like a black swallowtail butterfly

Maea

A low rumble echoed throughout the cathedral as the large doors cracked open, just to close once more. Pressing her back against the solid wood, Maea scanned the vast chamber for any sign of movement, and only when nothing stirred did she peel away from it to approach the shrine. Shii slipped from its hiding place beneath her hair to inspect the changes wrought since last time it was here. Sensing both intrigue and a note of sadness, Maea did what she could to explain, while she placed her offering in the vessel. An old shirt, dyed and redyed until the black seemed more a palette of faded hues, had been mended so many times that the original garment existed only as a memory. It had been with her across many life-altering events, but now it had reached the end of its lifespan. Atop of the folded garment, she placed a ring of glass. Lumpy and misshapen, it nevertheless sparkled prettily in the light of many burning candles, sitting as a testament to a new endeavour she had undertaken. It was the first thing she had ever created out of glass, and Maea hoped that she would be able to show her progress to the goddess as time passed. 
Nicking her thumb on a jagged piece of ruby, a few droplets completed the offering, and with Shii hovering over a shoulder she bowed low before the shrine. 

"Lady Dygra... may I speak with you? I find myself with many questions about what it means to be your child. Can you teach me.. how to become more flexible, so that I can better cope with a changing world? Could I... think of you as a mother, to learn from, and be guided by?" It felt presumptuous, to ask such a thing from a goddess of Dygra's caliber. Perhaps it was, and maybe she would leave empty handed; but Maea didn't know who else to ask, when the answers of other ancients didn't quite satisfy. 

---

Maea is asking to quest for the Dart ability!

And I am the monster that startles me
in the mirror

Table base by Skylark

Dygra

"Little dark one - I am mother to all Ancients, whether or not you choose to see me as such." Dygra's sensuous voice purrs throughout the shrine, vibrating the stone beneath Maea's feet and travelling up through her bones, into her fingers and teeth. The goddess appears only as sound and ripples in the droplets of blood she has spilled, and yet her presence is enormous in the sacred space.

"My children are creatures of chaos. They present themselves in all manner of ways, ever changing, balancing instinct and choice with every breath. It is no wonder you are finding it difficult - you are attempting to fit yourself into a box that has no shape." Her laughter is low and warm and carefree, and in the seconds of silence that follow Maea's request, the pale Ancient might be able to hear it, still, lingering in the air.

"Very well. More flexible you will become, and in return you will feel yourself more attuned to what you are."

---

Maea has received a quest! She must:

1. Complete a thread doing something that makes her uncomfortable.
2. Complete a thread doing something that makes her afraid.
3. Complete a thread doing something that makes her happy.
4. Complete a thread hunting, killing and eating a blink hare (unshifted). Cooking optional!

Table coding by Sky <3

Maea

The hum of Dygra's traveled from the ground, up her spine and settled in her bones, at once soothing and unsettling. Undoing spots of tightness like no massage ever could, until old anxiety was thoroughly expelled from her body. Maea smiled wistfully. "I had no mother, growing up. Only the borrowed substitute of one, who was happier with her own family than with me. Though I should like to see you as one, I don't actually know what it means. It's not a role I ever strived for either, so perhaps I simply never paid enough attention." Literature and observation described it as a relationship of immense love and care, sometimes complicated by projecting hopes and wishes in one direction or both, a contradiction between support and independence, holding on and letting go – certainly chaotic seeming to one who never saw it first hand.

It had her curious, to see how this relation would come to shape her. If the box she sought had no shape, Maea might have to make her own - or grow enough to be comfortable without borders to confine her. Comforted, she listened carefully to the challenges her dark mother laid out for, finally bowing in acceptance.

"Thank you. I will face them all, and see what I can learn." Lingering for a while until the presence had faded from the room, Maea shot her companion a toothy grin. "This is going to be interesting..." Shii pulsed in agreement, and led the way back towards the door. Its apprehension over meeting the goddess had faded - now they had a bit of a journey to prepare for.


[FIN]

And I am the monster that startles me
in the mirror

Table base by Skylark