This is a story of a girl
Who cried a river and drowned the whole world

- Nine Days
"Absolutely (Story of a Girl)"

Millie was rushing to keep up with her family at their furious pace. Another village left behind, another opportunity to start over. But it didn't matter to Millie; every place she stayed was always the same. She was an outsider and would always be one. Children her age teased her about her weight and her disheveled appearance. Some of the crueler ones called her a fat, ugly, circus freak, and Millie accepted the status of freely - it explained why her mother Xena and her father Ares were so good at doing flips and kicks and why the family constantly traveled. A few nasty ones told her that she wasn't a part of the family at all. Her frizzy, dirty blonde hair looked awkward next to her parents' and older sister Eve's sleek, dark locks. She didn't realize that she had her mother's determined chin and her father's eyes, though blue like her mother.

Eve had always been better at combat, mastering fighting moves at an early age that Millie still struggled with. Whenever Millie fell or failed to hit a target, a common occurrence, she couldn't help but notice the frustration and hurt on her father's face. She knew why they weren't in the circus any longer - it was because of her. She had overheard her mother and father talking one night about how they had to keep moving before "they" found and hurt Millie. But who were they? The circus people?

As the family walked along in silence to the next village, Millie imagined her story. A poor, frumpy, clumsy woman who was her real mother must have left her on her parents' circus wagon doorstep. Maybe the woman knew how awful her daughter would grow up to be and hoped that the great Xena and Ares would help her at least walk without tripping. Millie sighed, knowing that she failed at that sometimes.

She tripped over a root and scraped her forearm.

"Aw, Millie," Xena rolled her eyes with exasperation.

"Sa...sa...sorry," she stuttered, as she dusted herself off.

Her father's eyes squinted and his upper lip twitched. "You're 12 years old now. You should know how to walk and keep up with us."

"Ye... ye... yes, sir," she replied. She looked at her feet and began walking carefully.

Eve turned in front of her and gave her a disfainful look. "Come on, we have to hurry," Xena coaxed. "Word will get around soon enough about our whereabouts, and there's an Amazon village not far from here. We need to get there before nightfall." Xena turned to her youngest daughter and hoisted her up on Argo II. "We'll make better time this way."

"But Mom," Millie protested, "you've already been walking for so long, and it's your turn to ri..."

"I know!" Xena snapped, the strain of racing since dawn showing in the lines around her eyes and a slight limp. She grabbed Argo II's reins and ordered the horse forward. She shook her head and closed her eyes. With her free hand, she rubbed her temples.

"I'm sorry, honey. It's just... well, it's been a long day."

Millie whimpered. This was all her fault. She had thought she made her first friend, and was happier than she'd ever been with Bekka around. But since Bekka told her that friends always tell each other their secrets, she told the girl the only one she had: her real name. Millie wasn't supposed to tell anyone because "they" might find her. She had paid the price regardless with the village kids' taunts: "M'Lila La Ma-o, she's such a cow", "Moo-Lila" and "Moo-Llama." Thankfully Mom and Dad moved the family this morning as soon as the news circulated. It was just another example of the mistakes Millie made to upset her parents. Though they never blamed her for anything, she hated her big, fat, stupid, ugly self for it.

The family never stayed in one place any longer than one month. They'd been in the last village for less than a week. Millie liked moving and seeing places she'd never been before, but she also yearned for friends to share it with, especially since she and Eve didn't get along. The two had very little in common, and Millie hated all the times Eve attacked her under the guise of combat training. From the viciousness of the attacks, the younger sibling became convinced that the oldest hated her. A few months ago, after years of practice, Millie finally hit the target she was aiming for with her crossbow. Her father cheered and twirled her around with joy. She was beaming at the reaction as he ran to tell her mother. She heard Eve mutter menacingly behind her before she felt the kick in her lower back.

"Sorry," Eve chimed as Xena and Ares came rushing to her. Eve pulled Millie to her feet as the girl tried to regain the breath she lost when her chest hit the ground.

Xena eyed her eldest daughter warily. "Eve, what did you do?"

Eve became angrily defensive. "Why do you think I did anything? Millie is always falling on her face."

"Not when she's standing still," Xena sneered.

Eve rolled her eyes. "I did a simple kick, that's all - just like you taught us. It's not my fault that she wasn't paying attention." She grabbed a strand of her hair, twirled it around her finger, and smiled sweetly.

Ares wrapped his arms around his youngest daughter as she buried her face in his shoulder. "That's OK. You're alright, aren't you, sport?"

Millie bit her lower lip and tried to hold back the tears that wanted to come. She nodded against Ares' shoulder and lifted her head when she succeeded in stopping them.

Eve smiled widened and her eyes flickered. "As you say, Dad, it's the only way she'll learn."

Millie nodded. She should have paid attention to her surroundings and not gotten so caught up in such a small victory. She didn't notice her mother's furious glare set in Eve's direction.

Luckily Eve's desire to battle was tempered lately by her growing interest in boys. She seemed to be looking at them a lot lately and acting giggly in their presence. Millie wondered if that's what happened when girls turned 16. She hoped it wouldn't happen to her because she knew she'd just look even stupider than she normally looked - if that was even possible. Not like she could get a boyfriend anyway. Eve always had some boy hanging around her in every village, but lately, there had been several competing for her attentions. It became a bone of contention for Ares.

"No, Xena, I'm not letting Eve out of my sight. I don't want any guy within 50 paces of her!"

Xena looked at him incredulously. "Do you even realize what you're saying?"

"Of course I do," he asserted angrily. "Men only have one thing on their minds. I know because it's the one thing that's always on my mind."

Xena smiled wickedly. "Tell me about it."

Ares couldn't keep an eye on Eve all the time, however. When their parents were out hunting past nightfall and Eve was supposed to be watching Millie, Eve often snuck away to meet a boy, leaving Millie all alone at the camp. The noises of the forest frightened the girl as she lay in her bedroll. She would imagine that her mother was nearby singing to her like she did when the child got scared and couldn't sleep. Sometimes a nice man with dark facial hair, flowing robes and sparkling blue eyes - like Mom's only different - would sit by Millie and sing. He'd rub her back and smooth her hair just like her mother did. Millie first saw him in a crowd of people when she was 5 years old. She distinguished him from the crowd immediately by the light radiating around him. She pointed him out to Eve, back in the days when the older sister treated the younger one kindly. Eve looked in the area, frowned, and for the first time in her life, pushed Millie to the ground. After that, Eve started taunting Millie with talk that she was crazy in an attempt to make her cry. When her parents asked her later what she was upset about, Millie kept it to herself. She didn't want them to think that she was crazy too.

Millie felt safe when this man was around, and didn't mind so much when Eve abandoned her. She knew the nice man wouldn't let the bad people searching for her hurt her if they showed up. She couldn't say the same about Eve.

Sometimes she'd be asleep when her parents returned to the two bedroll lumps at the camp - only one of which was covering a person. Sometimes she wouldn't be asleep and she'd hear bits of conversation about how worried her parents were about their children. She heard her father mention her name and something about a "prophecy." She had no idea what that word meant, but it sounded really bad. She knew she didn't want that to happen to her. Maybe it had something to do with the circus people getting her? She shivered. She hoped not.

Millie awoke from her memories of the past as she began to fall off Argo II's back.

"Hey, kid, stay awake!" Eve ordered. "You're the one who got us into this mess in the first place because you couldn't keep your big mouth shut. Now you get to ride Argo II and you're the one who's tired?"

"Eve," Ares warned.

"It's okay," Xena comforted. "Eve's just tired. We're all tired."

They could see a clearing in the wood ahead. They had reached the Amazon village. As they entered the village center. The Amazon Queen emerged from her hut. Her red hair glowed in the late afternoon sunlight as wisps of gray framed her face.

"Hello, Xena," the woman greeted, nodding sternly. Her eyes brushed by Ares and lingered over Eve and Millie.

"Hello yourself," Ares retorted, offended at the snub. A woman dressed much more ornately than the rest emerged from her hut with several attendants. She ignored the male.

The corners of Xena's lips turned upward at Ares' sullen nature. "Hello, Queen Amarice."

"We have a hut arranged for you," Amarice began without missing a beat.

The smile lingered on Xena's lips. "I knew you would."

The Amazons helped Millie dismount and took Argo to the stables. Eve looked around at the villagers. "This town blows. Where are the men?"

Amarice turned toward the insolent teenager. "Besides my consort, there are no men living in this village. We are Amazons, after all."

Eve snorted and turned to move away, but her mother grabbed her arm and spoke to her in a quiet, yet harsh, tone.

"Eve, stop it. The Amazons are kind enough to help us, and I won't have you being rude to them. Your dad and I need to talk to Queen Amarice. Go with Millie to the hut and watch her." She released Eve's arm and began walking in the direction the queen was heading in. She glanced back in warning before striding forward again.

Ares passed Eve and without stopping whispered, "Listen to your mother."

Eve gasped in exasperation, stomped her feet and groaned. As a few Amazons Eve's age escorted the two girls to their hut, Eve complained the entire time about having to be Millie's keeper to anyone who would listen. Millie followed reluctantly behind them as they acted like she wasn't there.

"The girl can't do anything right. She's always falling or doing stuff she's not supposed to. She's going to get us all killed."

Millie's head fell lower and lower as Eve continued ranting. By the time Eve and the Amazons entered the hut, lugging the family's supplies behind them, the elder sibling had worked herself into a frenzy.

"I swear, it would just be so much easier if that kid was just dead. We'd be a happier family, let me tell you."

Millie stopped in her tracks as her lower lip quivered. The truth had slapped her in the face. The family would be better off if she were dead. It would be better to let the circus people find her and take her - they would get her eventually, wouldn't they? Why should Mom, Dad and Eve get in trouble for it in the process?

She held back a desire to sob and trudged away from the hut with her supplies. She didn't get very far until an old Amazon grabbed her arm. Millie tried to break away, but the woman's grip was surprisingly strong.

"Child, what is the matter?"

Millie wiped a few tears from her face. "I have to leave and let the bad people prophesy me."

The old Amazon looked at her skeptically. "Do you know what prophecy means?"

Millie gulped. Her stupidity was showing again. "No."

"A prophecy is an account of an upcoming event that you can't avoid. It is your destiny."

Millie sobbed a gasp and bit her lip. She wasn't going to cry.

"So I can't avoid the bad people, no matter how hard I try?"

"If that is the prophecy, yes." The Amazon peered closely at the young girl. "Your parents haven't learned that even former gods and god killers can't stop evil from entering their lives. What will happen will happen."

Millie looked at the old woman curiously, not understanding exactly what the Amazon meant (former gods? god killers?), but following that nobody could stop the bad from happening. With this in mind, there was only one thing to do. It was time to face her destiny.

She left the village, for life without a 12-year-old screw-up would be better for everyone. And as soon as she did, her life changed forever.

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