[ for thousands upon thousands of years had she waited at the edges of the universe, the ends of reality. thousands upon thousands of years and songs and voices crowding her ears, their thoughts. so much pain, misery, suffering, despair. they had taken it into themselves and it had become theirs.
their song.
until the familiar from elpis, the so-called warrior of light, had come along and shown her that things could be different. that there was hope. after so long, it was a strange sensation. hope. perhaps she should have waited a little longer or tried harder for etheirys, but by that point there was nothing but despair, no hope to bring back to hermes, only an empty void.
and she had taken it unto herself.
now, she sees etheirys with new eyes and a new song. hermes is gone and she yearns for the time lost, for the person he once was, and mourns the one he became, the fractured soul full of despair and hatred. in his memory, with hope for a better world, she takes to the winds again, a tiny little blue bird flying through the aether, following the currents, riding the highs.
soaring on hope.
at least until she spies a familiar, yet long-lost to time and memory, head of white hair far below her. someone she had also wronged, who had helped to defeat her, who had suffered alone for these thousands of years. meteion pauses, her wingflaps slowing as she considers her many possible courses of action, before she finally settles on one. allowing her body to drift on the wind, she lights on a nearby bench, her head tilted upwards towards the woman almost in a question.
now to see if venat remembers her or cares to even acknowledge her. meteion... wouldn't blame her if she didn't. ]
[It is the first time in many long millennia that she has not been simply watching, waiting. The star, now safely delivered, is in the hands of those who walk its surface, her children to continue serving as its stewards, and in her heart, there is as much weariness as there is peace. Her strength is largely spent, but she has not faded away completely, the heart of the star itself still standing after all this time.
Her strength has faded, yes, but her intuition has not. She does not look towards the little bird that joins her, but she recognizes her all the same, and her lips curl into a faint smile as she bows her head in acknowledgement.]
I was wondering if we might chance to see one another again.
[It had seemed inevitable— but she does not seem troubled by this meeting in the least.]
[ the greeting is far more cordial and warm than meteion had expected and for a moment the entelechy simply basks in that warmth. her head bows and her eyes slide closed for just a few moments. how long has it been since she felt this? did she ever truly...? hermes had cared for her as best he could, but with the sadness and oftentimes anger she sensed in him, he could not offer her this. by the time she and her sisters had come into being, hope had become an illusion for him, this kindness something she had almost forgotten.
but now comes the hard part: how does she respond? she could simply speak with her mind, as she had always been best at, but somehow that feels... wrong. as though she owes more to this woman who had suffered so because of her misguided attempts to free etheirys.
and so, with her eyes still closed, she returns to her other form in a swirl of blue light. so small she is that her feet don't even touch the ground, so she leans forward a little, gripping the edges of the bench by her knees for support. her tail curls around her body, flush against one leg, as though it might offer some comfort. her eyes finally open once more and she glances sideways, trying to feel what may be swirling around in venat's mind and bracing against anything negative that might bubble to the surface.
she could say so many things, but the words ring hollow in her mind. so she takes a small breath and offers one small thing: ] Etheirys is beautiful, isn't it?
[ no mention of how sorry she is to nearly have caused its destruction, no mention of regrets. just one simple statement. etheirys is beautiful and for the first time, she can see it.
but of course, being who she is, unaccustomed to politeness when speaking to people, she adds on, ] I thought you had returned to the star.
[ and it's rather a large event that she had said "returned to the star" rather than "died." not that venat had been around for that originally, but meteion is... trying. she's not good at it, but she's trying. ]
It is, indeed, beautiful— I am glad you have come to see it as such.
[There's a faint, bittersweet note beneath those words, but her smile is soft and genuine, her sentiment honest. It is not in her nature to berate this soul for what she has done, for acting in accordance with her design. It had nearly been the end of all things, yes— the cause of much suffering and the end of her own people, but there was nothing about what had taken place that was simple, that could be attributed to any one person.
At her observation, Venat bows her head, eyelids lowering.]
It is a process, I am afraid. Indeed, I am well on my way— but I am glad to see Etheirys whole, with a future filled with possibilities. I believe you are, as well.
[ admittedly, it took her a long, long time to see etheirys in the rose, hope-colored lenses that everyone else had seen. and that was only after a stark reminder of hermes... getting punched with dynamis!hope didn't hurt, either.
for a moment, all meteion can do is nod sadly in response. she feels... guilt... at knowing the hand she had in causing so much suffering, so much pain. she had wanted to end it all and with the distinct lack of hope and purpose she and her sisters found in their travels, she could think of no other way than complete annihilation.
but now... now she is forced to see so much more.
in light of that, with the memory of all venat had done, feeling her bright and pure love for etheirys, meteion closes her eyes, lifting her hands to her chest and curling her fingers around themselves. ]
Thank you, [ she says softly, ] for helping me to see. For supporting the one who is hope incarnate. I promise... I will help keep that hope alive.
[ after all, as an entelechy, how could she do any less? ]
Will you tell me of Etheirys, what you know of it now?
[Though Meteion has lived through countless ages, been to countless stars, her visage is still that of a child— and the way she now views this star would appear to be with the open heart of such, even if she is not one herself.
Venat nods her encouragement— for all the damage that had been caused, for the great calamities that had befallen the star at Meteion's hand, she believes there to still be a way forward for Hermes' creation. Etheirys and its people were not the only things that had been saved from despair, but Meteion, too, had been freed from its clutches.]
You will find that it is not a perfect world, not a paradise like what we once knew, and yet no lesser for it. I think it more beautiful for all its flaws— for its people do suffer, do encounter hardship, but the human spirit is a truly wondrous thing. It shines most brightly when those who possess it band together to overcome such obstacles, when they laugh and love in spite of their troubles. Light and dark, joy and despair— neither can exist without the other.
[That is what so many of her own people had missed, back when their world was still reasonably young.]
[ venat's answer is one meteion needed to hear. it draws to mind one specific example from her travels, not of despair incarnate like the others, but of complete and utter apathy. a star without feeling, without purpose. a star whose people had given up in a way that the others had not. ]
Unlike the people who created Ra-la. [ realizing that the name would mean nothing to venat, who had not traversed the stars the way she or the champion had, meteion adds on, ] There was a star far out in the heavens where the people had lost their emotions. They had overcome all adversity and come to a point where they knew naught of life's trials... or its joys. They held nothing but apathy and wished for death to release them. The people here, sundered though these souls are... they know immense hardship, but they also know incredible joy.
They are— [ she pauses for a few moments as she considers the best word to use, glancing up at venat with a question in her bright blue eyes. ] —stronger for it?
[ she had thought she knew everything about emotion, about joy and despair. the meteia had made the decision they had based on the limited knowledge they had gleaned from meteion's life with hermes... and their flights through the stars. seeing things differently now, she has come to realize how wrong she was, but she is still trying to wrestle with so many life concepts she never had access to previously, things not even hermes could, or would, teach her.
would that she had come to these realizations earlier, when she could have had longer to learn from someone like venat. ]
[Though the name itself means nothing to her, Venat listens intently, giving a slight incline of her head– the fate Meteion describes could have quite easily been the one that awaited their own people, had they continued to serve Zodiark and made that all-too-great compromise in exchange for the return of their old way of life. True hardship would have become a distant memory, the horror that had befallen them might inevitably become forgotten, for they had become so accustomed to life without sorrow that joy would have no choice but to eventually lose all meaning.
To think of her people fading to such a state, becoming mere shadows of themselves… it was too great a sorrow to bear.]
You are right. They are stronger for it.
[Even if the people of the present star might not always realize it in the moment. Their victories, their happiness, their joyful moments– they are all so much more for the fact that they are not simply given freely, assumed and expected.]
I think we understand one another quite well, don’t you? I am sorry, little one, for what you have witnessed, but glad, indeed, that you have the courage and strength of will to come back from such darkness.
[ i am sorry, little one, for what you have witnessed—
meteion gives her head a gentle shake one way and then the other as she thinks back to it all, to that crushing despair, to the one presiding wish to end all life, collected over time from so many other stars and people. perhaps the sentiment has value and she tucks it away for later, a response learned that she can use. as for a response... what would the warrior of light say? what would venat? ]
What the Meteia bore witness to... shaped us and in a way, it has shaped all life we met. Including that of this star. Including yourself. I should be the one apologizing for what we wrought upon all of you.
[ they snatched a choice out from under so many people, both here and on other stars, ended lives that had only just begun. in some cases, perhaps they were justified... but here... her eyes close once more, her empathic abilities pulling up those memories, the despair and hopelessness she remembers even now, and for a brief moment her color flickers. ]
We have heard many people say one thing since we began to circle this star and sing of hope, a sentiment that we share. [ allowing her eyes to open once more, her color turning back to its vibrant blue hue, she gazes back up at the sky, as though the object of her thought might turn up right now. ] "I could not have done it without the Warrior of Light."
Your champion, [ she continues, glancing back at venat with a small smile on her small face, ] has touched so many lives. They are as a beacon to many... and I will continue to follow them and learn.
And perhaps one day... [ a soft, familiar wetness caresses the edges of her eyes, but she ignores them. ] Perhaps one day I can gift Hermes a flower upon his return.
[ he won't remember the same way, not if his soul is sundered, wouldn't be the same person... but still, maybe a part of his soul would resonate with it, would understand, would connect. maybe... she can tell him she's sorry and he would know. ]
[Venat allows her to speak without interruption, sympathy and something more in her own gaze and careful smile, and in the end, she reaches out to gently lay a hand against Meteion's shoulder, a tentative touch that she allows to remain cautious in the event that it may not be welcome.]
I have no doubt that he would like that very, very much.
[No matter which fragment of his soul it was that received it, what version of Hermes it was that she found.
She cannot help but believe that his soul would recognize its significance, if only for a moment, because that is what souls are wont to do in their resilience. It is a different sort of memory, bittersweet but real.]
My champion has done well, it is true. Theirs is a heart of light and compassion, and I know they would welcome the opportunity to teach you something more, if you wish to learn.
Edited (messed up my html! also I need to canon review this woman, I love her, time to endwalk again) 2022-08-15 21:26 (UTC)
[ perhaps, even if his soul still aches for death, for respite and release, she can one day find a part of him that would be receptive to it, to hope. to joy. she will hope for that day, for hope is all she can do now.
hope for the future of all stars.
for now, however, her mind wanders back to thoughts of the champion, the one who had broken her and her sisters from being the endsinger to the hopesinger. perhaps a dawnsinger? the dawn of new times. ]
May I ask something of you? A— [ what had they called it? ] —favor?
[ she blinks up at venat for a few moments, trying to decide how to ask for this favor. ]
Will you tell me a story? Of a happier time, something you remember from your travels or your sights.
[She waits and listens patiently as Meteion finds her words, and when she finally does, Venat laughs softly in response, raising a hand to her mouth as she feels genuine warmth and amusement well up within her. It's such a small thing, really— but so very familiar.]
That's precisely the sort of favor I once found myself asking of another.
[As a traveler herself, there was little she loved more than tales of adventure, of travel, of sights that remained unseen by so many.]
Very well— I will gladly grant you this favor. Something with a happy ending, yes?
she's doing her very best ;; has only EVER done her very best
[ meteion's head tilts slightly at venat's response, the connection unexpected but not unwelcome. she hadn't really considered that anyone else would have had an interest in a story the way meteion and her sisters might be, but to hear that venat — loved and respected venat — had asked the same brings a warmth to her breast that she had not experienced. ]
Yes. My sisters and I heard only pain and despair through our travels, until your champion came to us and reminded us of hope. If we are to continue spreading that hope, then... would it not be easier to have more stories to draw upon?
[ this is her logic, at any rate, the precious baby bird-like familiar who only ever wanted to help, even when she was consumed by despair. ]
We knew no better when we set out. Hermes is no longer here to teach us. Would you do so in his stead?
[ not that venat could replace hermes in meteion's eyes, but venat is like unto the mother figure she never had, someone who could teach them happiness where hermes knew only sorrow. ]
Yes, you are quite right. To spread hope, one must hold it within one’s heart.
[Meteion and her sisters had been reminded of hope, enough to bring them back from the very brink of despair and nothingness, but hope was a flame that burned brighter with more kindling. Venat would provide that, if she could.]
I will gladly teach you, little one- I only hope that I can honor his memory in doing so.
[For the loss of Hermes was a tragic one, indeed, a tale that still weighed heavily upon her heart.]
[ in so providing more kindling for the tiny flame that rests within meteion's breast, venat is giving the whole of the world one more gift. perhaps it will be her last to the people of etheirys or perhaps not, but it will be a way to help them, as she has done so many times before.
both of these people have been alive for so long and experienced so much. it's venat's time to rest and turn the safety of etheirys over to her champion and the people left alive. meteion will carry the flame anew, in venat's stead, ready to shepherd those in need.
still child-like in so many ways, she tilts her head curiously. a tale of the reflections? or one of them, perhaps... ]
Etheirys was sundered when Zodiark was, to save it from him. From us. We have not yet seen the other reflections. We only know what we have heard.
[ and just like a child, she leans forward slightly, body turned a little more to face venat, hanging on her every word. for one so empathic, tied to a man who was always rightfully sad, hope has ever been a difficult concept. but just like a child listening to her teacher, meteion leans into the story, trying her best to find the connections as they go. ]
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now sing with me once more
their song.
until the familiar from elpis, the so-called warrior of light, had come along and shown her that things could be different. that there was hope. after so long, it was a strange sensation. hope. perhaps she should have waited a little longer or tried harder for etheirys, but by that point there was nothing but despair, no hope to bring back to hermes, only an empty void.
and she had taken it unto herself.
now, she sees etheirys with new eyes and a new song. hermes is gone and she yearns for the time lost, for the person he once was, and mourns the one he became, the fractured soul full of despair and hatred. in his memory, with hope for a better world, she takes to the winds again, a tiny little blue bird flying through the aether, following the currents, riding the highs.
soaring on hope.
at least until she spies a familiar, yet long-lost to time and memory, head of white hair far below her. someone she had also wronged, who had helped to defeat her, who had suffered alone for these thousands of years. meteion pauses, her wingflaps slowing as she considers her many possible courses of action, before she finally settles on one. allowing her body to drift on the wind, she lights on a nearby bench, her head tilted upwards towards the woman almost in a question.
now to see if venat remembers her or cares to even acknowledge her. meteion... wouldn't blame her if she didn't. ]
[ ooc: lmk if anything needs to change ♥ ]
♥
Her strength has faded, yes, but her intuition has not. She does not look towards the little bird that joins her, but she recognizes her all the same, and her lips curl into a faint smile as she bows her head in acknowledgement.]
I was wondering if we might chance to see one another again.
[It had seemed inevitable— but she does not seem troubled by this meeting in the least.]
no subject
but now comes the hard part: how does she respond? she could simply speak with her mind, as she had always been best at, but somehow that feels... wrong. as though she owes more to this woman who had suffered so because of her misguided attempts to free etheirys.
and so, with her eyes still closed, she returns to her other form in a swirl of blue light. so small she is that her feet don't even touch the ground, so she leans forward a little, gripping the edges of the bench by her knees for support. her tail curls around her body, flush against one leg, as though it might offer some comfort. her eyes finally open once more and she glances sideways, trying to feel what may be swirling around in venat's mind and bracing against anything negative that might bubble to the surface.
she could say so many things, but the words ring hollow in her mind. so she takes a small breath and offers one small thing: ] Etheirys is beautiful, isn't it?
[ no mention of how sorry she is to nearly have caused its destruction, no mention of regrets. just one simple statement. etheirys is beautiful and for the first time, she can see it.
but of course, being who she is, unaccustomed to politeness when speaking to people, she adds on, ] I thought you had returned to the star.
[ and it's rather a large event that she had said "returned to the star" rather than "died." not that venat had been around for that originally, but meteion is... trying. she's not good at it, but she's trying. ]
no subject
[There's a faint, bittersweet note beneath those words, but her smile is soft and genuine, her sentiment honest. It is not in her nature to berate this soul for what she has done, for acting in accordance with her design. It had nearly been the end of all things, yes— the cause of much suffering and the end of her own people, but there was nothing about what had taken place that was simple, that could be attributed to any one person.
At her observation, Venat bows her head, eyelids lowering.]
It is a process, I am afraid. Indeed, I am well on my way— but I am glad to see Etheirys whole, with a future filled with possibilities. I believe you are, as well.
no subject
for a moment, all meteion can do is nod sadly in response. she feels... guilt... at knowing the hand she had in causing so much suffering, so much pain. she had wanted to end it all and with the distinct lack of hope and purpose she and her sisters found in their travels, she could think of no other way than complete annihilation.
but now... now she is forced to see so much more.
in light of that, with the memory of all venat had done, feeling her bright and pure love for etheirys, meteion closes her eyes, lifting her hands to her chest and curling her fingers around themselves. ]
Thank you, [ she says softly, ] for helping me to see. For supporting the one who is hope incarnate. I promise... I will help keep that hope alive.
[ after all, as an entelechy, how could she do any less? ]
Will you tell me of Etheirys, what you know of it now?
no subject
[Though Meteion has lived through countless ages, been to countless stars, her visage is still that of a child— and the way she now views this star would appear to be with the open heart of such, even if she is not one herself.
Venat nods her encouragement— for all the damage that had been caused, for the great calamities that had befallen the star at Meteion's hand, she believes there to still be a way forward for Hermes' creation. Etheirys and its people were not the only things that had been saved from despair, but Meteion, too, had been freed from its clutches.]
You will find that it is not a perfect world, not a paradise like what we once knew, and yet no lesser for it. I think it more beautiful for all its flaws— for its people do suffer, do encounter hardship, but the human spirit is a truly wondrous thing. It shines most brightly when those who possess it band together to overcome such obstacles, when they laugh and love in spite of their troubles. Light and dark, joy and despair— neither can exist without the other.
[That is what so many of her own people had missed, back when their world was still reasonably young.]
no subject
Unlike the people who created Ra-la. [ realizing that the name would mean nothing to venat, who had not traversed the stars the way she or the champion had, meteion adds on, ] There was a star far out in the heavens where the people had lost their emotions. They had overcome all adversity and come to a point where they knew naught of life's trials... or its joys. They held nothing but apathy and wished for death to release them. The people here, sundered though these souls are... they know immense hardship, but they also know incredible joy.
They are— [ she pauses for a few moments as she considers the best word to use, glancing up at venat with a question in her bright blue eyes. ] —stronger for it?
[ she had thought she knew everything about emotion, about joy and despair. the meteia had made the decision they had based on the limited knowledge they had gleaned from meteion's life with hermes... and their flights through the stars. seeing things differently now, she has come to realize how wrong she was, but she is still trying to wrestle with so many life concepts she never had access to previously, things not even hermes could, or would, teach her.
would that she had come to these realizations earlier, when she could have had longer to learn from someone like venat. ]
no subject
To think of her people fading to such a state, becoming mere shadows of themselves… it was too great a sorrow to bear.]
You are right. They are stronger for it.
[Even if the people of the present star might not always realize it in the moment. Their victories, their happiness, their joyful moments– they are all so much more for the fact that they are not simply given freely, assumed and expected.]
I think we understand one another quite well, don’t you? I am sorry, little one, for what you have witnessed, but glad, indeed, that you have the courage and strength of will to come back from such darkness.
no subject
meteion gives her head a gentle shake one way and then the other as she thinks back to it all, to that crushing despair, to the one presiding wish to end all life, collected over time from so many other stars and people. perhaps the sentiment has value and she tucks it away for later, a response learned that she can use. as for a response... what would the warrior of light say? what would venat? ]
What the Meteia bore witness to... shaped us and in a way, it has shaped all life we met. Including that of this star. Including yourself. I should be the one apologizing for what we wrought upon all of you.
[ they snatched a choice out from under so many people, both here and on other stars, ended lives that had only just begun. in some cases, perhaps they were justified... but here... her eyes close once more, her empathic abilities pulling up those memories, the despair and hopelessness she remembers even now, and for a brief moment her color flickers. ]
We have heard many people say one thing since we began to circle this star and sing of hope, a sentiment that we share. [ allowing her eyes to open once more, her color turning back to its vibrant blue hue, she gazes back up at the sky, as though the object of her thought might turn up right now. ] "I could not have done it without the Warrior of Light."
Your champion, [ she continues, glancing back at venat with a small smile on her small face, ] has touched so many lives. They are as a beacon to many... and I will continue to follow them and learn.
And perhaps one day... [ a soft, familiar wetness caresses the edges of her eyes, but she ignores them. ] Perhaps one day I can gift Hermes a flower upon his return.
[ he won't remember the same way, not if his soul is sundered, wouldn't be the same person... but still, maybe a part of his soul would resonate with it, would understand, would connect. maybe... she can tell him she's sorry and he would know. ]
no subject
I have no doubt that he would like that very, very much.
[No matter which fragment of his soul it was that received it, what version of Hermes it was that she found.
She cannot help but believe that his soul would recognize its significance, if only for a moment, because that is what souls are wont to do in their resilience. It is a different sort of memory, bittersweet but real.]
My champion has done well, it is true. Theirs is a heart of light and compassion, and I know they would welcome the opportunity to teach you something more, if you wish to learn.
always time to endwalk! sorry for the wait ;o;
hope for the future of all stars.
for now, however, her mind wanders back to thoughts of the champion, the one who had broken her and her sisters from being the endsinger to the hopesinger. perhaps a dawnsinger? the dawn of new times. ]
May I ask something of you? A— [ what had they called it? ] —favor?
[ she blinks up at venat for a few moments, trying to decide how to ask for this favor. ]
Will you tell me a story? Of a happier time, something you remember from your travels or your sights.
this sweet baby bird...
That's precisely the sort of favor I once found myself asking of another.
[As a traveler herself, there was little she loved more than tales of adventure, of travel, of sights that remained unseen by so many.]
Very well— I will gladly grant you this favor. Something with a happy ending, yes?
she's doing her very best ;; has only EVER done her very best
Yes. My sisters and I heard only pain and despair through our travels, until your champion came to us and reminded us of hope. If we are to continue spreading that hope, then... would it not be easier to have more stories to draw upon?
[ this is her logic, at any rate, the precious baby bird-like familiar who only ever wanted to help, even when she was consumed by despair. ]
We knew no better when we set out. Hermes is no longer here to teach us. Would you do so in his stead?
[ not that venat could replace hermes in meteion's eyes, but venat is like unto the mother figure she never had, someone who could teach them happiness where hermes knew only sorrow. ]
SHE IS, I believe in her
[Meteion and her sisters had been reminded of hope, enough to bring them back from the very brink of despair and nothingness, but hope was a flame that burned brighter with more kindling. Venat would provide that, if she could.]
I will gladly teach you, little one- I only hope that I can honor his memory in doing so.
[For the loss of Hermes was a tragic one, indeed, a tale that still weighed heavily upon her heart.]
You know of this world’s many reflections, yes?
she deserves it ON WINGS OF HOPE
both of these people have been alive for so long and experienced so much. it's venat's time to rest and turn the safety of etheirys over to her champion and the people left alive. meteion will carry the flame anew, in venat's stead, ready to shepherd those in need.
still child-like in so many ways, she tilts her head curiously. a tale of the reflections? or one of them, perhaps... ]
Etheirys was sundered when Zodiark was, to save it from him. From us. We have not yet seen the other reflections. We only know what we have heard.
[ and just like a child, she leans forward slightly, body turned a little more to face venat, hanging on her every word. for one so empathic, tied to a man who was always rightfully sad, hope has ever been a difficult concept. but just like a child listening to her teacher, meteion leans into the story, trying her best to find the connections as they go. ]