Prompt # 004 – Inside
Within
Time Frame: The Titan’s Curse – Chapter 18
Pairing: None
POV: Artemis
**
“Hope, like fear, comes from within.”
-Deep Wizardry By: Diane Duane
**
I do not wish to look. I do not wish to see.
She is in my arms now—her tiny fragile body. Centuries upon centuries of battle, and now she is broken. My invincible hunter is now a bleeding, crumpled rag doll in my arms.
But her eyes—I do not want to see them looking so empty, so distant. She is looking to me; the night’s sky as she always had, but I do not want to see her now.
I want to watch those eyes burn for the hunt. I want to watch those eyes scan the ground for prints. I want to watch those eyes looking far onto the horizon—longing for the next adventure she will lead.
But now as I look inside her, all I see is her love. And I am scared to see it. For such raw, unfiltered emotion from my lieutenant can only mean the end for her. I see into her soul through her eyes and it is so beautiful—silver like moonlight on freshly fallen snow.
Her dark hair falls into her eyes, and I brush it away, tucking it back beneath her silver circlet—the mark of my blessing.
I offer to heal her wounds but we all know somewhere inside she is wrecked beyond repair. I do not seek within her body, I do not wish to see how broken she is. I have seen enough blood and death to last eternity.
So instead I look into her through her eyes—reflecting back the twinkling stars. They are smiling down upon her tonight.
“Stars,” my hunter whispers. “I can see the stars again, my lady.”
I do not wish to look. I do not wish to see the stars opening their arms to her, waiting for her, calling to her. Do not beckon her! I want to shout at them. Do not call her from me!
But even I cannot divert the Fates. Life and death is not the duty which I was given.
I close my eyes, listening to the stars calling her.
“Yes, my brave one. They are beautiful tonight.”
I open my eyes again. I watch them sparkle in her eyes. Her soul, silver as the moon dances behind them, her face filled with reverence as she gazes upon the night’s sky.
The stars are within her—the night’s sky a part of her.
My hunter goes still and I whisper a blessing, my eyes closed for I do not wish to see.
Take her, I tell the sky, let her be free.
The stars were within her—the nights sky a part of her.
Now she is within the stars.
And a part of the night’s sky she shall be forever.
~fin~
Showing posts with label death. Show all posts
Showing posts with label death. Show all posts
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Prompt #003 - Endings
Prompt # 003 – Endings
Truth
Time Frame: Beginning of The Last Olympian
Pairing: None
**
“ ‘Tell me a story...’
‘What kind of story, child?’
‘A story with a happy ending.’
‘There's no such thing in all the world.’
‘As a happy ending?’
‘As an ending.’ ”
- Lighthouse Keeping By: Jeanette Winterson
**
Nico understands the meaning of an ending.
Being the son of the god of death, you understand death…you appreciate it. That doesn’t mean Nico isn’t afraid to die—oh, he is. Thirteen years is much too short. It just means that he isn’t afraid of death itself; the dark taboo that has been placed around the concept in others' minds does not cloud Nico’s perceptions. He understands the ebb and flow of life, that endings are necessary.
And for this knowledge—the non-rejection of death in life—he is forced into the life he is now living. He’s the “Goth” kid, the death kid, the one that throws Happy Meals into graves. He is the kid who survived the Labyrinth, he is the kid who has tremendous and terrible power. He is that kid that dresses in black and is never at camp and doesn’t belong there anyway.
And it is because of these things, brought on by his bloodline and understanding, that Nico is an outsider.
Because everyone is scared of what he stands for.
But it is not dark, it is not evil, it is not wrong, Nico knows. Death is natural, and even beautiful in its own way. The end is not indeed an end, but essentially just another beginning.
Death and life are one. Every ending is just another door opening. It is not good, it is not evil: there are no sides in life and death.
There is only balance.
There are no true endings.
~fin~
Truth
Time Frame: Beginning of The Last Olympian
Pairing: None
**
“ ‘Tell me a story...’
‘What kind of story, child?’
‘A story with a happy ending.’
‘There's no such thing in all the world.’
‘As a happy ending?’
‘As an ending.’ ”
- Lighthouse Keeping By: Jeanette Winterson
**
Nico understands the meaning of an ending.
Being the son of the god of death, you understand death…you appreciate it. That doesn’t mean Nico isn’t afraid to die—oh, he is. Thirteen years is much too short. It just means that he isn’t afraid of death itself; the dark taboo that has been placed around the concept in others' minds does not cloud Nico’s perceptions. He understands the ebb and flow of life, that endings are necessary.
And for this knowledge—the non-rejection of death in life—he is forced into the life he is now living. He’s the “Goth” kid, the death kid, the one that throws Happy Meals into graves. He is the kid who survived the Labyrinth, he is the kid who has tremendous and terrible power. He is that kid that dresses in black and is never at camp and doesn’t belong there anyway.
And it is because of these things, brought on by his bloodline and understanding, that Nico is an outsider.
Because everyone is scared of what he stands for.
But it is not dark, it is not evil, it is not wrong, Nico knows. Death is natural, and even beautiful in its own way. The end is not indeed an end, but essentially just another beginning.
Death and life are one. Every ending is just another door opening. It is not good, it is not evil: there are no sides in life and death.
There is only balance.
There are no true endings.
~fin~
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