Dixlaimer: I don't own any of this.
Umm, okay... This is my take on Trance, so to speak. It is actually a birthday-story for squid109, it's pretty much non-canon and before someone asks: no, it is not a crossover, despite all Greek mythology.
Full Circle
There were two things that never changed: whatever her features, colours, shapes, her eyes always stayed the large, warm, enigmatic pools of darkness that stared down on believers from Byzantine church walls. That was the first constant.
The second one had in times immemorial been meant as her imprisonment, but had become through aeons her natural environment. That too came in all sizes, forms and materials, but from rusty, old containers to delicate, tiny cases encrusted with gold and jewels they all were basically... boxes.
Her hand stroke lovingly along the polished walls, her dark, warm gaze running along the vast garden halls so full of life and joy... As boxes went, this was by far the most beautiful one that she could remember. And one could safely call her an expert on boxes. Truth be told she had become – even though not through free will – THE expert on boxes.
"Andromeda." The name fell softly whispered like pearls from her lips. How extremely fitting! she thought, still looking enraptured at the marvellous gardens stretching in front of her before turning on her heels and hurrying towards the Observation Deck.
-
Her eyes were closed, as her mind wandered back to what had happened a few hours ago in these now deserted chambers.
She had taken a few steps back, contemplating them in silence.
On her far left stood the tall, dark, splendid warrior – superb, cold and dangerous, like it has always been. There would be trouble ahead coming from him, but this time... This time she will watch him more closely, try harder to keep him in line. This time she will see to it that this rock of strength, ambition and determination would not fall prey to darkness – like all others had, so many times before.
Far to the right the dreadful, awful creature, that hid under his fur the living proof that kindness and beauty were to be found even under the most hideous appearances, had his features softened in contentment about the way things had turned out. This time, she vowed under her breath, this time she will take care that his words of love and grace and wisdom reached open minds and ears and wouldn't become twisted, changed and altered beyond recognition by others looking for a way to build traps for fools.
Next to her, her most beloved friend watched the scene unfolding in front their eyes with a half indulgent, half enchanted smile, ideas already sparkling in his eyes, his fingers almost itching at the thought of what he could accomplish with all that their new home placed at his disposal. Her eyes caressed his form, that – unlike the two others – was neither awe- nor fear-inspiring, her thoughts wandering back through ages to the very first one like him whom she could remember. Why did the ones who seemed insignificant, harmless, weak harbor the most brilliant minds, the most clever hands and the greatest hearts? This time around she'll protect him - better, fiercer than ever before.
They stood in line, in front of them – shaking hands and committing themselves to their new-founded alliance – two figures darkly pencilled against the brightness of the room: she, sceptical but glowing, as it was befitting a true Guardian of Life; he, slightly unbelieving his own manifested courage, yet determined to see the dream he'd shown them come true, like always completely focused on his task to protect innocence from fate. Oh yes, this is definitely history repeating, she thought with a happy, hopeful (how could it have been different?) smile. They were...so beautiful, so strong... so very, very fragile.
-
As her eyes reopened, they fell on a small view-screen showing frozen the very scene she had just replayed in her mind.
"You look satisfied."
The glimmering, transparent image of the ship that had just become her new home appeared next to her, the friendly, calm voice sounding moderately curious.
"I am," she answered, her tail waving mildly excited patterns behind her back and laughed at the woman in front of her. "You are breathtakingly beautiful," she then spurted out happily.
The hologram gave a small chuckle.
"Thank you," Andromeda said. "You are very sweet. I have no idea who or what you are, but you are very sweet."
"I'm... I'm... it's a long story..." she stammered, a bashful, playful expression on her face. "A complicated one, too," she added, very much like a child confiding something of utmost importance to a grown-up.
"You may want to try," the ship encouraged her.
"I wouldn't even know where to start..." she replied vaguely.
"How about you start at the beginning?" the hologram suggested, arms crossed on her chest. Thoughtful, huge brown eyes met her inquiring gaze:
"Okay, I can try..."
-
She had spent her life in boxes. From the very start. Of them all this one was by far the most extraordinary. Andromeda... She had come full circle. Almost.
She remembered her. She remembered them all, but her she remembered best. She remembered how the golden-haired, smoky-eyed warrior queen had placed the small, elaborately carved box into her husband's palm. It was their wedding night.
"What is it?" he had asked, startled about the small case's beauty, puzzlement clearly written all over his face.
"My wedding gift to you," she had answered softly. "It was a present that I once received myself..."
"From whom?"
She shrugged. "A former slave..."
He laughed: "That looks mighty precious to be possessed by a slave."
"He was special," she said.
"Was he?" His eyes narrowed. "You never struck me like someone who imposes herself on her slaves, my Queen."
"He was... he was like you..." She smiled. "He was a hero."
"There are but few like me, even among heroes." He stood up and walked over to the window, looking out at the city at their feet and the waves beyond it. He turned his head to her and laughed: "Poseidon hasn't fathered that many sons, you see."
She laughed back.
"He was not exactly like you. He was not as tempestuous, and taller, and his eyes were not sea-green, they were sky-blue."
"A son of Zeus? You held a son of Zeus enslaved?"
"He wanted something from me. I made him work for it. After one year he got what he had come for. I gave it to him and... he left. We were fond of each other, but I had to let him go fulfil his pledge. He saw that I was heartbroken, and so he gave me this. It had always been with his mother's family."
He had listened quietly and now opened the box.
"It's empty," he said surprised.
She smiled.
"Is it?"
Her hand closed on his and shut the small box. His arm encircled her shoulders and they stood there in silence, looking over the city shining white under the starry night.
"It's a beautiful place," she told him, leaning against him.
"But not as peaceful as it seems. Or as it should be," he replied, sighing. "Athens desperately needs laws, rules... It deserves them. It is a good city. It deserves the best."
"You'll give it your best."
"Yes, I will."
And he did.
-
She remembered him well. She remembered them all, but him she remembered best. Remembered how tightly his broad hand had held on to the golden girdle, the sorrow in his eyes as he contemplated the queen's saddened, teary face.
"I wish you could stay," she was telling him.
"I wish I could stay, too. But I can't," he answered. He slung his trophy over one of his shoulders to free his hands and took her fingers into a firm, warm grip, pressing something tiny and slightly colder into them. She peered and gasped at the beautiful small box.
"It's... it's wonderful. What is it?"
"A gift. Keep it. To... to remind you of me."
"I don't need a reminder," she almost sobbed at this. He smiled sadly.
"I know. Then to comfort you. It was... It has been in my family for generations, you know..."
She looked up at him, surprise in her eyes.
"It's from the gods?" she asked him awed. He laughed.
"In a way. But not the way you think, it was my mother's. She had it from her mother, who had it from her mother and so on. And she told me to give it to the first woman whom I loved and who loved me in return..." He sighed and then continued softer:"... and whom I had to leave. I fear this would be you"
"Yes, that would be me," she admitted and opened the box. "It's... it's empty?!"
"Is it?"
They stood there in silence looking out at the houses spreading out into the hills.
"One year... And I've not grown tired of you," she told him. "Did you teach me love?"
"I don't know. I think maybe you taught me..." he replied pensively. "Do you think you could teach them?" he asked her, his head motioning over to the dark houses. "That they don't have to sacrifice youths at the end of the year, that they don't please the gods by killing people, even if those people are... just men? Will you do this for me, for us?"
"Yes, I will."
And she did.
-
She remembered them well. She remembered them all, but those two she remembered best.
"What... what was this thing?" he panted, struggling to break the chains that held her bound to the rock.
"It was called the Cetus," she informed him. "It was sent by the gods. And it would have killed me..."
"No, really?" he replied sarcastically. "Why would the gods send this? What do they want from you?"
"My dowry," she answered. He stared at her incredulously.
"I know, you are rich, but I hardly think that the gods need..." His eyes narrowed. "What is your dowry?"
She gave it to him sometime later, during their first night together.
"This? That's your dowry? It's empty."
"No, it isn't. My ancestor brought it with her, when she came from the gods, after they had enchained Prometheus. It's precious. Keep it safe. It's indestructible, but still... Keep it safe, so we can pass it on to our children's children and their children after them. It is said that our great-grandson will one day free the Titan, but they still might need this. We have to keep it safe."
"We will," he assured her.
And they did.
-
Ages later it turned out that it wasn't, after all, indestructible. There had been a huge fire, that destroyed the city that had just been conquered by the one who claimed to be the last of their line. For a short, precious moment she had been free – and had loved her deliverer, and he had started dreaming a huge dream of freedom and unity and peace. But then he died. She was desolate, inconsolable, and mourned over his body, not realising that they had built a huge case around him, trapping them both inside.
And after a great deal of time had passed and freed her anew, she wandered aimlessly through deserted countries, finally admitting that after all this time she had come to like the security of walls closed tightly all around her. And that she longed for a light burning brightly to show her the way, as well as for a strong hand to help her along, and warmth and love and passion to just... keep her grounded. For then she could work wonders! She kept it in mind over the ages... and now it looked as if she'd found it all again.
-
The hologram looked at her with wide, dreamy eyes.
"In case you might wonder: I am a warship, the Andromeda Ascendant. I used to carry a full crew of 4000. Now I am... I'm empty."
"Are you? I don't think so. Not anymore."
The ship blinked.
"I was built by Vedrans 365 years ago on Tarn-Vedra's moon: Ione..."
"Ione... The beautiful..."
The ship nodded.
"Yes, in Ione's most sophisticated starship-dockyard. It was called..."
"I know what it was called," she murmured softly. "Pandora."
Andromeda looked at her with sympathy.
"It seems that you have really come almost full circle..."
"Yes, it really seems so..."
"Welcome aboard, Hope. I will keep you safe."
And she did.
A/N: The Greek myths I am referring to:
1. Pandora's Box (it's actually more a jar, but who's to tell?): after Prometheus stole the fire from Olympus to give it to mankind, the gods let Hephaistos create a wonderful young woman (according to Hesiod she was the first woman), endowed with all qualities desirable in a human being; they sent her to earth, together with a beautiful jar, in which they had enclosed all the world's evils. She released them, but managed to close the jar before Hope could escape, who remained captured. According to some versions Pandora became the wife of the Phoenician king.
2. It seems as though Alexander the Great had harbored dreams of unity and equality for his new-founded Empire that went well beyond his time's notions of universal rights for all men. Alexander thought himself to be the last of the Heracleids, the descendants of Herakles (Hercules).
3. According to myth Andromeda was the daughter of the Phoenician king and was to be sacrificed to a sea-serpent, the Cetus - sent by the gods as a curse, because the king refused to give them what belonged to them; there is speculation as to what it was, that the gods actually wanted. Perseus rescued Andromeda and married her. Their granddaughter was Alcmene, who became the mother of Herakles.
4. One of Herakles' labors involved getting the golden girdle of Hippolyte, queen of the Amazons. According to some versions of the myth, she made him work as her slave for one year, promising him the girdle if he managed to submit himself to the humiliation and the ordeal. He succeeded and won his prize, although by the end of the year he was also called to battle the queen in a duel. He won the duel as well and spared Hippolyte's life, since he had fallen in love with her over the year. One interpretation of the myth is the abolition of the ancient custom of electing each year a new king as a mate for the queen, who then was sacrificied at the end of the term. Greek mythology offers many alternative stories for that, but the most popular ones are the tales in which either Herakles or Theseus take care of abolishing these rites.
5. Hippolyte later became the wife of Theseus, king of Athens, alleged to have been the first Greek ruler to issue a code of laws.