Who: Helios and Eos What: Some unfortunate accidents cause memories to come back, sister/brother reunions When: Sunday night, November 27, 2011 Where: Liberty State Park Warnings: None
It had been a quiet night when he'd made his rounds earlier. The stars were just starting to peak out, it was as if they'd always been there. He paused in his step, looking up to that blanket of dark sky unfolding itself once the sun dropped out of sight. There was an odd sensation running through him and for just a moment he was lost watching up above, not noticing the teenager that slinked around the corner to spray against the stone wall.
"Hey!" Holden yelled in a deep voice, his eyes cast away from the sky toward the assailant. The boy took off into a run, not barely having time to do more than scribble a few words on the wall before the bolt. Holden was fast after him, his feet almost like horses carrying him across the park at a speed that frightened the teenager. Holden clasped down on the back of his shirt pulling him back, but the boy would not be lenient. He flailed, pushing back before sprinting off again.
It wasn't long before Holden caught up again, not a security guard to be fooled or taken down by some idiotic teen. He tussled with the boy for a time, not realizing the more the boy struggled the closer they came to the harbor.
Evening was coming in and with it Eos' energy was dropping. During the daylight hours she was a ball of energy that hardly a soul could keep up with, but Nyx began to sweep her way across the sky, Eos' lost that energy and became quieter and more within herself.
The light had faded from the sky and once more Eos' thought turned to what had happened to her brother. During the daylight hours she knew everything would be fine, but by starlight she knew that she would probably never get her Helios back again.
The last thing she'd expected while walking through the park was to fell the presence of that very brother for the first time in the flesh since Greece. She lifted her head quickly, searching for him, and in then in the distance she spotted the two men wrestling around. One of them was Helios, she was sure.
"Hey!" she said with surprise, although she was much too far away to actually be heard. She started at a jog then, needing to catch up to her brother and whoever the other boy was.
The boy was determined to get away, the struggle continued flinging the Titan back against the bars. He may have been strong, tall and able to take any blows this kid pulled out, but something else was pulling him towards the harbor. It could have been Poseidon himself for the sheer pleasure of it, or just coincidence that the colossal Titan landed on the other side of those bars and into the harbor.
He didn't struggle to reach the surface at first, his body feeling like a heavy metal weight being pulled to the bottom. It was strange, like he was floating almost peacefully, until the water started to suffocate him. His mind flashed a million different images all at once, perhaps from the blow, or from the water itself. As his statue had once been pulled down collapsed against the ocean water, he went with it.
His eyes flashed a golden brown, a warm hue before he pulled himself against the heavy water toward the surface where the stars gave him light. His breath was stuck in his throat, choking him before he finally felt the air on his face.
Last time he had never emerged. He'd left Rhode and her island behind.
Eos had seen Helios fall into the water and let out a shriek of surprise and fear, running faster now to reach where he'd fallen over. He'll drown! He'll die! He'll never come back up ever again and everything will be horrible forever!
At the edge of the water Eos threw herself over the railing - awkward and scrabbling and unthinking - and hit the dark water on the other side heavily enough that there was no way she wasn't going right under. She kicked to get above the water again, needing to get her bearings in some way before she could dive to find her brother.
But when she broke through the surface of the harbor Helios was already there and Eos blinked quickly at the water in her eyes, her hair plastered dark and wet against her cheeks as she took a gulp of fresh air.
The other boy had run off the moment Helios had hit the water. There was still a weight holding the giant Titan down even as he emerged to the surface to find Eos there with him. He may like the water, but he had never been the best swimmer. What had happened to him in the old days of Greece certainly hadn't helped that matter at all. In fact when he would have his panic attacks it was just like this. As if he were drowning down to the depths of the ocean to never be found again.
His breath was still struggling to come out naturally, his throat was still tight as if trying to close up, letting loose those aching coughs as he beat the water to get to the edge of the harbor. He pulled himself up, strong hands gripping the metal bars and hoisting himself with all the strength he had.
Eos kicked against the water to swim over to the edge, pulling herself up and wrapping her arms around the bars. There she remained, looking at him with worry, her legs still hanging in the water. "You could have drowned!"
When he could finally get his breath back without his system fighting it he looked over to this bright shining voice. Though it was dark, her skin seemed pale, there was a familiar light to her.
His eyes were now that golden hue, not the dark color they had been all this time. He stood then, offering her a hand to stand and hoist them over the bars and to sturdy ground.
He couldn't yet say her name, but it was on the tip of his tongue.
"I didn't. Not this time," the last bit said more to himself as he looked to the ocean that had now calmed, lit by the moon and stars.
Eos let her brother help her out of the harbor and she stood shivering and watching him as she dripped all over the pavement. "You're Helios, dammit," Eos told him, with a stomp of her foot. Her teeth were chattering. "I don't care what you say because you are my brother and even your eyes are right now!"
He stood at a distance, for once not able to dispute that argument. He didn't say one way or the other whether she was right or he was wrong, something just clicked. Perhaps not even entirely, but he actually believed for a moment that she was telling the truth, because when he reached out to touch her there was a glow, his body heat to hers. As if he were the sun itself, drying up her soaked clothes.
He still couldn't say her name, he just looked at his hands, feeling the brightness in his own eyes that had been dark for so long.
It was never going to work. He was always going to be this stupid braindead mortal and she'd have to just sit there staring at him and without even Selene there as well and it wasn't fair.
By sunlight she would have sooner noticed what he was doing - the warmth from him - but under the darkness of night it took her a lot longer. Nothing worked out at night. Everything always went all wrong.
But then she felt it and frowned, looking down at where he was touching her. Then her smile was bright, her eyes lighting up with joy. "You do remember!" Eos exclaimed before throwing her arms around him and squeezing him in a tight hug. "I knew that you would!"
She was right. In this night shade there was still some fogginess to his memory, but he was starting to connect the things that were the most recent. In the morning, it would be stronger.
She bounced into his arms, draped against him like a scarf. He didn't move at first, still getting used to the things that were filtering in his head.
"I remember drowning," he told her. "Leaving my island, leaving everything." It was the day his statue was crushed by the earthquake. He'd gone with it.
"But your back now!" she chirped, still holding onto him. "You're back and we'll find Selene and then it will be all three of us again!" (If they could find Selene. She could be anywhere. She might not even be alive anymore.)
"Eos," he finally said, his mind catching up with his tongue. Eos hugged so tightly, she was about to compete with the water that had forced him down. "Slow down, I'm still taking it all in." It was still a little fresh. Then there was Rhode, his strong, beautiful Rhode who he'd hurt unintentionally.
It would take a little time before he felt refreshed, back as the Helios they all remembered. In a way, he'd been in a coma inside his own mind all this time. It could happen again.
"Yes, Eos! That's me!" She drew back from the hug and grinned at him brightly. She was practically bouncing where she stood.
He put a soft hand against her back in a hug, "Calm down Eos," he felt a little light headed, a heaviness now that pounded through his skull.
They used to be so close, the two of them and their sister. They'd been apart a long time, just like her this nighttime shade was draining his energy. It took a lot of work remembering the world.