#familiar travels: chiron and morpheus

[thelittlestancient]

Ancient Sosomeni: The Tale of Chiron and Morpheus

Sosomeni Tutumeni is the WoL, but he is not a shard of Azem; the final Azem died during the Final Days, only a day before the summoning of Zodiark. In fact, it was his death that pushed the Convocation over the line into action.

The final seat of Azem was Chiron, and for years prior to his ascent into his seat, he was a renowned scholar.

Chiron had not started out his life wanting to be Azem, nor to do any traveling; he was quite at home amongst his books, a student of Creation as fine as any Amaurot had ever produced. While not quite as powerful as some of the renowned masters of the art, Chiron possessed a finesse and an attention to detail few in his time could rival.

The combination of his gifts and early efforts brought him to the attentions of Athena, not yet installed as Chief Keyward, and she agreed to take him on as a student. At first, he did not question the direction of her research, nor of the studies and experiments through which she guided him. It was only on hearing the remarks of his friends as they saw the changes inflicted upon his form that he began to have misgivings, and eventually it was they who would convince him to leave Athena and her madness behind.

But it was too late to undo what had been wrought: Chiron had been made into a twisted version of himself, with twisted horns on his head and the furred body of a beast for legs, four cloven hooves where once had been only two. In shame and disgrace, he resolved to never again return to Amaurot and its rigid culture, never again practicing to the art of phantomology, instead choosing to travel to the far places of the world and impart the wisdom that had he but acquired it sooner would have kept him from traveling down this dark path.

But one more great act of Creation, it seemed, would be necessary: word of the stranger renowned in far places spread, and Chiron came to the attention of the Convocation by way of Venat, who had decided to appoint a successor. When summoned, he refused to go, but offered forth a bargain--he would, if permitted, be willing to attend by way of a familiar. Thinking he'd called their bluff and that the Convocation would never accept such a thing, he returned to his travels.

Only for the Convocation to accept his bargain.

Determined to not be outfoxed, he set to work on shaping the being that would become both his face and his messenger to that august council. Tufts of fur and shavings from his hooves formed the material basis of the body; to create the mind and will required Chiron to return in full to the study of phantomology, remembering what he had years ago forgotten.

The results of his efforts did not look quite like an Ancient: too small of the body, with an over-large head and long, pointed ears, a round face and a distinctive waddling gait. But it opened its massive grey eyes and blinked at him, and Chiron felt something fall into place; the world was right and good again, and this small being in front of him was proof that it was so.

Chiron named him Morpheus, set him astride his own back, and galloped through the fields as he explained to him all he knew of life before sending him off to Amaurot.

Morpheus served in this function for many years, existing to be Chiron's eyes and ears in the city, his voice on the Convocation. And so he lived peaceably in Amaurot until the Final Days came, when he was recalled to his master's side. The Convocation complained most heartily about this, of course, but they could not deny what Azem claimed: that in order to investigate this, he would need Morpheus, for his tiny size and fine senses would allow him to go places and perceive things that Chiron himself could not.

And so, for those final weeks, they traveled the face of Etheirys together as it burned, until a great doom indeed struck Chiron down. With his final breaths, he offered up the entirety of his remaining life-force, granting to Morpheus a soul-seed born of his own existence and his charge: the protection of the star from all who would see it come to harm.

Little has changed to this day: Morpheus was sundered, and each time he is reborn, his appearance is remarkably unchanged, as is his soul. His charge remains, as do his skin, born of Chiron's liver fur, and his hair, created from the scrapings of Chiron's black hooves.

[godlyborn]

discord. | children of zeus and morpheus will fly.

Summary: Chiron reveals a prophecy that will send Rory and Ellie on a quest.

Ellie walked into Chiron's office, her heart pounded. Elliot understood what it meant when you were called into there sometimes. Though, when she saw Rory, she was confused. She barely knew the girl , just in passing and by name and godly parent. She knew that Jesse used to date her sister, but that's about it. She stood at the doorway, hesitant to walk in. Rory was already seated in the office, curling her knees into her chest on one of the chairs, as if that could calm her nerves. Chiron had told her that they were waiting on Ellie to arrive before they got started, so it was just the two of them sitting in semi-awkward silence on Rory's part as they waited. She almost let out a small sigh of relief when Ellie walked in, despite not really knowing the girl all that well, but gave her a small, shy smile regardless. Chiron smiled warmly at Ellie as she walked into his office. He was standing behind his desk, hands clasped behind his back. Rory didn't seem too keen to talk, so he'd simply waited the few minutes before he started asking questions. "Thank you both for coming, I appreciate it. How have the two of you been?" Ellie shrugged slightly. "You know, the unusual demigod things, college and work," Ellie joked. She took a seat in the chair next to Rory. "Sorry, but are we in trouble?" Rory uncurled herself when Ellie walked over, instead tucking them under herself, Indian style. She nodded along at Ellie's answer. "Yeah, that pretty much covers it up for me, too." She glanced over at the other girl. "I don't think so?" She then looked over at Chiron again. "Right?" "Oh no, not at all," he said. "Not in trouble, in fact I'm the one who has to trouble the two of you..." He cleared his throat. "There is a, ah, small quest that the gods have requested I arrange. I wanted to extend the task to you, if you will take it." "Quest? I'm honestly, not entirely sure what those entail," Ellie replied. Rory's eyebrows furrowed. "You need to send the two of us," She wiggled her finger in-between herself and Ellie. "on a quest?" Glancing at the other girl quickly, Rory felt some kind of comfort knowing that she wasn't the only one of the pair who had never been sent out of camp on a quest before, but she knew enough from Alex and Amber's stories. "Why do you think the two of us have to go?" "Well..." Chiron glanced down at the folded up piece of paper in front of him. He picked it up, hesitated, then unfolded it. On the page was a prophecy. "This is what the quest entails." The prophecy read: children of zeus and morpheus will fly  to right the wrong of three decades gone by they travel to a realm of idle bliss and find those lost to the timeless abyss two decedents with oneness of the mind shall the young heroes set out now to find but the true danger does not lie within though many tricks and tests the realm will spin instead the risk lies on the journey home where without care one will be cursed to roam

"I hope you can read my handwriting," Chiron said as he handed the paper over, "I was trying to get it down as fast as I could." "I'm a psychology major, not a english major, I don't analyze poems or whatever the fuck. What does this even mean?" Ellie replied. Rory bit her lip to try not to burst out laughing at Ellie's comment. There's was something that sounded slightly familiar to her, though she wasn't quite sure from where. Maybe heard in passing? "Well," she started when she was safe from laughing. "As comforting as that sounds for us. We're suppose to go find people?" Chiron couldn't help but smile, either. "That, I can explain in more detail. There are two, I suppose grandchildren of a minor goddess, Homonoia, that she would like to us to retrieve. They are believed to be stuck in the Lotus Hotel, which the prophecy seems to imply. Realm of idle bliss, timeless abyss, etcetera." "The Lotus Hotel? Isn't that somewhere on the west coast?" Ellie asked. Rory cursed under her breath when she heard The Lotus Hotel. No wonder it sounded familiar. "It's in Las Vegas. Amber got sent on a quest there a few years ago. But...why exactly do the gods want us to get find someone's grandkids exactly?" Chiron sighed. "I tried to get a straight answer from them but... Alas, this is all I was told. Lotus Hotel, heed the prophecy, find a set of twins. They were lost in the early 90s, I was told, and should be about your age. Now, I promised everyone that I would not force anyone to go on quests, I am sticking to my word. If you want to refuse, that is your decision and I will respect it." "So that's all we get to know? Do you at least know their names?" Ellie questioned. "We just get Lotus hotel, grandchildren, and twins, very fucking vague if you ask me." Rory stayed silent, glancing between Chiron and Ellie, hoping that they would at least get a little more information than that. "Unfortunately we are working with limited information," Chiron replied. "I don't have pictures or identifiable information. They have been missing for some time, and Homonoia does not have the same energy as the major gods. It is not as easy for her to visit and communicate with non-gods, so she only passed on the most vital information to me. If you accept this quest, I will provide transportation for you. Provided you find them quickly, you will be back within the week." Ellie looked over over to Rory. Ellie didn't know much about quests, nor did her siblings ever talk about any. "What do you think?" she asked. Rory turned slightly in her chair to face Ellie a bit more. "I don't know too much about the hotel, Amber didn't really go into detail about it? But, I'm a bit familiar." She shrugged lightly. "I'm if you are." She knew that if she rejected, then Bailey would be the next Zeus kid up, and figured if either of them should be thrown into a dangerous situation, it might as well be her. "We're in this together, I think." Ellie thought about everything her brothers have already been through, they had been vague, but she she could tell it hurt, and like hell would she do anything to put them through more. "Well, I guess we're in this together." Rory looked over at Chiron. "When do we leave?" Chiron released a breath, nodding. "Thank you. Let's give you the weekend to get yourselves ready. You can leave Monday or Tuesday." Ellie nodded. "Okay," she replied. "Any other vague statements that we need to know about?" Again, he couldn't help but look amused. "Not at the moment, but I'll let you know if I get any more messages." Rory mock saluted. "Yes, sir." She deadpanned, moving to stand up from her chair. Ellie stood. "Well, with that said, I'm going to peace, so I can warn my boyfriend and brothers so I don't disappear and they wonder where the heck I went for a week." Rory pointed at Ellie. "Same." She lifted her hand in farewell to Chiron before walking out with Ellie. "I guess I'll talk to you later?" "I guess so," Ellie said. "We got this."

"Yeah, we got this." Rory repeated, letting herself feel a bit more confident.   She started walking off in the direction of her and Keaton's apartment.  "Tell Ben I said hi."