DISCLAIMER AND AUTHOR'S NOTE: All Xena stuff is the legal property of MCA/Universal and Renaissance Pictures. No copyright infringement was intended in the writing of this fiction. All other characters that appear belong to me. This story cannot be sold or used for profit in any way. Copies may be made for private use only and must include this copyright notice and disclaimer.

And All My Dreams, Torn Asunder
By Kristjan Brezovnik

The scientists were confused by the strange activity in the lava stream and they had all their devices set up to monitor the spot which they thought was the center. When the scientists thought that lava was about to erupt, they ran to their shelter. They knew it wouldn't be a big eruption and they felt confident that they were safe there. But suddenly everything stopped for a few moments and when the scientists thought that that was it, the surface of the lava stream breach and fingers appeared. The fingers were followed by the rest of the hand and the hand was soon joined by its counterpart.

The scientists stared, astonished, as the gap widened and a head finally came out. The rest of the body slowly followed and finally the strange being lay on the hardened lava and the gap closed behind it. The being lay still for a few moments, resting, and then slowly got up. The scientists finally overcame their confusion and started to record and examine the data.

The being looked around and then stretched, its eyes closed. Then it opened its eyes and looked at itself, for the first time noticing how scorched its body was. It closed its eyes again and after a moment it was engulfed in a bright fire, which only lasted for another moment. When the fire disappeared, the scientists noticed that the being was a woman. But what they didn't know was the fact that it was no ordinary woman, it was a goddess and she wasn't happy.

Suddenly the woman screamed and yelled something which only the native members of the team understood and even they not completely.

"Damn you, Gabrielle! Damn you, Artemis!"

Suddenly, in a flash of fire, another woman appeared, another goddess. The first goddess, the one with dark hair looked at the newcomer, the one with blond hair, and when she recognized her, she shot a lightning bolt toward her.

The blond goddess easily avoided it and she shook her head as the dark-headed goddess staggered a bit, her powers still not fully restored.

"Nice seeing you too, Velasca," she said, but there was no mocking in her voice.

"Get lost, Callisto," Velasca spat at her.

Callisto shook her head again.

"Now, now, that's no way to treat a friend."

"You're not my friend."

"Oh, come now, you're not still mad at me, are you? It was nothing personal and I did offer you my help."

"And just why shouldn't I be? I was trapped in the lava for a long time and that wimp, Gabrielle, completely ruined the Amazons."

"Well, if you ask me, her way was the right one."

"I'm not."

"Oh, well," Callisto said and looked around. "Hmm, it's been a while since I've last been here," she said thoughtfully.

Velasca stared at her, but when she didn't notice any hostility, she took a good look at Callisto. She noticed that there was something different about her, not just her clothes, which were very odd to Velasca.

"How long have I been in there?" she finally asked.

Callisto looked back at her.

"Oh, about 2500 years."

Velasca sighed. Then she looked behind Callisto, noticing the movement.

The scientists had finally gathered enough courage to send out a team to find out more about the two strange women. Velasca glared at them and then fired a bolt at them. Callisto saw her intention and fired a bolt of her own to deflect Velasca's. Velasca looked at her angrily as the scientists scurried back to their shelter.

"Why did you do that for?" she demanded.

"You don't want to go to Tartarus, do you?"

"What do you mean?" Velasca asked, confused.

"Well, we've been banished from Olympus. Not that it bothers me, but Zeus said that if we kill just for fun, like we did in the past, he's gonna strip us of our powers and send us straight to Tartarus. I've been there and believe me, it's not a fun place. Anyway, you're gonna have to become a good girl or find some solitary place to live," Callisto explained. "You can come to my place for a while, to get the feel of the time," she offered after a pause.

Velasca stared at her, surprised.

"What happened to you?" she finally asked.

Callisto gave her a long look.

"I had time to think, a lot of it."

Velasca sighed. All the hopes and dreams she had of Amazons as a strong nation were gone and so were they. Gone and forgotten and there was no reason for her to exist anymore, she was just a relic of an age long gone.

"Wanna come with me?" Callisto asked.

Velasca gave her a long look.

"There's nothing for me here, I might as well go to Tartarus."

Callisto was surprised, this was certainly not the reaction she had expected from Velasca.

"Believe me, you're better off here. It may suck, but it's still better than Tartarus."

Velasca reconsidered the offer. She knew Callisto to be an obsessed sadistic homicidal bitch and an insane psychotic sociopathic maniac, but it was quite obvious that she had changed. A lot. She also knew that Callisto had been dead and in Tartarus, so she had to have first hand experience of what it's like down there. Velasca decided that she was inclined to believe her. She also realized that she didn't hate her.

"Why not," she finally said, not really caring.

"Great," Callisto said excitedly. "Why don't you change your clothes first?"

Velasca looked at Callisto's clothes and then at her own. She finally looked at Callisto's again and then waved her hand. A flash of light engulfed her and when it disappeared, she wore clothes identical to Callisto's. Callisto smiled.

"Not a bad choice," she said. "Come, let's destroy the evidence," she said and headed to the scientists' shelter.

When she got there, the door was locked. Callisto shook her head, amused. She disappeared and reappeared inside the shelter, and Velasca was right behind her.

"Okay, people, listen up," Callisto said. "I don't care what kind of an excuse you make, but you didn't see us. Because if you did," she said, grinning evilly, "I'll have to kill you." She looked around. "Who's the boss around here?" she asked. "I'm bad enough to mess with," she said when no one stepped out, shaking her head, and pointed at Velasca, "but my friend here has just spent a long time trapped in the lava and she's not nearly as sane as I am."

Callisto giggled at what she had just said.

"I'm in charge," a woman finally said.

Callisto gave her an appraising look which made the woman feel very uncomfortable.

"Tell you what you're gonna do. You're gonna erase all the records of what happened here and I mean all of them. Got that?"

The woman nodded.

"Then do it."

"I'll need help," the woman said, her voice trembling.

"Whatever," Callisto said. "Oh, I suggest you don't try to trick me and send the data out," she said as the scientists moved, "I would be most displeased and my friend even more."

The chief scientist nodded and Callisto stepped to Velasca.

"As you see, fear and intimidation still work," she said and grinned.

Velasca didn't respond.

The scientists did their best and after a few minutes the chief scientists came to Callisto.

"We're done," she said.

Callisto smiled.

"Excellent," she said and changed her smile into an evil grin. "But if I ever find out that you lied to me, I will be back and believe me, Tartarus will seem like the Elysian Fields in comparison to what I'm gonna do to you. Got that?" she asked and looked around.

The scientists eagerly nodded, and Callisto smiled again.

"Good. Have a nice day," she said and turned to Velasca. "Come, let's go," she said and vanished.

Velasca gave the scientists an evil grin of her own and then disappeared.

The End