#nymfernal

[warwaited]

@nymfernal

The moon is full tonight, and its gentle, cool glow catches on the ripples of water out across the Rift of Thessaly. It would be peaceful if it weren't for the warships constantly moving across it.

She finds herself seated, as she is many nights, on the edge of the pier. The sickly green glow of the transfer portal at the end of it is admittedly a touch enticing, but... best not to push herself too hard, or risk catching the attention of someone who may not approve of her having taken matters into her own hands.

Maybe she ought to go back into the city. Knock some heads together, keep herself in shape, just in case something arises that requires her-

An increasingly familiar sound, back through the dim and exceptionally foul-smelling private quarters of the cyclops Polyphemus. Stomping, shouting - for a brief, absurd moment, she sees the gigantic monster cresting Ephyra's skyline, a massive boulder in hand. He's fighting somebody. Again. Can't be Heracles, or he'd probably already be done... she does her best to steer clear of the both of them. Guides the cyclops' sheep back into their usual pastures when they stray out towards her, but otherwise the times they've met have been scarce. For the better. She doesn't know if it's possible to eat her, and has no real intention of finding out.

Then, something new. A loud groan and the sound of an immense body hitting dirt. The big man has fallen - maybe permanently. Something rises in her chest, and the Student slips from her perch on a half-fallen fence, taking a moment to stretch her legs before facing towards the side entrance to Ephyra and adopting a fighting stance. Who knows who's strong enough to take down Polyphemus... and what kind of mood they'll be in after doing so.

[underbloods]

@nymfernal sent a missive: " stop looking at me like that. "

ZAGREUS, FOR ALL his dislike of commands and then following them, obeys. it's curious, the way the prince instantly finds something interesting to inspect amongst the lays of erebus. it is nigh impossible to bring the sister he knows over the image he sees in front of him: cutting, focused and as sharp as a blade's edge. underneath the moonlight, the knife and sickle both gleam. she has already stepped forward to move towards the next chamber, but he cannot help his urge to call out.

" hecate trained you all this time, then? told you what exactly must be done? " / meme.

[ximerose]

@nymfernal ; “you've given me no reason to bestow you with my trust.”

Well of course. He's supposed to be trying to kill her. Yet it's a cycle, isn't it? The titans ruled before being toppled by the gods, Chronos was rightfully betrayed by his own kin only to rise again and neither he nor Melinoë can truly die so they'll just keep going in circles. She can defeat the usurper as many times as she wants without getting anywhere. Like flying into a headwind or trying to light up Erebus itself.

"I know." Tanner holds up empty hands to show he's unarmed. As if they both don't know he can craft one from thin air if he wanted to. He doesn't. This is the first chance he's gotten to try talking to her and he'll lose it if she decides he's not worth listening to. This small divine chamber of respite is the only place he can linger long enough to plead his case. The air is sweet and clean here. Wings hang limply at his back, bending and breaking feathers on stone. He swallows dryly and immediately forgets every plea he'd thought to beg of her.

There are a million things he could offer to help sway the goddess, most of them feats he'd likely never be able to do. Theories and ideas Tanner has no proof of working without being given the opportunity. "I have no loyalty to Chronos. I was supposed to be on Olympus with you." Where Aether's domain was hoped to allow him to spare more gods with more power than him to aid Melinoë. "You're...you found a way to get to the surface, right?" Fever bright gaze locks onto her, whites of his eyes taking on a faint gleam. "Could you reverse er cast it? If-if I wasn't so drained here, I could leave the underworld entirely or...clear the path for you to the Hades house."

[apolytia]

it almost sounds like @nymfernal's joking with, “how time has flown.”

Time? ❝ King Skellememnon told me once that Lord Chronos has wings. That the expression comes from a literal understanding... ❞

It's the first thing she says. Her thoughts raced, her heart ACHED, and she'd a million-million questions, queries, and curses to unveil before this powerful witch; her beloved (former) babysitter.

But amid her loss-borne sorrow, her elation upon finding her way here, the relief she felt to hear her aunt's voice once more... amid it all! The first thing she has to offer is the precious remnant of a better day. A day not too long ago, and all too far away, where the Crossroads were full, and warm, and alive with the sounds of change and the patter of a princess dancing from joy to joy.

...now? Now, as she stood on shaking legs, leaning against a gate of silver, cold iron, and complicated craft, even that remnant she'd offered felt so far and away from her. It all did... Because She did.

❝ Please forgive the intrusion, my lady... I would have sent word, but - ❞ Not even the ravens and vultures were allowed to visit Aeaea any longer. ❝ - I knew not where else I could turn. Auntie, if I could just have a moment of your time? ❞

[grantslife]

@nymfernal has been summoned ! / WHENEVER   HE   SEES   HIS   SISTER,   HE'S   REMINDED   OF   THAT   SCATHING   DISAPPOINTMENT.       when   she   had   expressed   herself,   thoroughly,   of   this   opinion.   though,   can   it   truly   be   an   opinion   when   it   is   rooted   in   blatant   fact?   she   had   been   raised   to   a   standard   where   pressure   didn't   begin   to   cover.   to   be   a   weapon   whereas     (    .   .   .    )    zagreus   could   not   even   think   to   become   that.   not   for    anyone,   not   even   kin.       “    do   you   still   intend   to   look   at   me   in   such   a   way?    ”       perhaps   he   asks   so   that   he   may   continue   to   steel   himself   from   her   bite.   perhaps   then   the   venom   of   his   sister   would   hurt   less.       “    i   should   know,   lest   i   will   find   myself   bitten   harder   than   last.    ”

[fatelied]

“please don't ruin this for me.” mel @ mel!

pls meme | @nymfernal

"Haven't you already ruined it all for yourself?"

The smile on the shadow's lips crawls with something unnatural, something only Time can create and let waste until the rot of Time's End becomes it's purpose. The determination flowing from the princess before it now is a brighter flame than all all the heat that flows in this mirage of Asphodel they find themselves in, and it can only shudder closer with a jitter of it's limbs, viridian springing to life betwixt the cold veins lining the darkness of grey skin.

"I know you." It's whisper emanates from it's golden-cracked lips, permeating the firey air around them. "I know what you think. There is no end to these ventures of yours. They are infinite, as much as the power of Time itself."

A ragged laugh accompanies a limp forward. Closer now, it is, with an eerily golden hourglass gaze. "What makes you think you can best one of the oldest beings in existence?"

[emwrcte]

𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗥𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝗖𝗔𝗟𝗟 | Accepting | @nymfernal

〞Dear young cousin, ever-so dutiful. 〞𝙃𝙞𝙨 𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙨𝙖𝙡  was a union of notice and critique, an almost impartial assessment of what was. He was almost disappointed by her restraint. 〞Appease my curiosity, Melinoë. Why not allow yourself fury? 〞

[brokenmagxc]

@nymfernal called: “it’s you.” ( two word prompts. )

on the surface, he is nobody. a whisp in the background, cloaked and coveted and long forgotten. his step is muted, form tucked behind a veil of darkness, the vague scent of something ancient falling from old silks. upon recognition, he finds just a moment to maintain eye contact before looking away. he treads lightly on this realm for it is unknown to him. there is not much he has seen beyond the gates—not since well before the titans. and in these tumultuous times, he is careful not to reveal his arrival too soon.

sure, he has broken this law before: the law of interference, the law of arrival, of summon and summoner. once, or twice, to see the young princess in her time of need, or to grace her with praise for her efforts. he was a thin semblance of form then, a fragment of his entity cast from far beyond, between realms of time and space, day and night. but now—now he is here, he is whole, and for the first time since creation ran unchecked, phanes has stepped out of the gates and onto this plane of existence.

he greets her with a terse smile. red lips beneath a cloth darker than the night. he seems uncomfortable to be here.

“ melinoë. ” phanes murmurs and the air around them rattles. her name spills from him like a chime in the wind and, all at once, he is reminded that she is an agent of change. he welcomes her—but he is slow to accept the company. hesitantly, he draws closer. barely peeking beneath the darkness, one could spot the cosmic dust littering his dark suit, and beneath it still, the transparent hue of his skin. though in this form, he is much smaller and lither than his usual appearance, and from a distance, with the mud-colored browns of his hair falling from under his hood, he seems surprisingly... ordinary.

a dark tongue swipes over bottom lip, tone low and voice soft. “ you look... well. in this light. ” he swallows and does not admit that he has a hard time seeing from this distance. a mortal sense of nervousness touches the aged corners of his eyes. “ i hope... the war has not been too harsh on you... as of late... ” a long, poised pause.

“ are you here alone ?? ”