Anathema - Family Tree

The relationship between Ophelia and Brighton had waxed and waned, the Time Shift doing all it could to keep their relationship strictly abashed follower and god. Perhaps it was Fate’s way of trying to keep the ties between mortals and the gods separated, the lines between them drawn thick. As the White Queen stood in the Vistas though, Brighton couldn’t stay away from her any longer: he had to see her. If any mortal held the key to unlocking the past he lost during the Shift, it would be her.

Feeling the god approach, Ophelia, could only offer a smile and a few words, the elation that filled her tamed for time time being. She could feel his troubles, the pulse of the earth telling her more than his face every could. “You look troubled. You can speak openly with me, Brighton. I have forever to sit here and listen to you - a gift from you Guardian, Gobardon.” She looked kindly on Brighton, wondering if he had seen or heard from his Guardian. It had been a long time since she had seen the reformed Sinner.

“Gobardon, is that who is my guardian these days?” A slight chuckle as he paused. Of course he knew who his guardians and spirits were, but he was making a point. “If it was I who could choose my spirits and guardians, I would remove all those standing current. When was the last time they came to visit me? They stand in their positions not because of devotion to me, but for the title. If things were run my way instead of Delphinium’s, potential spirits and guardians would have to ask my permission to challenge those standing and it would be I who chose if they were worthy.” Another short pause. “You have been gone from my temple ranks for quite some time, Ophelia.” He pondered her final words, unsure of what he could tell her considering his earlier thoughts. A look of pensiveness crossed his face before he decided on an answer, tail flicking lightly over his hocks. “Much of what troubled me has already been laid at your feet, Ophelia. I awoke from a god slumber only to realize none had come searching for me. None cared about my absence. Though I disagree with her methods, I now understand where Courant got her views on mortals...” Another pause, he had taken a few steps away and now stepped back, pacing to help gather his thoughts. “My memories have also been much troubled since the shift. I cannot distinguish what happened before and what happened during. It is... unsettling to not know what one has been doing for months, even years beyond vague details. Faces blur into each other and I cannot tell if it a memory of a follower, or an old friend from my days as a mortal. I’m sure you can imagine just how troubling this is, and something I would only share with my most trusted. It would not do for word of my... disability... to reach incorrect ears.” The implied meaning of this last sentence was clear.

“You know that whether or not he actually holds the title, Gobardon will always be the first one to show up in your defense.” She said softly, a smile shining in the deep sapphire and amber of her mismatched eyes. The wind pushed through her mane, her forelock cascading across one side of her face like a veil as she spoke. “I can understand what you mean, though. While I am Galadriel’s guardian, and no one would ever challenge me for the position, I have been missing from her temple for some time now.” She admitted, heat raising in her cheeks as she felt ashamed for a moment. “I can understand where your anger with the mortals can stem from, Brighton.” She began, attention fully on the earth god while the brilliance of the meadow around her longed for her attention. “But you know in your heart the few who missed you most while you took your leave from our world.” She spoke earnestly, her heart longing to reach out to him though she remained silent on the subject. “The mind is a horrible thing; I often hope that I’ll be able to forget some things, while others I long to remember forever.” Her words were softer now, vulnerability wrapping around each syllable like a white bow, innocence delivered to the god on a silver platter. “But your secret is safe with me, they always have been. I promise I will do what I can to help you remember. We spent a long time together once, or is that all just a wonderful dream to you now?” She asked with a smile, heart falling at the thought of him not remembering what they had shared.

“I do not speak this to hurt you Ophelia, but you of all my followers I can trust. I remember everything that happened between you and I, more or less. I also remember everything that happened between Liora and I. The issue comes that when I try to activate the memory, it is not clear which memory belongs to who...” He paused and turned from her, ashamed in his weakness. “Sometimes I dream... that I am happy... with the one I love by my side. But when I turn to look, she is merely an apparition that takes aspects from you and Liora and changes itself at will, clouding my recollection of what is from my days as a mortal, and what is... newer.”He didn’t want to say ‘what is from the days I was with you’. It was too painful to utter aloud, too dangerous that he might cause whatever hole he rent in her being to grow larger. To his eye, she could shatter at any moment like a glass figurine, and he needed her right now.

“Brighton, your words to not hurt me. The fact that you still consider me a friend... someone you can trust. Well, how can I be angry with you after you say that?” Her words were soft, secrets passed between hands to ears, lips grazing ears the way only best friends could do. She listened to his words, weight shifting from one side to the other. Ears perked forward, tail swishing from one side to the other as she digested what he said. “The fact that you view me as one in the same as Liora is anything but hurtful. I know how much she meant to you and to Galadriel.”

He froze up at her final words, confusion flaring across his face. Waiting until Ophelia was well and truly done speaking, he immediately cut in with little thought to his words, showing a change in mentality. “What is it that Galadriel has to do with anything? She did not know Liora.”

“Galadriel, she is Liora’s daughter. Your daughter.” She answered softly, treading lightly over the thin ice. “I do not know if she knows it, either - it was something that was uncovered during the time shift. It seems a great many things were lost when Aprilia took us into the past.” Ophelia hadn’t known that Brighton didn’t know Galadriel’s real parentage, nor did it occur to her that Galadriel might not know either. Hesitantly, she moved on, uncovering more information for him as he remained silent. “I should also tell you that you have one more child that I know of running around Hoof Prince. A son.... Our son. Caius.”