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December Free Fiction: Advent Story: Thear Collection: Aisling: 950 words
Read the first part of this story (LJ link).
Read the second part of this story (LJ link).
Sighing, Aisling shook her head. “I was taught that all the deities of Thear make their choice based on who and not what the person is. Other Uisdro were taught that Poseidon is the true deity of Thear and then there's a sect of the Uisdro who believe that Persephone is the one true deity of Thear. I'm sure there are different beliefs to yours within the Tein-Igni, so in order to make everything work then we're going to have to think long and hard about what we want our religion to be. The one thing I really don't want to do is make it so that only the Tein-Igni can be priests or priestesses of Anubis and Bast, because it is against what I know the deities base their decisions on, and it will cause major problems if Anubis calls a Dorma girl to be his priestess.”
“Anubis wouldn't.”
Aisling raised an eyebrow. “I disagree.”
Logan stopped walking and looked at her. “It's likely that we're never going to agree on this,” he said, shrugging, “so maybe we should just stop talking about the deities.”
“Logan, if we're going to create a safe place for everyone to live, no matter what race they are or what beliefs they have, then we're going to have to talk about the deities. If you met a true priest or priestess and they happened to be an Uisdro with a connection to Epona, what would be your first reaction?”
“They aren't a true priest or priestess.”
“Why?”
“To be a true priest or priestess they must have a connection to the right deity. A true priest or priestess of Epona must be Dorma.”
“What about a Dorma with Tein-Igni blood? Their colouring is Dorma, but you know that their father is Tein-Igni.”
Confusion filled Logan's eyes again. “I don't know,” he replied. “If you were taking skin colour then they would have to be a priest or priestess of Epona or Herne, but their family line means that they also have a connection with Anubis and Bast.” He shook his head. “I guess it's something I need to think about.”
“No one knows what their heritage is beyond a certain point due to the loss of all our histories. It is entirely possible that you have a Dorma or Uisdro relative, and I think it's important for everyone to remember that.”
Logan ran a hand through his hair. “Aisling...” He shook his head. “I know that it's possible, but at the same time it just doesn't seem real.” He sighed. “It's like imagining my grandmother's grandmother. Grandmother knew her and spent time with her, so she obviously existed, but to me she never did. A lot of my family doesn't like talking about before the fire though.”
“It's the same with a lot of people. There are some in my family who don't like talking about anyone who came before the fire, although we do know of them.”
“I've always wondered why our history was destroyed.”
Aisling smiled. “So have I.” She was happy to be talking about a subject that seemed less problematic. “It seems strange that everything was destroyed, rather than just the history of one race. It would make sense for the Dorma to destroy their history if something happened that they didn't want to remember, but I can't understand why the Uisdro and Tein-Igni would have done the same thing if it was a Dorma mistake.”
“I think it's possible that all the histories were kept here, which made it easy for the person to destroy everything.”
“That does seem like a sensible idea, but then I wonder why that would have happened.” She looked at the wall next to Logan, thinking. “Were the High Priests and Priestesses something more then than they are now?”
“We do seem rather young to be given the position of High Priest or Priestess, especially as we were all called at the end of our studies. When I think of a High Priest I think of someone older, with more life experience, and I wonder why it changed so much.” He smiled. “I wish I could find answers to all the questions I have about Thearan history, but I don't know if it will ever happen.”
Sighing, Aisling looked at Logan, knowing that she would have to keep North Square a secret from him. Even though they had a common interest there was something about him, probably his belief that each deity was closer to a specific race, that made her feel very uncomfortable, and she couldn't help thinking it was the Residence that had changed him. Their eyes met, just for a moment, which gave her a chance to see the dislike in his eyes. It was quickly hidden, but she knew, without any doubt, that he didn't like her anymore than she liked him.
Before Aisling had met Trey and Logan she'd believed that it would be much harder for her to like Trey than it would be for her to like Logan. Instead she found Logan had some very specific beliefs about the deities that she never thought he would have, that she was sure he had kept from Anubis, and Trey, of all people, seemed to be more like the man she needed to help her get to a point where she could create a sanctuary. It was unexpected, which was actually strangely nice.
“Logan...” Aisling trailed off, not sure what to say to him. “I think we're very different people,” she continued after a long silence, “and I don't know how easy it will be for the two of us to work together.”
© K A Jones 2011
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. This entry was originally posted at http://kajones-writing.dreamwidth.org/40846.html. It currently has
comments.
Read the second part of this story (LJ link).
Sighing, Aisling shook her head. “I was taught that all the deities of Thear make their choice based on who and not what the person is. Other Uisdro were taught that Poseidon is the true deity of Thear and then there's a sect of the Uisdro who believe that Persephone is the one true deity of Thear. I'm sure there are different beliefs to yours within the Tein-Igni, so in order to make everything work then we're going to have to think long and hard about what we want our religion to be. The one thing I really don't want to do is make it so that only the Tein-Igni can be priests or priestesses of Anubis and Bast, because it is against what I know the deities base their decisions on, and it will cause major problems if Anubis calls a Dorma girl to be his priestess.”
“Anubis wouldn't.”
Aisling raised an eyebrow. “I disagree.”
Logan stopped walking and looked at her. “It's likely that we're never going to agree on this,” he said, shrugging, “so maybe we should just stop talking about the deities.”
“Logan, if we're going to create a safe place for everyone to live, no matter what race they are or what beliefs they have, then we're going to have to talk about the deities. If you met a true priest or priestess and they happened to be an Uisdro with a connection to Epona, what would be your first reaction?”
“They aren't a true priest or priestess.”
“Why?”
“To be a true priest or priestess they must have a connection to the right deity. A true priest or priestess of Epona must be Dorma.”
“What about a Dorma with Tein-Igni blood? Their colouring is Dorma, but you know that their father is Tein-Igni.”
Confusion filled Logan's eyes again. “I don't know,” he replied. “If you were taking skin colour then they would have to be a priest or priestess of Epona or Herne, but their family line means that they also have a connection with Anubis and Bast.” He shook his head. “I guess it's something I need to think about.”
“No one knows what their heritage is beyond a certain point due to the loss of all our histories. It is entirely possible that you have a Dorma or Uisdro relative, and I think it's important for everyone to remember that.”
Logan ran a hand through his hair. “Aisling...” He shook his head. “I know that it's possible, but at the same time it just doesn't seem real.” He sighed. “It's like imagining my grandmother's grandmother. Grandmother knew her and spent time with her, so she obviously existed, but to me she never did. A lot of my family doesn't like talking about before the fire though.”
“It's the same with a lot of people. There are some in my family who don't like talking about anyone who came before the fire, although we do know of them.”
“I've always wondered why our history was destroyed.”
Aisling smiled. “So have I.” She was happy to be talking about a subject that seemed less problematic. “It seems strange that everything was destroyed, rather than just the history of one race. It would make sense for the Dorma to destroy their history if something happened that they didn't want to remember, but I can't understand why the Uisdro and Tein-Igni would have done the same thing if it was a Dorma mistake.”
“I think it's possible that all the histories were kept here, which made it easy for the person to destroy everything.”
“That does seem like a sensible idea, but then I wonder why that would have happened.” She looked at the wall next to Logan, thinking. “Were the High Priests and Priestesses something more then than they are now?”
“We do seem rather young to be given the position of High Priest or Priestess, especially as we were all called at the end of our studies. When I think of a High Priest I think of someone older, with more life experience, and I wonder why it changed so much.” He smiled. “I wish I could find answers to all the questions I have about Thearan history, but I don't know if it will ever happen.”
Sighing, Aisling looked at Logan, knowing that she would have to keep North Square a secret from him. Even though they had a common interest there was something about him, probably his belief that each deity was closer to a specific race, that made her feel very uncomfortable, and she couldn't help thinking it was the Residence that had changed him. Their eyes met, just for a moment, which gave her a chance to see the dislike in his eyes. It was quickly hidden, but she knew, without any doubt, that he didn't like her anymore than she liked him.
Before Aisling had met Trey and Logan she'd believed that it would be much harder for her to like Trey than it would be for her to like Logan. Instead she found Logan had some very specific beliefs about the deities that she never thought he would have, that she was sure he had kept from Anubis, and Trey, of all people, seemed to be more like the man she needed to help her get to a point where she could create a sanctuary. It was unexpected, which was actually strangely nice.
“Logan...” Aisling trailed off, not sure what to say to him. “I think we're very different people,” she continued after a long silence, “and I don't know how easy it will be for the two of us to work together.”
© K A Jones 2011
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. This entry was originally posted at http://kajones-writing.dreamwidth.org/40846.html. It currently has
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He SO does not know Anubis very well.
I've had deities do things with me that they weren't "supposed" to do according to the written traditions. And when people bitch about that, I say, "Look, if you want to tell deities what they can and can't do, YOU do it. I am not picking that fight with them myself."
>>that she was sure he had kept from Anubis<<
This makes me wonder how much the deities know about their chosen ones. I suspect it's harder to hide things than most humans realize.