Back in town.

[Taz]

Shook his head and slid backward, laying there, staring up at the sky, his eyes were blank as they seemed to close "Sorry I made the woman you like leave" He gave into the pain and went still, his breathing was the only sign of him still being alive as he seemed to be sleeping now yet he was not, he was locked within his own mind and his own body, a consequence for trying to remember everything, but he needed to remember before he fully lost the memories. He curled up into a ball in his sleep much like when he was a child.

[Deleted]

He shook his head as the boy... Alex said he was sorry about Saoirse, he would have to deal with that later but for now the boy was his priority but he seemed to be only causing him pain the boy moving away from him until he totally glazed over so that it would appear he had either passed out or gone into some sort of catatonic state.
He sighed rubbing at the side of his head anxiously. He couldn't leave him out here but he was scared that if he touched him again he would start the pain off for a second time.
He stood there for a while until he was sure that the boy was lost to the world then he decided to move him gently picking him up he cradled him to himself making an exit from the garden back into the house.
He took Alex into a room that Hope had managed to find for him, he placed him against the bed. Covered him up with the blanket then left the room to sit out in the hallway not wanting to make it worse for him when he awoke.

[Taz]

Felt the warmth when picked up but didn't stir aside the small change in his pale face a slight hint of a smile showed, he curled up more under the blankets till his head was hidden under the blankets, it was an old habit of his to feel safe if hidden under the blankets, as he slept his smaller shadow seeped out and looked exactly like his child form, one Erebus would know well as he peaked out of the wall beside the man, staring at him, reaching out to poke his cheek with a playful grin and latched onto the man, holding tightly onto him just happy he had found the man.

[Deleted]

He watched the boy as he curled up into the blankets his own expression bleak and troubled as his eyebrows pulled together into a worried frown. He couldn't fathom how badly things had gotten out of control nor could he understand what had happened to the boy, he hoped one day he could explain to him, it seemed as though the Alex he knew was long gone and Erebus had returned to Lacrimosa wreaking havoc upon the life he had made for himself in order to chase nothing but a ghost of a boy he once cherished.

Hope seemed to dwindle the longer he looked at the lad, he wondered if he would ever be able to help him and he doubted that he could but he knew he wouldn't be able to turn away now.
With a frustrated sigh he turned to take a seat but froze when the image of the Alex he knew came to him like he would have done in a past life. He looked at him frozen almost in pain at the image before him knowing it not to be real.

[Taz]

The smaller shadow grinned wide, still hugging tightly to the man. "It's good to see you again and yes before you think you're seeing a ghost I am real and I am here with you" He curled up in the man's lap, seeking the comfort he missed when the man was not around, he knew the man had questions and he was happy to answer them the best he could while his body slept, he looked up at him. "You have questions I have answers so ask away and I will answer as best as I can, my body is still me just changed but it's still me, I'm still your son and always will be" He wanted to show the man he wouldn't let go of what family he had no matter what.

[Deleted]

Confused he responded to the image as it seemed to take physical form he hugged it back and allowed for the child to sit against him the whole ordeal rather painful for him as he knew what he looked at no longer existed in that form to him an aged and mentally twisted version was their actual reality.
"How is this happening...no never mind" he didn't want to waste time on that in case the other figure were to vanish or wear out before he could understand.
"Explain to me why you are different..what happened to you, I want to understand?"

[Taz]

The small child looked away for a few moments before looking back up at the man, sadness showing. "I went looking for you and they caught me, I don't know who it was that caught me but I remember the labs and I remember all the tests they did, they put me in this funny box that made my ears hurt, I remember everything spinning then it all went blank, like I was sleeping but without dreaming, I could hear panicked voices and I felt being pulled out and I was bigger but I couldn't remember anything it was all funny, two sets of memories that made my head hurt when I tried to focus on one set then they gave me this funny green drink and then it was only one set of memories and no pain but it didn't feel right some how" He stopped to breath for a few moments, it hurt to remember but he had to tell the man.

"Then came the cage and the chains, they would put me there after each test they wouldn't let me out only for each test, then got sent here and started to remember and then I found you again and it came back and I ended up here like this" He rubbed his eyes sleepy, just happy to have the man back, he was scared he had lost him for good. Looking up at him. "Don't go away again please..."

[Deleted]

He listened in silence to what he was being told and he felt rage bubble up inside him like a sickness his heat increased and he didn't try to check it knowing it wouldn't hurt the child as he was an illusion of the bigger teenager on the bed, his face had taken on a hard mask of it's usual expression and his eyes had become a smouldering version of their usual liquid amber, he couldn't stand knowing the boy had been subjecting to such things especially when it was because Erebus had some how become separated from him and failed to protect him as he had done with his family once upon a time.
He released his hands not having realized they were balled into fists and he sighed his anger fading out into a sad guilt as the child asked him not to leave again.
"I will do my very best I promise" his tone had soothed intentionally so he could keep the anger from his voice, he would find this lab and he would destroy them all.
"Do you know why they sent you here?"

[Taz]

"I was sent here for a recon mission to scope this town out and in the end I ran into a few that started to bring back my memories, like you and also Mara but what I wish to know is why did you leave in the first place, you promised me you wouldn't leave but you did. Why" He was curious, he did not hold it against Erebus that they had been separated, he had never once given up on the man, but he felt the guilt in Erebus as he lightly reached up and smacked him ever so slightly against the jaw, the man would only feel a light tap since it was his shadow form it wouldn't hurt him unless he actually meant it. "You think you're hiding your anger from me but you fail to realize I know you better then you think, we still have a link maybe not one that allows me to share your injuries but I can still feel your emotions you know"

He huffed slightly and stood, stretching out. "Besides, I can't remain a child much longer, heh now that I am bigger, I can give you a run for your money in fighting" He was only teasing, he'd never challenge the man to a fight, he knew the man nor himself wouldn't be able to fully go at it for the unwanted risk of hurting each other. The small shadow seemed to wander back into the room, vanishing into the teen's body as the teen seemed to stir but not fully awaken just yet.

[Deleted]

His mind wondered back to old times when the boy mentioned seeing some of the others from before, even though those times for him were fraught with danger from the Gods and his family he missed them they almost seemed like they were simpler, Erebus knew the Gods would come back after him sooner or later anyway so he wished things were back how they were when he had met the boy, he frowned as he tapped against his chin informing him he could feel the guilt and the rage. Erebus shrugged he wasn't going to hide it for much longer anyway.
"I left because I was made to leave at the hands of someone much stronger then myself, I had no choice. I came back and looked for you... for anyone and no one was here everyone had just vanished so for a while I went to a different city where I met Saoirse but I couldn't move on without knowing what happened to that little boy, well you"
He sighed it didn't make him feel any better to voice it but he hoped Alex understood he didn't give up on him and that he had never meant to make him feel abandoned.

Sooner then he liked the little boy had to leave, his spirit melding back inside the body of a tormented teenager that his son had become, he sighed frowning not sure how to help him or even relate to him at this stage. The only thing he knew was that he would fight for him and find those who changed him and when he did he would make them pay for it dearly.

[Taz]

"I know you did not abandon me. You don't know how to do something like that to me" He slowly sat up, he was much more in tune then he thought to the man but he was glad for it, it gave him a sense that he belonged somewhere and that someone in this god forsaken hell hole cared about him, he ran his fingers through his hair as he shook his head, trying to clear the sleepiness away, he settled and looked toward where he knew the man was sitting, slowly rising and walked toward him, his feet like usual made no sound as he leaned against the wall, watching him with two toned eyes.