the very first.

[oflove]

You all look stunning.

[ A great feast is being held for all of you. ALL OF YOU when you come down from your little area in Olympus to see the most amazing layout of food in your entire lives. The Goddess of Love herself looks around you with intrigue. ]

Well, enjoy yourselves. And if you get along well... maybe fate had it in store for you?

[ ooc; OPENING PARTY POST, with a trick. Optionally, you might feel a pinprick of 'wow... that person looks amazing' before shaking it off. A little love at first sight that fades away in two seconds, leaving your character back to normal. Aphrodite can't help but have a little fun at your expense. With that out of the way! Party! Freak out! You're gods now! ]

Comments

[pestilencebirther]

[She almost jumps, remembering the last time she found herself in an unfamiliar place, the horror that followed and she blinks rapidly for a few seconds, as if that will dispell the images that make her breath catch in her throat.]

I-I shouldn't be here. This isn't right. Me. Being here. With-with [her free hand points around in jerky motions] with followers.

[maidenly]

Please, try to calm down... nothing will happen to you here.

[Zelda so desperately wants to help; she can tell there's something very wrong here. she just doesn't know how to...]

[pestilencebirther]

Last time, last time it was bad. New ship, new crew. I didn't want to end up on a planet again, not now.

[But she manages to take a breath. Or rather the thing in her head takes over for a moment to force her to calm down.]

S-sorry, this is all...it's very different.

[maidenly]

It's all right... it's very jarring at first, I know. But like I said, you're safe here.

[pestilencebirther]

[She moves her plate from one hand to the other, nodding.]

I'm sorry, again. Thank you, I'm Valdís Œðra*, you?

[ooc: Val-dees Uthra, 'th' as in 'the']

[maidenly]

[Zelda's visibly relieved as the other woman seems to have calmed down at last.]

It's all right. My name is Zelda. It's nice to meet you... is it all right to just call you Valdís?

[pestilencebirther]

Of course, everyone else di-does. [She needs to try to stop thinking about that very first crew she was part of, it won't help her and she can't bring them back or fix them. She can't even say sorry or see that they got a real funeral.] You seem to be talking this very calmly, I wish I could do that.

[maidenly]

It's... sort of second nature to me, for some reason. I guess I got off a little lucky on that.

[she neglects to mention the fact that she had been a goddess already in a past life; the ones who had brought her here had warned against sharing such information—at least, until she got to know some of her fellow deities better.]

I wish I could help more than just talking to you, but it's the best I can do.

[pestilencebirther]

Really? [Although once, she was good at adapting - life in space did that but being dragged through the Rift was enough to stop her from trying to be comfortable.] I was never even close to being a high-ranking officer, I can't be in charge of other people.

[You know, in case she starts turning them into monsters. Would it be worse if they wanted to be a monster because she was their Goddess? She hasn't even had time to think about how the Old Ones will perceive this but if it helps, they'll be pleased, maybe this was part of the plan anyway.]

It's nothing anyone can fix. Life hasn't been easy, I need to learn to live with it, I haven't talked to anyone in...

[How long has it been? She tries to think back but it gets very fuzzy, the mix of emissary and her and it doesn't count, talking at a thing she made compared with talking to another person who can answer. She flounders and gives a helpless shrug.]

It's been a long time on my own.

[maidenly]

We're all learning here, I'm sure. You won't be alone in this, especially from now on.

[pestilencebirther]

But we're alone in a sense aren't we? None of us do the two same things and there's a gap between us and them.

[By them she means followers because she wants to choke out a world in the tongue of the Old Ones but that's sure to bring any conversation to a speedy conclusion.]

[maidenly]

...That's sort of a closed-minded way of looking at it, no offense.

[pestilencebirther]

[It's the emissary that is offended. It makes Valdís jerk but stops and she staggers, rubbing at her temples. Hopefully this thing will calm down, it's been quiet for a while recently.]

It depends on what you've seen. Everyone ends up alone.

[maidenly]

[Zelda flinches a little; that was probably harsh, she realizes, but only after saying it. whoops... hopefully she hasn't been too rough.]

I don't think so.

[pestilencebirther]

[It's hard to tell with Valdís even on a good day how she'll react to many things and real live people? That was a while ago now.]

Why not?

[Genuine curiousity compels her to ask, her head tipped to the side slightly, brows pulled together.]

[maidenly]

Because even if you're alone in person, you'll never be alone in spirit.

[pestilencebirther]

You must have friends to say that.

[She can remember that gaping emptiness when her parents disappeared, even surrounded by so many other people. It's never gone away, even with all she's done.]

[maidenly]

...You can't say the same?

[pestilencebirther]

My parents [she hesitates but they're dead in all the ways that count now she supposes] they died. The crew too. I'm alone.

[She killed her crew and another one, she thought she was en route to kill a third crew before this.]

[maidenly]

Oh... oh my goodness. I didn't realize... I'm so sorry.

[pestilencebirther]

Why are you sorry? It wasn't your fault.

[She's never understood that, even before the Rift - why people said things like that to her or spoke of their own grief or loss. It never made sense.]