February Open Prompts/Catch-all

[pummelgranite]

WHO: Persephone vs everyone
WHERE: various cities
WHEN: through February
WHAT: A few prompts, please poke me if you want something else
WARNINGS: discussion of violence/depression/disordered eating likely as always

A. Nona- A Strange Performance in a Tiny Jazz Club

[ It's not her typical venue, not by a long shot. It's a small space, with a simple stage. She even lets them use their own lights instead of miracling up herself something more impressive. There's no dance floor, and they hardly advertised for her at all. It's more a jazz club than anything else, too small for her sound, really. But that's alright. She's not here to perform her normal mass.

She isn't in high heels, or armor, or war paint. Rather, she comes out in a simple black dress and veil, ornamented with white flowers. What she sings is no persistent climax. The rage and defiance and violence usually typical of her songs is missing as well. Instead, it's something bittersweet and heart-wrenching. It's like an intimate aria sung in that same untranslatable language, but the message is clear: winter will always fade, spring will always come, but there are still so many things lost that can never return. Just because spring is coming, does not mean you will live to see it.

The piano and cello duet that follow her aren't bad either. After her performance, it might seem like anyone else would pale in comparison, but if anything the opposite is true- they, too, sound breathtakingly beautiful in the space that she's blessed. The goddess herself makes her way to the bar. Her normal companions seem absent, and most of the patrons don't dare to make eye contact, let alone approach. Do you? ]


B. The Hotel Castille lounge/lobby, evening

[ Persephone WAS at the bar. But now she's in the beautiful, glittering lobby. She is sprawled in a chair that looks like it cost several normal human's paychecks, in a way quite disrespectful to the quality of the upholstery. Her feet dangle over the back, and her head hangs towards the floor. There's a soft cloud of colorful hair beneath her. In her hands is a notebook, and in her mouth is a pen. Every once in a while she takes the pen out of her mouth to jot something into the notebook, but mostly she's just chewing on the pen.


C. Maurtia Falls Art Museum, reasonable business hours

[ If one were to happen into the museum that day, it would be hard not to miss her. She parks herself on a bench in front of a particular piece of art, and doesn't move for over an hour.

The art in question is probably no surprise- it's a Renaissance work by a not-so-terribly-famous artist, depicting Orpheus playing for Hades and his queen. There are headphones in her ears, and the only sign she gives that she's not a statue herself is pulling out her phone every so often to change her music. ]


D. South Maurtia Historic Cemetery - literally any time you'd like, day or night

[ What the fuck is she doing now? Is she sleeping on a grave? It's a single grave in a family plot, but the headstones are all so old that the names have long since faded. So... yeah. Sleeping on someone's grave. Cool, cool, cool, cool, normal. ]

Comments

[pummelgranite]

[ Well what! The fuck!!

There's a little motion from her, when suddenly she just disappears. God willing she has simply left entirely. But no, it's about half a minute later that her message comes in to whatever line it was that she'd gotten. ]


I want to talk.


[ And then another half minute later she is clawing back out of the rock right where she'd left. ]

[the_caped_crusader]

More than 'uhuh'? That'd be a first.

[He says that more to himself than to her, but after a moment replies out loud again.]

Alright, so talk.

[pummelgranite]

[ Is he making fun of her? It feels like maybe he's making fun of her. Because yeah, sure, her senses were great underground but also he seemed to be mumbling directly away from her and???

She disappears again. ]


Can I come up??? I actually can't hear you from over there.


[ And then back once more. ]

[the_caped_crusader]

[HE JUST WAVES HIS HAND UP LIKE JUST DO IT ALREADY.]

[pummelgranite]

[ She snaps her fingers, and the signal-flowers she'd left out shatter and dissolve, leaving her in the shadows again. There's the sound of a bit of scrambling in the darkness and then she's dropping herself neatly onto the ledge. She seems to be carrying a paper grocery bag full of something. ]

[the_caped_crusader]

[Bruce turns in his chair, eyes immediately going to the bag. He seems... hesitant.]

I appreciate it, but I still have a fridge full of pomegranates from last time.

[pummelgranite]

Oh.

[ Shit. Shit that chair is so sweet. He is, as always, just fucking nailing the aesthetic. She's not sure if she should be stepping up her game or just appreciating it. ]

They're not cursed. Or actually from hell.

[ Well, whatever she was supposed to do, it wasn't that. Smooth. ]

[the_caped_crusader]

So I gathered. [He had one. Or two. Or three...]

[Anyway, he sits forward ever so slowly in his chair, bringing his hand from his chin to resting on his knee like he were some sort of emperor of this cave and he was preparing to attend court or something.]

So, you wanted to talk. [More a statement than a question.]

[pummelgranite]

Uh huh.


[ The decorum suits her just fine. She will happily LARP her way through as many human interactions as she can. She'll stand where she is, chin raised and shoulders back. Not challenging, nor hostile, but very far from relaxed. ]


I . . . believe you. I believe you want to help.

[the_caped_crusader]

[He ruminates on that for a minute, thoughtful in his silence.]

You have some idea by now what that kind of help entails. Is that the kind of help you want?

[pummelgranite]

"Some idea." is about it. I still don't really get you. I'm not even saying I believe you can help, OK?


[ She does finally cross her arms then, still trying to chew on his question. ]


So I dunno.

[the_caped_crusader]

I had nearly fifteen years to figure things out for myself. If what you tell me is true, you don't have that kind of time, but...

[He shifts in his chair slightly.]

You deserve the chance to be happy, regardless. But you have to realize that your experiences color your decisions, and there needs to be personal control there, because whatever your decision is, I want to be someone who can help you. Not someone who needs to stop you.

[pummelgranite]

[ For a long moment she just considers his words. Behind green eyes, her mind runs through it all again- the seemingly immutable calculus of the Pantheon's tragedy. It had felt so pointless, so inevitably doomed. There can be a certain comfort in hopelessness; care about nothing, be hurt by nothing.

But this place was so different from home. The world would keep spinning without her blood. Lucifer, Inanna, even fucking Tara would get to have just a little more time. Nico could have a break from being his father's weapon.

It hurt to think about, sure. Just considering that there might still be options, hope of any sort is painful. It's an abrasion on still-open wounds, it's just asking for more heartbreak. Or, she could just not bother trying, and let everyone she cares about destroy themselves with her.

Batman may not know what variables she's weighing, but she can't hide the way worry tugs at her eyes while she thinks. ]


It wasn't . . . supposed to be like this. I wasn't supposed to be like this.


[ Quite the admission, given how tightly she'd stuck by being The Destroyer as the be-all-end-all of her identity. ]

[the_caped_crusader]

I know. The world isn't fair. What happened to you, to your friends, wasn't fair. [His voice is softer, more empathetic.]

But... [There's a grim pause.]

If you don't see happiness for yourself. If after all you've gone through you need more than that, then confront the pain. Pass through it. Spend your time left fighting the things out there that want to do what they did to you to others.

[Batman removes his mask.]

And maybe... maybe on the other side of all of that you find something worth living for.

[pummelgranite]

[ She rubs her arm uncomfortably. That's a nice thought and all, but there's only so many times you can wash your friends' brains out of your hair before you start to think that saving people might not be your forte. ]


People I try to help, they usually don't end up much better for it.

[the_caped_crusader]

[His eyes soften with concern.]

What happened to you, Persephone?

[pummelgranite]

[ She worries at her lip a moment, then looks back up at him. ]

You really want to know? It's kind of a long story.

[the_caped_crusader]

[His brow is set low, a serious expression.]

Whatever you want to tell me.

[pummelgranite]

[ She looks back behind her, into the darkness of the cave. It's impossible to say, exactly, what she's looking for. But after a long moment she nods. She did come here to talk, didn't she? And as much as she loathes relating the story, there's no denying that it's easier to interact with people, when they can understand where she'd come from. ]


I told you before about the Recurrence, right? Once a century, twelve gods, two years. All that?

[ When he doesn't stop her, she continues. ]

There's another god. One that doesn't perform, isn't worshiped. Doesn't die between recurrences- gave up her divinity to keep her immortality. She's supposed to- . . . she's supposed to guide the Pantheon. Help them understand the power and the mission, make the most of the time they get.

She was supposed to take care of them. [ There's a beat of silence. ] Well, that's what Ananke told us.

[the_caped_crusader]

I see... [He pauses again.] Is she the one who took your friends from you?

[pummelgranite]

She didn't take them. She murdered them. Luci, Inanna, Tara, Mini's family, my parents, my little sister, our home. Everything.

[ Her voice goes a bit distant when she talks about it. A far, far cry from her usual sound and fury. ]

[the_caped_crusader]

I'm sorry...

[His voice is soft, or as soft as it can be from him, approaching something like that little boy she spoke to in the underground.]

Why do you think any of that is your fault?

[pummelgranite]

[ She makes a small neutral noise, and chews on her answer a long time. When she speaks, she's picking each word carefully. ]

I know. I know it's her fault. Of course it's her fucking fault. It was her choice, no matter what bullshit about necessity she had to say. But I'm not- . . . like the other gods. My power's different. More dangerous. You've seen it.

I think . . . she and I have been enemies for a really, really long time. She was trying to kill me, before I could realize what I am. Inanna saved me; their life for mine. Then my parents saw her getting rid of Inanna's corpse. I don't think she even knew Jenny was in the house. The explosion just made the frame-up easier. Ananke pulled the trigger, but I can't help thinking, if I just hadn't been born in this life . . .

[the_caped_crusader]

Then the Recurrence would have still happened, and somebody else would have suffered, would have been where you are, saying the same things.

Power itself isn't inherently dangerous, Persephone, it's the person wielding it who makes it dangerous. Your opportunity is in breaking the cycle of all of that.

[pummelgranite]

[ That first part seems to soak in well. There's a twist at her mouth as she does when she knows she doesn't have a good argument.

But as for the second part... ]

I have broken it. This was Ananke's last recurrence.