Phantom Bard

This story is a Halloweenish misadventure, involving an inept vampire in New York City. It features guest appearances by characters from Chelle's 'Alternative to Uber', and Phantom Bard's 'Real Vampires'. Disturbed humor for adult readers; a collaboration written for Halloween 2003.

This is a series of five vignettes [mostly classic with Mel/Janice] inspired by the lyrics of the Pete Seeger song, 'Where Have All The Flowers Gone', as recorded by The Kingston Trio. I was going through my old 45s after watching a tape of 'A Good Day'.

The TV series, Xena Warrior Princess gave rise to a number of memorable characters. First are Xena, the Warrior Princess, and her soulmate, Gabrielle, the Amazon Queen. Perhaps the most popular variations on their characters are Janice Covington and Melinda Pappas. Beyond these four archetypal figures stand Annie and Mattie and the Clones. The episode settings imply that Annie and Mattie are contemporaries of the Clones, with all four living in modern times, but the souls of Xena and Gabrielle seem to reside with Annie and Mattie. So, what of the Clones? Who are they, really? Are they merely simulacra, or the closest things to Xena and Gabrielle in the modern world? Consulting "Bring In The Clones" for their backstory leaves some gaping holes and suggests some answers. It is from those answers that this story grows. The story demands a more plausible history for the Warrior Princess and the Bard of Potidaea. Previously, all we knew about Xena and Gabrielle came from the TV series. Their adventures were dramatized by the production company from translations of scrolls found by Covington and Pappas. Only now can the truth be told, by those individuals who can lay claim to it in the first person. Meet the real soulmates. (Revised Version 11/30/2003, original contest version, 2/27/2003).

First Principals

This story revolves around the cloned warrior Prima, introduced in the story “Clonefic 3”, and her adventures in the era of the Fall of Troy. In that distant past, populated by heroes and the Amazons of Themiskyra, Prima exceeds the mission given her by the Conqueror and assures a future for the later soulmates, while finding love and arranging for the safekeeping of a great treasure, the ultimate heirloom of the Amazon Nation.

Having been given free will in the moment of their creation, the orders of angels had the capacity to make choices. Among these was that of entertaining pride and ambition. It is said that one even went so far as to ascend in aspirations to enter heaven by right of his own will and become the equal of God, to usurp His prerogative of Creation, and to take a station above all other angels. For this, God banished Lucifer from heaven, throwing him down into hell, and with him fully a third of the angels, being those who had followed in the footsteps of his rebellion. These became numbered in latter days as demons under the dominion of Satan. Among the fallen were a Hashmalim of the Angelic Order of Dominations, separated from her beloved Tarshishim of the Order of Virtues. And having lost heaven, what greater misery could follow a fallen angel down the ages?

This is the story of Gabrielle's life following the disastrous mission with Xena in Japa. A badly disillusioned Gabrielle travels the known world, searching for something to restore her purpose and her faith in life. Along the way, she becomes aware of a threat to the eternal destiny that she was to share with her soulmate, and a future too horrible to accept. Bound to her destiny with Xena is the destiny of her descendants, her ancestors, and the Amazon Nation. She must use all the lessons she learned from her teacher, become all her soulmate tried to be, and serve the Greater Good on a scale that even her beloved Xena had never imagined. The innocent farm girl from Potidaea will become the greatest hero the ancient world has ever seen.

Originally written shortly after the episode 'When Fates Collide', in reaction to the comportment of the characters in the closing scene following the destruction of the Loom of the Fates. It has not been changed to take into account the subsequent episodes, especially AFIN. This is a short story exploring what the destruction of the Fates' loom might really mean. (Originally Version 5/20/2001).

Helluin Maeg-mormenel, a dour Elf of the Noldor, returned to Middle Earth from the Blessed Realm in the exile of her people. She hoped to explore the Hither Lands as she had been unable to do on the westward march thousands of years before, but what she found instead was a world gone far downhill. Read of how she talks to trees and they fall asleep mid-sentence. Discover why Galadriel has been ever jealous and snippy to her. Even Sauron takes an uncomfortable interest in her dark side. Not recognizing the best time to leave, she remains in the Mortal Lands and there survives the fading of her people. Across almost 17,000 years, Helluin's story takes her through the loss of every person she has ever known, to a meeting with a descendant so distant as to be inconceivable. In a bewildering world grown strange beyond her imagination, the love of strangers becomes her saving grace.

For ten long years following Xena's death, Gabrielle has carried on the Warrior Princess' mission, fighting for the Greater Good. Though Gabrielle has honored her soulmate's last decision to remain dead following the destruction of Yodoshi, she is also compelled to seek a way to resurrect her. Finally she enacts a daring long-range plan, manipulating the gods and even Xena herself to achieve her goal. But to make her plan work, Gabrielle has to die. (Revised Version 6/1/2003, Original Version 7/7/2001) .

Two enemies claimed the Warrior Princess as a daughter, the mortal warrior who tried to kill her, and the god who led her to darkness. Now, as her adventure races towards its conclusion, she will find the resolution to a question that has followed her all her life. "Paternal Instincts" answers many of the questions left by the episode, "The Furies", and defines a father's love. Is that love displayed in the lifelong machinations of the immortal who will never give up on her? Or is it to be found in the determination, of the dead man whom she believed had abandoned her, to return from the underworld to bring her the truth? Before she dies in her final battle, Xena will know that she was always cherished and always loved. (Revised Version 5/21/2003, Original Version, 11/5/2001)

It is twelve years after "Path of Vengeance", when Eve left to teach Eli's message in Indus and Chin. For all of those years she has remained true to the Way of Love, and Livia's violence is far in her past. Yet now, at the One God's command, she must go to the Temple of Jerusalem to be the protector of a young prophet, as her mother once protected her. Implicit in this mission is the temptation to return to the Darkness, for violence seems inescapable. Now Eve is torn between Eli's Way and the One God's mission, and her soul hangs in the balance. Will she become Livia again, or worse? (Revised Version 5/26/2003, Original Version 8/1/2001)