Black inked tattoos of constellations danced across Asteria's revealed skin. Each one shimmering with magic and excitement. Her long black hair trailed down over a comfortable navy blue sweatshirt and almost reaching the waistline of her jeans.
The constellations watched with eager eyes as she finished one of her latest playthroughs of Inquisition. It remionded her of Greece in a way, the struggle for power and the justice that was craved. It was all to close to what the Titaness had lived and seen in her time of providance. It's also why she preferred Solas to most of the other characters. She saw herself in him. The result of a crumbling age. Him so desperate to hold onto pieces of his past. Only to have them slip through his fingers like water.
They enjoyed this escape the ability to lose oneself in a world that wasn't dying. To finally help people, mortals again.
It was a change from the show she had put on for the past few centuries. Acting as if she was normal. Getting a job, paying the bills, etc... etc... It never ended. When she could just play a game or read a book, she could regain a part of herself. A part that was lost so long ago in the fall.
Placing the controller on the coffee table in front of her she switched off the TV. Standing, she sighed rubbing her temples. The headache was getting worse and only would increase. She knew this. After a moment of regaining her focus, she stood and stretched. With a couple satisfactory cracks and pops of joint, Asteria shook out her arms and then went to look around her meager apartment. She'd owned this one in London for a couple years now. It was a small studio that was perfect for her painting. It even had a huge window that leads out to a balcony. That's where she kept her prized possession: Orion SkyQuest XT8i IntelliScope. The irony that her most faithful and best friend shared a name with it was not lost on her.
"You guys want to do something today? I think I've spent enough time gushing over Solas, Cassandra, and Bull for one day." Asteria lifted her arms and examined all her constellations, her friends, her companions. They seemed to be abuzz with excitement, their emotion fueling Asterias.
"Alright, alright. I was thinking we could all go down to that new little coffee shop that opened just around the corner from the weird... oh gods, what it's called." Asteria snapped her fingers as if that action alone would bring forth the memory.
"Body shop." A smooth voice added.
"That's the one! " Asteria turned to smile at her old friends. Orion stood good foot taller than her. Maybe 6'6". A giant among men to be sure. He appeared in regular clothes, not his traditional loin cloth. Asteria grinned at the memory of trying to convince a spectral being that wearing modern clothes is better than dancing around in his underwear.
His form was fit, but that was hard to determine considering he was basically see through. His body was a dark misty blue and black, speckled with the stars that matched in the sky.
"You know, I think you've got a caffeine problem there Eria." He chuckled.
"I blame my addictive personality." She flashed him a smirk. "It allows me to indulge."
"Because that makes perfect sense. The Titaness of stars indulging in coffee and teas. Seems like the beginning of a bad joke."
"You're just sad that the other one closed down a couple years back." She brought her elegant fingers to her chin trying to remember. "You always did say it was your favourite."
Orion gave a slight frown. "You know the one you're talking about shut down in 1917 right? It was also in Brooklyn." He rested a comforting hand on her shoulder. He knew that she was beginning to forget. Small details about the past or how much time has gone by. Like waves washing away the walls of a once majestic sandcastle. It was only becoming worse as the years went on.
"So around a hundred-ish year and a different continent. No biggy. I'll put the illusion on later tonight. Wouldn't want the mortals to think some random ghost with lights on it is drinking a spiced latte." She playfully removed his hand and made a dash for the sofa. With a leap, she landed right on the center. Grabbing the remote and sprawling out, she turned on the TV. She looked over to her friend and waved for him to come over. "Netflix or video game?"
"Didn't you say literally three minutes ago that it was enough video games for today?"
She shrugged and started up Inquisition again. Unbelievable. You'd think that by binding himself to her for over 8 millennia, he'd finally understand the way her mind worked. Yeah... no. Admitting defeat, he walked over and sat on an adjacent chair.
"You can never have enough Dragon Age, my dear friend." As the game came to the main menu, the Templars and mages all unknowably walking to their deaths, Orion cleared his throat.
"I needed to tell you something Eria." He waited for her to prompt him
"I'm not going to like this am I?" She stated as a matter of fact. ' It's never good when he's reluctant to tell me something. Never.' She thought.
"No, it's about Zeus-" A loud knock came to the door to interrupt. Asteria's head snapped to the door and then to Orion. Without even a vocal cue, he transformed into a mist and formed his constellation back on her skin.
Standing, she put down the controller and went to the door. Looking through the peephole, she saw no one. 'Strange', she thought. Curiosity was in a deity's nature; where a typical person would just ignore the knock and continue on as they were, she instead opened the door carefully and came face to face with an empty hallway. Not a soul was in sight in either direction.
"Looking for me?" A voice came from behind her. Spinning on her heel and out of instinct, Asteria summoned twin daggers to defend herself. The owner of the voice stood at an easy 6 foot tall. He wore shorts and a polo shirt, nothing too fancy. Though his socks and sandals statement he was making did nothing to add to his overall fashion appeal. ' Dorian and Viv would be ashamed', she quipped in her mind. The staff with wings and twin snakes coiling around it would give away his identity if not for the fact that this very figure had been pestering her of late.
"Hermes." Asteria said coldly.
"The one and only." He looked her over, a sly smile dancing on his lips. "A god might get nervous, a woman approaches with her weapon drawn."
"Nice reference, twinkle toes." Asteria reluctantly dispelled her weapons. Acting aggressively towards Hermes now would not serve her well in the long run. Sighing, she watched Hermes look over her studio as if to take inventory. "Are you going to deliver your stupid message or are you going to order me a catalogue?" Smiling, Hermes' hand traced along the countertop.
"I come bearing a message from Zeus himself." Hermes gave her a side glance as he picked up one of her dollar store plates as if it were a carefully crafted vase. "I suggest you actually respond to this one without the usual 'Fuck you', 'Go stuff it', 'I'm not going to ruffle your feathers', 'Tricks of the light only work on captive prisoners and zealots' or, and my personal favourite: 'You couldn't tell rejection if it hit you in the erection'." Out of impulse, his fingers sneak the plate inside his clothes, all the while appearing as if he were simply looking around.
Hermes then turned to face me head on. "Not that I don't like delivering such responses to him, mind you" He shuddered. Asteria felt bad for him. Hermes was a good god. A powerful one at that. Though he will always be under the heel of Zeus and the other 10 majors. Hermes was the go-to guy to get messages around since Iris had dissipated from existence.
Dissipation: or death, as it's commonly referred to by mortals. It's a fate that hurts worse than the bloodiest torture, or so it's been described. It was the one thing that all gods and goddesses alike feared. To die. But not like that of a mortal, no. That would be too easy. A knife to the kidney would be merciful in that situation. Dissipation was when you were forgotten. Not even a figment of an imagination. An echo of a past long since forgotten.
Deities from all religions and pantheons have been dealing with this over the centuries. When the empire falls to ruin as emprise do, the culture, the religion is lost. And so are its gods. Without those to worship them, the gods lose power. Eventually, they lose enough to be unable to interfere with the affairs of mortals and they loose their very ability to exist. None are immune. Only those remembered share a better chance.
The only known cure, or preventative: Being remembered by mortals. It's enough of a spark to keep to going. Enough motivation to continue under the ruse of 'normal'. Enough to sustain a god.
Asteria was dying from this very- illness wouldn't be appropriate in this situations. Affliction? She was being forgotten. The headaches were only the start. Soon she would be unable to communicate with her companions or even reach her power. Soon she would no longer be able to hold her ceremonial daggers from the 'good old days' and her body would convulse at random intervals making even the ability to appear human impossible. She would resort back to a spectral form, her arms and legs transparent and her torso hollow. She would become a husk. Nothing more than a shell eventually turning to ash. This could take years, even decades to happen. Each second the deity would be in immense pain. As stated before: it was a fate worse than that of torture.
"Aww Well, I'm running out of ways to mock the 'great' and 'powerful' Zeus. Air quotes included." She crossed her arms in disapproval. "If he wasn't the god of the sky I'd swear he'd be the god of adultery." Asteria rolled her eyes. Hermes frowned and shook his head.
"He's not going to take this lightly, Asteria. We both know he's not a patient man." Hermes took a step closer to Asteria. With a heavy sigh, he leaned on his staff. "You were able to out run him before. But it's different now with the world changing. He's becoming more desperate for contact with anything that makes him feel like a god again."
"You're not wrong in that aspect, Milord." Orion materialized from the her skin. The three stars in his belt glistening in the low light. "You know as well as I what's going up in the heavens, Hermes." He came to stand between Asteria and the god. His spectral form shimmering.
"Orion, what's wrong?" Orion never came out when Hermes came to 'visit'. It was too dangerous. The other gods saw them as slaves, nothing more than beings that needed to be controlled. Hermes was no different in the matter.
"I was just pointing out that lord Hermes knows why everything is changing. And how the changes are going about."
Hermes faced turned from the playful to the poisonous. As if the snakes engraved on his staff now represented his mood. Hermes scoffed at the nerve this mere constellation had. How dare he insert himself into the affairs of gods? His mere existence is due to a god's intervention, a gift. A gift that can be taken back.
"I know not of what you're speaking, dust." Orion flinched at the slur. To be reminded of what he could become. Of what he used to be in the beginning. Sensing his tension, Asteria stepped forward. Placing a comforting hand on his shoulder, she turned to glare at Hermes.
"How dare you come into my home and disrespect my companions?!" She exclaimed, anger clear upon her brow.
"You ask me how I have the audacity to tell a servant where their place is?" Hermes pointed his staff in Orion's direction. His brows creasing.
"He is no servant, Hermes. He's my friend, a brother in arms." Asteria spat at him. With a huff Hermes turned to make his exit.
"What arms, Titaness?" He slurred at Asteria. "There is no wars to fight, no oracles to tell your tales, no mortals wishes to grant." With a wave of his hands the door opened. "You no longer matter Asteria. You've only remain this long because of his interest in you. You are nothing but a forgotten goddess playing with her hunter and pets." His sandals now sprouting wings he began to hover. "Only Zeus can help you." He slammed the door at his exit. The drama the god of thieves and messengers created could rival the muses themselves.
Asteria collapsed to the ground; Orion barely making it in time to catch her. Tears made streaks down her face. She hated how right Hermes was. She was dying. No matter how she tried to escape with a distraction of other worlds or possibilities. The reality of the situation was nothing short of painful. Maybe going to Zeus was the right thing to do. But she knew what that meant as well...
he'd make her his concubine, lover, mistress. Whatever he desired to call her. All for the exchange of him sharing enough power to stop her from dissipating. From vanishing from existence. She needed him to make her whole. And for one of the few times in her immortality, Asteria was scared. Scared to die, scared to rely on the man, the god, that had defiled her own sister and left her to birth his children. Scared to become leashed to another that she did not want, scared for her companions, all her constellations, all her friends would be subjected to his influence and whims. She would not let that happen. Asteria would never let them fall so low as to be servants. She would gladly accept her fate to know that they were safe.
Stifling her sobs, she rose with the help of the ever silent Orion. His form now sparkling like a silver cloak at night. "You can't go to Zeus, Eria..." He tried to reason with her to stay.
Turning to him Asteria cupped his face in a friendly embrace. "I know, Ri." Wiping the lines of tears from her cheeks, she regarded him with full confidence. "I won't let them hurt you." She looked over her tattoos. "Any of you. Not if I can prevent it."
"I know that. You've always been good to me-all of us. But that's the least of our problems." He took her hands within his. "It's Zeus's intentions."
"I know what his intentions are." Asteria laughed, not the deep belly type, but the reluctant one. "Just because I can't give prophecies and futures like I used to, doesn't mean I can't predict a man's intentions." Her laugh was fading away.
A warning flag to Orion. She was scared. And that terrified Orion. He could count on one hand the number of times in the past millennium that he had seen her like this. "No. No you don't."
Asteria tilted her head in question at Orion's now darkened mood.
"After the last time Hermes 'visited', me and a couple other constellations decided to investigate, we only really found out today." Orion swallowed hard. "What we found it was-it wasn't pretty. You're not the first one that he's tried to lure in. He can't actually save you, Eria." He searched her golden eyes. They were almost human minus the colour. He was captivated by them each time she looked at him. But now was not the time to be entranced by his mistress. Friend, he reminded himself. She was so different than the other gods. Though she was a minor one, she still treated those in her domain, her rightful servants, with respect. Something many others disregarded.
"Fucking Styx? You're kidding me?" She threw her hands up in disbelief. "He's been boasting that he could save our power, our existence if we let him claim us." She started to stomp around the room. Her anger getting the better of her. The other constellations seemed to reach with her emotion. They stirred on her skin, begging to be released so that they could help her.
"That's not the worst of it-"
She cut him off. "What could be worse then the 'King of the Gods' lying about a crisis that affects all deities?! This is blasphemous. If the other gods knew they wouldn't stand for this. How could they?" Asteria was fuming with rage pacing back and forth she started to caress her tattoos, trying to calm them and in turn, they calm her. It was a self-defense mechanism. One she's had since he's pledged himself to her.
"He's been taking their entities."
Asteria went pale. "Do-do the other gods..." She trailed off in horror. If that was correct, that meant that Zeus was feeding off the essence of other gods to fuel himself. That he was not only taking their remaining power but also taking over their domain. If he were to capture every god, goddess and titan left-
"They're helping him."
It was worse than she thought. "How many?" she asked, as she awaited an answer she wasn't sure she truly wanted to know the response to.
"Only the main 12." He looked away in shame.
'ONLY the main 12?!' She cursed herself for thinking that the others were oblivious to his actions.
"That's why they're all putting up with his antics. Hera particularly," Orion finished.
"So each new deity he ropes in with his promises and 'charms', just ends up a sick breakfast for them." Asteria scoffed in disgust at how far the gods have fallen. The once mighty ruler. The 'all' powerful Greek gods now forced to be cannibals to survive with a meager existence. Orion merely nodded.
"Monster." The word hung in the air. For it was the only word to describe such an atrocity and those that committed it against them.
Conflicted, Asteria had to debate how to proceed. She had to warn the other minor gods of the others betrayal. She released a breath she didn't know she'd been holding. "Friends, I call to thee. Hear my pleas and come to my aid. I would request that you warn the others." The tattoos on her body started to shift and move on the skin. "Inform the minor gods of the treachery of the 12. Warn them of their tricks." The constellations leapt from her skin flying through the air, their forms shimmering in the light of the window. "Be safe my friends."
After only an hour, all of her companions had returned but one. Aries. It worried her. She knew that Aries shared the name and temper with the god of war. Asteria touched her arm where Aries laid his stars on her skin, at the empty patch that reminded her of his absence. She knew that he was never one to waver in his loyalty. Still it plagued her thoughts.
Orion dared not question one of his brethren. He knew not if Aries loyalty laid with Asteria. He only assumed. A dangerous gamble in a game of life.
In a flash of smoke, her questions were answered. Zeus, dressed in all white, held the ram by his horns. Its neck bent at an unnatural angle, his form flickering from the obvious damage. Asteria wanted to run to her injured friend's side, not carrying in that moment if he'd betrayed her warning to Zeus.
"Let him go!" she demanded. Zeus laughed and tossed the mangled spectral form at her feet. With a touch of her hand, Aries responded, he regarded her with sorrow and guilt. Orion had his answer to where his loyalty laid: at the feet of the pantheon. But when Orion went to look at Asteria, expecting to see anger and hate behind her golden eyes, he merely saw love and regret. Regret that she wasn't a good enough friend to inspire loyalty. Not a good enough protector for him to be hurt like this. She thought that it was her fault for him being in this position. Her emotion broke Orion's heart. All he wanted was to just hold her and tell it was going to be all right. An action that would overstep his bounds and put a target on his back against Zeus.
"I thank you, my friend. Please return to the sky and rest. I'm sorry." She cooed in Aries' ear. The Ram merely closed its eyes and drifted back to merge with her skin once again. Filling the last blank space on her left arm.
"Your pet has not been loyal to its master, little Titaness." Zeus sneered at Asteria. His voice booming. "You should be more careful where you send them. You never know where they might end up or who they talk to." As he stalked closer to Asteria, lightning crackled throughout the air.
Asteria held her ground against the king of the gods. She would not be bullied by him. She would not fear him. Not again. Not ever. Zeus taking this as a blatant insult raised his hand to strike Asteria. But when the strike came down it made no impact with the goddess of stars, but with her loyal constellation.
Orion fell to the floor gasping for air. A smite from Zeus was not something you just got up and walked off. It took its toll. "Orion!" Asteria exclaimed, running to hold him in her arms. Shaking his head Hermes sighed.
"I did warn you not to interfere, little hunter." Hermes now came from the shadows. His face dark but vigilant.
Orion started to flicker. His ability to hold his astral projection waning like that of Aries. Asteria held him in her arms, trying to calm him enough to send him back to her skin. "Shhh, friend. I thank thee for thy care. Return to heal, and make sure that none come to my aid."
"No-" Orion choked out. Before Asteria forced him back to her skin. Something that she had only ever done in protection of her companions. Alone now she looked up to Zeus. Hatred in her eyes.
"How dare you do this? How dare you hurt them? How dare you try and feed yourself on our essence, you frigging cannibalistic glutton?" She hissed. Zeus casually laughed it off. Flicking his wrist, he sent her flying across the room and slamming into the wall. Sliding down, she met the floor with her face.
Coughing, she raised herself on her front arms. Her instincts kicking in. Lunging at the god, she summoned two daggers made of darkness and dust to her aid. She slashed at his torso, not aiming to land a killing blow, only to get him off balance.
Seeing past her tricks, Zeus summoned a bolt of lightning and launched it into Asteria's body. He watched in glee as she started to convulse. The little Titaness that he once spared, even sought after, was now on her knees before him. This little Titaness that ruined his plans and potentially just doomed all the others and himself to die. She was going to pay.
"You are nothing, little star tamer." He bellowed. "You should've taken my offer long ago and spared yourself this pain." He kicked her now fetal-positioned body earning him a cry of pain.
"I would rather turn to ash!" She spat at him, bloody spit landing on his white shoes.
"That can be arranged." He chuckled to himself. Picking up the beaten Titaness, he threw her at the TV still running Inquisition. She watched through swollen eyes as he smirked in victory. The world warping and expanding. All Asteria heard was Zeus's laugh and his last words ringing true.
She didn't realize that she was falling until she hit the ground with a thud. Her arms and legs felt like lead as they tried to pick her up. "Orion..." She coughed. Blood speckling the ground by her hands. "Shit." Rising from her pathetic position. Her power waning. She looked around to see a long corridor lined with pedestals with a variety of vases and plates on them. At the end of the corridor stood two large oak doors with intricate metal designs on them. Golden handles being the center place. ' if there's any way to demonstrate power it's in showmanship and having the flashiest stuff .' She thought. Through those doors, she'd find Zeus, and he would pay. There was no doubt in her mind about that.
Limping her way to the doors, each step made her body ache, but thoughts of revenge kept her going. The titaness knew she was probably not going to survive her encounter with the king of the gods. But if anything she was going to go out with a bang, like the stars she protects. Hopefully, she would take him with her. As she reached the door, a booming voice came from behind the wood, a familiar one she couldn't quite place. "Now is the hour of our victory. Bring forth the sacrifice."
Listening to a new voice, that came to question the booming one. "Why are you doing this? You of all people?" 'Because he wants power', Asteria answered for the voice. That's all Zeus ever wanted. Like a glutton at a feast, he was never satisfied.
"Keep the sacrifice still." The booming voice ordered. Suddenly the questioning voice screamed.
"Someone help me!" It cried. Knowing that she only had moments to spare Asteria threw open the doors, expecting to see a throne room.
"Zeus!" She yelled as they opened. "Or not..." She trailed off unsure and clearly startled. ' Fuck. ' There in front of her stood a massive creature its body covered in torn robes and protruding red crystals. The monster held a glowing circular orb and turned to her. She knew him from somewhere. But in the limited seconds she had, she disregarded the feeling and went to aid the questioning voice and an elderly woman who looked like she was in immense pain. "By the Gods! Get away from her!" Asteria exclaimed.
"Run while you can, warn them." She pleaded. ' Warn who?!'
"We have an intruder. Kill her. Now" The monster demanded from the armored men and women that stood behind him and at the sides of the woman who spoke before. They were dressed in blue and silver armor, a griffin decorated the steel. 'They look just like a Grey war-'
"Bloody Styx." She cursed, understanding the situation she was in. Though not the reason behind her arrival into it. Corypheus now distracted with Asteria, the woman- Divine Justina who was bound in chains of light knocked an orb from its grasp and it rolled towards Asteria. Out of instinct, she picked it up, but in hindsight, she should've been more careful.
The second her hand made contact immense pain shot up from the orb enveloping her arm. It felt like the skin was peeling from her arm. The constellations reacting violently to the power that now flooded through her body. The rippling of their forms now trying to move away from her hand felt like spiders crawling over her skin. Added to the pain from Zeus smite, the transfer of magic, and whatever else she'd injured from her fight, today was not looking like a good start.
Corypheus yelled in anger at the sight of the orbs power being bestowed on this human. He felt only rage as her screams echoed off the chambers walls. As he went to step closer to her a giant rift formed and swallowed the figure, the orb dropping to the floor where he recovered it. The cold stone with delicate lines decorating it laid dead in his hands. Years of planning wasted in a few precious moments. In his blind anger, he continued with his plan to destroy these idiot mortals attempts at foolish peace. He knew that the only peace they will find is when he brings old Tevinter back to its glory and they will either bow a knee to him or have their heads roll across the floor.
From Haven, Cassandra looked up the Temple of Sacred Ashes, a sign of hope and peace. She knew she should be getting back to the Divine soon. But Ambassador Montilyet's request for her to personally secure the villages use for the Divine's security seemed like an important issue. But regardless, Cassandra still felt uneasy about leaving the Divine alone at the temple. She had entrusted her safety to her two best apprentices. She prayed that nothing would occur in her absence.
Strapping her shield to her back, she prepared for the long trip back up the mountain. How she hated journeying up the blasted thing in full armor. If not for the Divines well-being, she would've left it till tomorrow. The day growing darker as it was.
Just then a blast of green light erupted from the mountain. Blinded by the light and thrown back by the force of the blast she stumbled, ears ringing. Shouts came from all over. Cries of sorrow and pain layered the air. As she regained her bearings Cassandra looked up the path to the temple, all that remained were blown walls, stone and a massive green scar in the sky. Everything was destroyed. Her heart fell in her chest. The feeling of hopelessness settling in its place.
"Maker help us all." She prayed.