Helen Blackthorn and Aline Penhallow - Amaterasu and the Cave AU
Helen should have known better. She was the Sun Goddess, she was quite literally above everyone else, yet she still chose dumbly.
Mark, her dashing and troublemaking brother, had taken a trip to Helen’s domain above the Earth. She’d known he was only there because he’d caused havoc on the Earth and probably got chewed out by Julian.
At first, she’d told him to get lost and find his lovers, Cristina and Kieran. Usually they could knock some sense into Helen’s brother’s wild mind, but not always. She suspected this was one of those times where the trio could be found getting scolded with smirks on their faces.
“Let’s play a game.” Mark had said, sensing his sister’s unease. He held up his hand. In his palm were pounds of clay. “Let us make people, and whosever is better wins.”
Helen, not one to say no to a challenge, said alright.
In total, they both made eight deities out of clay. Each of them small with wide eyes as their clay skin turned to flesh. Helen grew proud of her creations, watching as they stumbled around and held out hands to one another. Her growing sense of pride, however, was inflamed when her brother said: “Mine are better. Look at their limbs, each and everyone perfect. I should make one more for Kieran, someone to look after wind spear when we are away.”
Helen reigned in her aggravation. She was the elder sibling, after all. And the Sun Goddess. She would rise above.
She was perfectly content until Mark reached out his pale and nimble hand and flicked one of her creations heads.
“How dare you!”
Soon enough, the two of them were all out shouting at each other. Helen’s powers were sparking in and out as she screamed at him. Those were her creations.
Mark, his different colored eyes flashing, threw something at Helen.
Helen ducked, and the object flew far into Helen’s domain. Someone screamed, and the object clattered to the ground.
Helen looked over her shoulder to see her subject laying dead on the marble floor. Their mortal blood, as red as roses, flooded the floor.
Now, Helen could just explode into an angry and vengeful being made solely out of fire and destroy Mark, but that might make her siblings sad. So Helen did something she had never done before.
For the first time, Helen became passive aggressive as hell. And by that she means she’s going to hide in a cave and let the world spin without the sun.
The cave was nice, somewhat. It had no silk and marble or light fixtures, but it also had no Mark.
Helen rubbed her hands along her gown, trying to become comfortable as the sat in a cave. Dust and dirt did not coat her dress, as she was still a goddess. She pinched and twisted the pearls as she waited for the other gods to become tired of an endless night. She wondered what Mark would offer her as a peace offering, if he could find anything so valuable that it would make the sun want to rise.
Soon enough, Helen began to hear voices speaking outside the cave.
“Dammit Mark,” said Julian’s scolding fatherly tone. Helen smirked.
“Yeah way to go.” Added Emma, Julian’s beloved and Helen’s metaphorical little sister.
“Without Helen’s light the crops are dying,” Ty said sounding distressed. “What will my foxes eat? What will any animal eat? What will we eat?”
“We’re gods Ty,” Kit reminded him. “We don’t need to eat.”
“Says the guy who eats all our crops anyway.”
“This isn’t helping!” Drusilla tagged in, always the voice of reason.
“You’re right.” Mark said, trying to sound as if this wasn’t all his fault. “We need to make a plan.” A silence followed before he exclaimed. “We need to lure her out!”
“Or you could just apologize.” Livvy said.
“Nah,” said Mark.
Helen could feel Julian rolling his eyes. “How do you plan to lure her out?” He asked, resigned.
“Roosters!” Said Tavvy.
“Chickens?” Emma asked. “Why chickens?”
“Roosters are not chickens.” Ty said, offended on their behalf.
“Because roosters crow in the morning. Maybe the sound will remind her to rise.”
There was a long silence. Helen could tell they all knew it was a terrible idea, but didn’t want to crush their littlest’s enthusiastic idea.
Soon enough, roosters began clucking outside the cave, their screeches echoing off the walls. Yet Helen did not rise.
Next, they set out a mirror at the entrance of the cave. Dru and Kit believed this would work, to everyone else’s confusion. Dru and Kit high fived as Ty rolled his eyes.
Helen did not rise. More crops began to die, and demons took advantage of this darkness.
Finally, Livvy comes up with an idea.
Livvy looks for a specific goddess, one with the name of Aline.
Aline, the goddess of dawn and celebration.
“Aline!” Livvy called out.
Said goddess was sitting upon a rock, brushing her hair with her fingers. Her lengthy, ebony hair. Her smile brightened at the sight of Livvy, and Livvy at once could tell this woman was the embodiment of the early morning glow.
“I need your help.” Livvy said. She explained the situation to Aline, who nodded along.
“What should I do?” Aline asked.
Livvy’s eyes twinkled. She was reminded of all the times Helen had denied a male suitor, of all the times she’d bested them in their attempts to fight for her hand in marriage. Livvy remembered how Helen’s eyes caught onto simple things, such as women with dresses that flared out their figure and how she sighed at softness of a woman’s eyes.
“You could dance.” Livvy said, trying to reign in her knowing smirk.
Aline thought about it a moment before nodding. After all, she was the goddess of celebration. Dancing was as easy as breathing.
Livvy and Aline walked to the entrance of the cave, and Livvy nodded to Aline before keeping a distance.
Aline looked down at her dress, shorter than most and much more softer. She’d worn extra bracelets and anklets for this, to make extra noise as she moved.
Aline began to dance. She twirled and twisted and jumped and sang, beckoning the sun goddess.
Helen, who had been bored out of her mind but resolutely stubborn enough to stay anyway, heard the commotion outside. People were laughing and cheering, Helen’s family among them.
Slowly, she stepped toward the entrance of the cave.
She peered out and saw the roosters that wobbled around as well as a lengthy size mirror. Helen tipped her face upward and saw a woman with significant beauty and charisma.
The woman had hip length black hair, twined with gold and pearls. Her dress floated and bounced around her as she danced, revealing her soft thighs and hips.
Most astonishing of all, the woman’s eyes, already so full of light, brightened at the sight of Helen.
“Thank fuck,” She said. “I was getting tired of demons crashing my celebrations.”
She did not stop dancing but came over to Helen and grabbing her hands. Helen, stupidly, nodded to nothing as she was pulled away from the cave.
Behind her, she heard Mark and Julian as well as some others place a boulder in front of the entrance.
Helen did not care. Why would she stay in a cave when a woman like this existed out here?
The woman, Aline, Helen realized, did not let go of Helen’s hands as they danced.
Aline found she had no trouble looking into the face of the sun goddess as she did when looking into the sun itself. Helen’s eyes were the color of sunlight on sea water, her hair the color of sea foam on golden sand. Aline decided she would throw Livvy the biggest banquet party the world had ever known for allowing her to meet this glorious goddess, the goddess whose touch seemed to fill her veins with pleasurable sparks.
Helen began to smile.
Helen, the goddess of the sun, decided to rise for the sake of Aline, goddess of dawn.
(Overly Sacrastic Productions made a video about this myth: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=NFyJGXicgPY&list=PLDb22nlVXGgeoPb-HBWwzEeoAwDvckSrC&index=23 )