Hymerae

[Protohuman]

My latest story; inspiration came from her [/sickening] XDDD

One

Arthur Peters brushed the leaves out of his face as he advanced through the green. Past the bushes and shrubs and through the trees he went as he drew closer and closer to his destination. He knew this forest all too well, recognising every patch and place in his path, staying in his memory after the countless times crossing it. There were rumours of wolves prowling the place at this time at night, but Arthur didn’t care; his target was too important, too essential to let such a simple obstacle to stand in his way. This thing he was coming to was the most important machine cog of his life; something that if taken away, the rest would collapse. This was the plasma in his blood, the temporal bone in his head, something that he couldn’t live without, and he would never let any form of animal, vegetable or mineral block his path. It was dark; he didn’t care. There were creatures; he didn’t care. His mind was playing tricks on him; he didn’t care. He was in a dense forest at dark hours, his shoes had stones in them, his jacket was torn, and his spectacles were cracked, but he couldn’t care less. Nothing mattered apart from what awaited him at the end of this Northern Irish wood.

Travelling for God-knows how long, he grew more and more excited by each tree he passed. He had slight nausea, being the nervous type of person, despite doing this dozens of times in the past. He was never as confident as his friends in this kind of situation; then again, for him it was different altogether. The confusing rambling will all be explained soon… As of now, we will follow Arthur as he staggered through the vegetation. His heart pounding so hard, his chest could burst, and the anxiety increasing as he came closer. For seemingly hours, all he ever saw were trees and trees and trees, never seeming to end. A clear view of the night sky above was out of the question, which was the most frustrating thing of all. Through all the scars from this environment, he only grew more determined when he began to see open space in the distance. Less than 30 yards away was open night, and it was coming towards him at a fair speed. But that wasn’t even fast enough for Arthur! So long as he kept moving, his goal would reach him in well under a minute…

After the long, long trek through the terra, he ran out into the open with the huge star-encrusted sky welcoming his tiny self. He was on a sandy beach overlooking the roaring ocean, on this fine spring night. The sound of the ocean rolling and crashing around kindly greeted him like an old friend, and he gladly greeted back with emotion. Now that he was out in the open, and reached his destination, he had time to examine his body. His jacket was torn, his glasses were in terrible form, and he had cuts and bruises all over. He ran his hand through his hair, and found tiny twigs and small leaves and brushed them out vigorously. He took off his jacket and socks and shoes and put them in a pile at a safe distance from the sea. He left his tattered glasses on his face for the time being. He looked at his wristwatch; the time was almost upon him, only five minutes till midnight. He waited patiently. He let his bare toes sink into the soft sand, and admire the sea view.

When the moment came, he looked up; above were the constellations. Many would recognise most in Orion, Taurus, Perseus, etcetera… But nobody ever wondered about a single collection of stars right in the centre of the sky, directly above Arthur. This group of stellar bodies took the form of a round, slightly oval form with a few minor features inside. To anybody else it would merely be a jumble, with no name. But to Arthur it was so much more; it was a face! It was the face of a friend like no other, an immortal lover. Midnight came, and the unknown constellation began to move around in the sky. The stars revolved around each other, as the tiny mortal Arthur watched below in anticipation. An unbelievable sight to most, but to him this happened so often. As they span faster and faster in an almost perfect circle, small streams of milky light poured from the night and formed a long pillar on the beach in front of him. The light twisted and twined like a vortex; it was like seeing a galaxy bent into a straight vertical line. White spirits were visible, looking like small amounts of milk when poured into a glass of water, dancing and spreading around the body of light. After about a minute of aimless turning and swaying, the pillar began to take a form; no longer a tall beam leading up to the sky, it was now a shifting shape about the same height as Arthur, made of a strange white energy.

The shape’s outline moved around, forming like a piece of pottery on a wheel. The lower half was thin, while the top half was curved inwards in the middle. The top had long, thick strands waving around like seaweed in the tide. This was Arthur’s most gladly-seen shape in his life; as the light began to fade, a solid surface became visible underneath. This soft, pinkish-beige surface was human skin! Once all the light had eroded, and the magic had ended, all that was left was a woman standing in front of him. Not a higher being, nor dweller of Olympus, but a completely human woman. Wearing a thin white dress with a tear in the side, revealing one of her legs, she took the appearance of a Greek Goddess. With a curvy physique and a pretty face, she stood on the beach at midnight in front of mortal Arthur, smiling welcomingly. But her most recognisable feature wasn’t her piercing orange eyes, or her ethereal appearance; it was her hair… Dark crimson strands, the colour of wine, stretching down to her lower back. Arthur Peters greeted her with her name only;

"Hymerae…"

The cosmic woman continued to smile, and glided slowly towards him. She spoke;

"Every month we do this… and we grow fonder of each other every time."

She removed his glasses and casually tossed them to the sand. The mortal man and the feminine constellation kissed as the moon cast its effects across the sea and onto the beach…

Edited October 28, 2011 by Protohuman