"Do I want to go?" asked Diana. "Are
you nuts? Of course I want to go – I told you, no one here
cares about me – they're mean to me, too."

"Alright, but we still have to go and talk with
them about this," said Xena. "We can't just up and
snatch you from your home and your family."

"Family – huh, that's a joke,"
said the little girl, quietly looking down at her bare feet.

"Come on, Diana," said Gabrielle, gently
guiding the girl down the hill to the village as Xena followed,
leading Argo.

They came to Diana's house and Diana led them
inside. There sat her step-mother, Haggis and her two mean
step-sisters.

"Well," said Haggis, rising. "About
time you came back from your tantrum – who's
this?"

"This is the mighty Warrior Princess, Xena and
the great Bard, Gabrielle and they've come to take me away to
the Amazons," said Diana, defiantly.

"Is that so?" said Haggis, grinning
unpleasantly. "We'll have to see about that."

"Now, we don't want any trouble," said
Gabrielle.

"Too bad," said Haggis. "Because that
is exactly what you're going to get!"

What no one had known was that Hera had known about
Diana all along. Haggis was a priestess of Hera and she had been
responsible for placing Diana in her keeping. Suddenly, Haggis
waved her arms and there she stood, wearing the robes of Hera's
priestess.

"Great!" said Xena, drawing her sword as
the two mean step-sisters also shifted to their true forms –
harpies!

The harpies hissed and rose up, flapping their
leathery wings. Diana stood, wide-eyed and open-mouthed as
Gabrielle pulled her away to safety. Xena fought the harpies, but
it didn't look good. Suddenly, Diana remembered that it took
fire to kill a harpy. She ran over to the fireplace and grabbed a
flaming piece of wood, burning her fingers a bit in the process.
Still, she clung tightly to the weapon and ran in front of Xena,
waving the branch at the creatures, who reared back in fear. Xena
pulled a flask from her belt and took drink, then took the branch
from Diana's hand. She spit whatever was in her mouth through
the fire and suddenly, the harpies were burning, screaming as they
flew away out the open window.

"Thanks, Kid," said Xena, grinning at
Diana.

"You think defeating me is so easy?" hissed
Haggis. "We'll just see about that."

She waved her hand and suddenly, Xena and Gabrielle
fell to the floor in a deep sleep. Haggis laughed cruelly.