Grecian Urn...

He staggered along the sidewalk toward Zeus' palace where Styx was staying and further away from his sister's garden party. He really didn't think he was drinking that much when he was watching Styx, Ate, and his father exchange words but he'd kept lifting the bottle to his lips. Truth was he would have felt a little bad for drinking all of the remains of Kia's bottle had he not felt so determined, but the more he'd drank of it the more determined he'd became to confront Styx for everything! He entered the palace...

"Styx!"

"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..."

She was in the kitchen, finishing a few final touches on dinner as she heard the door swing open.

"I know I'm not dressed yet..."

She looked up, a grin forming a she saw it was Kia, and not Eris as expected.

"Ahh... it's you. Disregard that. You early?"

“I was hoping for a nice sit down dinner…”

“Well, Eris, You are rather certifiable.”

“Cheeky. That's no way to talk to your mother."

Ate laughed, and looked at Eris. “Oh, right… like any sane person would want to figure out the seating arrangements for this dinner, if they were hoping to avoid bloodshed? We’re doing a buffet. Listen to your caterer.”

“Caterer?”

“Mmm. You’ll get my bill. You’re sure you want to unleash this sort of crazy?”

“I just want everyone to get along.”

“You invited the wrong family for that.”

Eris lifted a brow at her daughter’s retort, and shook her head. “You're a horrible daughter. So, here in the garden, you think?”

Ate glanced around her mother’s garden, and smirked as she nodded. “You’ve got what... Venus fly traps, yellow trumpets, cobra lilies, hemlock, belladonna, fox glove, white oleander… I don’t see why anyone wouldn’t want to dine amidst the carnivorous and poisonous, but it’s not like you can uninvite the family now, is it?”

“You’re in a foul mood.”

“Gee. Considering I’ve been shanghaied into cooking for a dinner I don’t want to be at for people I don’t want to see in a place where I’ve been officially banned… and the easiest bit since it all has been convincing Hori that Curry with Sprinkles really wasn’t the thing to make… Yeah. I’m in a mood.”

“Bah. Away with you.”

Eris shoo’ed Ate toward the kitchen, and surveyed the garden. Ate did have a point… there was a lot less that needed doing if they were going to have it out here. She manifested some bistro chairs in various groupies around the garden paths, as well as some wrought iron chairs, and watched contently as a string of Chinese paper lanterns hung themselves along the privacy hedges and over the garden. Rather then candles, each one produced an orb of darkness – her parents would be bright enough for anyone.

Along the side of the temple near the kitchens she conjured a long buffet table, then moved it toward the pool, Thwarting any plan Ate might have of hiding in the kitchen all night. If forcing your child to mingle with relatives at a family party wasn’t part of parenting, she didn’t know what was. Pleased with the way the garden looked, she moved toward the kitchen, watching as Ate did her thing.

“Need help?”

“I’m good.”

“What have you made?”

“Fried chicken, baked ziti, potato salad, ceasar salad, pasta salad, Shish kebab… plus crudités and an olive tray for starters, and for dessert, svinghi and kataifi.”

“Impressive.”

“Eh. You taught me how to make most of it…”

“Ahh.. and that school in France had nothing to do with it?” Eris smiled as she saw the look on Ate’s face. “You didn’t think I knew about that.”

“Didn’t think you’d care.”

“I pay more attention than you think.”

“Any attention is generally more than I think.”

“Am I really that horrid?”

“Eris… I have a lot of stuff to do. Won’t people be here any minute?”

“So that’s a yes.”

“No, it’s… no. You weren’t. We don’t have time for this conversation right now.”

“Your sister thinks this is a good time to bury the hatchet.”

“There is no hatchet. We’re never going to have some deep mother/daughter bond you seem to want lately.”

“But we could be friendlier. We could both probably benefit from that.”

“Probably. You’re beating around the bush about something… spit it out.”

“I’ll spit it out if you tell me why you’re in such a bitchy mood.”

“Will it get you to leave my kitchen? Fine.”

“My kitchen… but yes. Very well… Apollo’s asked me to marry him. I told him we needed to talk to family first.. especially Elpis. But I’d like it if the rest of you were ok with it.” She canted her head as she watched her eldest’s reaction, a bit surprised at the total lack of response. “ Your turn.”

“The only thing bothering me currently is the fact that I’m going to have very little time to get changed.”

Eris frowned, a bit perturbed at the reaction, or lack there of, and was about to argue it a bit when she heard something in the front of the temple, indicating someone had actually arrived on time.

“Yes.. do change first. I’m going to see who’s here. Yell if you need anything…”

She swept out of the kitchen, leaving Ate to finish whatever it was she was doing with various bowls and trays, making her way to the main hall, a smirk growing slowly across her lips. Oh, her parents were going to just love this… she knew it.

Thanatos and Selene finished their dinner at the nice Italian restaurant they'd stumbled across on the Las Vegas strip and then departed it afterwards to find a roller coaster.

Thanatos had never sat down in a mortal place to have dinner before, and it had been as interesting to him as he had found public libraries and museums. Other then on those rare occasions that people died while in the middle of eating a meal and he had allowed curiosity to get the best of him, Death had not really had a dish among mortals before. The first time he had buttered toast and jam had been back in 1984 when a man named Harold had died in that familiar diner his niece Ruin liked to work in from time to time. He had lifted a piece of toast spread with strawberry jam from the plate. Having never paid for things like food and drink, it had slipped his mind that usually these things costed something and so he was slightly embarrassed when Selene had to pay.

As they walked, "Where is the best roller coaster in Las Vegas?"

The world felt right again. Oh, Styx knew it wasn't going to last, but while it was still coursing through her veins, she was going to take advantage.

She knocked on her sister's door with the firm knowledge that Thanatos wasn't going to be able to stand after she was done with him.

And she was so looking forward to it.

While he rested on the softest bed he'd ever lain, dreamless and exhausted, he knew nothing. Usually when Death slept, which was rare, he still unconsciously toiled, ever so incorporeally. However, now that his true essence was misplaced he slept whole.

He didn't know how long he'd slept, but he'd slept like the dead and after he had awoken he had a name he hadn't thought of nor spoken in a very long time, not since his youth, on his lips: "Phanes. "

With a bit of a headache Thanatos didn't want to remain here in this noiseless room. He departed from his bed and dressed less restricted and more airily then he'd ever dressed. He wore a pair of thin black slacks that whose fabric was mostly made up of polyester with under four percent of it consisting of spandex. The pants were identical to a pair he'd saw a girl wearing at a club once who he had collected after she'd overdosed on a cocktail of pills. He also wore a tight black sleeveless, body fitting shirt with a sheer and shimmering crimson colored button up shirt over it and left unbuttoned. He pulled his hair back and secured it with a black band.

Perhaps it was him being accustomed to always being on the move, but it felt strange to him to be in any one place for very long without purpose. He headed downstairs...

He had caught his son Thanatos in the hall on the way to an empty bedroom before he'd ended up finding Nyx downstairs where she'd told him that Styx was on the Mountain and he'd wanted to go for a visit.

"Who goes there," his voice had boomed!

Erebos had thought it might have been another one of his grandchildren passing by their mother's home which meant he might find a little bit of satisfaction in tormenting another because he was growing restless and bored with not being able to sleep.

Thanatos had paused his step and slowly turned around with a sullen expression plastered on his refined features. He really wished he could have avoided running into his father until he'd at least rested, "It's I, Thanatos, Sir."

Erebos had approached the other deity with caution and repulsion in each of his steps and observed the strange mortal look that his usually very ethereal child was donning with contempt.

He lifted a hand and had pinned thick locks of his son's hair back with his fingers so he could get a less obscured view of the face , "Ah! I see! You look---" he honestly didn't want to say "dreadful," but he didn't know how to be nice about it as his nose slightly curled.

Thanatos had frowned and looked down at his feet, "I was just going to find a bed to rest in Sir. I'm tired."

Erebos tsked, "By the looks of you, you really need it Spook."

He had jerked back his hand allowing Thanatos's hair to fall around his face as if Death was wearing an extra hood when his death robes were absent and tipped Thanatos's chin under his hand upward until Thanatos was looking at him again, "Go."

He had pulled his hand away and then turned away from his child when he impatiently stopped Thanatos' from proceeding to his bed yet again, "Wait! Spooky? Have you seen your mother?"

"She's downstairs," Thanatos had paused to answer, looking as if he was going to drop from exhaustion.

Erebos had wrung a hand toward Thanatos, "Okay. Shew! Off to bed with you."

And that is when Erebos had meet his wife downstairs and been informed that Styx was also on the Mountain.

"We must visit her at once! Did you see Thanatos? He looked terrible."

Thanatos hurried down the stone stair descending from Zeus's palace, fleeing from Hades and Styx and the nasty mental images his mind had conjured up in their presences. He still did not understand why this bothered him so, but he felt sort of ill to his stomach over it nonetheless.

He felt back inside of his coat's pocket, gaining some comfort as his fingers grazed the cool glass like surface of the memory orb within. He needed to watch this, write down what was seen and heard from observing it and learn from it. He was glad he'd not tried to do this while in the company of those he had just left. It would give him something to do, distract him from undesirable thoughts and feelings.

Before long they would all be back to their natural selves at the New Moon as Aphrodite had stated. A return to indifference toward things like love and sex would make him stout hearted again, as opposed to this wilting flower he'd suddenly found himself.

He continued on the way to Eris's temple and halfway there stopped to observe some wildflowers that were freely growing outside of any one deities property on Olympus. Briefly he wondered if Eris would like some freshly picked flowers to put in one of her vases and proceeded to pluck a few of them, finding it quaintly satisfying to spare a few growing there.

Fifteen minutes later he opened a door and walked inside of Eris's temple when he immediately noticed some grotesque monstrosity of a sculpture that he recognized from his childhood. He idly wondered what that was doing here and how he could have missed it the last time he was there?

However, feing strangely sleepy from his walk from Zeus's temple to this one he did not concern himself with it. He proceeded to look for an empty vase for the blue irises and red poppies, filling the vase halfway with water before arranging the flowers in the vase that he left on the kitchen table.

He wandered into a dim sitting room where he soon found himself curled up on one of the sofas and sound asleep on his side with a blanket of his thick hair falling over his closed eyes.

Demeter had deserted her temple on Olympus. Persephone was not to be found there either.

Demeter may have preferred to go somewhere desolate and barren to spare life and not hinder the regrowth that spring ushered in. Thanatos searched a few different such places on earth before he finally found her in an oddly flourishing desert where he was greeted by a desert nymph who was cursing the day she saw Famine. She was none to friendly to Thanatos either, demanding to know who else was going to come into her desert home bringing so much of the green of life? He assured her he was not there to touch or change anything and that he'd came to give a message to Demeter's daughter Persephone. The nymph lead him to rock formation that with a little bit of imagination upon viewing it resembled Demeter's temple on Olympus. It was there he saw Queen Persephone sitting at what looked like a stone picnic table outside of the temple.

He approached her and kneeled, taking her offered hand, "Fair lady, I bring you good tidings. Lord Hades lives and has plans to restore the two of you to your thrones. He has bid me to tell you that when the time comes he will send for you."

After relaying Hades' message he did not stay long feeling uncomfortable when Demeter joined the two of them at the outdoors table, but returned to Olympus with the token Persephone had bid him to bring back to Hades.

He entered the temple...

With the meeting over, Hades disappeared from Mount Othrys, returning to Olympus where he'd been before the pull. He crossed the courtyard with a swift gait, heading for Zeus' temple. It wasn't like his brother really needed it now.

And if there was anyone was left inside...tough. He had more right to be there than they did. Besides, where else could he go? His Underworld was no longer his, and even if it had been, he couldn't stay. Not as long as he was God of the Living.

Hades didn't want to think of what had happened to his other titles.

Pushing the doors open, he headed inside, trying to get his bearings as he wandered wide, opulent corridors with marble floors. He missed having an Underworld.

Finding a semi-decent (in his view) sitting area, Hades threw himself down on an upholstered chair and began to reflect on his...rather ineloquent comeback.

It was an insistent tug that pulled at those old enough to remember... the strongest felt to those closest to Othrys. Rhea had felt it days ago, pulling her out of the reclusive home she'd kept herself in since the rise of her children. It was an insistent tug that pulled at those old enough to remember... the strongest felt to those closest to Othrys. Rhea had felt it days ago, pulling her out of the reclusive home she'd kept herself in since the rise of her children.

She knew, you see... she knew something was coming, and it could only be him. She'd been waiting... though the portents and omens all pointed to doom... doom for someone, at least. It tugged at them, this force, like a magnet pulling back those that would remember, who'd understand what this meant... and what it could mean for the future.

( Othrys looked like liked the shadowed forbearer of Olympus that it was... decrepit, run down.... a mountain of temples sitting in ruins. One would expect more of the flora and fauna to have taken it back, but there was something that kept out all but the most stubborn, as if Gaia kept this place the way it was, so much a she was able. )

Hades had been overthrown.

He'd assumed that his sapped strength and the heaviness in his limbs were caused by the frozen state he'd been in, but no. His power, at least in ruling the Underworld, had been ripped out and given to someone else. The new King. The traitor. Hades felt kind of stupid for not working it out sooner.

The Underworld knew it too. When he reached out and touched something - the ground, the trees, anything - he could feel a crackle of acknowledgement, but it wouldn't obey him. You have no power over me, I belong to someone else now it whispered. Under new management, as it were.

Hades looked down at his hands. He'd spent millennia in the Underworld, and like Poseidon, he'd taken on aspects of his realm...almost as a side affect of being there. Light eyes had grown dark and his skin had paled to the point of white. There was an undertow in his voice, something raspy and monstrous that surged through his vocal cords whenever he raised his voice. There was no warmth in his body either. It wasn't just cold; Thanatos was cold, but Hades' mere presence could chill rooms. He was a living embodiment of the Underworld.

Not anymore. All of that had disappeared, along with his power. His skin was an even fleshy colour and his voice had reverted back to how it was before he began his rule. Hades was certain his eyes were now a lovely shade of blue as well. It was a good thing Persephone wasn't around.

Persephone. In his last memories before waking up in the cave, Hades remembered Persephone. She was home, just as she always was during the winter months, while her blasted mother had no doubt laid waste to the earth, taking out her misery on the crops as she pined for her precious daughter.

But she wasn't here now, it was spring. Spring. The feet of whoever had stolen his kingdom were far under the table. Not that they were here now though. Part time job, was it?

Hades left. In truth, he felt sort of glad to get out, and the feeling appeared to be mutual. His former kingdom left him feeling stifled and uncomfortable...but that could've been the fact that he didn't run it anymore. Either way, he needed to find out who did, and there was only one place to do that: Mount Olympus. Somehow, he doubted he'd run into Zeus; you didn't steal the silver and ignore the gold, after all.

He found himself in a central courtyard that was as dead as...well, did it really need saying? It should've been more lively than this, but no matter. Hades decided to head to Zeus' temple, and if anyone crossed his path before he got there...well, they'd better have a lot of good answers.

Thanatos had departed from his sister Eris' residence. He was careful to pay attention to the street signs and the monuments surrounding the location since he would most likely be returning to the location later having no where else to go where he had been welcomed. Unlike most places on Mount Olympus, he was sure he could find Mnemosyne's rural adobe and the river near it without much trouble. After reaching Dite's temple and familiarizing himself with landscape, he teleported close by where he had guessed the river Eris had spoke of was.

"Wow, Momos... the excitement is just.... rolling off you. Off the fucking charts. We'll go. Maybe Mom has apple pie waiting for us at home..."

She smirked a bit as she moved toward the door, keeping her arm around Thanatos', her words lacking the normal snark that would accompany them... she didn't really feel like fighting, but form seemed to dictate at least some snippy remark. Did form stand even after so long? She hadn't seen him other than in passing since before The Box, it seemed... She had the urge to try and get along, but was almost certain it was the pesky harmony inside her.

She walked out beside them both, blinking a bit at the sun... it felt like they'd been in there forever.

(Continue the meeting here. )

Apollo pushed past him, his arms around Eris as he laughed at Hermes. They all left him in the entry way alone, Dite's voice in his head as he tried to make sense...

Everything felt wrong. His hands were shaking as he reached out for the the door, only to pull back a moment later and look away.

It is all wrong Dite, he said softly, Apollo...

He drifted, stumbling back as groaned. It was wrong. It was all wrong. He moved from the entry way, and through Dite's more private quarters. A servant came running toward him, and Hermes jerked away, surprised and startled as he pushed her away.

"I know you were behind it, just fix it all." The girl hissed it at him as he back away, "Die...Die....Poor little Hermes."

"Get away from me!"

She stopped looking at him Maliciously (or that was what he saw) before she turned an ran out of the room, Hermes falling to the floor and crawling into a corner where he hide, curled into a ball and rockin'.

Its all wrong...I didn't do it....I...

Only he wasn't so sure anymore.

Chin up and full of confidence, she walked out of her salon into the main audience chamber, escorted by Deimos. She paused once inside, taking a quick inventory of those there... some were expected of course, and others posed quite the surprise. She pat Deimos arm lightly and released it with a smile.

"I'm going to make the rounds... if you'd like to rejoin your brother, that'd be fine."

If he wished to go with her he was of course welcome, but she doubted he was really in the mood. Seeing as how she already felt a pang of guilt for what she'd asked of him, she saw no need to torture him further. She decided to start at the back, moving to each group of individuals quickly, greeting each deity in turn, offering each a welcome of some sort, stopping only for a moment with each.

"Iris, thank you for coming."

"Anteros, please stop scowling... it's hardly flattering."

"...Flidais. What a surprise.. welcome to my home."

"Artemis. It's good to see you. Thank you for getting the ball rolling with the refreshments... There may have been riots. It's appreciated."

"Hephaestus..." To him she said nothing, just smiled as patted his cheek lightly, thumbing away the lipstick mark left by Artemis' kiss.

She moved closer to where the bulk of her children were gathered, and a small stand off seemed to be happening.

"Harmonia.. Do sit up straight, please.:

"Strife" She offered him a wink. "You're still here and sitting still? Wonders may never cease."

"Ate - It's been a very long time since you've graced my temple."

"Elpis. Welcome."

"Zelos... You already know I'm glad to see you."

"Limos.... my, you've grown up quite handsome, haven't you?"

"Lethe, a pleasure."

She bent down to kiss Phobos,the only one of her children present she'd not seen recently, on the cheek lightly. "You're plotting something, darling... I hope it waits till we're done here."

She straightened and smiled at everyone again, surprised at hose she noticed were missing.. Hermes, most obviously, and Thanatos - though she expected he'd return. Hermes, though - one could never be sure about. He could be dealt with later, though.

"Thank you all for coming. I do appreciate your patience. I wanted to say first that I realize everyone is being affected by this... and I kno no one is very happy. I do not know what has happened - but I plan on working hard to find out what it is, and restore everyone to their rightful selves. I know we're all anxious for answers, and while I can't promise any today, I do hope that maybe collectively we can perhaps pool our knowledge, and see if together we might be able to discover anything."

Being the god of death, usually, Thanatos had no problem traveling to and fro the Underworld.

It was usually as easy as willing himself there.

However, now that he was not quite himself? He kept running into a strange force upon teleportion that blocked him from the simple usual entrance. This meant that he had to take the long way into the Underworld through the portal at Lake Avernus, which was never in the same place twice, but always in the vicinity of the crater.

Pulling his hood over his head he was careful to avoid the shades on the riverbank which usually kept a safe distance from him by default, as he arrived on the craggy riverbank step that laid the path to his sister's front door. He hurried along the path and finally found himself at Styx's door and knocked.

Once Ares and Hephaestus left, She was at a loss of what to do. The gravity of the situation hit home when she encountered Ares... and it suddenly seemed like such a lost cause. Some say the world will end in fire, some say the world will end in ice.... apparently Mr. Frost had never taken into consideration that the Gods would get so messed up they'd end it on their own. She wasn't sure what to do. She had stepped back into her temple, frowning at the general... confused yet robotic nature of her attendants, before realizing they probably didn't understand why they were no longer lusting after her. It made her wonder really... she never considered it such a defining part of her, the preternatural sex appeal, as she did now that it was gone. She had never realized it was important to her, the ability to make a man drool on sight. Until she didn't. Sure, her physical appearance hadn't changed, but the inner glow, the aura she produced, was wholly different now... as was a lot of her motivation for things.

her wandering had eventually found her back out in the gardens, taking a seat on a landscaped hill not far off the path. Gone was the agape love that she had felt for everyone for so long... it was strange to think of certain persons and no longer feel a universal love for them, even though she may dislike them. Now there was only one emotion... and if she thought too long on people, she could come up with only a short list of those she cared for in her current state. Gone was the love for Ares, the deepest feeling she had had for eons, leaving a hole in her heart... her very soul, torn out as it was. it hurt... it hurt physically when she thought of it, a land pressed in against her chest as if to staunch the pain. Gone with it was a lot of her motivation... her need to do things for certain reasons, all born out of love.

How was she to do this, now? How was she to make the Pantheon act as one, to solve a problem... when gone was her underlying love and desire to do the best for them she could?

She leaned back, resting elbows on the grass behind her, weight propped up by them, and closed her eyes, head leaning back... this had to work. And it had to be done. And for the... well, it just needed to be fixed.

Thanatos did not understand why he was presently giving life instead of taking it, but he knew that something was amiss in the universe and that while it was a beautiful thing to watch a withering flower stand anew verdant and blooming, it was not his purpose in existence. So he decided to do the only thing he knew would get him anywhere, he set, in a manner of speaking his hovering feet down on Mount Olympus to seek out the Fates. Only something quite peculiar caught his observant all absorbing eyes.

( Read more... )

Sarah had been suffering for a long time; too long for a child. Within the last two years of her life she had been in and out of a myriad of hospitals, poked by what seemed like countless needles, and withstanding treatment that seemed like torture. The chemotherapy treatments hadn't been as effective as the doctors had hoped for and the little flower was slowly withering away before her mother's eyes.

She had only turned eight years old on Christmas day and her mommy always told her she was born on Christmas day because she was a Christmas angel that God had sent to watch after her after Nanny had passed away. Sarah wished she could have met Nanny from all the nice things her mommy had told her about her grandmother. Maybe when the pain went away she would met Nanny, but she knew she would rather keep staying and look after her mommy.

Thanatos' translucent shadowy form swept through the wall and glided on hovering feet toward the bed where Sarah was weary of fighting the battle her mother was praying she had the strength to fight.

There was a moment, there was always a moment, the moment right before he touched them that living eyes could see Death coming. Sometimes the eyes saw nothing but an enveloping shadow that closed their staring eyes, but other times Death emitted a glow that was the result of having not emptied his cargo of souls on the banks of the river Styx before collecting more souls.

Thanatos gazed on the mother of the child, bedside and holding the child's small and frail hand as he leaned over the child's deathbed. Soon little one, no more pain. No more.

Startling her mother into a gasp, Sarah lifted her small hand that had been resting by her side and reach out for the unseen Thanatos as her failing eyes had captured the light of his youthful and angelic face.

In turn Death reach out for her hand, curling his long lithe fingers around her hand...

But then...

Death was faced with the unexpected. The fluttering souls in the form of the white moths his touch transformed them into before they made the journey with him into the Underworld broke away from him, their minuscule wings beating and bursting through his body.

The moment the souls penetrated through him and were out into the mortal world the light shattered them.

People from all over the mortal world who had been legally declared dead for the last few hours opened their eyes and were resurrected from their presumed dead declared state healthier than they had ever been in their lives.

As suddenly as the souls had escaped him, and with an equally as alarming jolt, Sarah pulled her hand back with a renewed strength she had not had for a very long time. She turned toward her mother and released an abrupt high pitched and spirited laugh that rattled both Thanatos and Sarah's mother.

"Mommy! I saw him! He touched me! The angel! An angel touched me!"

Sarah's mother burst into tears and pulled her daughter into her embrace. The mother was shocked, but no less than Thanatos himself who collapsed into the empty chair near that side of the bed.

Sarah's doctor was amazed at what seemed like a sudden recovery if not just a lift in spirit.

Thanatos stayed in the room with Sarah who could no longer see him and watched as people came and went from the hospital room. Death did something he had not done in all the eons since he had been new to the world: he wept.

While he wept tears of mixed joy, the severity of the moment had not altogether eluded him for being the observant and intelligent being that he was? He knew something was more than a little bit off kilter.

Artemis was alone, which was a state she never minded before but now it was starting to irritate her. She had taken her brother's advice and left his side to go deep within the jungles of Brazil.

"Just for a little bit Art" he said and for once she did not fight him on his request.

Now she wishes she had never agreed to this foolishness. Granted the jungle was beautiful and provided plenty of opportunity to practice her hunting skills but it was also smothering. The canopy of the trees were so high and thick, that she could barely track Helios trip across the sky which meant he could probably not see her down amongst the thick vegetation.

Helios..she missed Helios. His smile, his laugh, the nature of his personality that had endeared him to her. Was he okay? Perhaps it was not Helios trekking across the sky each dawn but some imposter. She stops her forward movement, before aiming her bow in one smooth motion, arrow flying directly after and seconds later a thump is heard in front of her.

"Dinner" she sighs softly before moving forward to pick up her kill

"Now if I only had someone to share it with."

( The Meeting. )

Death sat on a squeaky swing that was fixed to a high branch of an old oak after the meeting.