Freewill: The Departure


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Eyes the color of amethysts, faintest orchid in hue but with clarity of gems snapped wide open in the midst of sleep. Staring at the slate grey ceiling, snowy lashes fluttered to wipe away the haze of sleep. "Tonight's the night..." groggy from sleep, a hushed whisper that spilled from pale lips as her amethyst gaze narrowed at the ceiling. "I'm going to find you.." Ivory locks that were spilled over the same color pillow slid across the silk fabric as she lifted herself from her nest of blankets and various stuffed animals. All of it was white. Her walls, her bedding, her floors were pearlescent, every bit of furniture that made up her chambers was a different form of ivory. The only off-set color was the stone, slate grey ceiling that put a contrast on the room. Even her flowing, prim sleeping gown was a silky white.

It was blinding to some, but to the little albino princess, it was comfortable.

She shoved aside the thick comforter, flopping it over the mountain of plush animals that littered her bed. Turning her slender frame sideways, she scooted closer to the edge of her tall bed, lingering for a moment to rub the rest of sleep from her eyes with balled fists. They fell to the mattress with a soft thud, her head turning to look at the items of her room. I need to pack, and I need to be quick... and quiet.

Blanched toes wiggled before easing to the floor, giving a final hop as her lacking weight settled on the cool linoleum. It was a pleasant feeling, her chest expanding and falling with those amethyst hues hidden behind lids as she appreciated the coolness the floor gave her toes. A soft, gentle smile spread across the albino's face. I'm going to get out of here today.

Suddenly, the room didn't feel so small. So stifling. She didn't feel closed in. The world was open for fresh new opportunities that were just within her alabaster grasp.

A peaceful, calm demeanor rolled over her bony shoulders as those eyes fluttered open once more.

"Begin the day with a friendly voice, a companion unobtrusive.~" Her spritely voice spread through the room in a hushed, lyrical whisper, the beginning to her favorite song.

Time to pack for my adventure.~

Circumstances: Caught in the Act



Rigid frame, stiff as one of Medusa's statues. How did she hear me?... I didn't make a sound...

That little albino princess slowly turned like she was stuck in slow motion, shame filled amethyst gaze slowly lifted up to confused expression of her mother. "Mom.." It was a hushed whisper, leaning to the side so she could look behind her mother, like she expected her father to be standing in that doorway. He wasn't, a moment of silence indicated he was still snoring in his chair.

Her mother at least had the same decency to remain quiet, giving a glance over her shoulder possibly in question to the same thing Boo was wondering. Even the Goddess of the Underworld didn't want to deal with the wrath of Hades, never mind have it directed toward their daughter. It was Boo that was her favored child, her little sweet alabaster princess.

Turning her worrisome eyes on to her daughter, Persephone looked her up and down, noting the backpack.. the clothes.. all of it. "You're trying to leave?" Her voice was a breeze between the two, too low to rile the drunk king fast asleep in the common room.

Boo's gaze lowered to the floor, shame and apologetic emotion rolling off her as she stood there under her mother's gaze. She had been so consumed on finding him, of escaping... being free... of seeing the world and exploring it in between her searches. "Mother.. I'm sorry..." Her bottom lip quivered, like she was suddenly a small child again. "I just wanted to know what it's like..." A single tear cut through a snowy cheek, dripping off her rounded jawline.

Persephone was silent for a moment, taking a step closer and making her own motions as silent as possible as she knelt in front of her petite daughter. Her hands came up, a contrast of peach to ivory as she clasped Boo's hands. "I know, sweetie." There was emotion thick in her voice, too. Nearly on the verge of tears with her sweet princess. She understood what it felt like to be trapped her, and she knew it was no place for a child to grow up. Alone, in the dark.

Hushed whispers that were barely audible, but understood by both parties. Pale orchid hues were hidden behind pale lids, snowy lashes wet with tears stuck to the bottom. "I just wanted to know what it felt like to feel the sun... to smell the flowers... to feel the breeze in my hair." She sniffled lightly, refraining from wiping her nose with her sleeve as she continued to hold her mother's hands. "Fresh air... instead of smelling the dead." Her chin tilted toward her chest, amethyst orbs surfacing as they stared down at their clasped hands.

Persephone was quiet, listening to her daughters dreams. She swallowed audibly, forcing down the lump in her throat. I know, baby doll. I know... I feel that too... She'd seen far more than Boo ever had. Her poor, trapped little ivory angel. The one that Hades refused to allow to leave the castle. Her own lip quivered, but she fought it, biting her bottom lip to keep it still. A glance over her shoulder and a moment of silence as they listened, hearing the snoring resume from the God of the Underworld. With her head turned, her gaze drifted as she was stuck in her own thoughts.

She sniffled once, turning her head back to her daughter who looked like her whole world was coming crashing down. She looked defeated, trapped, like she wouldn't ever escape this hell. No, I won't let him do this to her. She forced a smile through the tears that welled in her eyes. "If you're going to go on an adventure... you can't go anywhere without food and water, baby. Didn't you remember the books I read to you?" She leaned forward, looking up at her daughter that had suddenly grown up on her. Perhaps she'd been that way for sometime, but it was just now that she was realizing it. Trying to catch her gaze, there was hope riddled on her expression.

Boo looked up then, ivory brows knitting together as she looked dead on to her mother's gaze, locking on and holding tight as she tried to seek the truth in her mother's words. She's helping me escape... It was her turn to swallow the lump in her throat. "But what about?..." She looked over her mother's shoulder, in the direction of where Hades was snoozing. Leaning forward to whisper as if this would be what woke him up. "He's going to be upset with you.." Worry splattered across the ivory princess' face, brows rising slowly as her watery orchid crystals shined at her mother.

Persephone crinkled her nose, shaking her head as she dismissed the idea. I'd rather deal with his wrath than have you suffer here.. If she could get Boo out of here, give her the life she deserves, no amount of Hades' wrath could bring her down. "No, Baby Doll. You know I can make your daddy a puddle of mush." Soft teasing as she continued to smile, squeezing Boo's hands as she stared more directly into her daughter's eyes. "You're going to feel that sun, honey. To feel that breeze, smell those flowers. I just want you to do one thing for me.. okay?"

Boo was past the point of holding back her emotion, tears spilling freely and making tendril like lines down her alabaster cheeks as she stared through a blurry haze at her mother. She was scared for her, worried about what Hades would do to her. But Persephone's gaze was unrelenting, she'd made up her mind. She knew that look... she's going to get me out of here if it's the last thing she does... "Anything, Mama." Her head bobbed, biting her lip so she didn't blow it all by sobbing. "Anything..."

Persephone slid her hands out of Boo's, reaching up to cup the alabaster princess' face so the girl couldn't look away from her. There was a tear filled smile on the woman's face, love and worry and determination mixed together in one concoction of expression. "Write about it. All of it. Everyone you meet. Everything you see. The flowers, the breeze, the sun. Your dreams, your wants. Your inner most thoughts on everything. I want to see the world through your eyes." She was clasping the girl's face, keeping her eyes on her own.

"Mama..." she whimpered, reading through her mother's words. She knows he won't let her out after this...

"Promise me, baby.." She held that smile, shaking her head against Boo's call, her grasping hands. "Seeing the world through your eyes will be better than anything I could ever see with my own." She pulled Boo forward, lifting herself from her knelt position to stand as she pressed her lips roughly to that ivory forehead, breathing in the scent of her child that only a mother could understand loving so much.

"I promise, Mama... I'll write you so many things, have so many adventures for you... I'll write books... You'll be able to fill a library." She swallowed back a sob, not wanting to ruin this by being a blubbering baby. She rushed forward, remaining quiet as she flung her arms around her mother's waist. Burying her face into Persephone's arms as they coiled around her.

Persephone let it linger for a moment, taking advantage of the constricting embrace as she held fast to her daughter, who she didn't know when.... or if... she'd ever see her again. Finally, she broke it. She could've held onto Boo forever, but she couldn't risk Hades' waking up and catching them. She forced Boo to release her, holding onto her shoulders as she looked her dead in the eyes. "Okay, baby... Go wait outside, I'll bring you food. If I don't..." She took a shaky breath, but stern motherly determination was directed at her daughter then. She wouldn't fail in this. "If I don't come out in two minutes, I want you to go. I want to go get Cerberus.. And I want you to leave. As fast as you can." Another glance over her shoulder as she hurriedly reached into her pocket, pulling out a gold coin and holding it out to Boo. "For the Ferryman. He won't question as long as you have this."

That little albino princess' head bobbed as she nodded, clasping the coin in her hand as already alabaster knuckles bled with color, an opposite effect of straining beneath the flesh. "Okay, Mama..."

"Go. Go.." She pressed one more brush of lips across her daughter's wet cheek, blinking back her own tears threatening to spill her. Her hands turned the girl away at the shoulders, pointing her toward the door. "Remember, baby. Two minutes. Count it." She whispered, watching Boo with loving, longing eyes as she watched her daughter ease open the front door, giving her a reassuring but forced smile as she caught a glimpse of her favorite pale orchid gemstones of eyes. "I love you, Baby.."

"I love you, too, Mama." She gave her mother one last mirrored and forced smile, the most she could do right now before she slipped out the door, easing it silently closed behind her.

Finding My Way: Fate or Fortune?


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Photo credit to Nastya Zhidkova.

It didn't take long to discover her way toward the river. The Underworld was simply navigated, moving in a steady direction.

Left rattled and bubbling with battling emotions from her departure from her mother, the well of tears was mostly dried. It was always easy to tell when Boo had been crying, puffy and irritated eyes standing out among her alabaster flesh. A flush of rosy pink splattered against white. The tip of her nose the same shade of rose from sniffling up a storm.

To keep further calm, in a hushed whisper, that spritely voice whirled around her in a cocoon of comfort. Words that had brought her peace of mind through the years, "You can choose a ready guide, in some celestial voice. If you choose not to decide, y-you still have made a ch-choice." The tips of her fingers swiped at irritated orchid eyes, bloodshot and dry. Her voice still wavered, letting the words roll over her like a soothing blanket of warmth. "You can choose from phantom fears, and kindness that can k-kill... I will choose a path that's clear... I will choose freewill." The last a whisper that spilled from her lips in a breathy tone, easing the knot in her chest and the lump in her throat that was threatening to choke her.

Mama wanted this. She set me free. She gave me my freewill. She saved me from my entrapment.. Be grateful, Boo.. Not sad. She wouldn't want you to be sad.

Her spindly, pallid arms lifted to bend and press to her chest, her hands balled and tucked beneath her chin. "There are those who think that they've been dealt a losing hand.. The cards were stacked against them, they weren't born in Lotus-Land.." Nimble fingers trembled down the center of her throat to pluck at the collar of her sweater dress, those gently graceful steps carrying her further and further across the barren land of the Underworld. Just find Spot, he'll lead you to Styx. "All preordained, a prisoner in chains.. a victim of venomous fate. Kicked in the face, you can't pray for a place in heaven's unearthly estate.."

Those amethyst crystals darted, drifted and wandered, looking in all directions as if she was expecting someone to pop out from the gloomy landscape at her. Her sweet voice drifted around her still, words spilling her little lullaby that had kept her at peace through the years. "You can choose a ready guide, in some celestial voice. If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice!~ You can choose from phantom fears, and kindness that can kill. I will choose a path that's clear... I... will... choose... freewill.." Puffy and red, those orbs narrowed as she caught sight of a mound that stood out against the onyx and wisping landscape. "It's moving..." She whispered before continuing her song in a breathy whisper, barely audible. "Each of us, a cell of awareness, imperfect and incomplete. Genetic blends... with uncertain ends... on a fortune hunt that's far too fleet."

A light whimper rocked through her throat, it having been a long time since she'd roamed the barren lands of the Underworld. She didn't know what other beasties her father had accumulated. Things that were hiding in the crevaces or dips in the rocks. "Don't eat me... don't eat me... don't eat me.." She quietly pleaded, her steps slowing as she was growing closer to the mound of moving... fur? "Spot..?" she whispered, hoping it wasn't something else that would try to eat her.

The mass of mousy brown fur stirred, grumbling in it's sleep. There was no real definitive features that indicated what it was, but it was moving. It's awake! She let out a nervous squeak, her heart suddenly fluttering like a bird caught her chest as she ducked behind a wall of shining onyx. Amethyst orbs squeezed shut, praying to Nemesis that fortune would be on her side and it wasn't a chimera or some other beastie that would just love to turn her into a little albino snack. "I'm not a marshmellow..." She whispered, hot breath spilling out from her parted and trembling lips.

The beast started to rise, stirred from it's sleep as weight shifted, getting it's baring and pulling it's feet beneath to stand upright.

This is it... I'm not even going to make it to Styx... I'm going to get gobbled up by... whatever that thing is.. it's going to make me a little Boo snack..I'm-...

Eyes snapped wide at a very distinct sound. She couldn't miss it.. it was the sound of one of those three heads shaking. The sound of ears flapping from side to side... "Cerberus!" She called, moving out from her hiding spot and hoping to the Gods that she was right and hadn't just assumed...

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Photo credit goes to "Fluffy" from Harry Potter.

Snarling tore through the cavern in which the beast had been resting, at least until those triple heads turned to see the culprit of who woke him up. Teeth that had been bared in a snarling, drooling fit were slowly covered by the flaps of their lips. Eyes that had been narrowed in aggression blinked and softened.

"I found you," she whispered, reaching her hands out, her expression and gaze overwhelming with love and affection for the beast before her. Those reaching hands were bombarded by three heads at once, all bumping into each other and whining up a storm for contact from the one they hadn't seen in some time. Too long... "Hey guys, calm down." She cooed, considering she only had two hands and there were three of them. She worked around that fact, scratching between the eyes on the left and right, using her own face to nuzzle and rub against the coarse head of the centered one. "I need you to help me get out of here, Spot.." the three heads turning to look at her, staring with tawny eyes. Whines slipped from each muzzle in turn, bringing a soft, gentle smile to her mouth. "You're coming with me, you goons." A soft giggle as she pulled her hands away from the affection she was offering. "We need to be quick... Daddy doesn't know I'm going.."

The middle looked at her skeptically. The entity that was Cerberus was intelligent, worrisomely so. They understood words, not just orders barked at them. He was more than a three-headed hound to Boo, he was her best friend and held a better conversation than even most she knew! Sadly.. he couldn't actually speak to her with words. You don't need words to communicate.. "Mama knows, Spot.. she helped me escape." Gaze lowered, guilt and shame nearly rolling off her body in waves. "I think she's going to be in trouble over this.. but she worked too hard to get me out. I can't not go through with it. I need your help, and I don't wanna go alone." She admitted, lifting her gaze to the three heads that were turning this way and that, listening and responding simply by moving forward, taking care not to step on her while they passed.

When released from the confines of the cavern they'd been resting, he laid down. Triple heads turned in her direction, giving her a look that said nothing less than let's go then. Her bright, soft smile broke free from the look of guilt and shame that had been littering those fine features before. "Alright, big guy. Let's do this."

Mystic Rhythms: Thicker Than Water




It was a short adventure, a short... and terrifying adventure.

Questions swarmed through the little albino's head but her tongue felt too swollen with fear to let them spill out. She wanted to ask about Styx's life, her job as a ferryman, her hopes and dreams, but the worry of those answers kept her from uttering a word. Instead, she sat there. Pluck, pluck, plucking away at her collar and staring at her lap.

She didn't want to look at the swirling lost souls in the river, she didn't want to look up at the ferryman's dead eyes and blank expression. Yet, she couldn't bring herself to just close her eyes and enjoy the once in a lifetime ride on the ferry. Perhaps because 'once in a lifetime' typically meant the end of the lifetime. Negative energy surrounded the boat, nearly oozing out of the golden haired woman rowing.

There was a soft thud, a slight jostle as the boat hit the opposite river's edge, sliding over the shore. "End of the line."

Why does she have to sound so... depressing...

She swallowed hard, sucking her bottom lip into her mouth and chomped down on it with her teeth. Ivory bangs swayed over her forehead as she nodded sullenly, showing restraint as all she wanted to do was scramble from the boat and flee away from the ominous woman and her boat. "Thank you..." whispered gratitude for Styx going out of her way for the living princess.

"I hope you find the answers you seek." She'd said the word, but her tone was anything but hopeful.

Boo stared at her for a moment, blinking as she tilted her head like her favorite puppy. How did she know I was... She shook her head, perhaps not wanting to know the answer to that. Some mysteries were better left undiscovered. "Me too," was all she managed to croak out, turning that orchid gaze away from the woman as she pushed herself to her feet.

The boat was relatively steady on the water. More than Boo had expected.

Maybe the water's so thick with souls, the boat just slids over it like honey... I wonder if it's sticky like honey... No, Boo. Don't think like that.

Her bottom lip quivered at the thought, climbing over the side of the depressing transportation and feeling solid ground beneath her feet again. She peered up ahead, seeing the slanting hill that lead up to a shadowy cavern. She trembled slightly, not wanting to move toward it. "Follow the trail. It will lead you to where you want to go... To find the answers one seeks, they must show courage and strength. Lest they be lost to fear."

She didn't know if that was truth or not. She wasn't scared of the dark, it was what was in the dark. Pulled apart by two different thoughts, the excitement of the unknown and the discoveries just waiting to be found. But what if I don't like what I find...? She shivered, tingling uneasiness slithered down her spine. I need to get out of this place... it's warping my mind to think bad thoughts...

Her gaze turned toward where Styx... had been sitting. The woman and the boat were both gone. A swivel of that ivory head told her the ominous lady was no where to be seen.

"She's gone..." Curiosity and fear spiked at once, forcing her to clutch her arms to her chest.

Follow the trail... that's what she said.

A warring mind told her not to trust the lady that felt like she wanted to see her dragged to the bottom of the river.. the other, more logical part of her mind telling her that her mother wouldn't send her in harms way. She told me to seek Styx. I did. Styx told me to follow the trail... so follow the trail...

Mustering courage and strength in that fluttering, caged heart, she forced her shaking legs to turn toward that haunting cavern and the trail leading up to it.

You can do this.

"Living in the limelight, the universal dream. For those who wish to seem, those who wish to be. Must put aside the alienation, get on with the fascination. The real relation, the underlying theme...~"

Between Sun and Moon: Freedom




The softness of the grass, the excitement of the night and the ups and downs of emotions that had thrummed through her had left that little albino princess exhausted. She'd fallen asleep where she was laying, after going through every one of her senses to test the new thing called 'grass' she'd never seen or felt or tasted before.

At some point through the night, Cerberus had found her curled up. He'd almost started howling worriedly until he heard the soft breathing and saw that her chest was moving, the centered head snapping at the others to keep quiet and not wake the little princess. Quiet, fools. They'd strode up on their massive paws, creeping as best they could to not disturb her rest and laid down beside her, offering the radiating warmth before soon falling asleep himself.

Nearly as soon as the sun rose, she'd woken up. The sun was too bright, too warm. She'd burrowed under the heads of Cerberus, trying to see through the shining light and fur of the hound to get a good look around. It took some time to get used to that.

It wasn't until almost noon, having found some shade beneath trees. --She loved trees.-- It was a billowing willow that she'd discovered, close by a pond surrounded by a rolling field. Sitting at the base of the trunk, taking a leaning against the bark. "I think this is my new favorite place, Spot." She looked up through the branches of the trees, still squinting against the bright light of the day. She listened to everything, tasted as many things as she could. She smelled the grass, the trees, flowers... So many different flowers! It was a haven on Earth, full of bright new opportunities.

Cerberus had taken his own enjoyment in their adventure up top. He'd rolled through the field, which seemed to have flattened the tall grass in a large expanse of area. He'd drank happily from the pond. The left had tried to catch a bird passing by, snapping it's teeth at it. He hadn't succeeded yet. Now, he was nestled beneath the street with her, too large to fit wholly beneath it, half shaded and half in the sun. The one in the sun didn't seem to mind warming his portion of fur in the rays. He was snoozing soundly, the centered head was lifted above the others, peering at Boo. The right was going cross-eyed peering at a butterfly that had landed on it's wet snout.

It was the sound of her stomach rumbling that drew the attention of the centered head. The packs she'd dropped in the shade was nudged closer to her with his muzzle, tawny gaze staring at her. Eat. He could smell food in the pack.

"Okay, okay." she giggled, leaning forward to pick up the pack that Spot had nudged to her. She knew her mother had packed her edibles, and plenty of water. She unzipped the pack, rummaging through it. A pomegranate was retrieved, as was a bottle of water, a packed peanut butter and strawberry jelly sandwich that was half smooshed from her tumble out of the portal. It was something at the bottom of the pack that caught her attention, hands pausing with the retrieved items in the air as she stared at it.

Her snowy brows knitted together. What is that...? She set aside the food and water, reaching into the bottom of the pack to wiggle it free from where something large and rectangular was wrapped in silk. Lifting it out of the pack, she glanced up at the centered head who was peering at it curiously. "I don't know," she whispered, in regards to what it was.

She moved the pack to the side, stretching out her pallid legs in front of her. The wrapped package was rested on her lap, her hands smoothing softly over the silk that binded it. "Did Mama pack this?..." she whispered. Who else could've packed it. I didn't. It's in the pack Mama got for me... Her lip quivered softly as stared down at the rosy silk. She smoothed her fingers over it until she found the fold, pulling it back and unwrapping it. With the flaps of the wrapping laying back, she could see what it was...

In the center of the silk cloth was a book. A light brown leather, engraved and painted with a rose on the cover. Her fingers traced the indented lines of the rose, her eyes welling up at the gift. "It's beautiful..." to the strange book she'd been given. It was soft, the leather smoothing under her fingers. There were thin leather strips that held it in place, tied off in three different places on one sight, unbudgable. The other side was tied in place by similar leather strips, tied into a bow.

Her alabaster fingers reached, plucking at the leather strings to pull apart the bow so she could open the book. She hesitated for a moment, visually appreciating the handiwork. It was the most beautiful thing she'd ever owned. Gently, as if lifting it would made it turn to ash and cease to exist, her motion was slow as she opened the cover.

On the first page, neatly scrolled in her mother's handwriting, was a note. It looked rushed, but it was legible.




"To my sweetest, ivory angel,

First and foremost, I love you. I will miss you, but your stories will make all of this worth it. I can't wait to see the world through your eyes. The world is a beautiful place, I know you'll fit in perfectly. Please, be careful.

With all the love in the realms,
Mama

P.S. If you get lost or need help, call upon Aether. She will be the Light that guides you when you're surrounded by darkness. "




Her tears welled, those glistening amethyst crystal orbs squeezing shut as she hugged the book to her chest. "Mama..." She lowered her head, keeping her eyes closed as she breathed in the scent of the book. It smelled of paper, papyrus, leather... and her mother. The faintest pomegranate perfume she always wore.

When those orchid hues surfaced once more, they were glistening with tears but a soft smile etched across her face. She lowered the book to her lap, using the back of one hand to swipe the tear that had managed to escape. She flipped to the next page, revealing blank and clean paper. She dug into the pack, hoping to find something to write with. Sure enough, her thoughtful mother had packed her a writing utensil.

Sniffling, she began to write about her first day on Gaia's green Earth...

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Photo reference to Boo's journal. Credit unknown, found in google images.

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Her journal entries will be in this thread. Enjoy!