Asked and Answered

Donatello had done the best he could for the girl. It took ages, even with April's help, to bind Luna's wounds and get her stitched up. Once he had all the open wounds under control, Don had given the girl some morphine so he could set her broken bones. She'd still screamed when he pulled her legs straight.

That sound was going to haunt his dreams for a while. Not that he was going to be able to sleep anytime soon. Whatever trouble Luna was in had been thrust upon his family and Don needed facts to prepare a response.

Now he was back in the lab, reviewing the footage from the spy copter Raph recovered and trying to make sense of the evenings events. Don rewound the footage to Raph and Leo's arrival, and watched it again. He winced when Leo discovered the body, but forced himself to keep watching.

As the video progressed and Leo began to scream in earnest, Sol suddenly appeared on screen. In it's regular form Sol was not even bright enough to pick up on camera, but the brilliant flame it became when it finally understood the meaning of Leo's screams was incredible. Don watched in awe as the recording played back the gigantic whirlwind of blue fire that consumed the Fall.

The roar of the wind was too much for Don to make out what Leo actually said during the next part, and Raph hadn't recognized the language. Don sighed, wishing he'd been there. That phrase could have been an important clue, but Leo didn't remember it.

Time to try another tack. Don dug through the clothes that April had removed from the girl, and found what he'd been hoping for in her back pocket. A thin, rather beat up wallet with a New York id, and a couple of bucks in cash. He studied her id carefully.

Name: Luna Heliades

Age: 27

Hair: Blonde

Eyes: Blue

What the... Eyes blue? Well they certainly weren't now. Don wondered if that was an effect of being reconnected to her "celestial life force" as the god called it. Don quickly googled her address and was surprised to discover it was a shelter on the east side of town. Hmm.

Next he hacked into the police network and ran a background check. Not a lot to work with there. No criminal record, at least not in the tri-state area. A credit check was next, but she didn't even seem to have a report. In desperation he finally googled her name outright.

Here was something, a public interest piece in the local online paper from a year ago. The article was welcoming Luna to the staff at the shelter and declaring her their new PR person. The piece went on to say that Luna had overcome many challenges, and with help from the shelter, had risen from homeless on the street to a productive member of society.

Typical PR bullshit, he thought and was about to close his browser when he saw another search result, this one a hit on her last name 'Heliades'.

HELIADES: Nymph Daughters of the Sun | Greek mythology

Don stared at the entry for a long moment. 'Daughters of the sun' ?

Through my powers light and life come to this planet everyday. The god had said. Don quickly clicked on the link and read avidly.

THE HELIADES were seven nymph daughters of the sun-god Helios and Clymene the Oceanid. When their brother Phaethon was struck from the chariot of the sun by Zeus, they gathered around his smoky grave on the banks of the River Eridanos and in their unrelenting grief were transformed into poplar-trees and their tears into golden amber.

Luna certainly wasn't a tree, and her name wasn't one of the seven listed on the page, but the Greek gods were not known for monogamy, Don thought. She could well have had a different goddess or even a human for a mother. But the evidence was piling up that her father was Helios, God of the Sun.

Don only knew the basics of Greek mythology, but it was enough to worry him. The gods always seemed to hold grudges against one another, and Helios had implied that Luna was sent here as some sort of punishment.

He had also said, there was another 'jealous' force determined to destroy her. Don sighed. How did they get into this mess?

It seemed that the only way out, was to question the girl about the conditions of her punishment. Once she had fulfilled her task could she leave this plane and return to her own. It was the only way to free his family from her burdens.

And where did Sol fit into this little puzzle? Maybe the girl wasn't awake, but Leo had spoken to Sol. Perhaps Don could question him as well.

Don left the lab and crossed quietly to the infirmary where Raph was on guard.

"Are they awake?" He paused beside Raphael to ask.

"Nah." Raph said quietly, "Leo's been out for a while and she's just moaning."

Don placed a hand on Raph's shoulder and squeezed it lightly. "You did good today bro. I never thought to see Leo bested for self-control of all things, but you really kept it under wraps. I'm proud of you."

Raph felt the blood rushing to his face. Donnie was proud of him?

While Raphael cared for all his brothers, he'd always put Donatello up on a pedestal. Don was all the things Raph wanted to be. Smart, strong, caring without seeming weak, and able to handle any situation.

That Don was proud of him… He didn't know what to say.

Don chuckled to see his normally quick witted brother speechless and went to check on his patients. Luna was still out. Her body was so traumatized that Don didn't expect her to wake for several days, if not a week.

Leo had slumped down next to her on the futon and was snoring softly. Don checked that he wasn't resting on any of his burns, and then let him lie. The person, or thing, he was really here to see was Sol.

The little blue flame was settled in between Luna's head and Leo's, and was giving off a soothing glow that pulsed every once in a while, like a quiet heartbeat. Don stared at it for a while. He wasn't quite sure how to address the little thing. Finally, he whispered "Sol?"

Sol hovered up a few inches in response and glowed a little more strongly. Don took this as a good sign.

"Could we talk for a bit?" Don asked, keeping his voice low.

Sol flared, then hovered first over Luna, then Leo in a meaningful way.

"They'll be all right here." Don said, sensing what Sol was worried about. "Raphael is on guard. No one will get past him."

Sol paused, as if considering this, then floated gently past Don and Raph out into the hall. Raph looked on curiously as Don cleared his throat, feeling a little ridiculous about his plan to talk to a flame, but he pressed on.

"So, Sol" he began, "Have you known Luna a long time?"

A quiet tinkling laugh chimed down the hall.

yes.

It came from everywhere. Don's eyes widened and he looked to Raph.

"Did you hear that?" Don asked. Raph just nodded, his eyes as big as saucers. Don turned back to Sol.

"So, um, is she a goddess?" Don asked

yes. no. yes.

Don and Raph exchanged another look.

"Which is it?" Raph said.

But Don was thinking hard. "Helios said she'd been set a task and placed on the mortal plane, cut off from her celestial life force."

"Who's Helios?" Raph interrupted him.

"Golden, glowing Sun God? Bring's people back to life. Ring any bells?" Don teased.

"You've been hanging out with Mikey too much Don" Raph said with smirk.

"Then her mortal body died," Don continued, as if he'd never been interrupted, "and Helios gave her back a connection to her powers. So I guess the answer would be, yes she was a goddess, then she was human, and now goddess again?" Don turned back to Sol, "Well at least partially since she's still trapped in an injured human body."

yes.

Raph was staring at Don. "I really don't understand how ya mind works, bro."

But Don was already moving on to his next question.

"Do you know what her task is?" Don asked.

Sol.

Ok, that was a little tougher. Don pondered for a few minutes.

"You're her task?" he asked finally.

yes. no.

"You are one frustrating little flame, ya know dat?" Raph said. "Why won't ya give us a straight answer?"

There was a flare and Don got the distinct impression Sol was frustrated as well.

Can't!

It replied a little louder than usual. Don just sighed.

"Can ya show me? Da' way ya showed da' girl to Leo?" Raph blurted.

"Raph, you saw what happened before. We can't afford to have you out of commision now." Don interrupted. "Besides, it looks as if that communication bound Leo to her in some way."

Don continued his thoughts aloud, oblivious to Raph's irritated glare.

Some of us wouldn't mind that. Raph thought, but instead said "Maybe he can do it without dat stuff."

They both turned back toward Sol. It's light had dimmed a bit, as if disappointed.

only blue.

Don sighed. It could only show things to Leo, so they were back to 20 questions.

"You're obviously connected to her in some way," Don mused. "What are you to her?"

Sol

"Great! Dat helps." Raph groused.

Don's eyes narrowed. "You are her Sol?" he tried out the words in that order.

"Her soul!" he breathed.

yes. no.

"Part of her soul then?" Don asked excitedly. Now they were getting somewhere.

yes.

"Ok, so you are part of her soul. And she has to find all the parts?" Don continued.

yes.

"Who can break a soul?" Raph interrupted again, "I thought they were rather intangible things."

"Did you just use the word 'intangible'? Who are you and what have you done to my brother Raph," Don said.

"Ha-ha. Da question?" Raph turned an expectant look on Sol.

Sol gave a little bob. The flame equivalent of a shrug Don thought.

Zeus

Oh this was not good. Luna was in trouble with the king of the gods.