--[closed! | incomplete] well hay there roomie! --backdated--

[thebooksaysso]

Characters: Anathema Device ( thebooksaysso ) & Cassandra ( cassie_of_troy )
Setting/Location: Their caravan room
Date & Time: Er. Backdated to Day 9, early afternoonish?
Warnings: None!
Summary: So a former prophet meets the prophecy obsessed.

Comments

[cassie_of_troy]

"I am glad to hear it," Cassandra said, setting down her things uncertainly in the middle of the floor. Whether or not Anathema minded her presence there, it was still her territory for now and Cassandra would do as she told her, put her things where Anathema said, and live by her rules. It wasn't so bad to be sharing space, really. Cassandra had always shared rooms with other girls before. But they had been of her world. Anathema was different and so the rules would have to be spelled out for her.

Briefly, she glanced curiously at the papers. Not enough to know what they contained, but they seemed dear to Anathema. She wondered why. "I would like to get to know you," she said, almost shyly. Cassandra was never good at making new friends, but they had to become friends. It was the only way they could possibly coexist. And the only way to survive in relative safety. But she would worry about that particular problem later.

"Are you the only one here from your world? Or have friends and companions of yours been brought here as well?"

[thebooksaysso]

"Oh, here." Anathema walked back over and made as if to reach for Cassandra's things, only to stop short, hesitant. Just going and taking things would be rude, wouldn't it? "You can set your things on the vanity, if you like. Or the bed. Whichever you prefer." Just as soon as she cleaned her own items away, more notes and pens and even a few glittering stones being carefully shuffled around and moved to the side of the desk, to allow more room. At the question, Anathema only shook her head.

"No. So far it looks like I might be the only one from my world stuck here...." She never thought she would ever feel so lonely. She had been used to living on her own, after all. Having so many people suddenly fall into her life had been....a little strange. And suddenly losing them.... "But that's alright. That means the others may still be back home, where they're safe."

And that was really all she could ask for. Satisfied with her organization she finally took a seat on the bed, gesturing for Cassandra to go ahead and rest as well. "....what of yourself? Is there anybody else here from world?" She paused for a moment. Then tilted her head uncertainly. "Or worlds, if I remember right?"

[cassie_of_troy]

A soft little laugh escaped Cassandra's lips. It was not an especially merry sound. Indeed, there was no mirth to it whatsoever. It was hollow, more of a release than anything else. "Well remembered." Abandoning her things, Cassandra walked over to the bed and hesitated a moment before sitting down. She left a comfortable space between herself and Anathema, but turned her torso to face her. Cassandra had always observed that the position of one's torso truly determined their interests. If a man, for example, turned his head to look at a woman without turning his heart toward her as well, she was not truly in his interests.

"There are several other people here from Rowan, my second world," she said. "But none of them remember it. I believe they were all drawn here, not from Rowan, but from a point in their lives before Rowan." It was a truly depressing truth. "As for people from my home on earth..."

She hesitated again. She had to. Of course, it was bound to happen. It was necessary to bring up Apollo. But she had not expected to do it quite so soon. "Yes," she sighed. "There is someone from my first home here. Someone very dangerous who I mean to protect you and all the other pretty young woman here from."

[thebooksaysso]

No one remembered....? Anathema frowned again, though she didn't reply. It was hard enough worrying about what might have happened to everybody who hadn't made it to the caravan, but....to be forgotten altogether seemed to much worse. Anathema couldn't imagine what that must have felt like, and she felt a small twinge of sympathy for the other woman.

"....protect us?" But if there was anything to really grab her full attention, those next couple comments were one of them. "Protect us from who, exactly?"

[cassie_of_troy]

There were several ways this particular conversation could play out, and Cassandra had not yet figured Anathema out enough to know which one was most likely. She decided it was best to take things slow, to let Anathema lead as much as possible. After biting her lips together for a moment, she began slowly. "You said, over the network, that you knew of me. From...mythology, as they call it. Greek," the word was painful, "mythology. Before I answer, I should like to know what it is, precisely, you know or think you know about my story."

That was something of a difficult request. Cassandra absolutely hated listening to people try and tell her her own life's story. It had nearly caused an unrepairable rift between her and Ianto, back in Rowan. Cassandra hoped to learn from the mistakes of the past and move forward into this new, uncertain future, but she had to admit it was still difficult to hear. Nevertheless, she had to know, or at least try to understand, what Anathema knew and felt regarding Apollo. That would inform her way of explaining him and the threat he presented.

[thebooksaysso]

"It was one of the myths I read almost constantly when I was younger," she admitted sheepishly, a small half-smile quirking into place. It didn't stay for long, however, her expression falling again as she paused thoughtfully. How to go about this....

"I know that you were given the gift of prophecy because the god Apollo was attracted to you. But then you turned down his advances." Which, honestly, she couldn't blame her for, given the trend most of the Greek pantheon followed in their myths. Her frown deepened as she continued. "And I know that Apollo was, as he usually is in these stories, a complete sod about being turned down, so he...."

But there was something that felt very Not Right about relaying someone else's history to them. Especially one that must have been filled with a number of bad memories, ones she was fairly sure Cassandra must have had brought up with everyone she met. Things she certainly didn't need to be reminded of. Anathema hesitated again.

"People thought you mad when you tried to warn them about your visions. And then Troy was invaded."

[cassie_of_troy]

"A complete sod." There was a moment's pause, then Cassandra did the unthinkable. She started laughing. She supposed she sounded mad, but that was her calling card, after all. What Anathema had said, well, that had been the most poetic thing she had heard in a good many years. Cassandra offered Anathema one of her rare smiles. Much like her laugh, it was rusty, from years of neglect, but it was genuine, she hoped.

"Apollo is many things," she said when she could breathe again. "Arrogant, conniving, cruel, thoughtless, clever, selfish," she paused a moment before adding, "and here. In this caravan."

She leaned forward toward Anathema now, fixing her eyes on the other woman's. Cassandra had deep brown eyes, almost black. When she turned their full energy on anyone, they were like black holes, both captivating and deadly. "I have seen Apollo do great things," she said softly. "And many of them were terrible. Especially where young women are concerned. I have seen him chase unwilling lovers to their deaths, I have seen him carry away girls who were too young to understand what it means when a god parts their knees, and I have seen him smash the skulls of the mothers of his sons against rocks."

[thebooksaysso]

The laughter was indeed startling, but only for a moment. The fact it even seemed to be genuine was reassuring, and Anathema couldn't help smiling, or giving a small giggle herself, thought it faded away as Cassandra leaned closer, continued speaking. It was Anathema's turn to pause.

"....there's a god traveling on the caravan." ....meaning that the Mr. Apollo she had been talking to was really....

....oh dear. She tried to hide it, but a small grimace crossed her face. "The myths don't quite do him justice, then? That's comforting to know. I'll make a note to stay out of his way."

[cassie_of_troy]

Cassandra wanted to tell her that by virtue of sharing a room with her, Anathema was in a special, precarious position. She had honestly wished Anathema to be ugly. It might have kept Apollo at bay. Now, she had no idea what to expect from him. "I have no idea what to expect from him." Honesty stung, but it was the best course of action.

She pulled back for comfort's sake, relaxing. "A lot of the so-called myths leave out important details. I wouldn't trust them too far." And she left it at that.

"I want to know more about you. I feel as if I need to play catch up now. You know so much about me."

[thebooksaysso]

Anathema nodded, the movement very slight, her gaze falling thoughtfully to the bed. Apollo would only be one more added to the list of pricks she would need to avoid, which was simple enough to do. Or at least, so she thought.

"I'm a witch." She may as well be blunt about it. "Nothing bad, and nothing especially fancy, but I am. I've dabbled on and off in the occult since I was a tiny thing, but....I suppose you could say my main area of interest is in prophecies."

[cassie_of_troy]

At the mention of witches, Cassandra scarcely batted an eye. But prophecies, well, that was another matter. She raised one eyebrow slightly. "Forgive me," she said slowly, "but is that what witches do in the world you come from? Prophesy?"

There had been witches in Rowan. They had been some of the more productive members of society, using herbs and crystals to heal and protect. A far cry better than any sort of witch from Cassandra's first home. She wondered if Anathema was a healer or more prone to turning men into pigs. Or something else entirely.

[thebooksaysso]

A small half-smile was sent in Cassandra's direction, followed by a small shrug. "Some, maybe. The only one I knew was one of my ancestors. And she was the only one in our family line with the ability."

There was a momentary pause, and as if on a whim Anathema stood and walked over to her bag, pulled out the tattered old notebook from early. She flipped through a few pages as moved to take her seat again. "She wrote down all the visions she had in two books, but the thing is, she didn't always understand what she saw. It's been up to us to figure them out from the clues she tried to give us."

[cassie_of_troy]

Interested, Cassandra moved a little bit closer to Anathema. "Didn't understand what she saw? That's interesting. That sounds a lot like dreaming." Cassandra's visions had always been rather clear, like she was watching a play. Admittedly, sometimes the scenes would shift without warning, but they were always linear and blessedly free of symbolism. Her dreams on the other hand...well, that was a different matter. Cassandra's dreams always had a hint of prophecy in them, but they were nonsensical most of the time.

"Clues," Cassandra said suddenly. "You're trying to piece together clues? Regarding what? Something in particular? An event?"

[thebooksaysso]

"Well, she often saw things that happened centuries after her time," she explained, still flipping through pages and scanning the notes. "So I suppose it's understandable that some things were rather hit and miss."

Another pause, and with a sudden smile she handed the notebook over to Cassandra, and moved a little closer in order to point out a few of the older scribbled passages. 'A street of light will screem, the black chariot of the Serpente will flayme, and a Queene wille sing quickfilveres songes no moar.'

"They all read a little something like that. You can see where the difficulty is." Her smile softened. "Mostly she was trying to look for all of us future decedents."

[cassie_of_troy]

Cassandra scanned the page curiously. "That is rather cryptic," she murmured. "It sounds like something the Pythia at Delphi might say. A riddle." She tilted her head, re-reading the passage again. "Do you have any idea where the prophecy came from? Did someone gift it to your family? Or did you perhaps live in a magically endowed place, like Delphi?" She wasn't quite ready to accept the possibility that Apollo could somehow have been responsible.

"Is this one you've figured out? Or one you're still trying?"

[thebooksaysso]

"The popular theory back then was that you only gained that sort of power by selling yourself over to the devil." She sounded for all the world as though she was chatting about the weather, or some other similarly mundane subject, and she only gave another lazy shrug as she read it over again herself. "Personally, I chalk it up to an unfortunate genetic fluke. But I doubt we'll ever know either way."

She tapped lightly on another set of notes written out beside the prophecy. "Mm, one of my some-odd-great-uncles thought it had to do with the banishment of Weishaupt's Illuminati from Bavaria all the way back in the 1780s. I disagree, though."