Closing her eyes, Gabrielle concentrated on Mt. Olympus, and then flickered away in a shower of golden sparks with silver trails.

After a few moments, Xena went back to her sword. Although she wanted Gabrielle to think she was unconcerned, Xena kept glancing around, looking for her.

Xena had put away her sword and was starting to polish her Chakram when Gabrielle flashed back in.

"Took you long enough," Xena said. "Get lost, did you?"

"No. Well, yes. No, not really," she replied.

"Gabrielle, Goddess of Indecision," Xena said sarcastically.

"I didn’t get lost. Well, not until I got there."

"So you managed to find Mt. Olympus?"

"As a matter of fact, I did. I just kind of got lost walking around. Xena, that is a BIG place. There are halls and stairs going EVERYWHERE!  But since I know you have a better sense of direction than I do, I decided to come back for you."

"See any sign of Ares or Aphrodite?"

"I didn’t see signs of ANYONE. It looked so deserted, and lonely. It was kind of spooky."

"Yeah, well, I suppose it would be. It’s been a while since all the gods died. I don’t think Aphrodite, OR Ares, much go in for housekeeping. Let’s get things here stowed away and I guess we’ll go have a look."

"What about Argo? Are we going to take her too?"

"No. I think a little free time will do her good. She needs to run free once in a while."

< . . . >

"So, how do we do this?" Xena asked. "Do we hold hands, or hug, or what?"

"I guess holding hands should be enough, but let’s stand close together just to make sure."

The two women faced each other, clasped their hands together and moved within a hand’s width of each other. Gabrielle gave Xena a reassuring smile, concentrated on the Great Hall and they both flashed out, leaving gold, silver, and dark red sparks behind.

< . . . >

"You’re right," Xena said to Gabrielle as they walked around the Great Hall of Zeus. "Gloomy, dark, abandoned. This is definitely a depressing place. No wonder nobody’s here. I think I’m ready to go, myself."

"Don’t you think we should at least look around some, just to see if we can find Ares’ and Aphrodite’s Halls? They might be there. Or we’d know if they do come back here once in a while."