Lady Athaliah
"A Goddess enters the court! Please welcome Lady Athaliah, the Goddess of wisdom and knowledge!" The minor god of heralds called Athaliah into the court, and bowed to her respectfully before moving on to the next Deity on their list. She walked in gracefully, as befits a Goddess, however she became enraged to find that not one of the beings in the room had even bothered to look her way.
"I suppose it was too much for me to expect of this group. Children, mere children, the lot of you." Athaliah spoke to no one in particular before walking over to the balcony she normally preferred to stand at while waiting for the meeting to begin. She dreaded these meetings, as they forced her to converse with such beings that thrive on violence and disrespect towards the maidens she represented, beings with no care for the knowledge and wisdom that could make them great.
"Excuse me, my lady." Athaliah turned to see a God, one she did not entirely dislike speaking to, approaching her. "Glad tidings, are you well?"
"Greetings Hapsphut, Guardian of beasts. I say I am as well as I shall ever be at these meetings. I trust you are also complacent?" Athaliah knew her words seemed cold, but Hapsphut caught her humorous undertone, he seems to have a gift for reading hidden meanings.
"More than complacent, I assure you." He bowed to her, and she bowed in return. "May I accompany you, my lady?"
"You may, of course." Athaliah allowed him to lead the way to the balcony, where they stood looking over the shared realm of the Gods' for quite some time before she spoke again. I believe I have said this before, but it astounds me that you can be so respectful and calm to other Deities." A laughing tone entered her voice, which echoed off of the scenery around them. "One would think that someone who shares the characteristics of beasts would be incapable of tactful conversation."
He smiled at her before answering. "Well, as you know, I can be very beast-like should I so wish." He glanced around and lowered his voice, the light tone dissipating along with his smile. "Do you know the reason for this gathering? I hear that the King is worried about a war between the Gods."
"I do not know for sure, but I have heard of his worries as well. He may be trying to solidify his relations with other gods, to see who would be on his side." Athaliah looked in on the crowd now done gathering in the court, as the herald's calls had ended. The King would call the meeting to order soon, Athaliah only had a minute at best.
Athaliah pulled a Sunflower out of the air and began to form a circle with the petals in the air in front of her. "Show me Wei-Lin." The second she spoke the command, the air inside the circle of petals shimmered and brought to her a vision of her dear maiden hero, Wei-Lin Soo.
"Ah, I remember you said you had chosen a hero, or I suppose I should say Heroine, shouldn't I?" Hapsphut stood next to her and watched through the circle with Athaliah for a few seconds before she gave a sigh of disgust.
"She's drinking again. Such a bad habit for such a maiden..." Athaliah pulled a diary out of the air and flipped to the most recent page. Sure enough, her heroine had written her intentions in the diary she always carried with her. I just leveled up after completing that last quest, to Moonwalk through the valley of the shadow of death. I'm going out drinking to celebrate! Athaliah sighed and spoke to the book, putting a few of the petals from the circle on it to amplify her voice to her hero. "Stop. Drinking."
As if on Que, a new entry appeared in the diary, as she saw the girl drunkenly scribbling in her version of it through the circle. I swear the drink in my hand just told me "Stop. Drinking." I'm not going mental, am I? It was written in the blue ink that showed that Athaliah's command had gotten to the hero, now to wait for her response.
Sorry, Luminous One. I can't do that right now. Athaliah almost wanted to rip the diary in half, but she kept her head when she remembered that Hapsphut was watching her. She smiled coldly and took all the petals from the circle, destroying the window, and scattered them to the wind with a breath that also carried the word, "Punish..."
"There. That should be enough for now, I shall read what happened to her later." Athaliah began to walk back into the court as she heard the King's summons. I will have to deal with that stubborn streak after I take care of the drinking problem. What use is a wasted Heroine?
