86th of winter, 519 AV
Just a few bells after midnight
Just a few bells after midnight
Aster was tired. Tired, and lonely. She was tired of Sunberth, she was tired of being a slave. She missed the Stormgrass pavilion. She missed Alvadas. She missed Navi. She missed Syna.
She curled in on herself, tucked on the cot Alard had deigned to give her, beneath the thin ratty blanket. Silent tears ran down her face. Her hand hurt from where he had rebranded her, and her neck felt sore from the constant weight of the collar around it.
Syna. Perhaps the one she missed the most, at the core of herself. Where was her goddess? What had she done to deserve this? Aster had hoped for something better when she left Ravok, and perhaps she had more freedom than she'd had when she was being experimented on, chained in the strange research place...but it wasn't actually better. Not really.
Syna, she mouthed the words, but didn't dare whisper them out loud. Despite his snoring, Alard was an exceptionally light sleeper, and did not like being woken up without an extremely valid reason.
Please help me. I don't know what to do. I'm lost. I'm scared. I'm alone. All I have done since I lost you is try my best to make my place here, to find my purpose. To help others. Surely that's why you sent me here. Why are you letting this happen? What am I supposed to do?
Asterope held her breath, waiting, listening in vain. She didn't truly expect an answer...but she had been hoping beyond hope for one.
Still, only silence greeted her, interrupted only by Alard's snoring and her own low exhale of breath. Had Syna abandoned her? Her tears turned to those of frustration, and she reached up to angrily wipe them away.
Anger at Syna for leaving her alone, anger at herself for doubting her goddess, anger at Alard and those who had put her into the situation she found herself in. Outside, an owl hooted into the night, the sound mournful.
She thought back to her time in Ravok, chained in the research institute. She had been so much angrier then. Full of hatred. It had made her feel like a stranger inside of her own body. The time it took to travel to Sunberth, being allowed to experience fresh air and sunlight again, had calmed her down somewhat. Given her a fresh spark of hope.
But in the dirty, chaotic streets of Sunberth, she was beginning to lose it again. She felt small, and lost, and helpless. Aster stared up at the ceiling in the dark as the owl outside hooted again. She wondered if, when her time in her mortal (or semi-mortal) body was done once again, she would return to Syna. Or was she doomed to never return to the divine domain of her goddess? Would she go to another deity? Be returned to the mortal plane in a different body? Or perhaps just rest eternally?
The thoughts were dark and uncomfortable, and while not entirely unfamiliar, Asterope wanted nothing to do with them. A shadow whispered in her mind, insidious in its casualness of pointing out there was one way to find out sooner rather than later.
Aster rolled over onto her stomach, folding her arms over her head as if she could block out her own thoughts. Despair gnawed at the edges of her stomach, making the voice that much more tempting to listen to, but she refused. She hadn't come this far just to give up, not yet.
With tears still drying on her face, she drifted off into an uneasy sleep.
She curled in on herself, tucked on the cot Alard had deigned to give her, beneath the thin ratty blanket. Silent tears ran down her face. Her hand hurt from where he had rebranded her, and her neck felt sore from the constant weight of the collar around it.
Syna. Perhaps the one she missed the most, at the core of herself. Where was her goddess? What had she done to deserve this? Aster had hoped for something better when she left Ravok, and perhaps she had more freedom than she'd had when she was being experimented on, chained in the strange research place...but it wasn't actually better. Not really.
Syna, she mouthed the words, but didn't dare whisper them out loud. Despite his snoring, Alard was an exceptionally light sleeper, and did not like being woken up without an extremely valid reason.
Please help me. I don't know what to do. I'm lost. I'm scared. I'm alone. All I have done since I lost you is try my best to make my place here, to find my purpose. To help others. Surely that's why you sent me here. Why are you letting this happen? What am I supposed to do?
Asterope held her breath, waiting, listening in vain. She didn't truly expect an answer...but she had been hoping beyond hope for one.
Still, only silence greeted her, interrupted only by Alard's snoring and her own low exhale of breath. Had Syna abandoned her? Her tears turned to those of frustration, and she reached up to angrily wipe them away.
Anger at Syna for leaving her alone, anger at herself for doubting her goddess, anger at Alard and those who had put her into the situation she found herself in. Outside, an owl hooted into the night, the sound mournful.
She thought back to her time in Ravok, chained in the research institute. She had been so much angrier then. Full of hatred. It had made her feel like a stranger inside of her own body. The time it took to travel to Sunberth, being allowed to experience fresh air and sunlight again, had calmed her down somewhat. Given her a fresh spark of hope.
But in the dirty, chaotic streets of Sunberth, she was beginning to lose it again. She felt small, and lost, and helpless. Aster stared up at the ceiling in the dark as the owl outside hooted again. She wondered if, when her time in her mortal (or semi-mortal) body was done once again, she would return to Syna. Or was she doomed to never return to the divine domain of her goddess? Would she go to another deity? Be returned to the mortal plane in a different body? Or perhaps just rest eternally?
The thoughts were dark and uncomfortable, and while not entirely unfamiliar, Asterope wanted nothing to do with them. A shadow whispered in her mind, insidious in its casualness of pointing out there was one way to find out sooner rather than later.
Aster rolled over onto her stomach, folding her arms over her head as if she could block out her own thoughts. Despair gnawed at the edges of her stomach, making the voice that much more tempting to listen to, but she refused. She hadn't come this far just to give up, not yet.
With tears still drying on her face, she drifted off into an uneasy sleep.
