Chapter 16:

Word had travelled across Greece rapidly as could be expected when Perseus and Erimia travelled from town to town aiding the ill and protecting the defenceless. Not only had Perseus further developed his own name as the protector of mortals through his deeds, Erimia also became feared for her ferocity in dealing with those they found attacking others who weren't capable of defending themselves. Despite this fear, she was also seen as a creature sent from the heavens by the gods themselves to accompany the healer throughout Greece.

Unfortunately, along with this fear came the attention of the egotistical and arrogant who would do anything to bolster their reputation and status through having hunted the revered animal. Perseus was obviously unsettled by this sort of attention being brought upon his daughter but knew that she could handle herself, regardless of what mortal stood in her way.

They had been travelling through Greece for over a year now aiding those they could, and Perseus had continued to regularly train Erimia and she had grown to have better control of her powers to manipulate nature around her as well as control water and fire to a limited extent. Coupled with her experience from the battles they almost regularly found themselves in, whether it be with monsters or foul mortals, she now held an intimidating level of skill and strength.

Currently the pair were on a large island near to the Greek mainland known as Kefalonia where there was said to be a plague passing through that had already been the demise of many of the weaker portions of the population and could potentially spread throughout Greece. Perseus and Erimia had been fortunate enough to have remained out of the Gods radar given many of the royals they watched disliked them for the attention they 'stole' from the 'real heroes' as they call themselves, as well as the gods continuing fascination with the brute Heracles who was completing trials for Hera, as he was told by his mother. Despite this they still tried their best to go unnoticed when travelling further avoiding the gods ability to track them by leaving little to trace in their careful movements.

After hearing of the plague from some of the people down in the docks of a small town that regularly did business with Kefalonia, the two were quick to stow themselves away in a vessel headed there, Erimia conveniently being able to reduce her own size similarly to how Perseus can.

Huddled together in the cargo beneath the deck of the old ship they were aboard, the small pitch-black wolf and pure white bear went unspotted by the bustling crew rowing through the night towards their destination.

Regardless of his connection to the sea, Perseus was still fearful of whether or not his father would find out about his presence. This concern was not born out of the threat to himself as if it came to it Perseus would be glad to fight his father and harm him for the pain, he's caused Perseus' own family, his true family that is. No, this fear was born from the harm that could be brought upon those he truly cared for most, being his mothers, both from birth and adoption, and his daughter.

Perseus still longed to be reunited with Aphrodite, his mother whom which he knew, from the single gaze and warm touch that he remembers of her, truly loved him and was the first to ever do so. Though he knew to bide his time and had complete faith that Hestia would tell him as soon as it would be safe for him to see her again without the risk of his presence being discovered and riling up the easily agitated Gods.

It therefore was a great relief to Perseus when they made it to the docks of Kefalonia, their destination, and he was able to quickly make the short transportation onto the beaches nearby with his daughter through use of vapour travel. Whilst he didn't wish to teleport long distances through the use of his power as he wasn't certain that he could mask the burst of power that it released, from drawing attention, he was confident enough to mask smaller bursts that allowed them to avoid the unwanted attention of prying mortals.

As the worlds was still veiled with the darkness of night, they decided to rest for the night here and move on to do what it was they came for the next morning. Perseus, as is usual, was in no need of rest due to the energy he gained as the sun set over the horizon as they sailed, despite having been shielded from the rays themselves in their concealment aboard the ship. He therefore sat next to the small fire he had lit in the area where the soft grass of the forest dwindled, and the sands of the beach spread out. In his human form with Erimia's head resting on his lap lazily, Perseus fed the bear, who was now a similar size to him at the moment, the berries and roots he had collected from the area quickly beforehand that he knew she loved to eat but was to impatient to find for herself, rather wanting to quickly hunt some animal she would smell on the way.

Perseus smiled as he alternated between looking down at his daughter, who was relaxed as she munched on the food and enjoyed his hand that stroked from her head down her back repeatedly, and the sea that shone as it reflected the radiant glow of the moon. Despite the moon's light still illuminating the sea he could hardly make out any details, this had caught his attention recently as after spending so long as a young child staring across a moonlight ocean, he had formed a habit in doing so regularly, and usually he could make out every detail of the waves that broke even miles from the shore.

The glow of the moon always fascinated him, only coming second to the magnificence of how the sky was painted with an array of colour at both dawn and dusk. He used to watch the light flitter through the trees and highlight the occasional scampering animal through the wilderness, instead, as of late, when he traversed the forest at night the moon's rays strained to even illuminate the leaves of tree's highest branches and it was a rarity for it to meet the ground itself.

He knew from Hestia that the Titaness Selene, sister of Helios, the Titan of the sun, was the one to pull the moon across the sky throughout the night and it worried him how the light she blessed the Earth with had been diminishing. Unlike the many pompous Gods, Perseus held no ill will towards the titans merely for who they are and rather wished to judge everyone for their own actions, as a result his concern for Selene was not solely due to what would happen if something were to happen to her, but rather her own wellbeing. He had long since wished to meet the twins after having been told stories by his mother that only further fuelled his fascination of both the sun and moon, and he thought that he would be good friends with the two kind titans that Hestia spoke of. Such thoughts were only furthered by the pull and connection he felt to both the sun and moon that his mother and himself, believed was due to his connection with both dawn and dusk.

Perseus continued to stare out over the sea, long after Erimia had finished eating and promptly fallen asleep on his lap, her snores sounding like a cute whine as they always had much to her embarrassment after he told her. It was only as the moon had almost hit the horizon, after it completed what used to seem like a graceful glide but now appeared to be an arduous and exhausting flight across the sky, that Perseus pulled himself away from the sight that was troubling him and back to Erimia. He decided that it would be best to wake her now so that they may make their journey to the town most greatly affected by the plague throughout the dawn as to arrive when the sun was up and the place first awakened.

As the pair began their journey, they slowly wandered through the forest that seemed to be filled with an air of death and sickness. The forest was near silent, only broken by the scuttling of a small animal here and there, reflecting the poor state of the islands inhabitance.

As they usually did when passing through nature, especially if it were in a sorry state such as this, the pair began to feed life back into the forest, bringing back lush green colours within the leaves and grass, along with vibrant splashes within flowers across the soft floor. Perseus had a greater connection to the wild and was therefore having a far greater affect, although such powers were obviously Erimia's strongest as her powers seemed greater than that of the few demigods that Perseus had heard of.

As they wandered further, they found themselves often graced with the presence of a range of animals who were in awe of the pair as their presence confirmed the words that had spread through Greece. Despite the huge form of Erimia, who as a bear is a natural predator often feared throughout the wild, her aura and connection to the surrounding nature set the animals at ease. It was a little over an hour before the two reached the edge of the now, once again, lively forest, and they emerged after parting ways with the animals that had taken to travelling with them.

As they entered the town Perseus was worried by the dead air that permeated through what should have been a lively village and was not set at ease when he found the streets deserted even with the sun now perched over the horizon and announcing the beginning of a new day. As Perseus explored the empty streets, he came upon a temple honouring the Goddess Hera that was packed full of people as he could see through the ajar door, yet still little noise of life was held within.

Perseus quickly sent Erimia into the nearby forest, deciding that the dire situation that he was faced with called for an immediate response rather than the delay and fear that his daughter often brought, regardless of her actions. As he slowly entered the temple he was faced with a young and distressed seeming priestess who tried to usher him out the door, but inevitably failed in pushing him out.

"Please sir, you must leave before the plague catches you within its grasps as well." She pleaded almost beggingly.

"I am here to help young one." Perseus spoke calmly in a deep voice, setting her at ease slightly, "May I inquire as to why the ill are held up in Lady Hera's temple, if I am correct, she is only a goddess of woman's health."

"You are kind sir, but we are left with no choice. Few of the great gods are found to grant good health and healing and we must humbly seek the kindness of the holy queen to stand a chance at living through the plague. Our town is isolated and small, but we may hold hope that our combined prayers may reach the heart of the goddess our town has devoted itself to."

"I may not be the godly miracle that you have been praying for, but I have found myself in many situations such as this and have built some expertise in healing the ill. May I aid in the recovery of your people." Perseus offered his aid to the distraught priestess.

"Maybe you are the blessing of Lady Hera upon us, please, please, come and do what you may." The woman said, some joy and hope filling her voice for the first time Perseus heard.

He was then drawn into the depths of the temple and found the floor crammed full of rows of seriously ill people laying on straw mats, those not yet taken by the plague or still well enough to do so, were aiding the worst in any way they could.

Perseus immediately knelt by the side of what appeared to be an extremely ill young man that was coughing blood across the dirty and stained, smooth stone floor of the temple. Placing a hand atop the young man's chest Perseus channelled the healing of both nature and the hearth through the man, as the glow of orange and green that accompanied his now instinctual and almost tireless actions after all the practice he had had, was concealed beneath his hand.

The murky hue of the man's skin soon faded and along with it, colour returned to the man's exposed skin, and although still feverish from the tiring affect of the plague on his body, he had been purified of the illness.

On he went from person to person until Perseus had been able to cure the entire town of their illness and subtly purge the place of the seeds of the sickness without being noticed. As he came to finish the last person, that person being the young priestess that despite all her attempts, had been unable to conceal her own symptoms as to help others first, Perseus stood and exited the stuffy and still foul-smelling confines of the temple.

All the people within the temple had been calmed into a sleep by Perseus as he channelled the powers of the hearth and he had then been able to make his exit peacefully, without the reverential prayers and gifts of gratitude that he had been confronted with previously before finding this simple method to avoid such.

Perseus took in a deep breath of the fresh and calming air that wafted from the serene forest that surrounded the village after Perseus and his daughters healing on their way to the town, the breath helping to restore some of Perseus' lost energy. Whilst after his years of experience such healing actions took little energy from him, this illness had been strong and deeply engraved into the people, therefore after the almost hundred patients he had healed, Perseus was drained of energy.

After a short while standing just outside the entrance of the now silent temple, Perseus moved off into the forest where he was soon met with Erimia. The two moved on through the day healing people across the island, that day soon turned into many days and then into weeks and it wasn't for almost a month that the pair were able to eradicate the plague from the island as it had seeped to seep its way into every crevice and to every person getting to the point where Perseus had to purge the seeds from every dock on the island to avoid its continuing spread.

It was with great relief that Perseus and Erimia had been able to retire that afternoon with the assurance that the plague had been destroyed completely and very few had fallen to its deathly grasp. Despite this as time had gone on, on the island, Perseus had been witnessed with Erimia in many towns where they both ventured in and it had become more difficult to travel with the searches for the pair by many people who wished to worship them in person for their actions.

Perseus detested that people thought that such a simple kindness as doing what he could for them, led people into the belief that they must grovel and worship people like they do to the arrogant gods and therefore disliked when people believed that they had to act like such towards him. Erimia had soon adopted a similar outlook as Perseus with their time together as neither desired attention, praise or compensation, but preferred doing what they could out of kindness without seeking anything in return.

Perseus had continued to observe the moon's journey across the sky each night and had found that its condition was only continuing to deteriorate and was soon able to see the sun showing similar attributes despite being lesser in proportion, only dimming slightly and lingering in parts of its journey. This had worried Perseus greatly and as the afternoon the pair spent playing around in the forest with Perseus in his wolfen form drifted into night, Perseus sat contemplating the scenario by the fire with Erimia curled by his side with her head on his lap. As Perseus turned his gaze from the sky into the brilliant flames of the fire before them, he furrowed his brow, worrying for the titan twins he had heard of from his mother.

It was then that the flames rose up and leapt from the fire to form his mother beside him in her 30-year-old form. When she arrived, she wrapped her arm around her son lovingly and he found warm comfort in the loving embrace. "I felt you worrying about something, What's wrong my dear." Hestia said in a soothing and loving voice. Ever since becoming Perseus' mother she had never been happier and whilst also becoming closer to her sister, Demeter, she had recovered much of her happiness and former joyful attitude she lost after Poseidon attacked her. She had always been proud of her amazing son and her pride had only grown further and further as time bore on and he did more and more good in the world. She felt blessed to have such an amazing child to call her own and loved him more than anything, therefore his worry which she rarely felt, caused her to become quite worried and troubled herself.

"I'm sorry for worrying you mother. It's just, you know the stories you told me about the titan twins, Selene and Helios?" Perseus inquired to which Hestia nodded but remained quiet, waiting for him to elaborate.

"I've always wanted to meet them since you told me the stories of them and given the connection I feel to the sun and moon. Ever since the island, I've watched the moon almost every night and only recently have I noticed it dimming and lugging across the sky. It worries me what may be causing such things and I don't know what to do." Perseus confessed.

Hestia gave a faint smile, seeing Perseus' disregard for the fact that they were titans unlike the prejudice held by her 'family', but was also worried as she heard what had been troubling him and berating herself for not noticing it herself. "And what do you think the matter is son, you are more connected to the entity than I." Hestia prompted.

"I-I don't know, I just have a feeling that something's wrong." Perseus admitted, worry evident in his voice.

"You should find them then, if anyone can it is you. And when you do you will know what is wrong and if there is anything you can do about it." Hestia answered.

"How do I find them though? I've never met either of them before." Perseus questioned.

"You must channel your senses much like you do when using your powers and detecting things around you in a fight. Follow your connection to the moon and sun and then follow that to their source. That source will be the twins and if you ever need help, I'll be there for you, as will your aunt Demeter, I am sure." Hestia encouraged and comforted him.

Perseus pondered this for a while casting his gaze away from his mother and the fire where it had rested, and up into the sky at almost pained, weak glow of the moon. His eyes then hardened with determination and he looked back to his mother. "I'll find them and help with whatever this is." He said in a tone that left no doubt as to whether he would succeed in his goal or not.

Hestia smiled and placed a gentle kiss on his forehead and patting the side of Erimia's face, who practically purred in content, before she flashed off. As she appeared back within her palace, she gazed out the window into the night sky, looking at the moon and questioning how she hadn't noticed earlier herself. Regardless, she pulled he necklace from where it hung underneath her dress and held the beautiful ruby that had become imbued with her powers over the hearth and family as it became the symbol of her own family, glowing with a warm light. The necklace brought her strength and calmness as she felt confident within her son's ability to do as he said and as she retired for the night she smiled thinking of how much she loved her son and the family they built and shared, tucking the warm necklace back within her night dress.

-----

Perseus had told Erimia of what he had decided along with Hestia's visit the previous night whilst she had slept and she whole-heartedly agreed to his decision to find the pair, also being fascinated by what she had heard of them and wanting to meet them herself.

After having quickly hunted and foraged a large breakfast, the pair ate before Perseus allowed Erimia to run around and play with the animals around the clearing whilst he focussed his senses and attempted to follow the pull of the sun that hung in the sky that was almost completely clear of clouds.

As he sat in the clearing in front of the still lit and warmly glowing fire, Perseus closed his eyes and spread his senses through the surrounding forest as he had done many times in the past. Around him he felt all the life within the wild from the smallest of tree saplings to distant wolves that were hunting as a pack on the other side of the island. He smiled softly at the familiar feeling of the surrounding nature but soon drew in his focus and furrowed his brow in concentration.

Reaching into his powers of dawn and dusk as he did when he used such powers previously, he felt the calmness and raw power that radiated through him with his strongest power. He could feel the potential within himself to summon the orange, purple and red, swirling fires that accompanied this power that was more powerful than any flame even Hestia knew of. Rather than summon this familiar power, Perseus instead focussed further upon the connection this power had to the sun and moon.

After a length of time that Perseus couldn't pinpoint due to his immense focus on his powers but what actually was almost 8 hours, he was able to feel the power of the sun and moon and feel the pull they had on him. As he remained in that frozen position for another 13 hours, he was finally able to narrow down on the feeble pull that the power had over him in what he had confirmed was a greatly weakened state. As a result, he was able to feel the direction that the power was coming from and where he believed that the twin titans may be.

As he confirmed this he awoke from his meditative state, and saw the sun rising over the horizon in a beautiful array of colour and was able to register how long he had been like he was using his now far strengthened connection to both the sun and moon. He found Erimia curled in his lap in a very small form where she was the size that he had found her in.

Perseus smiled down at his daughter and gently lifted her up into his arms, avoiding awakening her, and begun what would be a long journey to where he felt the power of the titans. As he came to the edge of the island, Perseus had followed the beach to a nearby dock that he had sensed where he believed he could find a transport off the island. As he travelled towards the dock, he found himself amazed with the heightened senses he felt. It seemed that his venture within his own powers and their source had strengthened his skill and control. His senses had always been greater due to his godhood and wolfen side, but now he could feel everything immediately close to him and could, with ease, locate things at a further distances with what seemed to be an additional sense.

In addition, Perseus also felt a greater control over his powers over dawn and dusk to where he could more easily and powerfully control the flames he could summon, as well as the physical strength and energy it filled him with.

As he arrived at the dock, he tucked the still sleeping Erimia into his leather bag and pulled his hood up over his head, concealing his face other than his vibrant purple eyes. He then approached what he had identified as the captain of a vessel he saw being loaded with supplies and resources for a travel off the island.

After a quick discussion Perseus had been able to gain passage on the voyage at a small fee paid out of the small amount of money, he had always kept with him as an assurance. Boarding the large ship, Perseus aided the sailors in the preparation for their journey and they soon set sail for their destination which happened to be one of the Greek mainlands. After a few hours of sailing where Perseus sat above deck enjoying the soft sea breeze and accompanying scent, he felt Erimia awaken and quickly informed her of what had happened without being noticed by the ship's crew, convincing her to stay tucked away in the bag, to which she put up little argument as she snuggled up and went back to sleep.

Perseus had decided to go under the deck to see what was down there, sating his curiosity and boredom. What he found left him enraged and he had to calm himself before the seas responded to his anger and obliterated the ship due to his power. Beneath the deck and huddled together in their dirty and torn rags were chained and shivering young men and women who seemed to be quite ill and full of fear. Perseus easily deduced that the crew aboard this ship had taken the islands weakened state due to the illness to their advantage and taken these people as slaves with the intent to sell them wherever he was going.

Leaving his rage for later, Perseus quickly used his powers to help calm the people as he also did so himself by quietly telling them that he would help them escape. Using his powers over the hearth he warmed the freezing captives and removed any of their illnesses. Then using a show of inhuman strength, he broke all of their shackles before returning to the deck and awaiting his time for action. It was many hours before they had made it to their destination, but before they could dock into the port, Perseus willed the waters to propel the ship away from them and into the jagged stones that lined the shore a few kilometres away.

The crew was frantic as they hurried about trying to right the course, but they were both too late and powerless to stop Perseus as he surrounded the place where the prisoners where being held in a protective encasing of water before ramming the ship into the rocks. The ship was torn apart into splinters as it shattered against the rocks, but the unnatural currents launched it further than any ship should go until it rested upon the land that was beyond the jagged rocks. In the collision, most of the crew was thrown overboard and the few that remained were knocked unconscious as they were slammed against the deck. Perseus then went down into the hold and brought what used to be the prisoners up onto the deck where he made sure they were supplied with proper clothing and plenty of money as they divided up whatever the disgusting men had brought with them. Once Perseus had helped all of them down from the wreckage and made sure the 16 of them had all they needed to be ok, he left them in the nearby town they had been headed to before heading off to continue his own journey. Once they had gotten far enough away from the populated areas and into the forest, Perseus got Erimia out of the bag, who had been awake since just before the crash, and morphed into his wolfen form, although not at his full size. Perseus then stood at 3'5", still far larger than most wolves and was soon accompanied by a slightly larger bear who had grown to a height of 4' in her largest form and had a naturally larger form.

The two then took off at unnaturally fast speeds, occasionally playing around as they raced one another, tackling each other and tolling around. Perseus enjoyed the time with his daughter that he hadn't been able to have in the stress they had been under with the plague on the island. Whilst Perseus could go much faster than Erimia in his current form and many times faster than that in his full form, he kept his speed similar and instead enjoyed the friendly competition as his daughter laughed and growled playfully throughout the day.

Even at their more relaxed pace, as the sun set on the horizon and the pair settled down for the night at a campfire that they had started in a clearing, they had already made almost half of the journey to their destination. Whilst Perseus was eager to find the twins, he also didn't want to strain Erimia and so he got some sleep that night as Erimia became smaller and he curled around her protectively in his wolf form as he had so often done before when she was younger.

The next morning, the pair once again set off on their journey, but both being eager to arrive at their destination and being fuelled by the even more dismal appearance of the moon the previous night, they travelled at a far greater pace. As a result, when the sun had finally managed to peak in the sky where it seemed to linger for a while, the two found themselves at a beach on the opposite side of the large landmass upon which they had landed the day before.

Feeling the presence of the pair through his powers on an island that they could see a short way out to sea, Perseus picked up Erimia, in her smaller form as she had been in the day before, and placed her in his leather satchel as he stood in his human form on the shore just before the water. He then made quick work of swimming through the water whilst concealing his presence from any water deities that may sense him, using the water to speed himself across to the island onto the shore where he emerged as dry as he had been before entering.

On the small island, he trekked inland following the weak and still dimming energy they had been following since they left Kefalonia. Finally, after a while of searching the area where he had felt the energy emitting from, that had for some reason cut out as they got closer, he located a well concealed cave that seemed to have a flickering light within that Perseus identified easily as a fire.

Slowly the Perseus entered the cave and as he ventured deep enough to where the fire's light was coming from, he saw a depressing and heartbreaking sight. Curled in the corner and shivering was a young girl that looked to be around 16 with beautiful silvery hair and eyes that glowed a bright silver but contained specks of inky blackness like the night sky. Her pale cheeks were tear streaked as she appeared to be trying to disappear in the corner as she cast fearful glances towards him. In front of her stood what appeared to be a once strong young man who looked gaunt with starvation and had similar pale skin. His eyes were a glowing mix of orange and gold and his hair was a reddish blonde colour, in his hand was a limply held, dull golden sword that seemed to reflect his own poor state.

The man held the sword as threateningly as he could and spoke in a strong voice despite his withered state, "I shall not allow you to harm my sister, regardless of who you are." At those words Perseus confirmed two things, firstly that this man would do whatever it took, even if it caused his death, to protect his sister, and secondly, that these siblings were the twin titans he was searching for.

Perseus raised his hands placatingly and took small steps towards the pair before kneeling before them, "Lord Helios and Lady Selene, it is a great honour to meet you and a painful sight to see you both like this. I swear that I come here with only wishes to meet and help the pair of you and mean no harm." Perseus spoke softly as he removed his bronze dagger from his waist and placed it on the floor in front of him and then removed the wooden pole from his bag which transformed into his simple spear that he placed next to it.

He then stood up and took a step back, leaving the weapons for the pair to do what they will with them. Helios seemed to trust him enough as he staggered to the wall next to his sister and slumped down next to her, placing a hand over her shoulder in a comforting embrace. "You seem to know us, so who would you be?" Helios inquired as Selene seemed a bit more comfortable and stopped crying.

"My name is Perseus and I am a godling adopted by Hestia and hiding from the Olympians, I haven't yet received my domains, but I have a strong connection to the dawn and dusk and through that, the two of you, the moon and the sun." Perseus introduced himself.

The two seemed to grow more comfortable at this and Perseus once again felt their auras being released, realising that is what he had been tracking. "We felt a young godling connect to our domains, a strong one at that and that seems to be you." Helios explained.

"May I help you?" Perseus asked, worried for the pair.

"You can do what you may, but I don't believe that there is much you can do." Helios explained.

Perseus came closer to the two at this and place a hand on each of their shoulders softly before closing his eyes and focusing on his powers of dawn and dusk. Opening his eyes, they glowed are more vibrant purple than they ever had before and he channelled all the energy he could into the two before him, using more power than he had ever before.

Once he finished, he regarded the two titans before him once again. Their eyes and hair seemed to glow more vibrantly in their colours and their pale skin had seemed to warm slightly. Both had recovered a more natural and healthy appearance and whilst they didn't look fine, they looked far better. As they acknowledged their own altered appearance, Selene quickly grabbed Perseus in a tight embrace as she whispered "thank you" again and again into his chest.

Helios smiled, though his eyes still seemed to hold a deep pain, "Thank you young godling, you have eased out suffering. The world has lost their worship within the pair of us after the gods took over from the titans and cast us away. We stayed neutral in the titan war, but the gods still saw us as an enemy. We have lost our connection to anything but one another and have lost our will to remain as we are, as a result we are fading and the condition can't be reversed but you have removed the immense pain of the process and for that we will be forever thankful." He explained.

Perseus was shocked that the twin titans were fading and despite the desperation he felt to keep them here he knew what Helios said was true and that the process couldn't be reversed and instead he swore to himself to make sure they faded happily and at peace. It was then as Selene sat back now seeming comfortable and smiling in her brothers embrace than Erimia peaked her head out from the leather bag having heard everything, shocking the titans who had never seen such a beautiful animal.

Everyone there knew that it was only a matter of time until the Titans present would fade, but they all felt like it wouldn't be as terrible as it would have been had Perseus not arrived.