𝔞𝔭𝔬𝔰𝔱𝔞𝔱𝔢 - 𝖍𝖊𝖆𝖙𝖍𝖊𝖓

                He’s clever. She ought to expect no less of one that would correct a goddess, before she reminds herself of his ignorance. He doesn’t know her for her truths. That’s why she had been called upon, after all, to judge this stranger fumbling through her people’s lands. As he casts a glance to the ship-builder, Hel studies him again, tall and half the part of a proper Northman. Is it his origins that make him not quite right, or simply her own biases? Before she has a chance to decide, his eyes fall upon her again, and she straightens. She still seems so small before him. It’s another little spark inside of her, just when the other might have been forgotten in the ebb and flow of her curiosity.

               “By his word, you have wandered too far from your people, and speak in false words.” Like the ones flowing between them now, in this damned language. “He says your faith is false, and that by your closeness to Ragnar, it becomes dangerous.” Paris. What had Floki meant by Paris, by some deed done there to put Ragnar’s fate in peril? “He has made a great many accusations against you, stranger. Accusations that trouble me. Is there anything you would like to say in your defense?”

                                                   SHE      SPEAKS                  and   it   becomes                     more   than   clear                  that   she   is   speaking   about                  FLOKI               .   there   is   no   one   else   here   in   kattegat   that   has   such   qualms   of   his   closeness   with   ragnar.   no   one   else   that   has   said   it   so   loudly   and                  so   often               .   he   can’t   help   the   very   slight   sigh   that   escapes   him,   tired   and   almost                  RESIGNED               .   why   floki   is   complaining   to   this   strange                  woman                  is   beyond   him,   but   at   the   same   time,   floki   will   take   any   chance   he   can   get   to   deride   athelstan’s   name,   so   what   surprise   is   it   there?

❛ if the world is divided into seeing & not seeing, i will always choose to see. ❜ // @apostatan·

Floki has not given the boy enough credit. He’s piqued her interest at least, her head rising so she might study the mortal before her. There’s a curiosity within him, it seems, as much as he is one himself. Blinking slow, she hears the silence that follows, one which does not demand an answer. It seems that his statement comes without hesitation or condition.

“I thought you Eastern believers shunned the truth,” she rasps, “Preferred the world so safe and uncomplicated that any whisper of understanding be crushed under your feet.” The very bones and blood of this land are at risk of being trampled as such, defiled and erased by men who carried their ever-dying god-child from afar. Theirs is not even the true faith, nor their alleged messiah the one that others had prophecised.

Pretty up the words as they might, they still bind their eyes with scraps of stolen scripture and call themselves enlightened. Not this one, though. When had he torn the paper from his eyes and begun digging up bones?

“Tell me, Christ-bearer. What is it you mean to see here? What is it that you’ve already seen?” Not as Ragnar’s man, she thinks, but as your own.

                                                                     SHE      ASKS                  her   questions,   but   he’s   unsure   how   to   answer   them.   her   belief   of   christendom   is   not   entirely                  inaccurate               .   in   fact,   in   a   lot   of   ways,   he   agrees   with   her,   but   he   feels   the   urge   to   defend   them   anyway.   he   swallows   the   urge   and   hums   softly   as   he   considers   how   to   tell   her   what   he   feels   and   thinks.   what   he’s                  SEEN               .   

“Hm. Somehow I knew you’d ask me that.”

Apollo grins. Mortals are very predictable things, aren’t they? He can see the uncertainty in Athelstan’s gaze, the wariness. It’s not the first time he’s seen it, of course. Nowadays, most people react like this, conflict rising within them. After all, how can their god and these gods exist, too? Apollo would like to tell them that he and his ilk have been around for thousands of years, before their god was even a thought.

Ah, well. There’s not much he can do.

“Not much of a question of the future, is it? But I’ll answer, regardless. Your people are…blurry, I suppose. I know of you..only because I saw you coming to me. You see, those who worship other gods…I don’t pay much attention to them. I only see who my visions allow me to see. As for Ragnar…well, who hasn’t heard of him? Though I suppose he’s more well-known in your lands than he is here. But I know of him, yes. Why do you ask?”

                                                                        I   KNOW   of   ragnar.                  he   supposes   that   is   answer   in   itself   of   whatever   question   athelstan   had   been   asking.   of   course   this   foreign   god   knows   of   ragnar,   despite   they   themselves   knowing   nigh   nothing   of   this   god.               APOLLO         ,                  he   had   said.   god   of                  prophecies,                  of   the                  FUTURE.                  is   there   ever   a   safe   question   to   ask   of   a   prophesier?   

❝ we must make our lives outside of ragnar, now. i will always have love for him in my heart, we both know this, but i will not live in this shadow that he creates for himself. our marriage was one of equals but when that changed, i had to change or leave. ❞ the gods had watched over her after she had left kattegat in the hands of aslaug and ragnar but they had also brought to kattegat though now she was no longer the same lagertha that had left. 

❝ you must forge your own future, athelstan. i know how highly you regard ragnar but you cannot live your life for him. you must live your life for yourself and go wherever it takes you. ❞

           HE  THINKS      of   ecbert   ,   of   the   king   asking   him   to   stay   .   he   thinks   of      judith     .   the   touch   of   her   .   and   still - - -   still   ragnar   had   maintained   his   sway   over   him   and   he’d   gone   back   with   him   .   what   does   that   say   of      ATHETLSTAN     ? 

                    She’s so still that her anger cannot ripple. She has already warned herself off of any passion in this exchange. Even so, the correction sets a coal sparking to life somewhere in her chest, and yes, burn the language and every tongue it dances upon. She mislikes being wrong. More than that, she abhors the language for its myriad ways. Why should this foreign faith have such complicated terms? Why do they seek to define divinity in tiers? That’s not the way of it – She ought to know. Let him watch, for all that he might see of her inner workings. Let him learn, the longer they keep their quiet reverie, the calm among the constant ebb and flow of life. Has he even noticed that others pass me over, Hel thinks to herself. Has he realized yet that I have come for him alone?

                  “You were something else, once, whatever they called you.” This is easier, without names, without a chance to fumble. She curls the Roman tongue silvery around her tongue, fluttering the words about his ears. “Word spreads, even if the message takes a more scenic path.” Lifting her verdant eyes, they remain animate in a marble face. “I come and go through Ragnar’s life, as I must. We’ve had no reason to meet before, but I was called upon by a very old friend. He despairs of you, and has throughout that very long time you speak of.”

                 AS   HE     watches   ,   that   quiet   dignity   begins   to   take   a   different   shape   .   and   though   it   is   not   loud   or   bold   ,   the   stillness   in   her   body   hints   at   anger   ,   and   he   isn’t   sure   what   he’s   done   to   cause   it   .   perhaps   that   he   worshipped   the   christian   god   is   enough   .   it   is   certainly   enough   for   floki   .   he   begins   to   sense   that   there   is   a     danger     in   this   conversation   ,   which   seems   absurd   .   she   is   a   small   woman   and   does   not   seem   like   a   shieldmaiden   .   her   clothes   do   not   suggest   that   she   is   a   jarl’s   wife   .   and   yet . . .    he   decides   he   will   tread   carefully   . 

“Did I call you here? Ah, that is the question, isn’t it? Perhaps…not intentionally. There’s not many people I call to these days, like I said. Only those who are willing to listen. I suspect your open mind is what brought you here. You’re not so quick to dismiss me, as you weren’t so quick to dismiss the Norse gods. Maybe I just wanted to be noticed by someone again..who really knows? After all, the Fates weave their tangled webs..even I am subject to it.” Apollo shrugs, resting his chin in his hand as he looks Athelstan over. The raven that was on his shoulder caws and flies away. He seems to be searching, trying to find something in Athelstan, though even he isn’t sure what he’s looking for.

There’s another pause before Apollo speaks again, crossing his legs where he perches. “Do you want to know something about your future? That is usually why people came to Delphi..back before everything was destroyed, of course.” He snorts, seemingly amused, though, perhaps, there is a bit of melancholy hidden in his eyes when he thinks of those times; a time where this was a place of beauty and holy worship and not just a crumpled, decaying ruin. “You can ask me whatever you’d like, though I cannot promise that the answer is something you’ll be looking for.”

                 HIS   EYES    follow   the   raven   that   flies   away   ,   an   end   to   the   mingling   of   his   gods   .   perhaps   he   is   imagining   it   ,   but   the   cross   that   rests   beneath   his   tunic   feels     warm    .   slowly   ,   athelstan   stands   from   his   kneeling   position   ,   risks   a   step   closer   to   the   golden   god   . 

                ❝      i   have   never   spoken   to   a   god   before   .   messages   .   dreams   .   but   never - - -   never   like     THIS    .     ❞   he   speaks   of   the   future   ,   and   athelstan   thinks   of   their   own   seer   and   how   different   they   are   when   compared   side   by   side   .    athelstan   wonders   if   apollo   would   speak   in   the   same   riddles   that   are   not   understood   until   the   future   has   come   to   pass   .   ❝     i - - -     ❞   what   even   is   there   to   ask   ?   he   nearly   asks   him   if   its   all   true   ,   if     all     of   the   gods   truly   do   exist   .   but   then - - - -   what   would   be   the   point   of   faith   ?   what   a   sad   world   to   live   in   that   would   be   . 

          She does not pry or push,  simply allows the stranger to decide on his own whether or not she can be trusted. And as her invitation is accepted, she quiet adds a few more sticks to the fire. They would burn quickly, however there is plenty of kindling around them.  

        ❝ You needn’t worry. ❞  She reassures gently, his concern for her is touching, to say the least. He is a kind man, not one that would see her harmed  –  that much is obvious.  ❝ I am never truly alone. ❞  Never a truer statement, as her wily companion keeps an eye on her. Even when he is hiding among the trees; she catches the big, ambiguine eyes of a fox as it passes and smiles before turning to her visitor.  ❝ And if I was, I do not mind the solitude. ❞ She leans back, settling comfortable as she extends her feet toward the flames; warming her frigid toes.  ❝ You are alone as well.  Are you sure that’s safe? ❞  

             HE  DECIDES      very   quickly   that   he   likes   her   .   there   is   something   sharp   and   clever   about   her   that   athelstan   finds   himself   drawn   to   right   away   .   he   smiles   ,   fingers   flexing   as   close   to   the   fire   as   he   dares   .