un: aphrodite ;; text ;; 001 <- "first post"

[wingstosee]

so i'm not really sure how this works?
it doesn't look like anyone else has posted yet.
but uhhhh no time like the present, right?
so
my... bracelet? watch?
i guess it's kind of a smartwatch.
anyway it said something new just now.

"we made it work. attempt number six was successful. it worked, everyone!"
"wait, there's a problem, we're not where we..."

does this sound familiar to anyone?
there might have been more but i was in the cafeteria
or well. am, i guess

also, first post?
i think you're supposed to say that.

wow i have no idea where to end this.
i hope you're all having a good day?
even with the kidnapping and everything.
okay bye

wait jk jk
jupiter, if you see this
let me know, okay?
this is venus. though i guess that's pretty obvious.
i'm really worried :(
that was probably obvious too

okay bye for real this time?
maybe??
yeah.

Comments

[solarcharged]

Huh. Okay.

[ Venus seems like a lovely kid who's been through a hell of a lot of bad shit, but a manifestation of the actual devil? The manifestation of everything bad and horrible in the Biblical world? Apollo isn't a believer, not now that he knows God is a pyramid-shaped alien asshole. For all he knows, the devil is a circle. Or a parallelogram.

If anything, he worries that it's more of a reflection of what Venus thinks of herself. That, perhaps, after spending that time in a criminally abusive summer camp, she thinks she's the devil. ]

I have to say, you don't seem all that devil-like to me, [ Apollo observes, giving her a hazy, squinting smile. ] I mean - you're not going to corrupt my soul and drag me to hell to burn for all eternity, are you? You don't seem like the type to do that to someone...

[wingstosee]

[ a circle, or a parallelogram, or a lovely voice on the radio. the devil can be lots of things, apollo. so when he smiles at her, she still smiles back - even if it looks like she wants to explain things she doesn't have the words for yet. ]

I mean, not unless you want me to?? [ there's a teasing lilt to her voice - even if it's not quite on the parts you'd think. ] Hell sounds pretty cool to me. But I wouldn't want to take someone who wasn't into it.

[ a pause. she hesitates for a moment, unsure how much she wants to say, before finally addressing the issue at hand. ]

Besides, I don't... really know if I can do that? At least, not anymore. I'm not the last kid from the scouts to grow wings, you know.

[ and she smiles. even if she can't do much anymore, she's still inordinately fond of the memory. ]

[solarcharged]

No, I really don't want to go to Hell, [ He emphasizes with a small smile - the kind of smile that suggests he doesn't really think they're talking about the same thing any more. He's been told to go to Hell enough times that he can be flippant about it, but that doesn't mean he would actually want to go to Hell any time soon.

But then Venus goes on and Apollo's smile turns a little... worried. ]

What do you mean, 'anymore'? You've sent people to Hell before? Actual Hell?

[wingstosee]

Yeah. I kind of figured.

[ and she gives that smile right back - right up to the sudden concern when his smile shifts. ]

Um. Sort of? Not like, the place. I've never really been there either. But I have turned other kids into- well. Something like me.

[ hell was beyond that door. that's what she'd promised jupiter. if hell was where the devil lived, then why couldn't hell be in their world too? ]

GOD HOW DID I MISS THIS i am sorry this is a million years late wow

[solarcharged]

[ The worried smile is still in place as Apollo processes what Venus is saying. He still has the sneaking suspicion that some of this is just an elaborate metaphor. ]

You turned other kids in to devils, [ He repeats faintly and a little uneasily. ] I presume they... wanted to have that done?

[ Who even wants that! Apollo doesn't know!! ]

[wingstosee]

[ she's worried about apollo's unease. how could she not be? he's strong, and loud, and there's a power to his voice as bright and radiant as the sun. she wants that behind her back, pushing her forward with the light - not beating down at her from above.

but it's not like she's smart enough to make anything sound better by being evasive, or not telling the whole truth. she wouldn't want to even if she was. so instead, she just lays it all out. ]

The devil can't get you if you don't want her to. [ it's said simply, plainly - because it really is just that simple. she shrugs. ] It's not like any of us were any good to begin with. We just- told them that they didn't have to try so hard anymore. That they were okay the way they were. And that's all it took.