kaisou | video: un: Kore

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video: un: Kore

WHO: Persephone and you!
WHERE: Network - Cathedral Hill in person
WHEN: Backdated to March 20th
WHAT: A very special day!
WARNINGS: Potential for abuse talk if people ask her about Hades.

[Perhaps you came across Vash building an altar earlier this month, perhaps you even gave him some pointers on what to do with the task dropped on him with zero warning. This is what the feed opens on, focused on the carefully built altar as Persephone speaks. ]

Once upon a time, Demeter, the Goddess of the Harvest, had a daughter- the most precious part of her existence- as she was to her daughter. They lived happily together, letting plant life flourish. But Hades, the King of the Underworld, coveted the young Goddess. He plotted with his brother, Zeus, the King of the Gods, and kidnapped the Goddess into the Underworld- to try and convince her to be his bride. She was young and impressionable, flattered even- not realising the danger she was in. Demeter searched desperately for her, and the world became barren- the first winter gripped the world as Demeter neglected her duties, her heart broken for her lost daughter.

Hermes, the messenger of the Gods, finally took pity and showed Demeter where her daughter had been taken. But by then it was too late, for her daughter had eaten food grown in the Underworld- six pomegranate seeds- thus binding her to the place. Demeter was enraged and swore nothing else would grow on Earth while her daughter was captive. Knowing this meant oblivion for all mortals, Zeus stepped in. The daughter would be forced to marry Hades- but would only have to spend six months of the year with him- one month for every seed she ate. The other six, she could spend with her mother. And so the seasons came into being. For the six months of the year the daughter was forced to live with her husband, Demeter let the mortal world grow cold and would not grow anything, while she grieved her- Fall and Winter. Then, when her daughter was allowed back into the sun, so too came a burst of new life, as they were reunited to allow flora to cover the world again- Spring and Summer.

[Persephone finally turns the camera onto herself, despite the... admittedly pretty miserable story, she is smiling. For once. ]

Today marks the first day of Spring. This would be the first day I could step out of the Underworld and wander the world, free from my prison for another six months. The day when I could finally run into my mother's arms again. [The smile falters, just for a moment, as something in her heart wrenches painful and deep.] I cannot do that again. Demeter is... gone. But this still marks the most important part of the year for me- a time I can celebrate the memory of her and all she did for me.

[She turns the camera back to the altar.]

Vash has built me an altar on Cathedral Hill. I am not so egotistical to demand offerings or fealty from any of you. But I would appreciate it all the same- if not for me, but for a truly wonderful mother with whom my power is forever entwined even if fate so deemed to part us. Perhaps you could use this as place to contemplate someone as important to you in your life. That would be... acceptable, I think. She would have liked that.

I will be rather busy for the rest of the month for obvious reasons- but I will be here today if you wish to come and speak. I would welcome the company.

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I have apple cider and lemon tea.

What sort of foods did your mother like? I can see if there's anything in the city.

[She appreciates Lucy so damn much.]

That sounds wonderful, thank you.

She always loved the food she was closest to- the harvest. Corn, wheat, grapes. They were what mortals always offered to her, to keep their harvests strong and healthy. She... always liked that. It meant a lot to her.

I can find foods made from those easily: creamed corn and bread, and wine. I daresay I could even make creamed corn and bread, as opposed to buying it from the supermarket—I'd just have to find recipes from the Internet.

As for wine, would Pinot Noir do?

That would be very kind of you, yes. Mother would have appreciated the extra mile.
...As do I.

Hah, yes, that would be perfect. I'm not that fussy.

Oh, good! I can't make any guarantees about the bread, baking is not my strength, but I'll try.

I'll look for one of the better brands, then! I know you're not fussy but it would be very gauche and impolite to bring $2 wine to a goddess's altar.

Honestly, I would not mind even if it was inedible. The thought it what matters.

[It's honestly... sweet that she's trying. It's... nice.]

I don't know. I can sometimes appreciate a little gauche.

I would mind if I didn't give it my best effort! My mother taught me better than that.

I'll get the two-dollar wine and something nicer.

Hah, well, we wouldn't want to disappoint the hard-learned lessons from a mother, would we?

Wonderful. I look forward to it.

I would never dare.

btw, I saw your high priest at the altar. He's really quite a nice fellow and it looks very splendid.

Oh yes, Vash is... a good man. A little like an overeager puppy at times, and he stumbled into this work more than anything else. But I am glad for him.

"I'm guessing you're going to be out there all day, from the sound of it?"

As opposed to... Whatever she normally did.

More than likely, yes. I will be here for those who wish to see me on this day.

"Should I pick up something for dinner on the way home, then?"

So that no one would have to actually cook.

[She is a good bean, truly.]

That would be ideal, thank you. It's likely going to be a long day.

Meredith might have still been struggling with all these things like magic and goddesses and so on, but someone grieving a loss? That at least was something she had some idea how to deal with.

"That's what I figured. Any preferences, or do you want to be surprised?"

[She appreciates the gesture a great deal. Grief, it turns out, is pretty universal- even amongst the immortal. ]

So long as there are plenty of vegetables, I think a surprise would be apt. Mother was all about the harvest after all.

"All right, I'll see what I can find."

Maybe something Asian? She could certainly look to see what was available and find something good for a nice, no cooking required dinner.

Ritsuka didn't know Persephone, and frankly wasn't exactly what one would call devout in any sense, but something mention toward the end of the post on the app had caught her attention. A couple things, actually.

So, at some point in the day, a redheaded young woman approached the altar, carrying a bag.

"I saw what you said on the app... Is it really fine to bring things not just for you?"

She'd met gods before, it generally didn't hurt to make sure.

Persephone was standing by her altar, quiet, arms folded, using the time to think. Mostly about her mother, but about other things too. The time spent in the underworld. Her family and their reaction to it. She tries not to think about Hades. This isn't his day.

She looks over as Ritsuka steps in, giving a nod of her head.

"Of course. If that is something you wish to do."

Ritsuka nodded.

"Yeah."

For a couple of reasons, but explaining it would be, well, she'd explain if asked, but otherwise not bore with what was sure to be a long story or two. She reached into her bag to start pulling things out as she approached the altar.

"I couldn't tell if there was someplace to put incense away from the plants, so..." She brought a small burner, just in case. Nothing fancy though, just what she could find on short notice.

"That is fine, it should be safe. There's plenty of space, at least."

Persephone is not one to press, should she not need to. People's businesses are their own. But this is her altar and she'd like to know who is being represented with it, so...

"Who are you remembering?"

"Right."

But still helpful to have something to hold it in to avoid accidents, she figured. Her expression did sadden a bit at the question, though.

"... Someone who I didn't realize how much they mattered to me until too late. And... everyone that I couldn't save."

It might no longer be as raw a wound as it was just a few months ago, but she still carried a lot of grief.

Persephone's expression softens a little. She thinks about Calliope- how much they left unsaid between them before the chance to really say it was lost forever. It twists her heart a little.

"I see. Both very worthwhile people to remember - it's important to know it is impossible to save everyone, but remembering those you could not is the best you can give them."

She considers, exhales softly.

"...Though there is little you can do for the former, I am afraid. A missed chance does tend to remain... just that."

"Yeah, I know."

She set out some incense, careful to make sure it wouldn't be too near any of the plants before lighting it, then reached to pull out the other thing from her bag: a bowl of rice, carefully packed to avoid spilling any on the way over. Using rice as an offering, particularly for the dead, might be something more common in the part of the world she was from, but hopefully it was similar enough in principle to be acceptable in this case, too.

"There's no changing or taking back what's already happened, but at least you can still remember everything as best you can."

She watches the over carefully set up her items, she doesn't quite smile, but her expression does soften. Everything is set down with such care and reverence- it's... comforting to see. It's clear they meant a lot to her. This person they are remembering.

"That is a very wise way of looking at it. You may live for centuries... longer, even, and nothing can change what happened. And sometimes even your memory fails you, but you hold onto what you can, and that is what is important."

Once everything's arranged in place, Ritsuka takes a step back, to stand at a more proper distance as the thin thread of smoke from the incense starts to creep up into the air.

"Is it?" Wise, that is. Ritsuka had come to that mindset more out of necessity than through logic or deep thinking on the matter. "I just know that you can't change what's in the past, so..."

Persephone nods her head, firm, unmoving.

"Of course it is. You would be surprised how few people have learned that specific lesson. Some can live centuries and never understand it," she snorts lightly. "More than a few members of my family have struggled with that one."

"As in, the other gods?" A pause as she mentally chews over something. "Maybe it's just harder for someone who can basically live forever to think about things like that?"

She doesn't know how to properly articulate the thought, but she has the impression that such beings simply perceive things differently. Even things like the passage of time.

"Hrm. For us, it is complicated, we can still die. We have to perform a very specific action in order to continue existing, should our bodies be mortally wounded," she hums softly. "Honestly, I think it's probably less longevity and more... stubborn self-involvement."

"Sure, but humans only live for so long no matter what, pretty much..."

The difference between I'll definitely die eventually and I don't have to die if I'm careful is what she's getting at.

"Though, maybe... It just seems to me that people who are immortal usually see things kinda differently, I guess?"

"Very true, your lives are fleeting, in comparison," always so short, can BE cut short so suddenly. "And I suppose we do. My kind especially have a... complicated relationship with time and existence. We live multiple lives, by our very nature."

Short, but there was something to be said for the ingenuity and determination knowing one's days were numbered tended to spark.

"Oh, like some sort of reincarnation?"

Her curiosity's a little piqued, now.

Persephone nods, folding her arms.

"Of a sort. We have something called an Eidolon within us. When we die, we can pass this onto another person- they are usually given the choice ahead of time, so they are prepared for it," though that's a BIG usually. "They are fully grown already, so it is not...true reincarnation. Our memories remain dormant for a few years, then slowly start to seep in, mingling with our new hosts. With every new life, we forget our oldest memories... after all there's only so much a human mind can handle."

"So... creating and merging with an avatar?"

It probably speaks to how absurd Ritsuka's experience is that she doesn't find the concept particularly odd or anything.

"I don't think I've heard of gods doing something like that before, but it kinda makes sense..."

"Something like that- though they are people who have lived their whole lives- often long before meeting us," she frowns. "It's not perfect. Sometimes we die before we can explain what we are to them- my last life was like that. For me. Her."

She waves her hand, the semantics get tricky with this one.

"I was once Chastity, and I did not know my friend was the Goddess Persephone until she was killed protecting me. And her... my Eidelon was passed onto me. It was a... difficult and confusing time, to say the least. But then my Persephone memories returned to me and I was both Chastity and her... plus all the other lives I have lived before."

She remembers the panic, not understanding what had happened to her- while also feeling so much stronger when she felt Persephone's power.

"I do not know if there are... other gods in my world, or if it is just us. Perhaps if they do exist, they do it differently."

"That sounds like it must've been pretty rough." For both parts of her. "I wonder if that's similar to how people here who get memories of past lives though?"

That is, there might be others here who understand, to some degree or another.

Persephone nods her head, her fingertips running over some over the flowers Vash put on her shrine.

"From what has been described to me, it's very similar, yes. Suddenly finding you had a whole other life... and having the memories of that life mingle with your own," she cants her head a little. "So you end up not quite you, but not quite them, either. Something new. Something... mingled."

She glances up from her flowers.

"It was... difficult. Before my Persephone memories emerged. But once they did it was easier. I've done this thousands of times."

"It's kinda hard to imagine..."

She's friends with a number of people going through that, yet that didn't make it any easier. Especially since each person's experiences seemed to vary so much.

"Ah, though I didn't mean to just ask you a bunch of personal stuff, sorry."

Please don't smite her or whatever for being overly curious.

"Yes, I only have an understanding fo what they go through because of its familiarity. To and outsider... well, I expect it would be a difficult concept to grasp."

She doesn't, at least, seem in a mood to smite. In fact, she makes a soft, amused sound.

"It's fine, if I didn't want to talk about it, I wouldn't, I assure you."

"Well, if you say so..."

She's met plenty of divine spirits and gods and such before, it doesn't hurt to be a little cautious. Still, though, she can't help but smile a little in return as she says it.

"Thanks for talking, though."

The caution is wise, really. Persephone's in a good enough mood today. Another day? Perhaps she would not have been so luck.

"It is fine. Thank you for coming to remember."

So it tended to be with gods, in Ritsuka's experience. Though she does, finally, belatedly realize something...

"Oh! My name's Ritsuka. Fujimaru Ritsuka."

Goddess or no, it'd be pretty rude not to give her name after all that talk, wouldn't it?

Persephone inclines her head in greeting, a small smile at the corners of her lips.

"It's good to meet you. I'm Persephone, as you have likely already gathered."

"Yeah, I kinda figured..."

She did recognize the story.

"It's nice to meet you, anyway."

"Likewise."

With a small smile, Persephone makes to move to another part of the area.

"I shall leave you to your thoughts."

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video: un: Kore

text; un: livefromkaisou, private

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