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paganimagevault · 3 years

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Statues of Mount Nemrut 62 BCE. The bottom picture is an artistic representation of what the monuments would look like restored. Left to right: Apollo, Tyche (fertility Goddess of the Commagene's), Zeus, Antiochus I Theos, and Herakles. The other images are the statues in their current state. The monuments were ordered constructed by Antiochus I Theos of Commagene, who was half Greek half Iranian. There are more images and descriptions on my blog, link at bottom.

"A large inscription is carved into the back of the colossal statues at the East- and West-Terrace. At the back of the Zeus statue, you can read the letters N O M O [ (Nomos). Here, the Holy Law of Antiochos begins. The Nomos of the Nemrud can be regarded as the testament of Antiochos.

...

The Great King Antiochos, the God, the Righteous One, the Manifest (Deity), the Friend of the Romans and the Greeks, the Son of King Mithridates Kallinikos and of Laodike the Brother-loving Goddess, the Daughter of King Antiochos Epiphanes, the Mother-loving, the Victorious, has recorded for all time, on consecrated pedestals with inviolable letters the deeds of his clemency.

I have come to believe that, for mankind, of all good things piety is both the most secure possession and also the sweetest enjoyment. This judgment became, for me, the cause of fortunate power and its blessed use; and during my whole life I have appeared to all men as one who thought holiness the most secure guardian and the unrivaled delight of my reign (or kingdom). By this means I have, contrary to all expectations, escaped great perils, have easily become master of hopeless situations, and in a blessed way have attained to the fullness of a long life. After taking over my father’s dominion, I announced, in the piety of my thought, that the kingdom subject to my throne should be the common dwelling place of all the Gods, in that by means of every kind of art I decorated the representations of their form, as the ancient lore of Persians and of Greeks–the fortunate roots of my ancestry–had handed them down (to us), and honoured them with sacrifices and festivals, as was the primitive rule and the common custom of all mankind; in addition my own just consideration has further devised still other and especially brilliant honors. And as I have taken forethought to lay the foundation of this sacred tomb, which is to be indestructible by the ravages of time, in closest proximity to the heavenly throne, wherein the fortunately preserved outer form of my person, preserved to ripe old age, shall, after the soul beloved by God has been sent to the heavenly thrones of Zeus Oromasdes, rest through immeasurable time,

…. so I chose to make this holy place a common consecrated seat of all the Gods; so that not only the heroic company of my ancestors, whom you behold before you, might be set up here by my pious devotion, but also that the divine representation of the manifest deities might be consecrated on the holy hill and that his place might likewise not be lacking in witness to my piety.

Therefore, as you see, I have set up these divine images of Zeus-Oromasdes and of Apollo-Mithras-Helios-Hermes and of Artagnes-Herakles-Ares, and also of my all-nourishing homeland Kommagene; and from one and the same quarry, throned likewise among the deities who hear our prayers, I have consecrated the features of my own form, and have caused the ancient honor of great deities to become the coeval of a new Tyche. Since I thereby, in an upright way, imitated the example of the divine Providence, which as a benevolent helper has so often been seen standing by my side in the struggles of my reign. Adequate property in land and an inalienable income therefrom have I set aside for the ample provision of sacrifices; an unceasing cult and chosen priests arrayed in such vestments as are proper to the race of the Persians have I inaugurated, and I have dedicated the whole array and cult in a manner worthy of my fortune and the majesty of the Gods. I have decreed the appropriate laws to govern the sacred observances thus established for everlasting, so that all the inhabitants of my realm may offer both the ancient sacrifices, required by age-old common custom, and also new festivals in honor of the Gods and in my honor. The birthday of my natural body, the sixteenth of Audnaios, and the tenth of Loos, the day of my accession to the throne, I have consecrated to the manifestation of the great deities, who were my guides in a prosperous beginning and have been the source of universal blessing for my whole kingdom.

Because of the multitude of offering and the magnificence of the celebration I have consecrated two additional days, each of them as an annual festival. The population of my empire I have divided up for the purpose of these assemblies, festival gatherings, and sacrifices, and directed them to repair by villages and cities to the nearest sanctuaries, whichever is most conveniently located for the festival observance. Moreover, I have appointed under the same title that, in addition to the observance just named, my birth on the sixteenth and my accession on the tenth shall be observed every month by the priests. Now that these regulations have been established, to be observed continually as the pious duty of men of understanding, not only in my honor but also in the blessed hope of their own good fortune, I have, in obedience to the inspiration of the Gods, ordered to be inscribed upon sacred, inviolable stelae a holy law, which shall be binding upon all generations of mankind who in the immeasurable course of time, through their special lot in life, shall successively be destined to dwell in this land; they must observe it without violation, knowing that the stern penalty of the deified royal ancestors will pursue equally the impiety occasioned by neglect as that occasioned by folly and that disregard of the law decreed for the honor of the heroes brings with it inexorable penalties. For the pious it is all a simple matter, but godlessness is followed by backbreaking burdens. This law my voice has proclaimed, but it is the mind of the Gods that has given it authority. NOMOΣ – LAW The priest who is appointed by me for these Gods and heroes, whom I have dedicated at the sacred tomb of my body, on the topmost ridges of the Taurus range, and who shall at a later time hold this office, he, set free from very other duty, shall without let or hindrance and with no excuse for evasion keep watch at his memorial and devote himself to the care and the proper adornment of these sacred images. On the birthdays which I have established forever as monthly and annual festivals of the Gods and of my own person, throughout the whole year he shall, himself decently garbed in Persian raiment, as my benefaction and the ancestral custom of our race have provided, crown them all with the gold crowns which I have dedicated as the sacred honors due the deified ancestors; and out of income from the villages, which I have designated for the sacred honors of the heroic race, he shall offer on these altars rich additional offerings of incense and aromatic herbs, and also splendid sacrifices in honor of the Gods and in my honor,

….. in worthy wise setting up sacred tables with appropriate foods and filling jars from the winepress with precious drink (that is, wine mixed with water). He shall hospitably welcome the whole of the assembled people, both the native and the foreigners who stream hither, and he shall provide for the common enjoyment of the feast by the assembled multitudes, in that, as is the custom, he shall take for himself a portion, as a gift in honor of the priestly office, and then distribute the rest of my benefaction to the others for their free enjoyment, so that during the holy days everyone may receive a never failing sustenance and may thus be able to celebrate the festival without running the risk of malicious calumny. The drinking cups, which I have dedicated, are to be used by them as long as they remain in the holy place and participate in the general assembly for the feast.

The group of musicians whom I have chosen for the purpose and those who may later be consecrated, their sons and daughters, and also their descendants shall all learn the same art and be set free from the burden of every other responsibility; and they are to devote themselves to the observances which I have established to the end, and without any evasion are to continue their services as long as the assembly requests it. No one, no king or ruler, no priest or official shall ever make slaves of these hierodules, whom I have, in accordance with the divine will, consecrated to the Gods and to my own honors, or their children or the descendants of their children, who shall continue their family to all later time; he shall neither enslave them to himself nor alienate them to anyone else in any way, nor injure one of them, nor deprive him of this ministry; but the priests shall take care of them, and the kings, officials, and all private persons shall stand by them, and the favor of the Gods and heroes will be laid up for them as a reward for their piety.

It is equally not permitted for anyone to appropriate or to alienate the villages which I have dedicated to these Gods, to sell them or to devote them to some other purpose, or in any way to injure those villages; or to reduce the income from them, which I have dedicated to the Gods as an inviolable possession. Nor shall anyone go unpunished who shall devise in his mind against our honor some other scheme of violence or of disparaging or suspending the sacrifices and festal assemblies which I have established. Whoever shall presume to rescind or to injure or guilefully to misinterpret the just tenor of this regulation or the heroic honors which an immortal judgment has sanctioned, him the wrath of the daemons and of all the Gods shall pursue, both himself and his descendants, irreconcilably, with every kind of punishment.

A noble example of piety, which it is a matter of sacred duty to offer to Gods and ancestors, I have set before the eyes of my children and grandchildren, as through many other, so too through this work; and I believe that they will emulate this fair example by continually increasing the honors appropriate to their line and, like me, in their riper years adding greatly to their personal fame. For those who do so I pray that all the ancestral Gods, from Persia and Macedonia and from the native hearth of Kommagene, may continue to be gracious to them in all clemency. And whoever, in the long time to come, takes over this reign as king or dynast, may he, if he observes this law and guards my honor, enjoy, through my intercession, the favor of the deified ancestors and all the Gods. But if he, in his folly of mind, undertakes measures contrary to the honor of the Gods, may he, even without my curse, suffer the full wrath of the Gods."

-The Nomos: The Holy Law of King Antiochus I Theos of Commagene

More images (tumblr only lets me upload 10 per post):

https://paganimagevault.blogspot.com/2020/04/statues-of-mount-nemrut-62-bce.html

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mamamoon92 · 3 years

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Greek gods & goddesses ✨

☆ACHELOIS: A minor moon goddess whose name means “she who washes away pain”.

☆Alcyone: One of the seven, Pleiades and daughter of Atlas and Pleione. She bore several children with the god Poseidon.

☆ALECTRONA: An early Greek goddess of the sun, daughter of Helios and Rhode, and possibly goddess of the morning.

☆AMPHITRITE: Greek goddess of the sea, wife of Poseidon and a Nereid.

☆ANTHEIA: Goddess of gardens, flowers, swamps, and marshes.

☆APATE: Goddess of gardens, flowers, swamps, and marshes.

☆APHAEA: A Greek goddess who was worshipped almost exclusively at a single sanctuary on the island of Aegina in the Saronic Gulf.

☆APHRODITE: Goddess of love and beauty and married to Hephaestus.

☆ARTEMIS: Virginal goddess of the hunt and twin sister of Apollo.

☆ASTRAEA: Known as the “Star Maiden”, daughter of either Zeus and Themis, or of Astraeus and EOS and associated with the Greek goddess of justice, Dike.

☆ATÉ: Greek goddess of mischief, delusion, ruin, and folly.

☆ATHENA: Goddess of wisdom, poetry, art, and war strategy. Daughter of Zeus and born from his forehead fully grown, wearing battle armour.

☆ATROPOS: Eldest of the three Moirai, goddesses of fate and destiny (also known as The Fates). Atropos chose the mechanism of death and ended the life of each mortal by cutting their thread.

☆BIA: The goddess of force and raw energy, daughter of Pallas and Styx, and sister of Nike, Kratos, and Zelus.

☆BRIZO:Ancient Greek prophet goddess who was known as the protector of mariners, sailors, and fishermen.

☆CALLIOPE: One of the Muses, the muse of epic poetry, daughter of Zeus and Mnemosyne and the wisest of the Muses.

☆CALYPSO: Sea nymph who lived on the island of Ogygia, where she detained ODYSSEUS for several years. Generally said to be the daughter of the Titan ATLAS.

☆CELAENO: One of the Pleiades, and a wife of Poseidon. Said to be the mother of the sea god’s children Lycus and Nycteus

☆CETO: Primordial sea monster goddess, the daughter of Gaia and Pontus and mother of sea monsters.

☆CIRCE: A goddess of magic who transformed her enemies, or those that insulted her, into beasts.

☆CLIO: The muse of history and one of the nine muses known as “The Muses”. Like all the muses, Clio is the daughter of Zeus and the Titaness Mnemosyne.

☆CLOTHO: Youngest of the Three Fates and responsible for spinning the thread of human life.

☆CYBELE: The Greek goddess of caverns, mountains, nature and wild animals.

☆DEMETER: Goddess of agriculture, fertility, sacred law and the harvest.

☆DORIS: A sea nymph whose name represented the bounty of the sea. Mother of the Nereids.

☆EILEITHYIA: Goddess of childbirth, referred to by Homer as “the goddess of the pains of birth”.

☆ELECTRA: One of the seven daughters of Atlas and Pleione, known as The Pleiades.

☆ELPIS: The spirit and personification of hope. Hope was usually seen as an extension to suffering by the Greek, not as a god.

☆ENYO: Minor goddess of war and destruction, the companion and lover of the war god Ares and connected to Eris.

☆EOS: A Titaness and the goddess of the dawn.

☆ERATO: One of the Muses, the muse of lyric poetry, especially love and erotic poetry.

☆ERIS: Greek goddess of chaos, strife and discord and connected to the war-goddess Enyo.

☆EUTERPE: One of the Muses, the muse of music and lyric poetry.

☆GAIA: The primal Greek goddess of the Earth. Known as the great mother of all and often referred to as “Mother Earth”.

☆HARMONIA: The Greek goddess of harmony and concord.

☆HEBE: Goddess of eternal youth.

☆HECATE: The goddess of magic, crossroads, moon, ghosts, witchcraft and necromancy (the undead).

☆HEMERA: Primordial goddess of the day, daytime and daylight. Daughter to Erebus and Nyx (the goddess of night).

☆HERA: Goddess of goddesses, women, and marriage. Married to Zeus and known as Queen of the Gods.

☆HESTIA: goddess of the hearth, home, architecture, domesticity, family, and the state. Also one of the Hesperides.

☆HYGEA: Goddess of good health, cleanliness, and sanitation. This is where the word “hygiene” comes from.

☆IRIS: Greek goddess of the rainbow and messenger of the gods. She is also known as one of the goddesses of the sea and the sky.

☆KERES: The Keres were female spirits, the daughters of Nyx, the goddess of night.

☆KOTYSA: Dionysian goddess whose celebrations were wild and lascivious.

☆LACHESIS: Second of the Three Fates, the measurer of the thread of life woven by Clotho’s spindle which determines Destiny.

☆MAIA: Eldest of the seven Pleiades and the greek goddess of fields.

☆MANIA: Spirit goddess of insanity, madness, crazed frenzy and the dead.

☆MELPOMENE: One of the Muses. Originally the muse of singing, she then became the muse of tragedy.

☆MEROPE: One of the seven Pleiades and married to king Sisyphos of Ephyra.

☆METIS: Titan goddess of wisdom, an Oceanid, and the first great spouse of Zeus.

☆NEMESIS: The goddess of retribution and personification of vengeance.

☆NIKE: Goddess of victory, known as the Winged Goddess of Victory.

☆NYX: Primordial goddess of the night.

☆PEITHO: Greek goddess of persuasion and seduction.

☆PERSEPHONE: Goddess of vegetation and spring and queen of the underworld. Lives off-season in the underworld as the wife of HADES.

☆PHEME: The goddess of fame, gossip and renown. Her favour is notability, and her wrath is scandalous rumors.

☆POLYHYMNIA: One of The Muses, the muse of sacred poetry, sacred hymn, dance, and eloquence as well as agriculture, geometry and pantomime.

☆RHEA: Titaness and goddess of nature. Daughter of the earth goddess Gaia and the sky god Uranus, and known as “the mother of gods”.

☆SELENE: Goddess of the Moon, sometimes referred to as Luna and the ‘mother’ of vampires.

☆STEROPE: One of the seven Pleiades (the daughters of Atlas and Pleione) and the wife of Oenomaus – although according to some accounts, she is his mother by Ares.

☆STYX: Goddess of the river Styx and a Naiad who was the first to aid Zeus in the Titan war.

☆TAYGETE: A mountain nymph and one of the seven Pleiades.

☆TERPSICHORE: Goddess of dance and chorus and one of the nine Muses.

☆THALIA: One of the Muses, the muse of comedy and idyllic poetry.

☆THE ERINNYES: Goddesses of retribution and vengeance whose job was to punish men who committed heinous crimes.

☆THE GRACES: Goddesses of retribution and vengeance whose job was to punish men who committed heinous crimes.

☆THE MUSES: The nine Muses were the goddesses the arts.

☆THEMIS: Ancient Greek Titaness and goddess of divine order, law, natural law and custom.

☆THETIS: Sea nymph, goddess of water and one of the fifty Nereids, daughters of the ancient sea god Nereus. Also a shapeshifter and a prophet.

☆TYCHE: Goddess of prosperity and fortune.

☆URANIA: One of the Muses, the muse of astronomy and astrology.

🖤✨

#green witch #lunar witch #gemini #witchyvibes #witchy blog #greek gods #greek goddess #mythology #greek

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x-x-just-a-little-witchyy-x-x · 3 years

Text

Greek Deities (female)

Female

ACHELOIS - A minor moon goddess whose name means “she who washes away pain”.

ALCYONE - One of the seven, Pleiades and daughter of Atlas and Pleione. She bore several children with the god Poseidon.

ALECTRONA - An early Greek goddess of the sun, daughter of Helios and Rhode, and possibly goddess of the morning.

AMPHITRITE - Greek goddess of the sea, wife of Poseidon and a Nereid.

ANTHEIA - Goddess of gardens, flowers, swamps, and marshes.

APATE - Goddess of gardens, flowers, swamps, and marshes.

APHAEA - A Greek goddess who was worshipped almost exclusively at a single sanctuary on the island of Aegina in the Saronic Gulf.

APHRODITE - Goddess of love and beauty and married to Hephaestus.

ARTEMIS - Virginal goddess of the hunt and twin sister of Apollo.

ASTRAEA - Known as the “Star Maiden”, daughter of either Zeus and Themis, or of Astraeus and EOS and associated with the Greek goddess of justice, Dike.

ATE - Greek goddess of mischief, delusion, ruin, and folly.

ATHENA - Goddess of wisdom, poetry, art, and war strategy. Daughter of Zeus and born from his forehead fully grown, wearing battle armour.

ATROPOS - Eldest of the three Moirai, goddesses of fate and destiny (also known as The Fates). Atropos chose the mechanism of death and ended the life of each mortal by cutting their thread.

BIA - The goddess of force and raw energy, daughter of Pallas and Styx, and sister of Nike, Kratos, and Zelus.

BRIZO - Ancient Greek prophet goddess who was known as the protector of mariners, sailors, and fishermen.

CALLIOPE - One of the Muses, the muse of epic poetry, daughter of Zeus and Mnemosyne and the wisest of the Muses.

CALYPSO - Sea nymph who lived on the island of Ogygia, where she detained ODYSSEUS for several years. Generally said to be the daughter of the Titan ATLAS.

CELAENO - One of the Pleiades, and a wife of Poseidon. Said to be the mother of the sea god’s children Lycus and Nycteus

CETO - Primordial sea monster goddess, the daughter of Gaia and Pontus and mother of sea monsters.

CIRCE - A goddess of magic who transformed her enemies, or those that insulted her, into beasts.

CLIO - The muse of history and one of the nine muses known as “The Muses”. Like all the muses, Clio is the daughter of Zeus and the Titaness Mnemosyne.

CLOTHO - Youngest of the Three Fates and responsible for spinning the thread of human life.

CYBELLE - The Greek goddess of caverns, mountains, nature and wild animals.

DEMETER - Goddess of agriculture, fertility, sacred law and the harvest.

DORIS - A sea nymph whose name represented the bounty of the sea. Mother of the Nereids.

EILEITHYIA - Goddess of childbirth, referred to by Homer as “the goddess of the pains of birth”.

ELECTRA - One of the seven daughters of Atlas and Pleione, known as The Pleiades.

ELPIS - The spirit and personification of hope. Hope was usually seen as an extension to suffering by the Greek, not as a god.

ENYO - Minor goddess of war and destruction, the companion and lover of the war god Ares and connected to Eris.

EOS - A Titaness and the goddess of the dawn.

ERATO - One of the Muses, the muse of lyric poetry, especially love and erotic poetry. ERIS - Greek goddess of chaos, strife and discord and connected to the war-goddess Enyo.

EUTERPE - One of the Muses, the muse of music and lyric poetry.

GAIA - The primal Greek goddess of the Earth. Known as the great mother of all and often referred to as “Mother Earth”.

HARMONIA - The Greek goddess of harmony and concord.

HEBE - Goddess of eternal youth.

HECATE - The goddess of magic, crossroads, moon, ghosts, witchcraft and necromancy (the undead).

HEMERA - Primordial goddess of the day, daytime and daylight. Daughter to Erebus and Nyx (the goddess of night).

HERA - Goddess of goddesses, women, and marriage. Married to Zeus and known as Queen of the Gods.

HESTIA - goddess of the hearth, home, architecture, domesticity, family, and the state. Also one of the Hesperides.

HYGEA - Goddess of good health, cleanliness, and sanitation. This is where the word “hygiene” comes from.

IRIS - Greek goddess of the rainbow and messenger of the gods. She is also known as one of the goddesses of the sea and the sky.

KERES - The Keres were female spirits, the daughters of Nyx, the goddess of night.

KOTYS - A Dionysian goddess whose celebrations were wild and lascivious.

LACHESIS - Second of the Three Fates, the measurer of the thread of life woven by Clotho’s spindle which determines Destiny.

MAIA - Eldest of the seven Pleiades and the greek goddess of fields.

MANIA - Spirit goddess of insanity, madness, crazed frenzy and the dead.

MELPOMENE - One of the Muses. Originally the muse of singing, she then became the muse of tragedy. MEROPE - One of the seven Pleiades and married to king Sisyphos of Ephyra. METIS - Titan goddess of wisdom, an Oceanid, and the first great spouse of Zeus.

NEMESIS - The goddess of retribution and personification of vengeance.

NIKE - Goddess of victory, known as the Winged Goddess of Victory.

NYX - Primordial goddess of the night.

PEITHO - Greek goddess of persuasion and seduction.

PERSEPHONE - Goddess of vegetation and spring and queen of the underworld. Lives off-season in the underworld as the wife of HADES.

PHEME - The goddess of fame, gossip and renown. Her favour is notability, and her wrath is scandalous rumors.

POLYHYMNIA - One of The Muses, the muse of sacred poetry, sacred hymn, dance, and eloquence as well as agriculture, geometry and pantomime.

RHEA - Titaness and goddess of nature. Daughter of the earth goddess Gaia and the sky god Uranus, and known as “the mother of gods”.

SELENE - Goddess of the Moon, sometimes referred to as Luna and the ‘mother’ of vampires.

STEROPE - One of the seven Pleiades (the daughters of Atlas and Pleione) and the wife of Oenomaus – although according to some accounts, she is his mother by Ares.

STYX - Goddess of the river Styx and a Naiad who was the first to aid Zeus in the Titan war.

TAYGETE - A mountain nymph and one of the seven Pleiades.

TERPSICHORE - Goddess of dance and chorus and one of the nine Muses.

THALIA - One of the Muses, the muse of comedy and idyllic poetry.

THE ERINNYES - Goddesses of retribution and vengeance whose job was to punish men who committed heinous crimes.

THE GRACES - Goddesses of retribution and vengeance whose job was to punish men who committed heinous crimes.

THE MUSES - The nine Muses were the goddesses the arts.

THEMIS - Ancient Greek Titaness and goddess of divine order, law, natural law and custom.

THETIS - Sea nymph, goddess of water and one of the fifty Nereids, daughters of the ancient sea god Nereus. Also a shapeshifter and a prophet.

TYCHE - Goddess of prosperity and fortune.

URANIA - One of the Muses, the muse of astronomy and astrology.

Information found on: https://greekgodsandgoddesses.net/goddesses/

#witchblr #my research #greek goddesses

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prismaticmuses · 2 years

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The Hound’s Folly

Shit. That little weasel, tricking him into going in the vault. Night would’ve been safe and happy out in the field if he hadn’t been goaded into this. Well, no time to worry about that right now, and yelling at his partner wouldn’t do any good, so he could grumble to himself and move on.

Going down the stairs, he could see a large screen ahead. Upon closer inspection, it seemed to be a question projected on the screen. Nearing the bottom of the steps, he noticed a long hallway leading to a large open room with a circular entryway, just like an open bank vault. Within, he could easily see the hostage, tied to a chair smack dab in the middle. He wanted to rush forward but stopped just at the bottom of the staircase. He didn’t want to trip any possible traps that could potentially be waiting for him down the tiled hallway.

As soon as he stepped forward from the staircase, small lasers parallel to the ground, connecting both walls of the hall, flickered every few feet. Curious, he took a boot off and held it out as far from his body as he could to trip the line. Immediately, the two walls the lasers connected to exploded. It wasn’t powerful enough to take down the building, but there was a bit of dust and debris. Night coughed from the dust and replaced his boot. “Okay, cool, can’t touch those.” He considered running up the wall, over the line, but the dust revealed more lines parallel to the walls. “Oh, great.”

He looked back up to the question, then to the floor. There were four glowing tiles in a row before every laser. The four by his feet now showed four different answers. “So it’s a trivia game.... Okay, I got this.”

He turned his attention to the question itself. “During the time of the Empire, Helios and Astrea had only two children, unable to produce more heirs. Scholars have theorized different explanations for this. Which of these is NOT one of them?” Looking to the answers, they all sounded plausible, but Night was pretty sure he knew what the correct answer was. He stepped fully onto the square, shutting his eyes and tensing up, preparing for the worst. Nothing happened immediately and he cracked an eye open upon hearing a little chime ring out. Oh good, it was right. The line by his feet disappeared and he hesitantly moved forward, in front of the next row of squares. A new question was projected on the screen, this one pertaining to the battlefield they’d arrived at. These weren’t common knowledge questions, but he was gaining a bit more confidence, relieved that he’d be able to use what he learned. This would be easy.

It was. Until he got to the fourth question and guessed wrong. A buzzer yelled at him, but really nothing else happened. He just wouldn’t be able to move forward. That seemed safe, but knowing this was meant to be deadly, he’d do his best not to guess wrong again lest he find out the real consequences of failure, which he was pretty sure would involve blowing him to pieces.

Thankfully, he was able to get the remaining questions answered correctly. Stepping through the entrance to the real vault, he let out a deep breath, keeping a hand on his chest as if to keep his heart from escaping. “Fuck, that was stressful. Okay.” He took a moment to call to Taupe on the radio. No response. That could mean several things, but what it meant for certain was he was still on his own.

The hostage seemed to be a woman with sheep-horn augments. She was awake but frightened and trapped. Night was careful when he approached. He didn’t see any more trip-lines, but he didn’t feel safe still. Regardless, the hall was cleared. He started to untie her and tried to help her to her feet. Suddenly, the vault door shut with a loud clang. The floor was wet. Water seemed to be slowly seeping in, but fast enough they could drown if they didn’t get out. “Shit. Shit shit shit.”

He frowned, looking around the room for a moment as the water rose to their ankles. To the woman, he asked, “Can you swim?” She seemed confused but nodded and let Night help. There weren’t a lot of options for exits. There was a vent above them, but the easiest way to reach it would be to let the water rise so they could swim up to it. But then what if the water never stopped rising? He tried to find where the water was coming from, but he doubted trying to block the flow would be of much good.

“Dammit. ... Okay, miss. We’re gonna swim up to the vent once the water’s high enough, okay? It’s still risky, but it’s the easiest way out.” She agreed. They waited about a minute for the water to lift them off the ground as they waded. “Okay, can you reach the vent?”

Suddenly, a voice is heard. All it said was, ‘Night, hold your breath and duck.’ He didn’t overanalyze it just then- it sounded male, so could’ve been Taupe, though how...? Didn’t matter. He helped the hostage to duck down into the water. A couple seconds later, a heavy force was heard above as them, muffled by the water, though it sent shockwaves through. They swayed as the water changed course, suddenly rushing forward. Night raised his head above the surface, watching the outside world getting closer and closer. He tripped over a broken piece of the wall that had apparently blown up and tumbled onto the ground, the woman following suit.

“You fucking idiot.”

Wait. He knew that voice all too well. “Hugo? Wha- how did you-?”

“Don’t worry about it, worry about her. She alright?”

Night rose and helped the woman to her feet again. They were cold and wet, but alive. “Yeah, think so, just shaken.” Looking past Hugo, back to the building, there looked to be a damaged car, spewing smoke and bits of fire into the air, crushed under chunks of concrete from the hole in the building. Night frowned and pointed at it, “Did you-?”

“Leave it, let’s go.” The three of them started back down the battlefield towards the station on foot, finally out of danger. ... Hopefully.

#apricus au #dash commentary #muse: night #muse: hugo knight #ship: evening sentry

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all-pacas · 3 years

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please go off on ten paragraphs of iliad/odyssey stories?

first of all, if you have not already, go and buy emily wilson's translation of the odyssey. read it in the library first if that's easier, but then go and buy it. i feel very strongly that you should have a copy. i don't know who you are. it does not matter.

it's a relatively recent translation, and wilson's version stands apart because she shed it of the Poetic Old Timey Speak of other translations. she still keeps strictly to the pentameter, mind you. but instead of florid high-school-english-class language, she writes in modern, casual speech. it absolutely transforms the text from Something You Read In School to what it is: a story. a fucking good story.

also, her opening lines? the command in the tone? jesus christ ya'll.

to compare, here is the opening lines from an older translation (1900):

Tell me, Muse, of that man, so ready at need, who wandered far and wide, after he had sacked the sacred citadel of Troy, and many were the men whose towns he saw and whose mind he learnt, yea, and many the woes he suffered in his heart on the deep, striving to win his own life and the return of his company. Nay, but even so he saved not his company, though he desired it sore. For through the blindness of their own hearts they perished, fools, who devoured the oxen of Helios Hyperion: but the god took from them their day of returning. Of these things, goddess, daughter of Zeus, whencesoever thou hast heard thereof, declare thou even unto us.

did you skim it? i sure fucking did.

and here's one from 1999:

Tell me, O Muse, of that ingenious hero who travelled far and wide after he had sacked the famous town of Troy. Many cities did he visit, and many were the nations with whose manners and customs he was acquainted; moreover he suffered much by sea while trying to save his own life and bring his men safely home; but do what he might he could not save his men, for they perished through their own sheer folly in eating the cattle of the Sun-god Hyperion; so the god prevented them from ever reaching home. Tell me, too, about all these things, oh daughter of Jove, from whatsoever source you may know them.

i hope you get my point. the thing is, the odyssey is a fucking adventure story. it has death and villains and traps and magic and monsters. it's an action movie, with plucky heroes and gods. but it's easy to forget that, because it's also thousands of years old and Important, and treated as Important Work before it is treated as a story.

anyway, here is how Wilson translates the same opening:

Tell me about a complicated man. Muse, tell me how he wandered and was lost when he had wrecked the holy town of Troy, and where he went, and who he met, the pain he suffered in the storms at sea, and how he worked to save his life and bring his men back home. He failed to keep them safe; poor fools, they ate the Sun God’s cattle, and the god kept them from home. Now goddess, child of Zeus, tell the old story for our modern times. Find the beginning.

like holy shit. the command! the iambic pentameter! find the beginning. i just! don't mistake modern language for weak or flimsy. it is incredible. go read it.

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mypunkpansexualtwin · 3 years

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misguided wingman is literally my shit i personally love seeing akira written as a lovestruck fool. also catch me still melting over "Were Helios half as radiant as my Chariot, the world would understand the folly of Icarus..."

Pear!!! Thank you so much, I’m gonna be honest I never expected my one-off idea I had almost a year ago to go from “yeah ryuji seems like the kind of guy to get a lowkey-confession-slash-coming-out like that and decide to support his bro by playing wingman at a guy he doesn’t realize looks like his American cousin” to blowing up into the 6 chapter thing that it is or for it to get the feedback that it has. I am so excited to post it, you have no idea, but I’ve been holding off because I know what happens when I try to post a multichap piece before it’s done and I don’t want to leave people hanging.

And if you like Lovestruck Fool Akira, I hope you also like Anxious Dork Akira, because we’re now past the date with Hawaii Guy and into “oh god I’ve cheated on Ryuji” “You aren’t even dating Ryuji” “I’ve cheated on him”. It’s fun stuff and based partly on my own real life experience, so that’s fun!

And the Helios line. Oh my god the Helios line. I’m so proud of that, I’m so glad I remembered to write that one down because that one was a Halfway To Sleep At 3 AM line that I had forgotten by the time I woke up. I tweaked it a little from the original thought, “Were Apollo half as radiant, the world wold understand the folly of Icarus was not hubris but reckless devotion” and I’m really happy with both versions. But Helios and Chariot seemed Especially Fitting, yanno? I’m not sure how I’m gonna top it in the spinoff fics I’m planning, but I’m definitely gonna try. At least in two of them, the third is just gonna be an even more self-indulgent chatfic between the rest of the PT taking bets on when/how they’re gonna get together.

#long post #persona 5 #misguided wingman #my writing #tldr on the real life experience when you're pining for a girl while working at a place where most people communicate via flirting and you #you get a lot of 'i cant flirt back thats CHEATING wait im not dating her BUT STILL'#also a lot of almost introducing your best friend as your girlfriend but catching yourself before you do because that's not correct #for like two weeks before working up the nerve to ask her out which i should totally incorporate into the ryuji sided spinoff #cause yeah i can't just leave it where wingman is gonna end #good gourd I'm prone to babbling #moodypear #answers to questions y'all actually asked

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grimvestige · 3 months

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Token art for a kitsune alchemist NPC in my setting, Naomi! idk what you're talking about she hasn't been inhaling the evil purple eldritch fog

#q #my art #dnd oc #dnd character #dnd art #ttrpg #pathfinder #pf2e #pf2 #pf2e art #pf2e character #kitsune #kemonomimi #folly of helios #campaign: the land of horns & teeth #npc: naomi

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monday-headache · 3 years

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Borderlands questions: 17, 24, 34 and 55 :D

A mission you found extremely hard?

Pretty much all the invincible raid boss´s from Borderlands 2 UVHM. The only one that was more or less exceptable was Terramorphus, but thats it o_o

Character of choice in Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel (Athena, Wilhelm, Claptrap, Nisha, Jack, Aurelia)?

Would chose either Timothy or Athena.

Favorite location?

Borderlands 1

The Vault Pass

Borderlands 2

The Forest

Hayters Folly

The Fridge

Tales from the Borderlands

The Biodome

HollowPoint

Helios Fallen

Borderlands 3

Meridian City

The Cankerwood

Athenas

Favorite song in the OST?

TBH Borderlands 2 and 3 had some reall great bangers, but Tales also had some good ones:

Sanctuary III main theme

Not one of those stories

End of Tyreen

Lynchwood theme

Rhys BallSax

and so on.

#thanks for asking

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kyralih · 3 years

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Cardinal King 3: Bright Future (Ch 7)

Last Time, on Cardinal King:

South has suspicions about this 'bright future' they put together, mainly the noticeable lack of political allies in this world-threatening situation; North backs him, and, together, they learn from Helios just what miracle the missing King of Crystal Tokyo managed before he disappeared.

Recalling Sailor Pluto's key as being in Mamoru's possession before he disappeared, South and North leave Mercury in charge of the control room and go in search of Rin, hoping the kid could lead them to the Door of Time and, from there, see if Pluto could locate or contact Mamoru through to key. The young boy is nowhere to be found, but the pair find a helpful talking kitten to lead them...

Chapter Seven: Elysion and the Garden of Dreams

He ran, throwing everything he had at the enormous creature that strode purposefully through the city of thorns, but to no avail. It barely responded, even as he fired a concentrated beam of golden light from his rose sword. It just got faster, moved farther from him, and no matter how hard he ran he was getting farther and farther behind. He jumped, he flew, but he was batted away effortlessly with one swing of its gigantic tail and landed hard in a thicket of briars. Trapped, he slashed with his sword, kicked his way towards the path of destruction in its wake, ripped and pulled against how his clothing stuck to the thorns and held him back. He couldn’t let it reach the castle. Everything pushed him back, the briars grew thicker before him - with every step forward he moved three steps back, and still, the footsteps of the monster boomed and shook the land around it. It yelled a challenge, deep voice bellowing, and people - humans - screamed. He had to help them! But the vines grew thicker, blocking out the light -

“Endymion!” someone called, but he knew it was a trick. If he joined hands with her he would gain the power to aid the monster, not destroy it. He pushed on, struggling against the press of thorns and the pull of the voice from the darkness behind him.

“Endymion!” it called again, but the voice was different - deeper, less feminine - and as his sword was ripped from his hand and moved beyond his reach, he did not follow its progress with his eyes. He had to ignore the voice, to focus on the enemy. His hands open wide, palms out, he threw another blast of energy outward, but the plants only grew -

“Mamoru!”

He paused - the enemy had not used his name, only his title - but it was his folly, as in pausing a hand reached out from behind him, clasped his shoulder, and pulled. He fell back into the dark, the thorns disappearing alongside the light…

And suddenly he was in a vast field of flowers, the ethereal light soft about him, thousands of whispering voices moving like the wind through the air all around. Where had he just been? He turned, not quite willing to accept the sudden peacefulness of his new surroundings, suspicious of a threat hiding just beyond his sight - but instead of monsters or friends he couldn’t lead to truth, he found a twilit sky and an idyllic forest, before which was a structure carved of white stone. It was familiar, though the roses that grew around it, the vines that crept up its pillars and around its arches were new, rather than something out of his memory. Barely within the structure stood a figure that, for all the world, looked like he would prefer to rush towards him but held back, his appearance half-hidden in the fading light.

Calm as opposed to apprehensive, Mamoru stepped towards him. As he walked, fireflies took off all around, taking to the sky as hundreds of stars to light his way, and the figure in the gazebo relaxed his stance, disappointed, but stood taller and waited patiently for his arrival. Firefly light reflected off of the golden horn protruding from his head, and Mamoru recognized him all at once: Helios. As he stepped up the stone stairs to the platform beneath the crossing white archways the fireflies dispersed, their light filling the fields with a soft glow and reflecting off the peacefully still lake between this structure and the castle far beyond.

“Mamoru,” Helios greeted with a slight bow to his head. In just his name alone, Mamoru knew this was not his Helios, but rather the guardian of Crystal Tokyo’s time. Which meant this was Elysion, just as the familiarity suggested.

“Elysion is beautiful,” he replied, moving to rest one hand on the stone railing as he looked over the lake, only to find his hand wasn’t entirely there; he could see through it as easily as they had seen through the High Priest’s form back in the castle. His heart sank, and he tried to push past the disappointment and despair the realization brought.

Helios joined him, his form solid, his footsteps resounding against the wooden floor beneath them. “Thank you,” he replied, amber-colored eyes forward, “It took some time to restore it to its original state, and more to transform it into the paradise you see before you, but it was a labor of love.”

“I can feel it,” Mamoru replied, taking a deep breath of the cool air in an attempt to calm the bitter emotions building in his chest, but no amount of deep breathing, even in this atmosphere of peace and tranquility, would ever overcome the knowledge that he had failed them.

Helios turned to him as though sensing it. “Are you alright?” he asked, placing his solid hand on Mamoru’s ghostly shoulder and somehow Mamoru felt it.

He turned away from the sight of the lake and the castle beyond, “As well as could be expected, given the circumstances,” he replied, unable to keep the note of sourness from his tone. He was dead, Elysion now his own personal Elysium, made so through the connection he had to it. Would the others meet him here, eventually? Sooner, perhaps, rather than later, thanks to him? … should they try to visit him before that time, would he be able to interact with them, or would he be a ghost? Obviously Helios could speak with him - the ability of his sort of priest? Through him, he could at least apologize for not being more careful, for not being able to carry through with their plan. For letting them down. For leaving them. For leaving her. “Do they know?” he asked, his heart a stone in his chest.

“Not yet -” Helios began to say, but Mamoru interrupted.

“It’d be better to let them know now, rather than wait,” he said, his hand curling into a fist on the railing. “Maybe in your time they’ve grown past this, but Kaito thinks better knowing all the pieces and Khalid would need to change whatever plan he had in the works to include that I wasn’t coming back. Try to give Nero something to punch and Yuu somewhere to go. They’ll get past it, but it’d be better hearing from you than hearing from Metallia or Beryl or one of their lackeys.”

“So Beryl has turned?” Helios asked.

Right. Information. He nodded his head curtly. “Metallia took advantage of her feelings towards me and the Moon Kingdom and Serenity and worked up a story around them. She hasn’t completely transformed, like the three others in the videos, but she’s beginning to.”

“Has she spoken of Metallia’s origin?” Helios asked.

“The version she made for Beryl, in any case,” Mamoru replied, reporting, “She said she was the original guardian of the Sun, and that when the Moon Kingdom was settled they sealed her away to usurp her power. She said that she sent her soul gem to Earth before it could be sealed away so it could be joined with Earth’s gem to create the Golden Crystal, to protect Earth in her place.” Helios sucked in a breath and Mamoru turned to face him, his brows furrowing, his report stopped. The pale guardian’s mouth was in a tight line, a crease in his brow; his hands were in fists by his side, and the confidence Mamoru had in the story being false suddenly wavered. “Is it true?” he asked, afraid for the answer to be true and find that not only was the Moon Kingdom foreign to the system entirely but that Serenity’s predecessors had entered the system as enemies.

“It is not her story, no,” Helios stated carefully, the calm in his tone backed by hot anger. “Not entirely, in any case. But from it, we can glean the bits of truth she hid to make it more believable.” Helios turned and leaned his back against the railings of the gazebo, his elbows propped as he considered.

“What parts aren’t her story?” Mamoru asked carefully.

“She was never the guardian of the Sun,” Helios stated, “Metallia was not responsible for sending its soul crystal to combine with Earth’s, and that process was done long before the Moon Kingdom was settled.”

He had questions.

“The Golden Crystal isn’t of Earth, then?”

Helios shook his head, looking towards him, “It is entirely of Earth, don’t confuse yourself - it is simply additionally protected by the Sun.”

“But what does that --”

“Nothing,” Helios interrupted with authority, but as Mamoru looked to him the guardian’s eyes softened. “The Sun’s protection is passive, it is not something you can harness, so tuck that information away for what it is - a miscellaneous fact.”

Mamoru turned more to face him, the quandary still jumping around in his head. Protected by the Sun? Could he have… … but that was all irrelevant now, wasn’t it? “And how did you learn of this ‘miscellaneous fact’, if it is from so long ago?” Mamoru asked in an effort to refocus himself on things he could potentially help with, rather than chasing a rabbit down holes that would lead him nowhere.

Helios fixed him with a critical stare before cautiously replying, “I was there.” To Mamoru’s incredulous look, he shrugged, adding, “Kind of.” His gaze shifted to the field of flowers Mamoru had come from and stated, “Your miracle on the battlefield that night was not the first time souls have been reincarnated; mine just so happens to come from a little further in the past.”

“A little?” Mamoru repeated, in his own opinion taking the revelation quite well.

Helios smiled, “Well, maybe a lot further. A couple millennia, give or take. And no,” he said, sliding his gaze back to Mamoru, “Your Helios has not realized that yet, so try not to mention it to him.”

He nodded absentmindedly, putting pieces together - “It was you, then?” he asked, but to Helios’s confusion, he elaborated - “You were the guardian of the Sun?”

Helios’s eyes dropped, staring at the pale planks of wood at their feet. He shook his head, “No,” then added, wistfully, “but we were friends.” He paused, “In the end, he did sacrifice himself to combine his Sol crystal with the crystal of Earth, but it was not to protect Earth against the Moon Kingdom, but an enemy far more dangerous and ancient.” Helios cleared his throat, “He had no regrets and was not sealed away. That Metallia knew that the crystals combined, though, means it - she - whatever knows about that,” he looked up thoughtfully, “else could sense the sun’s power in the Golden Crystal and made up parts of a tale that coincidentally was close to the truth.”

Helios had known the guardian of the Sun and his reasons for doing what he did to protect Earth... “Did you choose to be reborn?” he asked, drawing the Priest’s attention from the purple sky above.

“I did,” he said, fixing his gaze on Mamoru. “He loved this planet so much he forfeited his soul towards its protection; the least I could do is stick around and offer what guidance I can to his successors.” He half-smiled, but that smile soon faded, “And protect that memory. Metallia probably doesn’t know about that old enemy, but the part of the story about the Moon Kingdom is probably true - it may have been sealed away by them, thus the grudge it has against them, and the Queen by extension.

He paused, “So Beryl was manipulated due to how recent the fight against Diana and the Moon Kingdom was, in your time? An ancient grudge against the Moon Kingdom would make more sense than the reason Diana had, wouldn’t it?” he mused, “And Beryl’s loyalty would align her with Metallia, in Metallia’s telling. Were you able to confront her?”

“Yes and no,” Mamoru replied, crossing his arms. “She wouldn’t believe anything that I said; Metallia convinced her that both the Earth and I am under the Moon’s influence, and until that influence is erased I’ll do and say whatever it takes to protect Usako, or Queen Serenity or Princess Serenity or whomever she’s imagining as the person holding the strings.”

“Ah,” Helios said, nodding his head, a scowl on his lips, “Right. That would carry weight with her in that time.” He let out a breath and grew quiet, considering.

“But not this time?” Mamoru asked, prompting an answer, anxious to hear what had become of their dynamic in Rin’s time. Helios gave him a look, as though reminding him it wasn’t good to know too much about the future, even if it was no longer his, but he was dead. There was nothing he could do with that information, no path he could damage. He reasoned, “If she knew of her place in this future, of how she herself fared, maybe she can be convinced that Metallia isn’t completely truthful. She would trust her future-self’s judgement - Khalid could use that in an attempt to convince her to give up Metallia. If the Beryl from this time is awake, and not comatose somewhere like everyone else is, her appearance could be enough to tip the scales -”

Helios shook his head; while thoughtful, he took the time to briefly explain, “That’s not possible.”

Mamoru waited for further explanation, but when none was forthcoming he had to assume… “She died?” His stomach lurched. She had had no soul - if she had died… he may be stuck here, but at least he was still himself. He was still experiencing things, he had an ‘afterlife’, but she…

“No,” Helios denied, looking over at him sharply and punctuating the answer with a short shake of his head, repeating, “No, she’s not dead. She’s just… elsewhere.”

“Elsewhere?”

“Not on Earth or the Moon. She met someone and is travelling with them - happily, from what her letters have suggested.” Travelling? … through space? “She found love and is spending the years exploring with them; there is no way to contact her now, but even if we could, she would never be able to make it back here in time. But that... “ he considered, “maybe we could use that.” He turned to him, nodding, moving on - “Where are you being held?”

Being held? His body? He shook his head; even if they wanted to recover it he couldn’t be much help in locating it. “Somewhere in space,” he said, the last word sounding as incredulous out of his mouth as it had in his mind. “It was moving - a meteoroid, maybe? It wasn’t large, from the perspective I could see, anyway. No physical horizon outside the room I was being kept in. It was dark, so potentially moving towards the Sun and inner system? If it was passing by planets, none were so close that I could make them out among the stars.” He breathed out, “That’s where Metallia and Beryl are; she was draining me, had Beryl believing that we were ‘sharing’ the energy because the golden crystal was originally hers. I don’t know how we got there, but, unless they left as soon as I died, she’s not on Earth. There’s no time to worry about recovering my body, though -”

“Mamoru,” Helios interrupted warily, straightening up to put his hand back on his shoulder, leaning in sincerely as he said, “You’re not dead.” He…? Helios straightened, using his free hand to indicate the world around them. “Elysion is, currently, a land of dreams. You’re just dreaming - the first dream you’ve had since you left. I was able to pull you out to speak with you. You’re still alive, and we’ll figure out where your body is and bring it back as soon as we can. While you’re here, you’re safe; King Endymion has spread his protection to every soul sheltered here, including his younger self’s, it seems.” He released him, looking up and to the left, as though getting ready to leave, “I’ll keep you apprised of what is going on up there, but for now I’ll tell them what you were able to tell me and see what we can do with it. Thank you,” he said, turning back to him. “This could help -”

“Let me go back,” he said, steeling his resolve. If he was alive, he could help. He had more options to try. “I can try again - I can work on convincing her -”

Helios immediately shook his head, taking hold of his wrist as though to keep him in place, “No, Mamoru. If you’re here, you’re safe; if you go back she just may drain you of everything, and then where would we be? Stay here -”

“No,” Mamoru said, shaking his head, pulling his arm free of the Priest’s grasp. “I’m not leaving everyone to face this while I just sit out on the sidelines, safe and sound. I can still try to help.” He implored, “If I can stop them before Metallia’s ready to return to Earth, then she won’t be able to attack Crystal Tokyo again.” He could tell Beryl where the Golden Crystal really came from, about why Metallia had to go to the past to find her because her future self knew better than to ally herself with a lie. He’d just have to figure out a way around the energy drain. “If I run into trouble again, I’ll just… start dreaming again,” he said, as though he had any control over that. How many times had he passed out, only to dream that last time? “I can tell you what I’ve learned, you can use it to prepare, or modify the plans you guys come up with while I’m away.” He caught his eye, “We need all the help we can get. Let me keep helping.”

Helios returned his gaze steadily… but then took in a breath and let it out, conceding. “Just deciding to dream around her isn’t exactly something you can control, but there may be another way.” He walked down the short stair, leaving the canopied gazebo, and stooped to pick a single red rose before returning. “Jadeite says you have one of Pluto’s keys. If you must return instead of staying safely here, then use it immediately to escape next time your life is threatened. No matter what happens because of it, don’t die there.”

He nodded. The key. He hadn’t felt it on his person, hadn’t seen it in his reflection, but he had not given it to anyone - it must still be with him somewhere.

“I still think this is a bad idea,” Helios said, “Are you sure?” He nodded again, taking a breath to prepare himself. Helios offered him the flower, and he took it. “Treat that as a talisman,” he instructed, “Keep your thoughts trained on it, and you’ll find the strength to move. Now wake up,” Helios said, pulling hard on the arm that held the flower to throw him off balance. As he fell over the steps of the raised structure, Helios whispered when he passed, “Good luck.”

He awoke in an entirely different place than he had before. It wasn’t Elysion. His body was solid. It wasn’t a dream. But he was in a coffin of some sort and that wasn’t entirely reassuring. Focusing on the thought of the rose Helios had offered, he pushed out with his hand, but the clear, domed lid rose easily from atop him and he sat up. He was in a chamber made of eerily shaped stone, the walls looking like they were veined, as was the floor around the dias holding the coffin he was in; before him, enormous, glowing deep orange-yellow with darkness pulsing at its center, was some sort of bulb made out of the rock itself, like a seed suspended between floor and ceiling, and the energy it gave off gave him chills -

“Endymion!” a voice called gratefully, but he couldn’t take his eyes off the evil mass. Was that Metallia?

“YOU SEE, MY CHILD? I BROUGHT HIM BACK. FOR YOU. I WOULD NEVER DO YOU HARM,” a voice like an earthquake resounded in the chamber, making it shake - or, rather, making him shake. He breathed carefully, moved carefully, not quite sure of what was going on or if he could use whatever was happening to his advantage in trying to convince Beryl to listen to the truth - She was there, suddenly, her eyes nearly as orange as the glowing orb behind her, her hair a deeper, brighter shade of red, her face shallower, more angular. Her shoulders… there was something wrong with there, a protrusion, sharp and pointed, like a horn or a fang -- she cupped his face, bringing him closer to her; he moved with her rather than fight her, not sure yet whether Metallia realized she had not, in fact, brought him back, but Helios had sent him back. If she believed the former, maybe he could --?

“Endymion!” Beryl repeated, and even her voice was a little different - deeper, wider, somehow. “Are you alright?!”

“HE WILL BE FINE, THOUGH UNABLE TO ANSWER YOU FOR A TIME,” Metallia answered for him, and something pulled at his hand, dragging it to move - he let it happen. Let Metallia believe what she would; it would give him time, at least. His hand encircled Beryl’s wrist, and she smiled, stepping back to give him room. His body moved to get out of the raised case; it was an odd sensation, like he was some sort of puppet, but he worked with it. “SOON HE SHALL BE FREE OF THE MOON’S INFLUENCE. TAKE HIM TO HIS ROOM, AND WE WILL MAKE FINAL PREPARATIONS FOR THE FINAL STEP.”

Final step? His heart hammered; he didn’t have much time.

Beryl pulled him along and he followed, a door suddenly appearing in the chamber wall where none had been before. As it closed behind them, sealing them away from the sight of the formless mass that was Metallia, she spoke. “I thought I lost you, but Metallia was able to reverse the mistake. Rest - once you’ve rested you’ll feel better -”

He thought of Elysion, pictured the red rose, and fought back against the puppeteering force and slowed. She held up, looking back at him quizzically, and he went for it. He shook his head, as though just waking up, and croaked, his voice breaking from strain, “She’s lying to you.”

Her brows furrowed, “What? No… Endymion, you’re not thinking clearly, remember? The Moon --”

“The Sun,” Mamoru interrupted, imploring her to listen, taking her hand to force her to stop and pay attention. The correction had given her pause and he tried to use it - “The Sun’s soul stone did combine with Earth’s, but it wasn’t Metallia that initiated it - Metallia wasn’t the Sun’s guardian, and the change happened long before Metallia.” Beryl’s mouth started to open and he implored further, “This isn’t about the Moon, Beryl. This is about the Sun and the Earth, and a force that is lying to you to get you to do what it says.” Her lips closed, brows furrowing further - “Can you take me somewhere where we can see the sun?” he asked, both to keep them moving and her focused and well as to orient him a little more. Her head tilted, looking up at him to examine him, and he held firm under her scrutinizing gaze. “We don’t have much time,” he said, and she swallowed, glanced back the way they had come, and pulled him onwards, changing their direction to a new stone-encased path.

“You know she went back in time to get you,” he bid as they walked. She no longer held on to him, “But do you know why?”

“... to show me what my future was supposed to be,” Beryl said quietly, “What it would be, if I helped her free you and the Earth -”

“Because she knew she couldn’t get to the you that is here,” he pushed. “You’re powerful, Beryl, and Metallia knows that, but the you from this time is happy and content - if what Metallia says is true, would you have overlooked something so devious for so long? If there was something substantial to what she said - if the Moon were really in control of me and held sway over the Earth, would you have been blind to it for so many years? I trust you more than that,” he said, catching up to her to look her in the eye as they walked. Her orange irises glanced up at him and then quickly away, red brows still furrowed, though in anger or thought was unclear. “You trust yourself more than that, don’t you?”

Ahead of them sunlight beamed through a break in the wall to their left, blinding in the corridor, and he slowed her down, just outside of its intense glow, and took her by the shoulders, avoiding the pointed horn protruding from the curve of either - “She’s using you by lying to you and manipulating you into working with her willingly - don’t let her. She’s seeking revenge against people who sealed her away and destroying life on Earth in the process. That’s not something you would ally yourself with, Beryl. I know that about you - the lengths you’ve gone to to protect Earth stands testament to that. Don’t let her change you. Renounce her and come with me.”

He let her go, stepping into the blinding light, and held out his hand to block the orb of the sun to see clearly. Ahead of them, a blue star shone brightly, and he inherently knew that it was no star. It was Earth. Too far away still to make out as a disc or a crescent, but close enough to pick it out from the background of stars. He felt at peace being able to see it, but that they were so close brought up new potential problems: how fast were they moving? Was this meteor on a crash-course?

“We can stop her,” he said, turning back to Beryl. “Will you help me?”

The ground shook beneath his feet and his body started to fall to it, but Beryl remained standing and he realized it wasn’t the ground - it was him. Metallia was pulling from him again. He thought of the rose, kept it focused in his minds’ eye. “We have to go, Beryl,” he pressed, reaching out for her, straining against the immense weight that pulled him down. Where was the key?

She stepped forward, hesitantly. “Endymion… No, Mamoru… I almost made a huge mistake,” she said, but took his hand. Relief swelled within him, but as the force increased, his free hand patted against his pocket, his chest, searching for the literal key to their escape.

“The key…” he managed to groan as he was forced to his knees, Beryl’s concerned expression over him suddenly turning to understanding. She reached into the pocket of her dress and pulled it out - Pluto’s little golden key, and he took it and her hand as well, focused on the rose, and raised it high, as he remembered Rin having done.

“Oh Lord of Time and Space, Chronos!” he called, his voice shaking with strain, and then the entire rock did start to shake, throwing Beryl off balance beside him, but he kept his hold on her and pressed on - “Listen to my call! Guide us to the Guardian of the Door - Sailor Pluto!”

The key exploded with light, enveloping them in a glow entirely different than that of the sun, and then…

They were gone.

----------------------

A/N:

:D Helio's real body! The future for Elysion! Finally a connection between Elysion and dreams! Mysterious?!?! Past?!?! Pre-Golden Kingdom!?! Hinted?! coughcoughcough check my one shot 'Icarus' i may be thinking of working that in coughcoughcough and maybe stuff from 'Tellus and Sol' cough cough cough because i am a stubborn person coughcough Wow! I should go drink some water~

Anyway! ♥ Thanks for reading! Pop that 'like' button if you enjoy imagining me making that teary-eyed-super-smile face ;u; <- like that when i check out my activity feed. ... write me an ask if you want me to swoon BUT OKAY SEE YOU NEXT TIME!

CK Fun Fact!

:D I didn't have first names for the Kings for forever. Their last names are the typical color of their "power gems" (I... Earth Kingdom, please. ;u; find better phrase; I can't wait for Mercury to politely correct them), and then their first names were chosen later to reflect character traits~ This means that they are definitely not cutesy puns like Naoko had (;u; genius) or easy to keep track of... sorryboutthat ^^' And then their power gem colors have nothing to do with their uniform colors... haaa... haha... C= haa...

Kunzite became Kobai (pink! Which is great for familiarity because K's match, hooray!); his first name is Khalid, which is Arabic for Eternal, which :> I enjoy because he's my little angsty boy. And Arabic because he's only half-Japanese! He's originally from Iraq (as had a part referenced in the first arc!) (...which, the earth being round, puts him west of Japan, heeheeheeWestKing) BTW Khalid is a Scorpio! (November 10)

Nephrite became Midori (green!) and his first name is Nero (which!! Nero, Nephrite?? Same first letter, phew, look at that!). Nero means "strong and vigorous", which I think fits his personality and is foreign enough to stand out (another sticking point in the first arc xD) He's half Canadian (on his mother's side)! (and Canada is east of Japan so hohohohoho, EastKing) (...yes it was chosen to match Another Story, too)(also because there're nephrite mines in Canada)(and Diamond mines)(and he's the parallel "Princess D~" so ha xD) Nero was the first to start calling everyone by their first names, and Nero is a Pisces! (March 9)

Jadeite became Moegi (dark green!) and his first name is Yuu (whoops, no J's anywhere...) which means 'tenderness and superiority', both traits being his, just one a little more hidden than the other, hahahah XD Yuu is an Aries! (March 29)

Zoisite became Hanada (blue) Kaito (Sea of the North Star) (...because King of the North, I thought, picking out this very first first name, thinking I could be clever with this and failing miserably from that point forward). .-. I love Kaito and often flip flop on whether he or Nero is my favorite King and I feel guilty every time ranking my boys but whomp there it is. Kaito is a Gemini! (June 5)

What's that, their astrological sign?! Any importance? Why, reader~♥ :D no i mean i matched the sign to the personality i made for them using a website i wish i could remember because like it was matched to the specific day of that month that worked best for them with like ruling planet and backing planet to a ridiculous degree. Will that come up in another "Fun" fact?! Maybe. I like these. xD

#sailor moon fanfiction #sailor moon #mamoru chiba #shitennou #sailor moon au #cardinal king #cardinal king 3

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