Asteria

She is old.

So, so very old.

She’s watched entire worlds be created, empires rise and fall. She’s even been one of the more influential figures in history, recognized as important yet forgotten. She never gains any recognition for this, even though she’s been around longer than all of them, opened her eyes long before they were even born, and contains more knowledge then they could even fathom.

But it's alright. Stars endure.

Once she was mortal too, like the others. She lived in the time Before, where the world was still young and new and magics wild and untamed. No one remembers that time, but she knew. And she knew her first name. Her name was-

ꖎ╎ꖌᒷ ᓵ𝙹リᓭℸ ̣ ᒷꖎꖎᔑℸ ̣ ╎𝙹リᓭ ╎ᒲ!¡ꖎ𝙹↸╎リ⊣ ╎リ ℸ ̣ ⍑ᒷ リ╎⊣⍑ℸ ̣

No one Remembers what really happened back then. Older groups claiming her job as their own may believe they do (she’s always been wary of those Watchers) but in reality only she Remembers.

Two beings, unstable and so, so sure they were right, fought. As close to gods as they could get in this new, fledgling world. One of brilliant and blinding light, the other of all consuming and suffocating darkness.

She remembered when the apocalypse came, ragnarok in all its forms. In a world unstable and in the middle of a constant tug-of-war between dark and light, many perished, some before they ever truly lived. Her original body, her original form, was one of these ancient species. She was, she was-

E⍊ᒷ∷||ℸ ̣ ⍑╎リ⊣ ╎ᓭ ℸ ̣ ⚍∷リ╎リ⊣, ᒷ⍊ᒷ∷||ℸ ̣ ⍑╎リ⊣ ╎ᓭ ℸ ̣ ⚍∷リ╎リ⊣

Her death was not a swift one oh how she wished it was a swift one. It came slowly, crawling up her form and digging deep into her bones. Cold, cold, so cold took over, and Hunger, that which knows no god or lord, which is felt by all beings equally and eternally, forever and ever, were her only company in those final days.

Which one took her first is impossible to say, but the result was the same. She fell, cold and lifeless, the stillness of her body true and pure in a way only someone dead could be, isolated from all who knew her. In those final moments, sorrow was all she felt. Sorrow for the death and suffering she saw. Sorrow for those she had lost. Sorrow for this world. And sorrow for herself, who barely got to live. And as she laid there she felt sorrow.

Sorrow for a peaceful world.

Aリ↸ ℸ ̣ ⍑ᒷ ᓭ⍑ᔑ!¡ᒷᓭ ℸ ̣ ⍑ᔑℸ ̣  ||𝙹⚍ ↸∷ᒷ∴ ᒲᔑ|| ᓵ⍑ᔑリ⊣ᒷ ʖᒷリᒷᔑℸ ̣ ⍑ ᔑ ↸╎⎓⎓ᒷ∷ᒷリℸ ̣  ꖎ╎⊣⍑ℸ ̣

She came to slowly, her body encased in what she now knows were brilliant crystals, the color of which she cannot discern or dream of remembering. They fell away from her body easily, one gentle push and they were all but gone. Flowers bloomed beneath her warm body (ground, actual ground, not snow), a blossoming bed to cradle her in her most vulnerable moments.

She came to in a world where the Dark One ruled (for now, it was always temporary) and she remembered, remembered how people begged and pleaded for warmth, for sun, for balance, yet were denied. Remembered how people suffered, and still the sun did not rise, and did not rise, and did not rise.

She stared up at the empty, dark, dark and empty sky and remembered those days she spent laying on soft grass and admiring the beauty of it all, of the galaxy laid bare before her, and remembered falling asleep beneath the endless lights.

Looking up at the empty sky now, she remembered, eyes full of longing and love and fierce passion.

She took her first breath for the second time.

And the darkness burst into stars.

E⍊ᒷ∷||ℸ ̣ ⍑╎リ⊣ ||𝙹⚍ ℸ ̣ ⍑𝙹⚍⊣⍑ℸ ̣  ||𝙹⚍ ꖌリᒷ∴ ∴╎ꖎꖎ ⎓ᔑꖎꖎ ᔑ!¡ᔑ∷ℸ ̣ , ʖ⚍ℸ ̣  ||𝙹⚍'ꖎꖎ ʖᒷ ᔑꖎꖎ ∷╎⊣⍑ℸ ̣

The defeat of the two gods ushered in a new era of peace, one where day and night had equal reign and the night was always full of stars, always glowing, always glimmering and guiding.

Of course no one knew the full story, and no one knew she was responsible. She’s gotten very good at hiding her true nature, however being surrounded by others who are also not human makes it much easier to hide too.

Her friends live and love and laugh and die a million times over while she remains, but it's alright. It's ok. She can wait. She always waits.

And she always looks forward to falling in love with them again.

For them she would always wait. Until stars burn out.

╎ ᔑᒲ ╎リ ∴𝙹リ↸ᒷ∷ ᔑℸ ̣  ℸ ̣ ⍑ᒷ ∴𝙹∷ꖎ↸. ╎ ᔑᒲ ꖎ𝙹⍊ᒷ ᔑリ↸ ⋮𝙹|| ᒲᔑ↸ᒷ ╎リᓵᔑ∷リᔑℸ ̣ ᒷ