Katrina's Fan Fiction | Fan Fiction Site | Home Page
These pages were last updated: June 15, 1998
İMay 1998
URL: ../../STO/hell/hell40.htmlThe 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.
Gabrielle explained for the third time, her white fangs catching the glimmer of the dawn's early red light, how complicated things really were for the Tartarans. She was glad Xena had been joking, or so Xena had said as she'd slapped the red woman's back. The Tartaran had decided to take Xena at face value because she couldn't seriously be considering trying to win over the whole of Tartarus. It would be too hard. There were too many factors involved. Right?
Xena looked beautiful, her skin glimmering bronze and perfect and her expression peaceful. She hardly seemed warlike at all, at that moment. But, the warrior listened very carefully, noting the important names, the references, catagorizing them as important or not. She could feel that Gabrielle hadn't told her everything. She memorized them in an instant, much the same way she'd understood and memorized the maps and the scrolls she'd pickedup. If she needed, Xena could find her way around the nine levels, make contacts even,....if she kept her head.
Tok looked bored, but kept her position as paperweight, trusting that she would be free soon. She thought of whining, but changed her mind when she felt the soft pressure of Izzy's caress. Then she started to purr contentedly.
The politics were hell, Gabrielle informed Xena. There were so many different kinds of Tartarans that the bard despaired of cataloging them all. There were bigwigs on each level and some that had control over portions of each of them. There was a tiny beginnings of a coalition that she was part of, but that small alliance of roaming "friends," could snap at any moment depending on the moodswings that overtook the Tartarans.
Gabrielle shared her theory that Tartarus was possibly a ring of worlds, tied together through portals and passageways. She said, "I'd been watching the stars at night, and one day I realized they changed from level to level." She still hadn't explored the full of them, just portions. She couldn't explain why the Tartaran's changed. She only knew that they started out Human and became....what they were.
Xena absorbed each word and nuance, weighing them in her mind. She'd not been serious at first, truly, but the more she listened to Gabrielle Izacon, the more convinced the exwarlord was, deep in her gut, that she was looking at the next ruler of Tartarus. A very reluctant ruler, but competent. Xena didn't even bother imagining herself in the position. The humility and knowledge that were the bard's essence were what made Gabrielle perfect for the job, but the red hued Tartaran made it clear, "There's no way I'd try for it. There are so many others who want it, who've tried for it. I don't want it. I like what I do. I mean.. I know I'll never leave, but.. I have a good life. Besides, I know I couldn't do it alone."
Xena had smiled understandingly, her eyes sparkling a tease, "Yes, but you're not alone any more, are you?" Gabrielle Izacon reeled back as if she'd been slapped in the face. Then Xena, to get the bard breathing again, had said something innocuous. "Well, we've got to much to do in the meanwhile," she soothed. Yes, ...like find out who the players were, who would be loyal to Izacon, inform Melosa, get input, and start thinking on different levels. ...if what Gabrielle said was true. ..Different worlds meant different strategies, right..Thinking about this, dealing on this little problem... would buy her time to work on Gabrielle, and it would help Melosa with her temple building, ...Xena smiled reassuringly, "so I wouldn't worry about it."
For some reason, Gabrielle worried anyway.
Katrina's Fan Fiction | Fan Fiction Site | Home Page
These pages were last updated: June 15, 1998
İMay 1998
URL: ../../STO/hell/hell40.html