The Titan Returns (ota)

[pecked_by_birds]

He had been back in London for seventy-three hours, twenty-six minutes, and fifteen, sixteen, seventeen... Seconds. He knew that for certain, and there was no need for clocks. No, Prometheus could feel the seconds ticking inside of him.  

Twenty-seven, twenty-eight, twenty-nine...

Upon his return home, he'd locked himself away in his flat, pulling out his paints and canvases and filling them with dark shadows and heavy lines. This form was not like the last he'd worn. It felt wrong and right all at once-  It was all angles and odd lines, sharp bones and pale flesh, highlighted with ginger hair and pale green eyes- Eyes that weren't so different from other forms he'd worn. 

However, when he closed these eyes he could hear waves crashing, and feel the weight of the chains that had once forced him to remain still and suffer.  With his eyes shut, every moment that ticked by sent him spiralling deeper into the darkness he'd spent so long running from. 

The titan's madness had known all kinds of forms. Sometimes quiet, sometimes loud- Often angry, but sometimes... Sometimes it was like a fog. That's how it was now, it seemed. In this form it didn't bring rage, only pain, moments of confusion, and a lingering sadness that weighed him down and made him wish for the one thing he would never have.
 
Eternal rest.

He couldn't stay in the flat forever though, and today he'd finally ventured out, daring to go shopping for supplies before finally returning to the small second hand shop he called his own. With no fanfare at all, he set about opening the shutters and flipping the sign from closed to open for the first time in months.

Inside the stock was mostly unchanged, the same paintings and books, the same oddities and trinkets. Some very old, some only from a few decades back. The difference this time being the man himself, his looks, and the way he loitered in his own shop. He didn't sit behind the counter reading now, that required a stillness he was struggling with today. Instead he stood with a paintbrush in hand, and a fresh canvas before him that he slowly began to mark in time to the drab, and slightly melancholy, sound of Radiohead.

He didn't look up when he heard someone come in, but he did point his brush at them. 

"I know what you want, but do you?" he asked.

Comments

[pecked_by_birds]

"Sounds fun," Prometheus replied, before realizing it probably wasn't supposed to.

Tilting his head thoughtfully, he raked his fingers through his mop of ginger hair, then hummed. "Perhaps not though. Zeus only knows who would come through while you were thinking of my home. ...And I mean that literally."

[miss_ives]

"We might have to resist the temptation, then," Vanessa remarked, dryly enough that it showed that it wasn't that much of a temptation to her, despite her curiosity. She had been holding herself under such careful check, since that night.

[pecked_by_birds]

"Mmm, perhaps," Prometheus agreed, looking a touch disappointed.

"You look different," he said after a beat. "You seem sadder than when we last spoke."

[miss_ives]

"I thought getting possessed by the spirits of the dead was as unpleasant as that could be," Vanessa answered, stepping away to look back at his painting. "And then, I learned better."

[pecked_by_birds]

The titan eyed her curiously, perching himself up on the counter with casual ease and grace.

"Tell me," he said. "I wish to hear."

[miss_ives]

"There isn't much I could tell, even if I wanted to," Vanessa replied, turning back to him. "I don't know who or what it was, but I'd never before felt such a depth of evil. It was... vile."

[pecked_by_birds]

"A dark presence?" the titan asked, looking thoughtful, then frowning.

[miss_ives]

"Not simply dark," Vanessa answered, her body language growing even more closed off by the second. And, as she spoke, she looked more vulnerable. "Evil. Overwhelming, sickening evil."

And part of her had liked it. Welcomed it. That might be the most sickening part.

[pecked_by_birds]

"Curious," the titan replied thoughtfully. "Very curious. ...Have you had any visitors since?"

[miss_ives]

"No," Vanessa answered, a little too quickly. She had been holding herself away from everything, unwilling to risk it.

[pecked_by_birds]

The titan nodded, watching her a beat longer, then wetting his lips thoughtfully.

"There are talismans that can keep that sort of thing out," he said. "Though I don't know any that are completely effective."

[miss_ives]

Of course not. And so Vanessa must keep that tight leash on herself; but if she could be slightly safer thanks to such a talisman, she would gladly wear one. "Do you know where one might find such a talisman?"

[pecked_by_birds]

The titan scratched at his jaw, frowning thoughtfully. ...And it wasn't for show, this version of the titan really was a touch more scattered and disorganized than the last few had been.

"I... Oh, yes, actually. Maybe," he nodded, hopping off the counter and moving behind it, pulling out a few different jewellery boxes.

The first he barely glanced in before pushing it aside, muttering something about demons, but the next he actually took the time to dig through, pulling out various rings and necklaces. Some simple, with single carved gemstones hanging from them, others with metal pendants and various oddities...

"This," he said offering a talisman that looked like a diamond carved into a circle, surrounded by odd symbols and markings, with a single, tiny red stone set near the centre.

"Not the strongest you can get," he admitted. "I'd suggest a steel chain for it," he added, digging through a drawer and eventually producing a very dainty, but slightly weighty for it's size, chain. "This ought to do. People don't put nearly enough thought into what they wear their talismans on. Leather is all well and good, but you wouldn't tie an anchor to cheap rope to stop your ship, would you?"

[miss_ives]

Vanessa nodded her agreement, but her gaze was on the talisman. "Where does it come from?" she asked, not daring to reach out and touch it.

[pecked_by_birds]

The titan wrapped his fingers around it, willing himself to remember, then looked at the box.

"Egypt, I believe. I found it during a brief stint as an explorer, back in the days when you didn't have to fill out a million forms just to have a poke around. Sixteen hundreds... Maybe seventeen? I don't recall. This is much older than that though, that's simply when it came into my possession."

[miss_ives]

"What do they say?" Vanessa pressed on, looking at the symbols carved around the diamond.

[pecked_by_birds]

"They don't say anything, exactly. This one is common in warding off evil. This one has something to do with the underworld... No, not underworld. Our world, Earth... I have a book somewhere, if you're interested," he offered.

[miss_ives]

"I am," Vanessa confirmed evenly. If she was going to wear this, she would know what it said. One was never too careful, or too informed.

[pecked_by_birds]

Prometheus nodded a bit, then lazily made his way over to the books, picking through them for quite some time, then eventually returning with a small, leather bound text.

[miss_ives]

"Thank you," Vanessa told him as he set it down on the counter. Her fingers caressed the leather bindings, and she looked up at Prometheus. "How much for them?"

[pecked_by_birds]

"Hmm? Oh, um..."

Prometheus didn't really have a need for money, the shop really more to keep him busy than a real business.

"How about a trade?" he asked, looking thoughtful. "You work at a museum, don't you? With books and such. ...I don't suppose you know anything about restoring or preserving them, do you?"

[miss_ives]

"You're terrible at supposing, then," Vanessa told him with a small smile. "I'm a curator of books at the Museum."

[pecked_by_birds]

"Fair point. I have a small stack of books in need of some care. Journals, actually. If you could restore them, preserve them, I'd be very grateful," the titan explained. "In exchange the book and charm are yours- And I'll allow you full access to my personal library. ...Scattered and messy though it may be."

[miss_ives]

The offer seemed too good to be true; who knew what sort of books she might find in Prometheus' library, and the thought of reading and handling his journals... "That is far too good a deal for me to turn down," Vanessa stated honestly. She did not try to be clever, around him, but went for simple honesty.

[pecked_by_birds]

"Don't be fooled, my journals are in a terrible state. Have been for a while. The earlier ones have been through shipwrecks, and later ones through fires. Some were lost forever, but I've saved all I could," the titan said.