Sisterly Love

Tahi paced the field – for the first time in her life unsure of what to do. Maybe she should talk to Mnem. Mnem always gave good advice. Or Eos – Eos was his mentor, maybe the demigod knew something about him. Or maybe even her lady – though Tahi was loath to whine to the goddess if she didn’t have to, even about something as monumental as this.

She had another brother. Phrixos. And a sister. Myrina.

She flopped down on her back and looked at the starlit sky, letting that one sink in.

Was it normal, not to know someone – yet instantly know you adore them? Because that was how she felt. She loved them. Tahi wondered if this was how Kal felt when he found out about her all those years ago. It was probably even worse for him. He had been so alone, cast out by his people, no family to speak of, and very few friends. She at least had her surrogate family here at the Athenaeum, adoptive Aunts and Uncles, sisters and brothers. But now she felt… a little more complete inside. A little more right with the world – as though something missing had just fallen into place. How could Kal have kept this from her?

Tahi replayed the scene in her mind. She had left the athenaeum to find her brother after Esiodos. He could have gone anywhere, but there were a few places that he had a habit of returning to when he was in a bad mood and needed some time alone, and Tahi had visited those she knew about – hoping to find him. She stopped at Mauna Loa first, because the tropical paradise was her favorite of all of his hiding spots, but he wasn’t there. The same went for Asahidake, Pico Almanzor, Kilimanjaro, and Jitchu Drake. And with those eliminated there was only one other possible choice – the one she always went to last. Home. Or what had been home – Egypt. Tahi carefully followed the winding path up Mt. Sinai until she reached the jagged cutoff that only a creature with wings or powerful wind magic could cross, and drew the collapsible glider out from her travel sack. It wasn’t the biggest or the sturdiest of things, but it only needed to work enough to cross the gap. And okay – she was tired – she had been at this all day, but Tahi was relatively sure she had enough power to make it across. Relatively… She was about to glide across, and was drawing on her magic when a gust of wind blew her backwards.

“You’re too tired to pull that off safely.” Kal’s voice came from the ledge above, somber and sullen, devoid of the usual carefree warmth it usually possessed.

Tahi huffed, faking affront – even as she took in the tone of his voice. It worried her more than she’d like to admit. “And whose fault is that?! I’ve been chasing after you all day, big brother. C’mon –help me up. Whatever it is, sulking about it won’t do any good.”

“No. Go back.” Came the curt reply.

Tahi sighed. Well if he was going to be difficult… “I don’t think so. And since you won’t come down here, and won’t help me up there, I’m just going to have to jump of this ledge and try myself. I may not succeed, but that’s okay, right?” And with that she jumped, hanging onto the glider, and floating a few seconds before dropping a few feet, dangerously close to a spiked ledge. That was when a great gust rose from below her and deposited her on the upper ledge, where her brother was sitting – glaring at her. His hair was more windswept than usual, and his clothing looked wrinkled, disheveled. Tahi gave him a smug grin. “Thanks for the lift” she said, before flopping down next to him with a worried look.

“Tahi” He began – but she cut him off.

“No – don’t you ‘Tahi’ me – not with this current state you’re in. You didn’t put up with that when I was a little girl, and I’m not going to put up with it now you’re acting like a little boy.” She looked him straight in the eyes, her voice softening. “What’s wrong? I know something’s happened – and

Mnem says it’s something you need to tell me – something about our father.”

Kal cursed. He had the utmost respect for the dryad, but sometimes she needed to work on being more subtle – even if her intentions were good. “It’s nothing you need to worry about.” He said at last, his voice still flat.

Tahi’s eyes narrowed, and her frown deepened. “You know big brother – I’ll be twenty in a few days. I survived the tournament and I’m a mentor now. I’ve even met a nice guy who I might spend more time with. I’m a woman in my own right. You can stop protecting me now! He’s my father too. Whatever he did, I can handle it! Tell me!”

Kal turned away. “No.”

“Tell me!”

“No”

“Tell me! Tell me! Tell me! I’m not going to stop bugging you until you do.”

Kal sighed. And then he told her everything. How apparently their father had had another affair. Well their father probably had a lot of affairs, but this one had produced children – twins, Phrixos and Myrina. The girl, a charis, lived with her mother, but the boy was raised by their father, raised to be everything Kal was supposed to be for Zeus – everything that he might have been if his mother hadn’t killed herself. Kal hadn’t known about him – and now it was too late. The boy’s mind had been poisoned. He had spit in Kal’s face when Kal offered him another option besides Zeus. Betrayer. That was what Phrixos had called him – but it was more than that. There was a pained look, though it lasted only a second when they had first met, hidden deep inside the boy’s eyes, that plainly said “Why didn’t you save me too?” And now the boy was at the Athneaeum. That was when Kal stopped, obviously conflicted.

Tahi cuddled closer to him, resting her head on his shoulder. They sat that way for a while, the silence oddly comforting – full of an unspoken understanding. After a while Tahi spoke. “It’s not your fault. We’ll help him. The both of us…”

More silence. Then “Alright. We will. Now what was this about meeting a nice guy?” Kal’s eyes narrowed, his tone back to the carefree, brotherly, and slightly overbearing tone he usually had. Tahi moved away from him, the touching moment obviously over.

“Kal – you’re not beating up any boy that comes near me now. I’m old enough to know what I want and what I don’t. If you hurt him, I’ll never speak to you again. And while we’re on the topic of you hurting people, I know you attacked Zeus’ new mentor.” Now was probably not the time to let her brother know that the two people were actually one and the same.

At the mention of the king of the god’s name, Kal’s frown deepened. “You know how they are. Zeus can’t openly attack me without their being some repercussions, but he’s always instructed his mentors and students to make my life difficult.” His mind wandered back to Phrixos. His brother was included in that list. “He found me first. So I defended myself.” Kal shrugged. There were few among the students of the king of the gods that didn’t take after their master. He wasn’t going to feel guilty for beating up scum like that.

Tahi frowned at her brother. “I talked to him at Esiodos. He’s clueless, but he doesn’t mean us harm. He’s only with Zeus because he couldn’t choose between his two patron gods, and Zeus took advantage. Zeus was probably hoping you’d beat up on the clueless idiot and Mnem would have to remove you, or worse. Eos is a decent guy and he’d probably be a good Ally in helping Phrixos. Promise me you won’t hurt him.”

Kal studied her for a moment his eyes suspicious. Tahi was certainly adamant about protecting this guy. But she did have a point. As Phrixos’ mentor Eos could help them. Still – there was something about the way his sister was protecting the guy that didn’t sit well with Kal. “We’ll see…” He moved to grab her around the waist, and flew them off the ledge. The conversation was over as far as he was concerned.

“Kal! That’s not an answer. If you hurt him, I… you’ll get in trouble! Kal!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tahi sighed returning to look up at the stars appearing in the twilight sky. She hadn’t been able to wheedle a promise out of her brother that he would stay away from Eos – either as a man she was interested in, nor as Zeus’ and Phrixos’ mentor. She plucked a blade of grass from the field, and let it catch in the small breeze blowing through the field, twirling up in a circle.

She wanted to go find Phrixos – cuddle him – anything to make him see that he had a family to support him now. But that would probably be a very stupid course of action, and though she was fairly impulsive, Tahi recognized a bad plan when she saw one. Better to look from afar. Good thing that was her specialty.

Drawing on her power, Tahi listened to the breezes, searching for pieces so she could learn about a brother she had never known.

Eos walked through the feild, unable to sleep again. Haunted by nightmares, and more recently a song. It kept playing through his head, his fingers uncontiously twitching as if they were dancing across ivory keys. He looked up at the sky and sighed, even the stars were different here.

Something caught his eye in the darkness, a light color amoung the dark green grasses. White hair. Addi? No this hair was wavy, Tahi. The thought of her name made him smile. Tahi was back. She had gone to talk to Kal, that much he knew. But then, was Kal back too?

He stopped near her head and leaned over, the broken cresent moon and the cross hung from his neck, dangling, the amulet Athena gave him got caught under his shirt.

"Welcome back."

Tahi looked up, startled out of her trance-like state. Her eyes faded back to green as she let her magic recede, the breezes quieting around her to their natural, softer forms.

"Oh," she said. "Hello Eos. Can't sleep either?" Her gaze was warm, but she couldn't keep the sad note out of her voice. The breezes hadn't brought much good news about her brother. His mind had definitely been poisoned. He was an arrogant jerk, starting fights with other students, talking down to them, or ignoring them. Even if he did have a bit of a soft spot for his twin Myrina - Phrixos was far from an ideal brother, or person for that matter. Yet it didn't matter. She loved him anyways. But that didn't stop it from hurting.

"No," he admitted, but it made him wonder what was keeping Tahi up. Her voice sounded sad. What was she worrying about?

"What's wrong?" he asked. Hopeing she'd trust him with whatever it was, and that maybe he could help.

((Fail post if fail... short =3= ))

She sighed. Was she that obvious? Well - since Phrixos was his student, he was going to find out eventually - it may as well be now. She struggled with beginning...

"I... I found out what Kal has been keeping from me. Why he was in such a bad mood recently." She paused.

"Kal and I weren't our father's only children. I have a sister. And another brother." Her voice was soft, as if there was still a part of her that still didn't believe what she was saying. "And he's here - here at the Athenaeum, and I just want to go run and hug him and tell him it'll all be alright." Her voice sped up as the hidden truths spilled out. "But..." she paused, and the silence hung in the air. "He's messed up, Eos. Our father..." she didn't know what else to say. "He's not a very good person." Leave it at that.

((I feel like a bad soap opera writer - LONG LOST SIBLINGS~))

Eos sighed, father issues, he could sympathize.

"And you had no idea?" he asked. And then he really thought about. Wind nymphs were usually under Zeus, and he knew how Kal felt about him... he guessed neither of them had a very good relationship with their father. "It's Phrixos, it's it?" Phrix was the new wind nymph, first year of Zeus. He hadn't met the boy yet, but he had heard things.

((Nooooo... it's a good soap opera C: did I spell Phrixos right? Or is it Phrixros?))

Tahi nodded, turning to look up to the stars. "Have you met him? He is your student." she asked, hope barely concealed in her voice. Maybe he knew something - maybe he saw the buried softer side of her brother she hoped was in there. But then again - Zeus rarely took on soft people.

((Nope that's right))

"No," he told her. "I haven't met him. Yet." He knew he would though. It couldn't get away with being the kid's mentor and not talking to him once in awhile.

"Can I sit with you?" he asked. The leg that Jack wounded was starting to hurt.

((Hey... Eos is the king of Ukes.. I mean.. =3= ))

Tahi's face fell when he said he hadn't met Phrixos. But he still was Phrix's mentor. They'd have to interact eventually. Tahi studied Eos, wondering how the two would react. From what she'd gathered about Phrixos, she doubted he'd respect Eos very much. Which was a problem, since that was the main reason she'd argued against Kal... damaging him...

He asked to sit - interrupting her musings.

"Oh, of course." She grabbed his hand and pulled him down next to her, eying his movements suspiciously. She raised an eyebrow. "Did you get into a fight while I was gone?"

He didn't expect Tahi to grab, or pull him, down. He plopped down onto his butt, and somehow the movement sent a throb to all of his bruises and cuts.

"Yes," he said bluntly before even trying to think of a way to bend the truth. He might as well tell her himself, he didn't want someone else to beat him to it. Honesty seemed to be the best policey with Tahi, so there weren't anymore understandings like the one that led her to believe he was the mentor for Hera. He glanced at her face, searching her eyes for her reaction.

Tahi gave him a look that was one part exasperation and two parts concern. "What is it with men and fighting all the time." She muttered to herself, as she scanned for injuries. "You didn't proposition Alkaia again?" she asked teasingly.

Noticing what looked like a fairly recent scar on his leg, she moved closer to examine it, filling her hand with the little healing magic she had. It wasn't very strong, but it could at least make a little bit of the pain go away. She placed her hand on the wound gently, letting the magic sink in.

Eos chuckled, no he had learned better than to try and talk to Alkaia. "No. It was really just a misunderstanding," he let her know. He really didn't go out trying to find fights, fights just kind of came to him. It was just his luck, he guessed.

She moved closer to him adnd he froze instinctivly. Then felt the tingly warm feeling of healing magic. Most of the pain in his leg faded away.

"Thanks."

Tahi nodded, acknowledging his thanks and looked up at him, her gaze amused and slightly incredulous. How could the man be a demigod and yet so accident prone?

"Another misunderstanding? What did you do? Drink all of Morph's tea or something?" Her hand still rested on his leg, even though she had finished her magic.

"I hugged Adonia," he told her. Looking up at her pretty light green eyes. "Addi's like a little sister to me... she was crying, I was just trying to help. And, uhm, Jack saw." He tried his best to explain the situation.

She was still very close... it was making his face warm.

Tahi giggled in spite of herself. "Well, they're quite a cute couple. I wouldn't want you breaking them up, handsome as you are." Tahi said, nudging Eos with her elbow playfully.

Tahi hadn't been formally introduced to Jack, but she knew Adonia. The siren had had a rough life before coming to the athenaeum - and she wasn't even sure if that was by choice. The poor girl deserved some happiness, and from what Tahi had overheard on the winds - Adonia and Jack had the potential to be quite a cute couple. The cussing sailor thing really wasn't Tahi's cup of tea - but to each their own.

But she didn't begrudge Eos his feelings for Adonia. She considered most of the athenaeum her surrogate family - referring to most of the older mentors as Auntie or Uncle (except for Amaranth who refused to accept anything but elder sister - because she "wasn't that old!"). She gave a soft smile. "It's one of the things I love about this place. It's very easy to find family, even if you're not bound by ties of blood." She stopped. Family. Like Phrixos and Myrina.

He chuckled, happy that Tahi didn't mind. Then realizing, why woud she? They weren't....

"They are, he's good for her, bit of a temper though." And if that temper was ever taken out physically on Adonia, Eos would kill him.

"Most everyone here is nice... heh, being the mentor of Zeus doesn't really help thoguh," he admited. If Tahi had know just who he was working for before he started talking to him, would they even be on friendly terms? Probably not. Talking about family was making him miss Alana, the last person close enough to be called real family. He wondered how the little girl was doing. He hadn't wanted to leave her with her father, but he was her father, and he had been taking good care of her. Alana was one of the very few things Kizamir actually cared about.

Tahi frowned at the thought of Zeus. The god definitely was a problem. Tahi and Kal had to clean up after his messes occasionally on their lady's orders, so that no innocents were hurt in the process. Then there was what his influence did to their father, and now Phrixos. Plus the way he lead around Adelphie - who was her sister in every way but one?

"He has a way of making enemies, to be sure." She commented diplomatically, realizing that the lord of the skies had ears everywhere.

"But I won't let him have my brother, Eos. I won't." She paused, wondering.

"Is that wrong, Eos? That I barely know him, and all that I do know about him says that he's a horrible person, and yet," she paused "I love him."

"Your genetically programed to love him, right? I'm sure no one would blame you for something like that. Except, well, Phrix. Tahi, I haven't been hearing anything good about the boy. Be careful, ok?" He didn't want to see her get hurt, and this felt like the kind of thing that would hurt the sweet girl, who gave her love freely to her half-brother.

And then something hit him, like a ton of bricks, Tahi had called him handsome. He could feel his face and neck get warm. Jeez, he thought to himself, could my head be any farther into the clouds?

((Yeah, three posts ago!))

Tahi sighed. It seemed her judgement was just a tad bit off where her family was concerned - but it wasn't something she seemed to have a lot of control over... "I'll try," she said softly. "But you'll help me right?" she asked a bit of desperation creeping into her voice as she grabbed his shoulder turning him to face her. "You're his mentor - you might be able to get through to him. Or at least he'll talk to you." She hesitated, releasing him and turning back to look at the sky once more. "I'm not so sure he'll do the same to me."

"I'll try too, but I don't think I'll be able to do much. Give me a chance to talk to him..." his face got warmer as he promised something very broad to Tahi. He stared at the side of her face as she looked up at the sky, for some reason he couldn't take his eyes off her.

He searched his brain frantically for a change of topic, but realized he didn't actually know that much about Tahi.

"What's your favorite color?"

Tahi raised an eyebrow at him. What was her favorite color? That was about as random of a topic shift as there was - especially considering the gravity of what they'd just been discussing. But the look on his face was so cute she decided to humor him. Maybe he was trying to lighten things up anyways.

Giving him a mock shake of her head, she laughed. "You might as well ask Auntie Mnem who her favorite child is. Pick one color? They're all soo pretty. I love rich purples, bright vibrant oranges and reds, cool and soothing blues and greens. I couldn't possibly pick just one." She smiled at him. "Though if you made me pick, I guess I'd have to say teal."

"But don't tell the other colors that - they'll get jealous," she whispered with a wink.

"What about you? What's your favorite color?"

"Blue," he said simply to Tahi's complex response. "I don't really like red though," he admitted. He sat back and stared at the stars.

"Favorite constellation?" he asked. Hoping to get one he was familiar with.

Tahi's bemused expression grew, though she did wonder what was wrong with red. But then again a lot of warriors tended to have trouble with the color. She shuddered inwardly, thankful to have been relatively sheltered from such violence. But in all seriousness. Where was he getting all of these questions?

She bit her lip, thinking for a second. "The seven sisters," she said finally. "I met Sterope once. She's quite the sweetie. Well... maybe sweet isn't the right word. But she's certainly something." Tahi laughed at the memory.

"And you?" She asked, content to play the question game after all.

Eos smiled at having caused Tahi to laugh... even if indirectly.

"Ophiuchus," he said, choosing the constellation who was suppossedly his half-brother Asclepius. "I've met Asclepius a few times, he's not too bad, for an immortal."

"Favorite kind of music?" he fired off his next question.

Tahi put her hands on her hips, with a sigh. "I don't listen to much music. Now explain yourself. What's with the interrogation all the sudden?"

Not that she really minded the questions - but it was kind of strange...