, which is probably where the name is,” he pointed to the document, “Well, it can be split up into four symbols… like Ares…”
“So it can,” Kate agreed, “but that doesn’t prove anything.”
“Well, I’m just doing what you said earlier, and I quote: ‘…look for a name, or something that we could guess…’” Chris giggled in the background, as Jim attempted to impersonate her voice. It was amazing how he managed to switch from his deep tones to a squeaky one, so quickly. “And this is as good a guess as any,” Jim finished.
Kate should have been madder, but her heart felt more flattered at how he bothered to remember every word of what she’d said. She pushed the smile, which was forcing itself onto her lips, away. “All right, as we have nothing better to work on, I’ll call this a starting point. But I’ll tell Dr. Minton it was your idea, when he starts to complain about the slow progress,” she teased.
They worked all day on the scrolls, and Kate still thought about it, in her tent that night. Then her thoughts escaped, and she remembered the real reason, why she tried to deny the god of war existed. That name, Ares, she discovered that it was the man from her dreams. ‘And what if it is some kind of vision from the future… No, I’m becoming delirious!’ she told herself. ‘I just need some sleep.’ Kate settled herself on the small bed, but sleep didn’t come easily. She kept thinking about those dreams- what could they mean?
Then she suddenly got back to reality. Oh, why did they place Jim in the next tent? She could faintly hear him breathing in the background, no doubt thinking about the events of the day. Being so close to him made her feel dizzy and she gave up any hope of falling asleep. Kate knew that he was still awake, just as she was.
Quietly, almost timidly, she asked, “Jim, are you asleep?” It was the only way she could think of to start the conversation.
Jim himself wanted to ask her the same thing, but kept his mouth shut, in fear of scaring her away. He knew she wasn’t happy with them being next door. “Yes, what did you want to talk about?” he asked, praying she’ll continue.
“Do you really think the god of war is, I mean was real?”
“I don’t know anything for a fact, but it’s almost as if I can feel it, that there’s something there…I don’t know call me crazy, but…”
Before he could continue, she decided to tell him the truth for some odd reason. “Jim, I don’t think you’re crazy, in fact I think you’re right about something being there,” she paused, “I just don’t want to believe, because what if he’s real and well…” She stopped, wondering if she should tell something like that, to a man she just met this morning. Then Kate decided to do it; after all she felt like she’d known him all her life. “I’ve been having some strange dreams lately, night after night. I’m sorry if you think that’s strange, but I dreamt of Ares… and I have no idea why.”
Jim was stunned, “I have the same problem, but I’ve seen a woman named Xena. She looked like a warrior or something. But at least Ares is somewhere in history and my warrior woman… I don’t know.”
“I believe you,” she murmured, “now lets get some sleep.” Not a word more needed to be said. They both felt relieved, having shed their secrets and having someone who’d understand. It would only be later that they’d realize what a big coincidence it was. But now, sleep finally came for them.
It was the same old dream and they both knew it. Them standing face-to-face, hiding their feelings behind a protective veil. Trying to hurt each other emotionally, to get back at them. It was this eternal struggle, because they were on different sides and neither would give way, in fear of being used. Now, they saw what was wrong with the relationship- there was no trust. It stood nailed to the cold ground and got them nowhere.
This time no words, no sounds, only the broken dreams of being together. Time was lost and now wasn’t the moment to do something about it. The saddest thing was, that there was no spirit; they’d both given up hope.
Suddenly, the walls of ancient design, and their clothes transformed. Xena and Ares were gone and instead there stood two people who resembled them the most: Kate and Jim.
Both of them woke up with a jerk, feeling the cold sweat on their faces. After a while they calmed down and realized they both had the same experience. This was too weird and neither of them liked that kind of intimacy. Jim decided not to say anything, instead just gather his thoughts. Kate really needed the fresh air to clear her head.
The sun hasn’t come up yet, but was close to doing so. She got a little bucket, full of water and spilled it over her head. Oh, the shivers really helped her to be more alert. She heard someone near her tent and decided to be smart about this. Kate got back in her tent, like nothing happened, only to come out from the other end, hoping to catch whoever it was from behind.
“Oh, shut up, you’ll wake someone,” came young woman’s voice.
“Calm down, there’s nothing to be worried about…” this was a goofy kind of man’s voice.
“Oh, just be quiet,” said the woman. Now Kate could see it was a short blonde and a funny looking, dark haired guy next to her. Kate quickly grabbed the blonde’s arms.
“Now who are you and what are you doing here?” she asked harshly. Then recognised the woman looked like the so-called fortuneteller, from a few days ago. “You?”
“Oh, Kate Robertson? Um, sorry I pretended to be that fortuneteller thing.” The blond looked pleadingly into Kate’s icy eyes. “I’m Julia Waterstone, a reporter for the ‘Discovery News’ back in Los Angeles.” Kate loosened her grip on her.
“It’s alright, even then I knew you were a fake! And who’s your friend?”
“I’m Fox Mansfield, editor of the paper,” he said reaching out for a handshake, when Kate took it, he continued, “We heard you were on the verge of the biggest discovery, so Julia wanted to go undercover as that fortuneteller…”
“It was your idea, Fox” Julia put in.
“Let me finish. Anyway, we found out you knew nothing so we had to come down here ourselves. Can you give us any information?” he said, taking out a notepad.
“Look, we’re pretty much in the dark ourselves,” Kate pointed out.
Just then all three of them heard a man approaching. “Hey, Kate, I heard you talking, so I thought I’d see what’s going on… Who are they?” Jim asked, looking the visitors over.
“Reporters,” she stated.
“See I told you we shouldn’t have come up so early,” Fox told Julia, “may be if we came here at 10am, nobody would have seen us.”
“You idiot,” the blond said furiously and started pulling him by the nose.
“Hey, if you two want to get out of here without the police, I suggest you keep the noise down,” Kate told them.
They all looked at each other and Julia let go of her partner’s nose. “Okay, I see you’re not going to give us any information. But, we have some of our own- we could work together,” she suggested.
Kate and Jim exchanged looks, “What kind of information?” he spoke.
“Well we got one of the original scrolls that was found at the other side of Greece- it has the god of war’s symbol on it.” Julia explained, “Does that ring a bell?”
“Alright,” Kate said, “show us what you’ve got.” ‘More sources is always better than less’ she thought.
Julia took out a briefcase and carefully opened it, as the others watched. There neatly laid in the middle was a yellow stained piece of old paper, much like they’ve seen yesterday, with the symbol of Ares.
“If you promise to keep this quiet, until we figure things out, we could show you what we’ve got and work on it together,” Kate suggested. The little blond looked excited and everybody agreed on it.
The sun had came up and a few men started work, but the majority were still asleep. When they were walking back towards the site, Jim quietly said, “Look Kate, I’m all for that we could use more information, but have you considered that it might be fake?”
“Yes, and I was sure when I recognized the symbols in the writing.” She answered, “They were just like the ones from our scrolls. So, if their one is fake- it means our ones are fake. And well if they’re fake it wouldn’t matter anyway…”
“What are you talking about?” Julia asked from behind.
“Now here’s what we’ve found: The letters themselves resemble Greek in writing, but a few words that I was able to translate, actually are more English than Greek,” Kate explained, while the rest of them were staring at her wide-eyed. “Words like “as” or “rest” – would you say they’re Greek? And I know it sounds impossible and I definitely can’t explain it.”
“Well okay, but I’m still not ready to call it a fake,” Jim admitted. “Is there anything else we can do, to make this whole process faster?”
“Yeah, you three can help me. Now all we’ve got to do is go through the trial and error stage. There are lots of words with some letters missing. And you have to try and guess what they are and test them on all the other words.” Kate instructed her companions, “Understand?” Three heads nodded in response.
The small group sat and worked an hour, two, who knows? They didn’t feel time pass. They only took the occasional break to eat and rest, or when Julia hit Fox on the forehead, for making a stupid comment. He wasn’t exactly a lot of help, but he was sure a lot of fun to work around.
SUBTEXT/SEX/VIOLENCE: A big fat NO!
WRITER’S NOTE: This is an Uber-Xena fan fiction story and it takes place in modern day. I couldn’t remember exact words from the conversation in God Fearing Child- sorry people!