[The Broken Colossus] Angels in the Early Morning

[Philomena]

There was a sort of inobtrusive gentleness, Minnie reflected, to rapture with Mother Qalaya - in the opera, and even in true tales, so many gods seemed to come suddenly upon a soul, and strike it full of themselves like bone-shaker in February. What, Minnie, thought, would she have done, had Mother Qalaya come upon her not only with the terrible clarity of their first meeting, and also told Minnie all the things that she had learned since? Mother indeed, she fed her children carefully, giving them milk before she gave them meat.

The power of that kindness was so impressed now, in the rush of Bethany;s final sentence, that Minnie had a soft ache in her heart to see Qalaya again, and thank her and... it was hard to place. To tell her she was sorry, only not for her own actions. To tell her she saw things a little, and she knew what had been done for everyone.

The anxiety made Minnie tense, and her reflexes turned her toward comfort. She leaned in shyly and put her hand on Bethany's again. Then she spoke very quiet.

"I'm... Don't be frightened, I will go find it," she said it and immediately felt a bit of regret, having promised somethign that, manifestly, she could not guarantee being able to keep.

But then, that's what they do in the stories, isn't it? They make the promise, and then they must keep their promises.

They? What they?

Heroines, Philomena Lefting.

But I'm not a heroine.

But you can make a promise. Think of Lanie. You've made promises before.

And that gave Minnie a bit of grit, and she nodded and said it again, squeezing Bethany's hand, "I'll find it for you, Dharopan, and for Mother. I wunny leave you in danger, and it needs doing, and I suppose I'm the one for doing it, somehow."

She even managed, for a moment to meet Bethany's eyes.

In for a Nilo, in for a Night.
x

[Liminal]

Bethany held the gaze. "I believe in you, dharopan. When you find the box, I'll let you know what you need to do next. Thank you, sister." And then she was gone. Only the faint ripples in the pool were proof that the scene had ever held a woman who was not quite a woman anymore, a woman who had died decades ago, gone home, and then come back, however fitfully, to give a sacred charge to an awkward University professor.

And here we are at the end of another lovely thread ^_^

+2 Socialization
Lore: Qalaya's Box (partial)
Lore: Bethany's charge to Philomena
Lore: The purpose of the fourth key
Lore: Bethany an Alvina