Chapter 7: An Accident, A Mind Trick and a Transformation

Summary:

This chapter revolves around Abigail mostly. Jessie and Abigail learn more about Mel and Janice’s adventures, Jessie explores some caves that lead to an accident that brings them even more closer and changes Abigail forever. Jessie meets Abigail's family, Abigail blows up at her dad, and after a break, Abigail resurfaces a completely different person. As an added bonus, you get to see a different side to Aphrodite! This chapter is sort of a tear jerker. Can you guess which episodes I sort of revolved this chapter around?

———————

Jessie and Abigail are at the cabin, looking through one of the journals. “Janice’s entries aren’t consistent,” Abigail says. “Some entries are months and some are years.” Jessie looks through it. “Hey, check this out,” she says.

June 1945

After spending a few years in South America, Mel and I are finally back in the States. It’s so good to be home. South America was beautiful, but we need to take a break. Our next mission is a big one. I was able to help Mel locate some information on Xena. Her Yin/Yang Chakram has been hidden throughout the world. It’s last known sighting was in the Italian area, but some also say one of the small towns near Greece. Wherever it is, we must find it. Mel has been going through some scrolls that we do have to see if there are any clues. She amazes me with all of her knowledge. I just wish that jackass hadn’t grabbed the scrolls when we were in Macedonia. My life’s work gone because a descendant of Xena and Gabrielle’s idiot sidekick Joxer grabbed the wrong bag. If I ever see Jack Kleinman again he will regret it. Hopefully by next year we can start our search for the Chakram. Until next time.

“Wow! Janice was a spitfire of a woman,” Abigail says smiling.

“Yeah like someone else I know,” Jessie says smiling at her. “I just wonder if they found the Chakram.” Jessie grabs the journal then puts it down. She grabs the map and looks at it.

“It’s a map of these mountains, but the writing is in Greek,” Abigail says. “Must be Mel’s handwriting. I’m going to try to translate this. I have new software on my laptop that can decipher ancient writings. I can scan the map and it can give a read out of what is printed.”

“I’m going to get some climbing gear,” Jessie says. “We are going to climb up there and see if we can find anything. We will just take a look up there for now, when you’ve decipher the map, then we will explore them.”

“Sounds good to me,” Abigail says. “I called my sister last night and I told her that I’m not coming home for Spring Break.”

“Why? Don’t you want to see your family?” Jessie asks.

“All that’s going to happen is my parents will parade me around at church or at their work,” Abigail says. “I’m done being the trophy daughter to boost my parents reputation in the community.”

“What did your sister say?” Jessie asks. “Don’t you want to see her?”

“Of course I do,” Abigail says. “Even though we are polar opposites, we understand each other. She said they’ve been too busy with work anyway. I’m always on FaceTime with her, so it’s not like we don’t talk to each other. Besides, this is more important. How about you? You staying here for a while?”

Jessie looks at the ground then at Abigail. “Yeah, I am,” she says. “I called my dad and told him that I wanted to spend at least six months down here, maybe more"

"What did he say?" Abigail asks.

"He kind of figured it out," Jessie says. "He knows I do my own thing. Plus, he knows how much Aunt Kira means to me. I love this place, there's too much of a connection with my mom down here.” Abigail smiles at Jessie. “I’ll have the climbing gear by the day after tomorrow,” Jessie says. “It’s up to you and I to do this. If not for us, for Mel and Janice.”

A couple days later, Jessie and Abigail are right at the base of the Red Rocks. They are dressed lightly with just jeans, t-shirts, hiking boots and backpacks. Abigail has a GoPro strapped to her backpack. “So when I get the map deciphered, how long will it take for us to go through all the caves?” Abigail asks.

“Don’t know,” Jessie says as she looks at the GoPro. “So you’re vlogging this?”

“Yeah, I figured we should document this,” Abigail says. “You don’t mind?”

“No, I don’t care,” Jessie says. “We will walk the trails first, then if we see something farther up, we’ll climb it. Les said he’d meet us in a couple hours, just to help us figure out where we are.”

“Ok, let's do this,” Abigail says as they start hiking up the trail. About thirty minutes later they have climbing gear on and they are climbing up part of a huge ledge. Another thirty minutes have passed and they reach the top of the ledge. Once on top of the ledge they take their climbing harnesses and their backpacks off. Jessie looks out over the desert while Abigail walks around the large cliff, around the entrance to a cave she comes across a beautiful waterfall that leads to a large pond.

“Hey Jessie! Come look at this!” Abigail shouts out.

Jessie turns the corner and looks upon the waterfall and pond smiling at its beauty. “Wow!” Jessie says. “This is beautiful!” They both sit down and watch as the sun shines over the waterfall. They look down and see that it’s about a two hundred foot drop from the ledge.

“I never knew this was here,” Abigail says. “This is so peaceful.”

“Yeah, it is,” Jessie says. “I wonder if Mel or Janice ever seen this, or even my mom.”

“I’m sure they did.” Abigail says smiling at Jessie as they stand up.

“Lets go get our stuff,” Jessie says. “It’s a little more safer over here. We can text Les and give him our location.” Jessie looks into the entrance of the cave. “Then I just want to check this cave out, while you wait for Les.”

After they gather their belongings, they place them by the entrance of the cave. Jessie grabs a flashlight from her backpack and turns it on. “I won’t be long,” Jessie says. “If Les gets here before I’m back, tell him I’m in the cave.”

“Be careful,” Abigail says smiling at her.

“Don’t worry, I will,” Jessie says as she enters the cave. About ten minutes into the cave, Jessie spots two entrances, she goes into the first entrance. A path leads her around to another entrance where she comes across a small pond surrounded by ledges. She shines the flashlight around looking at the place. She shines the flashlight around the walls, taking the sight of everything in. "Abigail needs to see this!" Jessie says intrigued. She sees a huge hole on a cave wall about twenty feet up and then she walks out and back to the path and out of the first cave.

She goes into the second cave. She walks in and discovers a pick, an old lantern and an old hat that looks like it belongs out of an adventure novel. She shines the flashlight inside the hat and sees the initials JC inside it. Jessie smiles “I think this hat belonged to Janice!” she says surprised as she picks it up. She shines the light on the wall of the cave noticing another hole in it. “This might lead to the other cave,” she thinks to herself. Jessie spots a stone with two hand prints on it. She brushes the dirt off it. She then takes her flashlight and shines it around the cave. All of the sudden a flash of Ares appears in front of her. Jessie jolts up, shining the light on him. He disappears then reappears on the side of her. Jessie swings to her left and they come face to face with each other. They stare into each other’s eyes and Jessie has a vision of Xena and Ares.

Jessie breaks from the vision and without saying a word, Ares says in Jessie’s mind, “Join me Jessie! Together we can rule the world.” Jessie falls to the ground shaking her head. She picks up the flashlight and sees nobody there.

Meanwhile, Abigail waits outside the entrance to the cave, Lester walks around the cave with some climbing equipment and sees Abigail. “Wow!” Lester says. “You gals are up here! Where’s Jessie?”

“She’s inside the cave,” Abigail says, a little worried. “She’s been in there a while, can you go check on her?” Abigail pulls a flashlight out of her backpack. “Please!”

Lester grabs the flashlight. “Sure Abbie!” he says. “I’ll go get her! She shouldn’t have gone in there alone anyway.”

Lester turns on the flashlight and goes into the cave. Abigail walks around a bit and suddenly her phone rings. She picks it up and sees it’s her mom. “Crap! Why now!” Abigail says as she answers it. “Hi mom, how are you? Yeah, I won’t be able to come home after exams, I'm busy on a project for a class. No. I’m up in the mountains right now doing some research. I will FaceTime dad and you later. This is a huge project I’m working on. Mom, I’m losing signal. Can I call you later when I’m back on campus. Mom? Mom?” Abigail hangs up the phone and turns around to see Ares standing in front of her. They both lock eyes and Abigail has a vision of Gabrielle fighting the man in front of her. Abigail curls a fist and goes to swing at Ares....

Lester walks to where the two caves are, he shines the flashlight on both entrances, “Jessie! Jessie! Say something!” Lester shouts worried. “It’s Les!” Jessie walks briskly out of the second entrance. “Jessie! Thank God!” Les says. “I got worried for a bit.” Les then notices Jessie is a little off. “You ok Jess?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Jessie says. “Let’s get out of here. Is Abigail safe?”

“Yeah, I left her outside the cave,” Lester says. “She’s fine. Why do you ask?”

“I just have a weird feeling,” Jessie says seriously. “Come on, let's get out of here!” Jessie and Lester start to walk back to the entrance of the main cave. About ten minutes later they exit the cave, they look around and see Abigail is nowhere in sight.

“Abigail!” Jessie yells. “Where is she?”

“I don’t know!” Lester says worriedly. “She was right here when I went into the cave.”

They start to search the surrounding area. Lester goes back around the cave and back to the front. “She’s isn’t here!” Lester says worried. “Where is she?”

Jessie and Lester walk over to the edge of the cliff and Jessie looks down into the pond and sees Abigail floating face down.

“Abigail! NO!!!” Jessie screams in horror as she jumps over the ledge and dives into the water. Lester throws the rope down and locks around a rock, then repels down to the bottom. Jessie swims to Abigail and pulls her to the shore. Lester grabs Abigail and pulls her up as Jessie jumps on the ledge.

“Call 911 NOW!” Jessie screams. Lester pulls out his phone while Jessie starts performing CPR on Abigail. “Come on!” Jessie screams at Abigail. She breathes air into Abigail's lungs then starts compressions. “Breath Abigail! Breath!” Jessie breathes more air into Abigail’s lungs. Her chest rises, then falls. “Damn it! Don’t die!” Jessie screams as tears roll down her face. Jessie does chest compressions again as Lester kneels down besides Abigail.

“They're on their way!” Lester says as a tear comes down his face. Jessie continues CPR for five minutes.

“Abigail! Breath!” Jessie says. “Come on!”

Lester looks at Abigail's lifeless body. “Jess, Jess, I think she’s gone,” Lester says seriously. “You’ve been trying now for ten minutes..”

In a rage, Jessie gets up and pushes Lester to the ground. “No!” Jessie says angrily. “You don’t know her like I do! She’s a fighter! I’ve already lost my mom, I’m not losing her!!” Jessie goes back to Abigail, kneels down and takes her fist and pounds it on Abigail's chest. “Breathe! Breathe Abigail!” Jessie pounds on Abigail's chest again, then a third time. All of the sudden Abigail’s eyes open and she gasps for air. She coughs up water and Jessie turns her over so she can puke. Abigail gasps for air, Jessie takes her in her arms and starts to cry. “You did it! It’s ok.” Jessie says happily as tears roll down her face. Lester gets on his knees, shocked by what just happened, as tears roll down his face. Jessie kisses Abigail's forehead. “You’ll be ok Abigail, just keep breathing.”

Later on at the local hospital, Abigail is in an ICU room with wires hooked up to her. She has an oxygen mask on as she sleeps. Jessie is sitting in a chair facing her. She looks at the floor with tears in her eyes. Kira walks in with a bag and places it by the door. She walks over to Jessie and places a hand on her shoulders. Jessie looks up and then gets up, she hugs Kira and starts to cry.

“It’s ok, sweetie,” Kira says reassuring her. “She’s going to be fine. THe doctors said there’s no brain damage, she just needs to rest.”

“I could’ve lost her Aunt Kira,” Jessie says, wiping away tears. “I... I watched mom take her last breath, I wasn’t about to lose Abigail too.”

That revelation shocks Kira as she looks at Jessie. “You remember this?” Kira says shocked. Jessie shakes her head yes. Kira hugs Jessie. “It’ll be ok Jess. I contacted her parents and they should be here in the morning. I brought you some clothes, you just stay with Abigail.” Kira kisses Jessie on the forehead and walks out of the ICU room.

Kira notices Lester, who is sitting in a chair visually shaken by the events. He looks at Kira and says. “She was dead Ms. Kira, Jessie worked on her for a while, we didn’t even know how long she was in the water. Jessie kept working on her, but there was nothing. I tried to get Jessie to stop because I thought Abbie was gone, but then Jess flew into a rage. She took her fist and pounded on Abbie’s chest three times. Then, it was like a miracle, Abbie came back. Jessie brought Abbie back from the dead, Ms. Kira.”

Kira puts her hand on his shoulder. “Come on Les,” Kira says. “Let's go back to the ranch, we’ll load up the bike and bring it here in case Jessie wants to come home.” Lester gets up and they leave.

Inside the room, Jessie holds Abigail's hand as she sleeps. Jessie puts her head down and suddenly feels a hand on her head. She looks up and sees that Abigail is awake and looking at her.

Abigail takes her mask off and smiles at Jessie. “Thank you,” Abigail says.

Jessie smiles as a tear rolls down her face. “It’s going to be ok," Jessie says as she pulls a bang away from Abigail's face. “You rest.” Abigail puts her mask back on and falls back asleep. Jessie leans back in the chair and closes her eyes. Abigail takes Jessie’s hand and squeezes it. Jessie soon falls asleep. As this happens, that glow of light that surrounded them before, appears again, glowing in their hands.

—————-

The next morning, Abigail is sitting up in her bed looking much better. The mask is off her and only a few wires are hooked up to her testing her vitals. Jessie walks in the room and they smile at each other.

“How are you feeling?” Jessie asks as she sits next to Abigail.

“Much better,” Abigail answers as she takes Jessie’s hand. “Thank you, again.”

Jessie kisses her hand, looking at her tenderly and asks, “Can you remember what happened?”

Abigail looks off into the distance. “I remember talking on the phone with my mom,” she says. “I was telling her that I wasn’t coming home for break. I started to lose signal on my phone, so I hung up. I turned around and there was this man standing in front of me.”

“What man?” Jessie asks concerned.

“He was very handsome, built, and had dark hair, but he had an evil look to him. That’s all I remember.” Abigail says.

All of the sudden a teenage girl with brown hair flies into the room causing Jessie to stand up quickly. “Abbie!” the girl says as she hugs Abigail, who looks a little stunned,

“Racheal, what are you doing here?” Abigail asks. Suddenly a man and woman in their late 30s’ walks in. The man is around 5’11 and has blonde hair, the woman stands around 5’7 with brown hair. “Mom? Dad?” Abigail is stunned.

“Abigail! Thank God you’re ok!” Abigail's mom says as she hugs her.

Abigail’s dad kisses her on the forehead and says, “We tried to get here as fast as we could. I almost got two speeding tickets driving through New Mexico.”

“Abbie! What happened?” Racheal asks.

“Ok, everyone back off for a second!” Abigail says seriously. Her family stands back as she rubs her eyes. “I was working on a project for class and I must have slipped,” she says. “Thank God my friend Jessie rescued me.” Abigail looks at Jessie and smiles.

Racheal goes and hugs Jessie. “Thank you for saving my sister,” Racheal says.

Jessie looks at her and smiles. “Your sister is my best friend, she means a lot to me.” .

Abigail’s mom shakes Jessie’s hand and says, “Thank you! You are a hero.”

Abigail's dad stares at Jessie in a cold way, looking at the athletic Jessie not knowing how to take her presence. He then looks back at Abigail. “I don’t understand,” he says. “Shouldn’t you have been with a group, or at least a professor?”

Abigail looks at him seriously and says, “I was doing this on my own for a project dad. We don’t do field trips in college.”

Her dad looks back at Jessie judgmentally. “How did you meet my daughter? Are you a classmate?” he asks.

Jessie gets a serious look on her face and answers, “No, I’m just a friend and I don’t appreciate the interrogation right now.”

“Dad, leave her alone!” Abigail demands seriously.

“Mark, what’s with you?” Abigail's mom asks. “This young woman saved our daughter's life, you should be thanking her.”

“I'm only trying to get answers, Allyson!" Mark says with a severe look on his face.

“Criticizing them isn’t helping!” Allyson proclaims.

“You know what Allyson, we’ll talk about this later!” He then looks at Abigail and says, “You look different.”

“It’s called working out,” Abigail responds. “I do have a life besides studying, dad.”

“You look great sis!” Racheal says trying to calm the mood.

Mark looks at her sternly and says. “Your mother and I were talking and we decided that after this year is over, you come back home and go to a local college, the one thru our church! They have Archaeology courses there.”

“No!” Abigail yells. “My scholarships are through here! I love it here!”

“Honey, we just think a big place like Sedona is too much for you,” Allyson says.

Abigail looks at her mom angrily and says, “You don’t know what I want mom.”

“Don’t talk to your mother like that!” Mark says.

Jessie notices Abigail's blood pressure going up on the screen and walks over to Abigail's dad and says, “With all due respect sir, your daughter almost died, you are upsetting her.”

“And who the hell are you to tell me how I can talk to my daughter?” Mark says angrily. “Where did you meet my daughter, some frat party or something?”

“No!” Abigail says angrily. “You want to know how we met? She saved me from almost getting gang raped by three guys!”

Racheal and Allyson look at Abigail in shock by what she revealed, but Mark looks at her in disgust and says, “Well, maybe if you didn’t put yourself in that situation, it wouldn’t have happened.”

Suddenly something comes over Abigail, a personality switch of sorts because all of the sudden she flies out of her bed and stares down Mark in pure anger. “How dare you say that to me! Your own daughter! I am so done with you!” Abigail screams. “Mom, Racheal, get dad out of here and go back home right now before I blow!!”

“Abigail…,” Allyson says.

“Now mother!” Abigail says as she stares down her mom.

Racheal grabs her parents and takes them out of the room. Abigail looks on in anger as they leave, then all of the sudden, her heart rate monitor beeps very loud and fast and she passes out. Jessie catches her before she hits the floor. Jessie places her back in bed and runs to the door. “I need help!” Jessie yells.

Two nurses run into the room and examine Abigail. “Her blood pressure spiked,” one nurse says. “She needs to rest.”

Abigail starts to come to. “Abigail, I’m going to give you some meds to lower your BP and calm you down,” the second nurse says. Abigail shakes her head yes.

“It’s going to be ok Abigail,” Jessie says. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault,” Abigail says with a tear running down her face. The nurse injects some meds into her IV and she soon falls asleep. Jessie walks out of the room and takes a deep breath.

“Jessie.” Jessie turns her head to see Racheal. “My parents are in the car, mom just wanted me to check on Abbie.”

“They had to sedate her,” Jessie says. “Her blood pressure spiked and she passed out.”

Racheal looks to the ground with a tear in her eye and Jessie hugs her. “She’ll be ok, Racheal,” Jessie says reassuring her.

“I’m sorry about my dad,” Racheal says. “I don’t know what’s going on in his head right now, but please, take care of my sister for me.”

Jessie smiles at Racheal. “Don’t worry, Racheal, I will,” Jessie says. “I just hope your dad and Abigail can work this out.”

Racheal smiles at Jessie. “I have to go,” Racheal says as she walks away. Jessie shakes her head and walks back into Abigail's room.

———-

A week and a half has passed. Jessie and Lester are in the shed working on the bike. Jessie is kneeling down, checking the oil. She takes a rag and wipes some grime off the engine.

“Jess, I never got a chance to tell you what you did, saving Abbie and all, that was amazing,” Lester says.

Jessie wipes her hands on the rag. “Thanks Les,” Jessie says smiling. “I’d even save your sorry ass if it came down to it.”

They both start laughing. “I wonder how Abbie’s doing,” Lester says. “She hasn’t been around for over a week.”

“She had exams,” Jessie says. “She texted me a few times, she’s ok. Hand me that wrench, I’m gonna change the oil.”

Lester goes to get a wrench and starts to hand it to Jessie. “Hi you two,” says a voice.

Jessie and Lester look up and see Abigail. Her long hair is gone, cut into a shoulder length yet choppy style. Her bangs fall slightly to her side giving her an edgy look. She is wearing boots, tight, low-ride black jeans and an off the shoulder ribbed crop-top that shows off her tight six pack abs.

Lester in shock drops the wrench on his foot. “Abbie!” he says shocked. “Your... your hair. Your clothes!”

Jessie and Lester walk around the bike and look Abigail up and down. “Les, go into town and get me that oil filter for the bike,” Jessie says staring at Abigail.

He looks at Jessie then back at Abigail getting the hint to leave. “Ok,” he says. He starts to leave, but stops at Abigail. “You look good Abbie,” he says.

She looks at him. “Thanks Les,” she says smiling at him. Lester leaves the shed and Jessie and Abigail look at each other.

“Wow!” Jessie says. “You look great.”

“Thanks,” Abigail says smiling. “You like the haircut?” Jessie smiles.

“I’m gonna have to get used to it, but yeah, I do!” Jessie says. “So, why did you do it?”

Abigail walks around, then stops in front of Jessie. “I don’t fully remember what happened on the ledge, but I do know that I was gone. I felt angry, cheated almost. Then I felt a warm presence tell me that I have too much to live for. That I needed to go back and fight. To be the person I was destined to be. When you brought me back, I knew there was a reason for me to stay alive, it was because of you.” Jessie then smiles at her tenderly.

“I did a lot of soul searching and decided I needed to change,” Abigail says. “I talked with Racheal, and a little bit to my mom. I told them that I’m going to live my life how I want too, not how my parents want me to.”

“What did they say?” Jessie asks.

“Racheal understands,” Abigail says smiling. “My mom, well, I think she does, but I don’t know.”

“Have you talked to your dad?” Jessie asks.

“No!” Abigail says seriously. “He won’t talk to me and right now I don’t want to talk to him. I told my mom that if he can’t accept me for how I am now, we need to stay away from each other for a while.”

“I’m sorry,” Jessie says.

“It’s not your fault, Jessie,” Abigail says. “He is just set in his ways. He’s never liked change. It turns him into a bitter person and I always hated that side of him. He’s just angry that I am not who he wants me to be. Do you get what I’m saying?”

Jessie smiles at her and says, “Of course I do.”

“I’ll bring the laptop tomorrow and start scanning that map.” Abigail says.

“Are you sure?” Jessie says concerned. “Don’t you think it’s a little too soon after what happened?”

“I’m fine, Jessie,” Abigail says smiling. “I need to do this, we need to do this. I’m not gonna let a little thing like death stop us.”

Jessie gets a closer look at Abigail and notices that her eyes are now green instead of bluegreen. Suddenly they look at each other feeling that connection between each other, but it was now something more, as if their feelings for each other were changing. Suddenly they share a passionate hug. They hold each other with such tenderness as if two suddenly became one. They start to break from their hug when suddenly their lips are within inches of kissing. They stare into each other’s eyes, but are too afraid to give into their feelings.

Jessie suddenly breaks away and says, “I have to finish working on the bike.”

As Jessie goes to fix the bike, Abigail sits on a chair with an angry look on her face. She wanted Jessie to kiss her, but she could also sense that Jessie seemed afraid, she herself had some fear lingering inside, but Abigail knew what she wanted, and it was Jessie. About fifteen minutes later, Jessie wipes her hands on a towel, looks at Abigail and says, “I’m done. Let’s go for a ride.”

Thirty minutes later they pull up to a mountain view with a bench to watch it. They get off the bike and sit on the bench, looking over the mountain at the beautiful view.

Abigail looks at Jessie and says, “I’m changing my major next semester to film and literature.”

“That’s great!” Jessie says smiling at Abigail. She then looks down at the ground and says, “Abigail, I don't know what would've happened if I lost you. You mean everything to me."

Abigail smiles and says, "I am here because of you Jessie, you saved my life. For that, I will always love you."

Jesse looks at Abigail, smirks and says, "It's getting late, I better get you back to your dorm."

They get on the bike and as Jessie starts to rev the engine up when Abigail says, "Don't ever be afraid of my love for you, Jessie."

Thirty minutes later, they pull up to Abigail’s dorm house. The sun is just starting to set and Jessie parks the bike so Abigail can get off.

Abigail says to Jessie, “I’ll see you tomorrow,” and then she starts to walk to her dorm house when suddenly Jessie shouts, "Abigail, wait!!"

Jessie gets off her bike and runs up to Abigail, stares deep into her eyes and all of a sudden, she pulls Abigail close to her, caresses her face and then kisses her!  And even though it is their very first kiss, somehow, it feels familiar, simple and pure. When Jessie is finished she hops back on the bike, starts it up, looks at Abigail, tenderly smiles but still with a look of fear in her eyes and drives off. Abigail first stands there in shock, but then she gets a huge smile on her face and walks into her dorm house.

Meanwhile in his throne room, Ares walks over to a table and starts to pour some wine in a chalet, when all of the sudden Aphrodite appears. “You Son of a Bitch!” she yells as a red ball forms in her hand. She throws it at Ares and he flies to the ground. "I warned you to stay away from them!”

Ares stands up and looks at her coldly. "For the Goddess of Love, you're being a real bitch!" Ares says sarcastically. “What gives sis?”

“How dare you rip my heart out like that!” Aphrodites yells. “What you did to Abbie is unforgivable!”

“Hey, Jessie saved her!” Ares smirks as he walks around. “My question is, why are you so invested in these two?”

“Who are you working with?!?” Aphrodite demands to know as they both angrily stare at each other.

“Leave them alone!” Aphrodite says. “Let it go!” Ares smirks at her but she looks at him seriously. “This is the last warning, Ares!!” she says. “The next time you will see a side of me you’d wish you’d never see!” Aphrodite disappears.

Ares looks around smirking, “She’s bluffing.” he says.
___________________

Chapter 8: The Video, the Fight and Meeting Ares

Summary:

Abigail and Jessie discuss what happened up in the mountains, they watch a video that fuels Abigail’s new personality more. And an encounter changes both Jessie and Abigail causing them to rethink, but not back out of their journey to find the truth.
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The next day, Jessie and Abigail are at the cabin, going through Janice’s  journals. Abigail sets a journal down and looks around the cabin with a puzzled look on her face. Jessie notices and puts her journal down. “What’s wrong?” Jessie asks concerned. “You’ve been off since we got here.”

Abigail gives her a serious look. “I want to know what I saw the day of the accident,” she says. “It’s been bugging me since I woke up in the hospital.”

Jessie looks at her seriously. “I need to tell you something,” she says. “When I was in one of the caves, the same guy you described, showed himself in front of me.” Abigail gets a stunned look on her face. “We stared at each other, it seemed like forever.”

“Did he say anything?” Abigail asks.

“It was weird,” Jessie says. “He didn’t move his lips, but it was like he spoke to me inside my head.”

Abigail gets a worried look in her eyes. “What did he say?”

“He said to join him, and we could rule the world,” Jessie says.

Abigail gets a weird look on her face. “Wait! Where’s my GoPro!?!” Abigail says excitedly. “I had it strapped to my backpack by the entrance of the cave!”

Jessie gets up and walks to the bedroom and brings out the backpacks. “Les went back up and grabbed them!” Jessie says as she hands Abigail her backpack.

She opens it and takes the GoPro out of the backpack. “I’m gonna charge this!” she says. “It was still going when everything happened.”

A couple hours later, the GoPro beeps that it’s fully charged. They look at it. “Are you sure you want to see this?” Jessie asks concerned.

Abigail looks at her seriously. “It’s my death,” she says. “I want to see it!”. Abigail grabs the GoPro and hooks it to her laptop and opens the App. The screen pops up and it shows when they started hiking up the mountain. Abigail fasts forward to when Les went into the cave and when she was talking to her mom. As she loses a signal, Ares appears out of nowhere.

“What the hell!” Jessie says staring at the screen in shock. They look on as Abigail turns around and faces Ares, her eyes getting wide as they stare each other down. She goes to swing at him, but he blocks her punch, he then levitates her and she flies into his hand as he grabs her by the throat. She tries to swing at him, but he sends her flying over the cliff and into the water. Abigail looks at the screen with a tear running down her face while Jessie gets an angry look on her face.

They continue to watch as Ares walks over to the edge, looks down and turns around. He looks around with anger in his eyes. “That was easy,” he says as he looks back over the ledge. “She would be so disappointed in you.” He turns back around and disappears. Abigail stares at the screen in shock.

Jessie holds Abigail’s hand. “You’re ok,” Jessie says. “Who or what that is, I’m not going to let him hurt you ever again.”

Jessie goes to close the app out, but Abigail grabs her hand. “I want to see it all!” she says.

Jessie looks at her concerned and says, “Abigail, I really don’t think you should.”

Abigail looks at her seriously. “I want to see it! All of it!” she says as she presses play. Jessie and Abigail continue to watch the video as they get to the point where Jessie and Lester walk out of the cave and start to search for Abigail. They both watch on as Jessie looks over the cliff in horror screams no and jumps over the ledge while Lester repels down the cliff. While you can’t see what’s going on, the audio is clear and loud. Abigail watches the video with a serious look on her face as she hears Jessie's pleas for Abigail to breathe and as she’s performing CPR on her. As a tear falls down her face, Jessie holds Abigail’s hand as they hear Jessie screaming at Lester then pounding on Abigail's chest. All of the sudden a light shines down from the sky at the scene and a yellow ball of light  shoots down.

Tears flow down Abigails face as she hears her own gasps for air and Jessie reassuring her. Abigail stops the video and gets up, she walks around for a bit then sits on a chair and puts her hands over her eyes. Jessie gets up and puts her hand on Abigail's shoulder. “I died!” Abigail says. “He left me for dead!”

“You’re here Abigail,” Jessie says. “You fought back, and you’re here now.”

Abigail gets up and hugs Jessie. “Thanks to you!” Abigail says seriously. Abigail gets an angry look on her face as she goes back and rewinds the clip back to show a clear image of Ares. They both stare at the paused image. All of the sudden, they both have the same vision of Xena and Gabrielle’s relationship with Ares. They snap out of the vision. “We need to go back up to the mountains!” Abigail says seriously. “I want to confront that bastard!”

The next day, Jessie and Abigail are a half a mile from the base of the mountain with Blaze. They get off Blaze and unhook their backpacks from the side of her. “Are you sure you want to do this Abigail?” Jessie asks.

“Yes!” Abigail states positively.. “Whatever is up there, we need to confront it.” Abigail takes out her GoPro, straps it to her backpack. She takes out her phone and programs her phone to turn it on. She reaches into her backpack and pulls out the folded fighting staff.

Jessie looks at it. “Why did you bring that?” she asks curiously.

“I did some research,” Abigail says seriously. “This staff belonged to an Amazon warrior. Something told me to take it along. If we come along whoever is up there, I want to be prepared.”

Jessie smiles at her. “Ok then, let's do it!” she says as Abigail unfolds the staff.

They start walking up the trail, they soon walk around some bushes. Jessie suddenly stops Abigail as she senses something.

“What’s wrong?” Abigail wonders.

Jessie looks around and whispers to Abigail, “We’re being watched.” Jessie bends to Abigail. “I can sense it.” They look around and set their backpacks down. As they do, three guys slowly walk out of the bushes and start to grab them, but all of the sudden Jessie and Abigail flip two of the guys over. Abigail takes the staff and bashes the third guy in the stomach, flying him back a little. One guy gets up and goes to swing at Jessie, but she grabs his arm and swing-kicks him in the stomach, landing him on the ground. The second guy goes for Abigail, but she bashes him in the face with her staff. She takes his arm and flips him around, landing him on the ground.

The third guy swings at Jessie, but she ducks. “Didn’t your parents ever tell you it's not nice to hit ladies?” Jessie asks as she right hooks the third guy in the eye. He falls to the ground then gets back up and runs away. The two remaining guys try to take on Jessie and Abigail, but with every throw, Jessie and Abigail block. Abigail takes the staff, stands it on the ground then twirls around the staff, kicking the second guy in the face, knocking him down to the ground. She grabs the staff and puts it on his throat to make sure he doesn’t get up.

Jessie ducks a punch from the first guy and grabs his arm and flips him to the ground. Suddenly her eyes get really wide as she jumps on the guy, taking her index and middle finger of her right hand and shoves them hard into the right side of the guy's neck, causing him to become paralyzed. As he starts gasping for air she gets up and stares at him and says, “I have cut off the flow of blood to your brain, if you don’t tell us in thirty seconds why you and your buddies are following us, I will let you die. Now, who sent you!”

“An older guy,” the guy says gasping for air.

“Who!” Abigail says angrily.

“I don’t know, he paid us to confront the both of you,” the guy says as blood trickles down his nose.

“You have fifteen seconds to come up with a name! NOW!” Jessie screams.

“A, Ares!” the guy says frightened. “The guy's name was Ares!”

Jessie reaches down and does the move again, releasing the grip. “You two get the hell out of here!” Jessie says as the guys get up. “Tell this Ares that if he wants us, come and get us himself! Now go!” The two guys run off frightened by what just happened.

Though a little out of breath, Jessie and Abigail quickly calm down from what just happened. “What the hell happened?” Jessie wonders.

“I don’t know! But all the sudden we both turned into someone different and kicked those guys ass.” Abigail says as she looks at Jessie puzzled. “Where the hell did you learn that move with the neck?!? That was awesome!”

Jessie looks at Abigail weirdly. “I have no idea,” Jessie says stunned. “But I felt like I’ve known that move my whole life.”

All of the sudden Ares appears sitting on a rock. He claps his hands and smiles at Jessie and Abigail. “Bravo ladies, bravo!” Ares says with an evil smirk on his face. He goes to get up, but Abigail takes the staff and bashes him in the chest, then takes it and trips him to the ground.

“You son of a bitch!” she screams. Jessie jumps on him and punches him in the mouth.

Ares flings Jessie to the ground and gets up, rubbing his jaw. “Wow! I never thought I would run into a memory of the past!” Ares says.

“You are the one who left me for dead!” Abigail says angrily as Jessie gets up and stands next to her. “I should kill you right now!”

Ares laughs at her. “Sorry sweetie, you can’t kill the God of War,” Ares says as Jessie and Abigail stare at him in shock. “I’m Ares, God of War.”

“I thought all those Gods and Goddesses were mythical,” Abigail wonders confused.

Ares looks at her sarcastically. “What you’ve been taught your whole life isn’t really true,” Ares says. “There are a select few of us still out there. I’ve just been waiting for the right time to introduce myself.”

“Why? What do you want with us?” Jessie demands seriously.

Ares walks up to Jessie and gently strokes her face. “When I look at you, I see a woman from the past that was so great, she was once feared by nations,” he says then looks at Abigail. “When I see you, I see the shining light that saved her soul.”

“What do you mean?” Jessie asks.

Ares starts walking around and says, “I haven’t figured it out yet, but I will tell you both that three people you know are holding something back.”

“Did you kill Mel and Janice?” Abigail asks seriously. “They were too experienced to die from a simple fall!”

“No!” Ares says seriously. “That was not me! Though when that bitch Janice trapped me in that cave back in the 40’s, I wanted to snap her neck! But no, the person that killed your relatives has been lurking around for quite some time.”

“Why?!” Jessie asks.

Ares smiles at her and says, “You two just keep on your little quest. In the meantime, I will be waiting.” Ares comes face to face with Jessie. “And when the time comes, you will join me. I can feel the rage in you Jessie, and it excites me.” He strokes her face again then disappears.
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Chapter 9: Quest To The Truth

Summary:

Jessie and Abigail discover a suitcase that belonged to Mel and its contents. They learn about an entity other than Ares that is looking for the Chakram. A dream reveals to them what really happened to Mel and Janice and they discover who they are descended from. A tear jerker of a chapter!
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At the cabin, Jessie and Abigail sit with puzzled looks on their faces. “Ok, first we easily fight off three guys and then a mythical God shows up and basically says he knew us from the past,” Abigail ponders. “I don’t think I know him, but he seems familiar in a way.”

“He reminds me of someone,” Jessie says slowly as she gets up and walks around. “And he said he didn’t kill Janice and Mel, which for some reason, I do believe him.”

“Do you think someone else killed them Jessie?” Abigail asks. “Maybe it was the person that Ares mentioned!”

“I think you’re right.” Jessie nods. “The thing is, who or what was it.” Suddenly the closet door flies open and an old suitcase falls off the top shelf. Surprised, Jessie and Abigail turn around and look at it. They walk over to the suitcase.

“What the hell!” Abigail says stunned.

Jessie picks up the suitcase and sets it on the coffee table. “This is weird,” she says as Abigail walks over. Jessie tries to open it but there are two small locks on the ends. Abigail goes into her backpack and brings out a tool kit for eyeglasses, she gets out a small tool and puts it in the hole of one lock. She wiggles it around and the latch pops open, she does the same to the other one. Jessie opens the suitcase and discovers an old leather bound journal, a scroll and some old pictures of Mel and Janice.

“Wow!” Abigail says as they look at the pictures. “They were so beautiful.”

“It looks like this was taken here on the ranch,” Jessie says as she turns a picture around and sees a date, November 1955. She looks at another picture of them and sees that a young guy around sixteen is standing with them. She turns it around and notices the name. “The young guy in here, that’s my grandpa.” Jessie says as they stare at the picture.

“Your grandpa knew them!” Abigail says. “Do you think your aunt knows about this?”

“I don’t know,” Jessie says. “She’s in Phoenix right now.”

Abigail grabs the journal and opens the cover to see Melinda Pappas written on it and the sentence: Entries of Xena and Gabrielle. “Oh my god! It’s Mel’s Journal!” Abigail says excited, “This must be her suitcase!” Abigail opens the journal and reads an entry.

July 1953

After years of roaming Europe and only getting dead ends, Janice  and I have finally found Xena’s Yin/Yang Chakram. After getting some information from an elderly woman outside of Athens, we were told to go to a site where the town of Potidaea used to be. This was the home of Gabrielle, Xena’s fighting companion and soulmate. The old woman also told us that if we find it, we have to guard it with our lives. For there is an evil entity that is out there trying to get its hands on the Chakram for centuries. When I questioned the old woman about who this entity may be, all she said was that it has been morphing into different souls and killing anyone who is related to Xena and Gabrielle that might know its whereabouts. Thinking that it might be Ares, we asked the woman if she knew the name of this entity. The name she came up with was Alti.

Jessie and Abigail look at each other in shock. “Who is this Alti?” Jessie asks. “And what does it want with the Chakram?” They continue reading the entry:

When we entered the site of where Potidaea once stood, we went to the cave that the old woman said it might be located. We started to dig around some of the walls. I found a scroll buried in a crevasse. Then Janice came across another crevasse which contained two swords and a pair of Sais wrapped in an old sack. She determined that one sword belonged to Xena and the Sais and the other sword were used by Gabrielle. After ten minutes, we came across a small door with a handprint on it. Janice looked at me and said that since I have the magic touch, I had to open it. Like back in Macedonia, I placed my hand on the palm print and lo and behold, the door started to open. We watched as the stone slid open and there it was, the Yin/Yang Chakram. It was connected together and boy, was it beautiful. We both stared in awe. Suddenly, we got a bad feel in our souls. Janice grabbed the weapons and I grabbed the scroll and Chakram and we hightailed it out of there. We decided to go back to the States and figure out what to do next. If this Alti is tracking us, we need to hide the Chakram.

Jessie and Abigail look at each other in shock and awe. “Let’s read more of this,” Jessie says. “Mel seems to go into more detail in her journal.”

Abigail takes the journal and goes farther into the journal. “Look at this Jessie!” she says.

October 1955

We have traveled to Sedona, Arizona where my cousin RJ and his family live. His daddy Frank was my uncle, and they lived out here for years. Even though he is only sixteen, RJ’s son Mitch is very in tune with the mountains around here. He took Janice and I up in the Red Rocks and we explored some caves. After Janice and I discussed this, we decided that we need to hide the Chakram and the weapons in one of the caves. I did some research on this entity named Alti. She was an Amazon Shamaness who was drummed out by the tribes because she wanted to use the warriors for evil to conquer the known world at the time. She soon met a young Xena and through her teachings, she lured Xena into the path of darkness, making her the Destroyer of Nations. I can only describe Alti as pure evil. No mortal is her equal. Later known as The Dark Shamaness, she had boundless ambition for personal power that was intertwined with an aggressive and almost sensual desire to cause pain and sorrow. She is bright enough to make subtle plans to reach her goals, and there are very few people who are even remotely in the same league when it comes to spiritual powers. Her demeanour changes with the situation, seductively persuasive when needed, yet scathingly taunting and violent. Years later she was killed by Xena and Gabrielle with the help of a mystic guide named Naima. My only guess is that there are powers contained in this Chakram, and Alti wants it, for what, we do not know. We also decided that in case something happens to us, to tell Mitch why we are doing this. For a young man, he was captivated by everything we told him. He made a promise to us that he would keep these artifacts hidden if anything happened to us.

Jessie and Abigail look at each other, shocked. “My grandpa knew all about this!” Jessie says.

“Did your grandpa ever mention anything to you?” Abigail asks, stunned.

“No, he died before I was born. I never knew him.” Jessie answers just as stunned.

Abigail then sets the journal down. “Wow!” Abigail says. “This is getting serious Jessie!”

“We are going to stay here tonight,” Jessie decides.“I don’t want us to be alone, just in case Ares decides to show up.”

Later on that night, Abigail is sleeping on the couch, while Jessie has blankets on the floor and is fast asleep. They both suddenly have a vision of the mountains and caves where they were at. All of the sudden Mel and Janice run out of the cave, gasping for air. Janice is in her trademark khaki pants, boots, leather jacket and khaki shirt and her hair is pulled back. Mel is also in khaki pants, boots and a button up denim shirt with two top buttons left unbuttoned. Her long raven hair is in a ponytail.

“What the hell was that!” Janice says in a panic. She soon discovers her trademark hat is missing. “My hat!” she shouts angrily.

“Janice, we can always get you a new hat!” Mel says seriously. “We need to get out of here! Alti has found us!”

They run around to the back of the cave where their rope is hooked to a rock. “We’ll go back to the cabin, grab our things and go!” Mel says. “It’s secure, she can’t find it.” Janice and Mel start to walk to the edge of the cliff when all of the sudden Alti appears in front of them. Dressed in her Amazon Shamaness suit and hat, she looks upon Mel and Janice with pure evil in her eyes. Mel and Janice run back over to the cave, but Alti appears again.

“Where is it?!” Alti says in an evil voice. “Where is the Chakram?!”

Janice looks at the entity with hatred in her eyes. “You will never know where it is, Alti!” Janice says. She pulls a gun from her holster and aims it at Alti, but with one flick of her hand, Alti makes the gun fly over the cliff.

“You fool! Your weapons do not phase me!” Alti says. “Now, where is the Chakram!”

“You will never get it out of us!” Mel says.

Alti walks over to Mel and stares at her. “I have been tracking that Chakram for centuries!” Alti says. “I know it’s close.”

“It’s not here!” Mel says. All of the sudden, Mel curls a fist and right hooks Alti, who lands to the ground in shock. She quickly gets back up and through her magic, throws Janice to the side of the cave, landing her on the ground. Alti puts out her arm and Mel rises up and flies into Alti’s hand. Alti starts to choke Mel.

“You thought Ares was evil, I am just as evil if not more!” Alti says in a rage. “I know who you and your friend are! Now if you don’t tell me where it is, I will snap your neck!” All of a sudden a whip appears around Alti’s feet and Janice, who is welding it, trips her. Mel lands to the ground gasping for air.

"Run Mel!" Janice yells. "Save yourself! I got this!"

Mel gets up and starts to run, but Alti breaks free from Janice’s grip, sending her into the wall of the cave. She appears in front of Mel who stops in her tracks and levitates her. Mel looks at Janice with tears rolling down her eyes and all the sudden Alti sends Mel over the cliff. Mel lands on a ledge, motionless. Janice gets up and runs to the cliff and looks down at Mel’s lifeless body,

“NO!” Janice screams in horror. She then turns around and takes out a long hunting knife from her other holster. With rage in her eyes she screams, “You Fucking Bitch!” as she runs towards Alti.

A few minutes later Alti stands at the edge of the cliff and looks down at Mel and Janice’s lifeless bodies. She gets an evil grin on her face. “You tried Covington,” Alti says. “You two are nothing like them.” Alti looks off in the distance with an evil look on her face. “I guess I have to wait for another generation.” Alti vanishes into thin air. On the cliff, Janice slightly opens her eyes with a tear running down her face. She looks at Mels lifeless body, and as she takes her last breath, she grabs Mel’s hand.

All of a sudden Jessie and Abigail are jolted from their vision. Gasping for air with tears running down their faces, they get up and face each other. “Did you just..” Abigail says shocked.

“Yeah,” Jessie says trying to calm down. “We just seen Mel and Janice’s murder!” hey both sit down in shock. A few minutes later, after they have calmed down a little, Jessie and Abigail look at each other. “I can’t believe it!” Jessie says rubbing her eyes.

“It’s like they wanted us to know!” Abigail says still stunned. “This Alti, she killed them.” Jessie stares at Mel’s journal.

“They sacrificed themselves for some family secret.” Jessie says. She gets up, grabs the journal and sits next to Abigail. “Let’s see when her last entry is. Maybe she wrote some info on what it is.” Jessie and Abigail open the journal and quickly turn it to the last known entry of Mel:

June 15, 1956

Janice and I sit here in this cabin knowing this might be the last entry I make in this journal. We fear Alti has found us and it’s just a matter of time. With that, we decided that in this entry, we should tell our future descendants why we came together, and why we may go out together. But first, let me state that the scroll to the Yin/Yang Chakram has not been fully deciphered yet. We have been so busy with hiding the Chakram, I never got a chance to fully decipher it. We hope that one day, the right descendants of ours will find it and the Chakram. For when you do, your lives will forever be changed. Embrace who you truly are.

In 1940, after finding an old telegram addressed to my daddy from a Janice Covington, I decided to track her down. She was requesting my daddy’s assistance on reading some old scrolls. Since daddy taught me how to read ancient scrolls before he died, I felt compelled to help this woman. So I traveled to Macedonia to see if I could be of some help. Boy was I in for the shock of my life. Three men almost killed me for my briefcase, but then out of nowhere, Janice came to my rescue and was able to scare the men off. After a rocky introduction, we met a French official by the name of Lt. Jocter, there to help us locate the Xena Scrolls.

After being approached by a Mr. Smyth, who had an ancient tablet with the code to get into the tomb, I was able to decipher it. Not long and Mr. Smyth and his men held us at gunpoint and we entered it. We were suddenly separated by sliding stairs. As Janice, Lt. Jocter and I started to explore parts of the cave, and through my uncanny way of stumbling onto things we discovered the Xena Scrolls. I also discovered half of Xena’s first Chakram. I pulled it out of the rock that it was embedded into and suddenly Janice, Lt. Jocter and I were led to Mr. Smyth and his men. Mr. Smyth had the other part of the Chakram. After a brief argument, I was pulled to the other half of the Chakram and was knocked out.

I do not remember the events that happened, but according to Janice, Ares awoke from his casket and killed Mr. Smyth and his men. Then, what was revealed took me a while to come to terms with, but I am proud of it, just like Janice is. I won’t go into massive details because I don’t know how much time we have, but at the time, Ares could only be released into the new world from a descendent of Xena. It was revealed that Lt. Jocter was actually Jack Kleinman, a brush salesman from New Jersey. Ares also revealed that he is a descendant of Joxer, Xena and Gabrielle’s idiot friend and sidekick. Ares looked at Janice and revealed to her that she is the descendant of Gabrielle, Battling Bard of Potidaea, Amazon Queen, Xena’s Prodigy and soulmate. And so that left me, Melinda Pappas. I am the descendant of Xena: Warrior Princess.

And with that revelation, Jessie and Abigail jumpup, drop the journal, and stare at it in pure shock.
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Chapter 10: Revelations Part 1

Summary:

Jessie remembers who killed her mother and is reunited with her sisters. Jessie and Abigail reveal all they’ve learned and Jessie tells her sisters about the day their mother died.
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Jessie and Abigail stare at the journal in pure shock by what Mel revealed. They sit back down and stare at each other,

“Uhm, I can’t believe what we just read,” Jessie says stunned.

Abigail sits there in complete shock. “I... I really don’t know what to say,” she says as she picks up the journal. “Wow! Just wow!” Abigail looks at Jessie.

“So I am a descendent from Xena,” Jessie says. “And you’re a descendant from Gabrielle.”

“It looks that way,” Abigail says as she gets up and walks around. “This might explain all the visions we’ve been having, Jessie. What if Xena and Gabrielle, and then Mel and Janice are trying to tell us something about the Chakram?”

“It still doesn’t explain why I feel like I’ve known Dr. Henry before. Why Ares looks so damn familiar and why I know that move with the neck,” Jessie says.

“Or how my personality changed, the fighting staff calls to me and how my fighting skills multiplied?” Abigail says as she walks to the suitcase and picks up the scroll. She walks over to her backpack and pulls out her laptop and wireless mouse. She turns it on and gets no WiFi. “Crap! We’re going to have to wait till morning,” she says. “Do you think your aunt knows about this Jess?”

“I have no clue,” Jessie says. “All I know is, we need to solve this fast.”

Later that day, Jessie goes over Mel’s journal yet again, going back over some of the entries. Abigail walks into the cabin. "Still going over her journal?" Abigail asks.

"Yeah, something is bugging me," Jessie says. She looks off into the distance. "I'm trying to figure out this Alti entity." She gets up and walks over to the fireplace mantle and stares at the picture of Zara. She goes over in her head what Mel wrote about Alti’s personality.

Abigail looks at her strangely. “Jessie, are you ok?” she asks.

Jessie starts to breath in panic as visions of Dr. Smith pop into her head, then a vision of Ares. Visions of Andrea comes to her, then a vision of Alti. Suddenly Jessie sees the vision of Zara’s murder and she remembers seeing Alti’s face.

“Jessie!! What’s wrong?!?” Abigail asks seriously as she gets up. “Do you remember something?!?”

Jessie grabs her phone from her jeans pocket and dials Sydney. On the other line, Sydney picks up her phone. “Hey sis!” Sydney says. “What’s up!”

“I need you and Beth to hop on the first flight down here right now!” Jessie says in panic.

“Jess! What’s wrong?” Sydney asks, concerned. “Aunt Kira ok?”

“She’s fine! I just need you and Beth to get down here now!” Jessie says. “I remember mom’s murder and I know who killed her!”

“What??” Sydney shouts panicked. “Who?”

“You two just get down here please!” Jessie says urgently. “Dad’s still overseas, right?”

“Yeah! Jess, you’re scaring me!” Sydney says. “What’s going on?”

“You two need to get down here!” Jessie repeats. “And whatever you do, don’t let Andrea know!”

“Why?” Sydney says confused.

“Just get down here and I will explain everything!” Jessie says. “Your lives may be in danger!” Sydney and Jessie hang up, Jessie looks at Abigail with a scared look on her face. “This whole time!” Jessie says. “All this time!”

“Jessie, what’s wrong?” Abigail asks worried.

Jessie looks at the journal. “Mels description of Alti!” Jessie says breathing heavily.

Abigail picks up Mels journal and reads the entry, puts two and two together and gets this shocked look on her face. “Alti killed your mom!” Abigail says. “And she’s...”

“She’s been posing as my step-mother this whole time.” Jessie says as an angry look comes across her face. She takes her phone and sends a text to Kira. “I just text my Aunt. Let’s take all the journals, the scroll, your laptop and go back to the main house. We’re ending this.”

Kira walks into the cafe and sits at the counter. Di walks out of the kitchen, sees her and sits a cup of coffee down. “Hi Kira, how’ve you been?” Di asks.

Kira looks at her seriously and says, “They are figuring out the truth. How am I going to explain it to them?”

Di looks at her, smiles and says, “You are just going to tell the truth, Kira.”

“But how!” Kira asks, upset. “Jessie is like a daughter to me. I’ve been protecting her, her whole life. And now that the truth is going to come out... She’s going to hate me!”

“No, Kira!” Di says. “She’s not going to hate you. Confused, yes. But she will never hate you.”

“And what about Abigail?” Kira asks. “How am I going to tell her the truth?!?”

Di grabs Kira’s hand. “Don’t worry about that,” Di says. “I will be there to help you with Abigail. I know my Little One!” Kira smiles at her, feeling relieved.

“I made a promise to my sister that I’d protect her girls, Jessie especially,” says Kira. “I just hope when it all comes out, everyone will understand all of this.” Kira’s phone buzzes, she looks at it and gets a worried look. “It’s Jessie! She remembers who killed Zara! Beth and Sydney are on a flight here!” Kira looks at Di shocked.

“First things first.” Di says, “You go take care of that, when the time comes, I’ll know! Now go!” Kira rushes out of the diner.

Later that afternoon a car pulls up to the ranch and Beth and Sydney get out of the car. Lester notices and walks over to them. “Hey there ladies!” Lester greets them. “What can I do ya for?”

“We’re here to see our sister Jessie!” Beth says seriously. “Is she here?”

Jessie walks out of the main house. “Good! You made it!” Jessie hugs them. “Come on, Abigail and I will explain everything!” All three girls walk into the house. Lester stands there with a puzzled look. “There’s more of them?” he says as he gets a smile on his face.

The three sisters walk into the living room. Abigail, who is sitting in a chair, stands and faces them.

“First off, Sydney, Beth, this is Abigail.” Jessie introduces.

“Finally, glad to meet you,” Abigail says. “I wish it was under better circumstances.”

“Same here,” Sydney says as she cocks her head as if she knew her from somewhere. Kira rushes into the house and looks at everyone.

“I got here as fast as I could!” she says as she hugs Beth and Sydney. She walks over to Jessie. “Jess, what happened? What do you remember?”

Jessie looks at them seriously. “I want all of you to hear us out. What we are going to tell you, you need to listen to everything.” Jessie says urgently.

“We will Jess.” Beth says concerned. “What do you remember?”

Jessie and Abigail look at them seriously and Jessie says, “What we’re going to tell you, you might not believe, but all of it is the truth! You better sit down” Beth and Sydney sit on the couch while Kira sits in a chair.

————————

Jessie and Abigail are explaining everything to Beth and Sydney, who have skeptical looks on their faces, while Kira has a serious look on hers. They explain their visions, their dreams, their advanced fighting skills, their whole personality change. They explain Janice and Mel’s connection and their connection to Xena and Gabrielle. They explain how Mel and Janice found the Yin/Yang Chakram and some background on it. Jessie tells them how Mel and Janice told their grandfather everything they knew about the Chakram and how he kept the secret, and how he may have told their mother about it. Beth and Sydney still look confused while Kira gets a conflicted look on her face. They also tell them about Alti and Ares.

“Jess, Abigail, this doesn’t make any sense to me,” Beth says confused. “I get that our distant cousin and your great-great aunt worked together and discovered these scrolls. And that this Xena is related to us, while Gabrielle is related to you Abigail, but how is Andrea and Dr. Smith involved in this?”

“Yeah. I mean, Andrea is a bitch,” Sydney says. “But I can’t picture her as this entity Alti.”

Jessie hands Beth the entry where Mel explains Alti’s personality, Beth and Sydney read it. “Ok, but I just don’t get it,” Sydney says. “And what about Dr. Smith?”

“He’s really Ares, God of War,” Abigail says. Both Beth and Sydney look at them so confused. Jessie looks at Abigail. “Show then the video where Ares killed you,” Jessie says seriously.

“Wait!?! What?” Beth says shocked and confused.

“I never told you two, but last month, Ares attacked Abigail,” Jessie says. “She died, but somehow, I brought her back to life.”

“It’s the truth,” Kira confirms.

Sydney and Beth look at Kira shocked. Abigail loads up her GoPro and Sydney, Beth and Kira start watching the video in shock. “Oh my God!” Sydney says, shocked. “That’s Dr. Smith!” They watch as Ares raises Abigail up in the air and catches her by her throat, sending her over the cliff. Then they watch as Jessie and Lester discover Abigail's body in the pond.

They watch as Jessie jumps into the pond and hears Jessie doing CPR and screaming to Abigail to breath. Both Beth and Sydney get tears in their eyes as they see a yellow light shine down as a ball of light flies down and then they hear Abigail gasping for breath.

Both Beth and Sydney sit there with stunned looks on their faces while Kira has a stoic look on her face. Abigail stops the video and Jessie kneels in front of her sisters. “Dad would’ve never remarried six months after mom died,” Jessie says seriously. “Beth, you’re the oldest, you remember her more. Mom was the love of dad's life. You know this. Even though we were kids, we all knew this.”

Beth and Sydney look at each other in shock. “She may have a spell or something on dad, it might explain why he’s always oblivious to everything. I don’t know what Ares’ thing is in all this, but Alti, she’s been posing as Andrea this whole time to get her hands on the Chakram,” Jessie says. “Her features may have changed a bit, but she has fooled us this whole time.”

Beth stands up and walks to the mantle and looks at the picture of Zara, tears start to roll down her face. “I want to believe this, but..” Beth says unsure of what Jessie and Abigail have said.

Jessie stands up and walks over to her. “Beth, I realize Sydney and you blocked mom’s murder out, I get it,” Jessie says. “And for a while, so did I. But the dreams I’ve been having, they are memories. I remember hearing a loud bang upstairs and mom telling us to go to the closet. I remember seeing mom and Alti coming back into the living room and mom being held at gunpoint by Alti.”

Jessie then looks over at Sydney. “I remember you trying to get out of the closet and Beth pulling you back!” Jessie says then looks back at Beth. “I remember the both of you hiding in the back of the closet as Alti and mom started to argue. I remember Alti threatening to kill one of us if mom didn’t tell her where the Chakram was. I remember seeing them fight, how mom got the gun away from Alti. I remember seeing Alti take out a knife and stabbing mom in the stomach.”

Tears roll down Sydney’s face as memories suddenly start to come back to her. Kira puts a hand on Sydney’s shoulder. “I remember Alti pulling the knife out of mom’s stomach and disappearing. I then remember walking out of the closet, walking over to mom and looking down at her.”

Jessie’s rage starts to build up as she curls a fist and an angry look comes across her face. Abigail walks over and touches Jessie’s shoulder. Jessie takes a huge breath, calms down and says, “Mom looked at me, and with her last breath she told me to find the Chakram and to avenge her death. Beth, you pulled me back into the closet. After that, I must have passed out, because the next thing I remember was dad having us up in your room and police cars parked outside.”

With an angry look on her face, Sydney stands up and says, “I’m going back home and I’m going to kill her!”

Jessie looks at Sydney seriously and says, “No! You both are staying right here! I don’t need you going back and getting yourself killed. She is very, very dangerous! Once she figures out that you two are gone, she’s going to be here.”

Jessie then looks at everyone and says, “I don’t know if you all believe me or not, but Abigail and I have to protect all of you. For some reason we were brought together, if through either Xena and Gabrielle, Mel or Janice or even mom.”

“Alti also killed Mel and Janice,” Abigail says. “The murder came to us in a dream last night. She may have even killed your grandfather.”

Kira looks at Abigail and Jessie in shock. “How?” Kira says. “He had a heart attack!”

“Alti has been tracking down descendants of Xena and Gabrielle who knew about the Chakram for centuries and killing them if they didn’t tell her,” Abigail says. “If your father knew about the Chakram, she may have located him and because he swore to Mel and Janice to keep everything a secret, she may have triggered the heart attack and then moved onto your sister.”

“This Chakram, whatever powers it holds, Abigail and I were brought together to find it,” Jessie says. “And I really don’t know why it’s Abigail and I. What I do know, is that we have to stop Alti, before she kills anyone else.”

Sydney walks up to Jessie and hugs her and says holding back tears, “Jess, I am so sorry you had to carry this memory your whole life. I believe you.” She looks at Jessie and smiles a bit. “Somehow, I believe you.”

They look at Beth, who still has a confused look on her face. “I... I need to think about all this.” Beth says shell-shocked.

Jessie smiles at her. “Go with what your hear,t Beth,” Jessie says. “It will show you the truth.” Jessie then looks at Kira and says, “Abigail and I will stay down here in the living room. One of you can stay in my room”.

“I’ll set up the other guest room,” Kira says. “I’ll also load my gun just in case she shows up.”

“I don’t know if that will work, but have it ready,” Abigail says. “I will go explain a bit to Les as to what’s going on and ask him to stand guard outside the stables the first four hours of the night. I’ll take the other four.”

“I’ll do the rest,” Jessie says. “I want you awake to scan and read that scroll.”

Jessie looks at Kira and says, “I also want to ask you in the morning a couple questions. I want to know how much info mom and grandpa knew about. If you don’t mind.”

Kira looks at her seriously. “Of course, Jessie,” Kira says. “Right now we all need to rest and think about what just happened.”

Jessie looks at everyone. “Whatever happens next, I need everyone here to stand with Abigail and I,” Jessie said. “Alti has been killing our families for generations.”

“No amount of today's laws, rules or even how the world is today will stop her,” Abigail says seriously. “It’s going to end with Jessie and I. We just need all of you to believe us.”

Sydney smiles and says, “I believe you.”

“Same here,” Kira says. “Whatever you two need, you got it.”

They all look at Beth. She takes a big breath and looks at Jessie. “Count me in,” she says as she grabs Jessie’s hand. “Prove me wrong, sis.”

Jessie looks at her and smiles. “It’s not a matter of who’s right or wrong,” Jessie says. “This is about family.”

___________________

Chapter 11: Revelations Part 2

Summary:

Kira and Aphrodite reveal the truth to a shocked Jessie and Abigail, Ares tells Andrea the truth, which makes her true self come out. Ares shows Jessie a part of her past life she doesn’t want to see. Jessie explodes at Abigail and forces of good pull together to put Jessie and Abigail back together before Ares does serious damage. (This is one hell of a tearjerker of a chapter!!)
_______________

The next morning Abigail, Lester, Beth and Sydney are camped out in the living room. Lester is sitting in between Sydney and Beth, while Abigail has the coffee table pulled up to her chair and she is booting up her laptop.

“I saw your sister bring Abbie back to life,” Lester says. “It was a miracle. You two are lucky to have her as your sister.”

“We know this,” Sydney says. “She is an amazing woman. We are honored to have her as our sister.”

Beth gets up and walks around. “I can’t believe this whole time our mom’s murderer was right under our nose,” she says seriously. “And it never dawned on us.”

“We were just kids, Beth,” Sydney says. “We couldn’t have known.”

“But now!” Beth says angrily. “Jessie was the only one who never listened to her lies.”

“Alti has a way of using mind control on people,” Abigail says. “Somehow Jessie may have been able to tune Alti’s control out.”

Jessie walks into the living room. “Everything is secure,” she says. “Now it’s just a matter of time.”

Beth looks at Jessie. “Jess, I thought about everything last night,” Beth says as she hugs Jessie. “I’m so sorry you had to deal with this your whole life. I believe you.”

Jessie hugs Beth then smiles at her. “It’s ok,” Jessie says. “I just need you to be strong right now.”

Jessie then looks at Abigail and asks, “How’s it going with the scroll?” Abigail looks at the screen with frustration. “For some reason, the app won’t open,” she says frustrated. “It’s like it’s frozen.”

Kira walks into the room. “Morning everyone,” Kira says. She looks at Jessie and Abigail with a serious look on her face. “It’s time I tell the both of you everything I know.”

“Ok, what is it?” Abigail asks. “What do you know?”

Kira gets a conflicting look on her face, takes a breath and knows she must tell the truth. “When Zara and I were teens, we stumbled upon Janice’s old backpack in the cabin,” Kira remembers “We never went there before, but for some reason Zara wanted to explore it. The door was unlocked and we just walked in. When we found the old backpack, we started to read the journals. That's when our dad walked in.”

“What happened next?” Jessie wonders with a puzzled look on her face. “Was he mad?”

“No, he wasn’t,” Kira said. “He was actually relieved. He couldn’t keep what Mel and Janice told him to himself anymore. So, he sat us down and told us all about Mel and Janice. How they met, their discoveries of the Xena Scrolls, how our families are descended from Xena and Gabrielle and about the Chakram and some of its legends. I really wasn’t all that interested at the time, but Zara was. Our dad showed her all of Janice and Mel’s journals, and soon, she became interested in the Chakram and its legend.”

“Did grandpa or mom ever see this Chakram?” Sydney asks.

Kira looks down to the floor, then back to the group and says, “Not at the time. You see, after your parents got married I started to become interested in everything that our father told us, not like your mom. But some things interest me about it. It wasn’t until our father died that we discovered the true meaning of the Chakram.”

“What are you talking about Aunt Kira?” Beth asks.

Kira looks over at Abigail. “Abigail, can I please see that scroll,” Kira says.

“Sure.” Abigail says as she hands Kira the scroll.

“Zara flew down from New York while your dad stayed with Beth and Sydney to help me go through our dad’s stuff and make funeral arrangements. Your father was going to fly down with the two of you later that week. We were in the cabin going through some stuff when we came across this box. We opened it and there was the Chakram.”

Everyone gets a shocked look on their faces. “Mom and you saw the Chakram!” Jessie says, “Where is it?”

“Also in the box was this scroll,” Kira says. “You have to remember, we are from Greek descent. Mel taught our father how to read ancient Greek when Janice and her were here back in 1955. My dad taught your mom and I how to read Ancient Greek also when we both became interested in all of this.” A tear rolls down Kira’s face as she opens up the scroll.

“The Yin/Yang Chakram, a weapon only a select few could handle. It is said that when Gabrielle died, Xena and Gabrielle’s spirits were intertwined within the Chakram, waiting to be released again. Throughout time, trusted Gods and humans alike hid this Chakram, waiting for the time for Xena and Gabrielle to be reborn again. For when the time comes, a descendant of Xena’s will hold the Chakram, and Xena and Gabrielle will be reborn again. Both Xena and Gabrielle will be reincarnated as their descendants and will be reunited. And once finding the Chakram, they shall emerge as their true selves again to fight for good in a new world,” Kira reads seriously.

Abigail and Jessie look at each other shocked. “So, Mel and Janice were actually Xena and Gabrielle?!?” Abigail says confused. “That has to be it!”

Kira shakes her head no and all of the sudden Di appears. Everyone looks at her in amazement. “Di?” Jessie asks. “What? What’s going on? How did you…?”

Di walks up to Jessie and Abigail and morphs into Aphrodite. “Hello my favorite warrior babes,” Aphrodite says as she looks at everyone. “My name is Aphrodite.”

“As in the Goddess of Love Aphrodite?” Sydney says confused.

“Yes,” Aphrodite confirms as she looks at everyone, then back at Kira. “It’s ok Kira,” she says. “It’s time to tell them the truth.”

Kira takes a huge breath and says, “We looked at the Chakram, knowing the legend, but we really were not sure if it was true or not, so I picked it up first. I just studied it and put it back down. I told your mom that this legendary stuff was crazy, but she looked at it with this mesmerizing look on her face and then picked it up.”

“What happened next?” Beth asks.

“All of the sudden a bright ball of light flew out of the Chakram, into her. She dropped the Chakram, it broke in half, then she hit the floor grabbing her stomach,” Kira says.

“What are you saying!?!” Jessie says confused.

“I became scared and asked her if she was ok and she said yes. It was then that she told me she was four months pregnant with you,” Kira says as she walks over to Jessie as a tear rolls down her face. “You are like a daughter to me and I made a promise to your mom to protect you, but now you need to know the truth.”

Jessie gets an angry look on her face. “Tell me!” Jessie demands.

“You are the reincarnation of Xena,” Kira says. She looks over to Abigail. “And Abigail, you are the reincarnation of Gabrielle.”

A blank look comes across Jessie and Abigails face as they try to process what was just told to them while everyone else looks on in complete shock.

Aphrodite looks at Abigail seriously and says, “Gabrielle, Little One. I was there the day you drew your last breath. You fought many battles for the greater good in the world at the time, but your heart, your soul, your spirit just couldn’t handle the one thing it longed for. You became depressed and your body started to shut down because of it. I even had Eve try to help you out of your depression, but you were too far gone. I asked you after all the years, what was the one thing you wanted. You said to be reunited with Xena again, to have a second chance. Her spirit always followed you, so, when you drew your last breath I had Archangel Michael intertwine your souls into the Chakram,” she says as she looks at Jessie and Abigail. “With my brother Hercules’ help, we kept the Chakram hidden, waiting for the right time for you two to be reborn again. I also was the one who brought Mel and Janice together. Everything needed to be put into place for all of this to happen, and who better than those two.”

Aphrodite looks at Jessie. “After Zara picked up the Chakram, I approached both your mom and Kira and explained to them why this had to happen,” she continues. “I explained to them who you two where and why your spirits needed to return. Somehow though, I think your mother knew this, because she had a calmness about everything. I then took the Chakram and hid it.”

Aphrodite looks at Abigail. “I then waited till the time was right and I set your parents up. I have been watching the both of you periodically since your teens. It was just a matter of the right time for the both of you to be reunited again. I'm sorry we never told you two, but, you needed to find out all of this on your own. It was the only way everything had to come into place. As far as Alti is concerned, I don’t know why she got involved. Or my other brother Ares, but everything that we are telling the both of you, is the truth.” Aphrodite puts her hand on Abigail’s shoulder, smiles and says, “Xena, Gabrielle, it is so good to see both of you again.”

Jessie and Abigail look at the ground, then each other, knowing deep down what they just heard was the truth. Their friendship, their bond, their connection, their growing attraction, everything. All of the sudden a few snippets of their past life flashes before them. Jessie, becoming scared and rushes out of the house, jumps on her bike and takes off. Kira looks on in regret. “What have I done,” she wails. “She hates me now.”

Aphrodite walks up to Kira and puts a hand on her shoulder. “Never. She is just angry and confused. She will be back.”

They both look over at Abigail. “Abigail,” Kira says.

Abigail looks at the both of them and gets up. “I, I have to go find her.” Abigail also leaves the house. She goes to the stables, grabs Blaze’s saddle and bridle and hooks it up to her. Abigail jumps on Blaze and they take off out of the stables.

Meanwhile, in Ares throne room, Ares watches everything that has happened and has a shocked look on his face. “It’s really them!” he says. “Xena! Gabrielle!” He stands there shell shocked as it sinks into him what was just revealed. He suddenly smirks a little. “Wow sis, I never saw this coming. You really have changed with the times. Sly little bitch.” He starts to walk around the room thinking out loud. “First off, to tell that crazy shaman witch, what she thought about the Chakram was all wrong. And then to break up Xena and Gabrielle. Xena is confused right now.” Ares gets an evil smile on his face. “She will become the Destroyer of Nations again! And my queen!”

—————————-

Back at the Decker home, Andrea sits in her office glancing at the computer screen. Ares appears in front of her. “Hi,” Ares says. “I have a question for you.”

Andrea looks over at him. “First off, you shouldn’t show your true self, Beth or Sydney could walk in and see you.”

Ares gets a smirk on his face. “When was the last time you saw those two?” he asks coldly.

“Yesterday sometime,” Andrea says annoyed. “They pop up whenever, you know that.”

Ares looks around. “They’re not here, Alti,” he says.

Andrea gets a weird look on her face. “What do you mean?” she asks. “And you know not to call me by that name!”

Ares gets up and walks around. “They’re not here. They are down in Arizona right now with Jessie and their aunt.”

“What! They never told me!” she exclaims angrily. Ares starts to laugh. “Why are you laughing?”

Ares starts to walk around. “What you thought about the Chakram, was all wrong,” Ares tells her. “Oh, it had certain powers, but not what you thought. You see when Gabrielle passed away, my sister Aphrodite had Gabrielle and Xena’s spirits intertwined into the Chakram. Both Xena and Gabrielle have been reborn again.”

A shocked look comes across Andrea’s face. “Who are they?”, she wonders confused. “It’s Beth and Sydney isn’t it!”

Ares laughs really hard now. “You should have known by the way she never took any of your spells or mind tricks. And the way she fights! You should have noticed the anger and rage inside her.” Ares looks at Andrea angrily. “For years you have been looking into Jessie's eyes and not knowing she was Xena all this time,” Ares says coldly as a stunned yet scared look comes across Andrea’s face. “Appearance wise, not a hundred percent, but you can tell it’s her. Oh and Jessie’s new friend Abigail, she’s Gabrielle,” Ares continues as he walks over to Andrea. He gazes at her with a cold hearted look in his eyes. “They know who they really are and who you really are! They know what you did to their families for centuries, what you did to Janice and Mel, what you did to the girls’ grandfather and they know that you killed their mother, all for a false legend brought on by your arrogance to have power again. Whatever happens now, I’m out. But I will say this, that emblem you have around your neck. You know what will happen if it slips off of you.” Ares suddenly disappears.

Andrea gets an angry look on her face and then she flips the desk over in a rage. “NOOO!!!!!” she screams.

——————————-

Up in the mountains, Jessie sits at the edge of the cliff looking at the waterfall. She stares at it with a tear running down her face, Ares suddenly appears behind her. “Hello Xena,” Ares says.

Jessie looks at him angrily and says, “My name is Jessie.”

Ares sits next to her and says, “In this life yes, you are Jessie Pappas-Decker. But you know in your soul who you really are.”

Jessie gets up and Ares follows her to the entrance of the cave, in a rage she pushes him to the ground and screams in anger, “Did you help Alti kill my mother? Tell me the truth! While it’s all getting out there! Did you help Alti kill my mother?!”

Ares gets back up, looks at her seriously and says, “No! I didn’t know she killed your mother until after she located me.”

Jessie punches Ares in the face and screams, “And you never told me!”

“I didn’t know who you truly were until it was just reveiled to you!” Ares says. “You know me, Xena. Deep down in your soul, you know I would never harm a member of your family like that. Xena, ok, Jessie, do you remember your past?”

Jessie walks around. “Yes, no I don’t know!” Jessie says confused. “Right now, I’m just angry. I have too much going on in my head right now and nobody to give me some clarity on everything!”

“I can,” Ares says. “I can show you your true self. The fighter, the warrior, I can show you at your glory. You see, there was a time when you were feared by nations. Armies would follow you, you were indestructible. I can help you remember.”

“I changed!” Jessie says. “Deep in my soul I know I redeemed myself and I atoned for all the wrong that I did.”

“Yes, you did,” Ares says. “But now you have a second chance to reclaim yourself as the Destroyer of Nations. Join me Jessie, we can turn this new world upside down. We can conquer this new world and make it our own!”

“I am not that person anymore!” Jessie screams in frustration. Ares suddenly moves his hand and touches Jessie’s temple with his finger. All of a sudden flashbacks of Xena as she was before she redeemed herself, flashes through her mind. The wars, the bloodshed, the killings. She sees herself in battles killing and destroying villages with armys at her side. Jessie breathes heavily as Ares shows her the past she didn’t want to relive, but knew was true.

Suddenly Abigail runs around the ledge and sees them. “Jessie no!” Abigail screams. “Snap out of it! Ares is trying to control you!”

“Go away Gabrielle!” Ares screams as he looks at Abigail. “She doesn’t need you anymore!”

“Stop it right now, Ares!” Abigail says seriously. She looks over at Jessie. “Jessie! Please listen to me! Snap out of it! Don’t let him win!”

“Just go away! I am showing her what she was before you came and ruined it all,” Ares screams. “You are nothing to her now!”

Abigail gets this scared look on her face when all of the sudden Jessie breaks free from Ares mind control and screams in anger. An evil look comes across her face as Ares and Abigail look on. “Jessie!” Abigail says frightened.

Jessie turns around and looks at them with a cold, evil look. The look of The Destroyer of Nations. An evil smile comes across Ares face.

“Jessie, say something,” Abigail pleads.

“Go away!” Jessie shouts with an angry look on her face.

“Jess, snap out of it!” Abigail pleads again. All of a sudden Jessie pushes Abigail

. “Go Away!” Jessie screams as a fist curls up.

“Jess..” Abigail starts saying, but Jessie pushes her to the ground. Abigail looks at Jessie stunned and shocked.

“GO NOW!” Jessie screams. With an angry and confused look, Abigail gets up and leaves. Jessie watches Abigail leave then looks out at the waterfall. Ares walks up to Jessie, and puts his hand gently on her face.

“Welcome back, Xena,” he says. He looks her in the eyes and pulls her into a passionate kiss, but suddenly a bright light appears between them and Jessie suddenly vanishes. Ares looks around confused. “What happened. Where’s Xena?!” Ares is confused. He looks around and then he himself vanishes into thin air.

————-

Jessie looks around confused and sees a wooded area with trees and a stream. She walks around and stands in front of an old log that is on the ground. “What happened?” Jessie wonders confused. “Where am I?!”

All of the sudden Hercules appears in front of her. “Hello Xena,” he says. “Or if you are comfortable with Jessie, I can call you that.”

Jessie stares at him closely. “Dr. Henry?” she asks a little confused.

“Come on, you know who I am,” Hercules says smiling at her.

She looks into his eyes and then a smile comes across Jessie’s face as she remembers who he is. “I remember!” Jessie says smiling. They hug each other. “Hercules! It has been so long!”

Hercules then gives her a serious look. “Xena, listen to me,” Hercules says. “Aphrodite and I didn’t bring Gabrielle and you back together again just so Ares could destroy the both of you. You two have a second chance to be together again, and I’m not going to stand by and watch Ares destroy that. What Gabrielle and you have, it has transcended time. I know right now you are angry and confused, but don’t blow away a second chance to be with the one person who has loved you more than anything.”

“Ares showed me what I was before I met you. I was the Destroyer of Nations,” Jessie says. “I killed so many people, destroyed so many lives.”

Hercules puts a hand on Jessie’s shoulder and says, “And now I am going to show you what Gabrielle and you did after I set you on the path that you were truly meant to be on.” Hercules waves his hand and a screen appears showing Jessie, as Xena, all the good things she did with Gabrielle. The people they saved, the life they lived, their battles against good and evil. Jessie looks on in amazement as all of these memories come flooding back to her. The screen disappears and Hercules looks at her and smiles. “It’s your choice,” he says. “There is someone else who wants to talk to you. I will leave you two alone. Just go with your heart Xena.” With that Hercules disappears.

Jessie looks around in silence. “Hello,” Jessie says. “Is anyone there?”

“Jessie!” a voice says. Jessie turns around and Zara appears in front of her. She is dressed in a white gown, and a white glow surrounds her. A tear starts to flow down Jessie’s face. “Mom!” Jessie sobs in amazement. “Is it really you!”

“Yeah sweetheart, it’s me,” Zara confirms. She looks at Jessie with such love. “You have grown to be such a beautiful amazing woman,” Zara says smiling. “All of my girls have. All three of you have amazing gifts inside you just waiting to be unlocked. But right now, I’m here to talk about you, Jessie.” Zara grabs Jessie’s hands. “Look at me and listen,” she says being very serious now. “I know you are mad and confused right now. But when I found out I was pregnant with you, and the time was right, I made the choice to pick up the Chakram because I foreseen who you would become. Your aunt was only looking out for you, like she promised me she would, so don’t be mad at her. If anything, be mad at me.”

“I could never be mad at you, mom,” Jessie says. Zara gently touches Jessie's face. “I am so proud of you. But you must make a choice,” Zara says as Jessie looks at the ground, then back at her mother. “Be proud of who you really are and use it for the greater good. I was robbed of seeing you and your sisters grow up. Look into your heart and make things right.” Jessie smiles tenderly at Zara and they hug each other. “I will always be there for your sisters and you,” Zara says. “Remember that.”

Suddenly Jessie finds herself at the base of the mountain next to her bike. She looks up and smiles. “Thank you mom,” Jessie whispers “Thank you for bringing me back.” She climbs on her bike and speeds off into the direction of the main house.

————

At the main house Kira looks out the window with a worried look on her face.  Beth walks up to her and puts a hand on her shoulder. “They will be back.” Beth says.

Kira turns and looks at Beth and Sydney. “I’m sure this is all confusing to all of you,” Kira says seriously.

“Well, it’s not everyday we find out our kid sister is a, how did you say it, a warrior princess,” Beth says. “It does explain her personality a bit growing up.” She chuckles at her little joke.

The roar of Jessie’s bike is heard. A minute laterJessie runs into the house. “Did Abigail come back here?” Jessie asks in a panic.

“No! She didn’t,” Kira says worried.

Lester gets up and looks out to the stables. “Blaze just walked up the barn,” Lester says worried, “No Abbie!”

Lester, Kira and Jessie then  a worried look on their faces. “I’ll get the ATV and go look for her,” Lester says as he leaves.

Kira looks at Jessie. “Jess…,” Kira says.

“No, it’s ok. You were only looking out for me. Thank you,” Jessie reassures her aunt.. “I was up in the mountains, trying to sort things out when Ares popped up and started to mess with my head. He showed me a part of my past that I never wanted to relive.” Jessie looks at all three women seriously and says, “There was a part of Xena’s... my past that I wish I could take back. I was young, troubled, I went down a path that hardened my soul. Before I met Gabrielle I killed so many people and destroyed many villages. I was known as the Destroyer of Nations. It wasn’t until I met Hercules, that he set me on the right path. And then I met Gabrielle, and she became the light in my soul.” Jessie smiles then says, “She helped me change, be a better person. We fought many battles for the goodness of mankind. We had our bad times, but somehow, we always got past it. Anyway, Abigail found us and she tried to snap me out of Ares control, but they both started arguing and I just couldn’t take it anymore. My rage took over, I lost control and I did the one thing I told myself never to do, I snapped at her.  The next thing I knew I pushed her to the ground and told her to go away. She got angry and left.” Jessie walks to a chair and sits down. “What the hell did I do?” Jessie wails as a tear rolls down her face.

Kira puts a hand on her shoulder. “What happened next” Kira wants to know.

Jessie looks at them and smiles. “Hercules was able to get me out of there before Ares could really do damage to me. He reminded me why Abigail and I have a second chance and that I had to make a choice. And then mom appeared.”

A shocked look comes across everyone’s faces as Beth and Sydney walk over to her. “Really?” Sydney says. “You talked to mom?”

Jessie looks at Beth and Sydney smiles and says, “She’s proud of us. She just needed to remind me why I’m here.” Jessie looks at them seriously. “Even though I was born Jessie Decker, in my soul I am Xena.”

————————————-

Abigail sits on a log in the middle of the desert looking angry with tears flowing down her face. Suddenly Aphrodite appears next to her. She sits down next to Abigail and puts an arm around her shoulders. “It will be alright Little One,” Aphrodite says.

Abigail looks at her. “No it won’t,” Abigail says coldly. “I tried to stop Ares from getting inside Jessie’s head, but he won. He turned her into what she was before we met in our past life.”

Aphrodite smiles at Abigail. “No he didn’t.”

Abigail gets up. “Yes he did!” she says. “She looked at me so coldly. She looked so evil.” Abigail looks down at the ground. “I’ve seen that look a long time ago. It was the old Xena, before we met. She yelled at me to go, then pushed me to the ground,” Abigail sniffles, “Her fists were clenched, it wasn’t the Xena I knew and loved.”  Abigail looks at Aphrodite. “And now here I am, confused about this whole damn thing. I’m even confused about myself. Who am I?!?”

Aphrodite gets up and faces her. “In this life, you were born Abigail Covington, but in your soul, your spirit, you are Gabrielle, Battling Bard of Potidaea, Amazon Queen, Protege and soulmate of Xena. Deep in your soul, you knew you were Gabrielle before it was even revealed. And now, my warrior babes have a second chance!”

Abigail gets a conflicting look in her eyes. “But the look in her eyes!” Abigail says. “It was pure hate.” Aphrodite puts her hand on Abigail's cheek. “Hercules came and talked to her,” she saysas Abigail gets a confused look on her face. “You know him as your professor Dr. Henry.”

Abigail gets a wide smile on her face. “Oh my god!” she says. “Of course!”

“She also was visited by the one person who could truly bring her back, her mother,” Aphrodite continues as Abigail gets a shocked look on her face. “Jessie loves you with all her heart and soul. I am going to show you something that happened when Jessie brought you back to life, to prove to you that you are her true soulmate.” Aphrodite waves her hand and a screen pops up. The scene is of Jessie performing CPR on her “Breath Abigail! Breath!” yells. Jessie leans down and whispers to Abigail, “I need you, please, breath!”. The scene is now in Abigail's ICU room right before Kira walks in. Jessie is holding her hand with tears in her eyes, “Come by back to me, Abigail! I love you," Jessie sobs.

Tears flow down Abigail’s face as Aphrodite closes the screen. “Even though Ares is still on this thing with Xena, her heart and soul belongs to you, Gabrielle.” Aphrodite says smiling at her. 

The sound of an ATV is heard in the distance, Abigail looks around as Aphrodite disappears.

Lester pulls up to Abigail and gets off the ATV. “Oh my God, Abbie!’ he exclaims. “Thank God you're safe! Jessie is back at the main house. Let’s go!”

Abigail looks at him and smiles. “How far is the cabin from here, Les?” she asks. “About three miles Abbie, Gabbie..” Lester says confused.

Abigail smiles at him. “Call me whatever you feel most comfortable,” Abigail says. “Can you drop me off at the cabin!?!”

Lester looks at her. “Ok. no problem, Abbie,” he says, smiling at her. She smiles bak. “What’s wrong?” Lester asks.

“Back in the day, Xena and I had a really good friend,” Abigail says. “In a way, you remind me of him.”

Lester gives a goofy smirk and says, “Come on, I’ll drop you off at the cabin then go tell everyone you’re ok.”
_______

Chapter 12: Lovers And Legends Reborn

Later that afternoon in the main house, Jessie is sitting in the living room with Kira, Beth and Sydney looking pretty shaken up. She looks at them. “I should’ve never gone off on her like that!” Jessie says with regret. “I let Ares play with my head and now I may lose her!”

Kira hugs her. “Abigail is a strong gal,” Kira says reassuring Jessie. “She will find a way back here.”

“This is my fault!” Jessie says as she gets up and walks to the fireplace with a tear in her eye. “I let my rage come out and snapped at her when it shouldn’t have even happened. And now my heart may be ripped out of me!”

Beth and Sydney look at each other kind of shocked. Kira gets up and smiles a little. “You love her? Don’t you?” Kira asks.

Jessie looks at them. “Yeah, I do love her! She is the best thing to ever happen to me in this lifetime and before.” Jessie says with a tear in her eye.

Lester runs into the living room out of breath. “I found Abbie!” Lester says excited as the ladies look at him. “She’s at the cabin!! She’s alright!”

Jessie runs out of the house, jumps on her bike and takes off! Lester and the rest of the ladies run out of the house. “Should we follow her?” Lester wonders.

“No Les!” Kira says with a smile. “I think she has this handled!!”

Sydney smiles at Beth who hands her a hundred dollar bill. Lester looks at them weirdly. “You two took a bet on whether or not Abbie would be ok?” he asks a little angry.

“No, you idiot!” Beth says to him sarcastically.

Sydney walks over to Lester, puts her arm around his back, sort of laughing. “Les, why don’t we go out for a drink and I’ll explain something to you,” Sydney says as she  walks away from him.

“Finally!” he says happily. “One of them likes me!”

“NOW!! Before I change my mind!" Sydney yells as he starts running after her.

At the cabin, Abigail sits on the couch. She looks at the ground with a tear running down her cheek. The sound of the motorcycle roars up to the door and a moment later Jessie rushes in. Abigail stands up and faces her. Tears of joy come to their eyes as they embrace each other.

Jessie holds Abigail in her arms. “I... I’m so sorry!” Jessie says. “I was confused and scared. Ares showed me my past life, before we met. I relived all the killings, the bloodshed, the horror! Everything! I saw the part of myself that I didn’t want to relive again.” Jessie looks at Abigail with regret. “I will never snap at you like that again, Abigail! My God, if anything would’ve happened to you, I couldn’t forgive myself,” Jessie says.

“No! It’s not your fault!” Abigail says smiling at her. “If I hadn't listened to what Ares was feeding in my head, I wouldn’t have taken off like that. I should’ve stayed and talked you through everything. I should know better when it comes to him,” Abigail says.

“It doesn’t matter now!” Jessie says wiping away a tear. They stare deeply at each other. “I love you!” they both say. Jessie smiles tenderly at Abigail as she strokes her face. Abigail closes her eyes enjoying the touch. She then looks deep into Jessie’s eyes.

“I’ve loved you since I first saw you!” Abigail says smiling. “It’s like, we’ve always had a connection!”

“I feel the same way!!!” Jessie says. “This whole reincarnation thing is weird. If we are them, so be it. But one thing I do know, we’ve loved each other in this lifetime and before, I can feel it! And now that I have you again, I am not letting you go!”

Abigail wraps her arms around the back of Jessie’s neck as they stare deep into each other’s eyes, while Jessie wraps her arms around Abigail's waist. They move closer and tenderly kiss each other. The kiss becomes more deep and passionate as Jessie cradles Abigail's face, she then runs her fingers through Abigail's hair. Abigail soaking in the passionate kiss, suddenly feels a rush through her body as emotions take over her. After a while they come up for air. Jessie looks at Abigail tenderly. “Are you ok?” she asks smiling as Abigail breaths heavily.

“Yeah!” Abigail says smiling as she looks at Jessie with desire. “You... you just took my breath away! My heart and soul demands more!”

Jessie looks down at her smiling. “Are you sure!?!” Jessie asks.

“I’ve waited this whole lifetime for you! Yes! I’m sure!” Abigail says as she passionately kisses Jessie. As they slowly come up for air and stop their passionate kiss. Then, as if it was an instinct, Abigail brushes up against Jessie's lips and snuggles her nose. Jessie gently gives Abigail a half-smirk.

Suddenly, the ball of light that surrounded them months back returns and radiates into their bodies as they stare deeply at each other. Memories of when they were Xena and Gabrielle, flash between them. The first time they met, how their friendship grew, how Xena trained Gabrielle to fight. When Xena brought Gabrielle back to life at the healing temple. The bad times and the good times. How they fought together in battle and fought each other. Their first declaration of love, their first kiss and their final kiss. They look at each other with such love in their eyes realizing who they now are.

Jessie, now as Xena,  smiles as she happily gasps for air. “It’s really you, my Gabrielle,” Xena says.

Abigail, now as Gabrielle, shakes her head yes and says happily, "Yeah Xena! It’s me!”

“You... you look so beautiful!” Xena says happily as she caresses Gabrielle’s face.

“You too Xena!” Gabrielle says smiling tenderly at her.

Xena hugs Gabrielle and says, “I’m so sorry I left you!”

Gabrielle looks at Xena, caresses her face and proclaims, “It’s ok, Xena! We have a second chance at life again!”

Xena smiles tenderly and joyfully says, “Yeah! We do!”

Xena leans over and kisses Gabrielle and picks her up off the ground. Gabrielle wraps her legs around Xena’s waist as they seductively stare at each other and then passionately kiss.

———————-

The door to the bedroom opens, and Gabrielle, who is still wrapped around Xena's waist, is passionately kissing her. Xena sits her down, and they take each other's shirts off. Xena leans Gabrielle against the bedroom wall and tenderly kisses her. The smell of Gabrielle's perfume and the softness of her skin intoxicates Xena as she slowly kisses her neck and back to her lips.

Gabrielle, lost in deep emotions, moans with pleasure with every kiss that they share. Xena kisses Gabrielle's shoulder as she closes her eyes in pure joy. Gabrielle looks at Xena with desire and says, "Make love to me!"

A couple of minutes later, they are unclothed and in bed. Xena passionately kisses Gabrielle, moving down to her neck and back up to her lips. Gabrielle's body shivers with passion as Xena moves down to her breasts, kissing both of them passionately, causing Gabrielle to moan with delight. Xena moves back up to her lips as their bodies engulf each other. Xena stares deeply into Gabrielle's eyes, as both sets of souls connect. Xena kisses Gabrielle, then moves down her neck, then her breasts. She kisses Gabrielle's tight six-pack abs causing her to moan and arch her back. Xena then moves down to Gabrielle's clit, taking her finger and rubbing it, causing Gabrielle to moan passionately. Xena enters Gabrielle, who moans in ecstasy as Xena gives in to her desires and makes deep, passionate love to her battling bard. As the sun sets over the desert sky and night appear, they give in to their desires, and their passions as old lovers reunite, and new lovers are born.

Later on that night, Xena and Gabrielle are laying under the covers in each other's arms with smiles on their faces. Xena has her arms around Gabrielle, while Gabrielle’s head is laying on Xena’s chest. Xena kisses the top of her head. “Are you ok?” Xena asks.

Gabrielle smiles and says, “Yeah, I am just fine!” Their free hands interlock with each other. “It feels so good being in your arms again, Xena.” Xena looks at Gabrielle and smiles. “We have a second chance!” Gabarielle says.

Xena looks down at her, smiles and says, “We sure do.”

Gabrielle gets a weird look on her face. “Our lives are never going to be the same,” she says. “I know I’m Abigail, but in my soul, I’m me, Gabrielle.”

Xena gets a serious look on her face. “Same here,” Xena says. “We are just going to have to even this all out with both our spirits.”

“For some strange feeling, it’s like they’re a lot like us in a lot of ways,” Gabrielle says.

“They are us, Gabrielle.” Xena says. “Just like we are them. I’m just glad to be here, with you right now.”

“What happens next?” Gabrielle wonders. “My family in today’s world, they won’t understand all of this.”

Xena gets a smirk on her face. “We will get through this," Xena says as she cradles Gabrielle’s face. "Right now we have what, two thousand years to make up for, lets just enjoy this moment.” Gabrielle interlockes both of Xena’s hands as she straddles her in bed, passionately kissing her. As Gabrielle makes love to Xena, the stars start to shine over the desert sky and for this one night they become one.

---------------

The next morning, Kira walks into the living room and looks out the window, suddenly out of nowhere, she is pistol whipped in the back of the head. She passes out and hits the ground. Andrea stands above her with an evil look on her face then quickly vanishes.

Fifteen minutes later, Beth and Sydney walk in. “Hey Aunt Kira, has Jess..” Beth says as they discover Kira laying on the ground both rushing to her aid.

“Aunt Kira!” Sydney shouts worried.

Beth checks her pulse. “She’s alive,” Beth says. “It looks like she was hit on the head with something.”

Sydney goes to pull out her phone to call 911 but all of the sudden Andrea materializes in front of them, pointing the gun at them. “You two are going to lead me to your sister NOW!” Andrea yells at them.

Sydney gets an angry look on her face. “You fucking bitch!” Sydney screams at Andrea as she starts to charge at her, but Andrea cocks the gun.

“Don’t think I won’t shoot you!” Andrea says coldly. “I will take you out like I did your mother.”

Beth looks at her with rage in her eyes. “You think killing us will get you what you want!” Beth yells. “You won’t succeed. Our sister will track you down and destroy you.”

Andrea looks at them with an evil look. “And that is why you two are going to help me lure her out!” Andrea says to them.

Lester walks in. "What's going on!" he asks.

Andrea turns around and points the gun at him. "You do as I say, or I kill them!" Andrea screams. Lester looks at her seriously. "You are going to join them in helping me lure Jessie out. If you don't..." Andrea points the gun at Kira. "First I will put a bullet in her head, then you can watch me take them out before you.”

“Ok, whatever you say,” Lester says seriously.

Andrea looks at them coldly. “We are going to the caves!!” Andrea says angrily. “Come on!”

_________________

Later that morning, after a passionate night as Xena and Gabrielle, Jessie and Abigail have morphed back into themselves. Abigail looks out the window of the cabin as the sun shines over the desert. A glowing smile radiates over her face after the passionate night they had. Jessie walks out of the bedroom over to Abigail, wraps her arms around her and kisses her neck. “Morning!” Jessie says smiling.

Abigail looks at her and they passionately kiss. “Morning!” Abigail says smiling. “Last night, even though we were Xena and Gabrielle, it was amazing!”

Jessie smiles tenderly at her. “So was the shower this morning!” Jessie says with a flirty look in her eyes. She takes Abigail in her arms as she gets a look of calmness in her eyes. “All the anger and rage inside of me, it’s gone. I don’t feel it anymore.” Abigail hugs Jessie and then looks at her. “We do have to go to the ranch and wait for Alti though,” Jessie says. She picks up her phone off the coffee table and checks her texts. She gets a weird look on her face.

“What is it Jessie?” Abigail says intrigued, as Jessie puts her phone down.

“Follow me,” Jessie says as they walk over to the fireplace mantle. Jessie takes all of the pictures off the mantle and looks at the painting above it. “Help me take this off the wall,” Jessie says.

Jessie and Abigail gently take the painting off the wall to see brown paper covering a hole. Jessie rips it off to find Xena’s sword, Gabrielle’s Sais and Gabrielle’s sword from Jappa hanging from the wall. They smile as they see the familiar weapons remembering them from their lives as Xena and Gabrielle.

Xena’s sword is in a leather holster that is attached to leather straps that you can wrap yourself into. Gabrielle’s Sais and sword are also in leather holsters. The Sais is in a leather belt and is connected to two gold carabiners. Her sword is in a leather holster that is also in leather straps that you can wrap yourself into. They look at them smiling with a tear roling down their face.

“It’s our weapons!” Abigail exclaims.

Jessie smiles at her. “Aunt Kira left a message last night telling me where these were,” Jessie says as she looks back at them. They take the weapons off the wall and take them out of the holsters. Jessie looks at her sword and starts to twirl it around, flawlessly regaining the moves of Xena.

Abigail takes the Sais out and twirls them with ease as if she had them forever. They look at each other and smile. “We should head back to the ranch,” Abigail says.

All of the sudden, Jessie's phone rings, she picks it up and sees that it’s a video chat from Sydney. Jessie turns it on and Abigail and her watch the video. The scene is in the first cave with the pond. It is dark with only a bit of light. Suddenly the cave lights up with torches and Jessie and Abigail sees Beth, Sydney and Lester tied up to the cave wall. Beth and Sydney are trying to break loose while Lester looks like he has been knocked out!

“Let us go!” Sydney screams,

“Jessie! Help us!” Beth screams. Jessie and Abigail get angry looks on their faces.

Suddenly Andrea appears on the video. “You want to see them alive?” Andrea aks in that deep voice of Alti. “Come prove to me that you are truly Xena! And bring the Chakram with you or else they die.”

Jessie and Abigail get serious looks on their faces as the video stops. They stare at each other. “Where is the Chakram?” Abigail asks., “Kira never told us!”

“It’s in the second cave!” Jessie says seriously. “Let's go!” They strap on their weapons and run out of the cabin.

About fifteen minutes later, Lester wakes up and sees Beth, Sydney and him tied to the cave wall. “What happened,” Lester asks slowly coming to.

Sydney looks at him frightened. “Alti knocked you out,” she tells hims. “Remember, you tried to subdue her.”

Lester shakes his head. “Yeah, I remember,” he says. “This Alti, is she going to kill us?”

“Alti has Sydney’s phone,” Beth says worried. “She threatened Jessie and Abigail. Said if they didn’t show up with the Chakram, she’d kill us.”

They all look at each other. “Come on Jess!” Sydney says. “Where are you?”

Suddenly Andrea appears in front of them. She starts to walk around. “You know, it’s a shame that I may have to kill you,” Andrea says. “I actually liked you two.”

“I hate you!” Beth says coldly.

Andrea walks up to her. “You were the easiest to manipulate,” Andrea tells her. “While you were growing up, I could just say anything to you and you did what I said, no matter how terrible it was!”

In anger, Beth tries to break from her restraints, but Andrea starts to laugh. Suddenly, Andrea puts her hand on Beth’s head, and suddenly Beth gasps for air and goes into a trance. Her eyes get wide in fear and suddenly she shakes her head and breaks from Andrea’s control.”

Sydney looks on in fear as she tries to break from her restraints. She then screams, “Leave her alone!”

Andrea suddenly stops and walks away from Beth, looks at Sydney and says. “You weren't as easy to manipulate as Beth, but you had your moments. That’s why when you were a teen, I had Ares deal with you. From what he said, you were really fun to play with.”

“Fuck you!” Beth says angrily.

Andrea laughs and looks coldly at Beth and Sydney. “Jessie better show up soon, or your father will be burying the rest of his family.”

______

Jessie and Abigail run through the main cave and rush towards the second cave. They walk in and Jessie shines a bright flashlight as they enter the cave. The lantern, pick and hat still sit there.

“Where is it?” Abigail asks. Jessie shines the light on the wall, circling the perimeter. She soon comes across the slab of stone with the two hand prints on it.

“There!” Jessie points her hand. They walk up to the stone and look at each other. They both take one of their hands and place it above the prints. The slab suddenly moves and a wall above it starts to move. Embedded in the cave wall are both halves of the Chakram. They stare at it remembering battles with it. They look at each other and they both grab a half.

“You know what this means!” Jessie says staring at Abigail smiling.

“We are them!” Abigail says. “Let’s make it final!” As they stand in front of each other, they smile at each other knowing this would be the last time they see each other as Jessie and Abigail. They connect both halves of the Chakram together and all off the sudden the Chakram rises above them as they look on. Two beams of light penetrate from the Chakram and hit Jessie and Abigail.

Back at the first cave, Beth and Sydney look up at the hole in the wall, noticing a bright light shining through it. Beth stares at Sydney, who suddenly smiles. Andrea paces in front of Beth, Sydney and Lester. “I am losing my patience,” Andrea says. “Who wants to die first.”

Andrea takes the gun and points it at them as they all get scared looks on their faces. “Say goodbye.” Andrea cocks the gun, but suddenly the Chakram comes flying through the air, knocking the gun out of her hand. Andrea looks around with a stunned look on her face. “What!” she exclaims. Beth and Sydney smile at each other. The Chakram flies across the air again, ricocheting through the walls then disappearing again.

Everyone looks around and all of the sudden a familiar war cry is heard "Ayiyiyiyi!" And the reborn Xena and Gabrielle jump out of the hole connecting the two caves and stand twenty feet from Andrea. Xena is dressed in black boots, black leather pants and a black, sleeveless armor vest that wraps around her body. Red armor surround her chest area and she sports the ancient armband of Xena around her right arm. Her hair is styled long, yet with an edge like vibe with the sides of her hair pulled back in a small braid.

Gabrielle’s hair is still styled in the short, edgy look, but it’s now platinum blonde, almost white. She wears black boots, black leather pants and a black leather halter top that curves into her six pack abs. She also sports a pair of long white gloves that is cut off at the fingertips. Beth looks at Sydney shocked. “That’s our kid sister!” Beth says in amazement.

Sydney smiles at her and says, “This is going to be one hell of a bitch fight!” Lester looks at them with a puzzled look, then gets a goofy grin on his face.

Xena and Gabrielle stare Andrea down with pure hate in their eyes. “Show yourself Alti!” Xena says angrily.

Andrea stares at them with an evil look. “Ares said that you’re really Xena,” she says coldly. “Prove it to me.”

Xena takes out her sword from its holster and quickly points the tip to the edge of Andrea’s throat, while Gabrielle gets into defensive mode and takes out her Sais, ready to fight. “Show yourself, Alti!” Xena yells. “We want to look at the face of the bitch who killed our families!”

Andrea looks into Xena’s eyes, even though she sees Jessie in front of her, the eyes tell a different story. Andrea rises into the air and suddenly transforms into Alti. Dressed in her Shaman clothing and hat, Alti looks at Xena and Gabrielle with anger. "Well now, we meet yet again!" Alti says. "Long time, no see!"

"And this will be the last time for you, Alti." Xena says. Suddenly two swords appear in Alti’s hands and both Xena and Gabrielle start to swing their weapons as Alti starts to fight them. With every swing Alti gives, Xena flawlessly swings back. Alti takes a sword and tries to stab Gabrielle, but she does a backflip, missing the sword by inches.

Alti looks at Gabrielle and coldly prclaims, “Well now Gabrielle! I see that now after all these centuries, you’re still clinging to Xena like the needy bitch that you are!” Gabrielle swing kicks Alti’s left hand, knocking the sword out of it. The sword goes flying into the air slicing through Sydney’s restraints. Sydney takes off her leg restraints and proceeds to free Beth and Lester.

They start to run out of the cave, but Ares suddenly appears. “Well hello Sydne, long time no see.” Ares says with a smirk on his face. Sydney gets an angry look on her face as her fist curls up and she punches him in the jaw causing a distraction for the trio to run around to the other side of the pond. Ares looks at Xena, rubbing his jaw but smirking a bit. “Your sister is crazy, Xena!” he calls out.

Gabrielle sees Ares and looks at Xena. “I’ll be back!” she says, “I have a score to settle.” Gabrielle runs in his direction, she jumps into the air and flips neatly over his head, landing behind Ares, she points her sword to his throat.

Ares looks at it and smirks. “Well hello, Gabrielle,” Ares says as he faces her.

“We have a score to settle, Ares!” Gabrielle says.

“Ah, yeah. I almost killed you, didn’t I!” Ares says as a sword appears in his hand. “Want to go for round two?” Ares swings his sword at Gabrielle, but she flawlessly blocks every swing, using new and old fighting skills. “You have added new moves, Gabrielle!” Ares says smiling. “How about you join Xena and I, be my newest protégée!”

“In your dreams, Ares!” Gabrielle says. “You know that after two thousand years, my answer is still no!” Gabrielle knocks his sword out of his hand and she throws a punch to his face. She does a swing kick, knocking him to the ground, but he gets back up and another sword appears in his hand.

“Too bad, Gabrielle!” Ares chuckles. “Now I’m going to have to finish you off.” Ares swings at Gabrielle, but she blocks his moves. “Xena will be mine,” he says seriously.

“I don’t think so, Ares. Did you feel the Earth shake a little last night?” Gabrielle says in a cocky tone of voice as if she’s taunting him.

“Why?” Ares asks confused.

“I did the one thing you never seem to succeed in doing!" Gabrielle says with a smirk on her face. “I got her in bed and we rocked the world a bit last night!”

Ares looks at Gabrielle in anger and screams as he aims his sword towards her. He runs at her, nicking her arm, but she moves out of the way before he can stab her. “Oh, come on, Ares!” Gabrielle says taunting him. “Still jealous after all these centuries? You know Xena and I have been together forever!” Gabrielle takes out her staff and unfolds it. Ares takes his sword and lunges at Gabrielle but she blocks him with her staff. She kicks him in the stomach, causing him to back up. He takes his sword again at Gabrielle. She swings the staff at him, but he knocks it out of her hands, causing it to fly in the direction of Sydney, landing in front of her.

Sydney picks it up and as she looks at it, she gets a sense of familiarity when holding it. She looks in Gabrielle’s direction. “Gabrielle!! Catch!” Sydney yells as she throws the staff through the air. Gabrielle jumps in the air, grabbing her staff. She lands behind Ares and gives Sydney a smile, as if to thank her. Ares turns around and Gabrielle bashes him in the stomach with her staff sending him flying to the ground.

Meanwhile Xena and Alti fight it out near the pond. Xena punches Alti and she lands on the ground. She gets back up and takes her sword and charges Xena, but Xena back flips and knicks Alti’s shoulder with her sword. “You know the greatest thrill of all this,” Alti says. “Sticking the knife in your mother's stomach and watching her gasp for air!”

Sheer anger crosses Xena’s face as she screams at her. “You bitch!!” Xena and Alti’s swords come together as they stare each other down with pure anger in their eyes. “You are not coming out of this alive, Alti!”, Xena says as she throws Alti to the ground. Alti gets back up and a red ball forms in Alti’s hand and she shoots it towards Xena, knocking her to the ground. Xena gets back up and swing kicks Alti in the stomach, sending her flying into the cave wall.

Alti then gets up and levitates in the air. A red ball forms in her hands, and she throws it in the direction of Beth, Sydney and Lester, who separate and dive to the ground. Alti shoots a ball at Xena, but Xena takes the Chakram out and flings it at the ball, knocking it to the ground. The Chakram ricochets off the cave wall, separates and knocks Alti to the ground. It reforms into one again and lands in Xena’s hand. Alti gets back up and with her sword charges at Xena, but Xena grabs her wrist and twirls her around landing her on her back. Xena goes to stab Alti with her sword, but Alti sends Xena flying through the air and she lands into a cave wall.

Ares sends Gabrielle flying into a wall and he takes his sword and charges at her, but suddenly a red ball of light forms and sends him flying to the ground. All of a sudden Aphrodite appears. She is wearing a red, one piece body suit that curves her body. She goes to Gabrielle and helps her up. “You go help Xena,” Aphrodite says. “I need to teach Ares a lesson.”

Gabrielle looks at her with a stunned look on her face. “Aphrodite! Are you crazy?” Gabrielle says. “You’ve never taken him on! He could kill you!”

Aphrodite looks at her and smiles. “Listen Little One, Xena and you saved my ass so many times, this is my way of saying thanks,” she says.  Aphrodite then looks over at Alti. “There is a pendant on her neck that’s been keeping her alive for centuries,” Aphrodite says. “Get it off her so Xena can finish her off!” Aphrodite looks back at Gabrielle. “Go!” Aphrodite says. Gabrielle looks at Aphrodite with a sad look. Aphrodite, smiles at her. “Go!” Aphrodite repeats.

Gabrielle runs towards Xena and Alti. Ares gets up and looks at his sister with anger. “So, now you’ve betrayed me!” Ares yells as a sword appears in his hand as does a sword in her hand. He looks at her in shock, but gets an angry look on his face. “Be prepared to die!” Ares shouts as he charges at Aphrodite. She takes her sword and blocks his moves. A shocked look comes across his face. She throws him back into a wall, but he gets back up. All of a sudden a white ball appears in her hand, she throws it at Ares’ sword and it flies out of his hand. He looks at her in shock. “So, this is how it’s going to be, sis!” Ares yells.

A red ball forms in his hand, as does a white ball in Aphrodite’s hand. “I told you to leave them alone, Ares!” Aphrodite says seriously. “I love you, but you need to give up this thing with Xena!”

“Not a chance!” Ares says. Ares and Aphrodite throw the balls of light at each other, but the balls hit each other illuminating both of them. Both Ares and Aphrodite have their hand out at each other trying to make their ball hit each other, suddenly their balls of light fuse together, bounce back at them and they disappear. Gabrielle turns around and sees both Aphrodite and Ares are gone. “Aphrodite!!” Gabrielle screams as a sad look comes across her face. She looks over at Xena and Alti and takes her sword out.

———-

Back at the ranch, James walks in looking concerned, “Hello!” he shouts. He walks into the living room to see Kira sitting up with an ice pack to the back of her head. “Oh my God, Kira!” he exclaims. “Are you ok? What happened?”

Kira looks at him puzzled. “Jim? What are you doing here?” Kira asks confused.

“Beth text me yesterday saying Jessie remembered Zara’s murder,” he answers. “I just flew in from overseas. What happened here?”

Kira looks at him seriously, then around the living room. “The girls!” she shouts worried, “Are they here!?!”

“No, the place is empty,” James responds worriedly. “What’s going on? Is everything ok?”

“We have to go to the mountains,” Kira says. “Hopefully Jessie and Abigail got to them in time.” Kira slowly gets up. “We’ll take the truck!”

At the cave, Xena gets up and swing kicks Alti , sending her into a cave wall. Gabrielle runs to her. “We have to get that necklace off of her!” Gabrielle says. “Without it, she’s dead forever!”

Xena thinks quickly., “You and Les get my sisters out of here! I need to get her alone for my plan to work.” Gabrielle looks at her questiongly. “I’ll be fine,” Xena reasures her  as she looks at Gabrielle with a smile.

Gabrielle smiles back and runs towards the sisters and Lester. “Come on! Follow me!” Gabrielle says to the group. They sneak out the back way of the cave.

Alti stands up and it is just Xena and her. They circle one another. Xena twirls her sword. “Now it’s just us, Alti!” Xena says with coolness in her eyes. “This will be the last time though!”

“I always come back!” Alti says. Xena looks at her necklace, then at her.

“I don’t think so!” Xena says. “You killed my mother right in front of me! I’ve seen the whole thing! All of the rage and anger built up inside me! It was because of you! You robbed my sisters and I of our mother. Out of all the times we faced each other, this time you went to far Alti!! And for what! The Chakram!” Xena takes the Chakram out and holds it out in front of her., “Is this what you wanted all these years?” Xena asks her seriously. “You want it so bad! Here!”

James, who is driving the truck suddenly stops it in shock and looks at Kira. “My daughter is who?” he asks confused. “And my wife is a what?”

Kira looks at him seriously. “Jessie is the reincarnation of Xena, a warrior princess from ancient times! It’s the honest truth, Jim!” Kira repeats. “We need to get to the trail leading to the mountains before Andrea, I mean Alti kills them all!” James, looking so confused, starts driving in the direction of the trails again.

Back at the cave, Xena and Alti stare down at each other. “Here!” Xena says. “What are you waiting for?”

Alti’s eyes widen as she happily stares at the Chakram. “I thought you were smarter than this!” Alti says triumphantly. She reaches out for the Chakram, but Xena lets the Chakram fall to the ground with a flick of her wrist where it bounces and flies up into the air. Xena also jumps into the air, grabs the Chakram and flips over Alti using her sword and slicing off the necklace. It falls to the ground without Alti noticing. Alti rises in the air forming another ball in her hands. Xena then runs and jumps in the air taking her sword and stabbing Alti through the stomach. They both go flying into a cave wall and slide down to the ground. Alti goes and reaches for her emblem and notices it gone. “Agh,” Alti gasps. “NO!!

Xena takes her sword again and jabs it into Alti’s stomach again. Xena looks at Alti with pure coldness in her eyes. “The first one was for my grandfather, Mel and Janice,” Xena says calmly. “This one is for my mom, you bitch!” Alti looks at Xena gasping for air. Xena pulls out her sword, grabs Alti by the throat and stares at her seriously. “Give Lucifer my regards,” Xena’s voice drips of coldness. Alti takes her last breath and disappears. Xena looks at the ground for a few moments, then walks out of the cave.

At the base of the mountain, Gabrielle and the rest of the group run out of the trail. “Where’s my sister?” Beth asks worried. “Should we have left her alone with that monster?!?”

Gabrielle looks at Beth. “Trust her,” Gabrielle says. “She will come out of this.”

All of the sudden a truck pulls up and James and Kira get out of the truck. The group looks at them. “Aunt Kira!” Beth says running to her. “Are you ok?”

“I’m fine, just a bump on the head,” Kira says as Beth looks at it. Beth lifts her hand

“Follow my fingers,” Beth says as she moves them side to side.

“I said I’m fine!” Kira says.

James looks around confused. “Kira just explained everything,” he says. “I don’t know if I believe it, but is everyone ok?”

“We’re fine, dad.” Sydney says. “How are you?”

“A little confused?” James says. “Where’s Jessie?”

Everyone looks at the trail in fear. “She will be here.”,Gabrielle says confidently.

Suddenly walking out of the trail is a battered Xena. She takes her sword and puts it back in its holster. She looks at everyone and smiles. “It’s over!” she says. “She’s gone forever!” Beth and Sydney run to her and they hug each other. Xena looks over to James and walks to him. “Dad, are you ok?”

James stares at Xena examining the transformation in her. “Jess? Or Xena?” he says confused. Xena smiles at him and says, “We will work it out, dad. I want you to meet someone.” Xena walks over to Gabrielle and they hug each other.

“I knew you’d make it!” Gabrielle says smiling.

Xena looks at her and smiles. “Listen, I know your parents and you are on the outs, but I want you to know that you are a part of my family,” Xena says. “I want you to meet my dad.” Xena grabs Gabrielle's hand and they walk over to James.

“Dad, I want you to meet my soulmate and partner Gabrielle.” Xena says.

James looks at them and smiles. “Wow!” James says. “Hello Gabrielle.”

“Hi sir,” Gabrielle says smiling. “Nice to meet you.”

“Well now, I guess I’m finally going to take that vacation just to soak this all in,” James says smiling as they all laugh.

Lester walks up to Xena and Gabrielle. “Hey Gabbie!” he says smiling. They turn and look at him. “So now can you tell me who I remind you of?”

Xena looks down at Gabrielle confused, they walk about three feet from the crowd. “Ok, the song he always whistles, his jawbone and goofy looks, the urge to either slap him or hug him.” Gabrielle says smiling. Xena gets a smirk on her face. “Joxer!” they both say at the same time.

“Let’s just keep this to ourselves for a while,” Xena says smiling. “I say we let him figure this out on his own. He could just be a descendant though.”

They turn around and walk over to him. “Les, you do remind us of someone,” Xena tells him.

“Who?” Lester asks, getting excited.

“Yourself,” Gabrielle says. Lester gets a confused look on his face. “Just be you, Les,” Gabrielle says as he smiles at them.

“Come on,” Kira says. “Let's go back to the house!”

“We will meet you there,” Xena answers.

Everyone gets into the truck and rental car and heads back to the main house only leaving the bike. Xena looks at a sad Gabrielle. “Aphrodite, she’s gone,” Gabrielle says. “She sacrificed herself for us.”

Xena gets a sad look on her face as they hug. Suddenly Hercules appears. “Hello ladies,” he says. They look at him with a sad look. “What’s the matter?” Hercules asks worriedly “Alti is gone, right?”

“Yeah, but so is Aphrodite,” Xena says. “She sacrificed herself for us.”

Hercules smiles at them. “She’s ok!” he says. Xena and Gabrielle look at him confused. “When Ares and Aphrodite fought, they over extended their powers, sending them back to their castles. They are both exhausted, but not gone.” Xena and Gabrielle look at each other still confused. “See for yourself!” Hercules says as he points to the ground behind them. They turn around and see a pink rose blooming in the desert. They both smile back at him. “When she’s ready, she will visit you,” he says smiling. “I think it’s time you two start that second chance again.” They smile at each other as the pink rose fully blooms.

Just then, off in the distance the spirits of Mel and Janice appear. They smile at Xena and Gabrielle. “Wow! it’s really them,” Janice says.

Mel gazes proudly at them. “It sure is!” Mel says as she looks at Janice. She looks back over at Xena and Gabrielle. “We are now at peace.”

Janice smiles at Mel then looks at Xena and Gabrielle. “Thanks ladies!” Janice says smiling. Janice grabs Mel's hand as their spirits disappear.

————————-

Three months have passed. Xena and Gabrielle walk into the cabin with luggage. They set it down and share a passionate kiss. “It’s so good to be home!” Gabrielle says smiling.

“I agree!” Xena says.

“Your dad is very accepting of us,” Gabrielle says. “And your sisters are amazing.”

“They adore you,” Xena says. “I’m just glad we are back home, where we belong. Two weeks away from here drove me crazy.”

“You know what drove me crazy?” Gabrielle says as she wraps her arms around Xena’s neck, “Not being able to do this!” Gabrielle kisses Xena, who looks at her seductively. “And this,” Gabrielle says as she starts to unbutton Xena’s shirt and kisses her neck.

“I missed that!” Xena says as the kiss excites her more. They set the Chakram and Sais on the coffee table and Gabrielle pushes Xena on the couch.

“And this!” Gabrielle says with desire in her eyes. Xena smiles passionately at her as Gabrielle straddles Xena and passionately kisses her.

Xena starts to unbutton Gabrielle’s shirt when all of the sudden a bright light appears, causing Xena and Gabrielle to jump up and grab the Chakram and Sais, ready for battle. All of a sudden, Aphrodite appears, smiling at them. “Hey my warrior babes!” she says smiling. “I’m back!”

Both Xena and Gabrielle smile as they set their weapons down! “Aphrodite!” Gabrielle says as she gives her a huge hug!

“We are so glad to see you, Aphrodite!” Xena says smiling. “We seriously thought you were gone forever.” Aphrodite smiles at them. “The Goddess of Love can never die!” she says as she snaps her fingers. “I just needed some R&R, ya know, get the love flowing back in me.”

“Can I ask what happened to Ares?” Xena wonders.

Aphrodite gives them a smirk and says, “Well, after I kicked his ass and sent him back to his castle, he’s sort of been laying low, licking his wounds a bit.”

Both Xena and Gabrielle chuckle a bit. Aphrodite, noticing their half unbuttoned shirts, looks at them and smiles and says, “I see you two have been catching up with each other while I’ve been gone!”

Xena and Gabrielle look down and straighten their shirts. “Hey, you know me! I’m all about love!” Aphrodite says smirking at them. “So, what’s been up with my warrior babes! Are you Xena and Gabrielle or Jessie and Abigail?”

Xena and Gabrielle look at each other, then at Aphrodite, “To those close to us, we are Xena and Gabrielle,” Xena responds. “To the outside world, we are still Jessie and Abigail, for now.”

“We do have a mix of both in us, it will always be that way,” Gabrielle explains. “Unless Ares stirs something up, we are just laying low.”

“Good!” Aphrodite says. “After everything you two have been through, in both lifetimes, you need time for each other.”

Xena and Gabrielle smile at Aphrodite. “We want to thank you for bringing us back,” Xena says. “We appreciate it.”

“Well, it’s like I told Gabrielle, you both save me a lot back in the day, this is my way of saying thank you!” Aphrodite responds. Gabrielle smirks at her. “What’s wrong, Little One!”

“Nothing,” Gabrielle says. “We just like this new you that’s all!”

“Yeah! You have changed!” Xena says.

Aphrodite smiles wide and says, “Well, you know it’s still all about me!”

“Of course!” Gabrielle says. “We wouldn’t want it any other way!”

“I just now defend those close to my heart!” Aphrodite says. “So, what else is up!”

“My aunt gave us the cabin,” Xena says. “I’m going to help her on the ranch, connect more to this place.”

“And I changed my major,” Gabrielle says.

“To what?” asks Aphrodite.

“Literature and film, with a minor in web design!”

“The bard is expanding!” Aphrodite says happily. “Yes!” She looks at them seriously. “I will still be around, if you gals need me. I just want to warn you that when Ares does decide to resurface, it’s going to be big.”

“We have a feeling it will.” Xena says seriously.

“You two just lay low, enjoy yourselves,” Aphrodite smiles. “Yell if you need me!” Aphrodite disappears in a ball of pink glitter.

Xena and Gabrielle look at each other solemnly. “When do you think he will finally resurface?” Gabrielle wonders.

“I don’t know,” Xena answers. “But we have to be prepared for it.”

In Ares' throne room, Ares stares into the distance with anger in his eyes. “I think this new world needs to get prepared for the God of War!” he exclaims. “If Xena and Gabrielle can walk around in this new world, I need to shake it up for them. Resurrect some things.” He gets up and looks at an image of them. "Be prepared to relive some things, you two. I will shake up your new life, for the worse!" Ares gets an evil look on his face as he contemplates his plan to conquer the world and to lure Xena back to the darkness that once had her soul ...

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Mindy Schwigel
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The use of trade names, trade names, trade names etc. in this work does not justify, even without special labeling, the assumption that such names should be considered as free within the meaning of trade mark and trademark protection legislation and therefore may be used by anyone. Despite careful editing, mistakes can creep in. Author and publisher are therefore grateful for relevant information. Any liability is excluded, all rights reserved.

(Disclaimer: Xena and Gabrielle are reborn again! Ready to live out their second chance in life and fight for the greater good in the 21st century!)

Coming soon!! Season 1 of Chakram Reborn

© 2020 Mindy Schwigel
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