The Chosen One II

Part 6 - Jonus

No one moved.

Suddenly, the guards snapped awake, as though they had been in some kind of dream. The stared at eachother, unaware of where they were or what had happened to them.

"The spell is broken, now go home," Xena said to them. She turned back to Joxer and Gabrielle. "C'mon, it's time for us to leave." Her voice was quiet.

"Xena," Gabrielle said softly, her eyes gazing at the still form of Jonus. "We can't just leave her here."

"Jonus?" Joxer said with amazement. He pulled away from his friends and stumbled over to her form. "Hey, Jonus. It's me, Joxer." He held her head in his lap, pushing her hair back. "Come on, wake up." He began to shake her. "Please, Jonus, give me something here." A small moan escaped her lips. "Oh, thank the gods! I knew you would be okay." He held her head tightly, rocking back and forth. "I knew you wouldn't leave me." He felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Joxer?"

He looked into the eyes of Gabrielle.

"We have to leave." Her voice was gentle but strong. "Now."

Joxer looked back down at Jonus's pale face and nodded. "Okay." He slowly got up and lifted Jonus into his arms. He staggered a little when he tried to walk, but quickly found the strength to continue. He whispered words to Jonus the entire way back to the Amazon village, ignoring everyone else, including Gabrielle.

"He loves her, doesn't he?" the Amazon queen asked the Warrior Princess.

"Yes."

Both women stared at the healing hut that Jonus had been taken into. They had returned in the middle of the night and still found dozens of Amazons needing medical care. They had done their best and were relieved to find Lwellen and Cirinus joining them after seeing the attack on the village. Only three Amazons had been killed during the attack.

No one was sure if Jonus would make a fourth.

Cirinus examined Jonus completely and shook his head. "There's nothing I can do for her." He looked at Joxer. "I'm sorry, my friend, but her wounds are too deep, too strong for me." He trotted out of the hut, meeting Xena and Gabrielle. "It doesn't look like she'll live past the night. I'm sorry."

"There's nothing anyone could have done. The amount of power Hestocles hit her with, I'm surprised she's alive at all," Xena said, her face stoic.

Gabrielle bowed her head and felt tears well up. "Oh, Xena. All of this for what? Immortality? Greed?" She faced the warrior. "When will this end? When will people learn?"

"I don't know, Gabrielle." She put her arm around the bard. "I don't know." Shadows danced across their forms from the burning fires and from the light of the moon. Xena gazed into the heavens and could have sworn that she saw the moon turn red for a brief moment.

"Artemis?" Jonus called out. "Where are you? I need you now."

"I'm here," the goddess answered, appearing before the young woman. She had a compassionate look on her face, but with a hint of sadness.

"I'm dying, aren't I?"

Artemis stepped in close and held Jonus's face. "Yes."

Jonus furrowed her brow. "But I don't want to die. I want to live and see everything in the world."

"Your time is now, Jonus. You can't change that."

"You can."

The goddess took a deep breathe. "No. This is your destiny and I can't change that."

"But you already have changed it, twice!" Jonus stepped back, anger mounting in her. "You're abandoning me...again." Her eyes pleaded with her protectress to change the situation, to make any deal to allow Jonus to live.

"I'm not abandoning you. I promised I never would."

"Then why am I dying?"

"Because that is your fate, your destiny." She reached out again, but Jonus declined.

"You knew this all along, didn't you?"

Artemis paused a long while before answering. "Yes."

Jonus sank to her knees. "Why, Artemis? Why did you let me leave the forest? Why bother with the Amazons?" She stopped. "Why Joxer?"

The goddess knelt down. "Because you needed all of those things and everything they gave you."

"But now it's being taken away. Why allow a man to see if you're only going to blind him later on?" Tears began to fall down her cheeks. "You've shown me all the things I could have, all the love I could have, and now you're pulling it away from me." She rose. "You are a cruel goddess! I can't believe I could love someone like you. I hate you!" She began to walk away when Artemis grabbed her arm.

"I love you, Jonus and I wanted you to see what life was like. The deal with Zeus was over. What was I to do with you? If you'd gone to some village, you'd never be accepted. Men don't like strong women like you. Then where would you be? Lost, afraid, or worse. I wasn't going to let that happen to you. You were going to succeed."

"Then kill me." Jonus's voice was icy.

"No, I let you experience everything a mortal experiences, including death."

"But why now? Why couldn't I have become old like everyone else?" Why couldn't I love Joxer?

"The Fates wouldn't allow that. I can't control them, Jonus, believe me. They decreed that you are to die now. If I could, I would let you live to become old, to know of family and friends. But that just won't happen. Not everyone lives that way."

"I don't care about other people, or the Fates. I only care about me and what you've condemned me to." She turned away from the goddess.

"One day, Jonus, you will understand." The goddess faded away.

"Artemis?" Jonus turned back around. "Artemis...?"

"Artemis..." Jonus's voice whispered. "Arte..."

"Shhh, easy, Jonus," Joxer said, holding her hand. "Just rest. Don't try to talk." He looked down on her form, his eyes full of concern and love. He stroked her hair. "Shhh."

Jonus looked up at him from her bed and felt pain. Her entire body was full of pain and even the simple act of breathing was difficult. "Joxer..." She wanted to touch his face, but couldn't. Her arms felt like deadweight and she couldn't move much else.

I'm dying, she thought. Artemis is going to let me die. She closed her eyes tightly. Oh, Joxer, there's so much I want to say to you. I love you! "I..."

He put his fingers to her lips. "No. Rest."

Jonus wanted to pull his fingers away and shout out that she loved him, that she never wanted him to leave her. But she couldn't. She could only lie there, watching his brown eyes become sadder and sadder as the minutes passed. He knew she was dying. He knew there was nothing no mortal could do to help her. She had no time left to tell him.

Zeus it all! She was going to let him know how much he meant to her, one way or another.

With a concerted effort, Jonus drew her arm up and touched his cheek. He held her hand there and felt how cold it was. She felt how hot his hand was. She closed her eyes and focused on his heartbeat. There! She felt it now and it soothed her. She slowly opened her eyes when she felt his tear land on her cheek. She swallowed with great difficulty, then began to speak. "Joxer...I...I..." She could feel the blood draining from her head, becoming weak and lightheaded. "I...wanted...to...say..."

"Shhh, don't say anything. Please, just rest." He held her hand even more tightly.

"I love you," she blurted out, her body falling deeper into the bed.

They stared at eachother for a long time, her laboured breathing the only sound either one of them heard. Joxer swallowed. "I love you, too, Jonus," he whispered into her ear. "I love you, too." He kissed her ear, then her cheek and finally her lips. Jonus closed her eyes and felt the warmth of his lips on her's, how softly they caressed her, gently probing. She took a deep breathe...

Joxer placed her hand on her chest, holding it an extra moment. He closed his eyes, fighting back the tears, then let go. He pulled the skin up and over Jonus's face. "Good-bye, Jonus." He leaned forward, his head down and wept for the loss of the only woman who loved him as much as he loved her.

A crowd of women gathered around four funeral pyres. At one, however, was a man. He stared intently at the burning mound before him, little emotion on his face. A woman sang a song for the dead and only after she was finished did the man know that his friend, Xena, Warrior Princess, had sung the song for Jonus. She went over to him, but he ignored her. She waited, then left him alone, rejoining the other women. He stayed there until the fire went out and then stayed even longer.

"The dead can hear our thoughts," Gabrielle said to him.

Joxer's eyes looked beyond the pyre, then to the ground. He swallowed. I love you, Jonus. He turned towards Gabrielle, paused, then held her. She returned the hug, stroking the back of his head.

"Gabrielle," he whispered.

The End

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