10.07 Eye of the Storm


TEASER

FADE IN

Black screen. Xena's painful wails are heard.

FADE TO

[FLASHBACKS]

From God Fearing Child:

Xena gives birth to Eve in the forest as Zeus approaches with a lightning bolt in his hand. Gabrielle delivers the baby.

GABRIELLE (voice over):
     ...and so, the child was born in a time of death.

Hercules stabs Zeus with the Rib of Cronos. Zeus lies dead at Hercules' feet.

GABRIELLE (voice over):
     Fearing the prophecy, the Olympians unleashed their wrath on us.

CUT TO

From Eternal Bonds:

The three temple armies attacking Xena and Gabrielle in a field while Eve is secured in a sling hanging in a tree.

CUT TO

From Amphipolis Under Siege:

The warriors attacking Amphipolis. Athena readies to kill Xena's child but Ares appears and fights back.

CUT TO

From Looking Death In the Eye:

Xena and Gabrielle in a horse-drawn wagon riding fast along a cliff overlooking the sea. Athena, Hades and Hephaestus shoot fireballs toward the wagon.

GABRIELLE (voice over):
      We thought that by drinking Death's tears, we could fake our deaths and escape from the gods' endless pursuit.

CUT TO

Xena drinks the tears and "dies" in Ares' arms.

CUT TO

GABRIELLE (voice over):
     But we didn't foresee that Ares would bury us in a tomb of ice...

Ares kisses Xena's seemingly lifeless body in her ice coffin.

GABRIELLE (voice over):
     ...or that we would wake up twenty-five years later to find that Eve had grown up to be a ruthless warrior for Rome...

CUT TO

From Livia:

Livia leads a parade of conquered people behind her into the streets of Rome.

CUT TO

From Eve:

Livia chops off the head of a village man, and looks up at her bloody blade.

GABRIELLE (voice over):
     ...and that the Twilight prophecy would become a forgotten whisper.

CUT TO

From Eve:

Xena is lying on the temple floor beneath Livia who is holding Xena's chakram to her throat. A bright white light shines down on her face and Livia looks up, amazed.

GABRIELLE (voice over):
      A miracle from the God of Love turned Eve's heart to goodness, and she was chosen as Eli's Messenger.

CUT TO

From Motherhood:

Eve is baptized in the water.

GABRIELLE (voice over):
     To protect her daughter, Xena was given the power to kill gods...

The gods face off with Xena on the beach, and she kills Poseidon when a fireball from one of the gods that is deflected off her chakram and into him.

GABRIELLE (voice over):
     ...and the showdown began.

CUT TO

Xena fights the gods in the tavern. Hades aims a fireball at a cringing, wounded Eve; Xena breathes fire on him and sets him ablaze.

CUT TO

Xena fighting Athena on Olympus.

GABRIELLE (voice over):
     Ares gave up everything to save Xena's life...

CUT TO

Ares healing Eve and Gabrielle, giving up his immortality.

GABRIELLE (voice over):
     ...and Xena prevailed.

Xena stabs a stunned Athena in the stomach.

GABRIELLE (voice over):
     But it wasn't over. When we learned that Michael had used Xena and Eve to destroy the Olympians and increase his own power, we journeyed into the underworld to save the gods.

CUT TO

From A Very Narrow Bridge:

Xena, Ares, Gabrielle and Eve retrieving the spheres that imprison the gods in Hell.

CUT TO

Athena rises from a shattered sphere. She hugs Ares.

GABRIELLE (voice over):
      We didn't know that the real Twilight was only just beginning.

CUT TO

From Twilight Eve:

Eve sits up, gasping, as she wakes from a dream.

Artemis tries to shoot a fireball but fails.

Demeter fades from existence.

GABRIELLE (voice over):
     The gods would lose their powers and fade as their worship declined. Ares was again torn between Xena and his family--while Artemis was determined to preserve her power even if she had to take it from the other gods.

CUT TO

From Showdown:

Artemis is in front of Ares' temple, with her hand around Darion's throat.

GABRIELLE (voice over):
     Ares made the final choice to become mortal again.

Apollo and Artemis drain Ares' powers.

GABRIELLE (voice over):
     Apollo was killed--but Artemis has grown more and more powerful ever since, claiming worshipers by force and fear. Yesterday, we defeated a warlord to whom she had given Ares' powers so he could do her bidding.

CUT TO

From The Power and the Glory:

Ares kills Brygus and then destroys the ring that holds his powers.

GABRIELLE (voice-over):
     But I know we have not seen the last of her...

[END OF FLASHBACKS]

FLASH TO

Night, under a full moon.

Moon

Xena's ululating war cry is heard.

CUT TO

A sword slashes across the screen. Pull back to show Xena fighting in the dark interior of a temple, the moonlight shinning down over her from a window high above. She is fighting several warrior women all at once, dodging one strike from a warrior on one side only to turn and parry a blow from a warrior behind her. The chakram is in one hand, the sword in the other. The warriors are in silver, black and blue.

Xena slices one of the warriors across her side with her sword and she falls, having little time to block the blow and dying almost instantly. Xena pulls her bloody sword from the fallen warrior and attacks the other warriors as they come at her from all sides, swinging left and right.

Xena

Xena's fierce and violent, her rage and hatred building as her fighting becomes more precise and more deadly accurate. She has no intention of leaving anyone alive.

She stabs one of the warriors in the chest with the sword in one hand, and then slices the chakram across the neck of another warrior. Both of them die.

She attacks the final warrior who charges at her, screaming, and after a few swings--and Xena dodging the blow from the warrior woman's sword that passes just over Xena's head as she ducks--Xena stabs the warrior woman in the side. She cries out and goes down.

Breathing hard, Xena looks up, the dead warriors around her.

Artemis

Ahead of her, Artemis sits on the throne of her temple, her eyes dark and menacing. Their eyes lock. Xena snarls and takes her chakram and screams, hurling it toward Artemis. Artemis sits still as the chakram flies toward her neck--but just before it reaches its target, Artemis disappears.

In the same instant, Artemis appears behind Xena with a sword and swings it. Sensing someone behind her, Xena whirls around, meeting Artemis' sword with her own. They begin to spar. The buzz of the chakram is heard in the background as it ricochets around the temple.

Artemis throws all her weight toward Xena and is able to push her back. Xena does not lose her footing but she's momentarily stunned. The sound of the chakram grows louder. Xena knocks Artemis back, somersaults over her head and kicks her in the back, knocking her down.

Xena turns to Artemis as the chakram flies back toward her. The camera zooms in on her for a medium close-up as she catches the chakram.

Xena

FLASH TO

Xena jerks awake from her bedroll, breathing hard, sweat on her forehead. She sits up and closes her eyes to regain herself after the nightmare. She's in a campsite in the forest (the same one from the end of The Power and the Glory II), just after sunrise.

Sighing, she lies back down staring up at the trees, and then rolls over. Ares is not beside her the way he had been the night before. His bedroll is gone. Frowning, she looks around and sees that Gabrielle is gone, too, as well as her bedroll.

CUT TO

Gabrielle

Gabrielle is sitting on a log amongst some trees. She is writing in a scroll, pausing a few moments to think and then resuming.

Footsteps are heard behind her.

CUT TO

The point of view of the person coming up, seeing Gabrielle from the back as she continues to write.

CUT TO

The shadow of the person falls across Gabrielle's shoulders.

GABRIELLE (still looking down at the scroll):
      Good morning, Xena.

Pull back to show Xena standing behind her, still barefoot and only wearing her leather shift and no armor (but holding her chakram).

XENA (smiles):
      You knew it was me.

GABRIELLE (turns back to look at Xena, also smiling a little):
      Of course.

XENA:
      You're not usually a morning person.

GABRIELLE (shrugs, looking down at her scroll):
      Couldn't sleep.

XENA (follows Gabrielle's gaze):
      What are you writing?

GABRIELLE (looks down at the scroll in her lap):
     It's about the Twilight. (Xena walks around until she's facing Gabrielle) I've never really written it down, all the way through. After all we've seen, and done... (trails off, hesitant) I wanted to make sure it was remembered in case... (she looks down)

Xena frowns slightly, noticing Gabrielle's hesitation. She sits down beside Gabrielle and puts her hand over Gabrielle's in a comforting gesture. After a moment, Gabrielle squeezes Xena's fingers and they hold there, in silence.

She hears the whinny of a horse and looks up. Ares walks up between some trees, leading his horse and stops.

Gabrielle

GABRIELLE (to Xena):
     How do you think it will end?

Xena looks across Gabrielle toward Ares. He's lifted the front leg of his horse, inspecting the shoe.

XENA (thoughtful):
     The way we least expect it.

Gabrielle watches her thoughtfully in a moment of silence. Xena gives her another squeeze to the shoulder and stands, walking toward Ares.

CUT TO

Ares lets go of Quirinus' foot and pats the horse's neck. Xena comes up.

XENA (smiles):
      Going somewhere?

Ares looks back at her.

XENA (stepping up to him, teasing):
      You know, one of these days, people will be looking to you for help just as much as they do to Gabrielle and me.

Ares chuckles a little, then grows serious, stepping up to her.

ARES:
      We're leaving for Ephesus.

Xena glances over, seeing Klio and Argo already saddled and ready for travel, food packed for a meal on the road. She looks back at him.

Ares

ARES (continues):
     We've stopped Brygus, now it's Artemis' turn. She's become more powerful because of the powers she took from me even if she doesn't have them anymore. It's my job to stop her. (pauses, then speaks softly) Maybe...you should stay behind. I--

Xena puts her fingers to his lips to silence him, the hand displaying the stone ring.

XENA (determined but gentle):
      Hey. We're in this together. (playful yet serious) Now that you have me--

She removes her fingers from his lips and lowers her hand to his chest, resting it over his heart.

Xena

XENA:
     --you're stuck with me.

He can't help smiling. She smiles, too.

DISSOLVE TO

Ship

A ship sailing over the water.

DISSOLVE TO

Shoreline. The ship pulls into a small port near a cliff. On the bow of the ship, Darion stands by the railing still looking out to sea and Gabrielle walks up behind him. Xena and Ares can be seen standing in the background. Darion looks up.

The morning sky is a deep color of reds and oranges, the color faintly reflecting down into the water.

DARION:
     A red sky, Gabrielle. (looking her in the eye, serious) It's a sailor's warning. (pause) A storm is coming.

GABRIELLE (touches his shoulder gently):
     It'll be okay, Darion.

She pauses for a moment, and then sees part of a golden temple glowing in the light of the sun on the top of the cliff in front of them. Xena and Ares walk up beside her and look in the same direction.

Then several warrior women are seen running around the side of the cliff, chasing a few simple villagers. The warriors catch up to them and attack as the people try to get away.

Xena's eyes widen. She glances at Gabrielle briefly who nods and then goes into action. Even as the ship is pulling into the port and the anchor is being released, Xena takes a few steps back and then takes a running leap off the bow of the ship, somersaulting several times in the air before landing in the wet sand. She draws her sword as she charges.

From the ship, Gabrielle watches. It begins to rain.

GABRIELLE (distant, holding Darion closer):
     Everything will be all right.

FADE OUT

END OF TEASER