At that very instant the warrior princess drew her sword and held it out in front of her. “If you think I’m going to be some gift, then think again!” Xena growled.
“Oh Xena, I don’t think…I know,” Callisto stated, smiling. She looked down at Xena’s sword. “Do you honestly think that will help you? You’re up against gods. None of us can die...so frankly...the odds aren’t in your favor.”
“Remember,” interrupted Strife, “she is not to be harmed.” He was directing his statement mainly at Callisto.
“Oh shut up!” Callisto hissed, glancing back at Strife. “Accidents happen,” she stated sweetly. Then she focused her attention on Xena once again. “Besides, she’s the one who wants to fight.” Xena narrowed her eyes, glanced at both Callisto and Strife, and then at Gabrielle who was standing behind her. Gabrielle's eyes were full of fear, whereas Xena’s displayed no emotion.
Velasca stepped forward. “Strife’s right, Callisto. We can’t hurt Xena...but Gabrielle’s a different story.”
When Gabrielle heard this, she took a defensive position with her staff.
“Easy for you to say. You want revenge on Gabrielle. I want Xena!” Callisto yelled.
“Enough!...both of you. Gabrielle is our insurance for Xena. We can’t kill either of them,” declared Strife.
“Who said anything about killing?” Callisto questioned. “I just think some nice torture would do them good.” She looked at Xena. “Oh very well. I’ll try to contain myself.”
“You better,” muttered Strife.
Gods have excellent hearing, so Callisto heard him. And anyone could tell Strife was really getting on Calliso’s nerves.
“Listen you warrior wanna be. I’ve had just about enough of you. Never...ever tell me what to do!” Callisto yelled. “Or I’ll teach you a lesson you will never forget.”
That was it. Callisto had lost her cool, and began a huge argument. It started just between Callisto and Strife, but soon all the gods were yelling at each other, defending whoever was their friend. This gave Xena the opening that she needed. She unnoticeably removed the whip from her armor and signaled to Gabrielle what she was planning to do. Gabrielle took a step forward and grabbed onto Xena’s waist. Xena took one last look at Callisto and Strife, before drawing her arm back.
The argument was broken by the crack of Xena’s whip, which had been securely fastened to some vines hanging over Xena’s head. All the god’s turned to look at Xena, who was now smiling. Callisto took a step toward her. “Ha!” Xena yelled as she took a leap with Gabrielle still holding onto her. They sailed over the heads of all eight gods. With a twist of the wrist, she then freed her whip. The gods turned to face them. Argo galloped past the turned heads over to Xena who in turn jumped on as soon as he come near. They left the gods stunned, and within moments they were on their way toward Athens.
Contrary to some beliefs, the gods weren’t stupid. OK. Maybe some of them were, but not all. They knew not to follow on foot. They would wait until Xena stopped to take a break, then, they would attack. But Xena knew them too well. She had already developed a plan. It was a plan based on chance, but it was their only hope.
Xena and Gabrielle headed toward the temples of Athens. Xena knew that a god could not enter another god’s temple without their permission. So maybe if the temple’s patron was her ally, they could seek refuge in the temple and the other gods wouldn’t be allowed in.
The first temple they came across was dedicated to Poseidon: god of the sea, but they did not know that. They dismounted and ran through the temple’s doors.
Inside, it was nothing but a pool with a tiny rim along the sides where a few offerings were placed. The room was dark and the air held moisture. There were no windows, so sunlight did not touch the soiled ground often. For a temple it was relatively simple. It had no color except for the light blue reflection of the water on the ceiling. Xena and Gabrielle stepped onto the rim, and carefully, by placing one foot after the other, reached the other side.
Suddenly they heard the doors burst open. Xena’s expression, which had started to look hopeful, turned blank again. That was how she wanted it. She never showed her true emotions to her opponents. She made a special effort to hide her feelings of fear, anger and sorrow. Never once had she cried before her enemies. The only person who ever saw her true feelings was Gabrielle
“I bet you didn’t know Poseidon was aiding us,” teased Callisto. Xena and Gabrielle were trapped...again. The gods entered the room and started towards Xena and Gabrielle on either sides of the pool. To make matters worse, since this was Poseidon’s temple, he could rise from the pool at any time.
Like their previous confrontation with the gods, they had one or few choices that would enable them to escape. In this case they only had one choice, the other would be a definite loss. They decided to chance it with the water. Xena glanced at Gabrielle. Over the years Xena and Gabrielle had developed a strong friendship and an understanding of each other. Gabrielle seemed to know what they needed to do and nodded in understanding.
When the gods were about half way around the pool, Gabrielle leaped from the ledge and into the cold deep water. The gods paused for a moment, and then continued toward Xena. Ares had requested the capture of the bard to help control Xena, but it was Xena he really wanted. Xena waited till Gabrielle was almost to the other side. She jumped, doing several flips in the air, and landed almost at the other side. While the gods hurried to catch up to them, they climbed out of the water.
“It’ll take more than that to catch us!” Xena yelled, laughing, as they left the temple. By the time the gods got outside, Xena and Gabrielle were already on Argo, riding out toward the horizon.
“Stupid Poseidon!” shouted Callisto angrily. “He’s probably off destroying a ship or something. He can’t be counted upon. See if we give him credit for helping!” With a wave of her hand she disappeared. As did the others.
Xena and Gabrielle decided to stick to the original plan of seeking shelter in the temples. Even though the first one almost got them captured, there was bound to be a temple to a friendly god somewhere around here. They were cold, wet, and hungry. Shelter was needed. They rode throughout the night. Xena sensed the gods were around.
As the sun began to rise in the morning, they could see the dark silhouette of a temple looming in the distance. It was easy to tell if the building was a temple or not. Temples were in like a uniform code. They were all built basically the same way. Of course the colors and furnishings varied, but still they were all similar.
“Who’s temple is that?” Gabrielle asked drowsily.
“I’m not sure. It’s been several years since I’ve traveled down this path.”
Gabrielle tightened he grip around the warrior. “I don’t know about you, but when this is all over with, I think I’ll sleep for a month.” Xena smiled. She definitely did not look as tired as Gabrielle, but then again she never did.
They reached the temple within minutes and dismounted. Xena sent Argo away with a slight push. She didn’t want him to get hurt at her cost. Then Xena and Gabrielle ran inside and bolted the doors shut behind them. Xena exhaled deeply, her hands still resting on the door. “Xena,” whispered Gabrielle in a shaky voice. She put her hand on Xena’s shoulder and pulled her gently to make her turn around. Xena opened her mouth to reply but became speechless as she gazed upon the sight in front of her. She knew this temple, as did Gabrielle. It belonged to Ares.
Gabrielle spun around and frantically tried to unbolt the door, but Xena grabbed her hand.“Gabrielle wait! Don’t you see? We can use this to our advantage.”
“What?! I’m sorry, Xena, but I think you’ve finally lost it. This is Ares’ temple. In what possible way could we use this to our advantage. You’re not going to try to kill Ares are you?”
“No. Nothing of the sort. Think about it. The other gods don’t want Ares to know that they’ve teamed up and are trying to capture us. They want to keep it a surprise."
“So?”
“So, they won’t follow us in here because Ares will find out. Plus why would they ever think to look for us in here? All we have to do is dress as one of the servant girls, and try to blend in.”
“Do you think it will work.”
“Have I been wrong yet?”
“Well...what about going into Poseidon’s temple?”
“That was an accident. Besides, it wasn’t like it was labeled.”
“What about going to the other side of that pool.”
“We got out of it.”
“Well what about...”
“Gabrielle.” Xena cut her off. “The point is we’re not captured and we’re not dead. So my plan has worked up until now.”
Gabrielle grabbed Xena’s arm and Xena turned to face her and smiled. “I’m only kidding, Xena.”
“I know,” she replied and smiled too.