A/N: Sorry the updates aren't coming as fast as they used to. I've gotten hijacked by another story on the Tudors and writing Achilles' and Hector's recovery was harder than I thought it would be. Plus I'm having trouble figuring out what happens after the next couple of chapters. I'm willing to entertain ideas if anyone wants to suggest some. You can email me or PM me, whatever works for you. Otherwise, I will figure out a way to wrap it up here in Avalon, or perhaps back at home in LA or at Eric's home in Finnmark. I *do* know the last sentence for the story though. I suppose that is something! :-)
Paradise Within…Happier Far
Chapter 22
Men are haunted by the vastness
of eternity.
And so we ask ourselves...
...will our actions echo
across the centuries?
Will strangers hear our names
long after we're gone...
...and wonder who we were...
...how bravely we fought...
...how fiercely we loved?
If they ever tell my story, let them say...
...I walked with giants.
Men rise and fall like the winter wheat...
...but these names will never die.
Let them say I lived in the time of Hector...tamer of horses.
Let them say...I lived in the time of Achilles.
Words from the movie "Troy"
Sookie sat beside Hector on the small bed, placing her palms on his temple. She breathed in the incense of healing herbs and let the priestesses' chants fill her mind as she sought to form that small ball of energy to push into Hector's mind. As she entered his tattered mind, she felt a slight resistance and then a relaxation into the chant and the warm energy flowing from her. Looking around at the broken threads of tapestry that were his memories, Sookie decided to start at the beginning with his first memory of his mother kissing him and rocking him as she walked around the fountain. She passed the memory of the time he first held a sword as a child, the first time he rode a horse, his first battle. Through her exhaustion she watched him fall in love with Andromache and his thrill of returning from battle to see his first born son Astyanax and hold him in his arms, how his son cried in fright at seeing his father in his large battle helmet. Sookie's tears fell freely as she watched Hector's noble life recreated in front of her.
She watched as Hector kills Petraclus, thinking him to be Achilles. She felt the agony of Hector who knows he has now doomed himself in this accidental death. She hears the pain in his words as he mourns his own coming death, and that he might never love his wife again or see his child grow up. Sookie watches as Hector bravely faces an angry Achilles, bravely meeting the powerful Achilles' fury and defending all of Troy alone in the sand. She watches as he cries out to the gods as he misses a spear-throw:
"Alas! the gods have lured me on to my destruction. ... death is now indeed exceedingly near at hand and there is no way out of it- for so Zeus and his son Apollo the far-darter have willed it, though heretofore they have been ever ready to protect me. My doom has come upon me; let me not then die ingloriously and without a struggle, but let me first do some great thing that shall be told among men hereafter."
—Spoken by Hector facing Achilles, after a missed spear-throw, The Iliad Book XXII Lines 299-305.
Sookie cried out as she feels the pain of Achilles sword piercing Hector's body and sobs as he dies alone in the sand. She paused the reweaving of his memories at this point, wondering if the next 2000 years will be as traumatic as those 30 years or so. She is already feeling less and less of his pain now that his original memories are back intact. Sookie breathed in deeply, her sobbing softening as she absorbs the soothing scent of the incense and listens to the constant healing chant in her mind. As she relaxes into his mind again, she realizes it does go much faster, mostly because he is not as attached to these memories, these threads of his mind. Through his eyes, she sees Achilles and Hector fighting in battles on the side of right. She watches them make love with women they sometimes love, but often do not. Sookie recognizes the times they are here in Avalon and how they train other warriors. And ultimately, as she finishes her weaving, she sees the black inky magic that seeps through their mind, ripping and tearing away at their memories. She cannot see who cast the magic, nor can she see how they arrived in Avalon. There is nothing but a black darkness full of nothing, no feeling, no passion, no sense of good or evil. And Hector remembers nothing of it.
Morgaine helped Sookie gently remove herself from Hector's mind and once she was completely disconnected she collapsed into Eric's waiting arms. He carried her unconscious body to an empty bed and laid her carefully down. This had sapped almost all of her strength. Eric knew she was strong, stronger still with his blood in her veins, but this left her without any reserves. He only hoped that she would sleep for some time to heal before the cries of Achilles woke her. The priestess brought him some water and a clean cloth and while he wiped her brow and face to cool her burning body off, Morgaine checked Hector. His breathing was now even and pain no longer etched his still face. He seemed relaxed and sleeping rather than stiff and comatose. Morgaine thought he would awaken on his own as his mind continued to heal. As Eric cared for Sookie, Morgaine came over to see about Sookie's well-being.
"I agree with you, Eric. She is exhausted. Healing this much damage is very difficult and takes all of one's reserves. She may sleep for days, or she may wake in just a few hours. Achilles' mind will unfortunately continue to cry out to her, even in her unconscious state so he may wake her before she is really ready to take on anymore pain. Both Hector and Achilles will likely need your blood to regain their strength and Sookie of course will as well. You will need to feed from me or my priestesses to keep yourself strong for them. It could be days before Sookie revives and you will not be able to wait so long to feed."
"Thank you Morgaine. Even if she wakes within the next few hours, she will be too weak for me to take from. I will need whichever priestesses who will volunteer their blood. It has been a very long time, since Sookie and I bonded, since I took someone else's blood. It will be strange to be doing that again. But Morgaine, it will just be for blood. There will be no sexual contact at all."
Morgaine smirked at him slightly, "Of course, Eric. We are but virgins here. There will be no sexual contact. Your fidelity to Sookie is admirable as well. I will leave you to her care. My priestesses will offer themselves to you as you need them. Hector will recover, although I don't know how long he will now sleep in peace." Morgaine turned back to Eric and spoke seriously, "And Eric, Achilles history is a much darker, angrier one than our noble Hector. Hector is both peace-loving and brave, thoughtful as well as bold, a good son, husband and father, and totally without darker motives.** Achilles was brave and bold, but had none of these other characteristics. Healing him will be much more difficult."
Eric looked at Morgaine, understanding her words, and looked back at Sookie with pain and concern filling his eyes.
Sookie's eyes barely opened four hours later. Her body shook as even the low light sent shards of pain into her head. She quickly closed her eyes as she vomited to the side of the bed, tears of agony leaking down her face.
"Eric…" she could barely get out his name her throat was so dry and her head screamed in pain.
"I'm here lover, I'm right here."
"What happened to me…?"
Eric lifted her head to give her some ice chips. The steaming broth the priestesses brought him smelled terrible and he didn't think Sookie would take it just yet, although they assured him it would make her feel better.
"You healed Hector. He is sleeping now, but was up not long ago and ate and then went back to sleep. You are exhausted. Tell me what hurts, lover." Eric's voice was deep, sharing her pain through the bond.
"My head, Eric. I think it will explode. Am I going to die?" Her voice was growing weaker.
"No Sookie, my love, you will not die, but you must take some of my blood. It will help you heal." Eric quickly bit into his wrist and thrust the pooling blood to her mouth. Sookie automatically started to drink, swallowing big gulps at a time until finally Eric gently removed his wrist from her mouth. He didn't want her getting sick from too much.
She croaked out a thank you and asked him, "How can you feed me so much, Eric? You must feed too. They don't have True Blood here." Even saying that much left her weak and her head dropped to the pillow and her eyes closed.
Eric placed a cool cloth over her eyes and with another one wiped the sweat from her face and the blood from her mouth. "I am feeding lover. The priestesses are providing for me so that I can provide for you and the others." Eric paused before starting again, "Sookie, I don't see how you can go through this again. You can't heal Achilles. You are too sick just from healing Hector. Achilles is a much darker soul and it will be much more difficult. Please, do not do this."
Sookie smiled slightly at him and raised her limp hand to where she imagined his face to be, touching the coarseness of his beard. "We will talk of this later, baby. I need to sleep…"
"Sleep my love, sleep." Eric leaned over and kissed Sookie's pale lips while she drifted off to sleep.
When Morgaine came later to check on the patients, Eric finally left Sookie's side and pulled Morgaine out of the healing temple. His anger and frustration poured out of him and onto her.
"Morgaine! There must be a better way!! This will kill Sookie, it *is* killing her. Her body is taxed to its limits, she has been through too much in the last several months and she has no reserves to reverse this magic. It is too powerful and she has never done it before. To heal Achilles will be too much and she will die."
"She will NOT die, Eric. I understand your fear and I respect it. But I am positive she will not die from this healing. She is stronger than you could possibly think she could be. She is meant to be a healer, a master healer, even a goddess if these were ancient times. But they are not, so she will simply be seen as an amazing and magical creature. Your blood and mine flow through her veins are enough to sustain her. She needs you to stay calm and be there for her when she wakes up. This too is her destiny. I know it is." Morgaine's voice started out angry in response to Eric's anger, but then she softly calmed, calming him as well.
"She cannot die. Until she is completely healed, and only if she insists on doing it, will I allow her to do this again. It is too dangerous. Is our destiny one in which we are to sacrifice ourselves to heal two four thousand year old ancients? What does that serve?" Eric's voice was a mere whisper by now, a very dangerous whisper but a whisper just the same.
"Neither of you will sacrifice yourselves here. Your destiny will require sacrifice, all destinies do. But that sacrifice will not be now, it will not be on Avalon. She is protected just as you are. You will both always be safe here."
Eric looked at Morgaine, still angry and frustrated with his powerlessness. He just stared at her without saying anything, his dark eyes boring into hers. Then he turned on his heels and walked away, back to Sookie's bedside where he belonged.
Sookie woke several hours later feeling strong and refreshed. Her hair and skin had an otherworldly glow to it and she looked like a magical creature as she rose from the bed. The priestesses prepared a bath for her where she soaked into other healing herbs like lavender and eucalyptus, both refreshing and cleansing. Eric washed her hair as he had countless times before. He had greeted her when she first rose with a kiss and a tight hug, but now he remained silent and Sookie could feel his frustration through the bond.
"Eric, you need to talk to me. Tell me what you are frustrated about." Her voice sounded calm and whole, not the dry cracking one from before.
When Eric didn't respond, she looked back over her should to where he sat. "Eric, please. It's just us here. Talk to me."
Eric looked down at his wet hands and then back up into her eyes. "I do not want you to try this again. I could feel you slipping away from me. You almost died after healing Hector. You have been through so much in the last several months. I'm scared that this will be the end of you. I cannot bear to lose you."
"If you lose me, you die too don't forget. And I know this was a close call, as was being poisoned at your family home. But this time, with Achilles, I think I know how to control it better so it won't be so exhausting. I have to not pay such close attention to each small detail as I weave it all together." Her voice was becoming excited as she figured out what she needed to do. "The memories are like a real tapestry Eric. Instead of picking up a thread and figuring out which other thread it connects to, I want to treat it more like a puzzle. Pick up a thread, or a puzzle piece, and find ones with like colors and shapes. I think it will go much faster, and I won't have to get buried in so much intimate details of their lives."
Eric looked up quickly to see Hector looming over the two of them, Sookie still in the bath. Hector apologetically looked away from Sookie but nodded his head to Eric in respect. Hector spoke to both of them. "Is that what you did to me, to heal me? Pick up the threads of my memories and put them back together again? Is that why I can now remember everything?"
Sookie looked up at him shyly, a bit in awe of a man so brave and noble as the famous Hector. "Yeah, that is pretty much it, or at least the best way I could describe it."
"And you almost died to heal me?" Hector looked at Eric concerned.
Eric replied, standing to his full height. "She did. I am afraid if she tries to heal your friend Achilles, it may be too much for her."
Sookie spoke to Hector, "I don't know very much about you and Achilles. Of course, now I know more that I've been in your head and seen it all from your side. But my friends tell me that Achilles has a very dark side, a dangerous side that may overwhelm this new magical power I have. No one knew how to heal either of you, and we still don't know how your memories were torn like this."
Hector's voice was low and deep, "How did you figure it out? Are you a goddess? A Priestess?"
"No, I'm just a waitress from Louisiana. My boyfriend is a vampire and we are bonded together. His blood gives me strength, and after we became bonded I started developing a lot of different powers. I used to only be able to read people's thoughts, but now…well now I can do a lot more than that. And we don't really know why."
Eric interrupted Sookie's ramblings, "Morgaine claims that you and Achilles are part of our destiny, part of what we are supposed to accomplish. But we don't know what that is yet. And I am unwilling to sacrifice Sookie to save your friend. She is too important."
"Eric, I said I knew how to do it better this time. I can save Achilles. I have to at least try. No one deserves to be left in this sort of pain and agony for eternity. You will live forever Eric. Do you want to be put in a silver casket with silver chains and be nailed in there forever? That is what it is like for Achilles. I would not leave you there, and I will not leave him."
"Thor's hammer, Jesus, and Mohammed woman! Why isn't anything just easy with you? Everything has to be an argument. Just agree with me once in a while." Eric was becoming even more frustrated that she was not going to be persuaded from her decision. And it was her decision, unfortunately.
"Eric, baby," Sookie let her hand drift up his leg and spread across his groin as she moved as far up his body as she could reach from the tub. "We don't argue about *everything*. We just argue about some things."
"Things that could get you killed." Eric refused to melt at her touch as he wanted to. He wanted to pull her out of the tub and wrap his body around her, making love to her for hours. But he wasn't going to give in that easily.
"Didn't Morgaine tell you I would not die here on Avalon? That I am safe here? I will be safe. I have your blood and hers and I am strong. I feel stronger than I have felt in ages, right here, right now. It is time for me to get out of this bath and go heal Achilles. Will you be there when I am done?" Her voice went to a whisper with the last question.
Eric was silent and frowned at her. "Yes, of course I will be there, giving you blood and picking up the pieces. Just don't leave any of yourself in there with him."
Sookie sat beside Achilles' bed, the priestess' chants filling the air along with the healing incense of the herbs. She rubbed her slightly sweaty hands on her white dress and took a deep breath before she touched Achilles. Hector had provided her with some of Achilles' memories and deeds that might help to add some context when rebuilding his mind. Sookie closed her eyes and imagined that powerful warm glowing ball balanced in her hand and then she sent it into Achilles' troubled mind along with her own to help bring his memories back together.
Achilles' mind seemed a much darker, rougher texture than Hector's. His thoughts flowed faster and it was harder to grasp them as they chaotically passed her by. By sheer force of energy, she compelled his mind to stop. All the wind and storm that made up his anger and hate and power came to a halt, stilling around her as if she had stopped time. It was as if each piece of his mind hung in the air right where it was when she forced it to stop. This was totally unlike Hector's woven tapestry. Achilles' mind was a maelstrom of emotions, rage and frustration, with sadness being at the forefront, followed by love and bravery. Hector told the truth when he said that legends held that Achilles was the first human to experience consuming rage. His mind's energy flowed with rage, but Sookie could sense that the rage he now felt was directed at whoever had caused this pain, the pain that both he and Hector felt. He no longer felt the rage of the millennias. His anger had cooled at the death of Hector and his love Briseis. He only felt regret for his actions at Troy and the other battles he fought. She grasped more feelings from Achilles than actual pictures of memories. His mind was completely different than Hector's more organized, less passionate mind. And Achilles *was* passionate. Sookie saw his agony when his mother told him he could stay and live a long life and have love and children, or he could go to war and be remembered always. He went to war and in his long, forever life he missed the love and the children. He had never had any since. She felt his regret as he looked back over the dead bodies he slaughtered in the name of kings he despised and Greece which he loved. She watched him weep over the body of his friend and lover Patroclus who had foolishly gone to fight Hector in Achilles' armor. His rage was formidable towards Hector, who he was doomed to walk the earth with for all eternity, after he killed Patroclus. That rage had cooled and now was a love of brothers, and love of friends, a love of lovers. Sookie watched him honor Priam when he came to beg for his son's body so he could be buried as the prince he was. His respect for this king outweighed all the respect he never had for all the other kings he served. She felt his overwhelming sadness at forcing Briseis to leave him, to save herself, while he died alone. She felt his ironic laughter as he looked over his past memories knowing he died alone and others' gave him far more recognition for bravery and heroism than he deserved. He had not been a good man when he lived as Achilles, not a good and noble man like his friend Hector. No he had been an arrogant and violent and invincible man, a terrible combination to be on the opposite side of. And now, he was cursed to live forever making up for his past mistakes, his fury worthy of the gods themselves that laid waste to all of Troy and much of other countries and people as well. With Hector, he now traveled and fought on the side of good. But it was always a fight. As Sookie finished parsing his memories and his emotions she just felt sadness, an overwhelming sadness. The fighting would never end for him. It was his for all eternity. He could never live a life and he could never die. And as she pulled her energy from his, leaving his mind in peace, she wept.
TBC
A/N: If you are interested, one of my NCIS stories was nominated for Best Rare Pairs in an NCIS fanfiction award. That is pretty cool since there are currently almost 12,000 individual stories in that thread. The story is called The Red-Headed Woman and you can find it under my profile page. I didn't even know there was a competition!! I've been watching the competition for most popular fanfics on the True Blood wiki page and have been disappointed none of mine have made it up there. Both this story and While Awaiting Sunday have been amazingly popular both with over 600 hits a day on them! Both True Blood and The Tudors (my other current story) have less than 125 individual stories (at my last count) on fanfic. Thanks to all those readers and reviewers who make all those hits, reviews, and alerts happen. It makes my day and keeps me writing! One reviewer even said that she thought While Awaiting Sunday was better than last Sunday's episode. *That* was really nice, especially since I was just exorcising my demons with regards to Eric before I got my next fix, and didn't spend any time on the story at all. Two weeks till the next episode! If anyone wants to suggest some ideas about next chapters for While Awaiting Sunday I am happy to entertain them. Renee
**Quoted from Hector, Wikepedia web page.