Welcome to Gaia! ::

It had been a long two weeks as Hestia, but when it came to her homeworld, it always was. So much work needed to be done, and every visit was full of small successes in the face of ancient, nearly overwhelming destruction. It made her restless, and by the second week, a little more impatient with herself as a senshi.

Sometimes being Hestia felt like a second skin that only fit correctly, only felt right, when she was on her world. Everywhere else it was either too tight, binding and restricting, not allowing her move and breathe as herself. Or, at other times, it felt very big; and she, much too small to do anything worth noting, tripping over every step.

The timer finally winding down, her connection with her world once again strong enough to go back, was like a giant exhale of the breath she's been holding since she'd last come back. The only thing she had to wait for now, was her guest.

This time, Hestia decided to simply put it out in Order's chat and messaging spaces that she was looking to take more people to her homeworld, and that it would be nice if that person happen to be well-traveled transcendent. Someone who would look at her world with eyes that had seen other worlds and wonders to balance Niter's fresh, inexperienced perspective from the trip before.

Hestia badly needed both perspectives, and more besides.

Early to the meeting site, the super paced a little, wondering if she should try to give her guest The Tour, or go down into one of the unexplored sections of the undercity. Would she be able to get them to light a fire? Or even better, allow an altar for their wonder?

For a long moment, Hestia just stared at Pendour, the long pale hair shining in moonlit waves hit her with an unexpected moment of bone deep longing. And then she was blinking, clearing her vision and her heart to really see the woman in front of her.

"Ye...yes, I'm Hestia! It's so good to meet you, Miss Pendour," and she greeted the knight with a small curtsy of all things. So okay, maybe she didn't quite clear out that initial impression. But at least is was a nice impression.

"Sorry," Hestia decided to admit. "You reminded me of a friend of mine. She's also very pretty." The prettiest, in fact. Pulling out her phone, she added, "Are you ready to go?" That way she could stare at her homeworld instead of at the nice knight.

"Pendour," Hestia murmured to herself and then, "Sir Pendour?" A breath later and her focus reached the swish of broom against marble, the soft chants, and heady scents of her world.

The world of Hesita is one of perpetual night, and little warmth outside of the gently bobbing balls of flame, hovering over a variety of shallow basins in front of them. The temple city was in two distinct parts, one of marble Grecian structures, proud and graceful and ancient. The other: ruins. And the topside of the world was mostly ruins even still.

The air of the world was full of a spiced and sweet scent, a combination of the world's natural gasses and a certain incense, painstakingly developed to touch back on the memory of a world that hadn't existed for a thousand years. Behind them, Pendour would see both a very large temple, in fairly good condition, and a banner that read "WELCOME TO HESTIA" which featured a cartoon mascot version of the senshi.

"Welcome to the Temple City of Hestia! It's a little cold here in the upper city, can I get you a warm drink?" Hestia's tone had shifted over into something different. A sort of tour guide voice. A little bit...scripted.

Hestia's eyes grew wide and bright at the question, staring at the knight she confirmed, "Yes! Well, that's my goal, at least. Hestia was..." she paused, considering her words, "...a place with a specific purpose. I don't feel it can really be Hestia again, without striving toward that once more. And that means visitors! Lots of them!"

Even if she managed to clean up and restore the entire temple world, it would just be an empty city. And if she managed to make it livable, convince people to stay here? Then it would be, at most, another city. Like any other.

Leading Pendour to a smaller building, this one pristine on the outside and a little jarringly modern on the inside. Like a small gift shop combined with a cafe. "Feel free to grab a complimentary robe! They're loosely based on my memories of being an initiate here." Hestia gestured to a rack of robes that were about 60% Jedi and 40% Have I Joined A Cult.

At the counter, there were shelf stable snacks and a set up for coffee and tea service. Tiny balls of flame, barely visible at the back of the counter, seemed to offer a stable heat source for heating the kettle.

Hearing about Pendour's world, that restless feeling from before both grew and softened around the edges. Hearing someone working toward a similar goal, not just restoration, but returning a world to its purpose and bringing that world into the present.

Relaxing a little she made sure to explain the tea to her guest, "That tea is made from a plant native to Hestia. It has an altering effect that helps with inner focus. There's a similar effect from the incense, that spiced scent in the air, but a bit stronger. If you're not sure about trying it, I do have other teas."

Pulling out a chair for Pendour and then herself, the Hestia began, "This was a temple world. A place of pilgrimage and sanctuary, There wasn't a religion, so much as a philosophy that revolved around caring, around tending to the lives of others. Sometimes it was more spiritual, symbolic, visitors would light a flame for themselves or even for their world, and when they left, the Keepers would continue to tend to that flame, with focus and care for what and who that fire represented. Other times, Keepers would directly care for others, no matter who or what they were."

She sighed and glanced up at the knight, "It really does feel wrong without people. Even if I manage to get it all in perfect condition, it doesn't matter without people."

The flavor of the tea was warm, a bit like how the world's air smelled, and earthy. Its aftertaste was clean with a lingering hint of sweetness. Even if there was a bit of an effect to it, at least it didn't bad,

"There's really only one plant that grows here. There were a few other, attached bodies? To Hestia, that had more in the way of resources, but on this main body, nothing else can grow. I've brought plants over from Earth, just to see, but they die even faster than than they do...ah, well. Plants are not my specialty, sadly," Hestia admitted. Plants were, somehow, much harder for her to care for than people.

"if you'd like, we could make one for your Wonder, and you too of course," the senshi looked over, cautiously hopeful. The task of bringing this world back to its Purpose often felt so huge, but every step forward also seemed big and important to her. If not nearly enough, then still quite a lot!

"You can take some home if you like," Hestia smiled back. There was even a bit of Hestian stone in the gift bags she'd prepared. Sure, the stone has a little hat and bowtie, but there was definitely room to try and get some moss to grow on it. Like...like a chia pet!

Hearing Pendour offer to light a flame for her wonder, Hestia looked at her like a kid on Christmas Eve, unable to look away from the box too big to fit under the tree. "That would be so...so wonderful! I have a very nice little altar ready that might do? It's got um...a bit of a sea theme?"

"There's a few, really. That are still standing, at least. But this one has that symbol, on it." She nodded her head toward Pendour's dangling charm. "Neptune. There's others with it too but," she sighed, "...they aren't whole enough to use. Yet." And that yet was more a reminder to herself than anything. It's okay, to only be this far. Only have this much to show.

Leading the Knight out, she explained, "There's a lot of different themes, altars made for specific worlds or wonders or causes." There is a lot of rubble along the way, massive temples and altars partially fallen, sometimes wholly ground to dust, creating large flattened shapes. And there were pieces of sculptures and reliefs, broken urns and vases, that featured symbols and designs that may be familiar. There were a lot of Mars in particular, but the other major sol system symbols were also fairly common.

As they walked, Hestia tried to explain the nature of the world's fires. "The fire is, potentially, all around us. There's a natural gas of sorts in the air, but it's harmless!" She quickly reassured, "It needs a lot of focus and a specific sort of friction, to light up a fire. The basins and altars are designed to keep it in one place and at a specific size, with the air just continually feeding it."

The altar she'd been speaking of wasn't far. It was a graceful, curling and curving structure of while marble, with a bluish tint, not much bigger than a garden shed. The basin at its center looked more ready for a water fountain than something to hold fire, with stone fish curling and sweeping around its base. There was indeed a symbol of Neptune, along with other text and symbols, none of which Hestia understood or recognized in the least. But it was a structure that was whole, for which she was grateful, and has been well-maintained, which she was responsible for.

Looking at it, she felt always felt a little more relieved and happy. It was seeing a piece of her world as it should be, especially now that someone had come to light its flame once more.