Selene watched from the Moon as Artemis, Jenny and Lilly dealt with the "ghost". She smiled to herself at the squirrel-girl's ingenuity.
I wonder if that's what gets her involved in whatever fight is supposed to kill her... - She thought sadly.
Selene thought of Lucas as she made her way to Lucas's moonscape.
Lilly won't die.
"Hey, Lucas. Mind if I come in?"
"Sure. I wanted to ask you something anyways..."
"How did it went at the Bureau, Lucas?"
"New client, and a Green Card to boot. Listen, may I ask you a weird question? I mean... Yes, we're friends, but... Well... How do I... pray for you?" - Lucas blushed - "And I mean prayer, not 'asking for favor', just... I don't know..."
Neruite smiled.
"You want to have with me a relationship that one would have with a god, sometimes."
"That obvious, huh? I... Look, it wouldn't be a subservience thing, I promise, I'm way past that. Well, I guess that, since we go back a ways and... Well... You are the kind of goddess I like. I mean, one that knows what it is to be small... So to speak." - Said Lucas.
Neruite smiled lightly.
"I don't. And I do."
Selene, now more Selene than Neruite, looked at Lucas, who could see the difference in her eyes.
Older than life on Earth.
"I am Selene. Daughter of Hyperion and Theia. I am the Moon, and I and Gaia have been dancing for aeons now. Child, I care about you, but you and I are very much apart. In the ancient times, sacrifices were made to me, child. I have seen countless empires rise and fall, I have seen continents form and change. I have seen the rise and fall of entire species. The rites one would perform for me, child, are frequently ones you would see as silly, or even barbaric."
Her eyes changed again.
"I am Celine Andrews. My parents are Jane Andrews and Phillip Andrews. I'm a marine biologist, I'm thirty-four, and I do care about you, Lucas, because, so far, you proved quite interesting to be around. You're a nice person, no matter how much you want to deny it."
And again her eyes changed, becoming much more tender and gentle. This time, however, her form changed into the one Lucas had seen. A smallish woman of about 25, with long black hair and very white skin.
"I don't usually take this form here, but I know you like it. I am getting used to it. I am Neruite. Daughter of Nimb, god of chaos, luck and chance, and Tenebra, goddess of the night. I am not nearly as old as Selene, having existed since the first species that sleeps roamed... Arton. Not the Earth per se, but the RPG world you would imagine me as a part of. You helped form me, Lucas. In this one part is the goddess you think about when you think of me. The goddess that cares about the little guy, the one that would, for instance, expend a considerable amount of power to steer the course of a river so as to help one village. And on this matter, I am as you imagined, even because the RPG world didn't describe me at all. I am Chaotic Good, as you would put it, and I do my best to help people locally. Because you made me this way."
Lucas blinked.
"But the nature of gods..."
"It cannot be fully altered, Lucas, but it certainly can be steered by belief or, in your case, by imagination..." - Said Neruite, gently - "I am the goddess that embraced you in your dreams once while you went through a rough patch. And you even did a small... prayer... for me once or twice. For very minor reasons, granted, but still. You didn't imagine me minding helping you with the little stuff, after all."
"The die roll..." - Said Lucas, blushing hard as she remembered a very mundane 'prayer' she muttered as she rolled the dice in a fairly crucial test in a game, long ago. She, then a he, had rolled that test well. REALLY well.
Neruite giggled.
"Since you had pictured me as daughter of Nimb, god of chaos, you figured it couldn't really hurt. I remember. You know how to pray for me, Lucas..."
Lucas blushed and smiled lightly. She concentrated and music began to play...
Neruite smiled.
"It's been a while since I heard this song... No. This prayer."
Lucas blushed harder.
"At the time, it didn't, uhm... It was just a..."
"It didn't have a theological basis. Neither should it, you didn't see it as a 'real' religion back then, neither would I demand it of you. Heck, you were twenty or so back then. But, well, we're here. Might as well create the symbolism to it now, no?" - She smirked.
Lucas smiled a bit.
"Very well... Space is, well, where we ARE. That's clear enough. Not believing in war would mean both not believing in organized violence and, well... Not being a fan of the hierarchies an army would impose. Down through space we swim on a dream is fairly self-explanatory, I guess, too, but it could also include the idea of your protection... And then there's the last part..."
Neruite nodded knowingly.
"Sounds like a sound that we can sing. Go on."
"That would mean the part where us mortals and you aren't all that different. The part where we can sing your song, so to speak. The part where... Well... Where the universe is much more personal and, well... Caring."
"There you go." - Said Neruite, smiling.
"Uhm, yeah, but this symbolism is ex post facto..." - Said Lucas.
Neruite's eyes changed, and even in her cute and smallish form, Lucas could tell this one was Selene.
"Child, some of the most beautiful rites I had for me came about with the rites first and the justification second. And as rites go, this one works well enough. It doesn't mean you can't create other things, if you wish..." - Said Selene.
"I see..." - Said Lucas, blushing.
"Which is to say" - And now Neruite was back - "That it works as a prayer. And that I like it. And also that, well... You envisioned Neruite, so, well, the liturgy is yours to create." - She giggled - "Comes with the territory of coming up with a goddess of your own."
Lucas smiled.
"Point..."
"So, what were you up to when I came a-knocking?" - Said Neruite.
"Oh, just watching some anime, really..." - Said Lucas, blushing hard - "I am a geek, after all."
Neruite, or Celine, or Selene, looked at the TV and a flash of recognition instantly lit her eyes.
"Cool, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya! May I join you?"
Lucas blinked.
"You know, I like it that most of my friends are geeks. I didn't think my goddess would be one, but far be it from me to complain..."
Lucas smiled and sat by Neruite's side, producing some popcorn for the worshiper and the goddess, or for the two geek friends, to enjoy.
