Family
Part 1

By Shadowdancer

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Feedback: Shadowdancer

 

Part 1

 

The opening Scene:  The infamous, “Open field” somewhere in ancient Greece, Xena and Gabrielle are hiding behind a conveniently place, “Big boulder” that just happens to be in the right place at the right time, trying to get to the woods behind them without getting themselves, and little, two month old Arex, who’s riding in the backpack that his mother used for his big sister when she was a baby, on his Aunt Gabrielle’s back, roasted alive.  

The reason they are in the area, is that they were traveling to where they’d last heard that Eve was to introduce her to her baby brother, when Alti and Hope decided to “have some fun” with their favorite playmates.   

As she ducks yet another blast from Alti, Gabrielle comments as she tries to comfort her wailing nephew on her back, “Since when does Alti have powers? She’s never had them before other than her mental powers”.  The big, furry baby pack on her back pretty much occupies Gabrielle’s entire back, but she’s very strong despite her diminutive size. She is very much aware that she has to protect her nephew on her back, and purposely tries to face the attack, keeping her back, and therefore her tiny nephew, as protected as she can.   

She’s also all too aware, that because of her diminutive size, she’s not as able to shield him from harm as his mother is, being much taller, and bigger built than she is.  “Xena, when we get to better cover, maybe you’d better take Arex, you can shield him with your body better than I can. This is one time when I really am too small for something”.  “No Gabrielle, it’s because of your size that you’re better at protecting him right now than I am.  I’m a bigger target right now, and Hope and Alti are focusing most of their power and attention on me. We’ve got to get Vengence to come and deal with them. I don’t think they know we’re protected by her or they wouldn’t be suicidal enough to attack us”.   

“Unless they don’t care” “They care, she’s the most powerful of all of them, if they loose her loyalty, they’ve lost more than they can afford to. Especially her father, Dahak knows that if his most powerful daughter turns on him, he’s in a world of trouble. Yakut once said that Hope listens to Vengence not because she’s older than Hope, but because she’s more powerful than Hope, and Hope respects power. Also because they share the evil in their heritage, and because they are both daughters of Dahak. Vengence could easily convince Hope to join them in turning on Dahak, and destroying him, and taking over his Realm”. “That’s why he indulges, her, does whatever she suggests, gives her what ever she wants, that’s why she has so much power down there”.   

“Exactly Gabrielle, she’s the key to controlling Dahak, and his realm. We stay on her good side, and we’re safe from Dahak and the rest of her family, and the demons in his realm”.  “Do you think she would come if I called her? She barely pays attention to me at all” knowing she would have to turn her back on the attacks to run to the woods for better cover, Gabrielle, with Xena’s help, removed the baby carrier from her back to hold it and Arex in front of herself, shielding him with her body. She felt better carrying him this way even if she couldn’t use her Sais; she didn’t need to use them right now. Protecting her nephew right now was the most important thing, even more than her own life.  

“I don’t know Gabrielle, I think she would, she swore to protect us both, and marked us both, I’m sure she’d come if you called her. She just pays more attention to me because she sees me as the more aggressive one, the stronger one”. “Thanks a lot” “You know what I mean.  She doesn’t know you like I do, she doesn’t know how well you can fight yet” Xena ventured to take a cautious peak over the boulder they were crouched behind, and nearly lost her head. “I’m gonna try to distract them, when I do, run for the woods as fast as you can, alright?” “What about you?” “Don’t worry about me, just go.  The minute you get into the woods, call Vengence, remember to try to calm yourself, and concentrate or it won’t work”.  

“Right” she took a good hold of her tiny nephew, shushing him, and holding him to her chest as much as she could without smothering him, “Ready” she said. Xena unhooked her Chakram and let it fly. After a minute, she told Gabrielle, “Go! Go! Gabrielle!”. Gabrielle was already running before she even rose to her full height, sprinting like a gazelle across the unfortunately open space between the boulder and the trees. While Alti and Hope were busy ducking the Chakram flying around their heads, Xena followed Gabrielle into the woods, her long legs getting her there in no time. Just as she got to the boundary of the woods, she half turned and caught her Chakram.   

“Xena, you call her, I’m holding Arex” Gabrielle was running the best she could while trying not to jostle Arex too much. When it, “felt right”, they headed off to the right a bit off of the path they’d been running down, and into some thick brush.  Xena touched the mark at the base of her throat and called for help. “Vengence, we need your help” nearly before she had time to move her hand away, a column of flame announced Vengence’s arrival.  

She stood there in all her glorious, evil, beauty looking strong, powerful, and dangerous, her ground length, wild looking, raven hair flowing out behind her in the residual wind from her flames like a black flame itself. “You called?” they were once again stunned by her beauty. “Your mother and sister seem to have a problem with us. I think they want Arex for some reason, I could handle one or the other, but with both of them it’s too easy for one to get around me and get to Arex”.   

“Have either of them seen the marks on your throats?” “No, I don’t think so” Xena responded, “But if they know you’re protecting us, won’t you catch Tartarus from your father?”. “He doesn’t much care what I do, I’m his favorite, there’s very little that I could do that would make him angry. It’s mother and Hopeless who wouldn’t appreciate me protecting you and thwarting their plans”. Gabrielle noted that Vengence had called her sister “Hopeless” instead of by her name. She wondered if there was some animosity between the sisters, or if it was just a “nickname” she had for her sister like most sisters had for one another.  

“Now, I could just zap you two out of here, and deal with them, but if I know you Xena, that won’t do, you’d want to know why they started this in the first place am I right?”. “You know me too well sometimes Vengence. I’m glad we’re not enemies any more”. “You may be glad, but since I returned to my natural disposition, I’m bored out of my mind. The only other person who even gives me a challenge in a fight is Callisto, and she and Hercules are having at it at the moment in some underground caverns. Oops, wait a minute, that hasn’t happened yet. My mistake, meant to warn her about that, but she’s not screwed on too tight at the moment anyway so it won’t make much difference. Not that she ever is screwed on tight”. 

Xena and Gabrielle exchanged looks, Vengence could see into the future, and if what Vengence said was true, than Hercules might be in need of their help. They would ask her about it later, first things first. “We’d better do something fast, your mother and sister will come looking for us” Gabrielle advised, looking down the path the way she and Xena had come. “No they won’t, I’ve sent them in the opposite direction to look for you two. By the way, I probed mother’s mind a bit to see if I could figure out why she and Hopeless are after you two, but she’s got her shields up. Hope’s mind is impossible to probe right now because she’s in “Hunting” mode; she’s guarding against mental attack. We may be sisters, but we don’t entirely trust each other given our heritage”.  

“Did you find anything out?” Xena asked, “I got the idea that it has something to do with Arex. I take it you haven’t seen either one of them since before you gave birth?”. “No, I didn’t even think they knew I was pregnant” “Oh they knew alright, even father knows, he doesn’t care, but he knows. All the demons and the undead in father’s realm know you’re pregnant, or were pregnant. I’ve been rather busy keeping track of demons who could do either of you any serious harm. You two have a lot of demonic enemies Xena; you really have to be more careful about who you kill”.   

“I’ll keep that in mind” Xena quipped, “So what are we going to do about your mother and Hope?” “The first thing we’re going to do is send the baby somewhere safe. I assume you trust me enough to send him somewhere he won’t be harmed?”. “I trust you with his life and ours, take him” Xena said as Gabrielle held out her arms, offering him to Vengence without hesitation. As Xena had said that, she had looked Vengence in the eyes steadily, indicating that she was sincere in her statement, and Vengence nodded in acknowledgement and understanding.  

Little Arex floated out of Gabrielle’s arms, and towards Vengence who took him gently into her arms briefly and looked at him. “Cute little Tamarak. It’s a shame he isn’t a demon, with his heritage, he’s destined to be very powerful someday. He’ll give my children a run for their money”.  She suddenly tossed him into the air, and he vanished, and Gabrielle’s heart dropped back into her chest. “Gods on Olympus Vengence don’t do that, I think my heart stopped for a minute” “Sorry, I forgot you humans are sensitive about your offspring”.  

“What’s a Tamarak?” she asked, “Adopted son of the Chosen One”, that’s me. I consider him my nephew by blood. His mark indicates to other demons that he carries my blood in his veins. No demon will question it, or lay a hand on him ever. My children will consider him a brother, the human ones will protect him even from their more demonic siblings if need be, and the demonic ones will protect him from other demons. When he’s old enough, I’ll teach him to call them to him whenever he wants and they’ll do his bidding. He holds a higher status than my birth children because I chose him, so they will obey him without question”. “I don’t know what to say Vengence” Xena said, sincerely touched, “There’s nothing to be said. Now, let’s deal with mother and Hopeless”.  

“But Vengence, won’t they get jealous of Arex?” Gabrielle asked, “Probably, but they know better than to kill an adopted son or daughter of the Chosen One, or to hurt him or her intentionally. If they do, it means death, even if they are my child by birth, I’ll kill them personally, and they know that”. “Wow, you give new meaning to the word “strict parent” you know that?” “Thank you” Vengence replied. “If you think that’s strict, you should see what I do to them when they displease me. I once killed one of my own sons because he was getting on my nerves and I told him to go back to his cave, he wouldn’t listen, so I killed him. The others knew from then on who the boss was”. 

Gabrielle looked shocked at such brutality Vengence showed towards her own child, but Xena didn’t seem surprised at all. “Now, we’re going to need another Arex so that mother and Hope won’t suspect anything”. Vengence held out her arms, and suddenly, a small, identical copy of Arex appeared in her arms, wiggling, and cooing just like the real thing. Vengence forgot herself for a moment, and nuzzled the baby, showing the tender, human side of herself no one but Yakut, her elder sister, sometimes saw. Xena and Gabrielle exchanged a glance, grinning. 

“You two didn’t see that” Vengence told them, remembering her “reputation”. “No, of course not” Xena said, “But if we had, we wouldn’t have thought any less of you”.  Vengence floated the duplicate Arex to his mother who looked him over, he was an exact replica in every way to the real one, even she couldn’t tell the difference. “Wow, remarkable Vengence, right down to the birthmark on the inside of his right leg” Gabrielle said, impressed. “I have many skills” Vengence replied, mimicking Xena’s voice, and stealing her phrase. They both looked up at her surprised that she had copied Xena’s voice so accurately.  

Giving the baby to Gabrielle, Xena asked, “So, how are we going to play this?” “Well, I’m up for “messing with their heads” a bit, what about you two?” They liked that idea. “What have you got in mind?” “It requires a bit of acting on both your parts. How are your acting skills?”. “Like you said, we have many skills” Xena said, mocking herself.