lady_moon | Tarot Beach Party

There are those of the tarot who know how to set up for a party.

Ruin had spent most of the afternoon building the bonfire. He has carefully made it much in the way he would have with the villagers of his mortal life when they would celebrate the harvests. Charity, Unity, and Skill had spent most of the day setting up food, both their sorts of foods and the sorts the sentients would be expecting.

Moon watched it all with rapt fascination, her eyes on the marshmallows Skill told her firmly she isn't allowed to touch yet. But they're white and fluffy looking and Moon is curious. Mons barks at her, warning Skill, and Moon is shooed off.

It's Fortune who puts out blankets, spread all over the beach area for everyone to use. Moon watches her family set up for a party, for guests... real guests who are coming simply to come instead of for answers. She watches Fortune set down a large stack of very warm looking towels, and she grins.

Swimming. Damian will like the swimming.

Her wolves run up and down the beach in excitement, and Moon knows it's time.

Disappearing back to Milliways, she sets it up so people can come and go as they need to, pleased with herself and her family.

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From:

three_of_swords

No one here wishes to harm Damian. Damian is precious to one of them, and as such, is precious to them all.

Sorrow stands on the next landing he reaches, smiling gently at him.

"Do you find the tapestries truly that fascinating?" she asks.

From:

mr-smarty-vamp.livejournal.com

Emerald eyes dart over to the young woman. Her power is different from Moon's, but it holds a similar flavour to it that Damian assumes means she is one of the Tarot. He doesn't bother with an introduction, since he's certain she knows more about him than he'll ever actually say.

"They are beautiful. The last castle I lived in had tapestries, but they were all of the same person." She Who Made Him was a very vain woman. She likely still is, but Damian is just grateful that he isn't around her to confirm it.

From:

three_of_swords

Sorrow's bright blue eyes shift to look at the tapestry currently the focus of Damian's attention. She reaches out, brushing her fingers over it.

"Do you know what the Ace of Swords represents?"

From:

mr-smarty-vamp.livejournal.com

"No," Damian admits. He isn't all that familiar with the tarot meanings. "But with it being the start of the Suit of Swords, it would have something to do with new beginnings, right?"

It's an educated guess, though he truly doesn't have a clue.

From:

three_of_swords

She laughs, the sound somewhat sad despite what it is.

"In a way. A new conflict. Daybreak. Clear thinking. Triumph. But, reversed, it means powerlessness, weakness, disaster. The use of too much power to achieve a goal."

Sorrow lets her hand fall from the tapestry.

"Each card can mean so much, yet mean so little. I am the Three of Swords, Ruin's daughter."

From:

mr-smarty-vamp.livejournal.com

Damian looks at the tapestry with newfound respect. "I think I have seen the card at work in both readings..."

Her laugh holds that tinge of sadness that his own voice so often carries. True mirth is something so very rare for Damian that he has learned the shades of sadness to be found in words and expressions.

"I wasn't aware that the tarot could have offspring that, in turn, represent other cards. What name does the Three of Swords claim?" He knows Ruin is another in the Suit of Swords, but that is the extent of his knowledge.

From:

three_of_swords

"I chose to be what I was," Sorrow explains. "Papa brought me here when I was eight, and I grew up with the family. It only made sense that I stay with them rather than growing old and dying. I claim the name Sorrow."

From:

mr-smarty-vamp.livejournal.com

"Sorrow," Damian repeats, looking from the tapestry to the young woman. A small, sad smile curves his lips. "I would say 'Nice to meet you,' but I have the feeling you have been watching me for... a very long time."

This card probably knows and understands more of his life than any other. Is it wrong for him to feel an instant affinity toward her?

From:

three_of_swords

Sorrow smiles at him.

"Yes, Damian, a very long time. Sometimes in the company of my sister-aunt, Misery, but of late, it's been just me."

From:

mr-smarty-vamp.livejournal.com

Sorrow and Misery... It's kind of telling. The themes in his life haven't been pleasant.

What do you say to someone who has been with you, silent and unseen, for hundreds of years? What can you possibly say to the one who has watched you mourn the loss of freedom, dreams, humanity, and hope?

He remains silent and still, but remembered suffering swirls in the depths of his eyes.

From:

three_of_swords

Sorrow rises up onto her tiptoes, because Damian is so much taller than herself, and kisses beside his mouth so gently.

"The music has changed," she murmurs. "The theme is different."

From:

mr-smarty-vamp.livejournal.com

He doesn't kiss back so much as accept hers. He does, however, raise one hand to comb once through her hair, showing in the gesture that he appreciates her. He would never have done so without Moon and Nathaniel's help with personal contact, and thoughts of them make him nod is agreement.

"I am happier than I have been in a very long time... and also more fearful, but for different reasons than before." With the arrival of happiness comes the fear of losing what has been gained. There are still many things that he fears, many things that he mourns.

He is just more quiet about it than most.

From:

three_of_swords

Taking a step back, Sorrow clasps her hands in front of her.

"You fear only one thing, and that is simply the loss of all you have now. Friendship, companionship, happiness. It is why you cannot fully enjoy those things, even as they are thrust at you."

Her smile is tinged with sorrow, as is everything with her.

From:

mr-smarty-vamp.livejournal.com

Damian nods. He knows she is right. He knows he fears the loss of all he now has. He is afraid of being alone.

"I don't know how to change. After so long... It is difficult."

From:

three_of_swords

"Such is it with your kind," she says with a nod. "Jean-Claude and Asher share the same fault."

From:

mr-smarty-vamp.livejournal.com

She gets a small chuckle at that.

"The side-effect of centuries spent in service of the cruel, I suppose."

From:

three_of_swords

"No supposing about it."

It's the simple truth. Negative stimulus no matter what they had done, be it good or bad, and you wind up with someone who is miserable and sad all the time, even when they could be happy.

From:

mr-smarty-vamp.livejournal.com

"Is there no remedy for us, Lady Sorrow?"

From:

three_of_swords

"Being in the service of kindness."

Sorrow motions with her head for him to follow her, and she begins up the steps again.

From:

mr-smarty-vamp.livejournal.com

With a last lingering glance at the wall of tapestries, he follows at a polite distance. He ponders her words and the way Anita is trying. She tries, and still there is a measure of sadness that he cannot force away.

He is quiet as he climbs the stairs with Sorrow.

From:

three_of_swords

"Sadness is a part of life," she says, her voice easily carrying down to him. They pass each Suit's tapestries as they climb higher and higher. "It is a part of you, of who you are now, and it is what makes the happiness all the sweeter when it is enjoyed. Without that touch of sorrow, would Nathaniel's smile move you as much? Without the hint of sadness, would each touch Anita gives you be as beautiful?"

From:

mr-smarty-vamp.livejournal.com

"No," Damian answers softly, feeling a pricking at the backs of his eyes. "It is the sorrow that forces me to appreciate all I am given."

From:

three_of_swords

They crest the stairs, the cool, salty air moving gently around them as they tower over the ocean and beach. Sorrow smiles at Damian, taking his hand.

"It is not what forces you to appreciate it. Do not look at it so. See as that it helps you to appreciate the brightness, the love and warmth you have now when all you had was cold fear before for company."

From:

mr-smarty-vamp.livejournal.com

Damian takes her hand in his willingly and gives it a small squeeze. The sight and smell of the sea was once used as a tool of torture against him, but here there are no bars keeping him from the water. There are no harsh reprimands awaiting him down near the bonfire.

He nods, not trusting to his voice as he thinks about how wonderful his friendship with Nathaniel is after all the centuries of fearing contact and comfort as much as the next torture. He tries to hold back his tears, but finds such an endeavour pointless. They well up in his eyes before cresting dark lashes, trailing twin streaks of red down his pale face.