Tired, are you?
Too bad. You have work to do.
You can't give up now. Not when you're so close.
You light the candle. It's the only light, and it doesn't as much illuminate as give the shadows a shape. You shiver. It's cold, so cold.
You are dying, after all.
Sadness comes. Maybe you should back out? Just go with Thanatos?
No. You want revenge; I can tell. Good, you'll do the honorable thing. Strike back against them. Good Ariadne.
I watch as you start chanting, in Greek. Well of course, it's the only language you know, right?
You slice your palm with a silver knife. Blood drips down. Only I see it's fire red, much too bright to be normal. Typical. I've seen hundreds do this, and they always change before, though they don't notice. Such a sweet girl you are, Ariadne. The sweet ones always fall the farthest. Just as you near the end, your heart gives out. Dying of starvation, you choke the last word with your final breath.
Let the fun begin.
Gesturing lightly, I watch as your soul returns to your body. It's silver now, changed. The light enters.
I fall back as your body morphs. Skin turns to scales, becoming green. Fangs jut from your mouth. Hooked talons grow from your fingers. And all of a sudden, you sit up with a cry.
I close my eyes. Wow, you look truly horrible, even to one such as me. But when I look again, you're there, standing, no longer emaciated but corpse pale, wearing your chiton.
I shiver. You're different now. More different then your kind has a right to be.
Suddenly, you swing round. Cold, cold eyes focus on me. Your eyes have no iris. Just the small black pupil and a green sclera.
"Did you do this," you growl. Your voice is utterly inhuman. Of course, I can't talk about being inhuman. "Did you do this to me?"
I back up. "No, I-I-I…helped. You wanted it remember?"
You back off growling. Hugging yourself, you rock back and forth.
I don't know what to do. Should I leave?
Yes. I should leave.
I walk toward a wall. "Goodbye, Elissa Ariadne. Live well."
Around 2000 years later
I'm sitting in Aziraphale's bookshop when this girl walks up. She's a sweet thing, I must admit. And I'm a daemon. Though, dressing all black is a little odd.
"Hello," she pipes. "I'm looking for a book."
Chills race up my spine. She's so familiar, where have I seen her before? Though somehow she's vaguely…disturbing. Something in her face, or the way she holds herself. Who could she be?
Throwing caution to the winds, I smile at her. Even daemons of the Underworld can find things cute right? Though I'd better not let this get round to Hades…
"Yeah sure," I say, pushing my sunglasses up on my nose. "What is it?"
She smiles at me. "Homer. The Iliad."
I blink. "Okay," I finally say. I allow her to pull me to the back of the store.
"You'd better not rip anything, Crowley!" I hear Aziraphale call. I ignore him. Fussy old spirit. Nice enough, though.
She leads me to the back, where the light is dim and the air musty. We quickly find her book. She flips through it.
"I like this," she says. "Though I was there when it happened, Homer so romanticizes it…"
I freeze, falling backward. She doesn't seem to notice, too wrapped up. "What did you say?" I breathe.
She looks up at me. Grinning maliciously, her teeth are filed to points. The sclera on both eyes turns green, and the irises vanish.
"Hey Crowley," Elissa says. "Remember me? This is going to be so fun!"
The horrible thing is, she still has that little girl's voice.
