Goddess of Spring

Everything Samedi knew about time they learned from Kronos. There was no place for fondness inside of them, but to pretend to be mortal was to become a half-formed thing again. Through his eyes time was the most malleable thing in existence, and they were disgusted at how much they were mesmerized by him. How humans had created a system so condensed to measure their days, and yet seemed unaware of its vastness even when the system betrayed them. The only thing guaranteed was in the end they would become Samedi’s problem to deal with. It was what they had resented so much about Luli, weren’t they clear inherent of Kronos’ legacy? 

Five years was indistinguishable from five days, but in that time she made a life for herself and two hours wouldn’t be enough time to get her to remember the one she had before it. 

“Do I need one?” Everyone who went to mingle with mortals seemed to do so carelessly. They had never thought to ask if Luli or Navy had a reason for being where they were ready to go or if Samedi was forced to reveal the circumstances because they weren’t there by their volition. They trusted Persephone would have accepted their truth, but even the most condensed retelling of the feeling might be too much to ask Phoebe to take in. “It’s complicated. There was an accident and got away from me, or maybe it’s the other way around, and I lost this person I love. I probably shouldn’t have left, I didn’t think I ever would, but I can’t just pretend it’s our home if she isn’t there.”

Samedi wanted to write it all, their father, their marriage, and everything that would compel their father to rob them of their immortality only to do something far worse, but even the small confession feels like they have pushed things too far. “But I’m here now, and we’ll go see my first french film. I’m glad you asked me.”

“I suppose not.” Phoebe shrugs, and she finds herself blushing. It was clear she was asking because of course there’s a deeper fascination here. Call it her affinity for mystery, but she wasn’t naive to the feelings of shallow attraction. She knows the movements well enough, even if it feels rehearsed rather than natural in her years prior. This was different, maybe that’s why she had to see whatever this was through. Yet, her heart sinks for them, as if she was experiencing this loss with Samedi. She’s always been this way, always has felt strongly for those who’ve lost. A sympathetic frown graces her features, and she wants to reach out and place a comforting hand on their shoulder. But she also knows not everyone was touchy like her, she knows her place.

“I’m sorry.” She responds earnestly with a slight nod. “I can’t imagine what it’s like. But I hope... I hope there’s a way for the pain to become more bearable.” She reaches out then, offering them a gentle squeeze of their arm to show that despite herself, she did care, she did want to listen. She hopes for them one day they could go back, where it wouldn’t be haunted by memories of a ghost. Everyone had baggage, didn’t they? And everyone needed someone who wouldn’t mind carrying it with them. She hopes to ease the burden, it’s just who she is.

“Your first?” She brightens, a soft smile tugging at the corner of her lips as they confirmed they were glad to have been asked. “Well, there are subtitles. I feel like I can never keep up with the dialogue in movies, it always goes too fast.” She chuckles softly, gesturing her head towards the sidewalk. “It’s a few blocks down, I think you’ll like it. I’ve been told there’s a happy ending.”

The last film Samedi saw was in eighteen eighty-eight where most of marvel was tied up in the discourse about Dionysus usurpation, one they had voted was warranted only because the two frequently disagreed, and the only language they were fluent in was greek. There was no space in Samedi’s mind for the person Phoebe conceived them to be, but that had been the case before. It had not been a one way street to ask her to come to the underworld, to understand there had been more. “I would love to go with you.”

Beside themselves and the concept of being a god, there had been no instructions on the impact on how much of memories had been forgotten or distorted. Without Luli, Samedi might not have found her in the first place and there was nothing but speculation about where she went outside of her school. If a whole other life had filled in the gaps of her memories. “Thank you. It’s been….a very long readjusting period. How long have you been here?

Phoebe could relate to the feeling of not having one’s footing. If it weren’t for the friends she made throughout the years, she’d probably always feel out of touch and out of place. As far as she knew, that had been her reality for so long. So she understands, it takes time to adjust. She’s not sure if she fully has yet, Sometimes, she has moments where she feels she’s fleeting, that her time will run out on this planet, like the ground beneath her may swallow her up and all she’d feel was numb. But, who didn’t have an existential crisis once in awhile? 

Right?

“I get you. It’s been 5 years here for me, it helps having friends.” She smiles warmly, assuring that there were no hard feelings from their initial meeting anymore. And she’s not sure why she has this need to assure everyone around her feels included, but she thinks it’s for the best. “How about you?” Her eyebrow arched, her attention focused on them. “Though, everyone leaves home for a reason. What was yours?”

It was possible Demeter never liked Samedi, they both knew it looked that way, and there was no incentive to vocalize that their mutual silence was the highest amount of respect they could the other. the fact she stood without any invitation or warning was when Samedi knew she despised them.

Every other deity in Olympus made themselves small in Samedi’s presence, by then everything about the war against the Titans came second-hand, and no one desired to live through it. The terms of the agreement were simple, Samedi would be the first one to go to the mortal world to attempt to help Persphone regain her memories, putting their own status as a god on the line, and should they fail - and Demeter was certain they would - she would come to retrieve her daughter and leave Samedi to live out the rest of their punishment.

When she wasn’t there samedi refused to stay in Luli palace filled with her vices. The mutual silence between Demeter and them did not translate as smoothly between Samedi and their siblings. Instead, they humbled themselves to admit that without her they would be lost and thus would attempt to tolerate her behaviours. The ideal circumstance included contacting Wren, who expect an apology Samedi wasn’t ready to give. It was useless to know Persephone’s schedule after the fact other than to point out theirs rarely coincided. All that was left was to hover around the campus replaying every interaction and hoping that any moment it would come to something.

“Were you?” Samedi asked.

She had a history here on Earth. A history that was falsified by the god of time himself. Time was relative, and Mnemosyne knew best that memories didn’t have to exist to feel true. Had Persephone known, had she been at more meetings, had Demeter’s hover strayed a bit further away, Persephone would’ve figured it out. She had known the pride of a god once, and while she may have appeared the more humble of the pair, she very much knew what she was good at. She was good at being a queen, she was good at taking up space. But alas, heavy is the head that wears the crown and ignorance is bliss. At least, that’s what they all say.

She’d seen Samedi more at the public study groups, and she even noticed their presence more since their first interaction. Call it her natural inclination to make everyone feel included, but there was something about Samedi she couldn’t put her finger on. A natural curiosity about someone who seemed so mysterious (and yet, she could tell that wasn’t it. There was something more), so she told herself. “I was!” She smiled warmly, much different from the cold interaction they first had. “I got two tickets for this French movie, Le Artiste, they played at some film festival and I had a feeling you might like something like this?” She pulled the ticket out from her bag, offering it for Samedi to inspect as she shrugged. “I remembered you said you were new to the city. I’ve been there too.”

But, Phoebe didn’t know. So that’s why she felt bold enough to walk up to the King of Hell themself and be so casual. Why when they first met she didn’t have an issue calling them out either. She didn’t mind them now, in fact she thinks they would get along more if she put in some effort. While her other friends didn’t care about her hopelessly pretentious French film festival movies, she had a feeling her extra ticket wouldn’t go wasted. “Hey!” She called out for Samedi, noticing them in the campus court yard. “I was hoping to catch you.” No one told her how strange it could feel trying to make new friends as an adult. Even a goddess didn’t know everything.