Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters of Troy or the song 'Two for tragedy' by Nightwish.
Thanks to all who guessed who had said the last line in the previous chapter, someone even suggested Achilles, which I hadn't even considered myself. (Good idea, but not what I had planned on ()
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"I want him back, I need him back!"
Briseis finished her desperate plea and let her arms fall to her sides, tears streaming freely. But what happened next was something she had not anticipated. A light so strong it was blinding flashed before her, making her cover her eyes with her hands. And as she heard a man's voice behind her Briseis widened her eyes in shock.
"Be careful what you wish for"
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Chapter three
The messenger of Apollo
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Turning as fast as she could; Briseis was surprised to be staring into thin air, there was nothing more there than what had been there before, and she was left quite puzzled. She had expected to see the man that the voice belonged to.
"What are you lookin' for there?"
Briseis let out a gasp of surprise as she felt a man hovering over her shoulder, his light-hearted, almost whispering voice directed straight into her ear. Turning around again she saw a rather strange-looking man, no taller than herself, floating by the edge of the mountain cliff. Briseis tried to mask her surprise as she brought her gaze downwards only to notice the fact that his shoes had wings. Unaware of her clear failure in seeming unaffected, she was equally surprised to see the man's face become rather annoyed.
"You stare any harder an' you eyes'll pop out, I'll tell you that. " The strangers voice was dripping with sarcasm.
Briseis was not in the mood for sarcasm and blurted out the respond before she could even think about what she was doing.
"Well, it's not everyday I see a man floating on winged shoes, is it?" The man looked a bit baffled by her respond, and during his hesitation she quickly got to her feet, pulling away from the stranger.
"Who are you?" Briseis asked suspiciously, though she was quite sure she had figured that out by now.
"Oh, such ignorance!" The man brought his hands to his chest in a melodramatic manner, clearly trying to seem offended.
"A girl of your stature not even recognising the mighty god Hermes!"
Feeling quite self confident, Briseis allowed herself to continue the questioning of the Greek god standing before her.
"And why are you here? I remember specifically requesting the presence of Apollo here, not some messenger with winged shoes.." She knew perfectly well she was stretching it, but was willing to take that chance in order to get what she wanted.
"Ah, here we go again then.." Hermes started making small circles around the mountain cliff, gesticulating heavily as he continued.
"I kill Argos, the biggest pain in Zeus' back, I aid Priam through the battlefield to his dead son Hector for a proper burial, I teach people everything they need to know to become civilized, like weight and scales an' all that, but still.. Do people notice the great work of the magnificent Hermes? No.."
Briseis regretted ever going down that path and tried to stop his ranting, but eventually realised that she should let him finish. She saw no need to upset him further.
"They want to see Zeus, or Apollo or some of the other, 'more powerful' Gods." Hermes' voice had lowered noticeably in the end and he had now stopped his gesticulation, and was sitting quite still on the mountain cliff. His head was placed in his hands, and he looked gloomier than all the doomed men of Hades combined.
"I'm sorry. I just need someone with enough power to help me get Achilles back." Briseis was genuinely sorry for hurting him, she had never intended on hurting the one sent to help her.
Almost instantly after Briseis finished her apology, Hermes was back on his feet, assertively pulling the Trojan priestess with him. After getting her up on her feet, he pulled away from her, reached his arms out and stared intensely at her.
"Apollo is not the only one who has powers," Hermes said calmly while concentrating on the task ahead.
Before Briseis even had the time to consider the situation and what was going on, the same ray of light that had surrounded her before was being sent towards her yet again. As the light touched her, it consumed her fully, and as she could regain her senses, she realised that she was no longer standing on the mountain cliff. She was inside a tent, hovering above ground and looking down on.. herself.
Sleep
My fallen son
Slumber in peace
The tears cascaded freely down Briseis' cheek as she heard the cheering of the men outside, and the sounds of a chariot approaching. She knew what it meant. Her lover had returned from his mission to kill.
Cease the pain
Life is just in vain
For us to gain
Nothing but all the same
And as her lover returned, she knew his mission had succeeded. She knew Hector was dead. The great warrior that was the prince of Troy, her cousin and her friend was dead.
Beneath the candle bed
Two saddened angels
In heaven, in death
Even in my pride
I never blamed you
Never before had she had so many conflicted emotions inside her. No matter what the outcome of the battle would have been, she knew she would have wanted it to end differently. This war had taken so much from her, and yet she knew it was just the beginning.
One light
For each undeserved tear
Beneath the candle bed
Two souls
With everything yet to be said
As Briseis returned to find she was once again standing on the mountain cliff, salty tears were pouring down her face again. Seeing that had brought back so many memories.
"I was sent here by Apollo to give you the opportunity so see Achilles again."As she lifted her gaze to Hermes, she could see the look of concern in his eyes.
"But how?" It was all Briseis managed to say in between silent sobs.
"You will join him in the Underworld, the domain of Hades, but not as dead." Hermes straightened himself up, trying to look more important for the message he had been ordered to give the loyal priestess of Apollo standing before him.
"But I'm mortal. I can't go into the Underworld." Briseis stared into the gods eyes, with a puzzled look on her face.
"No. But nymphs can."
¤¤¤¤¤
I took some freedom in creating the personality of Hermes, but if you think he sounds too 'Disney', then I'll change it. And I took the winged shoes from Disney, hadn't planned on it, but that's just the way it turned out.. (Even though I hated that film for being so inaccurate to the facts, I mean Hera and Zeus as a happily married and nauseatingly cheery couple?) I had to brush up on my knowledge of Greek Mythology, so the work I did before writing this chapter took longer than actually writing it. But if I have gotten some of it wrong, let me know and I will correct it. I can't improve if you don't tell me what I'm doing wrong. I have 'interpreted' some of it to make it fit into this story, hope you don't mind..:)
Thank you Julieanna for giving me the lines of the scene! (Yeah, know what you mean about the aah, Brad Pitt:)) Also thank you so so much: Penny Lane 1776, Achilles-lover, Lulu43, Jayma (for reviewing twice, thanx!), Holli, FirienInuyasha, Caz, Donna Lynn, Limegreenlion, Stephanie, Lisa Midnight Oceans (cool pen-name:)), elvenprincess17-imladris, feenian, Mrs.M (thanks for two great reviews!), Rivka Leah (your review was really motivating for me to continue!), BlueAngel, Nikki Staggerwall, SabrinaYutsuki, Suzy, Rouge- 2004, blueruler, bluesywisdom, fantasy4, CiCi, x-leiQ, Binx(For two reviews from you as well!!), Kaydee (Nope, not Achilles, though that was a good idea, maybe I should build something on that..:), Mina, nap-003 and Ack!! For taking the time to review my story!! I'm forever grateful!
Thanks to all who guessed who had said the last line in the previous chapter, someone even suggested Achilles, which I hadn't even considered myself. (Good idea, but not what I had planned on ()
¤¤¤¤¤¤
"I want him back, I need him back!"
Briseis finished her desperate plea and let her arms fall to her sides, tears streaming freely. But what happened next was something she had not anticipated. A light so strong it was blinding flashed before her, making her cover her eyes with her hands. And as she heard a man's voice behind her Briseis widened her eyes in shock.
"Be careful what you wish for"
¤¤¤¤¤¤
Chapter three
The messenger of Apollo
¤¤¤¤¤
Turning as fast as she could; Briseis was surprised to be staring into thin air, there was nothing more there than what had been there before, and she was left quite puzzled. She had expected to see the man that the voice belonged to.
"What are you lookin' for there?"
Briseis let out a gasp of surprise as she felt a man hovering over her shoulder, his light-hearted, almost whispering voice directed straight into her ear. Turning around again she saw a rather strange-looking man, no taller than herself, floating by the edge of the mountain cliff. Briseis tried to mask her surprise as she brought her gaze downwards only to notice the fact that his shoes had wings. Unaware of her clear failure in seeming unaffected, she was equally surprised to see the man's face become rather annoyed.
"You stare any harder an' you eyes'll pop out, I'll tell you that. " The strangers voice was dripping with sarcasm.
Briseis was not in the mood for sarcasm and blurted out the respond before she could even think about what she was doing.
"Well, it's not everyday I see a man floating on winged shoes, is it?" The man looked a bit baffled by her respond, and during his hesitation she quickly got to her feet, pulling away from the stranger.
"Who are you?" Briseis asked suspiciously, though she was quite sure she had figured that out by now.
"Oh, such ignorance!" The man brought his hands to his chest in a melodramatic manner, clearly trying to seem offended.
"A girl of your stature not even recognising the mighty god Hermes!"
Feeling quite self confident, Briseis allowed herself to continue the questioning of the Greek god standing before her.
"And why are you here? I remember specifically requesting the presence of Apollo here, not some messenger with winged shoes.." She knew perfectly well she was stretching it, but was willing to take that chance in order to get what she wanted.
"Ah, here we go again then.." Hermes started making small circles around the mountain cliff, gesticulating heavily as he continued.
"I kill Argos, the biggest pain in Zeus' back, I aid Priam through the battlefield to his dead son Hector for a proper burial, I teach people everything they need to know to become civilized, like weight and scales an' all that, but still.. Do people notice the great work of the magnificent Hermes? No.."
Briseis regretted ever going down that path and tried to stop his ranting, but eventually realised that she should let him finish. She saw no need to upset him further.
"They want to see Zeus, or Apollo or some of the other, 'more powerful' Gods." Hermes' voice had lowered noticeably in the end and he had now stopped his gesticulation, and was sitting quite still on the mountain cliff. His head was placed in his hands, and he looked gloomier than all the doomed men of Hades combined.
"I'm sorry. I just need someone with enough power to help me get Achilles back." Briseis was genuinely sorry for hurting him, she had never intended on hurting the one sent to help her.
Almost instantly after Briseis finished her apology, Hermes was back on his feet, assertively pulling the Trojan priestess with him. After getting her up on her feet, he pulled away from her, reached his arms out and stared intensely at her.
"Apollo is not the only one who has powers," Hermes said calmly while concentrating on the task ahead.
Before Briseis even had the time to consider the situation and what was going on, the same ray of light that had surrounded her before was being sent towards her yet again. As the light touched her, it consumed her fully, and as she could regain her senses, she realised that she was no longer standing on the mountain cliff. She was inside a tent, hovering above ground and looking down on.. herself.
Sleep
My fallen son
Slumber in peace
The tears cascaded freely down Briseis' cheek as she heard the cheering of the men outside, and the sounds of a chariot approaching. She knew what it meant. Her lover had returned from his mission to kill.
Cease the pain
Life is just in vain
For us to gain
Nothing but all the same
And as her lover returned, she knew his mission had succeeded. She knew Hector was dead. The great warrior that was the prince of Troy, her cousin and her friend was dead.
Beneath the candle bed
Two saddened angels
In heaven, in death
Even in my pride
I never blamed you
Never before had she had so many conflicted emotions inside her. No matter what the outcome of the battle would have been, she knew she would have wanted it to end differently. This war had taken so much from her, and yet she knew it was just the beginning.
One light
For each undeserved tear
Beneath the candle bed
Two souls
With everything yet to be said
As Briseis returned to find she was once again standing on the mountain cliff, salty tears were pouring down her face again. Seeing that had brought back so many memories.
"I was sent here by Apollo to give you the opportunity so see Achilles again."As she lifted her gaze to Hermes, she could see the look of concern in his eyes.
"But how?" It was all Briseis managed to say in between silent sobs.
"You will join him in the Underworld, the domain of Hades, but not as dead." Hermes straightened himself up, trying to look more important for the message he had been ordered to give the loyal priestess of Apollo standing before him.
"But I'm mortal. I can't go into the Underworld." Briseis stared into the gods eyes, with a puzzled look on her face.
"No. But nymphs can."
¤¤¤¤¤
I took some freedom in creating the personality of Hermes, but if you think he sounds too 'Disney', then I'll change it. And I took the winged shoes from Disney, hadn't planned on it, but that's just the way it turned out.. (Even though I hated that film for being so inaccurate to the facts, I mean Hera and Zeus as a happily married and nauseatingly cheery couple?) I had to brush up on my knowledge of Greek Mythology, so the work I did before writing this chapter took longer than actually writing it. But if I have gotten some of it wrong, let me know and I will correct it. I can't improve if you don't tell me what I'm doing wrong. I have 'interpreted' some of it to make it fit into this story, hope you don't mind..:)
Thank you Julieanna for giving me the lines of the scene! (Yeah, know what you mean about the aah, Brad Pitt:)) Also thank you so so much: Penny Lane 1776, Achilles-lover, Lulu43, Jayma (for reviewing twice, thanx!), Holli, FirienInuyasha, Caz, Donna Lynn, Limegreenlion, Stephanie, Lisa Midnight Oceans (cool pen-name:)), elvenprincess17-imladris, feenian, Mrs.M (thanks for two great reviews!), Rivka Leah (your review was really motivating for me to continue!), BlueAngel, Nikki Staggerwall, SabrinaYutsuki, Suzy, Rouge- 2004, blueruler, bluesywisdom, fantasy4, CiCi, x-leiQ, Binx(For two reviews from you as well!!), Kaydee (Nope, not Achilles, though that was a good idea, maybe I should build something on that..:), Mina, nap-003 and Ack!! For taking the time to review my story!! I'm forever grateful!