Ophelia had known fear; she had watched both her parents take their own lives from a young age. But the fear that she currently felt while standing in the palace of gold was not known to her. Run, hide, or scream? She did not know what to do.
Helios approaches her with much caution. She could feel her heart pounding in her chest as she struggled to control her breathing. The luxurious surroundings of the palace seemed to suffocate her as she tried to make sense of the situation. Helios, with a look of concern in his eyes, reached out a hand to help her, but she shrank away, unsure if she could trust anyone in this unfamiliar place. She knew she had to make a decision quickly, but the weight of her past experiences clouded her judgement.
"Ophelia, my midnight, fall asleep. I need to know, please." Helios snaps his fingers, and a golden bed appears in a gust of smoke before them. Ophelia thought that he was truly insane. She had lost her will to fight. It was true that she was no longer in the Rhodes that she knew; her grandmother was not waiting to lock her up; her grandfather was not there to tell one last joke before bed; and her cousin was not there to make her do and say stupid things. Her whole life so far flashes through her head as she decides that submission is her only means of survival. She climbs onto the bed. She had lost everything, so what if her first true love wanted to take advantage of her? She lays there, waiting for Helios to proceed with his plans. Helios begins to sing a sorrowful lullaby. She fades into a deep sleep, tears dripping off her cheeks. Helios' voice eventually fades away as she drifts into unconsciousness, his haunting melody echoing in her dreams. In her vulnerable state, she feels a mix of despair and resignation, wondering if she will ever see her family again. As she falls deeper into sleep, she holds onto the hope that one day she will escape this nightmare and be reunited with the ones she loves. Despite her fears and uncertainties, she clings to the belief that there is still a glimmer of light at the end of this dark abyss.
Ophelia opens her eyes to see a familiar black forest with nothing but desolation in its wake.
"I stayed here for millions of years, waiting for you, Ophelia. I truly thought that you were a dream, a figment of my last hopes. As I slept in the stars, hoping that I could dream of you again, I was forced to descend to the earth."
Ophelia begins to walk in silence, and as she does, the death around her begins to resurrect. Helios walks behind her, his head down, trying to conjure up the correct words to explain to her.
"Ophelia," Helios calls out quietly, "you're in my past and your future." Ophelia pauses in her tracks and looks up at the cloudless sky. She waves her hand, and stars suddenly appear in the bleakness. Helios continues to realise that she will keep her covenant of silence.
"This scar on my cheek—I thought it was from the fight with the hound, but I looked closely as you slept for a week straight—it is the same scar that I got when the protector of dawn slapped me for being late to twilight. If I am five years younger, that makes me 20 by human years. Five years ago, I met you by that lake over there, and I named you Midnight. You called me your precious Helios."
Ophelia walks in the direction of the lake, things dying in her path as she walks. "Control your emotions, or you will kill us both."
"How? Tell me how so that I can kill us both!" She falls to her knees, the things she brought to life dying and the stars crushing to the ground in massive boulders.
"Ophelia, my midnight, please listen; this is not you. Ophelia, once, long ago, I would share every part of myself and not look back. I lived to serve mankind, though they helped to betray me. I gave even more to the gods, and they threw me aside out of fear. But years before they did this to me, I met you, yes, Ophelia." Helios takes her in his arms, stroking her dark hair to the rhythm of his beating heart, hoping to calm her down. "I fell in love with you; only you. I have seen the world and more, but you, Ophelia, you are the only being that I could only see in my dreams. You spoke no words and stole my heart; my crown is yours, Ophelia." Helios reaches into his chest, and a glowing white light appears, followed by a golden crown. More golden and magnificent than anything at the palace that Ophelia had seen before.
"Ophelia, my midnight, will you be my queen?"
"My grandmother always said that madness was a disease that affected everyone, but I never knew that even God could be this mad," she says, pushing him away violently.
"If you wish to sleep with me and kill me, just ask Helios." Ophelia's words hurt Helios more than she could ever know; he had poured his heart out, something no proud titan had ever done. What's more, he was willing to give up his crown. To a titan, their crown was their life force.
"I loved you then, I love you now, and I will love you always." Ophelia's heart ached with conflicting emotions. She had never experienced such raw vulnerability and devotion from anyone, let alone a god like Helios. In that moment, she realised that her grandmother was right madness truly did affect everyone, even the powerful and immortal. Despite her anger and fear, Ophelia felt a glimmer of hope and maybe even a touch of love for the god standing before her. She knew that she had to say something, but tears were all she could create.
Helios walks to the water and taps on its surface; an image appears. It is he who sits in the same dark forest, unmoving, unchanging, and stagnant. Ophelia looks at the reflection and finally sees that he was telling the truth. How could he have brought her there if he himself was trapped in his own self-made prison?
"You are not a dream." Ophelia is now calming down.
As she comes to terms with the reality of the situation, Ophelia's mind races with questions and possibilities. How could she have the power to bring someone from the past into the present, then to their past, her future? And why would Helios, a being trapped in his own stagnant existence, show her such kindness and affection? The realisation that their connection transcends time and space fills her with a mix of wonder and trepidation. Despite the uncertainty of their circumstances, Ophelia can't deny the deep bond that exists between them. It is a love that defies logic and reason, but one that she knows she cannot ignore.
"I do love you, Helios; I do, but what of my family, my present, your past?" Saying all this out loud only made her tired of her own dreams.
Helios had a look on his face that said I would work this out, and she decided right there and then to believe in him. A crown was too much for her to accept, however. She accepted his love without the crown and his marriage without a thrown. Helios had never seen a human untouched by greed before, and that made him love her more.
