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Shiana slept on, and in spite of what had happened, Lament kept an eye on her, and on things here. It just happened that his lovers had decided to tag along this time. He had left Asedri to explore, and Tajne to do whatever as he wished, when he overheard a voice calling for him.

"Shiana ?" Had she finally awoken ? Lament would excuse himself to Concerto and seek the asari out.

"Lord-" She moved to bow, as was her custom, but was brought up short by a throb of pain from her chest. And- was it right for her to bow, now? She was going to be a deity. Or, well, Eliade was.

I already am, stars-child, came the deity's amused voice. If ceremony is a comfort, take it; if not, leave it. Keep nothing that does not serve, or at least delight. Her eyes prickled a bit, and she realized with a start that Eliade was looking through them too. Pass on my greetings, stars-child?

"I, ah... L-lord Eliade sends his greetings," she stammered.

The title is not needed, zhi said, amused.

"Um... just Eliade, then..."

"Are you well ?" The difficulties in her bowing - as well as the bruises - did not go unnoticed. Maybe Concerto knew something that would help with the bruises and the pain - he would ask later after he was done with Shiana.

The pauses for mental conversation were a familiar thing - it reminded him of Asedri at the very start, and the thought made him smile. "A pleasure to meet you then, Eliade. Would you like anything to eat or drink ?" They could go to the garden again, make sure the asari was comfortable. He had lost track of his lovers a bit ago, but they could not be far.

The pleasure is mine, sorrow-singer, Eliade replied, amused.

"Zhi is pleased to meet you too, and calls you 'sorrow-singer'," Shiana reported, dutifully; Eliade chuckled in her mind.

Such formality is not needed between us, stars-child.

"I'll try to remember that," she said aloud, but her voice was pitched low, turned inward. She looked up at Akakios again. "Yes, please - I'm very, very hungry..." The sudden burst of sound from the garden made Shiana tense up sharply, and she winced as the movement pained the gem-bruised skin once more. "Is something wrong?" She looked anxiously at the god.

When the scream happened, Akakios did tense a bit, startled - but that was the end of that. There was only one thing naughty enough to startle Asedri here, after all.

"Tajne, behave." The god said as if he was scolding a naughty cat - which would only make Mystery's appearance more amusing. The god grinned to himself, went and scooped the purple cat, bobbing his lover on the nose. "Bad kitty."

With that done... "That is not completely inaccurate." He could sing - sometimes he even did, more so than when he was younger, but his strength would always remain in composition. Taj would be petted behind the ears idly. "Let us get you something to eat, then."

Asedri would likely follow them soon enough, especially once she figured out what exactly had jumped her.

Shiana tensed even more at the sudden appearance of a... cat? Was that a cat? No, no, it didn't feel like a cat, and Akakios' actions seemed to confirm that - and even if they hadn't, she could feel power under that furred skin. She didn't need her omni-tool to confirm that.

Then there was a jolt, and that tingling in her eyes got more intense. Ahhhhh, Eliade said, an exultant sound that started as the whisper of reeds in a soft wind, and ascended through a whistle's shriek and into a trill like an orchestra's flute section. The Cat. Cat was most definitely capitalized. There was affection there, of a sort, and Shiana got a vague sense of a number of emotions, all chopped and cracked and faded.

Eliade paused, and the exultant joy was replaced by a low, sad hiss. I cannot... the memories are... so... so close and yet... Shiana trembled for a moment with zir yearning, an anguish of loss newly-realized - Eliade had had, had been so much, and now all that zhi had left were pieces, some so broken that they were next to useless, signifying nothing. The deity did not remember - but zhi knew something of what zhi had lost.

Her mouth was dry. "Eliade remembers you," she managed, pointing at the Cat in Akakios' arms.

And then another woman entered, and Eliade made a soft sad sound once more. Two, two of Mystery reunited, and here Eliade, fragmented, mourns, remembers not. Sing for loss, o Lament-

"And you," she whispered. "Zhi is... so sad..." There were tears in her eyes.

The feeling pooled from Shiana and yet not - in a way so intense that it did startle him. He had not expected that kind of reaction - especially from Eliade. Zhi's grief was so, so very intense, as zhi finally noticed how much zhi had actually lost.

Tajne had already moved to comfort her, so Akakios simply uncoiled his power and let it fly loose, let that grief float to himself gently, softly, hopefully bringing it down to a level where host and god both could handle it a little better. He could not fix the cause, and neither could he simply rip it all away from them. Well, the latter he could, but what good could it do if the cause was not faced and dealt with ?

It would simply return, then.