Cykesquill Week day 3 Opposites.
Clothed in the bright yellow of the sun and eyes shining with the blue of the sky, she would walk into the courtrooms where darkness threatened to corrupt the truth and allow the sun to stream in for the first time. Truly, Athena was a creature born for the brightness of the world.
Was it honestly any surprise to anyone?
She had been named after a goddess of wisdom, so it seemed quite obvious to many that she would be a person of nothing but good intentions and warmth.
They were wrong. He thought with a sneer.
Underneath the smiles and cheerful shouts, there was a layer of darkness that consumed Athena.
Simon had seen it before, when a little girl covered in blood stared at him with dead eyes and declared that she ‘fixed’ her mother.
Her gift, the ability to uncover and hear hidden emotions, to her was nothing more than a curse.
Athena had confessed to him in the dark one night, that she could see things when emotions were too intense and visiting prisons had scarred her.
She had heard and seen horrific images of torture, rape and murder in the head’s of simple pedestrians who she walked by randomly during the day.
“The screams are the worst part.” She had said. “I can deal with seeing it, but the screams-” Her voice had faltered and his grip on her tightened. “It feels like i’m right beside them in that moment and that terrifies me.”
“The worst part is that I can’t do anything about it.” Athena had let out a sigh at that moment. “The police wouldn’t accept my testimony since I only saw it in my head.”
She had then buried her face in his chest and wound her arms around his waist while letting out a muffled string of words.
(Sometimes he wondered what it would be like if he was the guiding light of them)
Because that was what Athena was.
She was a light that shined on him in his darkest moments and gave him the sight to begin picking up the broken shards of him that laid at his feet.
It felt rather ironic to him.
Simon could faintly remember a time during the period where he had studied under Metis where he had somehow been dragged into showing his sword skills to an awestruck Athena.
She had asked him a question shortly after that,
“Simon, what does fealty mean?”
“An oath?” Her head had tilted curiously and caused the headphones resting on her ears to slip from their normal position slightly.
“Yes. It’s an oath that a warrior makes to their lord, in which they swear eternal loyalty and protection to them. Why do you ask exactly?”
“Well….your sister told my mom that you swore fealty to me when they were working on robot stuff.” Athena drew her small knees close to her chest and glanced up at him. “Does that mean you’re my knight or something now?”
He had leaned down and lightly ran a hand through her hair.
“I would prefer the term samurai, but yes I swear to protect you.”
He meant every word when he had said that.
Simon had sworn his loyalty to Athena and promised silently that he would make sure that she was happy.
Instead she was the one working towards his happiness.
She was acting as if she was his knight. As if she were the one who swore to lay her life on the line if it meant his safety. As if he couldn’t protect himself.
He had to admit it was quite fascinating at how she managed to usurp his protection and flip it around.
Simon would come to compare Athena to the moon, a shining light that loved the blackness of the night.
Cloaked in clothes that were as dark as night and with gray eyes that looked like broken glass, he was a shadow that haunted the courtrooms and threatened to shroud the defense in his darkness for the truth. He was said to have unspeakable thoughts, that would cause even the most stalwart to wince.
Unlike the light filled Athena, he was a creature shaped to detest the bright and shiny world of the law and instead attempt to sway the court into his dark mind.
Athena knew they were all wrong.
Underneath the sneers, smirks and cold words, there was a light that shone within Simon. It was a gentle glow that was fueled by compassion and determination.
Once upon a time, Athena could remember a time in which Simon was full of light. He had been an idealistic and thoughtful young man when he had begun studying under her mother who always spoke of the good he wished to bring as a prosecutor. She remembered wondering how exactly he managed to be so kind and patient with a little girl who had treated him coldly for weeks.
But once that light was shot into her direction, Athena found herself wanting more of it and eventually befriending him
However the horrors of prison and the failure of the legal system had shattered Simon’s beliefs and left him a broken man who embraced darkness.
Soon after he had been released, Athena learned that there were still remnants of Simon’s former light, which reminded her of stray fireflies in the night.
She had noticed that the small remains of his light only seemed to come out whenever the two were alone together. The conclusion she had come to was that she was merely a familiar presence which Simon could use as a test to figure out how to let his inner light come out again.
It wasn’t until a few weeks back when the two were slightly intoxicated from a bottle of wine that Athena had brought over when she came to look over case files with him. At some point during their conversation, Simon had leaned over to whisper in ear.
“The ‘light’ of mine that you wish for others to see?” He said with warmth. “I only wish for you to see it, Athena.”
The next thing she knew, Simon had lightly pressed his mouth to hers and the two eventually made it into his bedroom for more intimate activities.
When the two of them were laying in the afterglow of what they had just done, Athena allowed Simon to pull her in a tight embrace while she played with the obsidian strands of his hair.
From the way he curled protectively around her, Athena had glanced out of his window and saw with the night sky wrapping around the moon.
Simon had called her his guiding light, his glow, his….moon.
Athena thought that if she was the gentle light of the moon, then Simon was the night sky, a pleasurable darkness that supported and allowed the moon to glow so brightly in the first place. Just like how he allowed her to become who she was today.
Anyone would tell you that Athena Cykes and Simon Blackquill were complete opposites.
She was a guiding light that shone truth and wisdom onto the courtroom.
He allowed darkness to consume him and all with it.
They should have never worked out as well as they did.
But, that was the thing about light and dark.
One cannot exist without the other.
