Gaul:

Abnoba walked inside a room that was mostly bare with the exception of a large mirror hung on the wall. Her eyebrow rose when she saw Brigandu and Taranis standing in front of it, watching the images of Aer in her mortal guise and Adora talking as they walked towards the school.

Taranis turned his head briefly when he heard Abnoba's approach. "You're just in time for the show," he murmured, then turned back to face the mirror.

"How thrilling," Abnoba replied dryly as she came to a halt next to Brigandu. She crossed her arms over her chest and the three watched in silence as the two walked inside the school. The mirror's image changed to inside the building, where Adora pointed towards an older man. She then excused herself and walked into Foon Li's class.

There was a slight shimmer as Aer changed herself to look exactly like Adora just as Stephanos rounded the corner. "Adora" greeted the young man with a huge smile, which he returned and she surreptitiously pointed at him, zapping him with a tiny jolt of blue- white lightning. Stephanos' eyes glazed over for a split second when the jolt hit him and then regained their focus. His warm and open smile quickly transformed to an oily smirk.

"Adora" pressed herself up against Stephanos and spoke to him in a low murmur. Eve burst into the hallway just then, slightly out of breath from her sprint back from Gabrielle and Joxer's home.

Taranis chuckled softly as they watched "Adora" reach up and kiss the temporarily bewitched Stephanos forcefully on the lips, to Eve's complete astonishment. "Aer knows how to go for the jugular, doesn't she?"

Abnoba pursed her lips together, unimpressed. "Normally she prefers to go for something much lower than that," she observed. "Being subtle is a concept that's completely lost upon her, I'm afraid."

Brigandu and Taranis exchanged glances. "It doesn't matter how she gets the job done, Abnoba. The point is that she's started to create a deep fracture in Adora and Eve's friendship," Taranis noted. "Would you have done any better?"

Ice-blue eyes glittered at the unspoken challenge in Taranis' voice. "My methods are simply different than hers," she replied, her voice brittle. She turned back to Brigandu. "Excuse me," she murmured.

Brigandu inclined her head slightly. "Of course," she replied softly, her left eyebrow rising as she watched Abnoba leave. She sighed as she turned back to the mirror to watch what was happening. "Was that necessary, Taranis?" she growled. "Abnoba's right. Aer is capricious at the best of times..."

"Yes, and that's why she's perfect for this assignment," the thunder God interrupted before Brigandu could continue. "She's more than capable of reaching into the darkest recesses of mortals' minds and bringing out the worst in them, no matter how innocent and good they seem to be on the surface. Her methods may be unorthodox in execution, yet she's never failed to get what we want."

Brigandu nodded slowly. "True," she allowed reluctantly. She watched in silence for a minute before she spoke again, her brow furrowing. "My son is summoning me," she murmured, closing her ebony- colored eyes for a moment.

Taranis didn't bother turning around to gaze at her. He merely nodded as she left the hall to find Teutales, not noticing the troubled expression on her beautiful features.

Earlier that morning, Greece:

Hercules' eyes widened as he woke up with a start shortly past dawn, a frown furrowing his forehead. With a soft grunt, he rose to a sitting position in his bedroll and turned towards his still-sleeping companions. "Weird," he muttered as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "Could've sworn I heard someone yelling... Must've been a dream..." he mumbled, rubbing away the stiffness in his neck.

Deciding to leave his two companions alone for a little bit before rousing them for breakfast since they were going to be doing some hard traveling over the next few days, Hercules slowly rose to his feet, stretched to get the kinks out of his body, and headed to the water for a quick swim, grabbing a cloth to wipe himself dry post- swim. Stripping down to his shorts, he ran to the water and once he had waded far enough, he dove in and swam around for a while.

Hercules swam back to shore, feeling refreshed, if not content, from his dip. His thoughts turned back to yesterday's events as he walked onto the beach, using a cloth to dry himself off and the dark blond eyebrows drew together with a frown. He sighed as he put his clothing on and began walking back towards camp.

Iolaus and White Dove were both awake and the hunter was getting a fire started for their breakfast. White Dove smiled when she saw the tall demigod approaching and signed, Good morning.

"Hi," Hercules greeted his best friend's wife with a warm grin, which she returned. He then turned to Iolaus, who had just gotten the fire lit. "Hey..."

"Morning Herc," Iolaus said, lifting a hand up to muffle a loud yawn. "What a night! Couldn't seem to get comfortable at all," he continued, frowning as he arched his neck to get rid of a crook in it. "Must've had a stone or something underneath the pelts," he grumbled as he tossed some fish into the now-hot frying pan.

Hercules chuckled at his longtime friend's continued inaudible growling as he eased himself down onto the ground. He then turned towards White Dove, who looked troubled as she put dishes out. "Is something the matter?" he asked while he pulled out the last of their flatbread and a round of cheese from his pack. He cut the round into three equal sections and put them on the plates.

Iolaus turned curiously in his wife's direction when he heard the concerned tone in his longtime friend's voice. "Are you feeling all right, sweetheart?" he asked, his blond eyebrows furrowing together in a frown. He shifted position so that he could watch both of his companions and their breakfast at the same time. I'm fine, White Dove signed in reassurance. Perhaps last night's supper didn't go over so well in my stomach, she teased.

Hercules' face fell - he had cooked their meal the previous evening.

Iolaus brought his hand up to his mouth, hiding the sudden grin that sprang to his lips. His blue eyes twinkled with mischief as he gazed at his wife then at Hercules. He started to laugh, but quickly covered it with a faked coughing fit when he saw his friend glaring at him.

White Dove smiled at the demigod's outraged facial expression and she couldn't help but start giggling. I'm kidding! The meal was delicious.

"You're still the better cook though," Iolaus chimed in, now laughing openly at the chagrined expression on his friend's face.

White Dove gently hit her husband on the arm. Stop teasing him, my love - and if you're not careful, you're going to burn the main part of our breakfast.

Iolaus quickly turned his attention back to the fish, which were ready to be taken off the fire. "Jeez! Don't you people have anything better to eat than that? Yuck!"

"And good morning to you too, Aphrodite," Hercules sighed as the Goddess of Love appeared from a shower of pink sparkles in front of the three friends.

The Goddess' nose wrinkled as the scent of fried fish rose to her nostrils. "It was a rhetorical question, 'kay?" she grumbled. She tossed her curls over her shoulders as she turned around to face Iolaus and White Dove. "Good morning, lovebirds," she added in with a gorgeous grin and a cheeky wink.

White Dove smiled and signed a good morning in response and Iolaus used the back of his hand to wipe his mouth. "Morning," he mumbled before attacking the remainder of his fish with gusto.

Aphrodite stuck her tongue out in disgust. "Eww! Like where did you learn your manners, Curly?" she asked. "Gross!"

"Aphrodite..." Hercules said in a warning tone.

"Okay, okay, okay! All right, already!" the Goddess threw her hands up in surrender. She snapped her fingers and a pink overstuffed chair appeared behind her. She smiled and sat down in the seat, prettily crossing her legs. "Might as well make myself comfortable while you guys chow down," she observed.

Iolaus sighed and shook his head in response. White Dove put a gentle hand on her husband's shoulder to get his attention. He looked at her and rolled his eyes. She made a "let's make the best of a weird situation" gesture and turned her attention back towards her food.

Iolaus cleared his throat and smiled up at Aphrodite, who warily returned his gaze. "So, where is..."

"Tall, Dark, and Grumpy?" The Goddess twirled a blonde strand around her index finger and changed position in her chair so that her long and shapely legs were propped over an armrest. "Taking care of some totally last-minute stuff in Thessaly," she sighed, rolling her eyes.

Hercules growled low in his throat. "So what else is new?" he snapped, finishing the last of his breakfast and rising to his feet. His fists clenched together and his nostrils flared out briefly as he tried to control his temper.

"Don't you start with me, big bro!" the Love Goddess warned, momentarily putting a hand to her forehead as she also rose to her feet. "Daddy is so gonna owe me big time for putting up with the two of you after all of this is over!" she muttered under her breath and snapped her fingers. The oversized pink chair disappeared into the ether in a flash of golden sparkles. She pointed her right index finger at the remains of the mortals' breakfast and a sizzling bright pink bolt shot from it. There was a flash of light as the camp was tidied up and their supplies neatly placed in their packs.

"Uh... Thanks a lot, Aphrodite," Iolaus said, picking up one of the packs after rubbing the aftereffects from the zap away from his eyes.

"No problemo, Curly," Aphrodite replied as she shrugged her shoulders. "Hey!" she suddenly exclaimed with a big smile as she raised her left hand. "I can..."

"We're walking, Aphrodite," the demigod stated firmly.

"But, but, but...!" the Goddess began protesting.

"NO ZAPPING!"

"Oh, all right! Fine, then!" Aphrodite agreed reluctantly, rolling her eyes as she turned away to glance at the calm seas for a moment. "Like have it your way already!" she sighed, putting her hands on her hips and shaking her head as she did. There was no response from the three. Puzzled, she turned around to see that they were already making their way off the beach and heading towards inland. "HEY! WAIT FOR ME!" she called out.

"Glad you could join us after all," Hercules said with a laconic grin as Aphrodite walked over as quickly as she could in her slippered feet to the others.

The Love Goddess rolled her eyes. "Like whatever! Let's get this show on the road, huh?"

A flash of blue-white light to the small group's right indicated the arrival of a darkly scowling God of War.

"Here comes trouble with a capital T," Iolaus muttered.

Don't, my love, White Dove signed, shaking her head. It's going to be difficult enough as it is to keep the two of them from going to blows over the littlest thing...

The blond hunter nodded in silent agreement as the two half-brothers hostilely sized each other up. "Yep. This is definitely going to be a fun next couple of days of traveling..."

Aphrodite sighed and shook her head. "Daddy-kins, having to put up with these two will so mean major payback after all this mess is over!" she murmured. She raised her index and middle fingers to her lips and to Iolaus' shock, she let loose with a loud, piercing whistle that made Hercules and Ares turn and stare at the Love Goddess in astonishment.

"All right! You!" Aphrodite pointed at the grumbling War God. "Stand next to her!" she jerked her thumb in White Dove's direction. Ares didn't move from the spot he was standing in. She stormed over to him, reached up, and yanked his ear down to her lips. "I SAID: MOVE IT!" she screeched over his protesting yelps.

Hercules chuckled as Ares moved over to stand next to White Dove, rubbing his very sore ear. "Serves you right!" he gloated.

The War God growled under his breath, but in a remarkable display of restraint, he refrained from raising his hand to throw a fireball at his laughing half-brother. He settled for sneering at Hercules instead. "You just wait until this is over, Jerkules! Then you'll get what's been coming to you for a long time!" he threatened.

"Stuff it, Ares!" Aphrodite then whirled around to face her half- brother. "And you knock it off with the smart-mouth remarks, Herc! I wouldn't have to go to these totally grody extremes to keep the two of you separated if both of you weren't acting like spoiled brats in the first place!" she snapped, wagging her index finger at him like she would if scolding a naughty child.

The demigod blinked in surprise, but didn't say a word as he stood next to Iolaus. Aphrodite looked down at herself. "Well, if I've gotta hoof it like the mortals do, I might as well be dressed for the occasion." She waved her hand over her head and her outfit changed into a simple outfit that was similar in appearance to White Dove's without the fringes. "Lead on, Curly!"

Iolaus sighed and the motley crew started their journey.

Jett carefully slowed Red Fox down, making sure that Tolly's trail was still readable in the soft and sandy ground. The chestnut gelding whinnied and snorted uneasily. "Easy boy," Jett said as he patted the horse's neck in reassurance. His dark brown eyes scanned the area sharply as he continued down the road, looking for any signs of the farmer moving away from the path.

The bounty hunter rode into a village and stared in horrified shock at what he saw. "Gods..." Jett whispered, shaking his head in disbelief. There were bodies laying in the middle of the village center, the women weeping over them. But what made Jett's blood run cold was the fact that all of them were children, slaughtered like animals...

One woman looked up at him. She picked up the body of her child and rose to her feet. "Tell me: why would anyone do such a thing? These men rode in and killed our children before we could stop them! This is a peaceful farming village!"

Jett stared at the dead child the woman held in her arms and swallowed hard as he dismounted his horse. It was a boy that was no older than his own son. "I don't know. I'm looking for a man named Tolly. He's wanted for the murder of his family and several neighbors."

The woman held her murdered son up to her chest and wept. "That was the name of the leader of those men," she managed to choke out between her sobs.

Jett nodded. "Is there anything I can do?" he asked hoarsely. "Where are your husbands?"

The woman swiped carelessly at her eyes. "They were out in the fields when this happened, and now they're out looking for those murderers." She swallowed hard, trying to compose herself. "Just catch those men. We will take care of our children."

Jett remounted Red Fox and started to ride off, but the sounds of the women mourning the loss of their children made him turn around and come back. He dismounted from the gelding and walked over to the woman that he had spoken to earlier. "I'll help you with your dead," he offered.

"No!" the woman exclaimed. Even as her tears fell down her cheeks, her eyes grew hard as she stared up at him. "Find those men and bring them to justice - if you can."

Jett nodded, not knowing what else to say. He remounted Red Fox and rode off, trying to see if he could pick up a trail. He managed to find one that seemed to look promising and he began tracking down Tolly and the rest of the men who had murdered all the children in the village he had passed through.

A bit past midday, Jett came upon the remains of a camp and he reined in his horse, not realizing that he had uttered a sharp gasp. Red Fox snorted and stamped his feet anxiously before coming to a halt so that the bounty hunter could dismount.

Jett got down from the saddle and stood next to Red Fox, not quite believing what he was seeing at first. There were bodies scattered around the campsite, and it appeared to the ex-assassin that the men had literally turned on each other. The smell of blood made the gelding nervous as he sucked in his breath. Jett patted the horse's neck in reassurance as he continued to stare.

One man stood in the middle of the campsite, looking down at all the dead bodies lying about his feet. His green eyes were lifeless as he kept muttering over and over, "Oh Gods, what have I done?"

Jett approached the man carefully. "Tolly?" he said warily.

The man turned around, his hands clutched tightly against his stomach, blood steadily seeping through his fingers. "I killed them. My family, my friends, and all those children: all of them, dead. Now all of these men turning against each other and fighting to the death..." He stared at Jett. "Why?"

"I have to bring you in, Tolly," Jett said grimly as he began walking towards the bloodied farmer.

Tolly shook his head, his hands falling away from his stomach. "It's too late to bring me in alive, bounty hunter. Too late..." Tolly's eyes rolled up in his head as he staggered forward and fell at Jett's feet.

Jett stooped down and checked Tolly for a pulse, but knew it wasn't worth it. The farmer was dead. Something really bad is happening here, Jett thought silently as he rose to his feet and walked over to his horse. He took out a rope and blanket. He searched the area briefly and found two long and sturdy-appearing branches. He made a makeshift stretcher and dragged the dead farmer over to it.

As he put Tolly's body on the stretcher, Jett's mind whirled in confusion. Good men like Tolly killing his family and friends and now all those innocent children being slaughtered by him and the gang that he gathered together... What is going on here?

Jett quickly mounted Red Fox and headed for home, mentally reminding himself that he needed to go back to the village and tell the residents that there were several bodies that needed to be taken care of. As the gelding moved along the road, Jett hoped that Xena would be back soon from her trip to Chin so they all could sit down and try to figure out what was going on.

Adora tried all day to talk to Eve but her tall brown-haired friend wouldn't even look at her. When school was over for the day, Eve started walking towards Gabrielle and Joxer's house by herself.

Adora had to run to catch up to her taller friend. Puffing from running at top speed, she said, "What's with you today? You've been avoiding me all day." Eve ignored her and kept walking. "Hey! I'm talking to you, Eve."

Eve turned around and Adora stopped short when she saw the expression on the taller girl's face and the anger in her blue eyes. "Whoa! Where did that look come from?"

"Adora, you stay away from me! I never want to speak to you again. When we get back, I'm going to be staying with Aunt Melody and Andy until Uncle Jett comes back," Eve growled.

Adora blinked several times before she asked, "What did I do?"

"You know what you did, you hussy!" Eve growled.

Adora's eyes grew wide as she became more puzzled by the second. "Huh? Hussy? What's a hussy?"

"I don't know, but I heard Uncle Jace call Uncle Pierre that once and it's not good. It made Uncle Pierre very unhappy," Eve said as they continued walking along the road.

"I thought you said you never wanted to speak with me again," Adora pointed out. She shook her head, not understanding what she could've done to make her friend so angry at her.

"I don't! Oh, stop talking to me!" Eve yelled.

"Eve, why are you so upset? Is it about your skirt?"

"Gods, Adora! Why are you even bothering to pretend that you care? Do you think I'm blind? You kissed Stephanos right in front of me and he acted like I didn't even exist!" Frustrated tears filled Eve's blue eyes and she turned away, embarrassed.

Adora's jaw dropped open slightly as she reacted to her friend's words. Slowly, she reached out and put her hands on Eve's shoulders "I'm sorry, Eve, but you've got to believe me. That wasn't me kissing Stephanos, I swear! I had already gone inside the classroom to try and explain why you were going to be late, but you know how Foon Li gets..."

Eve wanted to pull away from Adora's gentle grasp but she didn't. "I wish Mom was here. Gods, I miss her."

"I miss Aunt Xena too," Adora agreed with a nod. "But she'll be home soon."

Eve looked up. "Can you tell me where she is like you used to?"

Adora frowned. "I don't know, Eve. It's been such a long time since I used my powers that I don't even think that they work anymore..." She turned away for a moment, lost in her own thoughts. "I don't miss using them, to tell the truth. I don't feel like I'm some kind of freak," she admitted softly.

"I understand," Eve said quietly.

Adora turned around when she heard the sad tone in her best friend's voice. "Evie, I can try and see if they still work," she offered.

Eve's eyebrows rose. "Are you sure you want to?" she asked.

Adora nodded. "Yeah, let's go to the river. If they're still working, I can use the water like a mirror."

Aer stood behind a tree and clenched her fists, watching as the teenagers left for the river.

"It's going to take more than coming between their boyfriends to break those two up. Their friendship is extremely strong," Abnoba's voice said in her head.

"Shut up, Abnoba! You do your job and I'll do mine! I just have to think of something else," the War Goddess snarled.

Abnoba's laughter echoed in Aer's ears and it only made her more determined than ever to break the ties of Eve and Adora's strong friendship. So, she decided to follow them to the river. Maybe, she figured, she could do something to upset things there.

Adora and Eve reached the river after a short walk. Adora carefully looked around, her dark eyes flashing with worry.

"What are you doing?" Eve asked as they sat down at the riverbank.

"I'm just making sure that my dad's not around. I don't want him to know I'm trying to use my powers again."

Eve frowned. "But don't you two have a connection?"

"It's not as strong as it was when I was a child," Adora answered sadly. Then she shook her head, her eyebrows furrowing in concentration. "Well, it looks okay. Come on. Let's do this..." She raised her hand up.

Eve suddenly reached out and took it in hers. "Dorie, do you really want to do this?"

"I just feel funny doing this behind Papa's back, but you're my best friend so I'll do it."

Eve sighed. "No. It was wrong for me to ask you to do it. Let's just go home. Mom's going to be back in a couple of days anyway."

Adora smiled at her. "Thanks, Eve."

"Hey, what are friends for?"

Aer watched the two teens as they rose to their feet and began walking back towards town. "I've got to do something. I can't fail. I won't fail!" The Goddess made herself invisible to the two girls and walked up behind Adora, firing an invisible bolt at the teen, forcing her under the Goddess' control.

Adora was shocked when her arm suddenly rose up of its own volition and a fireball appeared to shoot from her fingertips, barely missing Eve.

"Adora, are you crazy?" Eve gasped.

"I... I... I... It was an accident! I swear!"

Eve was about to say something in response when Adora "fired" again and Eve had to tuck and roll so she wouldn't be hit. "Adora, stop it!" she yelled, her blue eyes wide with shock.

"I can't! I can't control it! Eve, help me please! I can't control it!" Adora cried as she "shot" another fireball from her fingers.

Aer silently giggled as she controlled the helpless girl and forced her to turn in Eve's direction. It was easy to make it appear that Adora was shooting fireballs from her fingertips. "Foolish girl! If I can't break your friendship up, I can take you out instead!" she sneered.

Jett was on his way home after dropping off Tolly's body at the local magistrate's. Red Fox cantered nervously when he saw the fire and whinnied. "Easy boy!" the bounty hunter said in a soothing voice, trying to calm the horse down, but the gelding snorted, his eyes rolling up in fright.

Jett attempted to make the gelding go around the fire but the smell of burning brush frightened the horse. Finally, he dismounted Red Fox and slapped him on the rump. With a loud bellow, the terrified gelding ran off in the direction of home. In the meantime, Jett decided to check out the fire.

Eve screamed as Adora "shot" off another fireball at her. "Gods, Dorie! Stop it, please!"

"I can't, Evie! I can't!" Adora wailed.

Jett silently stepped into the clearing, his eyes widening with surprise when he saw what was happening.

Aer, sensing that another mortal was in the area turned around and saw the ex-assassin approaching the two girls. With a flick of her wrist, she released her control over Adora and moved to the side to see what would happen next.

Jett quickly moved behind his terrified niece and grabbed her arms, pulling them behind her back and wrapping them tightly around his. "It's okay, Dorie! I've got you!" he exclaimed.

Adora, hearing her uncle's voice, slowly relaxed in his grip and then burst into tears. "Oh Uncle Jett, I couldn't control my powers!"

Jett looked at her with worried eyes and then turned his attention to a pale-faced Eve. "What's going on?" he demanded quietly, releasing his grip on Adora so she could calm down.

Eve stepped forward a couple of paces, biting her bottom lip nervously. "I asked Dorie to see how far Mom is away from home and she said she'd try to use her magic..." She trailed off, not knowing how to continue explaining.

Jett glared at the two teenagers sternly. "Adora, you know that your father asked you not to try and use your powers anymore."

Adora, still crying, nodded. "I know, but I hoped they wouldn't even work! I'm sorry, Uncle Jett!"

Jett sighed and nodded as he ran his hand down the side of his face. "There's no use crying over spilled milk. We better get this fire out before it spreads."

Adora wiped her face and sniffed. "Uncle Jett, are you going to tell Dad?"

"No, but maybe you should."

Eve looked at Adora, who only shook her head sadly and walked over to the brush to start putting out the fire.

Aer watched and grinned as the three worked together to put the fire out. So, it appeared that the girl still had her powers after all, but didn't really understand how to work or control them properly. "This might come in handy," she observed with a smirk.

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