The small club she had chosen was full. People streamed past her, coming, going or seeking out the dance floor. At the bar where she had settled down, she sought the waiter's gaze.

At the moment, there seemed to be only one young man present, someone who immediately caught her eye.

Gannicus was breathing harshly, but was slowly recovering. He'd fought hard this day and was bleeding from various superficial wounds, but he had won the day. As he arrived back at the house of Batiatus, the lanista immediately sent him to Medicus.

"There is a new one." Batiatus explained Gannicus underway, wanting to see to his champion himself. As they entered the low room in the ludus, the gladiator stood by the door.

Conláed remembered how Aedan had once raved about the flowers that grew in the royal garden. Well, at least he had mentioned them and described them as something that caught his eye, giving the prince the impression that he liked them.

So he had thought about giving him various seeds for Christmas.

He presents them to him in a festive box wrapped in a golden bow. Where Aedan came from, they would grow just as big and bloom just as magnificently as in the garden at home, Conláed was sure of that.

1985 somewhere in northern Italy

Eli had tried his best but it seamed it wasn't good enough. The hours he had put into his school work now felt pointless, a waste of time and energy he didn't have to begin with. His parents tried to tell them that it was just one year, considering how much Eli had been through, the hospital visits, the hospital stays, the symptoms that the doctors couldn't diagnose, being almost 20 years old and reliant on his walking cane on top of missing so much school made it understandable that Eli would have to take an extra year to finish school. Eli heard his parents sound reasonings, their reassurances that they were proud of him, the advice to not compare himself to his identical twin Elio. Still, Eli was devastated. Hushed conversations around the house mentioned his name along side words like depressed, concerned, eating and worried. Mafalda insisted Eli stay in sight under his mothers instructions, he could not stay alone in his bedroom anymore. She insisted that summer would show itself and clear his mind of these dark thoughts. She was constantly prescribing Eli Sunshine as he medicine for any and all of his illnesses and problems. Eli wasn't sure how long he had been sat at the kitchen table, slices of fruit on a plate in front of him grew stale, eyes fixed at the pair of worn out shoes that sat by the kitchen cabinet. They belonged to Elio and he had been asked countless times to move them. That morning they had waved Elio off on his new adventure. Eli almost begged his twin to stay but wouldn't do that to him. It was good to see his twin moving forward in life but he couldn't help but need him. They both had expressed that Elio's epic love affair and heartbreak had at least bought them closer as twins but now Elio was gone and Eli was left with just his thoughts. "Eli are you listening?" his father spoke to him making Eli break his stare and take in a deep breath through his nose. "No" he admitted honestly. "The summer guest has arrived" he smiled and held out his hands out as if he had just solved all of Eli's problems with one announcement. "Well, will you come say hello?" he suggested with a hint of frustration at Eli's indifference. "Yes" Eli spoke as he looked to his side, pushed back his chair and gathered his cane to help him walk. The grip on his cane knocked against the wood floor as Eli moved through the house following his father until they reached the commotion in the living room passing Eli's piano towards the door. Eli looked up and gave his eyes a moment to adjust as he took in the new figure that stood before him.

The smug expression, the charming white smile that used to grace his beaming features were replaced with a scowl. Helios had watched Apollo take on his new tasks, feeling like he was merely put away as a glorified stable boy so that Zeus could have his little blonde boy build a legacy. Was this why the titan had made the efforts in the wars? Just so he could be banished from his domain? Of course Zeus had put it differently; like it was something honorable that Helios could retire his mares and chariot. It didn't feel that way, though. Not at all. It was a grief that crawled under his skin and made his blood boil.

Adonis never thought he would want to keep up with new research until he started actually working with patients. Sure, as a student, it seemed as though he couldn’t sever himself from scientific papers quickly enough. But when it came to actually being responsible for all those sick people...how could he not keep up with anything that might save a patient’s life?

Last night, he had come across such material. And so, when he came in early this morning, Adonis didn’t even bother to stop by his office or put on his lab coat before marching towards the ICU. A few words with the nurses pointed him towards their youngest dementia patient.

Of course, Adonis couldn’t try anything without consulting her neurologist, but the nurses confirmed that the patient’s son was already present. It would be a waste of time not to talk to him while he was here, right?