#stay for the potential tie to theseus and ariadne

[unknowableroom]

nm just spiraling over a 130-year old musical composition wbu

[apotheosishq-blog]

“… the past splits in two: one stays in the past and dies, one past shape-shifts and walks with you.”

PROFILE

FULL NAME: Xander Okello

AGE: Twenty-nine

PATRON GODDESS: Athena

OCCUPATION: Ex-marine

HISTORY

The day after his wife dies, Micah goes to work. Mostly, things are the same. In the morning he tucks his last dress shirt into his trousers and straightens his tie. Takes the bus to the preparatory school where he teaches. The moment he arrives, he finds a quarter of his morning class already asleep on their desks, while the rest stare at him with vacant eyes, and even he spreads his lips into a wide smile as he summarizes every battle fought in the name of Athens, nobody pays attention to his words. Some gazes regard him with a wistful sort of sadness. There are whispers in the hallways when he passes by — did you hear what happened to Mr. Baroova’s wife? — and his routine of greeting every face he recognizes with a curt good morning is nearly broken by each awkward silence and every pitying stare. During breaks, the colleagues who know of his situation give their condolences, offering comfort and prayers, to which Micah smiles, and says, don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine.

At home, he doesn’t set a table for two — not because she’s gone, but because that’s just how it is, some months, when he’s in London teaching of war while Ananda is off in Afghanistan, fighting one. Except today, he receives a call from her father about the day of the funeral — we could barely salvage her body, is what her superiors at the army had said — we could barely salvage her body but you can keep her ashes, Micah, we know how much you loved her. Through the phone he whispers his refusal, because Ananda is your daughter and you loved her first. On the other end of the line, the man sobs, and Micah strives to keep his composure. One of them has to be strong, after all. After the call, he contacts a florist and places an order for the cheapest flowers he could buy in bulk, just for formality’s sake. Ananda thought they were a waste of money, anyway. 

Before bed, he opens his phone to shut off every notification setting, ignoring every prayer or half-hearted condolence commented on his last Facebook post. Scrolling through an ever growing list of messages, he finds his wife’s name and taps their conversation to open a message that lacked a reply. Mate, he’d sent her, I got us a reservation for when you get back. Japanese, just like you asked. The glow of the screen fades as he puts the phone on lock. The device is slid onto the bedside table, and when it doesn’t stop buzzing with every new I’m sorry for your loss, Micah shuts it off.

CONNECTIONS

ICARUS - LITTLE SISTER: Despite the meager three years between them, she practically raised the girl. Alike in potential but not in ambition, she prefers to fly low where her sister strives for the skies, albeit to the elder’s dismay. Call it jealousy, call it smotherly, but the cuts and bruises Paloma once tended to in their childhood are proof that the younger Castellar has far too much tenacity and far too little restraint. Still, family is family. Should Feliciana’s hubris ever lead her plummeting to the depths, Paloma’s nothing if ready to catch her.

EURYDICE - THE ESTRANGED LOVER: As clever as Paloma and thrice as curious. She reminds her of Feliciana, sometimes, but that’s not why she’s drawn to her. There’s something captivating about the detective’s pursuit of knowledge, how her quests are driven less by arrogance and more by love. So rare does Paloma find intellectual devotions fueled by emotion that the woman’s sincerity makes her consider listening to her heart once in a while, too. It’s unclear what’s to blame for how everything ended, and for all the professor’s pride in her own mind’s power, this is the one thing she would rather not think about.

ARIADNE AND THESEUS - THE PUPILS: Her best and brightest. Each brilliant in their own way, they are reservoirs of untapped potential that she can only do her damndest to unlock, even if it means placing them in labyrinths of her own design, making challenges difficult enough to push them to the edge of their wits. Whether they resent her for it in the present matters less to her than what they could become in the future — if they find that they’ve bested every past version of themselves, they’ll have Paloma to thank.

HERACLES IS PORTRAYED BY THE LOML AND IS OPEN.