EPISODE NAME: Ressurection.
EPISODE NUMBER: Season 7, Episode 1 (7:01). PREVIOUS EPISODE: - N/A
NEXT EPISODE: Back to Basics (7:02).
With Xena gone, Gabrielle had travelled far and wide, helping villages and towns. She knew Xena would've wanted her to. While travelling back to Greece, her horse in tow, she had the intentions of going to see her sister, Lila, when she remembered what she had said to Xena before she died. She said that she would visit the Land of the Pharos, Egypt. With this new idea in her mind, Gabrielle sent a carrier pidgeon to her sister explaining her absence, and where she was going to next and other places she had not yet explored. Upon sending the pidgeon, Gabrielle mounted her horse, and headed South to Psamathus Port, where she boarded a boat to the ancient land.
After a 2 day boat journey, Gabrielle arrived at her destination, the sandy air swept through her blonde hair and the warmth kissed her skin softly. "I'm a big girl now Xena," Gabrielle whispered smiling up at the blazing sun as she stepped off the boat into a small village. "Clothes,"Gabrielle red out as she moved her finger down a scrawled shopping list, "oh, and a new waterskin" she finished eying the worn and tattered one she had been using, it was Xena's. Gabrielle walked further into the village, checking the goods the different stalls held, and the price tags. Gabrielle spotted a clothes boutique a few metres across the square from her and walked over, rummaging in her bag for money. Once inside, a man, wearing a long blemished overall greeted her and escorted her to the ladies rack. Gabrielle browsed for a while, and saw the perfect attire, a white, hand embroided overall, and some tough, heat resistant boots. She took her chosen outfit to the shop keeper, who wrapped it neatly in brown paper, tying it with a piece of thin string and handing it back to her. "That's 10 dinars please," he asked, his hand outstretched. "How about 3?" Gabrielle smiled holding tightly to the package. "Hmm, 5 and you have a deal" the man concluded, his hand still outstretched at which Gabrielle dropped a few coins into.
She booked into an inn for the night, ready to start her exploration of the tombs on the outskirts of town in the morning. The next morning, the sun, seemingly hotter than it was the previous day, poured in through the small window behind Gabrielle's bed, waking her up groggily. She mumbled as she pulled a brush through her hair, and began getting changed. She unwrapped the brown parcel of clothes, and changed into them, packing her normal outfit, and a coat into her bag. Finally pulling the soft woolen shirt over her head, Gabrielle packed a few more essentials, water, sais and lastly Xena's ashes.
She set out walking, and arrived at her destination within a matter of minutes. She stood awestruck in front of an enormous pyramid with many entrances on various different levels, "If only you could see this Xena," Gabrielle whispered still scanning the wonderous object, her mouth half open. "Ooof," Gabrielle was knocked to the ground by a man in a black shawl running in panic away from the pyramids. "Hey, wait up!" Gabrielle shouted after him, having now moved into a sitting position on the soft sand, "watch where you're going next time, IDIOT!" Still staring after the man, Gabrielle climbed to her feet, brushing the sand from her back. She looked up in time to see the man who had knocked her down, lying still on the ground a couple of yards ahead of her. She ran over, crouching besides him, "It's arisen... leave..." were his last words as his eyes closed and a scroll rolled out of his pre-clenched fist. Gabrielle stayed by his side, failing to determine the cause of his sudden death, for a few minutes before lifting up the scroll, now half buried in sand and opening it.
As she unrolled it, she read the ink smeared across it, "A great evil has unearthed from these sands, the city of the dead has once again reawakened, holding in it's walls, the "Book of the Dead" to give life to the souls of the underworld. If this precious book falls into the hands of the undead, chaos and fear will reign over our land for centuries to come. Those pure of heart and body, can conquer this evil force and bring peace and prosperity to our lands again." Gabrielle, wide eyed, looked over the scroll again undecided whether what was written was the truth. When she turned around, she saw a gigantic sandstorm in the distance, "That must be it," she thought, rolling up the scroll and putting it in her bag, "I need that book". She headed directly into the violent storm, and after a few minutes, she saw the faint outline of the lost city, Hamunaptra.
After a 4 hour trek, Gabrielle arrived at the city walls, which were covered in moss and looked as if they would crumble at any moment. Still, determined to get the book of the dead and revive her friend, Gabrielle edged in through the huge stone archway. It was all ruins apart from a narrow tunnel stretching deep underground and no signs of life came from the town. Some inscriptions on the east wall of the town caught Gabrielle's eye, she began to run her finger over them as she read it out loud; "In this sacred city of the dead, lies the book of the dead. A book so precious would be deadly in the wrong hands, brave warrior that has travelled far, go now, into the vast tombs that hide beneath the town and retrieve the book and destroy it and ensure no evil will arise upon this world." Gabrielle seemed a little shaken, how did the wall know she'd travelled from "far"? How did it know she was a warrior? It seemed this message was intended specially for her. Gabrielle shook her head and tiptoed doen the dark passage. She walked for a good few minutes in pitch black, before coming to a winding dirt track, in the centre of a well-lit, massive room. She gazed around in wonder, "Must be a tomb of some sort" Gabrielle thought, "Royalty no doubt..." she smiled as she moved quickly across the shallow sand that seemed to be covering every inch of the floor. After a few hours of trecking down dark dirt tunnels, that seemed to be going further and further underground, Gabrielle finally came to the chamber of the dead.
The room was filled with pictures carved into the wall, pictures of warriors that had died in battle. Gazing round, Gabrielle saw that another picture was forming a few yards away from her, it was the picture of a young man who had just died in battle. All the people appeared on horseback, wearing full armour to symbolize their heroics in their past life. "This is where Xena will be," Gabrielle whispered, walking along looking at all the walls, searching for the picture of her friend. At last, she found it in a corner, carved neatly into a blue backdrop. "Gods I miss you Xena" Gabrielle sighed running her fingers lightly over the section of the wall with her friend engraved onto it.
After reminiscing for a while, Gabrielle turned round to see a large stone pillar emerging from the ground. "That's it!" She gasped, as she raced over, "The book, the one from the scrolls!" As the pillar came to a rest, Gabrielle slowly opened the book, but inside it, was completely blank, nothing. "What the..." Gabrielle started, but then some small black letters began to appear and Gabrielle read them out loud. "Greetings courageous warrior, you have journeyed into the ancient tombs, in search of another who now resides in the underworld. Hear my words, the city of Hamunaptra will sink once again from where it came, in exaclty 48 hours, your quest, brave warrior, has hereby finished..." "What?!" Gabrielle gasped stepping back in time to see all the stone doors around her close together, blocking all exits but one, "Xena! Can you hear me?" Gabrielle was getting desparate, she did not know how long of the 48 hours remained, but she knew that her best bet was to ressurect Xena, she would know what to do. As she raced through the only open passage, Gabrielle heard the roof and walls caving in behind her, she turned round to see a huge pile of rubble, there was no way back.
Gabrielle continue for waht seemed like days. before coming into a woodland area, but with a stone roof high in the distance. "Gabrielle?!" She Xena's voice shouting, but it was barely audible, she was far away. "Xena? Where are you?!" Gabrielle shouted back, turning her head in all directions, "Can you hear me?!" "I'm here Gabrielle, you have to find me, I can't move until you do!" came the reply, at which Gabrielle sprinted as fast as she could in the direction she thought Xena was. She leapt over tree branches, raced through leaf piles and even waded through water, before finally getting to a large clearing with a ray of sunlight pouring through, creating a similar effect to a spotlight. There, she saw Xena.
She ran over to her friend and embraced her in a tight hug, "I... I thought I'd never see you again" Gabrielle stammered small tears rolling down her cheeks. "Gabrielle," Xena began, moving backwards, looking at her friend, "I'm still in the underworld, but my soul has been sent to help you to bring me back and that's what I'm going to do." "You do know that we only have 48 hour don't you?" Gabrielle whispered as Xena wiped the tears from the bards eyes. "Yeah," Xena replied in a hushed tone, "But we'll be out and home before then." Xena guided Gabrielle futher into the woods, and they reached another dark stone room, the floor sprinkled with snow."I think I'll get changed, I'm too cold in this" Gabrielle said pulling her clothes and coat from her bag and quickly changing into the warmer attire. "Where are we?" asked Gabrielle shivering with the cold. "The end of your journey," Xena whispered, taking her hand from Gabrielle's shoulder, "the book is at the end of this room, but I can't come any further, my soul is limited to this woodland only, but you will be able to hear my voice and I'll hear yours." That was enough to give Gabrielle peace of mind and she gave Xena a warm smile before disappearing into the darkness. Still shivering, Gabrielle spotted the book at the far end of the room, just where Xena said it would be. Shen walked slowly over, and saw it was rested on a long stone slab. She was about to open the book, when a black hooded figure attacked her from behind, knocking her to the ground.
Gabrielle quickly drew her sais and climbed back to her feet. Her attacker's face was hidden behind a thick black shawl wrapped several times around his head, all that Gabrielle could see was a pair of piercing yellow eyes. He lunged at her again with a sword, but she the guards on her sais to deflect his attack, and catapult his sword across the room. At this, the man still did not give up, he charged forwards, knocking Gabrielle's sais to the ground and forcing his hands around Gabrielle's throat, he started to strangle her. She felt her head throb and her legs get weaker as she tried desparately to breathe. She was pushed to the ground by her attacker, who kept a firm grip on her neck. Gabrielle's hands stretched out, searching the floor frantically for her sais, with a stroke of luck, she found one, and with no hesitation, plunged it deep into the mans back. Her attacker fell backwards and his eyes closed, as Gabrielle withdrew her dagger, her hand was drenched in blood. She thought nothing of it, and raced to the book that was now open at the first page, which presented her with a list of instructions. Gabrielle moved her finger along the writing while following what it said, "Place any remains of the body on this sacred altar" Gabrielle read pouring Xena's ashes onto the altar, "and read this passage, By the powers of the sacred book of the dead, these bodily remains will be returned into one with the soul, and the dead shall become the living." Gabrielle felt a strong breeze gush through her hair, as the ashes began to rise up into the air, and Xena's soul floated into view. Gabrielle stood awed by the sight before her eyes, the hologram of Xena flashed back and forth into view, with the golden ashes circling it faster and faster.
With an ear-spliting bang, The whole room was plunged into darkness, then slowly, things began to light up again. The first thing Gabrielle saw, was the book catch fire and quickly disintegrate into a small heap of ash. Then, she heard a soft moaning and saw Xena, badly beaten and in the robes she had been wearing when she died, lying on the floor."Xena?" Gabrielle whispered kneeling at her side and putting her hands on Xena's face, "Are you... are you alive?" Xena's eyes opened and she smiled at Gabrielle, "just about" she whispered.
"C'mon," Gabrielle said hauling Xena up to a standing position, "There's not much time left". With Xena leaning on her shoulder, Gabrielle followed the passage back to the woods where she had come from, and into the clearing where she met Xena. She was about to continue, when Xena pulled her back, "wait, stay here" she whispered coughing and rubbing a bruise on her arm. "What?" Gabrielle asked looking round, "Xena we have to get out, we don't have much time left!" "I know," Xena said hoarsely, "It's here, this is how we get out," "Where?" Gabrielle asked again, getting a little impatient, "there's nothing here Xena!" Xena closed her eyes and stood directly under the sun ray shining in the clearing. In the distance, Gabrielle heard crumbling and saw the stone roof covering the woodlands cracking. "It's happeing Xena!" she screamed "Our time's up, we're sinking!" "No wer're not," Xena whispered calmly, her eyes still tightly shut, "Come over here." In a state of panic, Gabrielle didn't know what else she could do, she hadn't come all this way to lose Xena again. She stood next to Xena, "Close your eyes" Xena said putting her hnd on Gabrielle's shoulder, "just trust me ok." Doing as Xena sked, Gabrielle shut her eyes, and she could still hear the buildings and the trees around her crashing to the ground, but it was slowly getting softer and seemed to be in a distant place. She didn't dare open her eyes unless she found herslef in the underworld, without Xena. "Hey," Xena's voice said shaking her, "you can open your eyes now". Gabrielle opened one eye and looked around, she and Xena were stood on the edge of the village where Gabrielle was staying, and Xena was back to her old self, they were looking out into the empty desert. "wh... where did it all go?" Gabrielle asked in amazement, "And how did we get out?"
"Let's just say, Akemi repayed the debt she owed me," Xena smiled looking up into the sky.