The results of Behind the Name, Google, and Wikipedia. u__u;;
Word Count: 818
What was the meaning of her name?
'Marissa,' 'Anne,' and 'Reeves' were easy, though potentially exhaustive.
Marissa—feminine; English, variant of Marisa. Marisa—Italian, Spanish and Portuguese combination of Maria and Luisa. Maria—see Mary. Mary—unknown meaning; theorized “sea of bitterness.”
Anne—feminine; French, English, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, German, Dutch, Basque; French form of Anna. Anna—see Hannah. Hannah—“favour” or “grace.”
Reeves—'the name Reeves was not found.' Remove the 's'. Reeve—occupational name for a sheriff, from Middle English reeve.
But what of Palatine?
Seven and a half months. That was how long it had been since Marissa had picked up her teapot and awakened into a page of Venus. Seven and a half months of fighting monsters in a city where there had not been monsters when she'd left it nearly nine years ago. If they had existed, she certainly had not been aware of them then; had she, she likely would have had better success in the argument over whether or not to relocate her family, and then that whole sorry episode of separation and divorce from Henry, and the subsequent abandonment of her first child, might never have happened.
But she was getting side-tracked. Best not to think about that; best not to look at the pictures of a stern looking man and a grinning child on her bedside table. After all, 'what if's had never been of any help to anyone.
Focus on the iPad instead, its glow almost unnaturally bright in an otherwise dark room.
There was something about the darkness that felt secretive, safe, though there was no on in the house who would disturb her. Cal knew to mind his own business, Lilah was too young to be aware, and Rhiannon was three stories below, and not the sort to snoop.
Seven and a half months. In that time, Marissa had managed to learn quite a bit about the war, though most of the information she had came from other people rather than through her own experiences. In this she felt inadequate. She fought monsters, she sparred and trained with others when given the opportunity, she'd even been present at a Negaverse orchestrated attack on the Carnival, but had not yet had the opportunity to come face-to-face with an officer.
Nor had she visited her wonder, or figured out anything pertaining to her name.
Pull up Google. Type it in. P-A-L-A-T-I-N-E.
Click on the first link.
'A palatine or palatinus (in Latin, plural palatini; cf. derivative spellings below) is a high-level official attached to imperial or royal courts in Europe since Roman times.'
Useless information that likely had nothing to do with her.
Click on another link--'Palatine (disambiguation).'
Nothing at all related to the planet Venus. Certainly nothing to do with monsters or an alien war or pinks ruffles and a teapot.
Go back. Continue reading.
'The term palatinus was first used in Ancient Rome for chamberlains of the Emperor due to their association with the Palatine Hill.'
Click on 'Palatine Hill.'
'The Palatine Hill (Latin: Collis Palatium or Mons Palatinus) is the centermost of the Seven Hills of Rome and is one of the most ancient parts of the city.'
'It is the etymological origin of the word “palace” and its cognates in other languages (Italian “Palazzo”, French “Palais” etc.).'
'According to Roman mythology, the Palatine Hill was the location of the cave, known as the Lupercal, where Romulus and Remus were found by the she-wolf that kept them alive.'
'Another legend to occur on the Palatine is Hercules' defeat of Cacus after the monster had stolen some cattle.'
Familiar stories Marissa glossed over in her search for more information. They were deemed unimportant in this matter. Once again there was no obvious connection to Venus—not even a subtle one—and so Marissa was left with nothing, and could only assume that her name meant nothing, or, if it meant anything at all, it was unrelated to anything that might be found on Earth.
Perhaps the answer was better found on Venus.
Stop and wonder, but inevitably refuse.
There was always some reason not to make the trip, just as there was always some reason to avoid thinking about certain other parts of her life. The pictures at her bedside were a constant reminder, as were Lilah's cries, Paris's eyes, the empty room. So too was the teapot, the pink waistcoat, the ruffled hat.
But not tonight. Not even tomorrow.
Maybe next week? No, there would be some other excuse. Work. Yes, she had work to do. Family?
What did 'family' even mean?
Wide eyes—sky blue mixed with seafoam. Childish laughter. Blonde baby curls. A rough voice. A distant smile.
Long gone now. Lost to time.
Turn off the iPad and bathe the room in darkness. Ignore the bedside pictures in the silver glow of the moon. Ignore the past, and the future, and a conscience riddled with guilt.
Roll over and go to sleep.
