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These pages were last updated: November 25, 1997
ŠNovember 1997
The following is a bit of alternative fiction based on certain characters from the Xenaverse. It is not meant to infringe on anyone else's rights. If you don't agree or disapprove, please go read something else.
SQUICK alert: This Tartarus for Hell's sake! Expect grodities.
Xex Alert: Yep there will be. Sizzling Hot, but later.
The loud howls and moans permeated the air and shivered through the campers' bones. "Gods!" Marcus cried out, holding his hands to his ears, "I hate this part!" Salmoneus grimaced in response. His own ears were covered with his blanket pressed against his head by his arms. He'd been very soundly sleeping when it all started and had just enough sleep to be thoroughly grumpy. The stew, while finished, remained in the pot, uneaten. The retching sounds put the adventurers off their feed.
Oriena looked morosely out into the deepening dark, hoping to catch sight of her lover. The demon had promised they'd be back by now. Where were they? A worry started niggling in her chest. They should never have trusted her. She was. . .
Perdicus, who had better night vision than anyone knew, gave the call. "There they are!" He bounced up on his feet, ignoring the roiling in his stomach. He was just glad to see Xena. It didn't occur to him, until after they entered the camp circle, that Izzy was nowhere to be seen. "Where's the demon?"
Melosa settled onto the log, besides Oriena. She untied the dumbunny from her belt. "She'll be here in awhile." A horrendously loud and painful sounding yowl pierced the air. The Amazon grimaced, very grateful for the demoness' advice. Unlike her compatriots, her stomach was as calm as you please. She grabbed a bowl and ladled into the stew. Perdicus turned a little green.
Xena grinned, "Stomach bothering you?" She grabbed the man's wrist and tapped him hard and quick. He gasped back in shock, grabbing his hand away. The change in his expression, when he realized that he wasn't queazy anymore, was worth the jab.
Gods, she loved pressure points. Xena grinned evilly and waved Marcus forward.
Some time later Izzy settled onto the log on the opposite side of the dimming fire. Tok, who still didn't look so good settled at her feet. The metal stretched sound of sharpening sung through the now almost silent air. Izzy found the rhythm comforting.
Xena looked up, unsmiling. She nodded at the daggite, whose head was now cushioned between its paws. "Is *it* going to be alright?"
Izzy grimaced and settled her hand on the creature's head, lightly carressing its horns. She looked back and smiled dourly. "Yet another soul returned the hard way. Yes. She will be fine." The demoness shook her head, "It's so damn difficult for everyone. The soul, who must be returned to itself for the next day, the Tartaran's who must expell what they have eaten, and the people who have to listen to all the ruckus because some Tartarans are so hooked they can't see the damage they do to themselves." She sniffled in disgust.
"And the souls?" Xena asked. She recontinued the even sound of her sharpening.
Izzy sighed and nodded, "And the souls."
The demoness watched the way the muscles played in Xena's arms as she worked. She settled back against the log, letting her palms rest against the rough surface. There were sounds of life forms chirruping and coughing serenely in the night air. Izzy smiled softly. She really did love this part of Tartarus country. Salmoneus was snoring very lightly. Izzy hid the grin that threatened to take over her face. She listened to the sleepy noise of lovemaking in the other tents. She did tend to have that effect on humans.
Xena looked up at her with questioning blue eyes. Her hands never stilled, but they moved from her sword to her dagger. "Did you ever?"
The demoness intuited the rest of the question and answered honestly, "Yes." No sense dodging. She was a Tartaran after all.
Xena nodded carefully and let the silence fall between them. The sharpening noise began again, like a short metal heartbeat.
Izzy leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees. She looked quietly into the fire. "I was terribly hungry, starved." Xena looked up. "I didn't know what it was, only that it smelled okay, edible. It wasn't rotted, like I expected." Izzy pursed her lips and looked into the night air, "The guard smiled at me, without all those teeth, you know and I thought, he's being friendly, it can't be bad." The demoness laughed.
"It wasn't. . . at first." She winced in memory then shrugged. "How was I to know?"
Xena looked up, the sound of metal being scraped was gone. "My only consolation, when I found out the truth, was that the I also discovered that the souls go back to themselves." Izzy grinned lopsidedly, a little painfully, and looked contemplatively at her hands, "I've seen it from both sides. In and out," she explained.
The warrior closed her eyes and swallowed. She heard Izzy's voice as if from a distance, "I know you were in Tartarus before. Everyone one knows that. Did you ever?" Xena opened her eyes and forced her hands to stop trembling. Her mind kept thinking. . and Gabrielle?
"No." The warrior didn't mean it to sound as sharp as it did and grimaced apologetically.
Izzy didn't take offense, "I didn't expect that you would." She looked at Xena reflectively, "You've got a strong will." She sat up straight and fiddled with the hem of her skirt, "I had to work on mine." The way her fingers moved caught Xena's attention for a moment and the warrior felt a tingly little pulse in her groin. Gods, such a subject and all she could think of was how those hands would feel against her skin.
She took a breath and nodded softly in acknowledgment of the demoness' answer. Izzy noted the tired set of of the warrior's shoulders. The Tartaran days and nights were long, much longer than earth days. "You should get some rest. I figure you'll want to go searching for your friend tomorrow." The warrior gazed at Izzy for a second before sliding the dagger in its sheath. Again, thought the warrior, she does this without the asking.
The darkly beautiful woman gave the demoness a sidelong glance and began packing her supplies away. Actually there was more stuff here than she usually carried. It felt odd, but there was no Argo to do the transporting. She missed her steed. "Where are we going?"
"Tomorrow we're starting on the first level." Xena raised her eyebrows in surprise. Izzy nodded, "This is the trial level." She waved in the general area, "Everyone starts here. To move on, those who are being punished have to let go of their trials." Xena nodded carefully, assimilating what she was being told.
The demoness shifted a bit, letting her legs cross over comfortably, "Like Marta, the woman who carried the world on her shoulders." The warrior's lips quirked at the imagery. Izzy continued, using her body to tell part of the story, "One day, when the world just felt too heavy, she said, 'I'm tired of carrying this around.' Her hands let go and the weight of the world fell off of her shoulders. For the first time in eons, she could stand upright. She saw a vast beautiful field in front of her and started walking, the old world was forgotten. Eventually, after several adventures, since not everyone knows the shortcuts," Xena's lips quirked up, "she made her way to the plains and began first level." Xena looked thoughtful and Izzy tossed a stick into the fire, "Tomorrow morning, since I do know the shortcuts," Xena laughed lightly, "we'll start walking the plains."
Izzy grinned her toothy smile and her eyes flashed, "We may even, if we're lucky, catch a ride." She shrugged and settled her hands back against the logs rough surface, "Of course, we may have to fight for it. The plainsmen don't give up their strigers too easily."
The warrior's eyes lit up. She always did love a good fight and truth be told, she was in the mood for one. She grinned, for the first time really, back at Izzy. "Well," she said, as she stood up, and started walking toward her tent. "Who said things had to be easy?"
The demon laughed gently in appreciation, and watched the sway of Xena's hips, until the woman was out of her sight. She listened to the drowsy greetings and took a deep breath. Then she slid down besides Tok, began slowly stroking its soft scaled body, and watched the Tartarus stars come out.
Xenite Temple | Fan Fiction Site | Home Page
These pages were last updated: November 25, 1997
ŠNovember 1997