WHO: Asteria & Phoebe WHEN: Saturday night WHERE: Somewhere on the streets of New York WHAT: Night-wandering goddess WARNINGS: tba Around Asteria's neck there hung a pendent. As a rule the star-goddess didn't wear jewelry. It lacked practicality and after being a hunk of land in the sea for so long, decoration lost its appeal. But she wore this necklace because it was a gift from someone she hadn't seen for a very long time, not since before Zeus and Poseidon had given chase.
Asteria was a mother but she wasn't very good at it. Phoebe had probably always been better, because when Asteria looked back on her childhood she remembered only being adored and safe with her sister, their mother being larger than life and perfect. All children thought such things of their parents, all children adored without question. Hecate had no reason to love Asteria like that, but still Asteria saw it in the girl's eyes even if she herself didn't know how to return that affection.
But Asteria had been flesh once. She'd been mother and wife and the three of them had been complete. But now her flesh was hard and cracked like stone and she couldn't breathe life into it anymore. Or perhaps, selfishly, she still didn't want to. Perhaps she feared what it was to be flesh. Flesh meant something to be taken. Flesh meant something for Olympians to covet.
Above her the sky was too brightly lit by the city and too cloudy for Asteria to see her stars, and there was no fortune to be read on a blank slate. A few ghosts remained close by as she walked through the streets of her daughter's city, the silent dead wishing only to be close to their silent mistress.
crownedingold 2011-10-22 10:53 pm (local) (link) Phoebe hadn't been in the city very long, and as such, she was still getting a little lost. The whole place seemed different at night, in certain places downright spooky. But it seethed with energy, both immortal and not, and if she was ever going to reunite with her family, it would be here.
She hadn't been actively seeking them out on this particular evening, however (not that she'd stopped, but taking time off for rest and meals was something she had to do), she'd merely gone out looking for someplace new to try for dinner. She'd wandered into an Indian restaurant on a whim, having never tried it before, and after some recommendations from the owner, had left with what was probably too much food. It was a habit, mostly, she was so used to caring for another person. It just meant now that there would be leftovers.
She was trying to find her way back to the main road, when she felt a sparking sensation in the back of her head. Immortal, and close by. So she followed, on the off chance that it might be her husband, or one of her children. She kept walking, everything else forgotten. She had to know for sure.
She finally caught up to the woman, walking down the street ahead of her, and her heart surged. It had to be her, it just had to be...
"Asteria?" (Reply to this)(Thread)
thefallingstar 2011-10-23 05:00 pm (local) (link) At the voice behind her Asteria paused and tilted her head to the side as though listening. She didn't turn to look yet, instead hoping that familiar voice belonged to the bright Titan she hoped for.
Still with her back to the voice, Asteria asked, "mother?" There was a crack in her voice, more emotion in that than Asteria had shown for weeks. (Reply to this)(Parent) (Thread)
crownedingold 2011-10-23 06:50 pm (local) (link) Everything else forgotten, Phoebe ran to stand in front of her daughter. She hadn't seen her in several lifetimes, and she felt like was about to cry in relief and joy. "My Asteria," she breathed, rushing forward on impulse to embrace her.
"I'm so happy you're here," she said into her hair, a few tears leaking out. "I've missed you so much. How are you? And Perses and Hecate, are they here as well?" (Reply to this)(Parent) (Thread)
thefallingstar 2011-10-23 07:24 pm (local) (link) Asteria wasn't breathing and for a moment she stood stiff against the embrace. And then, with a shuddering release of breath, Asteria soften into her mother's arms and felt a shudder run through herself. Her mother, her mother. Asteria have been a grown woman when she'd been ripped from her life, but still one of the people she'd cried out to help her had been her own mother.
And now here the bright Titan was and Asteria could feel unfamiliar tears prickling at her eyes. Stone didn't weep, but Asteria wasn't stone. She was warm flesh and so was Phoebe. "Mother," she whispered again, clinging tightly to her now and refusing to let go. Phoebe was asking her questions, but Asteria couldn't find the answer to them. All that existed for Asteria in that moment was Phoebe.
"Oh mother," she choked out, her words turning to a sob. "I've been so lost." (Reply to this)(Parent) (Thread)
crownedingold 2011-10-23 07:32 pm (local) (link) Phoebe hung on like her daughter was going to be taken from her again, holding as close as she could. Hearing Asteria cry broke her heart, and right now, she wanted nothing more than to try and fix it any way she could. It had broken her to not be able to do anything to assist her daughter in her flight from the Olympians chasing her, and she'd spend the rest of her second life trying to set things right, if that's what it took.
"Shhh," she murmured into her daughter's hair. "I'm here. Tell me how I can help." (Reply to this)(Parent) (Thread)
thefallingstar 2011-10-23 07:42 pm (local) (link) Asteria, who had no cried for centuries, had opened a floodgate now and she didn't bother to try and control it. She clung to her mother and wept like a child while her ghosts gathered close around the two Titanesses.
Eventually she exhausted herself and managed to look up at her mother for the first time, taking in her splendor through blurry eyes. Her head felt heavy and ached from crying. "I don't know what's wrong with me," she murmured. "I'm broken, mother. Don't leave me." (Reply to this)(Parent) (Thread)
crownedingold 2011-10-23 07:54 pm (local) (link) Phoebe only paid the ghosts the barest bit of attention, all of her concern on her crying daughter. A mother always felt the need to fix whatever hurts her child might have had, and she was no different.
"Of course I won't leave you," she replied. "Not when I've only just found you again. But why would you say you're broken, my little star? Whatever's wrong, you know I'll do anything I can to make it right." (Reply to this)(Parent) (Thread)
thefallingstar 2011-10-23 08:21 pm (local) (link) Asteria pinched the pale flesh of her own arm between her fingernails, making it pucker and pinken. "Flesh and blood, but I can't feel it. Mother, I'm stone." Then she added, suddenly as she remembered, "Hecate is here. Hecate and Perses and I can only look through them like glass. They want Asteria and they get Delos." (Reply to this)(Parent) (Thread)
crownedingold 2011-10-23 08:34 pm (local) (link) Phoebe lightly brushed her fingers over the pink flesh. "Can you feel that?" she asked. "You don't feel like stone to me, love. You've been Delos for such a long time, you've just forgotten what it's like to walk about. And I would love to see my granddaughter and son-in-law soon, but right now, you are my priority. You can be Asteria again, you're strong enough to do it. I'll even help you, if you like." (Reply to this)(Parent) (Thread)
thefallingstar 2011-10-23 08:49 pm (local) (link) Asteria nodded. She could feel it. But how to feel it beneath the skin like she should? She didn't mind Phoebe touching her though, not like she drew away from Hecate and Perses, not like she disdained the very brush of anyone else against her. Phoebe was different.
"Yes," Asteria whispered to her mother. "Help me? I want to be a mother again, and a wife." (Reply to this)(Parent) (Thread)
crownedingold 2011-10-23 09:14 pm (local) (link) "You'll get through this, my dear," Phoebe said. "If I were to venture a guess, I'd say that no one has touched you for a very long time, is that right? And you may not like what I have to say next, but I think it might be helpful. You'll have to learn to bear the touch of another person again. I'm not saying a random stranger on the street, but perhaps start with Hecate? When she embraces you, embrace her in return. Small steps. And it may take some time. But I'll be here for you, if you need me." (Reply to this)(Parent) (Thread)
thefallingstar 2011-10-23 10:37 pm (local) (link) How to explain to Phoebe what it was like when they touched her? How could she tell her mother how uncomfortable it made her, like she wanted to tear out of her own skin just to escape? She hadn't always been like that. She'd been a proper mother once, she'd embraced Hecate like her daughter.
But Phoebe was right. She would force herself through the hate and maybe, one day, she could be Asteria for her little girl again. So she nodded, because Phoebe had always been so clever and loving and she trusted Phoebe's judgment right now above her own.
"Not tonight though," Asteria said. "I want to stay with you and not return to them yet." (Reply to this)(Parent) (Thread)
crownedingold 2011-10-23 10:46 pm (local) (link) Phoebe could tell her suggestion wasn't Asteria's favorite. But she wouldn't have made it if she didn't honestly feel it might be helpful. She didn't want to put her daughter through any additional hardship, but she had said she wanted to be a wife and mother again. So Phoebe would do everything in her power to help achieve that.
"Of course you can," she told her. "If we can find the main road, that is, I'm still learning my way around this maze of a city." She laughed a little at herself. "Oh, and I bought food, if you're hungry," she remembered. "Probably too much for one person, but more than enough to share." (Reply to this)(Parent) (Thread)
thefallingstar 2011-10-23 10:56 pm (local) (link) "Where do you live?" Asteria asked, finding her composure a little more and wiping beneath her eyes. "The ghosts will lead us there. They know this city better than anyone living." (Reply to this)(Parent) (Thread)
crownedingold 2011-10-23 11:00 pm (local) (link) "Not too far, at least I don't think so. But that'll teach me to be out after dark and not know where I'm going," she replied. She turned to the ghosts, telling them her address, then starting after them in the direction they went.
"So the ghosts follow you?" she asked. "And I assume Hecate as well. I haven't seen any in such a long time, I'd almost forgotten they did that." (Reply to this)(Parent) (Thread)
thefallingstar 2011-10-23 11:04 pm (local) (link) "The ghosts are always close," Asteria assented. "They follow Hecate as though she were the moon itself. She is remembered well, my daughter." Asteria smiled then, because the power Hecate still had was better than she could have dreamed from the way they had all fallen. "She's strong, stronger than almost any of them." (Reply to this)(Parent) (Thread)
crownedingold 2011-10-23 11:17 pm (local) (link) Phoebe smiled. She bore no ill will against members of the pantheon that were better remembered than her, and it made her happy to hear Hecate was well remembered and strong. "I'm glad to hear it," she said. "And she's doing well? I haven't heard from anyone since I've arrived."
"And at least with the ghosts nearby, you're never really alone, even if they don't say much," she added. (Reply to this)(Parent) (Thread)
thefallingstar 2011-10-23 11:24 pm (local) (link) "She's well," Asteria said with pride. "She turned Zeus to stone to punish him for me and it weakened her, but now she's healthy and strong again."
Asteria cast her gaze to the spirits that led the way. "They are nearly the only presence I can abide. People press too close in this city. There's too many of them." (Reply to this)(Parent) (Thread)
crownedingold 2011-10-23 11:39 pm (local) (link) Phoebe only really liked two Olympians, and only then because they were her grandchildren. She tended not to care what the rest of them did, so long as they left her and hers alone. But she harbored deep-seated resentment towards Zeus and Poseidon, the ones who had pursued her daughter so ardently that she was forced to become an island to escape. In her mind, nothing was enough for them.
"Good," she said simply. "On both counts. That she had enough power to do so in the first place is a boon. Is he still a statue, I hope?"
"They seem to just keep multiplying," she agreed. "Almost to the point where one can't breathe just walking down the street. At least at night it seems a little quieter." (Reply to this)(Parent) (Thread)
thefallingstar 2011-10-24 01:41 am (local) (link) "I believe he is," Asteria said. "They all squabble for the throne like children." What was the importance of the throne? Asteria's family were oracles, seeing the truth of the world through their own ways. Their power would always mean more than Olympus.
"Perhaps I cannot abide them then because the night is my time," Asteria considered. "Still, the night loses its quiet more and more each year." (Reply to this)(Parent) (Thread)
crownedingold 2011-10-24 01:54 am (local) (link) "Good," she said again, more firmly this time. "And they can have that cursed thing, it brings nothing but grief to everyone else. There's a reason I didn't get involved in their squabbles, it brought nothing but misfortune for those who did." Phoebe might not have the gift of prophecy in the truest sense of the word anymore, but she was wise enough to see the true way the world worked, and her memory was long.
"That could very well be," she murmured. "And I've noticed that as well, it seems the most peaceful time is just before the dawn. Still, I've learned to take it where I can find it."