Note: This story takes place during season 5, except Xena is not pregnant.

Hide and Seek by Xedra (and friend)

Xena and Gabrielle were resting in the forest. Tall trees stood all around, rustling in the wind. Gabrielle twirled her new sais, practicing her techniques. Xena was sharpening her sword; for all it had been through, it was still almost new. Her ears perked up, hearing something in the distance. Gabrielle, knowing that reaction all too well, held out her sais and stood next to Xena.

Then out of the bushes Xena and Gabrielle saw Amarice with two rabbits slung over her shoulder. Seeing them in their defensive stance, she glance around quickly, "What's wrong?"

Relaxing, Xena just raised an eyebrow and went back to her sword. Gabrielle grimaced when Amarice dropped the rabbits at her feet. "We've had rabbit meat for more than a week! Can't you trap anything else?"

The young amazon put her hands on her hips, "I don't see you volunteering to catch anything!"

Gabrielle rolled her eyes, "Well, let's see you try to be creative, cooking with the same meat day after day. I'm running out of ideas!"

Amarice smiled sarcastically, "Not my problem. I did my job. I catch it, you cook it!"

Watching the amazon walk away to sit by Xena, Gabrielle picked up the rabbits. Holding them like Sais, she ran toward Amarice, swinging them wildly. Amarice screamed and laughed, both disgusted and amused at the same time. Gabrielle accidentally clobbered her right over the head. They both stopped and stared. Amarice couldn't believe she'd hit her. Neither could Gabrielle!

Xena sat casually, enjoying the little show.

"Okay, that was too much!" Amarice said, slowly creeping toward Gabrielle.

"No no no!" Gabrielle giggled, backing away. She continued stepping back until she backed up against a tree and had no place to go.

Then Amarice lunged at her and began tickling her ribs. Gabrielle's new top gave her little protection against the assault. Screaming with laughter, Gabrielle tried to squirm away, pressing her elbows into her sides.

"Oh, no you don't!" Amarice laughed and began tickling her neck. When Gabrielle lifted her arms to cover her neck, Amarice poked her in the ribs again. She continued back and forth from ribs to neck.

"Stop! Stop!" Gabrielle finally groaned. Weak from laughter, she slid down the tree. Holding up her hands in surrender, she smiled, "Please, no more!"

Satisfied, Amarice grinned, and turned to get up. Suddenly, Gabrielle grabbed her under the arms, and pulled her down to the ground. Amarice howled as she was tickled mercilessly. In no time they were laying on the ground, holding their aching sides, laughing softly.

Xena walked over to them, a half-smile curling her lip. With a quick motion she held out her sword and plunged it into the ground between them. Startled, Gabrielle and Amarice rolled out of the way.

Xena pulled back her sword, the rabbits speared on the end. "If you're done rolling around on our lunch, I'll start skinning."

Amarice giggled and glanced at Gabrielle. But Gabrielle wasn't laughing. She was looking up into the sky with a frown on her face. "What is that?"

Xena quickly looked up. Amarice's mouth dropped open. Up on a hill in the distance, there stood a large castle. In the sky directly above it, a huge purple swirl twisted in the air. But there was no heavy wind or darkening clouds that usually accompanied such a phenomenon. That, and it being purple made it the strangest thing any of them had ever seen.

"Xena...?" Gabrielle stared at the thing. The swirling motion was mesmerizing, and she couldn't look away.

Xena shook her arm, snapping her out her daze. "C'mon, let's check it out!" she said, drawing her sword.

Their hunger was soon replaced by fear as they neared the castle. Xena could feel something dark in the air and wondered what they were getting into.

The gates stood open. The place seemed abandoned, lifeless.

"Where is everyone?" Gabrielle whispered. "A place like this should be crawling with guards. Especially at the gate."

Amarice nodded at the sky, "That thing probably scared everyone off. I know I wouldn't stick around."

Xena lead them through the gate and up to the door, "Well, why don't we find out?"

They entered cautiously, looking around for something, anything to explain all of this. Xena stopped suddenly and held her sword before her with both hands.

In front of them, a pale blue light grew and spread out of nowhere revealing a woman in flowing white robes carrying a tall candle. The flame burned brightly, but did not waver in the cold air or drip wax on the stone floor.

"Celesta!" Gabrielle breathed in wonder.

Amarice frowned, "Who?"

Before Gabrielle could explain, the ethereal figure spoke, "I am Celesta. Sister of the Great Hades. With my eternal flame, I guide those that I release in Death to the Underworld."

With wide eyes, Amarice stepped back, "Uh, you're not here for us, are you?"

Celesta smiled kindly, accustomed to the fear she naturally instilled in mortals, but shook her head.

Xena stepped forward, "What's going on?"

"Hades has asked to delay my duties here and wait for you. He wishes for you to speak with the remaining soul here before I release him."

Gabrielle gasped, "By the gods! All the people are dead?" The goddess nodded.

"And the reason he couldn't tell me himself...?" Xena asked.

The lovely goddess smiled sadly, "There was no time. Everyone here suddenly needed me. Very rarely does one person, let alone dozens, cross over without my brother knowing how and why."

Gabrielle titled her head in confusion, "All these people died and Hades doesn't know?"

"He would like you to find out for him."

Amarice's face brightened, "Cool! Where do we start?"

Xena held up a hand, "Hold it, Celesta. I'm sure Hades is aware that I'm not at any god's beck and call."

Celesta nodded, "Yes, he told me you'd be reluctant to do his bidding. He's relying on your new compassionate nature."

"That, and having a god owe us a favor might come in handy someday," Gabrielle quipped.

"That too," Celesta grinned.

Xena sighed, "All right, all right. Who am I supposed to talk to?"

Celesta pointed her candle toward a long staircase, "This way."

As they followed a good five steps behind her, Gabrielle nudged Amarice with her elbow, "Don't get too close, Amarice. Her touch is Death."

Amarice nodded, "No problem." She fell one more step behind, just to be safe.

"What was that huge purple swirl in the sky?" Gabrielle asked the floating woman.

The goddess glanced back at her, "Hades would like to know that, too."

At the top of the stairs a door stood open, pitiful moans coming from within. Stepping inside, the only thing they saw was total darkness. Moans floated up from the shadows. They all turned to Celesta.

"What's going on?" Xena asked angrily.

Celesta began to laugh, low and dark. Her face melted and distorted hideously, "Hades would like to know that, too!! HADES WOULD LIKE TO KNOW THAT, TOO!!" Her voice grew loud and intense, her face kept changing. One image after another stretching her features.

A huge force hit Xena first, knocking her into her friends, then they all flew back into the darkness. And down into the darkness. The door slammed shut, and the distorted figure, still laughing, faded away. "HADES WOULD LIKE TO KNOW THAT, TOOOOOO!"

It felt as if they fell forever. Gabrielle and Amarice screamed, flailing their arms and legs. Xena was too surprised to scream as they fell down, down, down deeper into the darkness. Slamming hard into the ground, they blacked out.

*****

Xena was the first to wake. Quiet. She was surrounded by an unearthly quiet. A rotten stench was in the cold, lifeless air. Looking around, all Xena could see were endless passages cut through aged rock. getting up, she went over to Gabrielle, accidentally crunching something under her feet. It was a skull. Almost covering the floor were the remains of dozens of people. She had to get her friends out of here. She squatted next to Gabrielle and shook her awake.

"Gabrielle... Gabrielle!" she whispered urgently, and finally Gabrielle, somewhat groggy, opened her eyes.

"What... where are..." Gabrielle glanced around, saw the remains right next to her, and quickly shuffled to her feet.

"I don't know," Xena admitted, not liking the feel of the place. Gabrielle quickly shook Amarice awake, who let out a whimper at the chalk-white bones around her.

A low rumble came from one of the passages, then a rhythmic thumping.

"Xena...I don't like the sound of that," Gabrielle whispered, grabbing her sais. Xena said nothing, just drew her sword and faced the oncoming noise.

Louder and louder it came, each thump shaking Xena's body. Amarice was terrified, looking frantically around, feeling little comfort even next to Xena and Gabrielle. A large form stepped from its dark tunnel, towering over them.

Standing over ten feet tall was a monstrous dog. It had no fur, only knotted skin stretched over muscles that rippled with every move. Large jaws made its head look twice as big and thick saliva dripped from its razor sharp teeth.

Xena stepped back and gestured with her arm for Gabrielle and Amarice to get behind her. They did, but only slightly, not wanting her to face the creature alone.

"What is that?" Gabrielle whispered.

"Whatever it is, it stinks to high Olympus!" Amarice wrinkled her nose.

Xena watched the animal closely, ready for any movement. "That's Graegus, Ares's pet pooch. I saw it a few years ago, the same time I met Hercules. It ate Darphus and disintegrated. We thought it was destroyed."

"Well, it's back now," Gabrielle turned her Sais around so they pointed out. "What do we do?"

Graegus stepped completely into the room and sniffed the air. With no warning, it let out a growl so loud it shook the ground and blew their hair back from their faces. Glancing quickly at the surrounding passages, most of them too small for the dog to get through, Xena decided they shouldn't wait for Graegus to make the first move.

"Let's go..." she whispered, edging them slowly backward into the tunnel behind them, still watching Graegus. The monster's jaws opened wide and snapped ferociously, startling them into a run. As they ran down the dark tunnel they could hear the canine crashing into the tunnel entrance, trying to jam itself inside after them.

The tunnel quickly ended and branched into three.

Gasping for breath, Amarice frowned, "Okay, now what?"

Xena waited as they all got their wind back, thinking. Do they pick one tunnel or split up and search them individually?

She had no time to decide, the ramming sound of Graegus grew louder and closer. The roof began to collapse and she had to protect her friends. A huge rock broke from the ceiling above, heading straight for them. Amarice and Gabrielle lunged into the far right passage, out of it's way. Xena was reluctantly forced into the left passage, and within seconds falling rocks blocked the entrance. She sighed, figuring her friends were safe. At least from Graegus.

Continuing down the tunnel, she called out for them. No response. She was hoping the passages would connect up ahead, but could sense she was moving away. Up ahead was a small light. Running toward it, she quickly realized the light wasn't small, just incredibly far away. "Just great!" she shook her head and continued down the seemingly endless tunnel.

"Xena? XENA!" Gabrielle yelled, hearing only the echo of her voice.

"She would have said something by now," Amarice pointed out, walking alongside Gabrielle. Their tunnel was pitch dark and they to feel their way along the walls. They soon came to a dead end. Gabrielle grabbed one of her Sais and began hacking at the wall. The rocks crumbled easily under the assault. Light sprayed through, and she continued chipping away, faster now, until she'd made a fair-sized opening.

They quickly climbed through, and to their surprise they saw they were back where they started. Across from them the huge form of Graegus had rammed more than half of its body through the passageway they had run through earlier.

"Uh... maybe we should go back," Gabrielle whispered. They turned to climb back through the opening, but bumped into solid rock. It had sealed itself up!

"Great! Now what do we do?" Amarice gritted her teeth in frustration.

The ground continued to shake as Graegus rammed further into the passage. Its ferocious growl shook the walls and chunks of rock fell from the ceiling.

"Come on," Gabrielle took Amarice's elbow, "let's try another tunnel. Quietly, okay? We don't want to disturb that...that thing." Amarice nodded and followed behind her as they crept carefully along the rock wall toward another tunnel. The ground and walls continued to shake with Graegus's efforts.

"OW!" Amarice shouted as a good-sized stone hit her shoulder and knocked her to the ground. The cave was suddenly very quiet. Gabrielle watched in horror as the monstrous dog backed quickly out of the passage. Grabbing the young amazon under the arms, she tried to drag her away.

"Ahhh! Gabrielle stop!" Amarice cried out as fiery shards of pain shot through her shoulder. Gabrielle dropped her gently. A foul stench filled the air. They looked up slowly to see Graegus staring straight at them. It inched toward them, growling softly. It could smell their fear and enjoyed it.

"Get up, Amarice," Gabrielle said out of the side of her mouth, not daring to move.

Amarice stared at the creature moving ever closer to her, and began to shake. "I... I c-c-can't!"

Gabrielle narrowed her eyes, "Look, you wannabe amazon twerp! We have to get out of here. Now MOVE!"

The insult shook Amarice out of her paralysis, and she glared up at Gabrielle. Scrambling painfully onto her feet, she backed up slowly, holding her throbbing shoulder.

"Okay, on three we're going to turn and run toward that tunnel," Gabrielle nodded at the closest one to their right. They continued to step back, holding their weapons out in front of them. "One..."

The growling became louder, Graegus only twenty feet away.

"Two... THREE!" Gabrielle screamed and whipped around, her heart racing. They ran for their lives toward the tunnel. It seemed so far away. Time seemed to slow down. The wind whistled by Gabrielle's ears as she ran with all she had.

Graegus watched them run and with a growl he bolted for them.

Heavy pounding thundered behind them. Graegus was catching up fast! Amarice could feel its breath on her body and she wasn't sure if she would make it. Graegus hit her and Gabrielle from behind with its nose, sending them flying right into the tunnel. They hit the ground hard, tumbling forward. Amarice screamed as her shoulder hit the hard rock. The dog tried biting at them, falling just inches short of Amarice's leg. They scuttled frantically backward, as far back as they could. Graegus couldn't reach them now, and they cried in happiness for making it this far.

*****

Walking briskly toward the tiny light in the distance, Xena began to sing, "He's Joxer the Migh..." she quickly stopped herself. What was she doing? "Now I know how narrow minded Joxer is," she smirked, trying to amuse herself as she looked down the long tunnel. In fact, it was probably a good idea to sing something, anything to keep her mind busy. She wasn't used to so much quiet. She always had Gabrielle's chatter to fill the silence. The thought of Gabrielle brought things back into focus. Unconsciously, she began to walk faster.

Suddenly the ground gave way and Xena barely managed to grab onto the edge of the hole. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw there was not another tunnel beneath, but empty space. Dark, endless space. The rocks that crumbled from the hole made no sound as they fell forever.

Getting a firm hold on the rock floor, she pulled herself up slowly, not wanting to cause any more to break away. Crawling up onto her knees, she backed away from the gaping expanse. It was about twenty feet across, not a difficult jump for the Warrior Princess. Bending her knees, she thrust herself forward, flipping in midair and landing neatly on the other side. Observing the hole once more, she kicked another stone into it. It dropped quickly out of sight. Listening closely, she could detect only the faintest of thuds. A very, very long way down.

She turned and noticed the light at the end of the tunnel had suddenly grown closer. Lifting an eyebrow, she walked quickly toward it.

"Xena!" a voice called up ahead.

The voice was muffled, so she couldn't recognize it. Xena frowned, but quickened her steps, almost jogging. the voice continued to call her name, getting louder as she neared the end of the tunnel. Finally at the end, she stepped into a dimly lighted room, and to her surprise saw nothing.

"Xena!" the voice now came from behind her. She drew her sword and spun around to see nothing but the endless pit in the distance. She walked slowly back to it.

"Xena!" it now came from below. It was beginning to sound familiar. Still muffled and a bit distorted, but it sounded like...

"Gabrielle!" she yelled, looking down into the pit, trying to see her friend.

"Xena! Where are you?" she said, her voice was becoming clearer.

"I'm right here, Gabrielle! Where are you? Where's Amarice?" Xena was relieved to her friend's voice.

"We fell in the pit! Help us Xena!" she pleaded. Xena crouched over the pit, trying to see something, anything.

"Amarice, can I speak to her?" Xena asked urgently, a disturbing thought in the back of her mind.

"She...she's unconscious. She hit her head on a rock," there was uncertainty in her voice.

"Gabrielle, is Joxer still with you?"

"N-no, we lost him in the caves. Xena, come down here. Hurry!"

Xena crawled away from the pit. It wasn't Gabrielle. Standing up, she headed back to the dimly lit room. "Xena? Xena! Help!" the voice begged, sounding just like Gabrielle. Xena blocked out the voice and entered the room.

*****

"I'm, sorry for hitting you with the rabbits," Gabrielle said, cradling Amarice in her arms, making sure not to move her wounded shoulder. Graegus was right outside the cave, eyes frozen on Gabrielle.

"If you can get us out of this, I'll call it even," Amarice said, trembling from the cold and trying to hide the pain she was in. The cave walls ended just a few feet behind them, and it seemed they were safe for now.

*****

Xena looked around the room. Tables and chairs lined the walls, covered in dust. Bowls of fresh fruit glistened on the tables. Goblets filled with rich red wine were spread about as well. They looked quite out of place in the cold, dusty room.

She reached over and grabbed an apple from the nearest bowl. She studied it. It appeared freshly picked, ripe and juicy. Her stomach began to rumble, she hadn't eaten anything all day. She slowly brought the apple to her lips, her mouth watering. She could already taste the sweet juice...

"I wouldn't do that if I were you."

Xena's head whipped around. Celesta was standing there, looking calm and peaceful, wearing a hint of a smile. Recalling the cruel trick the goddess had played on her and her friends, Xena threw down the apple and drew her sword. "What are you doing here?" she growled angrily.

"What am I doing here?" Celesta frowned, "I'm here on a stupid bet between my hotheaded brother and Ares! Ares stole my candle and hid it somewhere in this labyrinth, and bet Hades I couldn't find it before sundown."

She clenched her hands in frustration, "Of course, they don't consider the fact that I actually have more important things to do than play their little games. But I need my candle to do anything. So, here I am. And you?" Celesta folded her arms in front of her, curiously raising her eyebrows.

Xena took a menacing step forward, seething with anger, "That's a lie! You're the one who sent us here, and I want to know why! Right now!"

Celesta stepped back in shock, "I did no such thing! What are you talking about? There are more of you here?"

Xena's eyes narrowed dangerously, "Look, I'm only going to ask you one more time..."

Celesta put her hands on her hips, "Or what, you'll kill me? I'm Death, remember? That sword isn't going to do you much good. Anyway, I did not send you here."

Xena considered the woman's words. Sheathing her sword, she stood as close to the Goddess of Death as she dared. "All right. So, you're telling me that you didn't meet us at that strange castle with the big purple swirl overhead, where everyone suddenly died? That you didn't lead us to a room where you went hysterical, did the face-thing, and blew us across the room and down to this place? You're telling me you didn't do all that? Because if that wasn't you, someone who looks and sounds exactly you has it coming to her!"

Celesta's face went from total confusion at what Xena described to anger. "Proteus! That son of a Bacchae! What is he up to now?" Looking sympathetically at Xena, she explained, "Xena, that figure passing itself off as me was Proteus. He can assume any form he chooses. All gods can do it to a certain degree, but he is extremely skilled. I don't know why he's up to masquerading as me and sending you down here, but I'll be happy to help you. Once I find my candle of course."

Xena studied her for a moment, "Prove you're the Goddess of Death."

Celesta smiled, "Well, I could kill you with a touch, but I doubt that's necessary. Besides, I can't take you before your time. Ethics, you know." She laughed at Xena's snort of derision, "It's true, Xena. We gods have our own set of rules and morals we live by. Not that we expect mortals to understand them, of course. Here, this should be proof enough..."

Gliding over to the fruit-laden table, she touched her fingertips to a bowl of luscious green apples. They quickly began to wrinkle and turn brown. In seconds all that was left was a bowl full of rotting black slime, which was quickly turning to ash.

Clearly impressed, Xena lifted an eyebrow, "Okay, so you're the Goddess of Death. You could've saved me one. I had my eye on those apples."

Celesta shook he head, "I'd forget about eating anything just yet. Unless you don't mind staying in the Underworld."

"What! We're in the Underworld?"

The goddess nodded, "Oh yes! This is one of the Labyrinths of Tarterus. Hades hardly uses them anymore. Not cruel enough for the scum that wind up here, I guess."

Xena grimaced, rubbing her forehead, which was now beginning to ache, "Great, just Great! This is all I need. Look, my friends and I got separated back there somewhere," she gestured at the darkness through the door, "and I need to find them. If I help you find your candle, will you get me and my friends out of here?"

Celesta nodded, "I'd appreciate the help. We'll search for your friends along the way. Once I have my candle, getting you out of here won't be a problem. Shall we?" She swept her hand toward the door.

Xena agreed, and with a final longing glance at the feast, she followed Celesta back into the dark tunnels.

They wandered down the passageway, which no longer had a gaping hole, until it branched off into multiple smaller tunnels.

"Well, which way?" Xena asked, scrutinizing each path, but they all looked the same.

"That's what I was about to ask you," Celesta shrugged her shoulders, quite irritated at Ares and her brother.

Xena looked at each tunnel again and had an odd feeling about the one to their left. "This way," she said and took the lead. She half-turned while walking, eyeing Celesta. "And don't follow too close!"

"I understand," Celesta grinned and glided silently behind her.

*****

Gabrielle and Amarice sat there in the dark tunnel, waiting. Graegus paced back and forth outside, as if it knew they had to come out sometime. The beast was so patient now. So frightening.

"What should we do?" Amarice tried to sound calm and controlled, but couldn't quite pull it off. At least her shoulder was feeling better now, it only throbbed a little.

"Well, we seem safe for now. All we can do is wait for Xena," Gabrielle sighed. All they could do was wait.

*****

They'd been walking for hours, and Xena was getting frustrated. Her instincts were swirling in circles, this path felt right, then that one, but it kept changing.

"See anything?" Celesta asked. Oddly enough, she seemed quite relaxed.

"Yeah, tunnels and more tunnels," Xena snapped, her frustration seeping through. She rather be fighting Graegus instead of wandering through these endless passages.

"Calm yourself, Xena. Anger never solves anything, just follow your heart," Celesta advised in a soft voice.

"I have been! But it keeps shifting and...Wait a minute...!" It suddenly came to her. Of course! Why didn't she see it before? "C'MON!" Xena yelled, and began to run, knowing exactly where to go.

Running through tunnel after tunnel, they finally came to the room she'd woken up in. They stood directly behind Graegus. Xena looked around for her friends, but didn't see them. She wasn't sure if that was a good sign or not.

Graegus stopped pacing and sniffed the air. It could smell them. It turned around slowly to face its new meal.

"I think I know where your candle is," Xena said, looking the beast in the eyes.

"I'll handle this," nodded Celesta, gliding toward the beast. She was swift and smooth as she laid a hand on its foot.

Graegus howled, but something was wrong because it didn't wither and die like Xena expected. Instead it seemed to feed on the goddess's deadly touch. It began to glow with an eerie yellow light.

"Uh, Celesta," Xena unhooked her chakram, "I don't think it's working."

The goddess shook her head, "I know what I'm doing."

Howling and shaking its head in rage, Graegus began pounding its front paws fiercely against the floor. The whole room shook, large stones broke loose from the ceiling, and the floor seemed to tilt beneath Xena's feet. One particularly hard pound from the beast's foot threw Xena off balance. Landing hard on her bottom, she rolled backward into the wall behind her.

The shaking didn't seem to affect Celesta at all. She remained calm, and almost bored expression on her face. The creature glowed brighter and brighter and continued to howl until the sound was almost deafening.

Suddenly, two figures appeared in a sparkle of light next to it. Ares, God of War, stood with his arms folded across his impressive chest, a brooding look on his face. Beside him was Hades, holding his Helmet of Invisibility under one arm. The Lord of the Underworld looked pleased.

"Game's over Ares. She found her candle before sundown, now call off the dog."

Ares frowned over at Xena, who was standing up and dusting herself off, "You can't think that you've won. Getting her to help you isn't exactly playing fair."

Hades grinned, "You're just sorry you didn't think of it first."

Celesta shook the beast's foot in frustration, "Come on, Proteus! Give it back!"

Hades frowned, "Proteus? How can that be?"

The creature suddenly dimmed and went still. Slowly it began to loose its shape, morphing down to human-size until it stood solid again. The god Proteus stood there in his natural form, bent and disfigured. He shook off Celesta's hold on his neck, and held out her candle. she grabbed it from him with a furious glare.

Hades pointed a finger at the shape-shifting god, "And using him to hide the candle? That's fair?"

Ares shrugged, "I hid it by myself originally. Of course, after you brought in extra help," he gestured to Xena, "I decided to bring in my own help."

Hades fumed, "Explain yourself, Proteus! We had a deal."

Proteus smiled, revealing long, crooked teeth, "When I agreed to appear as that swirl in the sky--"

"And me!" Celesta interrupted angrily.

Proteus bowed slightly to her, hands folded in supplication, "Never have I assumed a more lovelier form, dear goddess."

Celesta raised an eyebrow, but declined to berate him further.

The ugly god continued, "After I lured the woman and her friends here, my deal with you, Hades, was fulfilled. I saw no problem agreeing with Ares's request to hide the candle, as well." He chuckled, "Quite an amusing game, all in all."

Xena listened to the gods bicker back and forth, getting more and more agitated. She walked over to them. "Look, I hate to break up this little party, but I need to find my friends. Now."

The four gods looked as if they'd forgotten she was there. Ares spread his hands in front of him, "Wasn't my idea to bring you here. Have fun looking, though." He pointed a finger at Hades, "We'll finish this later." He winked at Celesta and flashed out of sight.

Hades sighed, "Never can admit defeat, can he?"

Xena grinned, "He is the God of War."

"Go ahead, brother. I promised to help Xena find her friends," Celesta admitted.

He nodded and turned to Proteus, "We need to talk." He put a hand on the other god's shoulder and they both flashed away, as well.

Crossing her arms, the goddess glared at the air where they had vanished, "I'm going to have one serious talk with him. Imagine! Wasting all this time when there are people who need my help."

Xena raised an eyebrow, "Well, you can get back to your work as soon as we finished here."

Celesta smiled warmly, "Of course. Your friends are right through there." She pointed to a passage on the other side of the room. Xena ran across, sidestepping the large chunks of rock that littered the floor.

"Gabrielle? Amarice?" Silence answered her echoing call. Concerned, she hurried inside. The sight that greeted her made her smile.

Gabrielle and Amarice were huddled together, fast asleep. Fright and worry and exhaustion had finally taken their toll.

Their deep sleep was disturbed when Xena loudly cleared her throat. They jolted awake, startled from the sound coming from so close, but seeing Xena, they quickly got to their feet.

A familiar sound woke them when none of the tremendous pounding and howling could. The idea made Xena chuckle to herself. Gabrielle threw herself into Xena's arms, hugging her tightly.

"Hey!" Xena checked to see if Celesta was watching, but hugged her back anyway.

Gabrielle eventually let go, not that she wanted to, but she didn't want to embarrass her. After reassuring herself that her friends were indeed okay, and that Amarice's shoulder wasn't too bad, Xena led them back to Celesta.

"You can exit through that passage," the goddess pointed to a tunnel they hadn't seen before. Before Xena could thank her, she faded out of sight. "C'mon, let's go," she led the way out.

Once outside, the bright sunlight was so strong they had to cover their eyes for many minutes until they adjusted. They breathed the warm, fresh air, so clean and pure compared to that in the labyrinth.

"Where to now?" Gabrielle asked, feeling giddy with relief, she acted as if nothing happened.

"How about you go down there and map out all those tunnels?" Amarice smirked. Gabrielle looked around for a couple of rabbits.

"Or you could jot down some ideas for your scrolls," Xena suggested, "but first I think we should find some food. I'm starving!" All three of their stomachs began to rumble at her words.

Xena's attention quickly shifted. Someone was coming.

"So where have you guys been? Hey Gabrielle!" Joxer's voice made Gabrielle jump, coming from right behind her.

"I'll be in the caves," Gabrielle sighed, and actually began walking toward them. Xena and Amarice weren't sure if was kidding or not.

"Well, wait... I'll go with you!" Joxer followed her like the love-sick puppy he was.

Gabrielle stopped, rolled her eyes, and turned to him, "No no, Joxer, I... Okay, tell you what, you go into those caves," she pointed to where they had exited, "find a place to hide, and count to 100. Then I'll try to find you." Gabrielle smiled innocently, trying hard to control her laughter. He could be such a child sometimes.

"Okay!" He readily agreed, "You'll never find me, I'm good at hiding!" He ran off toward the tunnels.

Xena looked at Amarice. Amarice looked at Gabrielle. Gabrielle smiled at both of them. They began to laugh. First quietly, but they soon couldn't control themselves! Gabrielle fell to the ground, she was laughing so hard.

"You...y...you think there's a real Graegus?" Gabrielle gasped between bursts of laughter.

"I hope so!" Amarice chuckled and fell down beside her, her shoulder forgotten.

Eventually, the three calmed down headed off to find their camp. Xena knew they'd go back for Joxer, but only after they found food. Lots of food. In the distance, if you listened carefully, you could just barely hear someone's voice...

"86...87...88...89...90...91...92..."

THE END