Scion – Petro Campaign – Visitation
This account was originally found on Livejournal, I am not the original author—I am just a fan of the journal and have found reading it on livejournal clunky to navigate and rife with errors/instability (such as having to refresh multiple times due to the page in questions becoming unavailable often requiring multiple refreshes. The original post can be found here, published by DJ-Yomi, and was published on Dec 2nd 2007.
So, I’ve transcended mortality. No lie. I’m sort of a divine being now, and it feels pretty good. Of course, given the nature of my divine blood, it’s also kinda dark and creepy. Deliciously so. The darkness of the Underworld is a part of who I am…but only a part.
I’ve always felt that I’m a being of both light and darkness, and I’ve gone on at length about my belief that I should balance the two. Now, that belief has been confirmed by both my mother and another goddess. My mother, Izanami, told me herself that I’m a child of both the Underworld and the Overworld, a part of both but truly belonging to neither. And then I was visited by Persephone (the divine mother of my friend Angela), who basically told me the same thing. In fact, she went a step farther and encouraged me to follow the path of balance.
I realized that’s what I’ve already basically decided to do anyway. A bit like Persephone, I embody both light and darkness, life and death. Even though those things are conflicting opposites, they’re also complementary. Light and darkness need each other to exist, as do life and death. I now realize that I embody that sense of conflicting but complementary opposites. I’m on my way to becoming a divinity of both life and death, light and darkness.
I think I’ve always realized this. I mean, I’ve always known that I needed to explore both sides of myself, and now I understand why. So I have a bit more self-assurance now. I’m not as anxious about some of the choices I’ve made, nor am I as uncertain about doing some of the things I know my mother wants of me. I’m not sure how some of my friends (you know, Ray, Adam, Elisa…) are going to feel about me or some of the choices I make from here on out, but at least I’m pretty confident that I’m doing what I’m supposed to, following the path I want to.
So, I’m sure you’re curious about how I became a demigod. Well, apparently I’ve been working up to it all along. The heroic deeds that I’ve helped my friends achieve have done a lot to increase my status in the eyes of fate. But it was my mother who ultimately awakened me to my new state-of-being.
After a show at one of my regular venues in Boston, the club manager told me I had a guest waiting for me one of the private lounges, so I went to see who it was. Honestly, I halfway expected it to be Adam or Pierre, or, failing that, Amateraus, since she hasn’t visited me in awhile. So I was surprised to see Miko sitting there. Yep, Miko the shikome, the one who tried to kidnap me when I was a child (I asked her why she tried to kidnap me, by the way, and she said it was to protect me for Izanami). She greeted me with a malicious grin, and then asked why I hadn’t used the shikome ring my mother had given me. I tried to explain my reservations. I mean, the things that happened with the nupperabo in Chicago were still fresh in my mind.
About this time, a couple of skin-goths from the club entered the lounge. They’d been invited there by Miko, apparently. They sat near me and asked where the vampires were. I was alarmed, and looked questioningly at Miko. Her toothy grin told me all I needed to know. My mother wanted me to turn the girls into shikome. Somehow, it suddenly seemed like exactly the right thing to do. A sort of dark excitement spread through me…but even so I had reservations, so I asked the girls if “the embrace” was is what they really wanted.
They started to get nervous. They never really thought they’d meet any vampires, and when it began to look like something really was going to happen to them, they started the freak out. Posers. They never really got a chance to answer me, because I could feel Miko’s disapproving glare on me, and I somehow felt that it reflected my mother’s feelings…though now I’m not so sure that it wasn’t just Miko. So I grabbed one of the girls by the shoulder and bit her on the neck. She transformed into a shikome almost instantly. The other girl got up and bolted toward the door, but she made the mistake of glancing over her shoulder, and I simply commanded her to come to me. Naturally, she did so (‘cause I’m irresistible ^_^). And then I turned her too.
So now I have a couple of shikome servants, Amy and Tabby. They’ve actually been holding in their bestial urges fairly well, mostly because I commanded them to behave (and not to kill or harm anyone without my express consent). I feel a bit bad about this. I promised myself I wouldn’t do this, especially after the nupperabo thing, but…if I had it to do over again, I think I’d do to same thing.
About that time, Oiwa appeared. I was pleased to see her. Miko’s presence had become kinda threatening, and I wasn’t sure what she was thinking. I feel a bond with Oiwa, though, and having her there with me put me at ease, actually. Weird huh? Who the hell takes comfort in the presence of the most malevolent ghost from Japanese legend? Me, obviously. Anyway, sparks flew between Miko and Oiwa. Oiwa was concerned that Miko had upset me….though I didn’t realize at first that she was even talking about me. She wanted to know if Miko had upset her “mother”, and I at first assumed she was talking about Izanami. But then I realized she was talking about me.
Oiwa sees me as her mother. OMG! When I realized that, a sense pride ran through me. Having carried her essence for so long, and then finally having “given birth” to her forged a strong bond between us. It’s so heartwarmingly macabre! She seems quite devoted to me now, and I know that in the future I’ll need her guidance quite a bit as I continue to walk the path of light and darkness. And I’d rather not have to deal with Miko any more than necessary.
After we spoke for a bit, Oiwa led me to some parts of the club I’d never seen before.. Well, okay, we weren’t really in the club anymore. She took me to the Underworld, where I met with my mother. I hadn’t seen her in forever, but she looked exactly like I remembered her, sitting there in her old-fashioned kimono and all. She had some shikome handmaidens with her (actually, I guess I kinda did too, what with Amy and Tabby following me).
I showed Izanami the respect she deserves (and made sure Amy and Tabby did too…though it was pretty funny when Amy asked if my mother was an elder vampire). And then we talked. She explained that she was granting me a greater level of divine power because of the way I’ve grown spiritually and the things I’ve done lately. She seemed pleased with me. I’ve been so worried about her opinion of me lately that just knowing she approved of me made me so happy! I mean, I was just thrilled that she was finally willing to meet with me! I’ve been trying to connect with her again ever since she awakened my divine blood in the first place. And now, finally, I was able to see and talk with her. I mean, she wasn’t all hearts and hugs, but she is the queen of the Underworld, so I didn’t really expect anything different. ^_^
Anyway, we talked for a bit about the path I was following, and like I said, she confirmed that though I am a child of the Underworld, I do not fully belong to it. I’m also a child of the Overworld. She encouraged me to explore and balance both sides, but I definitely got the impression that she would prefer that I favor the Underworld side of my heritage. No worries, though. I don’t intend to neglect the lighter side of my being or play favorites. Of course, following through on that may be the challenge.
My talk did help me to realize one other important thing. Like my mother, I don’t fit in with the rest of my pantheon, and I never will. Maybe that’s why I’ve never been able to get along with Ray. It’s sad, but I’m afraid there’s nothing I can really do about it. I’m happy with who I am, and if that doesn’t really suit the rest of the Amatsukami, then too bad.
I came out of the meeting as something more than I was. My physical fortitude has increased, and (if I can brag a bit), I’m even more beautiful and charming than before! And Izanami granted me greater power over darkness and ghost. I can even summon ghosts now! ^_^ I wonder if that means I can summon Oiwa when I really need her?
When I was finished meeting with my mother, Oiwa took me out of the Underworld and back to the club. I was heading out to the dance floor to try and find my girls and tell them all about what had happened, but then I found myself strangely drawn to this door that I’d never noticed before. I opened it, and the most incredibly beautiful woman I’ve ever seen was sitting there waiting for me. She had flowing blonde hair and was decked out in the most perfect goth ensemble I’ve ever seen. She smiled, and her green eyes seemed to draw me in. I think I remember falling into her arms, and then I don’t remember anything aside from impressions of absolute ecstasy and the passing of day and night.
I woke up nude on my bed in my apartment. I was exhausted and sore, but I still felt this pleasant, lingering afterglow. When I could gather the energy to look around, I saw the gorgeous blonde woman sitting at my vanity, brushing out her hair. I struggled to sit up and pull some sheets around me, and asked who she was.
It was Persephone. The goddess Persephone.
OMG! I got laid by a goddess.
Mara’s a bit jealous. I think she wanted to hook up with Persephone too. Or maybe she just wanted to join in. I wonder if she’s not also a little worried that I’ll go crazy for Persephone and forget about her? Well, she has nothing to worry about, and I’ll make sure she knows it. ^_^
Anyway, Persephone and I talked for quite awhile. She came on Amaterasu’s behalf because Amaterasu didn’t want to upset Izanami by visiting so soon after my mother did, and by going through an intermediary from a different pantheon, she could avoid a lot of the issues a direct visit might have caused. Amaterasu still wanted to encourage me, though, and I think she wanted to make sure I wasn’t turning my back on her light. She asked Persephone to give me an incredible set of headphones to match the relic iPod she gave me when my divine blood was first awakened. The headphones let me recharge my spiritual energy in sunlight (as long as I’m listening to some good music ^_^). And they sound so good.
But Persephone also came because she wanted to meet and talk with me. She was pleased with what Mara and I did for Angela (though really it was mostly Mara, I was just the catalyst). But her interest in me goes beyond that, apparently. She sees in me a kindred spirit. I mean, she’s a goddess of both life and fertility and death, so in a sense, I’m following the same path she is. The main difference is that I’ve chosen my path, but hers was forced on her. She sees in me a friend and ally that she doesn’t really have anywhere else. I mean, she totally had the goth diva thing going on, and we have a lot of other things in common too (divinely speaking). Plus, she doesn’t get along with the other death gods very well.
Once Persephone left, I went back to sleep. I still needed to recover…but first I called Keiko to check up on things. I was also worried about Amy and Tabby. There’s no telling what they might have gotten up to. Fortunately, my girls had things in hand. Keiko and the others were fine and had been taking care of my shikome, who were, admittedly, getting pretty restless. I promised to come and deal with them after I got a little more rest, and then I zonked out for another few hours to finish recovering from my time with Persephone.
Yeah, Amy and Tabby are going to be a handful.