Christmas PT 2
Chap 8- Painting
The next day, after Sherlock had solved and cases that Lestrade had offered him, he started composing to keep the boredom out of his head, when she saw Athena come home from work...
Athena changed as quickly as she could into her painting clothes, bare feet, old paint-ruined sweatpants, and an old Tank top than had paint on it from painting a house for Youth Force. She turned the music on after checking to make sure the blinds were shut. The canvas was sitting on her easel as was 27 x 30. Her sketch book sat on a small table near her in case she wanted to pick something fro there to paint. But this one picture... She started with her charcoal pencil and lightly started drawing a rough idea. Then came the paint, she started mixing to get the perfect shades and hues, at the brush met the canvas and her music filled the background, the picture came to life. The backdrop of a black and midnight blue sky, she smiled, the base was done and now it had to dry. Athena liked to put more than one layer in her paintings, there was a knock at the door and she paused her music before she went to answer, wiping any paint onto her sweat pants. She almost slammed the door back into Sherlock's face, she cracked it,"H-Hi!"
Sherlock smirked,"Did I come at a bad time?"
"W-well, I was painting and I'm in my messy clothes," Athena blushed.
Sherlock held his arms up in the 'Im innocent' fashion,"There shall be no judgements here."
Sherlock was allowed in, and Athena lead him back into her living room-turned-art-studio,"Want any water or tea? I've had a chance to get some on the way home."
Sherlock almost smiled awkwardly,"Oh, no I'm fine, but thank you."
They stopped at the unfinished painting, Sherlock examined it,"Is that a picture of...?"
Athena blushed,"It's of... The River Thames from the night we went there."
Sherlock raises his eyebrow,"You have a photographic memory don't you?"
Athena scratched the back of her head,"I guess, I can't remember everything, but I can get pretty close."
Sherlock looked back at the painting,"Do you have any finished ones?"
Athena smiled and grabbed his hand as she lead him up the stairs,"Actually, I have the ones that will be going into a gallery soon. They're just waiting for a few more to be sold so They have enought room for mine. They're a series, and there is about nine of them altogether."
Athena was about to release Sherlock's hand at the top of the stairs when Sherlock gripped it tighter. The second floor of Athena's flat contained a bed for her in the corner and on the wall directly in front of him was canvases covered by an old gray sheet. Athena chuckled,"Nervous?"
Sherlock tore his gaze away from the bed and the thoughts and feelings swarming in his head and stomach,"No, I'm fine."
Athena, poor innocent, blissful Athena dropped his hand and grabbed the sheet,"Ta-Da!"
Sherlock crouched down in front of the canvases, Athena joining him. The first canvas held a young woman, the color scheme for it was silver, light blues, grays and whites. The woman was in a white flowing dress and had black hair, she seemed to be lying on top of water, not in it, not under it, the moon was positioned under her and she wore a necklace with a crescent moon on it,"I named it Moon Maiden," Athena smiled. Sherlock studied the painting closely, it had a certain calmness about it, the girl's eyes were closed and her face was soft, heart shaped. Beautiful.
The next held another young woman, it's color scheme the exact opposite of the former, reds oranges, yellow, a dash of white here and there,"This is my Sun Maiden," Athena claimed proudly," She's Moon Maiden's older sister," Sun Maiden was standing before the brilliant sun, her drehere as a soft yellow and was a bit shorter than her sister's. Her hair was red and her eyes open and glowing white. She smiled warmly at the viewer her hands open as if at any moment she would walk right off the canvas and pull you into a warm hug. She also wore a necklace with a sun on it's chain. Sun's facial features were more predominant, and the more Sherlock looked the more he saw ... Athena. But that couldn't be right.
Athens pionted to the next painting, which held both sisters standing side by side in a beautiful meadow, one filled with small flowers, both Maidens stood proudly, hand in hand. Their happiness couldn't be contained, Sherlock felt his own mouth tugging into a smile,"I call that one Harmoney," she pionted to the background which held the sun and moon on the respected sister's side,"The story goes that each sister is in charge of the Moor or Sun, the rising and setting. Ergo, the Harmoney of the world as they make each set and rise."
Sherlock normally would have retired at the rediculousness at it, but something made him bit his toungue.
The fourth captivated him, a figure stood behind the maidens, their faces sullen, sad and turned to the floor as the figure touched each of their shoulders, the figure was male, perhaps the father or a lover who led on both Maidens. 'The Darkness' was on the name plate sitting in front of the canvas.
The fifth was of the meadow the sisters had stood in, now turned dark, Moon Maiden was crying up above the meadow in the sky, her face a mixture of sadness and anger, below that in the meadow, dark smoke surrounded her forcing her arms out to a T shape and strangling her, truing to take over her. Sun Maiden was at the bottom of the picture, too terrified and horrified to move as she hid and watched her sister being attacked. But Shelock could read into it, the shadow was a negative force, maybe, hate or jealousy, Sun Maiden knew that with every passing day that her sister was falling apart, but did nothing, the canvas had been split into two sections by a zig-zag line down the roght top to left bottem diagonal. The whole section was black, showing the Moon Maiden crying out and reaching for her sister on one half of her body, but the other half turning into a horrible humanoid-beast. The mouth curved into a wicked smile with sharp, pionted teeth, it was gray skinned with purple glowing eyes instead of Moon Maiden's blue. It's hair was nothing but navy blue smoke , the necklace was now a black metal. Sun stood on both sides, sorrowful on Moon Maiden's side and horrified on the monster's,'The change' was its name.
Then next held Sun fighting the monster up above their meadow, Sun's hands were out in front of her as she shot fire at it and the monster was defending itself from her flames. Both had wounds on each other's body, Sun Maiden had significantly more than her sister. Both Maiden's faces had a rage unparalleled to any other Sherlock had seen, Sun's had a certain sadness mixed into it, while the monster's just looked like an animal- complete with the froth at its mouth. 'The Fight' was its name.
For the next, the canvas had been spilt into two parts, Sun was calling up all her power from the depths of herself, and the monster was heading towards her to strike, but as Sun Maiden shot a blue light at the beast that was her sister, she became enveloped into it. Then she became the moon. 'Banishment'
The eighth held Sun Maiden high up above people that stood below her, with one hand she directed the moon away from the dying land, with the other she brought it the sun, the give the earth new life. 'Alone'
The final piece, had Sun and Moon Maiden each in it, Sun maiden sat by a small pond and cried, we face turned upward and her mouth open as she sobbed like a child for what she had done to her sister. Upside down, but in equal size, was the Moon Maiden, back to normal, sitting in the moon and gazing downwards, most likely at her sister, and tears sliding down her cheeks her face one of sorrow and regret. 'Tears Together'
Sherlock looked up at Athena,"These paintings are captivating Athena. They're beautiful."
Athena smiled brightly but Sherlock could see the same haunting that he could see reflected the paintings. Athena covered the paintings up,"You were the first besides the galley owner to see them. I'm glad you liked them."
Sherlock smiled,"I'm honored."
Athena was about to reply when something caught her eye,"Well I'll be!"
Sherlock watched as she crossed the room and picked up a small box that seemed to be particularly heavy,"What is it."
Athena sat on the floor close to him and patted the ground so, he sat," they're my old pictures, I thought I'd lost them in the move!"
The next few hours had both of them laughing and smiling at Athena crazy pictures. There was one of her about ten years old, hugging an old gray dappled horse, named Mountain,"I refused to let go," Athena giggled,"I couldn't leave him."
Sherlock smiled,"Was it the year you left for the city?"
Athena nodded,"Yeah, It was my last time riding him before I had to send him to a nice little ranch where he's be taken care of for the rest of his life. Like a retirement home for horses, No one could get me to let go for two hours. Finally, my nanny showed up and promised that if I let go she'd try and get m dad to fly me down every summer to visit him."
"Did he?"
Athena sighed,"Yeah, for about another three years, Mountain died of old age after that."
A few were of Athena as a toddler and her Nanny, Mrs. Dean, a kind old woman who wasn't afraid to spank her charge. Then a few of Athena and her mother before she died,"My mother tried her hardest to make sure my father wouldn't be able to see me much. She didn't like him and after their divorce, I stayed with my mother and my sister stayed with my father."
Sherlock raised an eyebrow,"You had a sister?"
Athena pulled out a small picture from the very back of the album,"Here she is," Athena was roughly eight, and the younger girl next to her around six. The younger girl had auburn hair, so dark it was almost black and blue eyes. Both of them smiled into the camera and hugged each other,"I got to see her every summer when she come down to visit Mother. Her name is Minerva."
Sherlock smiled and checked his watch,"I afraid that I'm a bit late for an appointment," he stood and helped Athena up,"So I fear we must part for now."
Athena gave him a hug,"It's no problem Sherlock," she walked him to the door," See you later?"
"Definitely."
Sherlock left to go visit Leta, she was due out of the hospital anytime now, it would only be a matter of weeks now, and her bullet wound was healing up.
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