Grecian Urn...

The lights had gone dark so suddenly, she had expected everything to go out with it...  the party, Olympus, memories... him. His arms around her had startled her, and at first the fact that she didn't forget everything was more shocking then the rest. When she finally opened her eyes, she saw lights illuminating the garden once more (though not to the same extent,  thankfully, and everyone milling around as if nothing had just fundamentally changed... And really, she supposed it hadn't.

Stepping back a bit, her hand reached for Morpheus', and she walked him over a bit closer towards a hedge, away from the others, looking up at him for a long moment before speaking, her words as soft as her smile.

"You can feel it again, can't you? Your home."

Awhile after he watched Thanatos stagger away, Neikos left his ennui inflicted brother Hori to raid the food table.

They had cake! Cake! He was going to kiss Ate next time he saw her, give her a big slippery wet one on the cheek because he couldn't remember the last time he was at any social function on Olympus and they had cake!

He wished the Ate and Styx punch-out thing would have kept going, at least until someone scored a TKO! Watching his sister punch another chick? Even if it was his aunt Styx? Was awesome! But then grand-dad had the "bright" idea to go stepping into the thick of the girlfight and whatever he said sent Styx one way and Ate another. He'd really bugged him because it didn't seem like anything interesting was really going to happen at this party.

Next to watching Ate hit Styx, the most interesting thing in his opinion was watching Thanatos getting plastered which he thought was kind of funny.

Strife decided he would have to ask Kia how she managed to get him that way because Neikos thought Thanatos was too uptight to really enjoy himself to the point of drunken intoxication. And that? That was kind of unfortunate he guessed because Death had an awesome job. Strife thought Death should enjoy it. In fact Strife wished he was Death, or rather he wished he had Death's job because he thought it was the most kickass job a god could have...being the redeemer; the reaper of souls.

He bet Thanatos enjoyed the perks of the job too. Like Blue Oyster Cult, "Don't fear the Reaper," perks...

Riiight! Who was he kidding? Thanatos was too uptight to take full advantage of any potential perks like seducing maidens.

Strife was actually kind of surprised he didn't have to run to Thanatos' rescue actually, rescue him from Kia---Hahaha. That sister of his was a pouncer. It was not that he really liked the spooky bastard that much, to keep him from falling into horny sisterly clutches, he just kind of felt oddly responsible for him after the peacock thing. Okay, he'd felt sorry for him too. Thanatos had reminded him of a lost puppy. Big soulful dark brown eyes...

Strife passed by Morpheus and Lethe who were dancing awfully close and he gave them a perplexed stare, almost walked into Limos while he was staring...

"Hey, sorry Twig---gonna get some foodage..."

And he completely lost his train of thought upon almost collision.

Now he as wondering what was up with Cousin Dream? Strife had never known of Morpheus as being into...Well anyone, or at least he'd never been known as a ladies man. So why would Morpheus be dancing with his sister? That was really weird.

He came upon the table and was making himself a plate, said a casual and abrupt hello to Kia, Nom and his grandparents when....

All the lights went out!

"Whoa! Who turned out ALL the lights?"

"Not at all. Not at all, niece."

She sniffed and looked down her nose at Ate.

"Simply that as a spawn of my sister, I doubt you know how to properly prepare anything, let alone how to wash your hands."

Oh, that felt good. Very, very good.

Girl? Did he seriously just refer to her as girl? She just smirked and offered a bit of a shrug.

"I do clean up nice every couple of years, I suppose. I trust you're finding everything ok?"

She was tempted to introduce herself, but didn't think it really worth the effort...

    All in all, She was rather dubious about the idea of family dinner. It wasn't that she didn't want to see people... She was rather fond of everyone she was related to. Her grandparents were quite lovely, so far as she was concerned, and she did have things she needed to discuss with certain  siblings.

    On the other hand... she had a finite, short amount of time with Morpheus, before everything got all messed up again. She wanted to be irrational, and think up all sorts of ways to avoid what was going to happen... but she voiced none of them. She wasn't even sure he'd want that, if it was possible... and wasting time on theories and ideas seemed... well, a waste.

    She paused in front of her mothers house and listened, hearing the sounds from the back, and turned to face him, offering a smile.

    "It sounds like everyone's in the back. Sure you want to go? We don't have to..."

"Well, I'd be honored for any visit... just tell me to write myself a note, and I remember better that way..."

She looked up as Andy noted his sister, and smiled in her direction, expression freezing a bit as she saw who Harmonia was with...

Morpheus. The idea that he'd be on the mountain hadn't even occured to her. It was good to see him... but weird. And she felt a sudden rise of guilt and trepidation as memories, fresh like they were just last week thanks to Mnemosyne, all came rushing to the surface.

"Oh."

She couldn't imagine she was top on his list of people to run into, considering how horrid she'd been to him. Not that it had been her fault, or really a choice. She looked back at Hedy and Andy, and smiled again.

"Your sister may have a better idea of what's going on. You may want to talk to her."

She stood in the doorway of the bedroom, head tilted a bit to the side in mild confusion at the sight in front of her. The last thing she'd expected on returning to her mother's house was Mr. King of Dreams himself... curled up asleep. She had to admit though... he looked cute like that.

She moved closer to the bed, and sat down on the edge, watching him, as if it was going to explain his presence, or wake him... and when that failed, she reached and shook his shoulder. He was here, at her mother's... her mother was not... and maybe he knew why. She couldn't even remember why she'd come to Dite's home in the first place, but the lack of the goddess and another in her place was a bit strange.

"Hey. Rise and shine."

She just sighed, pausing outside the dor to her temple.

"Seriously, love...remind me of this if I ever decide the world needs a change that results in me having to be in charge of anything."

She shook her head and slipped back into the temple, leading Anteros back to the salon where Psyche and Morpheus were still... though it looked like one was asleep, and the other almost there. She eyed them both as she debated waking them, letting them sleep, or sending Anteros off with Psyche now, before she could argue.

Morpheus continued to walk the short distance to Dite's temple from Eros' and Psyche's place with Psyche. Off to see on the former goddess of love, the wonderful goddess of the Sea who just so happened to currently be it's Queen. He felt compelled to give her a can of Chicken of the Sea after seeing it in one of his mortal dreamer's memories. Poor Jessica Simpson couldn't figure out whether it was chicken or fish which he thought was hilarious since it was tuna.

Unfortunately giving her a can of Chicken of the Sea would mean conjuring it since he was no where near a grocery store and he was afraid since he wasn't accustomed to being a conjurer of real things that he might conjure something horrible instead of what he was aiming to conjure.

Still he swore when he got the chance he was going to send Dite a whole basket of Chicken of the Sea.

He looked at Psyche suspiciously after her inquiry about her. He abstained from answering the first question: "Yeah her. She who must not be named."

"Youse know I can't actually share the name with you? There is this whole Dreamer and Dream confidentiality clause that I actually authored in a binding contract after one of my siblings ratted someone out for something two thousand years back. It's hard enough for some deities to trust us, knowing what we know and can access."

There was nothing in all of Olympus that would have kept Psyche at Aphrodite's temple while she was gone. No way was she sticking around to not only be alone with Anteros...again, but then with both of them. Ten minutes was quite enough of that.

She had planned on going to Peitho's, but something in her drove her home instead. Once there she looked around and realized that she didn't want to be there. Not alone at least, anymore.

Concentrating as hard as she could she focused on her husband wherever he was.

"Eros? I've had an extremely bad couple of days. Anteros yelled at me in front of everyone. Morpheus annoyed me enough that I yelled at him, and according to Anteros, I'll probably have bad dreams forever now. I've had a headache the size of Olympus and you have been no where to be found. If you don't come home right now? I'm leaving. I'm taking myself off to visit all those places I've been dreaming about for forever. I don't care if you're hate or wrath or whatever. Just come home. You have a hour before I go."

With that she began to clean up the temple and pack some essentials.

Hermes awoke with a start, Peitho stirring a little beside him as the Messenger god frowned. There was something in the air that he had not expected, but he could not name it either. It was...discomforting though. Sliding out of his bed, he felt more refreshed, but still slow. How could a god be turned on his head like that? Heh. Hekate, he imagined, had leant her hand to the who mess in some fashion or another, though he was not the one to go pointing fingers.

Dressing, he moved out into the cool night air and sat on his temple steps. So quiet, so different. In all his life he had never thought to unseat his father from his kingdom, but now he sat in a world he had, truly, helped change. And while the idea of change should have hardly been regretted by him, a god who stood at the very forefront of change itself, he was plagued deep within by private misgivings. A private guilt.

His father was gone, and his mother was still as private as ever. His brother was insane, Ares was...Ares, and his other siblings were simply...not themselves, or not there. There was a loneliness that settled about the messenger god, one that made him grieve for a father he had turned his back against.

Was loyal to a fault ever really loyal to begin with? And Apollo had done the very thing that Hermes himself should have done, they should have been reversed in their places.

Or maybe he was letting the recent events just get to him far too much.

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