Into The Void Itself

Maylea steps quietly into view, the air bending with a swirl of prismatic colours.

Midnight shadows coalesce around a new day, and Mother Night embraces the land in utter darkness.
It is now the 7th of Avechary, 543 years after the Coming of Estarra.

You have emoted: Lief lifts her gaze from her lute, brightening when it settles upon Maylea. "My Lady," she says softly, with warmth.

Maylea breaks into a smile, and then Her gaze falls upon your form, and Her expression falters. "My dear," She reaches out to touch your shoulder, "I see you have roses about you." There is a question in Her voice.

You have emoted: Lief's antlered head tilts, pulled toward the touch of her Goddess upon her shoulder. Her own gaze falls, and her breath holds in her chest for a quiet moment that passes with an exhale. "I told Her I didn't dare look any deeper into the shadows, as She had bid me to do," she says without preamble, her words tight. "She...must have thought dipping me in that darkness would have whatever effect She desired."

The chirping of crickets surrounds you in a medley of night-time music.

Maylea closes Her eyes, a flash of gold and azure flickering under Her lids. She seems to be breathing in the scents about you. "She was young, just a child. From whom came multitudes." She opens Her eyes again, drawing back Her hand to press against Her chest. "Nothing will touch you that you do not allow to touch you, Eldin."

The horizon glows with burnished shades of orange and red, heralding the imminent arrival of Father Sun upon the rim of the world.

You have emoted: Lief gazes up at Maylea, her gray eyes flickering with snatches of colour, of emotion. She once more breathes in, and then releases her breath, and she nods her antlered head. "I didn't want to trouble you with it, my Lady," she says quietly, lifting her hand from her lute to touch a nearby strawberry. "A pond ripples when it is struck and returns to stillness; so I've had faith that my own fears will quiet, that Your colours will shine with mine more brightly than Her touch might." She pauses, her teeth nipping at her bottom lip. "It's just...very hard to return to stillness when others around you expect nothing to ripple your pond's surface."

The musky scent of loam and leaves fills you with vibrancy.

Maylea draws Her sari about Herself, the cloth rippling with gleaming sheen, "Do you think nothing ruffles Me, My dearest?" Her gaze follows your hand to the strawberry. From Her form, soft splashes of colour drip and flow, as if She had just bathed in their beauty. The scent of wildflowers dances about your nostrils.

Glorious rays of morning light burst forth from Father Sun's crown as it peeks over the world's edge, announcing a bright and shining new dawn.

You have emoted: "Not at all!" The exclamation is a mere breath from Lief's lips. She looks back to Maylea, her hand dropping from the berry to rest haplessly against the ground. "I know this, my Lady," she says, throat tight with her earnestness. "I know that You, too, always return to Your centre. That one cannot 'return' without having been drawn away to begin with. If...if I didn't, I wouldn't worry about worrying You." The last few words are a mumble.

Birds fill your ears with serenades of happiness and love.

Maylea breaks into a smile once more. You sense within you a core of quiet serenity, which grows and sprouts as if from the tiniest spark of colour. "Viravain and Nocht have embraced that which They once shunned. That is Their choice, My dear. It does not have to be yours." The multitude of hues flutter around Her, resolving into a cascade of flower petals that fall to Her feet.

The sun reaches the zenith of the firmament, pausing in his quest to allow the land to bask in his shining golden rays.

You have emoted: Slowly, Lief brings her hand back to a fragrant lute of hardwood maple, whose uppermost curve her palm rests against. "I would never make that choice," she says quietly, her voice filled with conviction. "How could I, when You are there, wherever I go? Even in my fears, even when I feel alone..." She trails off, lowering her fingers to her instrument, strumming out a chord filled with honeyed warmth. Quietly, as the notes die down, she looks up at Maylea and says, "I hope You feel the same."

Maylea flashes you a joyous smile.

"Eldin. I am with you wherever you walk, even should you wander into the Void itself." Maylea murmurs softly, and in your mind's eye, a series of images fall into view, tumbling as if through a kaleidoscope. A radiant blue figure, walking alone in a field of nothingness. A hand outstretched. A feeling of ties tested, heart to heart, into that which is not.

You have emoted: All about her body stilling, Lief's lashes flutter shut to better 'see', her breath hitching in her chest. Eventually, she ventures a barely-whispered, "My Lady..."

Maylea leans in to place a kiss upon your forehead. A sensation as of refreshing cold runs through your body, from scalp to toes. "I am always pleased to see you, Lief." She fades from view, and a breeze blows through, scattering the flower petals to the sky.

You have emoted: At the touch of her Goddess's lips against her forehead, Lief finally opens her eyes again, only to find Her gone. In quiet, she gathers up and hugs a fragrant lute of hardwood maple tightly, a stand-in for the target of her temporarily overwhelming affection and emotion.