Before she went to check on the unconscious Kell, she stepped into the restroom to test out her connection with her tattoo.
"Perseus, I summon you to human form." Nothing happened.
She frowned. "Harpe, I summon you to human form."
The tattoo evaporated from her skin and turned to blue smoke before settling into the image of Perseus before her.
She let out a sigh.
"Are you hurt or in need?" Perseus asked.
She shook her head. "Only in need of answers."
He nodded his head. "To what questions?"
"Am I doing the right thing, trying to get Kell's soul back?"
He watched her with a tilt of his head. "Only you can answer if it is right for you."
She glared at him. Why couldn't she get straight answers? "Do you know of anything else that I can try to save his life?"
He shrugged. "Nothing that comes to mind now."
Alright then. The soul part was the solution that he had mentioned before. Why couldn't he just say that in the first place?
"How do I let my walls down?" She hadn't realized she asked that one out loud until he answered.
"Get to know him more."
Lily scoffed. "Hard to do when he is unconscious and possessed."
Perseus grinned. "Not at all. Get some sleep. I can help you connect to his dreams."
Her jaw dropped. "Really?"
He nodded.
With a way to continue to get to know him, she just might feel less terrified. As stubborn as she was and as much as she mentally wanted to do everything that she could to save him. Lily was terrified that she wasn't strong enough. What if she dropped the medallion with his soul? If it wasn't for the fact that he would die otherwise, she wouldn't risk it. But, there was no other way. She had to take Amanda's advice and find a way to break down her walls.
"Good. I will try that right away. But, before you go, is there anyway you could be somewhere that isn't as visible? I don't want the spirit of whoever that is to know that I have you on me."
He grinned. "Wise choice. We can be over your heart. Later, the design can change as well, to suit your choice." With that, he returned to being a tattoo on her skin.
Lily returned to the room with Kell. He looked so peaceful as he slept. It was hard for her to wrap her mind around the fact that he was possessed.
She removed her shoes and curled up in the bed next to him. Trusting the cuffs and magic, that he couldn't hurt her while she was there, she allowed herself to get a little sleep.
At first, she landed in a scene with Perseus. One of the memories from the Harpe. This was one of Perseus as he saved Andromeda.
She was very beautiful. With creamy mocha toned skin and long black hair and intelligent hazel eyes. But it was the elegance of of her bone structure that really struck Lily. Damn, she could be a supermodel.
However, Lily didn't have time for her own dreams.
"Perseus." She called.
The dream stopped. He looked at her. "You know that I am not really Perseus."
She sighed. "Then what do I call you? Harpe just seems weird when you are the image of Perseus."
He smiled. "But, Harpe is what we are. We cannot truly be Perseus when he sleeps next to you."
"Whoa. Excuse me? Explain that one."
His eyes focused. "Kell is the reincarnation of Perseus. You are the reincarnation of Andromeda. Not the first, mind you. You have been reincarnated before. As Kell's wife, Zia."
Oh, shit. That put a whole new spin on things. Didn't it?
"That is why he is interested in me? I remind him of her?"
Harpe shook his head. "No Lalita. There are some physical similarities. And a few personality similarities. However, what he connects to is your soul. You are soulmates. He will always love you. Just as you will always love him."
She was overwhelmed by the news, but it reminded her why she was there. "So, show me his dreams."
The scene shifted. Kell woke to his wife's efforts. He was so much younger than the man she knew. Late teens, maybe early twenties. He was lithe and fit. Yet no sign of the muscles he had as the man she knew. His black hair fell to his shoulders.
"Thiamekelos, wake up. Husband, wake up. There is a wolf in the flocks." Zia's voice was panicked.
He jumped out of bed. "Why did I sleep so late?"
Zia kissed his cheek. "You have been ill. You needed the sleep. But, I am afraid the sheep need you more."
Lily's chest tightened to see the love they shared. She had to fight back a twinge of jealousy. But, even as the thought crossed her mind, she watched his eyes, his expressions. They held the same emotions that she saw when he looked at her.
How could that be? He had just met Lily. As compared to his beautiful wife of several years.
Zia was petite. Round faced with brown wavy hair. However, she was slender and her face was different from Lily's. The most striking were the burn scars that covered half of her face.
Lily looked at Harpe beside her. "What happened?"
He smiled. "After Perseus and Andromeda were placed in the stars, Hera became jealous. After all, it was a permanent reminder of Zeus having a bastard son. And it was Andromeda's beauty that became the catalyst to the sea monster being let loose on her home. So, when Zeus had finally allowed the couple to be reborn on earth, Hera made sure that Andromeda would not have the same beauty as she did before. She ordered someone to set fire to the girls home."
Lily and Harpe watched as Kell and his brothers readied to go hunt down the wolf. His children were beautiful as they hugged their father and uncles.
"What Hera hadn't anticipated was that Kell would always be the hero that Perseus was. Even if he couldn't succeed, he would try. So, Kell, having seen the fire, ran into the house and saved the girl. Understanding that the girl was orphaned with no family to care for her, Kell took her in and asked his mother to tend her wounds. They were young. But, they loved each other immediately, as happens with soulmates. So, they married."
She watched carefully. It was strange to see this side to Kell. He was young and happy. Even though he was sick, there was a gentleness and peace that didn't really match the man she knew. If anything, it was his twin brother, Dida that seemed more hardened.
As the dream moved forward, Lily watched in horror as the brothers realized that the Roman soldiers approach the home. She watched them fight to save the women and children. As Kell attacked the Primus Pilus in charge of the legion.
His punishment for the insult was sickening. He had been beaten to within an inch of his life while he was chained to a post. Then, they dumped water on him to keep him awake, and forced him to watch as his children's lives were taken. Followed by the hours of witnessing his wife's rape until she could not take anymore and committed suicide.
Lily wanted to be sick. Her stomach churned at the reality of his pain. Those poor children had done nothing wrong. And Zia… Oh, God.
Lily's hands stayed over her mouth.
She didn't think that she could ever forget the sounds of Kell's screams.
"Stop it." Lily demanded of Harpe.
The man shook his head. "It is not a dream that I control. This is his dream, his memories that haunt him. Until you reach him, he won't know you are here."
"How do I do that?"
The image of Perseus simply shrugged. "That is for you to find."
Kell's world had shattered. His rage and grief so profound, that as he lost consciousness, the goddess Artemis had come to offer a deal for his soul. However, he did not die. So, the goddess left him for the time.
Lily did everything that she could think of to get his attention. Kell, never heard her. He never saw her. She even tried to kiss him, but he was constantly moving and so tall, that she couldn't reach. It was infuriating to try to kiss the man and having him walk through her. Eventually, she gave up and simply watched. Harpe had her there for a reason.
As she tried, the dream shifted to scenes of his life as a gladiator. The training. The punishments. The humiliation.
But, Kell's rage hardened him. His only goals were to protect his brothers and gain freedom so that he could kill everyone that laid a hand on his family.
The twins became favorites among the crowds. The Keliadeva twins. Kell and Dida.
He had embraced the new nickname forced on him by his masters. They thought to remove his sense of identity after he fought the expected submission early on. They named him for the first part of his hometown. They took to calling Dida, Diva. Whatever. Kell was close to Kelos. The pet name his wife had given him. So, all it did was strengthen him.
He had even been able to find a simple bracelet of woven string with five beads. One for his beloved wife, three for his precious children; Moskon, Rhyna and Istros. One for the child that did not live to be born.
It was a bracelet that Kell toyed with as he sat in the waiting area of the Colosseum. He was nervous. Lily could see it.
He tried to watch out the gates to make sure that his younger brother, Oroles was safe. None of the fights for the day were supposed to be to the death until the last.
The games had been arranged in contest. The winners of each match pitted against the winners of the next match and so on, until the primus. The Emperor had announced that the winner would gain emancipation. The brothers savored the idea of gaining freedom to seek revenge for their family.
However, Kell had a very bad feeling for the day.
Dida fought beside Kell. They had each other's backs.
Oroles was out there alone.
Just as Oroles had pinned the Gaul down and claimed victory, the Gaul pulled a dagger from under his armor and gutted Oroles.
Kell's screams were only matched by those of Dida. The twins howled in rage and grief as their little brother was pulled off of the field. Oroles was already gone by the time Kell and Dida could get to his side.
Tears pooled in Lily's eyes. She hurt for them all.
Only when the trainers and men in charge had pointed out to the twins that they would face that Gaul in the next match, did either brother look up from colorless face of their youngest member.
The Gaul would die.
Dida and Kell swore to it. No longer focused on the fact that they would reach the primus by defeating their next opponent, they were driven by revenge.
To no one's surprise, they were successful in their quest. And, fueled by their rage, they swept through their primus battle as well, in a haze of grief.
Lily had never seen anything like it. The controlled rage. The synchronization of the brothers. The skill and ferocious power. She had seen Kell fight. But, as a gladiator, she feared him.
He was armored as a Thraex, with a square shield and sica. Dida was trained and armored as a Hoplomachus, a Greek based style that used a round shield, a spear and a short sword.
'No wonder Kell had admired her use of a sica blade while fighting the demons.' She thought.
The most surprising part of the entire event was that Trajan played the brothers. He would not allow two winners and forced the twins to fight each other to the death, or face both of their deaths.
"Kill me Thiamekelos." Dida insisted. "Gain your freedom and see your revenge."
Kell couldn't do that. He wouldn't do that. He was nothing without his brother's with him. His revenge wasn't worth Dida's life.
Yet, Dida threw his spear down and charged him. Kell was ready to give his life so that his brother could live. However, Dida had other plans. Through the fight, Dida grabbed hold of Kell's sica and pulled it into himself.
"I will see you in the afterlife brother. But, not before you kill those Roman bastards." Dida said as he died in Kell's arms.
"Quite the show gladiator. I don't think that I am quite done with you yet. Perhaps the next games." Trajan called down. His arrogant face showed just how likely it was that the Emperor would ever release a Dacian. They were deemed enemies of the state.
Kell had lost his brothers for nothing.
In a final fit of defiance, Kell picked up his brother's spear and threw it straight for the Emperor. The throw was so hard that the spear went through the man's shoulder and embedded in the wood of his throne on the other side.
Kell had sacrificed his life for one last chance at revenge. And damn it, the asshole had flinched just enough that the throw missed his heart by mere inches.
There was nothing left of Kell but feral rage as he collapsed into the sand.
Lily screamed as the Romans moved to execute him. Tears streamed down her face as she ran to embrace her fierce warrior.
"Please, make the dream stop! Please." She sobbed.
It was only when her hands caressed his face that Kell saw her there.
"Lily?" His face contorted in several emotions until his eyes pooled with tears. Desperately, he pulled her into his arms and buried his face in her neck. "How? Why?"
The two cried together, in each other's arms. Kisses and apologies were the only sounds between sobs and sniffles.
"What are you doing here?" Kell finally asked.
Lily pulled back to look at him. "Magic." He snorted at the obvious answer. "Do you know that you have been possessed?"
He nodded his head. "I have been so worried about you. Worried that I would hurt you, but it wouldn't be me. Please Lily, tell Acheron to kill me."
"What? No way!"
"Listen to me Lily. I would not survive if I had to watch my body hurt you in anyway. Please. Tell Acheron to kill me. It's the only way to save you from this spirit." He caressed her cheek to wipe away her tears. "I don't know what I ever did right to have you in my life. Even for a few days."
"No." She growled. "I am not giving up on you that easily. You hear me Thiamekelos Devora, or whatever your whole name is?"
"Will you stop being so stubborn?" He pleaded.
"Hell no!" Lily poked him in the chest. "I am not going to finally find the one man on earth that I actually do trust and gives me hope that he might actually like me, just to leave him to Shadedom. Fuck that!"
Kell wanted to protest more. But, the dream was getting weak.
Harpe stepped forward. "It is time for you both to wake. Lily, you must hurry to be prepared to face Phineus."