The Xena Scrolls

Scroll # 7: The Titans

By:  Gabrielle Bard of Potedia

November, 49 BC

I sing of a day when giants were freed and a friend was to prove herself to the one she looked to most. It all began when the sun was at its highest point while Xena and I were hiding in the brush. We were awaiting a gang of henchmen that Xena had been following for sometime. These murderous thieves were on the list of those Xena vowed to bring to justice upon he r turning from evil to good. She was quiet like a griffin about to capture its prey. Just before she was about to pounce she instructed me to take Argo and get her ready. And then suddenly she rose from the brush and flipped out with her signature battle cry.

She had startled her enemies who were not about to fight an armed warrior princess. Everyone around the countryside knew of her many talents and skills. The funny thing was that she wasn’t even prepared to battle with her weapons as she held them alongside chackram, sword, whip, and all. The lead henchman was not amused, but Xena had told him that he was special to her for she would not give up on attempting to capture him. With that comment and shrewd smile spreading across her face she instantly dropped her weapons. This lead her into battle with eight armed thugs. Though the odds looked bad for Xena being without arms she handled the situation like a champ flipping into the air kicking the first attacker in the face as she flew upon the tree branches above.

And as I watched this heroic battle I suddenly lost track of what it was that I was supposed to be doing. Argo began to walk away. I struggled to bring her back to the scene knowing that Xena would surely need her trusty steed in the heat of battle for these henchmen were scared witless. I heard Xena’s furious kicks as she must have taken them all on by storm. Eight bodies dropped to the ground and sixteen pairs of feet hustled to scurry away in defeat. Then I heard Xena whistle for Argo, but Argo was nowhere to be found. I searched frantically for that horse for she couldn’t be far. Suddenly I had caught sight of Argo again only to hear Xena whistle once more for her steed. I rushed over to Argo grabbing her by the reigns as we went to meet up with Xena once again.

Xena appeared a little bit disgusted. She couldn’t believe that her horse had not been there when she needed her most. The thugs were getting away and Xena made it known to me that I had failed in my job of taking care of Argo. As she scolded me for being slow she jumped upon her horse and told me that I had done what I was told, but that I needed improvement. And then Xena rode off on her trusty steed leaving me to think about what had just happened. I wondered what it was that I could do to make Xena pleased with me. What could I do to make Xena realize that I could help her and do some of the things that she did. I mean wouldn’t fighting the bad guys with two instead of one make life a little easier for the warrior princess?

And as I began to tread off of the path in thought I heard something very unusual. It sounded like a chant of some kind although I couldn’t regonize it at first. I followed the sounds of this chant into a large cave just off of the road a bit. As I entered the cave I saw many young priests and virgins gathered around a virgin reading from a scroll. As I listened to her read the chant I began to realize that it was supposed to be an ionic chant although she was not reading it with the correct rhythm. For some reason she was using Dorian rhythms. Once she had finished reading from the scroll everyone from the entire group seemed disappointed. It was as if they had expected something to come of reading the chant. So they began to discuss the problem. One handsome young boy from the group whose name was Philius stepped forward with the hope that this chant would work if only the virgin girl could read it a little faster.

But that wasn’t going to make the chant sound any better and so I thought it my duty as an educated bard and poet to come forward and share my knowledge of ionic rhythms. Of course I apologized for my intrusion as I explained to this group that it was all in how they read the scroll and not the speed of the read.  I asked if I could give it a try, and the handsome young boy allowed me to do so.  He handed me the scroll and I began to read. “Herrah Tah, Herrah Tah, Yassu Herrah Tah.” Once I had finished the reading of this ionic chant I explained to the group that it was all in where you stressed the syllables.  In this case the first syllable was the one that needed to be stressed when read.

Everyone seemed quite impressed with my read, but the fun was yet to begin. Suddenly, the entire cave shook as if there were an earthquake, and then the stones before us began to crack apart revealing three mighty giants. These mighty giants were not your ordinary run of the mill giants. These were titans. The legendary titans that had been captured and defeated by the gods of Mount Olympus. They appeared to be very unfriendly until one of them spoke to us. He inquired of which virgin goddess had set them free. I was terrified. I didn’t know what to do next for I had a strange feeling that these nasty giants wanted to eat me for lunch. For a moment I froze for I could say nothing that would keep me from being the next meal for these creatures. And then the young handsome Philious stepped forward bravely to introduce me.

Now I was dead for sure.  Just when I was about to try to talk my way out of being lunch, the older titan, who called himself Crious, asked of my name for he felt that it was sacred.  Now the tides were seemingly turning. Maybe these titans weren’t as bad as their stories had told them to be. I introduced myself. And then the one calling himself Crious bowed along with his comrades the young woman Thea and the young man Hyperion. Cruious said that they were to serve me. Now this was really becoming strange and unexpected for they treated me as if I were a goddess of some sort. Naturally I had to take advantage of this newly developed situation for this could be the answer or the solution to all of Xena’s problems. Now I would be able to help Xena for I now had real power. The power of the titans was in the rhythm of my scroll.

As soon as I realized my power the young handsome Philious stated that they had been trying to free the titans so that they could help them clean up their village and solve its difficult problems. Well now this was something that I could do. I could ask these titans to help us out. And so I led my new friends to the village with the young boy and his friends. As we reached the village we came upon the henchmen that Xena had been chasing. They had gone inside the village tavern. I knew that Xena must have been in there involved in some minor battle within the tavern. With these five new henchmen the odds would not be in Xena’s favor so naturally I had to interject.

I walked in through the tavern doors noticing that Xena had already captured the Hesiot whom she had been chasing previously, but now she had five new enemies. They were descending upon her fast. Naturally I interrupted the battle making my presence known to them. And of course they laughed it off not believing that I could help the warrior princess in her hour of darkness. Suddenly, the roof of the tavern was cracking and then lifted off by one of the mighty titans. The henchmen ran out of the tavern as soon as they caught sight of my friend Crius. His strength was even greater than that of Hercules himself. But now they were getting away and so I ran outside after them and instructed my new titan friends to disperse these nasty creatures. The young titan Hyeperian swatted at them all knocking them to the ground effortlessly. He was obviously showing off his super titan strength. The five nasty thugs scrambled to their feet and ran for their lives out of the village never to be seen there again.

I was proud of my titan friends for their wonderful heroic deed and I was proud to be able to help Xena dispose of these evil thugs. Xena walked out of the tavern with her captive Hesiot inquiring me about this new development. She didn’t exactly appear to be pleased, but she wasn’t really displeased either. Naturally I introduced my best friend to the titans who blessed her as well since she was a friend of their holy goddess Gabrielle. I was really getting kind of embarrassed by the fact that they kept calling me the holy virgin so I asked them to go ahead and call me by my name even though it was sacred to them. They had my permission in other words.

But now came the difficult part. What should they do? Then the boy from the cave suggested that they clean up the road and fix the dam. And of course there were a few other minor tasks that needed completion. This was no problem. I instructed my titan friends of what their chores were and they agreed to go off and complete them. Although Hyperion seemed a little less excited than his counter parts.  As the three titans stomped off Hesiot almost revealed to these titans that I was not really a goddess.  But they didn’t have to know that.   As long as they were helping humanity for the cause of good what harm could there be?

While the titans were gone I enjoyed my welcome and thanks from the villagers for helping them with their problems. We ate and drank together joyfully as I spoke of all of the good that I was going to do with my new friends. I was going to take the titans on a run for world peace. It was my dream and how could I go wrong with the titans? But of course there was one evil little man who had to steal my thunder by reminding me that the titans were only serving me because they were certain of my godly powers for being able to release them from their binds. As usual Xena took command of the situation reminding him of what could happen to him for going against the grain.

And suddenly the earth beneath us began to shake as the titans had soon arrived back from their chores. I rushed outside to greet them for we had a lot of good to do and much to accomplish. The older titan gleefully reported that they had finished their chores, but they were a little tired. Naturally I instructed my mighty friends to rest. But the young woman Thea said that they were hungry. It was a small detail I had forgotten. How was I going to feed these giants? Who knew how much one titan could eat. I suggested that they could share the food with the villagers since they did help them out. And of course that plan would have worked out great since the villagers didn’t seem to object, but the young titan Hyperion was not satisfied with this. In his arrogance he refused to share food with these tiny villagers for he was the titan of the sun. Instead Hyperion suggested that I use my godlike powers to create a feast for them.

Now this posed a bit of a problem since I didn’t possess any powers of the kind. I then explained that I didn’t like to use my powers in that way for it was like showing them off. Modesty for me was the only way out of this mess. And of course Crious and Thea understood, but Hyperion was not convinced in the least. I threatened to use my powers on him counting on my bluff to scare him out of his fury. But then as I warned him that he would pay the price for defying the holy goddess Gabrielle he took in a deep breath and blew me down. I toppled over backwards landing on my back instantly. It was like the wind from a huge storm blowing me over and it certainly didn’t leave me feeling too strong afterwards.

Now my game was over and my identity had been realized by the titans. Hyperion declared that I was to come with he and his comrades. But Xena stepped in proclaiming to be my protector. Hyperion was not amused by Xena and proceeded to squash her like a bug beneath his sandle.   As he rose for the kill Xena drew her sword stabbing the great titan in the foot. Now this really made the already mad Hyperion extremely irate. As Xena and I ran away with the rest of the villagers Hyperion was in a rage. The earth shook beneath us as we could barely escape his fury. He knocked down houses, and barns, smashing every fence within his path. And just when we thought that we had found safe refuge he kicked in the stone walls with his humongous foot.

We kept running, but the giant titan had much longer legs though he was a little slow for his size. Then Philious had an idea wonderful idea. He led us to the temple of Cronus father of the titans. He told us that the temple of Cronus would be safe because it was holy for the titans as well. And so we ran for our lives toward Cronus’s temple as Hyperion was not far behind. He had the look of fury within his titan eyes ready to strike as soon as he was within distance. Yet as we neared the temple he slowed down and came to a stop. The earth was then silent as Hyperion decided to give up his pursuit.

Once inside the temple Xena immediately began tending to the wounded villagers who had been caught up with in the wrath of these giant destructive monsters. Many of the village people were very upset with me and with Xena for just when we thought it was safe the titan from beyond made an offer. He declared to any man who dared to capture the warrior princess the promise of power. Hesiot immediately saw the profit in that and suggested to Xena that she switch sides with him and take up with the titans. But of course Xena would not turn down that path again. She warned Hesiot of the consequences of going against her promising to show him more of the old Xena than he could ever have imagined.

Suddenly, women within the temple began to cry frantically for there had been a group of children that had been taken out for a day of learning within the forest. The mothers and the fathers of these children were sick with grief for their children were out there with the titans. Xena quickly went into action and left the temple to seek out and find the innocent children. While Xena had been gone Hesiot had talked some of the villagers into siding with him and so Philious and I found ourselves the victims of their outrage and frustration. But I knew that I was at fault for getting involved in reading Philious’s chant. And I could have prevented the titans from becoming angry if only I had been true to them from the beginning. But I had been overzealous in my plans for wanting to save the world as Philious had been in wanting to solve the problems of his own village.

Upon Xena’s return she had brought the children back to the temple safely and unharmed although it had not been without a fight between the titans themselves. It seemed that there had been some conflict and a little jealousy between the sun titan and Crius. Xena had used that moment to her advantage and whisked the children out of the titan’s cave while Hyperion had murdered Crius leaving Thea’s heart broken. And though Thea’s heart had been broken the parents of the children whose lives had been in danger hearts breathed a sigh of relief as they hugged their children tightly upon their safe return.

Yet they seemed unappreciative to the one whom had saved their children for Xena found herself captured within a net. The mob who fought to capture the warrior princess had been led by Hesiot and he was quite satisfied with being in control. Hesiot was going to take Xena to Hyperion and give the titan what he had asked for in return he would receive his own kingdom. As Hesiot scoffed at those who had gone against him he was satisfied that he had been able to captured the mighty warrior princess. Yet Xena still struggled within the tangled net, but Hesiot then took his sword and knocked her out. He then chose one of the other villagers to go with him to take her body to the titans as payment.

Though it appeared as if the warrior princess had been defeated it was not to be for she soon returned to the temple in one piece without her captures. They had made the mistake of being greedy and thinking that they could work with the titans. Instead the titans had sentenced the two defiant souls to their own deaths. Of course that did solve the problem of what to do with Hesiot, but there was still the problem of defeating the titans themselves. Upon Xena’s return she explained that the titans had plans of awakening thousands more of their kind. With this news it was time to call the villagers to action. Those who had once opposed Xena were now willing to go out into the world where the titans walked to gather supplies to help Xena build a trap for them.

Yet there would never be enough wood to build a trap for a titan. Xena had to have more to this plan. Then Philious and I had come up with our own plan for he had said that there was indeed another scroll. It was a scroll that could turn the titans back into stone if read by the one who released them. This was my chance to make my own mistake right, but Xena would not hear of it. She insisted that it would be too risky to send me into the cave with the titans. Yet I didn’t care for I had been the one who released them. I was willing to risk my life to save the people of the village and the people of the world.

Xena did not allow the argument to last long for she quickly resumed instructing the village people upon building their traps. Philious and I were confused that Xena would not listen to our plan. I was more upset and offended. I felt that Xena did not respect me or feel that I could be up to a challenge like the titans. That night Philious and I shared much, but despite all that Xena had forbidden we realized that we could not allow our own passions for one another stand between us and victory over the titans.

When Xena returned to us she looked disappointed and upset with me for she had thought that I had acted without thinking once again. She couldn’t have been more wrong and it only angered me more that she didn’t believe in me. I expressed my anger in her treating me and thinking of me as a child. She then retaliated by telling me that she didn’t have time to convince me of it. And in that moment I realized that I was going to have to prove to Xena that I could do this. That I could go to face the mighty titans and to put them back where I had found them. So I snuck out of the temple into the darkness running quickly to the cave where the titans slept.

Once inside I tip toed quietly trying desperately not to awaken the beautiful tender-hearted Thea. Hyperion was nowhere to be seen and so I thought that this was a lucky chance that I had caught him while he was away. I quietly approached the altar where Philious had said that I would find the chant that would imprison the titans once again. There were six scrolls and I fumbled through them nervously hoping that I would find the right one and not the scroll that would awaken thousands. And then there it was on the bottom of the altar. It was the scroll that was going to save the world. Quietly I walked back toward the entrance of the cave feeling that if I was going to read the scroll it would be much safer closer to the entrance just in case it was the wrong one. I had to be ready to escape.

And then I untied the ribbon which revealed the power of the scroll. As I began to read it within my mind I found myself captured by the mighty Hyperion. He laughed gleefully for he had wanted me to come. Thea was now awakened and she too was delighted that I had joined them. The two titans were determined to free the rest of their kind. Then Hyperion and Thea took me back to the altar.  Hyperion searched through the remaining scrolls and then handed me the scroll that would end the world as we know it. Yet I knew that I could not read it so I had to come up with something that would give Xena time to figure out that I was gone. I knew that she would come looking for me and that she would know exactly where to find her friend.

Thea assured me that they were not going to hurt me though Hyperion had convinced me otherwise. Suddenly, I came up with an idea. I would tell them the story of their time upon the earth and how they had once ruled supreme. I knew that it would take me several hours to tell the story to them entirely and I could take advantage of Hyperion’s ego.   As I spoke I had them going for they truly were impressed at how well I could tell a good story. For a while I had forgotten that I was telling stories to giants who wanted to kill me. Yet only halfway through their titan legend Hyperian began to become impatient for he had caught onto my plan. Thea was still enjoying my eloquent stories, but it was obvious who the leader was. So now that time was running out I was forced to read their scroll.

I took a deep breath and read it with a Dorian rhythm knowing that it would not release their friends. Hyperion was angered for he knew that I wasn’t reading it right. He asked me to read it again. I read it again, but faster this time hoping that he would not hear where the syllable was.  This only enraged the titan more and I was preparing myself for death as I knew that he would squash me soon. Thea soon calmed his anger and then he asked me once again to read it, but to stress the first syllable.   Again I took a deep breath and read it as I was asked, but this time I read it correctly.   All correctly except for the last syllable of the last word. Then the titans were confused for it should have released their friends.  Hyperion was certain that I had been the virgin who had released him, and then I saw my way out of this mess. I told him that I was no longer a virgin.

That set him off into rage as he prepared to kill me with his fist, but I was soon saved by the arrival of the warrior princess. She called out to the titan and then smiled and laughed. Xena was enjoying the challenge of going up against him. She then lured him into a trap and captured his arm within the walls of the cave. Then she appeared once again and prepared to kill the titan, but Thea intervened pleading with the warrior princess not to take another life. She had lost one friend and she could not bear to lose another. Xena took pity upon Thea and then Thea handed over the scroll that would turn she and Hyperion back to stone.

Hyperion was not yet ready to surrender to the human race. He struggled violently shaking the entire cave trying to break free for he would not be defeated by mere mortals. Xena began to read from the scroll so that I could translate it into the proper rhythms. Yet the trap that was built to hold a titan was no match for his strength as he broke free and began to come after me again. He picked up a large rock and prepared to hurl it into my direction. I was terrified as my heart stopped. His determination to survive against the human race was fierce and he would stop at nothing to have his way. Then Xena used her whip and swung down knocking Hyperion to the ground from behind. The force of his fall was so great that I too fell to the ground almost being smashed beneath his massive body.

Then Xena ran to retrieve the missing piece of the scroll so that I could put the titans back where they belonged. She joined me and handed me the key to victory as I read the last part of the chant. As I finished we heard the sounds of Hyperion who raised his mighty arm with the rock ready to crush us, but it was too late for him. His arms quickly began turning to stone. Thea prepared for her eternal prison with regret, but went back quietly and without a fight. And then it was over. The titans had been restored to their stone prisons as Xena and I prepared to destroy the scrolls that released them.

As Xena and I prepared to leave I had to say good-bye to one who had captured my heart. We had almost given to one another the most sacred gift that a human being can give to another. But we had made the right choice for it was not yet time for me or for Philious to become one with another. We both still had much learning to do and much more growing up. I realized that now though I was still disappointed that Xena could not see how much I could truly do. Xena then apologized to me for not giving me enough trust and enough credit to make the right choice. She said that true friends did not stay mad at each other just because they had made a mistake for everyone makes mistakes in life. And then I reminded her of all of my recent mistakes like the time I got captured hoping to stop a war, and of how I had tangled up the reigns of her horse, and finally of how it had been my overzealous intentions that had allowed the titans to run free.

Xena then reminded me that despite all of those mistakes she knew that every choice I had ever made had been for the right reason. Every choice I had ever made came from the heart and with the best intentions. Yet even choices made with all of the right intentions can sometimes lead to the wrong outcome. And that was what she had meant when she had told me that I must always think things through before making a choice. As we left and continued onto our next journey Xena then lightened the mood by reminding me that I was never to touch her horse again, and that was okay with me for I couldn’t handle Argo anyway.