the chronos is woven

[astromancing]

[ Though Artemisia was aware it had been a long time since she had been separated from her brother and taken under the wing of the poet Sophia, it didn't make the events that had transpired any less vivid in her mind. She remembers as if it were only yesterday that she had been reunited with Elefseus after he rescued her from that vile priest, and they, alongside Orion, had fled from Ilion together...but even that reunion had been short-lived, hadn't it? Yes...there had been a terrible storm, causing their boat to crash and separating them once again. And that was when Phyllis had found her washed up on the shore of Lesbos and introduced her to Sophia, who had raised her to become a beautiful woman who loved everyone and could overcome her grief. She had told her that no matter what hardships were thrown her way, she could do nothing but accept fate, and so Artemisia lived by that philosophy.

Even while the stars foretold her tragic fate - her impending demise - she lived by that philosophy. Even though she longed for nothing else but to see Elefseus again, to live happily with him forever just as they had promised when they were children ("Let's be together forever!" "Yes, let's!"), she had to cast aside such selfish desires because it was not what Moira willed for her, and she could not dare defy destiny.

That's why when she heard the commotion outside, the disruption caused by the intruders who dared to trespass onto Astra's holy domain, she knew that, too, was Moira's will. Even if she would be betraying her promise to her brother in the process, she simply could not allow someone else to die on behalf of her selfishness. She could not live with herself if she blindly let an innocent life to be taken. Therefore, she volunteered herself in Phyllis's place and showed no resistance as Scorpius's troops seized her and carried her to the temple of Hydra, the water god, to lift her up as an offering.

"I'm sorry, Elef..." She whispers, an apology she knows will never reach the ears it was intended for. "We weren't able to be together forever, after all."

Even so, had she become a woman whom she could feel proud of? Had she finally become the woman Sophia wanted her to be - a woman who could love everything and lived without fear or doubt swelling in her heart? If she had become that much, then...even if she harbored regrets of an unfulfilled promise, she could at least die knowing that truth. She could die with that fact comforting her.

Scorpius unsheathes his sword and approaches her. "O Hydra..." he says, drawing back his sword just enough to align it with her chest. "Please accept this offering."

And he moves in with a thrust. ]