TITLE: A chat among immortals.
CHARACTERS: Alexander & Hephaestion and a bunch of gods and goddesses.
RATING: PG
CATEGORY: Historical AU.
DISCLAIMER: I do not know the people involved, no harm intended, everything is product of my imagination, but I would not mind sharing my life with the blue-eyed go
NO BETA so all mistakes are mine.
FEEDBACK: comments are love! Yes, please any kind of them will help me to improve my writing or leave it forever.
Author's note: This is my tribute to Alexander in 2014.
The great Alexander was lying on his bed, alone and dying. His battered body had that yellowish sickly colour and his former tanned skin was now reddish, not due to the sun but to the fever that had been ravaging his body for the last days.
He was having a bad day, he had refused food and water and his sleep had been restless. His former strong frame looked as if an evil thing had sucked the life out of it and so his mismatched eyes, that had seen the glory of his conquests, the richness of the different Alexandrias and the variety of peoples, were now sunken in their sockets, bright less and unmoving. His stare was fixed, once again, on the bust of his beloved Hephaestion at the foot of the bed they used to share. A stray tear rolled off his grey eye and travelled along the stubble cheek. His mind, even though it was still cloudy, could remind him that his partner and lover was no longer living in this world.
A pang of acute pain pierced his chest at the mere thought of his Phai, who had left him alone eight months ago to live in a dark and dangerous world he no longer considered his own.
Alexander knew that his companions were worried, some because of his weak health; others because of the future of his vast and still powerful empire.
Alexander, who had always shared his fears and worries with his Phai, turned round to focus his bloody and feverish eyes on the bust again and sighed deeply as if his brunette could hear and come to help him.
What Alexander had not noticed was the bunch of people gathered on a corner of his bedroom; a group pf people who were discussing if they would talk to the great king or not. The discussion was being more and more animated when a soft whisper was heard.
"Who is there? Is that you, my Phai?" the young king asked in a weak and strained voice.
One of the women of the group looked at the rest of the people there with a serious look in her eyes and approached the bed quickly.
"No, my dear, it is us" she said and wiped away one of her tears, the death of Hephaestion still hurt her deeply.
"Oh, my sweet Aphrodite, you are here, my Phai loved you so much; I confess to have been jealous more than once" Alexander said.
"And I still love him, as you do, my golden king" she said while drying his sweaty forehead.
"What can I do for you, my goddess? As soon as I leave the bed, I will burn some spices for you on his name" Alexander promised.
"There's no need, my child, and in fact, we are here to help you" she added and looked backwards to the approaching figures.
Alexander squinted his eyes, trying to see who else was there and he gasped when he saw a bunch of gods and goddesses looking at him with love in their eyes.
When Alexander saw Zeus standing next to the head of his bed, he tried to push himself upwards to greet the father of the gods but the lightning maker set a gentle hand on his shoulder and pushed him downwards.
"It is all right, my son, make yourself comfortable because we will have a long chat" Zeus announced.
"What did I do, almighty Zeus? Are you mad at me? Alexander asked worried.
"Just a little bit" he said while he took Alexander's hand in his.
"Oh? May I ask why?" the young king asked in a whisper.
"Because you are giving up; you, the one who is the best fighter after my dear Achilles; you, who had conquered lands that not even Heracles could imagine in his travels; you, who had one of the best men as your partner and devoted follower of my Aphrodite; you are letting Atropos catch you and that is not good" Zeus said seriously.
"I'm sorry, father, but I'm tired and so sad. Life is not as joyous and pleasant as it used to be" Alexander explained.
"So, are you telling me that you'd let Hades come for you before your time has arrived?" he asked, raising his voice.
"No, father, my Phai would never forgive me if I did that" Alexander said and smiled.
"Smart and handsome that Phai of yours" Zeus chuckled.
"Yes, he was" Alexander added and smiled.
"Have a look around your bedroom and see who is also here" Zeus asked him.
And Alexander did that and saw many gods and goddesses around him.
"We are here because you are sad, my golden king" Aphrodite said and kissed the hand she was still holding.
"But I'm happy now because you are here" Alexander added but a bout of coughing attacked his body.
"Drink this, my king" Asclepius said offering him a divine concoction.
Alexander drank up to the last drop and immediately felt better. Hera approached the bed, fluffed a pillow and set it behind Alexander's back so he could sit more comfortable.
"Thank you, mother" Alexander said and smiled.
"I remember when you were born. You were the cutest baby born outside the Olympus and you immediately woke up everybody, even the dead, announcing with your first cry that you had been born to stay and make a difference. However, when your Phai was born some months earlier, he did it quietly but his own little body already showed that character that announced his inner strength" the mother of gods said lovingly.
"And I remember when you two shared your first apple. Both of you ate from the same red and sweet fruit by biting it once and then passing it to the other. That very same day was when both of you lost one of your front teeth and gifted it to the other. You also looked after an injured baby deer whose mother had been killed by a huntsman" Artemis, the goddess of the hunt and wild animals said.
"Oh yes, we called her "Freckles" because her back was covered by tiny brown spots" Alexander added and smiled at those memories.
"I remember as if it were today when Ares came to ask me to forge two new swords but he wanted them lighter and smaller than the ones I used to create" Hephaestus said while sitting on the bed; his eyes were blind but they still allowed him to perform his art.
"Yes, I remember those swords. We practised with them with a new tutor who no one ever knew who he was but that he mysteriously disappeared as soon as our teaching was complete" Alexander said, a bit pensive.
"Ha ha ha , and after all these years you could not recognize me?" Ares said smiling while approaching the bed.
"It was you, we were tutored by the god of war himself" Alexander said surprised and happy at the same time.
"Oh yes, and you two showed your skills since a tender age; however, your Phai was not a fan of fighting even though he was skilful and courageous" Ares added and smiled remembering those joyous lessons.
"May I approach, my king? I'd also like to share my story too" Apollo said, a bit shyly.
"Of course, who am I to refuse your presence?" Alexander said quickly.
"I know I am not your favourite; you still blame me for Achilles's death but it was …" Apollo was gently interrupted by Alexander's whisper.
"I may have been angry with you for a long time but my Phai taught me the gift of forgiveness and understanding and I finally understood that his death was necessary so my hero's name could be remembered forever. Everything is fine with me if you accept my apology" Alexander said, a bit contrite.
"Of course, my king. I also remember when you tried to train that big stray dog you found in the forest when you were just a little boy of six summers. You could not understand why that dog snarled at you and did not follow your commands as the other dogs did. It was your Phai, who was just visiting the palace with his father, who told you that your "dog" was in fact a wolf and he taught you some tricks to tame it. You were quite successful after that but the pup followed Hephaestion when he left. Two years later, when your Phai came to Mieza to study with you, he brought "Silver" with him and you two were his owner until he died of old age many years ago. I saw two teens shedding tears over an old dog and how reverently you two buried him near the palace. You visited his tomb after your Phai died and cried for both of them" Apollo said and patted the king's hand.
Alexander looked at him and nodded, finally patching things up between them.
A breeze of fresh air entered the hot room and freshened up the still feverish body. Alexander gasped for air and then his nostrils caught the scent of the pure sea.
"Oh, look who is here too" Zeus said and smiled at his brother.
"Poseidon!" Alexander whispered.
"You are right, my king, I came to bring you some fresh air and I know that you have always liked the water" the god of the seas spoke with his deep baritone voice.
"I do but my Phai was the one who loved it the most. My admiral and good companion Nearchos always reminded me that Hephaestion belonged to the sea with him but I loved him so much that I never let my Phai go near a ship. Perhaps if I had, he'd have lived longer" Alexander said and his voice sounded with regret.
"And do you think that he'd have stayed away from you? That boy lived and died for you, my king, because he loved you deeply" Poseidon explained.
"Do you have any story to share with us?" Alexander said.
"In fact, I have two, one of them you already know it, how your Phai's eyes were created with two of my bluest waves; the other is about your eyes and let me tell you that only your soul mate had been the one to find out the truth" Poseidon said.
"What was that?" Alexander asked curiously.
"Everybody explained that your eyes are of different colour because you would reign over two kingdoms. However, the truth, as your Phai discovered, was a bit different. Before you were born, your soul was wandering round the limbo looking for the best place to be born and it took it quite a long time to decide because it liked the grey of the clouds but also the green of the lands. Finally, the birth of another soul made the decision a bit easier so it decided to follow that other soul to the earth, but deep down inside, it still thought about the sky it had left behind. Seeing that, here, our almighty Zeus let you be born with one eye on the earth and one eye in the sky to share your greatness in both worlds" Poseidon explained and bowed to Zeus.
"And my Phai discovered that? How did he do it?" Alexander asked surprised.
"Yes, he did. He was extremely intelligent and he knew that you always cared for what happened on the earth but that you also kept a longing eye in the sky and beyond it" the Olympian added.
"That was my Phai, the only one who knew me better than myself" Alexander said and smiled.
"I remember when you fell in love" a sweet and childish voice sounded from above. After a minute, the winged Eros sat on the bed, looked at the king and added:
"I've never seen such a radiant face as yours when your Phai accepted you as his mate"
"I remember that too; I was so nervous, I thought he would reject me, that he would tell me that he liked me as a friend only but my beloved caught my face between his hands and answered my question with a long and deep kiss" Alexander said and blushed as if he were that teenager again.
"And what a hot kiss it was" a forest nymph said while spreading petals of forget-me-not on the king's lap.
"Was it?" Alexander asked and winked at the maiden's girl who blushed in return.
"Oh yes and you left all the nymphs and the forest creatures all hot and bothered" Artemis replied.
Alexander coughed for a long time and his skin got that sickly colour again.
"Father, the time is nearly up" Asclepius said.
"Give him more of your medicine, he has one more immortal to meet" Zeus said with his voice of thunder.
The god of medicine did as he was asked and Alexander thanked him for the relief. All the gods and goddesses in the room got together around the king's bed who had closed his eyes briefly to rest. However, in the middle of his restful doze, his nostrils started to move as if he were a dog smelling his prey.
A whispered "Phai" escaped from the king's lips and Zeus and the rest of his family smiled and turned round to receive the newcomer.
"Just in time, son" Zeus said and the approaching figure lit the room with his gentle smile.
Alexander murmured his beloved's name again and came back from his slumber when a warm and soft hand caressed his cheek.
"I'm here, my king" Hephaestion said gently because he did not want to startle Alexander.
"I'm finally losing my mind, father Zeus, I am not only seeing my Phai by my side but also smelling his sandalwood scent" Alexander said looking into the god's eyes.
"You are not, my dear, your Phai is here, for real, and he has come to accomplish the last mission for his king" Zeus explained.
"My Phai, you look as gorgeous as the day we bonded, there are no scars on you and you are no longer sick" Alexander said while grabbing Hephaestion's hands in his.
"Thanks, but, however, you are not looking so well, Xander. Care to explain me why?" Hephaestion said seriously.
"It's been so hard living without you; I don't want to live in this world if you are not in it. I'm tired, Phai, so tired …" Alexander said and kissed Hephaestion's hands reverently and then let his head fall onto the pillow, breathing hard while his eyes started to become lifeless.
"It's time Hephaestion, do it now" Zeus ordered the handsome brunette.
Therefore, Hephaestion took Alexander's cooling body in a bone-crushing embrace, a warm and golden light enveloped them for a while and then it slowly faded away.
A round of applause brought Alexander from his numbness and he saw himself standing next to his own body, already cold.
"What happened? How can I be here and there?" he asked frantically.
"That is a mere carcass of the great man you were but we love you so much that we could not leave you behind so we granted you immortality. However, a soul cannot walk without his other half, so Hephaestion accepted the same gift and the possibility of giving it you. The love you both hold for each other made it possible" Zeus explained and shouts of joy and happiness filled the quiet room.
Quick footsteps were heard and many companions entered the bedroom to check on their king but he was already dead.
However, if they had been able to look through the eyes of their hearts, they would have seen a young and healthy Alexander walking hand in hand with his beloved Hephaestion into immortality.