A/N Any readers who read The Past that Was Meant to Be Forgotten will recognize the main character in this story, Xenon Smith. In my opinion, this story is crap, but you know... This story is very short and was originally suppose to be longer but my English teacher said it couldn't be longer than seven pages double space which you can't even write a decent story with that…
Disclaimer: I do not own any gods or goddesses in this story nor places. I own Xenon Smith and Thomas.
Dedication: I suppose I'll dedicate it to my English Teacher, who if it wasn't for her. I wouldn't have even thought about writing this. She gave me two days to write this and it couldn't be anymore than 7 pages and it had to be double spaced! So naturally, it sucks at least in my opinion.
-()-
"We have to leave her, like we did with our son, Aphrodite. It's the only way to protect them. She's mortal." Said a black cloaked man named Morpheus. He was standing in the rain with his lover, Aphrodite. The weather matched their mood of sadness with pouring rain. They were outside a dimly lit house which belonged to a blacksmith and his wife.
"But can't we talk to Zeus since I'm on the council--" Aphrodite started to asked.
"We can't. It must be this way. We discussed this." Morpheus said sternly. "They will be protected this way. We will see both of them again." He held his arms out for his daughter in Aphrodite's arms wrapped in a bundle of blankets. She gave over their daughter, reluctantly. Morpheus put his baby girl on the doorstep. "I'm sorry. I love you…Xenon."
-()-
A man lay sleeping on an ebony bed in the middle of a cave with a faint light of the setting sun at the opening of the cave. At the mouth of the cave there were orange poppies. The man was wasting away. His once brown hair was graying and was almost at the stage where it was going to turn white. His skin seemed to be a thin layer which was in between a grey robe and his bones. His face looked like papery skin and his eyes were blood-red rimmed. The man had ragged breathing and was trying to say something.
"Ze---Xenon." He said with effort. "Thomas. Save me!" The man screamed in pain and the sight of the man grew blurry till it faded away and a lion came at the view point…
A young woman of eighteen shot out of her bed and thin blankets. She had long blonde hair and purple eyes. Her body shook and was sweaty. She got up out of bed and was wearing a long grey nightgown. She got dressed into a purple tunic and brown boots. Overall, she was quite beautiful. She walked out of her room and into the kitchen. Her stepmother was over a fire cooking a blue bird which her husband has caught the day before.
"Mother, what do you know of the gods of dreams?" Xenon asked while she sat in a chair at the table.
"Morpheus, Phobetor, and Phantasos? Nothing much, except that they control humans, animals, and inanimate objects in dreams. Why?" Her mother asked looking up from her pot.
"I had a dream about Morpheus in trouble. I want to go help him--"
"You're too young and woman, Xenon, but if you want an adventure go find a respectable man in town, get married, and have sons." Her mother said as she stirred the bird stew.
"But mother! I need to help Morpheus. It's a matter of life and death." Xenon pleaded.
"Adventures are not for women, they're for men. Now, eat your stew." Her stepmother said as she put a bowl of bird stew in front of her and a wooden spoon. Xenon ate and then went back to her room. She packed spare tunics and undergarments, bread and cheese, and other useful stuff that could come in handy on a journey into a blanket which she slung over her back. She also put a belt on with her long sword tied in its scabbard. She doubled check to see that she hadn't forgotten anything and snuck out of the house.
She walked down the dirt road and kept her head down. Xenon lived in a small town and knew almost everyone. Someone people said, 'Hello' but Xenon ignored them. Xenon dreaded every second that someone would stop her and bring her back home or a suitor would stop her to flirt. Most men claimed to be in love with her, the blacksmith's daughter, even the high class nobles. But she made it to the edge of town without making any contact with anyone.
Xenon looked for travelers who had passed through her town. She saw a merchant with a wagon filled with various processions only about fifty feet from the edge of town. She walked quickly towards it instead of running which would catch attention of everyone. She reached the wagon and walked along side of it at a brisk pace. A man of forty and a young man of about eighteen, who was likely his apprentice, sat in front of the wagon which was being pulled by a pair of oxen. They both wore dusty blue tunics and both had brown hair and eyes.
"Excuse me sir." Xenon said. They both looked at her.
"Why what's a young lady, like yourself, be doing out here?" The man asked, stopping. "Running away or in a search for the right man?" He suggested as he glanced at the younger man next to him with a slight grin on his face.
"Not really." Xenon said, not wanting another man after her. "I was wondering if you could take me to Rome. I need to consult a mythologist about a particular god."
"Why of course, anything for a young lady as pretty as yourself. Your in luck, we're heading there ourselves. May I ask which god has sparked an interest in you?"
"Morpheus." Silence greeted the name.
"Okay. Tom, go to the back with the young woman to keep her company." The merchant commanded.
"But father--" The merchant looked at his son with a look that didn't over space for an argument. His son jumped down and walked with Xenon to the back, got on, helped her up, and they were off. They sat in silence and avoided each other's gaze as the rocked back and forth. "What's your name and what's your interest in Morpheus?"
"Xenon Smith. I want to find him--"
"Xenon?" He questioned. He thought for a moment debating something inside of him. "Did you have a dream about Morpheus calling out to you when he was wasting away?"
"Yes," Xenon said quickly and looked upon him with interest. "Are you Thomas?"
"Yes, but," He stopped. "Why would he give us, of all people the same dream? I—I'm just a plain merchant's son."
"I don't know." Xenon replied. They were silent and felt a bond between them even though they were pretty sure they had never seen each other in their lives. They reached Rome in a week. Xenon and Thomas didn't have anything dreams about Morpheus or anything at all only swirls of black darkness.
Thomas's father dropped them in front of a shop labeled, "Gods and Goddesses." Xenon and Thomas walked into the shop which was filled with dusty books. Thomas and Xenon stood close to each other as they had grown as custom to being near each other.
"What can I do for a young couple like you?" A man asked who was clearly the owner. Thomas took a step away and said, "We're not a couple. We were wondering if you could tell us anything of Morpheus."
"Morpheus?" The owner questioned.
"Yes." Thomas confirmed. The owner's eyes shifted his eyes between Xenon and Thomas and muttered something under his breath.
"Morpheus is the god of dreams involving men particularly heroes. It's said he lives in a cave surrounded by orange poppies and sleeps on a bed of ebony in a place north of here by mount Olympus." The shop owner said. He nodded and his breathing increased. The shop owner disappeared and was replaced with a huge man wearing a black cloak. "STAY AWAY FROM MY NEWFEW! FINDING HIM WILL ONLY LEAD TO A PAINFUL DEATH!" With that he disappeared leaving Xenon and Thomas rather shaken.
"Well, we can get to mount Olympus in a week if we walk quickly." Xenon said as if nothing had happened.
"What do you mean? That was Thanatos. We'll die--"
Xenon slapped him across the face. "Wake up! Morpheus will die if we don't get to him. We have to save him. Without him dreams won't have any heroes or people for that matter. We are the only ones that know he's in trouble. Only we can save him." Thomas stared at her. He felt a compelling urge to stop and protect her. He nodded in agreement.
They left Rome and headed up the steep incline of mount Olympus. The walk tired both of them, their determination to save Morpheus keep them going to walk for fifteen hours a day. Each night, Xenon and Thomas had the same dreams. One night it was Morpheus standing in front of his cave, looking very old, and called out to come to him. Another night, Morpheus showed them the way from where they had gone to sleep to his cave. Another night, Xenon and Thomas were at a fork in the road and a sign pointed one way saying, "Morpheus's cave" and the other saying the exactly same thing. They tried one path and fell down Mount Olympus and didn't die till they reached the bottom. They woke from the dream really feeling that they had fallen down the mountain and they rested a whole day and left because they felt a tug on their hearts that Morpheus died.
"Do you think he died?" Thomas asked as he watched Xenon scrub her dirty forehead with a rough damp piece of cloth on the fifth day from Rome.
"Do you?" Xenon questioned as she stopped her scrubbing. "He isn't dead, but he's dying." She sighed. "I don't know how I can say this with such certainty, but I feel like I have a connection to him." Thomas stared at her admiring her beauty. Xenon saw him looking, blushed, and looked away.
"I feel a connection with him too." Thomas said looking at her. "I don't know why though. Also, I feel I have a connection to you too." Xenon looked up at him.
"What do you mean?" Xenon asked.
"I feel a desire to protect you, compassion. I love you."
"You hardly even know me--"
"I know that you'd go to the ends of the earth if it meant saving someone who you hardly even know."
"But I feel like I've known him all my life." Xenon objected.
"Okay. May I ask you a question?"
"Of course." Xenon answer glad the conversation was going away from her and Morpheus.
"Do you feel any love for me like I have for you?" Thomas asked.
"What?"
"Do you love me?" Thomas restated.
Xenon thought for a moment. "Love is a strong word. I feel a nicety to be kind to you, but to go as far as love. I'm not sure." Xenon said, not looking at him. Thomas was disappointed in her answer.
"Well, we better get going." Thomas said getting up and seemed to be cold with her. Xenon sighed and got up and followed him up the side of the mountain. They walked for another two days. Thomas was still giving her the cold shoulder because she hadn't given him a confession of love. Thomas and Xenon collapsed to the ground from the sheer heat of a midsummer day and the exhaustion of walking for six hours straight. Thomas was bent over trying to catch his breath and Xenon stared about.
"Why do you have to make it so hot, Helios?" Xenon asked the sky. Xenon stole a brief glance at the sun and thought she saw Helios standing in the sky and smiling down upon her. Xenon looked about. The mountain the granite grey which didn't have any sign of cave. Xenon stared at the path which was seemingly endless before them. She saw a faint orange speck in the distance.
"Thomas." Xenon said hoarsely with her dehydrated, dry mouth.
"Yes?" He asked, equally hoarse. Xenon rose to her feet and walked forward a few steps.
"Poppies." Xenon said weakly. Xenon coughed and gathered her saliva and filled her mouth with it. "Poppies!" Xenon shouted in excitement. She took Thomas's hands and helped him up. With her left hand she pointed with his right towards the direction of the orange speck.
"It could be anything." Thomas said.
"Thomas, believe. If you say it isn't we'll have another day a head of us. Think that it is and it will. We're close to Morpheus. I can feel it." Thomas felt limp in her hand and he fell to the ground.
"So tired…" He whispered. He looked like he could go to sleep. Xenon felt the drowsiness too.
"No!" She shouted. She shook her head and slapped herself on the face. "We're close. I know it." She looked at Thomas. "Thomas, wake up. It's a trap of Phebetor and Phatasos! We can't sleep! They're working with Thanatos! If we sleep now, Phebetor and Phatasos will give us over to Thanatos and it will end with death! WAKE UP!" Xenon shouted desperately. Tears met her eyes a spilled over her face. "Wake up, please, Thomas." She sobbed. "I love you, please don't die." Thomas was still. Xenon did the first thing that came to mind and kissed him on the lips. As she pulled away, she looked at him as if she was expecting a result. She stared at him for a few hours or was it only a few seconds? "Thomas, wake up. I love you." She looked at him and his eyes opened a little. His lips twitched into a smile.
"That's nice to hear." He whispered, but Xenon heard his words. She blushed and looked away. "Please, help me up, Xenon. We need to help Morpheus." Xenon helped him up and supported him as they walked toward the orange and promise of poppies. As they approached, they saw indeed the orange was poppies. Xenon and Thomas smiled that they were finally at their destination. The poppies made an orange flowery path to the mouth of the cave. They headed inside.
They saw another man with long white hair on an ebony bed. He was surround by three men—actually gods who were Phatasos, Phobetor, and Thanatos and all we're cloaked in black.
"Leave him alone!" Xenon shouted as she laid Thomas on the ground. "What do you even want with him?"
"I told you twins to not come!" Thanatos told her.
"We are doing this because Morpheus is considered the superior Greek god of dreams." Phobetor interrupted. Xenon was small in comparison to all of them. Xenon didn't care. She wanted to see Morpheus. She ran towards them, which shocked everyone. She pushed her way through to Morpheus.
"Don't touch him." Thanatos warned. "Or I'll kill your precious brother." he said, walking toward Thomas. Xenon wasn't listening. She bent over the massive ebony bed and touched Morpheus's chest where his heart would be. Xenon's eyes went frosted. She was remembering her birth from Aphrodite. She remembered her mother pleading to Zeus to make her and Thomas immortal. She remembered Morpheus and Aphrodite putting her on the doorstep of the blacksmith's house. As she was remembering, Morpheus seemed to be going back in time. His hair turned from white, to grey, to brown. His robes changed from grey to white.
"No!" Thanatos, Phobetor, and Phatasos cried and disappeared.
"Xenon?" Morpheus asked.
"Yes?" She said as Thomas walked up to her and Morpheus.
"There's my daughter," he whispered, "and I assume Thomas is with you?" Morpheus asked. Xenon nodded.
"What do you mean daughter?" Thomas asked.
"Xenon is my daughter." He said. Thomas looked stunned that he was in love with a god's daughter. "And you are my son. I know this because that's the only way I could have been freed from my brothers and uncle. Love has strange powers. When my daughter and son were close to meeting, they felt that since you were my children you would replace them. Also, they think that people assume I'm superior to them because I put men and heroes into dreams--"
"You mean we're bother and sister?" Thomas asked horrified.
"Yes." Morpheus said as he got up from the ebony bed. "Why?"
"Nothing." Xenon and Thomas said at the same time. They looked hurt. They had found love and it was forbidden.
"Well, we can finally be a family." Morpheus said oblivious of how humiliated his children felt. "I think you're mother will be happy."
"Family…" Xenon and Thomas thought. All their lives with their stepparents they had always hoped that they would meet their parents and be a complete whole. This would have been a picture perfect moment had they hadn't just their love crushed with one another. Morpheus gave them a rip crushing hug and released. Xenon and Thomas looked at each other and gave each other a hug. When they released, they pushed their love for each other away and went on with their lives to be a family with each other, Morpheus and their mother, Aphrodite.
-()-
A/N Originally, Thomas was going to be named Odd from Code Lyoko (Odd Della Robbia) but I thought this is about Greek mythology so I gave him a Greek based name in stead of Norwegian. Anyways, what's you opinion on this?