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 Posted: Thu Oct 01, 2015 2:17 pm
“I found this place a little while ago, maybe a couple weeks before you came with me and we found that underground lake,” Valhalla explained as he lead Ganymede by the hand towards the atrium or whatever it was. “I… didn’t think to mention it at the time, but after coming here about a week ago, I don’t know, I feel like I’m meant to do something here.”
Valhalla knew it was strange for him to show such interest in his Wonder. He often tried to ignore the fact that he had a moody past life who apparently lusted after Ganymede’s past life. Or maybe it was because he saw so much of himself in Serge that he didn’t think he was ready to face all of his own faults.
He turned as he reached the doors, smiling down at her with obvious, but nervous, excitement. “It’s nothing like Ganymede, of course. Jupiter doesn’t really have the sunlight to make things really bright, but it’s bright enough, I guess,” he rambled, before turning to glance back up at the doors in question.
They were large, domed wooden doors, shaped and carved to look like a set of three trees, one split right down the middle to allow them to be opened. Instead of wood for the leaves, the craftsmen cut clean through the door, replacing each individual leaf with green glass so that light filtered through and speckled the hall where they stood with vibrant lights.
“I thought… maybe you might like to see it too,” he said, his voice lowered and his excitement tempered for now. They had a lot on their plates as it were, so he didn’t want to force her to commit to helping him with something if she would rather prepare for the babies.
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Posted: Thu Oct 01, 2015 2:18 pm
Ganymede followed after Valhalla with rising interest. Indeed, it wasn’t often he paid any intention to his wonder. Ganymede chose not to mention it now that he was, lest he second guess himself and put an end to his visits here. She didn’t know what it was that bothered him so much about his wonder or his past-life, but she chose to look at his sudden interest in it now as a good sign.
White tulle trailed behind her as they walked. Ganymede took the opportunity to power up to her full strength and use the time available to stretch her wings out, as it were. It wasn’t often she felt safe enough to power up in Destiny City, unless the need arose for her power. She was still unused to doing so, and she hoped being able to power up here without the fear of danger would help her to grow accustomed to it.
“I’m not even really sure how Ganymede has sunlight,” she observed, looking at the fortress around her with moderate interest.
She remembered things now that she hadn’t before, parts of Liesel’s life she hadn’t been privy to before the night Laurelite had tried to corrupt Valhalla and her subsequent visit to her homeworld. Most of the gaps in her memories that had previously existed were gone. She remembered most of his life, his relationship with Serge, and his feelings for this place. It made walking Valhalla’s halls sort of surreal.
When they came a stop in front of the double doors, Ganymede examined them closely. “I feel like I’ve been here before,” she said.
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Posted: Thu Oct 01, 2015 2:19 pm
”Something to do with the atmosphere, maybe?” he suggested, although he wasn’t as concerned about how light actually got there than he probably should. At this point, he’d been a knight long enough to not question when things were obviously magic.
Valhalla looked at Ganymede curiously when she said she felt like she’d been there before, and it probably was true, or at least for Liesel. “Serge liked this place, I think. He and Valkyrie, both,” he explained, trying not to sound as sad as he felt about still not being able to have Valkyrie return. Could she be gone for good?
Still holding her hand in his, Valhalla turned to push the large doors open so they could both step inside. The light that filtered through the doors was even more brilliant inside the large dome-like room. It had to be several stories high with three large trees able to stretch out their branches and not reach each other or the walls made of thick, multicolored glass. The trees themselves, some variant of oak, were decorated at one point it seemed, although the garland had since crumpled and pieces have fallen to the ground.
The fountain was in the center, rising up on a hill that must have once been covered in grass. There was no water in the fountain, but from it led channels to water the planters set up throughout the room on multiple tiers.
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Posted: Thu Oct 01, 2015 2:19 pm
Ganymede was quiet as Valhalla opened the doors. She stepped into the room with her hand still joined with his, letting the familiarity of it wash over her.
It was strange remembering things and places she knew she’d never seen before. Liesel’s life was still a jumble in her head, millions of pieces she had to fit together into some semblance of order. But she knew he’d been here. She wasn’t entirely sure when, and her memories didn’t immediately present her with a why, but he’d been here nonetheless.
“It’s beautiful,” she said, slipping her hand from Valhalla’s so that she might be able to look around.
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Posted: Thu Oct 01, 2015 2:20 pm
Other than the trees themselves, everything else seemed to have withered and died long ago. There was plenty of water outside, but for the plants to obtain water, it was obvious that the fountain needed to work. He had yet to find a way.
“I’m trying to get this place cleaned up…” he explained as Ganymede pulled her hand away from him to look around. Of course, it sounded a bit silly now that he said it out loud. It was just a bunch of plants, after all. “I mean… I know it’s probably not going to make that much of a difference now, but I’ve seen how it’s supposed to look. And… I think Valkyrie liked this place,” he said softly, feeling as though saying it was going to be done in her memory seemed like he was giving up on getting her back, but it had been several months already.
“Come look,” he said, moving ahead of her to what looked like a raised wall along the channels. At about waist height were long troughs of dirt where plants at one point had grown. It looked as though someone had cleared out a good portion of any dead plants and weeds and churned the soil for new growth.
“I haven’t decided what I should plant yet, but… I figured I needed to at least get everything cleaned up first… Unless you think it’s a stupid idea…” he mumbled nervously, obviously wanting Ganymede’s approval. He would probably continue regardless of what she said, but he liked to know she was in agreement with him about things.
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Posted: Thu Oct 01, 2015 2:20 pm
Ganymede shot Valhalla a brief, sad look at the mention of his bird. It had been months since he’d last called on her and any attempt to do so now was met with failure. Often Ganymede hoped it was merely another side effect of Valhalla’s starseed being cracked and not that the bird was gone for good.
She approached him again to grab his hand and give it a supportive squeeze, following him around and looking about the place with interest.
“Of course I don’t think it’s a stupid idea,” she said.
After all, the more focus Valhalla put into his wonder, the less time he spent wandering around on Earth offering himself up as an easy target.
“What do you think was planted here before?” she asked. “I remember the trees and the fountain, but everything else is still sort of a blur.”
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Posted: Thu Oct 01, 2015 2:20 pm
He appreciated the supportive squeeze of his hand, but shook his head when she asked if he knew what was planted there. “I’m not sure. I can’t imagine it was their entire supply of food for the fortress, but it seems too organized to just be for decoration. Maybe herbs or plants with medicinal properties?”
Whatever they were, he had no idea. His memories weren’t clear enough for him to be able to see exactly what kind of plants they were, and what was left were too shriveled up to tell. He thought it might be a wasted effort, but he also felt as though it was something he should do.
“I don’t think I told you,” he said suddenly, changing the subject only slightly. “Serge had a younger brother. I don’t know if you have any memories of him or not.” She might, since she visited her world often, but he wasn’t sure if Serge’s brother ever went, or if he did if he was recognized.
“His name was Percy, I think… he said he was a knight of… Sessru… something… Serge wasn’t happy, but he wasn’t mad, either. I think he might have just been lonely.”
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Posted: Thu Oct 01, 2015 2:21 pm
As Valhalla spoke, Ganymede looked back over her memories, trying to find specific ones to go along with what Valhalla was talking about. Her memories of this place were still a blur, difficult to dig through but coming into better focus the longer she spent there. Her memories of Serge, on the other hand, were quite clear.
“Sessrumnir,” she said, which seemed obvious to her given that he was Valhalla’s brother in this life as well.
Ganymede’s hand slipped out of Valhalla’s again. She took a few steps away from him to explore the area, trailing her fingers over the dirt and the shriveled up remains of indistinguishable plants. She closed her eyes as she delved back into her memories of Serge.
“He was lonely,” she said. “They both were. Probably why they were drawn together. Can you imagine being raised your whole life on Earth, only to be taken someplace else as soon as you turned sixteen, expected to oversee an entire fortress like this, surrounded by strangers?”
She felt bad for Serge, expected it must not have been easy, especially when the one person who made him feel a little less lonely continuously pulled away from him in some foolish attempt at propriety.
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Posted: Thu Oct 01, 2015 2:21 pm
”Sessrumnir,” he repeated, watching Ganymede as she moved along the pathway inside the strange room. It was comparable to a garden, of course, but he’d never seen a garden like this before, carefully organized for ease of maintenance.
“Right…” he agreed and paused, continuing to watch her as she spoke, feeling guilty because she seemed to know them, especially Serge, so much more than he knew him himself. “You remember him…?” he wondered, surprised by the ease at which she said the strange name.
And of course he knew it must have been difficult for him to be taken away from his home, but there were also things he still didn’t like about the man who once had his starseed.
As Ganymede continued along, Valhalla noticed something near the trees a few pathways below where they were. It was Serge, of course, with his back to one of the trees, his head down and hands behind him. He looked upset about something but also seemed as though he didn’t want to be bothered.
“I guess I’ll never really understand…” he said with a small sigh.
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Posted: Thu Oct 01, 2015 2:22 pm
“Of course I remember him,” Ganymede said. “I remember a lot of people.”
It was strange to have these memories, knowing they weren’t really hers. They were separate from her own but still rooted as deeply in her brain, two different lives worth of memories to wade through and examine.
“But I remember Serge best, probably because he was so important to me,” she paused, winced, and corrected herself, “I mean, Liesel.”
It was not always an easy distinction to make these days.
“I’m sorry, sometimes it’s hard to keep things separate,” she apologized. “I’m still trying to get used to having all these memories. It wasn’t so bad before, but now… I feel like my brain’s been overloaded. Too much all at once, you know? Serge wasn’t as bad as you think he was. Loneliness made him angry, but he had the capacity to be kind. He worshiped Liesel, in his own way…”
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Posted: Thu Oct 01, 2015 2:22 pm
”I suppose,” he said with a frown, still watching the memory of his past life by the tree. Slowly someone else approached him, someone he easily recognized as well — Liesel was visiting from Ganymede.
“It’s fine, it’s not really your fault if you remember too much. Keeping two lives separated must be hard when you experience each so clearly,” Valhalla said, his voice still soft although just a bit sad. Sometimes he felt as though they would be better off not remembering, but on the other hand, what if their memories helped them to understand themselves better.
Liesel approached Serge with slow movements, often glancing around to make sure no one else was there to see. He didn’t look up when he was close enough, but he also didn’t pull away. Valhalla was too far away to hear, but Liesel said something that caused Serge to respond with a shake of his head.
“I can see them now,” he announced softly to Ganymede. “By the tree…” He didn’t know if Ganymede would be able to remember what happened there, but obviously something changed to cause Serge to seek solitude. It didn’t seem as though Liesel was able to get through to him, either.
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Posted: Thu Oct 01, 2015 2:23 pm
Ganymede looked toward the tree as directed but saw nothing. It frustrated her a bit, that she could see things so clearly on Ganymede but not anywhere else. Of course she remembered this place, and she remembered some of the things that had taken place here, but the memories were dull and faded, difficult to grasp onto without the visuals Valhalla was privy to.
“I can’t see anything,” she said with some regret.
She moved further away from Valhalla to approach the tree, but nothing coalesced no matter how close to it she drew. She remembered being there with Serge, but the details about what they’d spoken about were lost to her, buried too far down beneath the rest to be of any help to her now.
As she drew closer to one of the trees, Ganymede let her fingers trail lightly over the old bark.
“They had to hide their relationship from other people because of laws on Ganymede,” she explained. “Serge didn’t like that. It frustrated him. It frustrated Liesel, too, but I think he was too afraid to always do what he wanted.”
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Posted: Thu Oct 01, 2015 2:23 pm
Valhalla followed Ganymede closer towards the trees. As he watched, Liesel reached up to take hold of Serge’s face, who in turn finally seemed to meet Liesel’s eye. Serge’s frown grew deeper, and he tried jerking himself away in his frustration, and hitting his head against the trunk as if Liesel’s presence made him forget it was there.
”Stop that,” Valhalla heard Liesel say as he reached out to take hold of Serge’s face once more, this time reaching to rub at the back of Serge’s head as the other cursed and grumbled to himself. ”You’re behaving like a child.”
”You’re treating me like one,” Serge finally snapped back, although this time when he tried pulling away, he was more cautious of the tree. If anyone asked Valhalla, they were children. They couldn’t possibly be older than he and Paris were, and if they were it wasn’t by much. They still had the appearance of youths, even if stress and the weight of responsibility aged them prematurely.
“Liesel is trying to get Serge to talk to him. Serge is upset about something, but I’m not sure what. Liesel told him he’s acting like a child, and Serge said Liesel was treating him like one… does that help any?” Valhalla wondered, keeping his eyes on the memory, but staying close to Ganymede.
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Posted: Thu Oct 01, 2015 2:23 pm
Ganymede listened to Valhalla explain, but she ended up shaking her head at him, though a small smile remained on her face as she did so.
“That sounds like a lot of their conversations,” she said.
She sighed to herself, walking closer to the tree to lean against it, not certain exactly where the memory was playing out. She turned to look at Valhalla as he drew closer and held out one of her hands for him, beckoning him over.
It bothered her still that she couldn’t see. The memories were always easier to process when she could actually see them. The rest were a jumbled mess in her head. Still, she was glad that Valhalla was paying enough attention to describe it to her. She thought it would do him some good to see more of his own memories; it might help him to understand his past better.
“Give it a moment and they’ll kiss,” she joked. “That’s how a lot of things happened between them. They’d argue, then kiss, argue, then kiss. I think they liked arguing. Their version of foreplay or something.”
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Posted: Thu Oct 01, 2015 2:24 pm
Whether or not they ended up kissing, Valhalla didn’t take the time to watch. Instead he turned back to look at Ganymede, to see her in all of her ruffles and lace, with the wings on her back. He looked at her face and her smile and those bright eyes that he didn’t want to ever forget.
He thought he could at least understand that much about Serge, how he was so wrapped up in Liesel’s charm. Ganymede had that passion that was difficult not to be drawn towards. Valhalla knew he was lucky that he’d met her, and even more so to have fallen in love with her. He could only imagine that Serge must have felt the same way, despite all his faults.
Valhalla reached out to place his hand along Ganymede’s face before leaning down to kiss her. The past was important, but they also needed to focus on the present, and of course the future. He didn’t know how he was supposed to handle knowing that both his past and his future was with Ganymede, whether it was fate or just luck, but he knew that he wouldn’t be there had it not been for her.
“I love you,” he said as he pulled back to look at her face once more. “We’ll have to make this place safe for Henry and Abigail too… we can’t just only go to your world,” he joked, his hand going to gently touch her hair so as not to disturb the tiara perched on top. “Thank you for coming here with me…”
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