Aradia (hearts) John: Trope- Ancient Artifact


It wasn't your everyday sort of excavation. No…it was more important than that. It was the sort of excavation that would lend credence to that theory she'd been thinking about forever! It was going to change the world; it was going to revolutionize anthropology forever! She was going to –

"Aradia, it's time for dinner."

"O-kay!" Aradia chimed back, six years old and covered in dirt. Clutching her shovel to her chest, she ran inside from where she'd been digging. "But," she complained with a sort of somber seriousness that only the young could pull off, "I was just about to make a huge discovery! I was going to find something that would change the world, Damara!"

Her elder sister looked at her askance, "You've been digging in Mom's tulips again, haven't you."

"Only a little?"

"Eat your macaroni." Damara said flatly, before disappearing outside to run damage control. Aradia wilted, suddenly remembering how angry their mother had been the last time she "ruined the garden." She sighed, dug into the food her sister had made, and kicked her feet against the chair legs as she thought about what she'd do tomorrow.

Turns out, tomorrow didn't hold too much for her. She'd been grounded, and was stuck in her room most of the day. It was boring.

The next day though she was back out in the yard, though this time she kept to the sand box. Excavations went smoothly, and she unearthed several toys she'd once deemed lost. Like that seahorse doll she'd stolen from the nerd next door, or the cute little plastic bees she and Sollux played with sometimes. And then there was the pretty necklace!

She wasn't sure where it came from but if it was in the sandbox, well regardless of whose it used to be, it was hers now. She pulled the chain over her head, and admired the way the light blue rhinestone glinted in the sunshine. It wasn't a color she was overly fond of, her favorite was of course maroon, but it was pretty. "Hey! That's mine!"

Aradia blinked, and looked up. A boy in bright blue pajamas scowled down at her from on top of her fence. "What?"

"That necklace! It's mine. I put it there."

"Oh! Sorry then!" She moved to pull it from around her neck, but found it wouldn't come up past her ears. It was like the chain had shrunk or something since she'd put it on. "Um…"

"What?"

"It's stuck…"

"…" The boy pouted, and then climbed down off the fence and joined her in the sandbox. "Oh…" They stared at each other, neither sure of what to say. "Guess I'll just have to follow you around until the curse wears off, huh?"

"Curse?"

"My best friend's sister likes to think she's a dark god. She probably cursed it as some sort of joke." He smiled, and revealed that he was missing some baby teeth. "I'm John, God of Mischief."

"I'm Aradia! Human Archeologist."

Turns out, no one else could see John. He followed her around, true to his word, laughing at his own jokes and smiling mischievously whenever he caused Aradia to snicker. He pantsed Damara once, and got Aradia in so much trouble with her sister. He'd laughed forever about that.

Then Aradia was sixteen. The necklace still sat around her neck, and to tell the truth, she'd quite forgotten about it. She'd stopped trying to take it off, to be honest. The teenaged god that followed her around though? Oh no, she'd never forget him.

"What's on the agenda today, Megido?" He asked, floating blatantly so that he could read over her shoulder. They'd both grown, but none quite as much as John. He'd quite come into his godhood, and even exuded a sort of powerful aura that even her family could feel.

"Well, classes of course. It is a Tuesday, after all." Aradia replied, flipping the page of the National Geographic magazine with a sort of nonchalance that only came from years of familiarity with John's odd habits. John groaned, and it sounded suspiciously like "boring."

"When are we going to do something fun? Like that one trip to that huge cave system? When are we going back? That place was fun!"

"Never. They banned my family from that national park for your breaking that stalactite, remember?" He groaned again, and flipped over in mid-air. He hovered over her, resting his chin on the top of her head, and hummed a tune only he knew.

"Aradia, I'm bored. Entertain me."

"Go read a book." Aradia deadpanned, still engrossed in an article on mummification.

"What if we make out?" John said, suggestively waggling his eyebrows.

"Not while my family is home, you remember the rules."

"Lame!" The god declared, drawing out the vowels to help illustrate his disenchantment.

Aradia smiled impishly, knowing full well Damara was asleep in the other room, and that her mother wouldn't be home until six. Even the god of mischief could be toyed with, after all.

But she wouldn't be a very good girlfriend to a god though, if she couldn't keep up with him.