However, these were orders that he liked obeying, and meeting up in Amphipolis had allowed for him to stop the previous night in Poteidaia and see Lila. As usual, Gabby's parents were happy to see him, and all were simply amazed at his tales of living amongst the Amazons during Eve's recent Rite of Caste ceremony. Of course, he left out the part about almost dying amongst the Amazons, but his tales were enjoyed as much as one of Gabby's stories, and that pleased him to no end. He was also glad for the invitation to sleep indoors and have the chance to bathe and get cleaned up before meeting up with his friends. Lila even washed his clothes for him and shined his armor.

Fresh and clean-shaven, he made his adieus the next morning with promises that he would surely come again, and kissing Lila's hand gallantly, he said goodbye. Now he was on his way, and that night he would be at the inn with his friends, and that would surely be the perfect end to the perfect day.

And then Autolycus ran past him and nearly knocked him down.

"Hey!" Joxer yelped as he barely saved his hat from falling off, but the thief had already run way past him. "Autolycus!?"

"Can't talk right now!" the King of Thieves called over his shoulder. "Gotta run!"

"Huh!?" Joxer watched Autolycus rush straight into a thicket, then stood and scratched his neck in confused wonderment. "That was Autolycus, wasn't it? Wonder what he's running from?"

Just as he thought to turn and look behind him, he heard the sound of running feet coming from that direction, and he turned to see two, rather large, Aresian temple guards making tracks toward him. Suddenly fearing for himself, he turned tail and fled after Autolycus just as one of the guards yelled, "There's his accomplice! Get him!"

"Accomplice!?" Joxer wondered aloud as he beat a path through the wooded landscape. "Accomplice to what!?"

Whatever it was apparently did not matter to the men chasing him, so Joxer reverted to his incredibly sharp instinct for survival to get him out of yet another unearned scrape. At the very least, he could count on his feet to help him out if no one else would!

"For once, why can't I deserve to be chased?" he whined to himself, ducking into the same thicket Autolycus had dove into earlier. He then slalomed back and forth through the dense maze of bushes, as sure-footed as any rabbit, dodging bushes and ducking limbs until a pink hand reached out and grabbed him by the tunic.

"Whoa!" he cried out in fright as superhuman strength lifted him off his feet and pulled him into the extremely small center of a dense circle of bushes. A hand, belonging to someone now behind him, immediately slapped over his mouth to muffle the wannabe-warrior's reaction.

And Joxer did indeed react. His eyes fell immediately upon a woman, and despite her beauty and look of complete concern for him, her pink skin and blue hair disconcerted him on sight, and he cried out in surprise and extreme fright. He would have tried to bolt as well, but he was literally scared stiff and could not move. He just gaped at her unusual appearance while the person behind him wrestled him down below the tops of the bushes just as the guards approached.

"Quiet, Joxer!" admonished the voice of Autolycus in a whisper, and the warrior knew then who held him captive. But he still did not know what to make of the woman in front of him, and Autolycus added harshly, "She's a goddess, you doofus!"

Hearing that, Joxer immediately quit resisting and allowed Autolycus to drag him down to crouch with them amongst the close branches of the bushes. He still gaped at her, but now it was more from awe than fear. The soldiers even passed rather closely, but Joxer was completely fixated on the exquisite goddess, simply amazed that such an Olympian even existed. All the gods he'd encountered in the past had all looked very much like their human counterparts, despite their divinity. Not so with this goddess, who was completely out of the ordinary. She was like the most beautiful statue hewn from the most iridescent pink marble ever quarried, and her hair was like the bluest sea. He could gaze at her all day long and never tire of looking at her. Sorrow could only smile and blush in return.

Once the soldiers were past, Autolycus let go of the now-compliant Joxer and took a surreptitious peek over the tops of the shrubs, but immediately ducked back down again.

"They've stopped at the edge of the clearing," he whispered urgently. "What are we gonna do if they come back and start looking more closely for us?"

Joxer pointed at Sorrow and asked dumbly, "Can't she help us?"

"Wait!" Sorrow immediately interjected. "I'm barely able to make myself invisible right now - I couldn't possibly - "

"I thought you said she was a goddess?" Joxer smirked sarcastically at Autolycus.

"She is, you numbskull - she's been chained up like a dog for months," the master thief quickly informed with a touch of disgust, for both the act and the responsible party, and added as post-script all he needed to say to explain the gravity of the situation to Joxer. "By Ares. I busted her out this morning."

"Ohhh," Joxer nodded slowly, finally realizing the situation as his eyes grew round with his own memories of dealing with the God of War. While Joxer had never faced him head on, Ares had been a steady adversary for his friends, and through that conflict he felt a sudden bond of friendship for the goddess. He immediately stuck out his hand in greeting, "Allow me to introduce myself -"

"Joxer!" she blurted out with a happy grin as she took hold of his hand, for she realized who he was at once, and added for emphasis, "Joxer, the Mighty!"

"Ah, so you've heard of me?" he asked in maudlin triumph, his ego completely pumped by the attention and recognition of this pretty goddess.

Autolycus immediately cracked, "Who hasn't heard of the biggest walking tin can on earth?"

"Autolycus, be nice!" Sorrow quickly scolded, wagging a shaming finger at him for emphasis before turning back to the erstwhile warrior. "Yes, Joxer, I'm afraid I know everyone - I am Sorrow, Goddess of Lamentation."

"Ohhhh," Joxer nodded in seeming understanding at first, then frowned and asked, "Who?"

"She's the one that visits you when you're sad," Autolycus silenced him in nervous exasperation. "Now, everyone shut up - they're heading back this way!"

Sorrow listened and did indeed hear the soldiers not far away, and she felt her heart leap in terror. For a moment she doubted what she was doing and why she was doing it, for suddenly all she could see was the trouble she was getting these two men into. If the soldiers should catch them, Autolycus and Joxer might be hurt and she would then be on her own, and if either soldier were to lay eyes upon her and report it back to Ares . . . . Well, she was certainly in no shape to be running from the God of War, and she desperately wanted to be someplace safe in time for the birth of Iolaus' child. She absolutely could not risk the tiny, human life growing inside her, but her ability to make herself invisible would do nothing for her two companions, and she could not leave them to the non-existent mercy of Ares.

"Any ideas?" she prompted them anxiously, beginning to wring her hands nervously.

Joxer only shook his helmeted head with the look of a cat suddenly caught in wagon traffic, so Autolycus grudgingly spoke up, "Yeah, I think I've got an idea that might just work . . . Joxer, you follow me and do what I do - But wait!"

"What?" Joxer and Sorrow asked at the same time.

"You do know how to use that thing, don't you?" Autolycus questioned seriously, pointing at Joxer's sword.

Joxer hadn't time to fill the thief in on the events of the past year of his life, so he just nodded soberly as he drew it from its sheath, and Autolycus instinctively read the truth in the eyes of the formerly-innocent, yet still bumbling, warrior. He clapped Joxer soundly on the shoulder to let him know that he understood, for if he knew the guy, then Joxer was likely protecting the bard at the time he spilled blood, and he could completely relate to that. Autolycus had almost done the same for the bard's companion once.

"Okay," he said lowly, "let's go - "

"Wait!" Joxer stopped him this time.

"What is it now?"

"What are you gonna do for a weapon?" Joxer posed intelligently.

"Good question," Autolycus mused, mulling over the situation and his plan to fix it. All of a sudden, he reached out and plucked the sword from Joxer's hand and proclaimed, "This will work!"

"Hey! What am I gonna use then?" Joxer sputtered indignantly.

"If things go as I plan, you won't need anything!" Autolycus hoped aloud. He then turned to Sorrow, "You stay here, but if you can make a break for it, head back to the main road and wait for us there. We'll come along in a few minutes - and if we don't, then . . . well, you know what to do."

"Yes, I do - good luck, Autolycus, Joxer," Sorrow touched their hands comfortingly, and felt their intense nervousness and excitement overriding all other emotions. Sensing doubt underlying their feelings, she added most intently, "I will see you both in a few minutes."

The two men exchanged a look of readiness between them, and Autolycus led the way out to the far side of the bushes where the soldiers could not see them. With a silent count to three, he took off running around the side of the thicket, yelling at the top of his lungs and waving the sword over his head madly as he advanced. Joxer followed suit, with the added noise of his metal armor giving off the audible illusion that more men were in line behind them. The stricken soldiers didn't need to hear more to believe that they were being ambushed, and they turned tail and ran at full speed toward the clearing on the far side of the thicket. The soldiers bolted out of the brush and ran across the clearing before disappearing into the thick, dense forest behind the meadow. Autolycus stopped running before they left the protective camouflage of the thicket, and Joxer gratefully followed his example.

"Wow," marveled the erstwhile warrior. "How'd you ever think of that?"

"Actually, I didn't," Autolycus confessed breathlessly, watching the meadow and their immediate surroundings for any unforeseen obstacles. "I overheard someone talking about it a long time ago in a cantina far, far away - except, of course, it worked for us!"

"It sure did!" Joxer commended, completely impressed. "Thanks, Auto!"

"Think nothing of it," the thief shrugged, thoroughly impressed himself. "Now, let's go get that girl to someplace safe!"

"Hey, that Sorrow's one good-lookin' goddess, ain't she?" Joxer chattered as he caught up with Autolycus for the walk back to the main road. "You reckon she'd ever go for a guy like me?"

"Already tried that, Jox, and believe me, you're wasting your time - she's knocked up!"

"Knocked up?"

"Pregnant, you dolt - And by Iolaus, of all people!"

"Iolaus?" Joxer echoed again in disdain, remembering how fondly Gabrielle always spoke of the blonde hunter, often with stars in her eyes, and how much he hated that. "Are you sure?"

"Sure I'm sure - she told me so herself!"

"She told you that Iolaus, our friend and Hercules' sidekick, is the father of her baby?"

"That's about the size of it, Joxer," Autolycus replied tersely, ready for a new topic. "I'm supposed to help her find him, but I don't have the first clue where he could be - I don't exactly keep up a correspondence with him, ya know?"

"Hey, I'll bet Xena would know!" Joxer brightened considerably. "I'm on my way to see her and Gabrielle now!"

"Oh, you are, are you?" the thief asked with sudden great interest. "Where is she?"

"Amphipolis, of course. They're leaving for Egypt soon, and I'm going to see them off."

Autolycus snapped his fingers, "Sayyy, I've got an idea - how far are we from Cyrene's?"

Joxer looked at the sun and gauged roughly, "If you walked fast and didn't break for lunch, you could get there by late afternoon?"

"Okay," he nodded resolutely. "Let's get back to Sorrow and see what shape she's in."

The thief and the wannabe-warrior then walked along awhile in silence until Joxer asked timidly, "Ares really had her chained up?"

"Yeah, he did," the thief confirmed with strain, becoming more and more angry as he thought of the indignity that was forced upon the delicate goddess. "The jerk had her chained to the floor and she'd apparently been like that for almost as long as she's been pregnant."

"That long?" Joxer gaped in horror, thinking of how he might have felt in her place. "Wow, I wonder why Iolaus didn't tell us? Didn't he want to rescue her?"

"Who knows with Curly?" Autolycus shrugged. "I figured that Xena surely knew, and I was about to take offense til I figured out that you had no clue, either. Iolaus and Hercules must have really kept this quiet - Of course, with Ares involved, I'd probably lay low on this one, as well."

"Hey, if Sorrow's having Iolaus' baby, then why was Ares holding her prisoner?" Joxer suddenly ventured, for the situation's circumstances just didn't seem right to him somehow.

"Good question, Master Brain," quipped the thief, though his voice remained stolid. "Save it for the Goddess."

Joxer frowned at the myriad of questions that had risen to his mind. Xena and Gabrielle hadn't seen Hercules since Eve was born, and had he made mention of it, Joxer was certain the bard would have put quill to scroll to record it. A good love story, whether it had a happy ending or a sad ending, was great material to Gabrielle. However, no story had been written, so all would have to remain a mystery until the goddess could speak for herself.

Autolycus frowned also, because he was still fuming over finding Sorrow chained like that. He couldn't explain what it was that upset him so badly about it, but he was more angry at the God of War now than he'd ever been before. However, knowing that Xena was not far away heartened him a little, and excited him even more. He would surely be given "the look" for having broken into Ares' temple, but his somewhat heroic rescue of the young goddess would surely overshadow his crime to both the Warrior Princess and the Bard of Poteidaia.

The two men picked their way through the brush back to the main road again, and they stopped in the middle of the wagon ruts to look around for any sign of Sorrow, but she could not be seen. There weren't even any footprints that Joxer could track (even if he were good at tracking).

"Now, if I were the daughter of Poseidon, where would I hide?" Autolycus mused semi-sarcastically, wishing he'd just told her to stay in the circle of bushes.

Joxer piped up, "If I were a goddess, I'd use my powers to make myself invisible!"

"Good call!" echoed the disembodied voice of the young goddess, and she slowly materialized before them. "So, how was the fight?"

"Wasn't much of one," Autolycus replied a bit smugly.

"Yeah, Autolycus' idea worked like a charm!" Joxer enthused. "We had those two goons on the run before they even laid eyes on us!"

"Good work, Autolycus!" Sorrow praised the suddenly-shy King of Thieves, who merely shrugged nonchalantly.

"Aw, we just got lucky is all. But what now?"

Sorrow's countenance grew worrisome, and she lamented, "I'm not sure. I had thought myself able to search for Iolaus on my own, but now I'm not so sure. I am far more weak than I originally suspected."

"Hey! You really are Iolaus' girlfriend!" Joxer brightened considerably, and Sorrow winked at him knowingly.

"I'm more than just his girlfriend, Joxer," she whispered confidentially. "I'm his fiancée!"

"Really!?" Joxer now grinned widely, prompting the thief to butt in.

"Okay, Hero, so now you know the hunter isn't competition anymore," Autolycus chided sarcastically. "We'd better get out of here before those guys double back and see to it that we aren't competition anymore!"

"But, where?" Sorrow begged. "I don't know that I should travel much farther, Autolycus. This baby seems to be moving towards birth rather quickly - I may have but a day or two, at best - "

"And likely less if you have to go any farther," the King of Thieves reasoned. "So, we need to find some place to hide you, then Joxer can stay with you while I go get Xena - "

"Hey - why can't you stay with Sorrow while I go get Xena?" Joxer argued indignantly.

"Because, I don't know nothin' about birthin' no babies!" growled the thief.

"Like I do?"

"Wait!" Sorrow stepped between the two men, touching each as she did so. "Please don't fight over this, boys? Truly, Joxer, I know how much it means to you to see Gabrielle, but I think I'd like you to stay with me, if you don't mind?"

Joxer's face lit up at the divine compliment, and he stammered, "Sh-sure, Sorrow - I'd be g-glad to stay with you."

Sorrow smiled up at him, and lifting herself up on tiptoe, she kissed him gently on the cheek, and said, "Thank you, Joxer. I shall never forget this."

"Wow," Joxer rubbed his cheek in an euphoric daze, completely amazed by the gentle kiss, which impelled the thief to once again kill his buzz.

"Okay, Lover Boy, let's find the Goddess some shelter pronto, so I can get along to Amphipolis and find Xena."

"But, where?" Joxer asked, looking around hopelessly.

Autolycus looked up to a nearby hill and nodded toward it, "I know a few hiding places here and there - we'll take her to one of them."

"Sounds good to me," Sorrow agreed, and the three quickly ducked into the bushes to make their way to the King of Thieves' hiding place tucked safely away in the hillside overlooking the main road to Amphipolis.

On to Chapter Twenty One

Back to The Power & The Passion