sixthiterationlogs | " I closed my eyes. If I had been a mortal, I would have heard the beating of my heart."

WHO: Circe
WHERE: The village, the woods
WHEN: 6/3
OPEN TO: OTA
WARNINGS: Mentions of mortality and death

The Village

Fear was rare in the gods and it was always over the unknown. For Circe, the moment that fear came to her was not when she climbed out of the fountain and found herself in a different realm, it was when she heard the sound of her heart and felt blood racing through her veins. Mortality was a concept she had thought of and considered, but never experienced and not in such a jarring way. It was almost as though she were living Glaucus' tale, she fell asleep and was changed. But she knew the reason behind his transformation. Had she done this to herself?

As she had when she arrived on Aiaiai, she had needed a day to curl in her room and let her fears pass before she explored and accepted her home. This was no difference. She disappeared after her arrival, preferring the woods to the village. She had found a mossy bank surrounded by strange flowers, wrapped herself into a ball and slept.

When the morning came, she was dry, the strange bracelet was still on her wrist and she could still hear her heartbeat. This wasn't a dream and she couldn't allow herself to cry herself until she became a tree or stone. Resolved, Circe pushed herself from her hideaway and trailed back towards the village. There was more life now, something that she hadn't seen the night before. There were animals, the sound of others working and mortals tilling in the fields.

She watched at a distance for a time, trying to decide whether this was some set prepared by the Olympians or some new punishment devised for her by the Fates. Had Aeetes cast some spell? It seemed unlikely and her intuition said no. With that simple reassurance, she pushed herself to find an empty home, assuming that it was for them to choose, ready and prepared for them. There was one near the riverbank that she liked, close to what looked like a Mill.

It was empty and dirty, unlike the mansion she had been given during her exile, though this meant little. It gave her something to focus on instead. She pulled her pant legs up to her knee and tied her hair into a loose braid, ready to work. The rooms needed dusting and there were paw prints from animals, she would have to find something to hunt the predators (as well as provide company.) Much of the plumbing was foreign to her, but that didn't matter in the moment.

She took the linens from the bedroom, washing them in the nearby river. There was a stone she could use to beat the sheets with, but this needed someone else to help her lay out the linens against larger stones. She scanned the path, curious and hesitant. Still, being shy and hanging her head would do her no good now. Summoning that same courage her powers had given her before, she called out to a passing mortal. "Could you come help me?" Not a demand, that was where the gods would mock her. "I need another set of hands if I hope to get these dry before the sun goes down."

The Forest

Her second day in the village was to clean her home, the third was to rebuild the garden that she had left behind in Aiaiai. She hadn't taken the time to explore the woods after she arrived, wanting to rest and let everything sink in (though she still had no answers). Most of the plants in the village gardens and fields were familiar to her, as hundreds of cultivating them allowed. But there were different flowers and vines in the forest that she didn't recognize. They didn't sing to her as her garden had, another unfriendly reminder of the magic she had lost. The creatures were different as well. There were no boars or wolves to keep her company, only strange amalgamations of two different types of animals. It left her questioning whether this was Zeus' personal playground, the place where his monsters could grow, but that seemed unlikely.

There were hostile creatures and others that were hesitant, but a few friendlier animals approached her. By the time of late afternoon, she had found a small collection of beasts to take back with her. Something that was pink and resembled a type of sheep, an animal that jumped as high as a goat but looked close to an elk, a weird crocodile/dog mesh and a cat with peacock feathers. They regarded her in different terms, but they were enticed enough to follow, both by treats, kind words and simply curiosity.

With a full basket, she was nearing the forest's edge, animals in tow. It was only the sudden snapping of a branch that nearly made them all disperse and run back into the wild. "No, don't be afraid!" She turned, dropping her basket as she knelt to try and lure them back towards her. "It's only a mortal. There's nothing to fear. They won't hurt you." She looked over her shoulder towards the figure. "Stay still. They don't know to trust you yet."

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She had heard of other gods before. There were the creatures from Egypt, many of them had animal heads and were shrouded in mystery. There were the lands of the East that her brother had traveled to, Persia where they raised demons. But this was different and strange to her. Gods without names while others seemed only to be descriptive. She wondered what they were like, certainly different than her family.

Not all gods need be the same.

"Were the gods you worshiped kind to you?"

"I don't know that they were anything," Jon said. "I kept faith because my father did, not because I ever saw them doing anything. Any success or failure I had was mine alone."

Perhaps the old gods were there and listened to his pleas but, for Jon, it felt more like it was the right thing to do to honor them than obtaining any benefit from it.

The sentiment impressed her. What she knew of the workings of the gods fell in line with his own, allowing worship before actually stepping in to help. But rather than be troubled by their silence, he moved forward and forged his own way. It was something she could appreciate and understand.

"I hope you have more success than failure." It was said softly. The village was becoming clearer through the treeline. In the distance, she could see the mill and the river. Everything seemed so calm and gentle, fitting for the company she had at her side.

"Sometimes it depends on who's swinging the sword that day," Jon admitted. "Because fate is fickle, and so is luck, and as good as you might be with a sword or bow you can still meet your end in an untimely way."

It was a bit melancholy, yes, but he'd died and come back to the living. Jon put little stock in the favors of gods after that.

"Here, though, I have little reason to fight. I keep this village safe but I don't have war to deal with."

"Mortality seems very fragile." Not only for him, but for her now. It seemed that if she simply took a deep breath, she could be blown out like a candle. The feel of her heart, the sound of her blood. All of it frightened her and made her feel like nothing more than a speck in the wind.

"Is it a relief to have that sort of quiet in your life?" She asked. She didn't know about wars, but she knew warriors. It wasn't something that simply happened to them, it was what fate decided for them. It was built into their very core.

"I should like to see you swing your sword. I have never seen a man in battle before."

"I'd much rather have a quiet life than ever pick up a sword again," Jon said, sighing a bit. "It's just that in my world, swords tend to be more important than words. Words don't hold a lot of weight and things often come to war."

There was a great war coming and he'd been on the precipice of it before coming to this place. He had no idea of the outcome - everyone had come here from before him. What he wouldn't give for someone from the future.

"I'm good at it but I don't want to be."

"I believe that is true in every world. The farmer is not as admired as the warrior. Even among the gods, they prefer to tell stories of the battles they faced and the blood they shed. Quiet and toil are beneath them." She shrugged her shoulders, stopping for a moment to pick a few of the wildflowers lining the road.

"Certainly this world allows you a bit more of that quiet? It doesn't seem as though there is a great army assembling or a war to wage?" Unless these Observers would eventually need to be dealt with in that manner, this place seemed rather calm and languid.

"There must be more that you are good at."

"Aye, I'm a fine hunter," Jon said, shrugging a bit. "And that proves good enough in this place. I can range land and find paths - there are some who come here that aren't familiar with the woods or travelling over rough country. I don't have that disadvantage. But I'm not a learned man and I'm not clever with building things."

It hadn't seemed to serve him ill in the village thus far, though.

"I may claim you to be my companion then. I intend to explore these woods and see how far this land stretches. It would be better to have someone who understands how to survive and how to range than to be alone." She had done it by herself before on Aiaia, but there was no other option for her. Now, there were others to share her isolation, not simply the wind.

"You may not be as learned as some, but you are clever. Clever men survive during difficult times. You have faced battles and emerged. It isn't simply swinging a sword that helps you live, it's strategy and sharpness."

"Some would say it's the slyness of a bastard that keeps me alive," Jon said, laughing harshly. "but I don't think that has much to do with it. A lot of it was learned, yes, but a lot of it is sheer luck."

After all, his trueborn father had been a fine swordsman and had died to a warhammer all the same - sometimes luck was all there was.

"But maybe my luck can help you?"

"I need luck. I have had very little of it since I was born." Though she suspected that luck had little to do with her setbacks and failures, they were her own poor decisions. But perhaps having someone else's luck near her would allow her to know some happiness and peace.

They had passed over the bridge next to the mill, now only a few steps from her bungalow, still empty and bare, save for what was inside.

"If you go hunting tomorrow, I should like to accompany you."

"Aye, I'll take you hunting. I'll show you the best places to set snares and to hunt deer and quail," Jon said. In this place, there was no competition among the people - everyone worked together for the common good.

"I can help you learn these woods."

" I closed my eyes. If I had been a mortal, I would have heard the beating of my heart."

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