The Switch

THE SWITCH

PART ONE

 

Tori landed on her hands and knees on the dusty ground in front of the swirling vortex. She heard her sword land beside her an instant later, and grabbed it as she stood up, sheathing it at her side.

Narrowing her eyes at the God of War, she scowled. "And just how do you expect me to manage this, Cupid?" She started to brush the fine dust from her leather battle wear.

"With this, you stupid mortal." Cupid tossed a small vile of red liquid at the girl.

Tori caught the vile in midair and held it up in front of her face, rolling it between her thumb and index finger. "What's this?" she asked.

"It's hind's blood. You'll need it in order to kill him."

"What makes you think I'll even be able to get near him? I am just a mere mortal, you know," she growled.

"Oh, my dear, Tori, I know you all too well. If you ever want to see your beloved friends again, you'll find a way," Cupid laughed. "Besides, you caught my eye; I'm sure your beauty will catch his as well," he said mockingly.

Tori shook her head at the god's sarcasm. His cheap shots were lacking their usual sting lately. Must be getting used to them, she thought. Then her face hardened in hatred at the god, as her thoughts turned back to her friends being held captive back in Cupid's temple. Those three men were the only family she'd ever known, and now their lives depended on her.

She muttered under her breath, thinking her whispers would be hidden by the sound of the swirling wind in the vortex, "Fine, you win! I'll do it!"

"What was that, my dear?" Cupid teased. "I couldn't quite hear you."
He was smirking.

"I said I would do it!'" she yelled.

Cupid laughed wickedly and then his face turned serious. He looked as cold and hard as stone. "Of course you'll do it, Tori. The vortex will not open for you again until you have completed your task and have killed the god. It you don't do it, then you'll never come home again, not to mention you'll be leaving me no other choice but to . . ."

"I SAID I WOULD DO IT. NOW, YOU LEAVE THEM ALONE, CUPID," she yelled at the cruel god. She quickly composed herself, absolutely hating when he would get to her like that. "We made a deal, remember? I kill the god, you leave me and my friends alone . . . and in peace, right?"

"That's right, Tori. You kill the god for me, and none of you will ever have to see me again," Cupid responded casually, examining the fingernails on his right hand. He breathed on them and buffed them lightly on his chest before looking up at the girl. His eyes fell across her form and he took in a deep breath and let out a big sigh.

"I am going to miss you, my little thief," he said before turning around and walking back into the swirling tunnel, the end magically sealing behind him. His words had the slight ring of finality, as they should have, since he never had any intention of letting her return.

After holding a straight face for another few moments, he busted out in laughter. Mortals are such idiots, he thought, especially the women - way too gullible! Cupid couldn't have been more pleased with himself. He was a god, if he wasn't a genius, too. The plan was far too brilliant. To think, he was killing two birds with one stone, and no one would be the wiser back home. Not only was he getting rid of that troublemaking ex-girlfriend of his, but odds were she might just be taking the sickening god of love with her. Cupid couldn't stand the pussy-whooped, boy-toy Ares, the God of Love. Just the thought of him made his skin crawl.

But if anyone could kill a god, it would be Tori. He thought back to the time when he first encountered her. She successfully robbed his temple and surprisingly fought her way through seven of his guards and made it back to her camp. He had watched in amazement and found himself desiring her, despite her lack of beauty. She was relentless, passionate, and oh so foolish to believe that he would actually allow her and the others to go free. Him - Cupid, the God of War.

No, despite all the fun reeking havoc and the great sex they used to have together, this was payback. He had never told her that he knew she robbed his temple. But no one bests the God of War and gets away with it.

In a blissfully wicked mood, Cupid figured he would go stir up a war or two, and then go and rid himself of the three rodents in his dungeon. He felt like a good torture session. This was turning out to be quite a nice day!

~*~*~*~*~

Tori soon found herself looking at an empty space where the vortex had just been. She looked down at the small vile of hind's blood she held and thought for a moment before popping the vile between her breasts and out of sight. There was plenty of "cushion" there to protect it from breaking.

She looked around the vast countryside. She was out in the middle of nowhere. She shrugged her shoulders and picked a direction and headed out.

It wasn't until nightfall when she came upon the first sign of life. The small village seemed to be bustling with activity, all coming from the town pub. She could smell something cooking and the laughter became louder as she approached the establishment.

Just as she reached the entrance, two men stumbled outside in a happy drunken state. One looked to be holding up the other, so he wouldn't fall downhe she smiled slightly and stopped to ask what all the ruckus was about.

"What's the ruckus a…a…bout?" one man slurred. "Just the biggest celebration this side of Athens, that's what." He seemed surprised at her question.

"Oh, quit giving her a hard time, Kaalib. She's not from around here," his buddy reprimanded. He looked at Tori. "You're not, are you, lady?"

Tori spoke softly. She didn't want to cause any trouble. "No, sir, I'm not."

"Ya'see, Kaalib. You've got to learn to be nice to visitors or no one's gonna ever stop here.
And you can kiss that inn of yours to Tartarus."

Kaalib pushed off of his buddy and brushed him off with a hand gesture. "Ah, whadda you know, Iolaus? You think you know everything just because you hang around with that half-god friend of yours all the time!" He clumsily stumbled away, mumbling.

God? Tori wondered.

"Please excuse my friend. He tends to get a bit ornery when he drinks. We're just having a little celebration inside."

"A celebration?"

"Yeah. Old man Barbbars' daughter just got hitched today. That's the wedding party
inside. There's food and drink, not to mention plenty of dancing, too. You're welcome to go inside and join the festivities. I can take you in, if you'd like."

"Thank you, sir, but . . ."

"Please, call me Iolaus. Everybody does."

"All right, Iolaus, but no thanks. Maybe later. Did I hear you mention an inn? I really need to find a room for the night."

"Yeah, . . .ah, what was your name?"

"Tori . . . It's short for Victoria."

"Victoria, huh? That's old man Barbbars' daughter's name, too! You even sort of look a little like her. Anyway, because of the wedding, the inn if full tonight. It's not usually like that. We
don't get a lot of visitors in these parts. Sorry, Victoria."

"Please, I prefer to be called Tori." She hung her head in disappointment. Exhausted from her travels, she wanted nothing more than a good night's sleep. Ready to walk away, she briefly turned back to Iolaus.

"Thanks anyway, Iolaus."

"Well, where ya going, Tori? Aren't you gonna come inside and get yourself a good meal? Come on. You look like you could use one."

Iolaus had such a goofy but sincere look on his face it caused Tori to laugh out loud.

"Well, okay. But I can't stay too long. I still need to find a place to lay my head for the night."

Iolaus took Tori by the arm and led her towards the door. "We'll worry about that later," he smiled.

~*~*~*~*~

Once Tori and Iolaus were inside, he led her to a table and they sat down. A young girl brought them each a cup of water and some napkins. Tori looked around at the various patrons. Everyone was laughing and having a good time. Then she came upon a sight that caused her mouth to drop open in shock. There, sitting at the bride's table were her three friends from back home: Cal, Snake, and Sly.

Iolaus noticed her expression and asked what was wrong.

"Nothing," she responded, "but I swear I know those three men at that table over
there."

"Who?" Iolaus asked, looking at where she was looking. "You mean those three fellows sitting next to Victoria? Those are her best friends Snake, Sly and Cal. The four of them grew up together."

Tori just shook her head in amazement. "It can't be! How . .
?"

Iolaus grew concerned after her expression still didn't change. "You know them, Tori? Let's go say hello. Besides, I'm so hungry I could eat a horse. We can stop at the buffet table on the way back," he said as he stood up from his seat.

Tori shook herself from her thoughts and followed Iolaus. They approached the table and Iolaus started to speak first.

"Hi, guys, Victoria." Iolaus extended his hand in friendship. "I think I found an old friend . . ." his words were cut short by Tori's interruption.

"Guys? Holy Zeus! It's really is you! Gods, I can't believe you're all right," she said as she practically knocked over Iolaus trying to get to her friends. She threw herself in the arms of the closet man, Cal, hugging him passionately.

"I thought I might never see you again." Tori was trying hard to keep herself from crying; she was feeling overwhelmed by the reunion.

As Cal held the stranger in his arms, he looked up to Iolaus in confusion and shrugged his shoulders. Then he gently took Tori by the arms and removed her grip from around him.

"I'm sorry ma'am, but do I know you?" he asked.

"Know me? Oh, quit joking around, Cal," Tori exclaimed.

When she saw that he still did not seem to recognize her, she continued, "It's me, Tori, you old fool. Don't you know who I am?" She looked to the two other men. "Sly? Snake?" Each nodded their head "no."

Tori became frustrated. "What's wrong with you guys? Did that worm put some kinda spell on you or something? How did you get out of there? And how did you get here?"

Iolaus put his hand on her shoulder. "Tori, I think you must be mistaking these fine fellows for somebody else you know. Clearly they don't know you. But please, allow me to make the formal introductions. Tori, this is Victoria. She was just married today. Victoria - Tori."

Tori broke her gaze from studying the three men and looked at Victoria. In amazement, she slowly started to walk closer to the woman.

"Great mother of Zeus! We look so much alike," Victoria remarked, touching the face of the strange woman who crashed her party.

Tori was equally enthralled. It was like looking into a mirror. The three men at the table looked to Iolaus.

"Who is she, Iolaus? Where does she come from?" Sly asked.

"I don't know. I just met her outside," he shrugged.

Tori heard their questions. "I'm from Lemar. It's a small village that is very similar to this one."

Snake started to run the name of the city over and over again. "Lemar. Lemar. Now why does that sound so familiar?"

Cal spoke up. "Lemar is Ramel spelled backwards."

"Ramel?" Tori said.

"The name of our village here," Snake responded.

Iolaus' eyes widened in sudden revelation. It had just hit him like a ton of bricks.
Tori was from . . .

Suddenly, a large group of soldiers entered the bar, startling everyone.

"Listen up, scum-bags. This establishment - this entire town - and everything in it, now belongs to Ares, God of War," the general of the army told the crowd. He looked around at all the stunned faces when he got an eyeful of the new bride. “Well, don’t you look pretty in your fancy, white dress? Come’mere, little misses. Come sit in my lap,” he cruelly teased her.

When Victoria didn’t move, the general started towards her. “Well, I see you people don’t know how to follow orders,” he scowled. “I guess I’m gonna have to teach you.”

Iolaus stepped in front of the man, blocking his way towards Victoria and the others. “Leave her alone. I suggest you be on your way, if you don’t want any trouble here.”

“HA! Did you hear that fellows? Shorty, here, thinks he can stop me! What’s you gonna do about it, shorty?” he laughed.

“Guys, guys, can’t we discuss this in a civil manner? Let's sit down, have something to drink. Join me for a meal.”

“The only thing I’m gonna join is my fist to your face.” The soldier pulled his arm back to strike Iolaus when suddenly Tori flipped over the table and landed her feet on the man’s chest, sending him flying across the room. She unsheathed her sword and instantly she and Iolaus found themselves fighting off a number of the soldiers.

The duo was able to disable enough of the men to allow safe passage for Victoria and the rest of the party to escape out the back, and then follow soon afterres\res' solders had infiltrated the entire village and there were far too many men for just the two of them to fight.

Once they were out of the pub, they started to look around for the others. Iolaus turned to Tori.
"You know, I could have handled that guy back there."

"Oh, yeah! He looked like he was ready to sit down for a nice heart to heart talk with you, Iolaus," she teased.

Iolaus rolled his eyes. "No, really, thanks for your help . . . I think!"

"No problem! It actually felt pretty good to knock a few heads together after the day I've had . . ." she let the words fade out, not wanting to have to explain anything about her encounter with Cupid earlier.

They were silent for a time while they searched for the others. As they walked along, Tori caught Iolaus looking at her with a bit of admiration in his eye.

"You're pretty good with that sword, Tori," he finally said. "Almost as good as
Xena."

"Xena!" she laughed. "That flusey. The only sword she knows how to work is the
Sovergn's."

Hearing the Sovergn's name reminded him of what he had been thinking of earlier, before Ares' men had arrived. He was curious about this woman, but he wasn't going to press her. He could tell that she was hesitant to speak about it. He knew he would have to win her trust first. Then maybe she would let him help her.

"You're a long way from home, aren't you, Tori?"

"Um-hum."

"What brings you to these parts, anyway, if you don't mind me asking?"

Tori hesitated. She wasn't sure if anyone would believe where she was really from, not knowing
that Iolaus had once been to the other side, himself.

"Just traveling, that's all. Wanted to see what was out there in the world," she finally answered. Then she stopped. She could hear the low grumbling of voices. "Hey, do you hear that?"

"Yeah. Let's go check it out," Iolaus said as he started to tiptoe into the bushes.

They crept along the brush until they were close enough to see what, or who, was making the noise. Iolaus breathed a sigh of relief when he discovered that it was his friends from the bar. The both emerged from the cover of the bushes to join the group of confused villagers.

"Iolaus! Oh thank the gods you're all right," Victoria said, running up to him and throwing her arms around him. A small smile emerged from her tear-streaked face.

"Oh, I'm fine. It was you and the others that I was worried about. I'm glad to see that you're all okay," he said, blushing from the attention that Victoria was giving him. "Is everyone accounted for?" he asked.

"No," Victoria cried, the tears started collecting in her eyes again. "I can't find Parsons, or the boys. You didn't see them on your way here?"

Iolaus shook his head. "Sorry, Victoria. But I'll assemble a search party and we'll go find them. Don't you worry about it. I'm sure they're just fine."

~*~*~*~*~

On the other end of the village, Cal, Snake, and Sly were standing amongst a group of the soldiers,
talking to the general. The same man that Tori had sent flying across the bar.

"You see, I told you! The entire village was at the bar for that bitch's wedding," Cal said with contempt.

Unknowingly to poor Victoria, her three best friends were really wolves in sheep's clothing. Victoria had shunned advances from all three of the men at one time or another and they were angry and jealous that she had married that idiot blacksmith's son, Parsons.

Parsons and the trio had been rivals all of their lives and they hated him. So the three men had traveled to Ares' temple about two weeks earlier and made a deal with the god to deliver up all the virgins in the village for his pleasure, if he would send in his army to kill Victoria's new husband on her wedding day. Ares had accepted their offer, virgins being one of his favorite things to possess.

Now they stood in front of a very angry soldier, gloating at the success of the mission.

"You said that there would be no opposition to our invasion. My men and I were caught off guard when we were attacked and I was nearly killed, you moron," the general snapped at the men.

"We didn't know that the stranger was gonna attack, or that Iolaus was going to . . ."

"SILENCE. I've heard enough. Ares is not going to be please that the virgins escaped. Now I have to go looking for them because I am not going back to the master empty handed."

Just then, another soldier approached. The general looked to him. "Well?" he said.

The soldier had a sullen look on his face. He answered, "There are three dead, sir.
Narran, Drafus, and Rom."

The general's face turned to stone. Those were three of his best fighters. "Three, huh?"

The three civilians saw an angry rage in the man’s eye as he looked back at them. "Three of my men are dead. That was not part of the agreement. I think it's only fair . . ."

He didn't bother to finish his sentence. He instead, removed the sword from his belt and stabbed Cal in the chest. Snake and Sly turned to run, but were restrained by the other soldiers. The general then proceeded to cut their heads off. He re-sheathed his bloody sword and walked away, informing his men to leave the bodies where they were. They had virgins to find.

~*~*~*~*~