➤ 004
a myth of innocence
f(x)/shinee, luna/minho; pg; 1538 words
persephone au
first two parts originally posted on kpfm 3.0 (first part for mythology challenge)
title stolen from (and story heavily influenced by) this.
part one: victoria
victoria had always told luna not to go out alone. "you never know what you'll find out there," she warned, "or what'll find you. there are all sorts of things that would like to take advantage of you."
luna had always laughed it off. "i'll be fine," she said, kissing her mother on the cheek. "you shouldn't worry so much." victoria shook her head, crossing her arms reprovingly, but said nothing. she'll just have to learn the hard way, she always told herself.
but she never expected that the earth would open up and swallow luna whole.
victoria found out two days after it happened. luna normally came home at night for dinner, but sometimes she'd just get caught up in something and forget to tell victoria. she'd show up a few days later in a new dress with a new hairstyle, blushing apologetically but beaming so happily that victoria couldn't do anything but sigh and tell her daughter yet again that it was okay, just remember to let her poor old mother know next time. but then luna didn't come home, and none of the nymphs said they'd seen her, and the muses had no idea she was missing, and even the fauns were surprised, and victoria knew her worst fears had come true.
then a shy woodnymph was pressed forward by her sisters. victoria's heart dropped into her stomach and all the plants around her began to shrivel and wilt as the nymph told her about the meadow where she'd seen luna, the tall figure that had approached her and held out a hand. victoria howled with rage when she went to the clearing herself and found the jagged seam that split the grass. she knew where her daughter had gone.
she went to yunho, who shook his head sadly and said there was nothing he could do. the nymph said that luna had gone willingly, had laughed and smiled with this dark stranger, and she would come back when she wanted to. he advised her to go into the underworld and speak to its lord herself if she was so convinced that her daughter was in danger.
so she did. she pulled the earth open with her bare hands and went down into it, where everything became cold metal, and she found her daughter. luna's dress was black instead of green, her hair woven back instead of curling over her shoulders, her smile wary instead of welcoming. victoria took her hand, tried to pull her back into the light, but then he was there, standing over her daughter with a hand on her waist.
"you have no right," victoria hissed. "you can't just-"
"she ate," minho interrupted her calmly, and victoria's breath caught when luna looked up at him with bright eyes. "she ate six seeds. you can't touch her."
--
she brought him in front of yunho, screamed at him to give her daughter back to her, and yunho looked at her helplessly. finally, he said, "she must spend one month underground for every seed she ate. the rest of the time she will be with her mother." minho accepted the decision with a silent nod. victoria suddenly stood in a circle of dead grass.
she killed a thousand trees for every day her daughter was gone.
part two: minho
he first saw her with a group of nymphs, making daisy chains and throwing grass at one another. one of them jumped on her and rolled her over in a play-fight, and his breath caught when she threw her head back and laughed. her light brown hair lay in soft waves around her face. he wanted to run his fingers through it, make her shiver with anticipation.
the second time he saw her, she was standing alone on a riverbank. he had managed to learn who she was-luna, daughter of the earth goddess, lovely and kind and utterly untouchable, thanks to victoria's fierce overprotectiveness. he hadn't followed her, not exactly, but he'd heard how much she liked the water, and he'd been lucky enough to be passing by this one in time to see her there. he fully intended to step out of the woods and talk to her, get to know her, but then she was sliding her dress off her shoulders and he found he could hardly breathe, let alone speak. he stood there frozen as she bathed, unable to keep his eyes from tracing the curve of her waist and the water that trickled down her back. he fled when she turned around.
he approached her the third time, standing in the middle of a meadow with the sunlight on her face. he bowed, introduced himself, and felt a little flurry of pleasure when she giggled back. he offered his hand, and she took it, and then they were falling through grass and dirt and air into the cold dark. she was frightened, and he held her to him, murmured comforting words into her hair until she relaxed. she told him that her mother would come looking for her; he told her that if she ate something, victoria would have no choice but to turn back. she wasn't hungry-she never would be in the realm of the dead-but he fed her six pomegranate seeds, and she licked his fingers clean.
it took victoria three days to appear. minho had expected her long before that, kept looking over his shoulder in his own kingdom while luna changed before his very eyes. "you're meant to be a queen," he told her on the second day as he pulled her now-dark hair to drape over her shoulder. she laughed at him and he laughed back because that was all he could bear to do. then victoria came, and luna was suddenly tense and uneasy. minho hated to see her like that, so he stepped up, put a comforting hand on her waist, and explained to victoria what had happened. she was furious, but minho stood his ground so luna wouldn't have to.
she dragged him in front of his brother and demanded that her daughter be returned to her. yunho looked at him for an explanation, and minho gave it, telling them all how luna ate the seeds. he left out that she was willing.
his wife is given to him for half a year at a time. the other half is spent with victoria. luna cries when he tells her this, but she won't say why. he lets it go and pulls her into his lap, holding her while she weeps into his chest, and imagines ways to make it through six months.
part three: luna
luna doesn't know why she said yes.
maybe it was because she was tired of being treated like a child. maybe it was the way his eyes didn't reflect the sun. maybe she was just bored.
but she said it, and now she's here and he's looking shyly at her, like he's a lovestruck maiden instead of a great god. she gives him a distant smile in return, and he wraps his fingers around her wrist and pulls her forward into his chest. she snuggles in, but it's more out of habit than anything-she says nothing, feels nothing when he whispers against her temple. it'll be okay, he says, i promise i'll do anything for you, luna, and she nods because she's heard that time and time again from her mother, and all she ever got was disappointment.
she eats the seeds he gives her in the hopes that they'll tie her to this world. she'll miss the light, but she doesn't need it really; luna has always thrived better in the shade.
when victoria arrives, luna is terrified. she loves her mother more than life itself, and that's why she doesn't want to go back. she opens her mouth to-
minho steps up behind her, wraps his long fingers around her waist, and she turns towards him so she doesn't have to look at victoria. luna knows they're arguing about her, but she can't make out the words over the sound of minho's empty chest. a minute later, victoria disappears, and minho cups luna's face and promises her he'll be back. then he's gone, too, and luna is left alone.
she wanders through her new world like a lost child. when minho returns two days later, he finds luna curled up in their bed. he sits down and explains yunho's decision, and luna's eyes start to water of their own accord. he settles her on his lap and strokes her hair back and luna cries and cries even though her heart is dry.
on the last day of the first six months, minho gives her a necklace of braided silver. it's different from the gold her mother prefers. luna wears it proudly even though victoria frowns whenever she sees it. she spends some time with the nymphs, but everything seems so different now, like luna's watching from a distance. she feels older than she is, more mature. victoria says it's because she's a married woman now, but luna knows the truth.
it's because she's dead.
concrit → pm or dadilada@gmail
f(x)/shinee, luna/minho; pg; 1538 words
persephone au
first two parts originally posted on kpfm 3.0 (first part for mythology challenge)
title stolen from (and story heavily influenced by) this.
part one: victoria
victoria had always told luna not to go out alone. "you never know what you'll find out there," she warned, "or what'll find you. there are all sorts of things that would like to take advantage of you."
luna had always laughed it off. "i'll be fine," she said, kissing her mother on the cheek. "you shouldn't worry so much." victoria shook her head, crossing her arms reprovingly, but said nothing. she'll just have to learn the hard way, she always told herself.
but she never expected that the earth would open up and swallow luna whole.
victoria found out two days after it happened. luna normally came home at night for dinner, but sometimes she'd just get caught up in something and forget to tell victoria. she'd show up a few days later in a new dress with a new hairstyle, blushing apologetically but beaming so happily that victoria couldn't do anything but sigh and tell her daughter yet again that it was okay, just remember to let her poor old mother know next time. but then luna didn't come home, and none of the nymphs said they'd seen her, and the muses had no idea she was missing, and even the fauns were surprised, and victoria knew her worst fears had come true.
then a shy woodnymph was pressed forward by her sisters. victoria's heart dropped into her stomach and all the plants around her began to shrivel and wilt as the nymph told her about the meadow where she'd seen luna, the tall figure that had approached her and held out a hand. victoria howled with rage when she went to the clearing herself and found the jagged seam that split the grass. she knew where her daughter had gone.
she went to yunho, who shook his head sadly and said there was nothing he could do. the nymph said that luna had gone willingly, had laughed and smiled with this dark stranger, and she would come back when she wanted to. he advised her to go into the underworld and speak to its lord herself if she was so convinced that her daughter was in danger.
so she did. she pulled the earth open with her bare hands and went down into it, where everything became cold metal, and she found her daughter. luna's dress was black instead of green, her hair woven back instead of curling over her shoulders, her smile wary instead of welcoming. victoria took her hand, tried to pull her back into the light, but then he was there, standing over her daughter with a hand on her waist.
"you have no right," victoria hissed. "you can't just-"
"she ate," minho interrupted her calmly, and victoria's breath caught when luna looked up at him with bright eyes. "she ate six seeds. you can't touch her."
--
she brought him in front of yunho, screamed at him to give her daughter back to her, and yunho looked at her helplessly. finally, he said, "she must spend one month underground for every seed she ate. the rest of the time she will be with her mother." minho accepted the decision with a silent nod. victoria suddenly stood in a circle of dead grass.
she killed a thousand trees for every day her daughter was gone.
part two: minho
he first saw her with a group of nymphs, making daisy chains and throwing grass at one another. one of them jumped on her and rolled her over in a play-fight, and his breath caught when she threw her head back and laughed. her light brown hair lay in soft waves around her face. he wanted to run his fingers through it, make her shiver with anticipation.
the second time he saw her, she was standing alone on a riverbank. he had managed to learn who she was-luna, daughter of the earth goddess, lovely and kind and utterly untouchable, thanks to victoria's fierce overprotectiveness. he hadn't followed her, not exactly, but he'd heard how much she liked the water, and he'd been lucky enough to be passing by this one in time to see her there. he fully intended to step out of the woods and talk to her, get to know her, but then she was sliding her dress off her shoulders and he found he could hardly breathe, let alone speak. he stood there frozen as she bathed, unable to keep his eyes from tracing the curve of her waist and the water that trickled down her back. he fled when she turned around.
he approached her the third time, standing in the middle of a meadow with the sunlight on her face. he bowed, introduced himself, and felt a little flurry of pleasure when she giggled back. he offered his hand, and she took it, and then they were falling through grass and dirt and air into the cold dark. she was frightened, and he held her to him, murmured comforting words into her hair until she relaxed. she told him that her mother would come looking for her; he told her that if she ate something, victoria would have no choice but to turn back. she wasn't hungry-she never would be in the realm of the dead-but he fed her six pomegranate seeds, and she licked his fingers clean.
it took victoria three days to appear. minho had expected her long before that, kept looking over his shoulder in his own kingdom while luna changed before his very eyes. "you're meant to be a queen," he told her on the second day as he pulled her now-dark hair to drape over her shoulder. she laughed at him and he laughed back because that was all he could bear to do. then victoria came, and luna was suddenly tense and uneasy. minho hated to see her like that, so he stepped up, put a comforting hand on her waist, and explained to victoria what had happened. she was furious, but minho stood his ground so luna wouldn't have to.
she dragged him in front of his brother and demanded that her daughter be returned to her. yunho looked at him for an explanation, and minho gave it, telling them all how luna ate the seeds. he left out that she was willing.
his wife is given to him for half a year at a time. the other half is spent with victoria. luna cries when he tells her this, but she won't say why. he lets it go and pulls her into his lap, holding her while she weeps into his chest, and imagines ways to make it through six months.
part three: luna
luna doesn't know why she said yes.
maybe it was because she was tired of being treated like a child. maybe it was the way his eyes didn't reflect the sun. maybe she was just bored.
but she said it, and now she's here and he's looking shyly at her, like he's a lovestruck maiden instead of a great god. she gives him a distant smile in return, and he wraps his fingers around her wrist and pulls her forward into his chest. she snuggles in, but it's more out of habit than anything-she says nothing, feels nothing when he whispers against her temple. it'll be okay, he says, i promise i'll do anything for you, luna, and she nods because she's heard that time and time again from her mother, and all she ever got was disappointment.
she eats the seeds he gives her in the hopes that they'll tie her to this world. she'll miss the light, but she doesn't need it really; luna has always thrived better in the shade.
when victoria arrives, luna is terrified. she loves her mother more than life itself, and that's why she doesn't want to go back. she opens her mouth to-
minho steps up behind her, wraps his long fingers around her waist, and she turns towards him so she doesn't have to look at victoria. luna knows they're arguing about her, but she can't make out the words over the sound of minho's empty chest. a minute later, victoria disappears, and minho cups luna's face and promises her he'll be back. then he's gone, too, and luna is left alone.
she wanders through her new world like a lost child. when minho returns two days later, he finds luna curled up in their bed. he sits down and explains yunho's decision, and luna's eyes start to water of their own accord. he settles her on his lap and strokes her hair back and luna cries and cries even though her heart is dry.
on the last day of the first six months, minho gives her a necklace of braided silver. it's different from the gold her mother prefers. luna wears it proudly even though victoria frowns whenever she sees it. she spends some time with the nymphs, but everything seems so different now, like luna's watching from a distance. she feels older than she is, more mature. victoria says it's because she's a married woman now, but luna knows the truth.
it's because she's dead.
concrit → pm or dadilada@gmail