He collected
his thoughts before continuing. "Gods can't really die. The closest we
come to it is long-term imprisonment, and there are only a few places
that can hold a God for any significant amount of time. One place is a
shaft near Zeus' throne on Mount Olympus. This is another place. When a
God dies we don't end up in Hades' realm, instead we end up here or in
another similar place.
"Now for my question. Gabrielle's dead? That'll probably push Xena back
over the edge into Ares' side. Was it you who did the little blonde
bard in?"
"What's with you and these double questions?" retorted the former
Warrior Queen. "Hmm. No, I didn't kill Gabrielle. No one did. In fact,
she sacrificed herself to save Xee-nah -- for the 'Warrior Princess'
was about to sacrifice herself to save the world. That bit of irony
struck me as somehow appropriate and I wanted to let Xee-nah know it.
"So this place can't hold us forever. How do we get out?"
Strife sighed. "Isn't it obvious? We get out when our full powers
return."
"What do you mean by that? We lost our Godly powers?" Callisto asked
with an intent look to her prison bunkmate.
"Hey, you're out of turn," whined the minor Deity.
"Just answer me or I'll cut you up into little pieces," she threatened
with a low growl.
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"No can do
Princess," taunted the juvenile God. "Answer my question and I'll
answer yours. Why did you let Xena kill you?"
Callisto looked nonplussed.
"Come on now. You're a Goddess! Xena had no chance against you. Why did
you let her kill you?" he asked a second time, this time more seriously.
The Mad Goddess quietly mulled the question for a few minutes. "You're
right. I did let Xee-nah kill me. I wanted her to kill me. But when
Gabrielle died I wanted to live. I wanted to see Xee-nah broken, and
not because I had anything to do with it. Why did I get so close to
her? Why didn't I block the blow?"
"Maybe it was guilt," suggested Strife.
Callisto gave him a surprised look. "What?"
"You know: guilt, remorse, repentance, contrition, regret," he rambled.
"When you killed me, I could feel your self-condemnation. You're a
regular conundrum. On the outside you're a remorseless force of
destruction. But deep inside you hate that part of yourself, you want
to pay for your heinous acts."
"That's. Not. True." denied the Goddess through gritted teeth. "I'm
Callisto, Scourge of Greece! I'm who I am because of Xee-nah! There is
no Goodness, no Compassion, no Regret left in me! NONE!"
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