What Now?
56 - And?
"And where have you been?" Strife asked when Jayce strolled out on the patio where the other three friends were eating breakfast.
"Sleeping?" Jayce replied coyly.
Jett snorted. "And who's bed were you sleeping IN, since it wasn't yours." Jayce wiggled his eyebrows and took a sip of juice.
"Uh-huh. Bet it was a certain blond god." Joxer speculated, "For the second morning in a row."
"Maaaybe."
"You getting serious about him?" Jett cut to the chase.
"I don't know. I like him. I have fun with him." Jayce smacked the faintly blushing Joxer on the arm. "Not just in bed - although that's great too. For now it's just that. He's got quite the reputation from what I've heard. Time will tell weather it's a temporary distraction or something else."
"To something else." Strife raised his glass in a toast. "Something else." The triplets echoed, their glasses clinking together.
57 - Blue
Hera looked in on her charge. The Shade lay as she'd left him the night before peacefully sleeping as she'd commanded. Something had to be done about it. The Shade seemed to have some attachment to Athena. Hera could well imagine what would happen to the it in her care. If he was going to fade away would it be kinder to banish him now, or let him live out it's last days?Hera frowned at the thought. After loosing Strife the first time she could not bare the destroying even this doppelganger. But it would be equally sad to see the Shade fade away, she was already starting to become attached to it.
So then there must be a third option. Ares mentioned that it had been given intelligence like the Muses' imps, perhaps the Shade's structure could be change to something more permanent? Hera would talk to Apollo about it.
Hera stepped into the room and made her way to the bed. She reached down and shook the Shade's shoulder lightly. "Come on Blue, it's time to get up."
58 - Saving Blue 1 - Body
Hera walked into Apollo's work room leading Blue by the hand. The shade had been quiet all morning passively following Hera's directions. The Sun god looked up from the lyre he was tuning. He smiled at Hera and pulled out a chair for her to sit in. He watched bemused as she gestured for the Shade to sit on a near by stool."What brings you here Hera?" Apollo inquired as he put away his tools, he had a feeling that he wouldn't be getting back to this project today.
"I need your help with Blue. I know that his current structure will eventually breakdown but I was thinking that it might be changed. Something like you did with the Muses imps perhaps?"
"It would be a lot of work. We'd have to remove the false power flows and change his internal structure. Right now he doesn't have a way to convert energy - he's basically feeding on himself to live. He'd have to be reshaped completely to allow that - weather consuming raw fuels or... sunlight - like a plant base maybe."
Hera laughed delighted at the idea. Her favorite pastime was tending her garden after all.
59 - Saving Blue 2 - Spirit
Hera and Apollo worked steadily to change Blue from a shade to a more imp like creature. They disassembled Blue rearranging his molecules to suite their new purpose. They converted the fake godly power flow conduits into a working solar power structure. Now Blue would use the sun for fuel, much like the plants Hera so adored.After they were sure that Blue was stable and physically working as he should Apollo brought up the subject of the new imp's spirit. Left unchanged he would still be blindly obedient and that paired with his adoration of his 'creator' would undoubtedly lead to problems.
Hera liked Blue's gentle nature and didn't want to see that changed. She was not willing however to chance his safety with Athena. So Apollo tempered the imp's devotion to his creator and strengthened his bond to Hera.
Satisfied with the changes Apollo with drew from Blue. He stretched twisting muscles stiff from sitting in one position to long. He picked the slumber form up and tilted his head toward the balcony doors waiting for Hera to open them and following the goddess outside. Apollo laid Blue down a padded lounge where he could comfortably soak up the sun. He joined Hera at the table near by sipping tall glasses of fruit juice while they wait for Blue to wake.
60 - Waking to the Sun
Blue drifted out of sleep. He could feel the sun pouring down warm on his back. His body ached a little, like he'd overworked seldom used muscles. He was laying outside with no memory of how he got there. Blue could hear the clink of glass to his right. Gingerly turning his head he cracked open one eye. Hera and Apollo were seated at a table watching him."How do you feel Blue?" Hera asked her voice pitched low encase he wasn't quite awake.
"Sore." Blue sat up and rubbed at his eyes. "How did I get out here?"
"Apollo brought you out after we finished... healing you."
"Oh. Is that- Is that why I feel so different?" Blue rub his hands up and down his torso. "Was I very ill?"
"Yes, but you're all better now." Hera reassured him.
"There are a few things you are going to have to be mindful of from now on." Apollo cautioned. "You need to spend a lot of time in the sun for the next couple of weeks - all day if you can. After that you'll need to spend at least two outside. It'd be better to spend three or four in the sun so you don't get sick if you missed a day. You'll also need to stay hydrated - water is best but juice or wines are fine."
Blue nodded, "Okay." He yawned and covered his mouth in embarrassment. "I guess I'm still tired."
"That's alright, go ahead and sleep more if you want."
Blue nodded and flipped over to lay on his stomach. He yawned again, tongue curling like a cat, before snuffling into the fluffy lounger. He was soon sleeping once more.
Hera watched Blue drift off again with a fond smile.
61 - Breathe
Joxer took a deep breath filling his lungs with perfumed air. He was sprawled on a lounge under a blooming citrus tree. The blossoms scented the gently stirring air. Joxer was unbelievably relaxed.It had to something about the air on Olympus. It was lighter, not thin like when you climb a mountain but like it has been whipped up like you would an egg. Incorporating something mellow and living, as if you looked at it just right it would sparkle and flash.
The longer Joxer was here, the more he breathed the air of Olympus, the better he felt. Leaving him renewed. Clean. Like he was being made stronger.
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