the glitter in the dark.

Lady of the Ironmoor and proud wife to Coleman Balor.

[phyllisbalor]

coeusxcoleman:

         “His undoing, and ours, if we don’t take caution.” The words were dark, equally sharp as his wife’s had been, and his eyes were devoid of any hint of mirth. His brows pulled together in a frown and a deep breath was drawn. He loved his brother dearly, but he would not let Iapetus be his or Phyllis’ downfall. Call it self-preservation or egoism, Coleman didn’t care.

        Somewhat desperate all of a sudden to keep his eyes away from the burning Lion’s Keep and the array of emotions it brought up, he settled on watching his wife’s expression intently. Her words drew a nod from him, and in his mind, the cogs started to turn, turning over every possibility to see if perhaps it would be useful to them. “Knowing Rhea, it is likely an attempt to keep us at bay—remind us of her connection to us, make us forget what her children have done to us. Let her believe we’ve forgiven, and forgotten…”

        He lowered his head, and in his eyes, something sinister burned. “And then…?”

“Then we must be cautious in his stead,” Phyllis replied. Such words came uncomfortably close to a treasonous doubt, even if they were only intended to protect their brother from himself. Her promise to Asteria swept to the forefront of her mind. Phyllis’ eyes flicked away from Coleman’s face, back to the sight of the Keep and the ashes of what they had futilely hoped would feel like justice. I will forsake our vengeance, forsake this damn cause, she had sworn.

But only, she reminded herself, if this truly became an unwinnable war. Only if it was the only way to save Coleman and keep the two children they had managed to find in this world alive. (Even if they did not remember her, even if they resented her.)

She slipped another arm around her husband’s waist, her eyes meeting his again. They were not fighting an unwinnable war. Not yet. Not ever again, not if she had anything to say about it. This... this was only the war’s beginning, for if this were the end, she could not imagine a more unsatisfying one. Rhea, who had hatched more poisonous treachery against her own blood than Phyllis could ever conceive of, still remained.

Phyllis lightly touched her forehead to Coleman’s. “And then,” she finished calmly for him, “we shall destroy every single thing she loves.”

[coeusxcoleman-deactivated202005]

            His lips parted, but no answer came and so instead he drew in a breath and let it back out as a sigh. Even now he could feel its presence like a black hole in his chest, this very emptiness Phyllis spoke of. And it hadn’t gone away, hadn’t even lessened in the slightest; some part of him knew it never would. It was stuck inside of him and would remain there till the end of his days, emptiness made of all that could have been, if the war hadn’t happened. If Tartarus hadn’t happened. “Perhaps nothing can.” There was a tightness to his voice.

             “Iapetus always had a soft spot for most of her children,” Coleman said. He didn’t think he had to elaborate on who he meant with ‘her’. Even now, he felt the coin he’d been given by Mina burn in his pocket. He knew it was hers; she’d been dropping hints for the sheer purpose of annoying him, he believed. Either that, or she wanted some kind of reaction. But why? “She saved them—the prince and the queen mother, I mean.” The lily banners, the cannon fire, the motive, the coin and the note—they all added up and formed a clear conclusion to the former titan of intelligence. “Rhea. She’s the pirate queen—she made sure I would figure it out.” He pulled the coin from his pocket and showed it to Phyllis. “I don’t, however, understand why.”

[phyllisbalor]

Indeed. Perhaps nothing could. Briefly, she regretted voicing her thoughts aloud and by this act making them real, to both of them. But regret... what use was it? None. Yet for all that Phyllis pretended to pragmatism, she was steeped in it, drowned in it whenever she thought of all Asteria had suffered, of the chasm between Leto and her parents - even when she thought of Lelantos, their precious boy who must surely be out there somewhere but was still lost.

For a moment, as she watched the fruits of their revenge burning down to cinders, she felt deeply nauseous. She turned to slip an arm around Coleman’s waist, steadying herself. Yes. There was a comfort in looking to the future instead, in continuing to plot and scheme.

“To his own undoing,” Phyllis replied, more sharply than she had intended. She rarely voiced disapproval of either Iapetus or Cronus aloud, and for good reason. But neutered though Hades was, there would always be those who saw the use in one of royal blood. Allowing him to live was a reckless oversight at best. (And Phoebe had experienced the consequences of Iapetus’ softness before.)

She tilted her head at Coleman, gingerly touched her fingertips to the coin’s edge before withdrawing them. Recognition lit her eyes. Of course. Who else would even wish to rescue the disgraced, forsaken Vitellos? “And Rhea,” she said, smiling faintly, “always had a soft spot for most of her siblings. This might be intended as an overture of sorts.” One they could use.

[memoryslandscape-deactivated202]

Dark, dark my light, and darker my desire.

Theodore Roethke, from “In a Dark Time,” The Far Field ( Doubleday & Co., 1964)

[coeusxcoleman-deactivated202005]

           “No, but I’d like to pretend it does, right now,” Cole admitted, and he shifted so he could rest his head against the soft of her hair. He didn’t want to watch the Keep burn any longer—mostly because it did nothing to him. It didn’t satisfy. “What are you thinking?”

[phyllisbalor]

She exhaled softly; she had expected as much. Phyllis had known that this would not satisfy, that no matter how sweet revenge was, it would taste only like ash in their mouth. But perhaps she had hoped. “We strove towards the end of our enemies for decades. If this cannot fill the hollow space inside of us, what can?” A disquieting question, one she was not willing to entertain for too long.

“I am also wondering” - she pursed her lips - “why we let Hades go.” Zeus had been the one who ordered the torment of Coleman and their siblings but Hades, with his sway over Tartarus, had been the architect of it. Reduced and diminished though Holden Vitello was, he still lived. Still loved. That mercy had not been granted to either Phyllis or Coleman as they were torn away from their other half.

[coeusxcoleman-deactivated202005]

       “…And at last, it all ends.”

[phyllisbalor]

“Does it?” she asked quietly. Nestled in the crook of his arms, she watched the Keep go up in flames - yet it did not make her feel any warmer.

[coeusxcoleman-deactivated202005]

                     “By which you mean no shame at all, I believe.”

          Oh, Coleman was teasing his wife. He enjoyed knowing she wanted him as much as he wanted her, enjoyed knowing she’d only moan under his touch, his lips, his attention and he, in turn, only for her. His arms slipped around her body like a cage made from a lover’s embrace and his fingers itched for her bare skin. ( I want you, I want you, I want you so much. ) Her lips were warm and needy against his and his need for her was exactly what he showed when he kissed her back. All those years apart in Tartarus had given the both of them a lot of time to make up for, and Coleman was determined to make up for it to Phyllis until the end of their days in this world. 

          He kissed her hungrily as his hands made their tantalizing way down her back until at last, he reached her hips and her carefully guided her back against the wall, never once breaking the contact of their lips.

[phyllisbalor]

Phyllis did not reply. She was quite beyond teasing now. There was something holy in his touch, something that made her understand why mortals would spend their time in worship. If only she could use his body as an altar, remap the lines of him, engrave the touch-scent-sight of him in her mind forever. (Just in case, that old ancient fear whispered. For the duration of an eternity, she had only had her memories of him to cling to, until those too faded and she had only been left with ash and old grief. Not again, never again.)

Her back lightly hit the wall. Continuing to kiss him, Phyllis rocked her hips and a hand into his doublet, traced the ridge of his spine and his hot, hot skin. Then she pulled back to graze her teeth across his lower lip. She did not want gentleness, did not want him to be soft. She wanted him, only him - so they might once again be joined together to spark divinity.

[spear-bearer]

“Well, I can hardly deny you, my lady.” Prentice murmured, fishing in his pocket for another cigar and handing it over. His expression remained unreadable. “Just one though.” He added, unable to help himself. 

[phyllisbalor]

“Protective as always, hm? I thank you, Prentice,” Phyllis murmured, before accepting the cigar and using the candle’s flame on the table to light it. Taking a drag, she regarded him steadily. The smoke burned in her throat. “You only rarely indulge yourself. Has something upset you?”

[coeusxcoleman-deactivated202005]

            “Mhm,” Coleman hummed confirmingly, though his lips parted at the touch of her fingers to his spine. She was mesmerizing, the bright one. A satisfied smirk appeared on his face as he knew he had caught Phyllis off guard; it didn’t happen so often, but he did enjoy surprising her. He started down the hall, evidently having decided for the privacy of their rooms.

           His wife’s next words, however, sent that thought right down the drain and Coleman released a shuddering breath. “Have you no shame, my love?” he said, though he sounded far from judging. In fact, he took up the very challenge she posed with a tantalizing grin and changed directions immediately. A few alcoves lined the walls, and one could seek out some peace and quiet by drawing the curtains to hide themselves from plain sight. He put her back on her feet again as they reached one of them, but only to close the curtain. He reached for her immediately after. “What was it, indeed…” He had virtually no willpower when it came to loving her, and it showed as he bowed his head to press a kiss to the skin just below her ear.

[phyllisbalor]

Phyllis knew and loved that satisfied smirk of his well; she could not wait to kiss it off his face. Nearly breathlessly, she retorted: “As much shame as you have, I’m sure.” Which was to say: none, none at all. She would never be ashamed of loving him, could suffer another thousand years of Zeus’ invisible chains weighing her down and still refuse to repudiate the other half of her.

Even the scant seconds apart required for him to ensure a semblance of privacy were too much, her reliable patience frayed at last. His lips were soft against her throat, maddening in their gentleness, but she wanted, needed more. Heavens above, if only he would kiss her forever.  Her arms wrapping around him, Phyllis pulled herself flush against his chest, pulled him closer, ever closer. (Never close enough.) One hand guiding his head up, she pressed her lips against his in a fierce kiss.

[paxton-balor]

“Truthfully, I cannot say.”

He laughed to himself.

“I sometimes wonder if I am going mad, or if I was not mad already and my truest nature is only now returning…like a dog, feral at birth yet tamed over time will eventually bite…”

Words, for once, came difficult, and he paused many times as he spoke, each an attempt to order best his thoughts.

“At times, at times I see the future–if that is what it truly is–but I see it in innumerable multitudes so that all such sights come to contradict each other…

“…If listed, would simply appear as guesses or informed predictions rather than actual prophecy or foresight as when we were deities and commanders of such things.

“But I feel what I see…I’ve seen death, ours, theirs, my own…everyone’s. But also life, happiness, not, not just death, destruction, all that doom, all that gloom…

“And I’ve seen all these in passing seconds, moments between the individual steps one takes in walking down a hall, or the singular moment that passes when once looks from one object to another…Years, sometimes decades, will unfold in these mere moments…”

It was all very quite for a time, and only the wind sounded as it went its way on by.

“If I am not mad already, no doubt…”–he laughed lightly–“…I soon will be.”

[phyllisbalor]

“Oh sweetling,” Phyllis said, sweeping back the hair from his forehead tenderly - as if he were still a child, still that mischievous and brilliantly cunning boy she had once known, millennia ago. “We, all of us, have long been mad. I do not say this to make light of you; only to say that we suffer - and we endure. Always. Mad for us is not, nor ever has been, broken.”

Her fingers grazed against his skin before pausing to press lightly, thoughtfully, against his temple. “It is possible, however, that your visions - whether they depict the future or not - are straining the coping capacities of your mortal mind. Even mortals have means to manage such burdens and such gifts, but they are... not without risk.”

[elpisxelysia]

               “That does sound a little doubtful if you put it that way,” Elysia said with a little shake of the head. She was surprised when the other woman linked arms with her so straightforwardly, but she welcomed it either way. “In all honesty, milady, I only have a first name—I have never known my parents,” she said this with the smallest shrug of her shoulders. “My name is Elysia, I came from Waywyn along with the high priestesses.” Elysia then proceeded to study the woman next to her. Something was familiar, and Elysia had a gut feeling that this woman, like her, was one of the goddesses-turned-human. Which one, however, she couldn’t immediately tell. “You strike me as familiar…”

[phyllisbalor]

“More than a little doubtful. Impossible,” Phyllis replied placidly. If her authority had not ensured it, then the knife hidden in her skirts and the lessons from both Coleman and her mortal father certainly would have. She did not look favorably upon the harassment of women; she’d witnessed more than enough of that with Zeus.

“In spite of the circumstances, my dear, I am glad to meet you. If you have no more than a first name, it is only proper you call me by mine as well. Phyllis will suffice.” Elysia, hm? Phyllis wondered if the girl was as blessed as the Elysian Fields she had - perhaps unwittingly - been named after. There was little risk in seeing if her educated guess would prove to be correct. “That might well be. You are one of Medusa’s girls, are you not?” she asked offhandedly.

[coeusxcoleman-deactivated202005]

              “I’ll have you know I have quite a strong willpower.” Cole chuckled softly. Oh, they were threading a dangerously thin line with the lack of distance between the two of them. And how he loved it. “It pains me to hear that,” he said earnestly, though his eyes sparkled with mischief. “How can I not comply when you urge me to, and I simply can not bear to see my delightful damsel in any distress?”

                  Coleman swept her off her feet in an instant and then he was carrying her. He had taken her request quite literally—the servants were probably already talking, he might as well add something juicy to the mix. “Where to?”

[phyllisbalor]

“Do you now?” Phyllis said. There was something in her voice that came dangerously close to a challenge, something at least as dangerous as the fingers she trailed down his spine. Her eyes glittered with indecorous mirth as she opened her mouth to tease him further - and then she was lifted up, up into his arms. Even as she instinctively threw her arms around his neck, she narrowly held back a surprised, elated squeal; Coleman did not often manage to surprise anymore. Very well - to Tartarus with what people would think of them. Soon, it would not even matter anymore.

To the stars, she nearly responded, but her pragmatism won out over the romantic in her... mostly. “Wherever you want to have me,” she murmured in his ear, and smirked. “What was that about willpower, my darling?”

[elpisxelysia]

               One thing Elysia hadn’t expected was the stream of curses that left lady Balor’s lips then. It sure managed to put an end to the drunkard’s behavior, who looked at the noblewoman with wide eyes before he scurried off. In any other situation Elysia would have probably laughed about it, but right now, she was trying to recover from what could have turned into a horrific situation had the noble lady not stepped in.

              Elysia drew in a breath and tried to gather herself before she mustered up a thankful smile and faced the lady Balor. “I have to admit I feared for my safety for a moment there, so thank you for stepping in, lady Balor.”

[phyllisbalor]

“You’re welcome, of course. I could hardly allow such a scoundrel to plague you further, no?” Phyllis linked arms with the young woman, indicating for her to walk together, and smiled in a reassuring manner. “You have me at a disadvantage, I fear. Though you seem to know my name, I do not know yours.”

[coeusxcoleman-deactivated202005]

              A low hum to acknowledge his wife’s words. Ah, some part of him didn’t want to wait at all, but wasn’t it exactly the length of time passing that made it all the better? “It seems I’ll have to,” he finally said, somewhat resigned, though his smile never quite left his lips. The sudden absence of her hand in his hair was quickly made up for as she embraced him and he, in turn, drew her against him. Oh, how they fit together. Like a puzzle that contained only two pieces. “How busy is lady Balor’s schedule this afternoon, hm?” he murmured into her nearly raven hair.

[phyllisbalor]

“However will you manage it?” she drawled softly into his ear. As he pulled her closer, their embrace once again threatened to cross the borders of impropriety. He was truly incorrigible. (As was she, of course.) “I am terribly busy, my Lord Balor,” she replied airily to his question. She raised her head from his shoulder, her eyes meeting his. “Steal me away from my duties, I beseech you.”

[elpisxelysia]

              This time, the drunkard seemed to become a little more sensible. He looked between the lady Balor and Elysia and finally decided that perhaps it would be better if he did, in fact, release the latter. “Fine,” he huffed, and then he murmured something Elysia would never in her life say to anyone, least of all a priestess and a noblewoman.

             Immediately upon being let go of, she stepped away from the man and frowned. “I highly suggest you take your leave, sir,” she said, tone cold.

[phyllisbalor]

Phyllis raised an unimpressed eyebrow. Please; she had grown up with five older brothers, apprentice blacksmiths all. If this was the most coarseness that drunk vagabond could manage, it made for a very poor showing indeed. In a string of profanities which would have made any lady at court and more than a few of the lords turn their heads in shock, she politely told the flabbergasted drunkard to stick his rudeness someplace where the sun did not shine. 

“Scoot,” she added dismissively at the end, before turning to the young woman she had rescued. The man was no longer worthy of her attention; undoubtedly he would scamper off to some hole now. As for the young woman... she was clad in the garb of a priestess, and if Phyllis concentrated she could sense that familiar spark of the divine. Phyllis gave her a considering look. “Are you quite alright, darling?”

[elpisxelysia]

          It appeared the drunkard noticed the necklace at the same time Elysia did, and it was apparent that even in his drunk state, he knew what that little hammer implied. And yet, for some reason unbeknownst to her, he didn’t release her immediately. Instead, he looked confused, now. He shook her a little and Elysia yelped in surprise. “She ain’t one o’ yours, is she…?”

[phyllisbalor]

“She is mine, and you would do well to keep your paws off her unless you wish to lose them,” Phyllis replied, her voice containing much more than a mere hint of steel now. She walked closer, her every step measured, and raised a hand, curling her fingers in a come hither-motion. “Come now, dear. I shan’t ask you again.” 

[coeusxcoleman-deactivated202005]

             A smile formed against his wife’s mouth as she very insistently drew him into another kiss—and Cole sure wasn’t about to protest. There was no question about the show they put on; people surely were watching and people likely would talk about the sheer inappropriate behavior they were displaying. ( She is the other half of me, I live when I share her breath ). Coleman cared little for what they thought. He was a god; he could conquer the world with her at his side. “Oh, the things I’m thinking of doing, right now…” he breathed against her willing lips.

[phyllisbalor]

She smiled into the kiss. The public flaunting of their love only increased the thrill; she did like showing off her husband, liked watching all women and some men seething with jealousy over the knowledge that Coleman was hers, all hers. “Save it for our chambers, hm?” Phyllis whispered, voice low and teasing and perhaps a little reluctant. She was tempted as well - heavens above, she was - but she already knew that she would never hear the end of this, the next time she invited some ladies over for tea. With a last quick peck on his lips and a soft sigh, she pulled her hand out of his hair and put her arms around him in what passed for an appropriately comforting embrace. 

[elpisxelysia]

              “Could you please, ah, unhand me, sir?” Elysia was all but pleased with the drunken man that disregarded her unwillingness to be grabbed roughly by the wrists like that. She tugged on his grip, but her bare touch only seemed to encourage the man. “Sir, I really don’t want—”

              It was only when another voice sounded that the drunkard at all bothered to pause in his harassment. Elysia really hoped that this person had come to save her from trouble, not to cause even more.

[phyllisbalor]

Phyllis’ displeased voice rang through the alley. “Release her now.” Her hand went to the small, plain silver hammer hanging on a necklace around her throat, the implication obvious. Everyone knew that House Balor had risen to even further heights. The drunkard paled. Phyllis smiled sweetly, with just a hint of steel. “Please.”