I don't own Class of the Titans. It's on my Christmas list, though.

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The Lady's Garden

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He was new and that automatically made him interesting to the others. Word passed quickly and soon the new one had a ring of observers, even before he started regaining consciousness. They whispered among themselves when he moaned and halfway rolled over. Silence fell seconds later when She arrived, humming artfully under her breath and carrying something made of white linen.

The Lady moved swiftly with practiced experience. He lay completely naked for a heartbeat, the Lady taking every inch of her new companion in while she could. She nodded in satisfaction, pleased that he was everything she had come to expect and thrilled that at long last her private collection was complete. It was almost with regret that She pulled the white tunic over his head, taking special care not to muss up his hair too badly.

She stood gracefully and smoothed out the wrinkles in her saffron-colored dress. The others scampered forward when she beckoned, a few pausing to get a better look at the new one. The Lady smiled tolerantly and then gathered them all together. A hush fell over them when she began to speak.

"This is Neil," she said softly. "His place will be the pools, so that he may always have a chance to look at his reflection. I want you to be friendly but if he seems quiet, don't worry." She glanced fondly over her shoulder at the blonde, who looked as if he was only sleeping. "It might take some time for him to adjust."

The others nodded solemnly, glancing at Neil from the corners of their eyes. With a small smile, the Lady departed with a quiet whisper of fabric and faint tinkling of bells. They almost immediately crowded around the blonde.

"The pools?" one murmured. "They've never been private before, have they? Do you think he'll let us use them?"

There were several nodding heads. "Of course. I mean, I think so. Why wouldn't he?"

Neil stirred, lulled awake by their hushed voices. At first the others didn't notice his slight movements and blinking, bleary eyes. But when the descendent of Narcissus shrieked in surprise and fairly bolted across the clearing to hide behind a lush, if short, tree as if his life depended on it, they all took notice. One of them stepped carefully forward and raised his hand with deliberate slowness so as not to startle the blonde further.

"Hello," he said. "We didn't mean to startle you."

For his part, Neil didn't move. He merely hunched down behind the tree a little more as if it would keep him safe from all evils and that was what he seemed to perceive the group as. When none of them seem inclined to say anything further, or move, he allowed his eyes to travel beyond them, to fully take in where he had woken up.

The clearing was grassy, shaded on one side by a semi-circle of trees, one of which he had taken an immense liking to. The side that wasn't ringed in by anything opened into what could be called a meadow or field, spotted here and there by clumps of white and blue flowers. Beyond this, Neil could make out other trees and plants that looked almost exotic, except for the fact that everything had a similar feel to it. His eyes traveled back to the cluster of people in front of him.

The one who had spoken took a tentative step forward. "This is where all the new ones first wake up," he explained. "You've been given your own spot, though." He gestured to the flowering meadow. "That's my place, there. Would you like me to show you to yours?"

Silently, Neil nodded.

"I am called Erom," the youth said as he gently took Neil's hand. He, too, was blonde and fair featured, wearing a similar tunic the one Neil had been dressed in. In fact, the hero noticed that everyone was dressed in a similar fashion. Erom gestured to two others, standing at the forefront of the group. "He is Hylas," he said, motioning to a young man with dark, wet hair snarled in tangles. "His place is at the pond with the nymphs. The other is Ai." Ai seemed gruff and impassive, arms crossed in front of his chest as he was mentioned.

Neil still said nothing, but nodded to each as they were introduced. The others, he was told, had not yet been given names. They roamed around from place to place, keeping the ones with names company or entertaining the guests of a woman simply referred to as, 'The Lady." The ones with names, the hero was assured, were never touched, merely admired.

Erom pulled him away from the wide stares of the others and led him through the field. "These are my flowers," he said as they walked. "You have some too, I think. You have to be sure to take care of them. She likes us to keep them in bloom."

Now that they were well away from Hylas, Ai, and the nameless ones, Neil finally felt able to speak. "Where are we?" he asked as they waded through tall grass and plumes of perfumed pollen. "My head feels strange." He felt as though he was dreaming, detached from everything he was seeing.

"Everyone feels like that at first," Erom assured him. "You've forgotten parts of your old life outside the garden. We all have. But it's much nicer here than anywhere else. Nothing can hurt you here. She makes sure of it."

"But how do you know it's better?"

His companion shrugged. "It's just a feeling I have." A look of discomfort clouded Erom's features for a fleeting instant, but quickly vanished as they reached the far side of his field. "We need to go through here," he said and pushed through a line of trees. "The pools are on the other side."

Together they crashed through branches and stumbled through roots, finally emerging into a shady glade of dappled sunlight, mossy rocks, and several interconnected pools of water. Neil felt a touch of familiarity as he slowly approached the edge of one. The water swirled as he leaned over, his eyes instantly locking with the gaze of his reflection. The blonde settled comfortably along the bank and simply looked at himself. Erom watched him from a distance.

Neil was content to sit staring at his image for a long time. It was only when the sun dipped lower in the sky and his reflection took on a grey tinge that the descendent of Narcissus quickly snapped his eyes up and away, preferring to look anywhere but at the water. He turned his attention to Erom.

"What do we do here?" he asked.

The youth shrugged. "Whatever we like, really. I like to run some days and sit and listen to music on others. Ai drills himself with a sword because he says it makes him look tough and disciplined, and Hylas fools around with the Nymphs." Erom smiled brightly. "You'll probably while away the hours thinking and dreaming, just like the rest of us."

"Anything more social?"

"Well, you can visit anyone you like and they'll visit you, especially since you're at the pools." He considered, rocking back on his heels. "There's always Sybil. She's great fun to talk to."

The hero's expression became blank, lost. "Sybil?" he asked.

"I could show you, if you like"

At Neil's nod the youth took his hand and led him to the far end of the glade, down narrow path cleared between the trees. An off-white lump wedged between two closely spaced cedars caught the hero's eye and he stopped to take a look. Erom pulled up beside him, reaching out a hand to pull back and obscuring branch.

"You've got a statue," the youth said. "I guess it marks this place as yours now."

Neil's reaction was completely opposite to his companion's. He paled as a feeling of nausea roiled in his stomach. His eyes were locked on the statue, which was really little more than a bust cut diagonally from one shoulder. Neil backed hastily back down the path, retreating to the sanctuary of the pools.

"I don't think I want to go out," he said.

The youth followed Neil back into the sheltered clearing clearly confused but having enough sense not to ask. He knew that settling into the garden would take time, and that the hero had touched on something unsettling from a past he couldn't remember. "Another time," he suggested.

The descendent of Narcissus was silent for a few minutes until the experience drifted back behind the veil of lost memories. He resumed his air of curiosity.

"Do you remember anything from your life before waking up here?" he asked, as if realizing he was having trouble keeping a grasp on his thoughts. Neil did want to remember something but wasn't quite sure what it was and so didn't miss it too badly. And as soon as the concern over his blank memory had risen to the forefront of his mind, he seemed to lose hold of it and forget about being worried, at least for a little while. He also had a faint notion that some things were better left unremembered.

Erom shrugged again, his look of unconcern being replaced by something that to Neil looked almost human, in a way. "Feelings mostly," he said, taking a seat on the mossy ground. "I remember always being in the sun and being happy. Of course the same goes for the garden." Then, as a quiet after thought that Neil almost didn't catch, he added, "I think I was in love."

The descendent of Narcissus' eyes traveled back to the gently moving water, almost unconsciously. As he regarded his own grayed cheeks and lips, he felt as if he, too, had found some patch of sunshine before being lost to fog. But there was a bitterness, a feeling of loss. He looked up.

"Me too," he said quietly, certain. "I think I was in love once, too."

A moment of silence passed between them, both blondes brooding on the faint suggestion of something they once had, or at least thought they had.

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Time travel seems to be a popular theory as to what's happened to our favourite team of heroes. You'll just have to wait and see if Chronus has once again dipped into the sands of time, as he did in Labour Day.

Thank you for the reviews. I'm very glad so many people find the story interesting, and I hope this chapter didn't disappoint. Neil's memory is the worst of everyone so far – as soon as he seems to grasp something significant it slips away again (I hope this was clear).

Next chapter: most likely someone revisited.