There was a long, quiet pause as Erato turned the sparkly trinkets over in her hands, a curious frown creasing her brow. The gold and gems clinked together lightly. Some of these were glass costume jewellery, some were real diamonds and jewels, but all of them meant something to her. Carefully, she picked out a pretty cameo pendant, and suddenly it was like she was back in that back room in New Orleans, gasping with delight as the handsome sculptor she was taken with passed it to her.
Fat, wet tears began to roll down her cheeks. These things had been stolen from her, and it was like pieces of her soul were being returned. A beautiful heart-shaped brooch in greens and pinks, a gift from the second son of a wealthy merchant who she had helped to prove that his painting was worthwhile. A pin shaped like a crescent moon with opals that shimmered in the light, given to her by an Australian woman who had some to America disguised as a man to try her luck as a writer and musician. A beautiful art deco fairy taken from the body of her murdered lover, a beautiful Creole man, his creativity snuffed out by his landlord in a fit of jealous, drunken passion. All these things- all of this-
Erato gasped and sobbed, holding the beautiful things close, feeling like a dam was bursting inside her. So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see, So long lives this, and this gives life to thee- life- Life! There was still beauty in this world, and she was still here to see it, her precious memories revived. "Oh- oh-" she blubbed through her tears, Asterion's kindness the most beautiful thing of all.