The Switch

THE SWITCH 4

PART FOUR

 

 

Sometime later Tori came
around. She was a bit confused at
first, but as soon as she saw Iolaus lying next to her, she started to
remember. She remembered how Iolaus was
nearly killed, her charging at the dark man, the fight, the way he had her body
pinned against the tree with his. A
shiver ran through her as she recalled how he felt against her, the warmth of
his body, the strength in his touch, the fierceness in his eyes. Gods, she thought that no one would ever
excite her as much a Cupid used to.
Cupid was a god, after all. What
mortal could compare? But this man, this dark soldier . . .

 

She was pulled out of her
reverie when she heard Iolaus start to moan.
She lightly slapped his face.

 

"Iolaus! Iolaus!
Wake up!"

 

He moaned some more and
then slowly opened his eyes.

 

"Thank the gods that
you're still alive."

 

"W-w-what
happened? Where did you come from? Oh, wow, I've got such a headache."

 

"You were almost
killed. Come on, we need to get you back to the camp." She bent down and tried to help him to his
feet.

 

"What about the
others? I was with three other men when
we were attacked again. You didn't see
them?"

 

"Others? Oh gods." She had totally forgotten about them.

 

She glanced around the area
where the fight had occurred and saw the men lying dead, along with a few of
Ares' men.

 

"They're dead,
Iolaus. Sorry. Looks like they took a couple of Ares' men
with them, though. Now let's get you
out of here before they come back to finish the job." She placed one of Iolaus' arms around her
shoulder and then started back.

 

"No, Tori. I can't go back. I have to go find Hercules.
Without Hercules' help, we don't stand a chance against Ares."

 

"Well, we are just
going to have to figure out something else, some other way to beat him, because
you're in no shape to go anywhere. Now
quit arguing with me."

 

They walked along a little
more until Iolaus got tired and then Tori spotted a place off the trail that
they could rest. She sat him down and
tried to make him as comfortable as possible.

 

"Thanks," he
said. He was finally starting to think
clearly again and he looked up at Tori.

 

"Tori, what happened
to your face? You look like you got
hit."

 

She lifted her hand and
covered her cheek. She could feel it
was slightly swollen.

 

"Nothing, don't worry
about it. I just want to get you back
safely. That's all that's important
right now."

 

Iolaus reached up and
pulled her hand away from her face.

 

"No it isn't. You're important - to me. Tell me what happened. And how did you know where to find me?"

 

"Well, I didn't,
really. Remember when I ran off
earlier? Well I ended up in a cave, who
knows where, trying to sort through my life and everything. I got so mad at Cupid for doing this to me
that I started to run again to relieve my frustration. It was only by chance that I happened upon
the fight you and the others were having.
You were in a bad predicament, Iolaus.
I thought you were a goner, for sure.
This huge soldier had you against a tree and was choking you. When I saw that, I charged him. We fought for a long time and then he had
me. I don't really know why he didn't
kill me. The next thing I knew, I woke
up beside you. He must have hit me and
knocked me out."

 

Iolaus gently touched her
wounded cheek. "You did that for
me?"

 

Tori smiled shyly. "You’re the only friend I have now,
Iolaus. I wasn't about to let anything
happen to you, too." She started
to blush. "Listen, I've been
thinking. I believe I know a way that
we could end this assault on the village.
It's the virgins the men are after, right?"

 

"Yeah?" Iolaus
nodded.

 

"Do you know if
Victoria is still a virgin?"

 

"I don't know for
sure, but I assume she is. Why?"

 

Tori got a wicked smile
across her face.

 

"I think we should let
her get taken!"

 

"WHAT? Are you crazy, Tori? Do you know what Ares would do . . ."

 

"Iolaus, not the real
Victoria, but rather, her twin!"
She was grinning widely at her genius.

 

"Tori, that's
insane. He'll be furious when he finds
out we made a switch on him. You'll be
killed for sure. I know you think
you're a good fighter, but it's nothing against a god. Believe me, I've tried."

 

"Maybe that's true,
but with this to help me, I can't lose."
She reached between her breastplate and retrieved the small vile of red
liquid.

 

Iolaus' eyes widened. "Is that what I think it is?"

 

"Well, if you're
thinking it's hind's blood, then you're right.
It's got the power to kill a god."

 

"Where . . . how . . .
why?"

 

"Cupid gave it to
me. That's why I'm here. He wants me to use it on Ares in this
realm. He told me that once I killed
the god, the vortex would reopen and I could go back home."

 

"Ares? Why would he want you to kill Ares?"

"Maybe he doesn't
really. Maybe he though that the God of
War would kill me first. Maybe it's
just a diversion, an excuse to get rid of me.
I was giving him a pretty hard time in the other world before we split
up."

 

Iolaus looked at her funny
when she said “split up.” She caught
his unspoken question and answered him.

 

"It's a long story,
Iolaus. I'll fill you in
later." She sighed. "Cupid, he's such a bastard. You know, everything was fine between us
until he started thinking I was fooling around with our Ares, the God of
Love." As soon as she said that,
it all seemed to come together.

 

"Iolaus!" she
exclaimed. "I know why Cupid wants
me to get rid of Ares. Because of that
rule you told me about. Where as if one
dies on this side, so it is on the other as well. Does that apply to the gods, too?"

 

"Why, yes. Yes, it does."

 

"He wants me to kill
this Ares so that our Ares will also die."

 

"He hates him that
much?"

 

"More than you
know."

~*~*~*~*~

 

A while later, Iolaus and
Tori made it back to the camp.

 

"Iolaus, what are you
doing back so soon? Where is Hercules,
and the others?" they asked.

 

"I never made it to
Hercules. We were attacked before I
found him. The others are dead. I would
have been too, if Tori hadn't of come to my rescue," he told them.

 

"Oh, no! Now what are we going to do? Without Hercules to help us, we're doomed
for sure!" one lady said, almost in tears.

 

"Yeah, Iolaus, you
were our only hope."

 

"We should just
surrender. At least, maybe, some of us
would live through this."

 

Iolaus looked at Tori. "That's exactly what we should do. If it’s a virgin Ares wants, then let's give
him one."

 

Everyone was shocked by
Iolaus' suggestion.

 

"Tori, why don't you
tell them your idea?"

 

So Tori explained to
everyone that she was willing to pose as Victoria and allow herself to be
taken. If anything, it would allow them
enough time to go and find Hercules and bring him back to help them out.

 

"Do you think it will
really work?" someone asked.

 

"Well, there's only
one way to find out," Tori responded. "Victoria, are you okay with
this idea?"

 

Victoria hadn't heard a
word that had been said. She had been
in a depression ever since she heard about Parsons' death.

 

"Huh?" She looked up from the ground with empty
eyes.

 

"We need to switch
clothing so that Ares will think that I'm you.
All right?"

 

"I don't care. Whatever you want," she agreed
half-heartedly.

 

Tori led Victoria behind a
rock and they changed clothes. But when
they came back around, you could still tell who was who. So the women went to work on them. One lady found some berries for
lip-coloring, while another took Tori down to the lake to take a bath and wash
her hair. Before too long, they had
finished with the two girls, and no one was able to tell that they had switched
identities.

 

Even though the dress was
dirty and torn, Tori looked beautiful, just as Victoria did. Now that they had the look down, it was time
to work on the appearance. Victoria was
a traditional woman in every sense. She
was dainty and proper. Tori was rough
and unfinished, boyish. She had to
really think about what she was doing, how she was acting. She couldn't sit with her legs open, or
speak like a sailor. The ladies of the
village gave her some good advice and told her some important things to
remember.

 

Just as they had wrapped up
the quick crash course in female etiquette, Ares' men surrounded the camp.

The people had guessed that
they would be along soon enough and they had removed Iolaus and Victoria from
sight. The solders started converging
on the group of people, so one of the elders stood and addressed the man who
looked to be their leader now. Tori
noticed right away that it was the same dark soldier that had nearly killed
Iolaus. She kept her eyes downcast,
afraid to give herself away.

 

"Wait! Please, don't
attack. We are willing to strike a
bargain with your Lord," the elder said.

 

The dark soldier approached
the man and got right up in his face.
He towered over the older man, who flinched slightly beneath his steely
gaze.

 

"Speak, old man,"
he said.

 

"We don't want to
fight anymore. Too many have already
died because of this. We are willing to
give you a virgin."

 

"Only one?"

 

"I'm sorry, sir, but
there is only one. The villagers were
not willing to give up their women and so this afternoon the men . . . well,
you know, they deflowered the others.
Victoria, here, was the only one who wouldn't consent to this
rebuttal." The villagers pushed
Tori forward and into view. Her head
and eyes were still downcast and she even managed to conjure up some tears.

 

"Wise girl." The dark man reached over to Tori and took
her by the chin, lifting her head to look at him. Tori swore she saw a hint of desire in the man's eye. "Why didn't you allow yourself to be
deflowered, like the rest?" he asked her.

 

"Because, I was afraid
it would anger the War God and he would take revenge on all of my village. But perhaps, if he still had one, he would
be satisfied."

 

"You are willing to
give your life for your village?"

 

"If I must, yes,"
she said softly, really working the tears in her eyes. One even ran down her cheek.

 

"Excellent!" the
dark man said seductively. Then, in a
covering of white light, Ares shed his disguise and made himself known to
all. The crowd gasped in shock. Especially Tori, who thought to herself, you're
a god! Now I see why you affect me the
same way Cupid used to.

 

"I accept your
offer. You will not be bothered any
longer. You have my word on
this." He grabbed Tori by the arm
and spoke harshly to her. "Tell
your friends good bye, now."

 

"Wait! Please, my Lord. Can you please answer us one question?"

 

Ares rolled his eyes in
impatience. "What is it?"

 

"Why? Why did you pick our village to harvest your
virgins?"

 

"Because, that was the
deal."

 

"Deal? What deal?" the elder asked in
confusion.

 

"The deal I made with
those three friends of the bride, to kill her husband on her wedding day,"
he said smugly. Then he looked over at
Tori, whose mouth had dropped open in genuine shock and horror. "Oh, I guess that must have been
you," he laughed wickedly.

 

Tori suddenly felt
nauseous. The thought that those three
men, who looked so much like her beloved friends, could do something so
cruel to someone they claimed to care about, cut like a cold dagger through her
heart. Her head started spinning and a
second later she fainted, and the fell right into the war god's arms.

 

He disappeared in a flash
of blue and white light with Tori. His
cruel laughter echoed long after he was gone.

 

 

~*~*~*~*~

 

 

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